-Jane-
She knows something's different about him the moment he walks in the door, in the way he holds his head and in the sound vibrating in his vocals. What she doesn't know, until she sees it that is, is the why.
But, oh damn, when she sees it.
"Holy hell, Garrus," she says at the sight on his shoulder and bounces in the wheelchair, just back from rolling a stroll around the hallways with Ash at her side. She was perhaps a bit too eager to use Williams' status as a - appreciated - human Spectre on and Alliance ship. Still don't want to get into the sudden lack of importance I have now that the war is apparently won.
He chuckles and comes to her, turning and kneeling down to let her run her hands over its smooth surface. The metal is sturdy under her fingers, slick and cool like the finest weapon, its surface gleaming in the overhead lights. Part of her is even starting to explore the options of what her limbs might look like once she gets her hands on them.
"This is fucking sexy and shit." He snorts at that, but she doesn't care as she takes his hand in hers, looking at the intricate mechanisms of his hand and fingers. "I think I'm getting wet just thinking about how awesome mine will be."
"Don't tempt me with that kind of talk," he says with a smile, standing to give her forehead a gentle kiss. "But that does bring up the question of where's yours."
"Right? I've been hounding the damn nurses to bring it to me already, but I haven't heard anything." She sighs and holds out her arms to be picked up, wanting to take advantage of the feeling of being in his arms since they are, still, unable to have any sort of sex. The last thing we want to do is give the damn Alliance more ammunition against us.
He picks her up easily now that he isn't working with one arm and that second arm proves to be strong, solid, and so comforting that it's almost like he never lost it to be replaced by one made of metal and wires. Even if 'Commander Shepard' wouldn't be caught dead being carried, Jane loves the thought, nuzzling against his purring throat as he walks to the bed and sits down with her still in his lap.
He chuckles and flexes his new arm, giving her, too, a chance to keep looking over it. "I can't wait until you get yours. The sensors are incredible. Like this?" His hand, the slight chill of its metal sending delightful shivers down her spine, combs through her hair. "I can feel it just like I would on my right."
"Damn. That is pretty fucking impressive." Running her fingertips from shoulder to tips of artificial talons, she chuckles. "And I think it makes you look even better than the day I met you."
Garrus snorts and growls, taking her hand in his. "Should I be worried about you and the Geth? I hear they're completely made of metal."
Snorting for herself, she hums in feigned consideration. "They do have those sexy flashlight heads, but I guess I'll suffer with you," she adds with a smirk and kisses him.
He opens for her, sliding his rough tongue out and against her own with a growl. Limber muscle wraps around flatter and much more clumsy one and she can't help the moan of want from his taste, from the feeling of him against her lips and tongue. Her own vocal appreciation must urge him own as he, too, moans and tangles his hand in her hair to cup her head, holding her to him as his other grinds her against his hard length buried within his pants.
Fuck it. I don't want to be cautious anymore, let the Alliance know their poster girl has sex with a turian… and loves it. Decision made, she breaks the kiss to tug at his clothes, clumsy with need.
"Eh-hem…" Jane sighs in frustration and drops her head against her mate's chuckling chest.
"Hello, doctor," he says as he rubs her back. "Here with Jane's prosthetics, I hope?"
"I am," the young man, a resident most like, smiles and pulls in a small cart, a crate atop it. "The Alliance has cleared you for new legs, Commander."
"Cleared?" She narrows her eyes in suspicion. "Since when do I have to be cleared to use my own damn legs."
The tanned doctor frowns in confusion and looks at the crate. "I was told the Alliance has approved standard-"
"We had nonstandard prosthetics before the Alliance kidnapped her," Garrus says with a growl, gently setting her on the bed to stand. "They have no right to deny her limbs we got outside of the military, limbs we already have had the damn surgeries for!"
The doctor throws his hands up in silent plea to the massive turian and steps back. "Please, sir. I was only given the orders to bring these to Commander Shepard and help get her accustomed."
Her mate snarls and storms to the box, throwing it open as she crosses her arms. "Doctor…"
"Jain. Doctor Jain."
"Doctor Jain," she tries, forcing her rage to settle as she sees Garrus pull out two very standard prosthetics. "My legs don't belong to the Alliance and, though you might not have anything to do with it, I better see someone who can explain this glorious fuck up."
"And I suggest you do it fast." Her husband stomps to the man and shoves the plastic, rigid limbs that come mass produced for organizations like the Alliance to provide large amounts for multiple soldiers.
