Wooo Chatper 9, yis! This one is kind of fun and then kind of serious with a bit of fluff at the end. Please enjoy and let me know what everyone thinks. I do not own anything Mass Effect.


"Ahhhh! Shepard, can we not drive so close the flowing river of lava?!"

"What, you don't trust the driving skills of your Commander?!"

"No!" FayLynn shouted the word while Wrex settled on glaring at the wall silently, trying not to grunt every time the Mako jolted. Shepard had decided to bring the C-sec Agent and Krogan because this way she would have the biotics she wanted and the muscle she needed. Now, however, Fay had decided that maybe she should rethink the option of coming along next time if the Commander was going to be driving.

"We're coming up to a blockade! I'm going to pull around the side and we can use the Mako for cover while we take out the geth, then we should be able to lower the gate and have a straight shot to where Liara is at." The lack of humor in Shepard's now very serious voice told her teammates that it was time for action. They both pulled out their weapon of choice, checking the clips and doing a once over before easily slipping into the mindset of a soldier.

There was no good or bad way to describe what it felt like to fall into battle mode; maybe saying it was like a switch flipping on and off was a good one. But then again that made it sound as if the feeling was easy to turn off. As the Mako screeched to a stop and the side door opened Commander Shepard and her team dove out with their guns firing, blood rushing and hearts pumping.

"Wrex start taking out that geth prime! FayLynn throw out a singularity to keep the overflows distracted!"

"On it Shepard!"

"Moving in now!" Wrex's voice was powerful as it sounded out over the comm link and he pulled out his shotgun, preparing special inferno bullets so that he could get the attention of the large geth prime. The Krogan grinned a bit masochistically as he loaded the weapon and fired, hitting the machine directly in the chest and searing the red colored plating there. There was something about battle that stirred all Krogan's blood, made them feel invincible, and Wrex was no exception. While her comrade was handling the big problem off to her right, FayLynn had charged up a singularity and thrown it directly behind a large group of geth that had collected near the prime.

"Take this you bastards!" As the singularity flew from her palm and hit right where she wanted geth began to float and fly backwards towards the source. Their distressed blips made Fay smirk and she looked down the attached scope of her carnifex pistol, holding her breath as she took them out one by one; Meanwhile, the Commander was now helping Wrex finish off the geth prime. Her assault rifle fired off in short bursts, pushing the machine away from her squad member while the Krogan's shotgun blew hole after hole in its body.

"Geth scum! You will cower before the wrath of a Krogan!" Wrex roared at the now unstable and wobbling geth and before it could even attempt to self-repair he charged at it, his body pulsing with a fortification shield and pure rage that only a Krogan such as his self could possess. As soon as his shoulder made contact with the armor of the hostile machine its body began to crumple in on itself, the metal groaning and the gears whirring as it was destroyed and pummeled in to a pile of scrap. Wrex proceeded to make a noise of satisfaction and then kicked the scrap aside, turning to look at Fay and Shepard who were making their way towards the gate control room. Obviously, humans weren't that in to gloating over their kills.

Still holding their weapons at the ready, the Normandy's team of three moved through the small metal control room quickly and quietly, taking out the one geth that had been turned away from them. Shepard had fried the synthetics systems with an overload and FayLynn moved in to work the gate controls. Within minutes they had lowered the last obstacle that stood between them and Dr. T'Soni and sped off once more inside of the Mako. It wasn't until they came across yet another problem no more than five minutes after their last one and the Commander cursed under her breath in irritation.

"Shit! Another roadblock, except this time we won't be able to get the Mako around this one. C'mon team lets pile out and get this done." FayLynn groaned internally at the thought of fighting even more geth on foot. The pesky synthetics were sturdy, she would give them that, but it was more so the fact that it was all they seemed to fight nowadays. The small side missions Shepard had been picking up from Hackett and other Alliance officials mostly consisted of dispersing small groups of geth that had been spotted or shutting off false distress signals. The cat eared woman never thought that she would be wishing for some Batarian slavers right about now. Alas, that was now going to be the case she realized as bullets whizzed by her head as she ducked behind a large boulder for cover.

"Need some cover fire!"

"On it Shepard!" Fay reloaded her carnifex pistol after hearing her Commander call for some back up. Popping out from her cover quickly she fired bullet after bullet at the geth closet to Shepard before using a biotic throw to smash the last one into the wall of rock behind it. The resulting noise of crunching metal and distressed beeping before the synthetic went offline for good brought a grin to her face. Some of the fluid from its body had splattered out and stained her armor white in some places and painted the ground. As the group continued to move forward and closer to their goal Wrex spoke up from the back, a hint of amusement as well as respect evident in his voice.

"Nice biotics there Daye. Remind me to never catch you in a bad mood."

"Yeah yeah. I have to release all that pent-up irritation from having to deal with you, don't I?"