Jain panics and holds the legs to chest as he rushes from the room in search of someone with the Brass. It has to be the higher ups trying to screw her over, control her even now, and she is just as ready to hit something as her mate is. She wonders how many more incidents of assault they commit against the high ranking officials of major governments before their 'Saviors of the Galaxy' tokens run out.
Just when she thinks her mate is about to test his new arm out by punching a hole through the wall in rage, the door reopens to admit an officer in his dress blues. "Commander Shepard, Praetor Vakarian. I hear you are unhappy with your doctor's decision of your care."
"Cut the shit," she looks at the suit. "Captain. I want to know where my real prosthetics are and why the hell you people thought I'd suddenly say, 'you know what? I really do like being screwed into some piece of shit legs when I had better ones.' Can't you people just leave me the fuck alone?"
Perhaps she's a bit too desperate for her freedom, to finally be left the fuck alone to live whatever is left of her life. Maybe, just maybe, these days of finding Alliance obstacles at every step are finally starting to get to her. Whatever it is, her mate sees it, must be able to tell her desperation, and it makes him all the more irritable, his vocals growling as he grows tense as a coil ready to be sprung.
"I assure you, Commander, we don't plan to keep your prosthetics indefinitely, only until we deem it-"
Whatever excuse the Captain may be ready to give is completely cut off by the loud crack of plated fist hitting jaw. The man is knocked right off his feet and to the ground, Garrus growling over him as he prepares for the next hit. Whatever that may be, Jane knows it can't happen and is about to move to stop him just as the Captain pulls a weapon, aiming at the unarmed and unarmored turian.
"Don't make another move, turian!" The man spits out blood from his bleeding mouth and gets shakily to his feet. "I don't care who you are, but you have no right!"
Doors fly open in a flurry of nurses and Alliance soldiers coming to tend to the screaming Captain and Jane has a horrible moment of this being it for them, that her mate's anger will have finally been there doom. She's so close to throwing her unused biotics into the mix when a form they know shoves through the throng.
"Everyone, calm down!" Ashley steps between the Captain and Garrus, looking to the older man with a smile. "Captain Eriks, I assure you that this is all a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding? This plated beast must have broken my jaw," the man says with a barely there scowl, the obvious expression of distaste painful with his injury. "I'll have him thrown in the brink."
"I understand. However, because he is a turian, and a Spectre, I'm afraid that it's not as simple as taking him into custody." Williams crosses her arms in a parade rest and lifts her chin. "I will be transporting Commander Shepard to Earth and I will take Praetor Vakarian with me. There will be Council repercussions, I assure you."
"Tell them to give me my fucking legs, Spectre. Obviously my own status doesn't get me shit."
Ash doesn't look to her, but gives her a simple nod, either in understanding or just to acknowledge she's heard. Whichever it is, Jane has her only hope in her friend at getting her legs…and her husband out of serious trouble. Going to have to talk to him about pissing off the Brass, even if he just did what I was thinking.
"Doctor?" Ashley looks to the same doctor that had come to them before. "I'd like you to retrieve Commander Shepard's proper prosthetics under Spectre order." Turning her attention to the Captain that clearly isn't approving of the order, she adds, "The Council has matters they would like Commander Shepard to attend to and it would be smarter to have her at her best."
Captain Eriks stews on it for a moment, eyes narrowed in irritation he can't show in his swelling jaw, before huffing in annoyance. "Fine. Get the Praetor off my ship and you can explain to the Admiral why my orders to extend the Commander's recovery has been overridden."
"Understood, sir." She salutes and, reluctantly, the Captain salutes back before being ushered out by the head doctor of the deck and her nurses. When they are entirely alone, Ash turns to them and gives them a stern look, simply asking, "Seriously?"
Jane merely shrugs as Garrus growls, explaining, "They refused to give me my legs and gave me some shit of how I wasn't ready yet. Even I can see they are only doing this to keep me around longer, make sure they can watch my recovery until I'm ready to go off on some mission bullshit."
"And you'd be right." Williams sighs and walks to the chair in the room to sit. "They were holding your limbs, willing to let you keep them on the ship until you are done with your physical therapy, but insisting you use the standard issues while off the ship."
"Typical," her mate says with a growl, pacing the room to run off his energy. "Leave it to the Alliance to try and hold your legs hostage."
"I shouldn't have expected otherwise after they practically kidnapped us from the Blue Suns."
"You were with the Suns? Holy hell."
She shakes her head and chuckles as she leans back on her hands, looking to the other woman. "Not what you think. Remember Arcanus? He's the Blue Suns leader and he owed us a favor, so he was helping us hide up until someone sold us out."
Garrus nods with a low growl, rolling his new wrist as if to get used to the new feel. "That's the first thing on my list when we get out of the eyes of the damn Alliance."
"A fight with the Suns? I thought you were in tight with this guy?"
Jane shakes her head at the woman's confusion, explaining, "They fucked up by turning us in when we were supposed to have a safe haven. Arcanus doesn't protect fuck ups."
"I expect him to find a way of revealing them without actually coming out and saying it," Garrus says as the door opens. "We can plan this later."
"Uh. Commander Shepard?"
"Doctor Jain," she greets with a nod as the man hesitantly enters. "Don't worry, he's under control."
Garrus snorts at that as he comes to the opposite side of the bed, sitting on the bed behind her to lay a hand on her shoulder. "I will keep my hands to myself, honest."
The man still seems worried for his safety, but he remains quiet of his worries as he steps into the room, a much nicer crate in tow. He carries it on the cart to the bed and stops, taking a deep breath before he lifts the lid. A sense of tense expectation fills the room as they all lean forward, Doctor Jain too, to glance in.
Laying in a cushion of foam padding, side by side, are two of the most sleek, sexy legs she's ever seen. Hell, even if they're modeled to fit her physique, they look better than her old legs, so smooth and flawless with their silvery surface.
The closest she can think of to describe these new legs is that they look like EDI's. That brings up sad thoughts of wherever the AI may be and whatever her condition and Jane thanks the AI even now for what she did to save, well, everyone.
Yet, putting aside her regret of the loss of a friend, Jane notices differences too. Her legs aren't as long as EDI's was, probably due to her overall height, and, when her eyes trail to her feet, there are even more differences. Instead of the basic, rounded shape similar to a shoe of a sort, her new feet are just that, feet. Instead of built for looks as the AI's platform was, Jane's feet look like a bare foot, with individual toes even that look like that actually move.
Unable to wait any longer, she grins at the doctor and lays her hand on the smooth, cool metal of her soon to be left leg. "What do you say we put these puppies on?"
Garrus hums happily and Ash grins as the doctor smiles and nods, his nerves melting away as he falls into something he knows. Stepping closer, he gently takes the right leg up and motions her to come to the edge of the bed. "I've read up everything I can on this and the design is meant to be quite simply to connect and disconnect. Better maintenance, I suppose."
"We'll need it if the Alliance has their way," her mate says at her back as he keeps a hand on her back and she scoots to the edge of the bed.
"I'll be sure to give you the manual then," Jain says with a slight chuckle, his voice still stiff from the earlier show. "Ready?"
When Jane nods - a bit impatiently, she'll admit - he comes and crouches down to get a look at her implanted port, taking a moment to look between leg and outlet before lining up and pressing in.
The connection between leg and body is the oddest sort of feeling she's had and will probably ever have in her life. It isn't painful beyond the slight tingling that a limb would do after regaining circulation, the pins and needles sensation flowing from her new toes to her thigh, but what really widens her eyes in shock is the feeling she immediately realizes.
She can actually feel the doctor's hands checking the seal, his fingers are smooth and not at all calloused like the soldiers or ship workers she's spent so much of her past years with. When Garrus had told her of his own feeling, she heard him and listened, but never understood exactly what he meant until now, until this very moment of looking down at her new foot and watching the toes move by her command.
"Holy shit… Holy fuck."
Williams is stunned into silence, staring in awed surprise at the limb as the doctor seems to share her look, if not a bit subdued by having some heads up of the capabilities of the equipment. Garrus is overjoyed by his chirping and purrs, leaning forward to nuzzle her cheek and she gladly reciprocates, grinning like a madwoman.
"I, uh… Let's do the other one?"
"Yes!" She kicks her stump, soon to be a stump no longer, and grips the bed in excitement. Has she ever really been so excited before now, before being able to regain her sense of independence and mobility? Sure, she's had excitement before, but now she just feels like a child, a young girl getting her first… Hell, she doesn't know, she just knows the feeling.
Doctor Jain smiles at her excitement as he fetches the other leg, bringing it to her and placing it into the outlet just as he had the first. The same sensation overcomes her as the nerves connect to synthetic writing and mechanisms and she gasps when all five toes curl, her ankles roll, and knees bend, all under her command and control.
Her mate is right there, smiling at her over her shoulder when she looks to him, and damn if she doesn't truly feel out of hell once and for all. She has her mate, her children - even if they are out of reach right this moment, they are safe - and now her sense of freedom, of usefulness.