"Ha! Right back at you!" As he said this Wrex sent a large carnage blast directly at a geth pyro's tank, causing it to explode and destroy the two other troopers that were right behind it.

For what felt like hours Shepard and her team fought ferociously as they worked their way up the rest of the hill and finally made it to the entrance of the dig site. Unfortunately, before they could storm up the ramp and inside the geth ship that had been continuously dropping off reinforcements decided to make one last pass by; but this time it wasn't just a few troopers that were thrown their way. As FayLynn, Wrex and the Commander took cover behind several large shipping containers they had to brace themselves as the ground beneath them shook, the cause being a huge colossus that was now standing to its full height and looking around for enemies.

"Damn. They just had to make this difficult on the last stretch, didn't they?" The disdain and frustration in Shepard's voice was all too noticeable as she peered around the corner, assessing the situation. While she was doing this a few geth hoppers also became noticeable. But even with all the bullets that were now flying their way the ever so determined N7 soldier was already calculating an offensive plan. Getting back behind her cover the Commander checked the clip on her assault rifle to make sure it was full before turning to look at each of her teammates.

"We need to take out everything else before trying to fire at that colossus. FayLynn can you hold it in a stasis until Wrex and I take out the hoppers and the troopers?"

"I.." Flashbacks of what had happened in the training room with Kaidan ran through her mind and made her blink a few times to clear them out. No, she could handle this and prove that not only was she a powerful biotic, but a useful one as well. With a firm and unwavering voice Fay looked at Shepard through her helmets visor and nodded, green eyes meeting her leaders own blue ones. Passing along a promise and showing her determination.

"I won't let you down Shepard."

What happened next was like a slowed down action scene of a movie. Simultaneously all three soldiers moved out from their cover; Wrex and Shepard with guns blazing and with FayLynn glowing a deep indigo. The biotic honed in on the colossus and pushed all the power she could in to creating a stasis field around the synthetic to hold it in place. As soon as it was captured she could feel the enormous push of resistance from the machine and her biotics flared in response, but she continued to hold it none the less. Meanwhile her two other teammates continued to take out the smaller geth one by one, as quickly as possible. This turned out to be a lengthy ordeal when it came to the hoppers simply because they never stopped moving, so getting a direct hit on them was incredibly difficult.

Minutes continued to tick by, and with each one FayLynn's energy began to wane slowly but surely. She felt the few trickles of sweat make their way down her face and her arms shake as she continued to hold the stasis, her breathing now labored. Trying not to sound too distressed while trying to push them along she questioned the status of the rest of her team.

"You guys almost done? I won't be able to hold this thing forever."

"We're down to the last hopper. Just another minute!" Stress laced the Commanders voice as she detected the exhaustion creeping into her squad member's words. If they didn't hurry, then FayLynn would barely be alert enough to finish the mission let alone hold the colossus. But suddenly she remembered something. Before leaving the ship, Ashley had mentioned how she had finished repairing one of the heavy weapons that had been damaged on an earlier mission; telling Shepard to bring it along just in case. It was a good thing she had.

"Wrex, finish this geth! I'm taking out that colossus!" Pulling out the missile launcher that she was ever so grateful for, the galaxies first human specter rushed towards the towering machine. As she passed by the woman currently holding the stasis field Shepard yelled at her to drop it and hopped that she heard. No need in wasting more energy when the robotic was going to be a pile of scrap in less than ten seconds.

Sure, enough within seconds the blue haze that had been encasing the colossus dispersed and disappeared leaving a wide-open shot that the Commander did not hesitate to take. Pulling the trigger all three soldiers watched as the missile hit the synthetic square in the chest, creating an explosion of red, yellow and white light that had them shielding their faces. Pieces of molten hot metal, wires and other debris flew outwards from the source for a few seconds before all was quiet once more; only a severely charred spot on the ground remained where the colossus had once been. Wrex pounded his fists together and yelled triumphantly as he put his weapon away and moved towards where FayLynn and the Commander now stood, a prominent grin on his leather like face.

"Agh ha! That was good Shepard! Now I'm beginning to see why humans have survived so long, they can grow a pair when needed!"

"Nothing is going to stop me from getting Dr. T'Soni out of here alive. Are you okay Agent Daye?" The worry of a Commander towards her soldiers was apparent in her voice as she addressed the worn out looking biotic.

"I'm fine Commander. Let's grab T'Soni and get the hell out of here, it's hotter than the goddamn sun." Truth be told she was much more worn down that she had indicated, but it wasn't something that Fay hadn't been through before. She was going to see this mission through with Shepard. A little exhaustion wasn't going to keep her down and out.


Finding Liara T'Soni once they had gotten inside the ruins was probably the easiest thing they had done all day. The hard part had been releasing her from the Prothean trap she had accidentally sprung on herself while trying to keep out the geth. Not only did the Normandy's squad have to fight off yet another wave of the pesky synthetics, but they had to decipher the code to a mining laser so that they could reach the elevator that brought them to where Liara was being held. As Shepard and her team finally made it to the cell with their charge Liara gasped in surprise; apparently, she hadn't expected them to get back here so quickly if at all. Though relief was evident in her voice.

"How...how did you get in here? I didn't think there was any way past the barrier!"

"That's not important right now. We need to get you out of here before more geth arrive and try to capture you." The Commander moved towards the control panel for the trap the Asari was in and began to look it over, stopping for a moment as Liara directed her on which button to push.

"Yes, you're right. I have seen enough of them here to last a lifetime. That red button should shut down my containment field." Within seconds of the doctor finishing her sentence the blue field around her dropped and she landed on the floor a bit heavily, not completely ready for the impact, but on her feet. She turned to address Shepard with a nod of thanks and a sigh.

"Thank you, Commander. I appreciate the help."

"Not a problem. Now how do we get out of here? The uh, way we came in was a one-time use."

"There should be an elevator just outside this room. I'm assuming you used it on your way to get to me so we should be able to use it to get out."

"Right, let's move out." Not wasting time after letting the Asari go the specter followed behind her team as they filed back on to the elevator, waiting patiently as Fay hit the button for the top floor. As the large metal contraption groaned to life and began its slow upwards climb Liara began to wring her hands together nervously, approaching Shepard cautiously. Her crystal blue eyes showed slight apprehension and hesitation.

"I-I still cannot believe all this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think Benezia is involved?" The unsure edge in her voice almost made FayLynn feel bad for her, but she answered seeing as how Shepard was trying to figure how to not hurt the doctor's feelings about her own mother.

"Saren's looking for the Conduit and you're a Prothean expert. Obviously, he wants you to join him like your mother did and help him find it."

Liara looked confused at this and stopped messing with her hands for a moment as she replied.

"The Conduit? But I don't know-" But before she could finish her thought the ruin around them shook, some debris falling from the ceiling. Everybody froze for a moment as they looked around for enemies and found none at the moment. Wrex put away his shotgun that he had rapidly pulled out, albeit a bit slowly just in case, and sniffed. His gruff voice echoing slightly in the vast space of the elevator.

"What the hell was that?"

"Something must have caused a seismic event. These ruins are very old and unstable so one wrong move could trigger its collapse."

"Dammit! It must have been the mining laser that we used to get to you." Shepard cursed at her own careless approach to getting Liara, but the Asari smiled gently and moved to the elevator's control panel. She pulled up what looked like a schematic and spoke hurriedly.

"It was bound to happen one way or the other, but we must hurry. The whole place is caving in!"

Shepard nodded and hailed the Normandy over her comm link, her voice turning into that of the stern and serious Commander role she was famous for.

"Joker! I need you to get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal double time!" The reply she got was just as serious and formal. Even a goof like the Normandy's pilot knew when and when not to play around.

"Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes."

"If he's even ten seconds over that time I'll kill him myself when I see him. Even if it's in the afterlife." Fay snorted at hearing Wrex say that and she pulled out her carnifex to reload the clip and check the weapon over just as the elevator was coming to a stop. But just as she was about to begin walking without looking up a large armored arm stopped her, that along with the familiar sounds of the geth. Looking up quickly and glowing a dark blue from her biotics, though weakly seeing as how she had drained them earlier, her sharp green eyes honed in on the little ambush that was waiting for them.

A small group of geth, about four or so, led by a yellow-green looking Krogan who had on a nasty sneer and held a mean looking shotgun stood between the group of three soldiers and a scientist and the exit. Both Wrex and the Commander pulled out their weapons as well after spotting them and Liara readied her biotics, but this just made the enemy Krogan chuckle and grunt.

"Surrender now and hand over the Asari, then I may let you live."

Shepard's blue eyes narrowed in response and she didn't lower her weapon as she replied. "In case you didn't notice this whole place is coming down." But this didn't seem to faze the Krogan in the slightest. In fact, he didn't even seem to care.

"Yes, exhilarating, isn't it?" Blood red iris's honed in on Liara as he said this and his pupils turned in to slits, his focus all too clear as he continued to speak. "Now hand the doctor over."

"No. Whatever you want from me you're not going to get it!" The Asari doctor was indignant as she said this, her stare meeting the hostile Krogan's own without fear. The Commander stepped forward and stood slightly in front of her to make a point as well.

"She'll be staying with us, thanks."

"Not an option. Saren wants her, and he always gets what he wants." The Krogan battle master turned to his geth soldier and motioned with his head towards the group that had guns pointed towards them. "Kill them. Spare the Asari if you can. If not, doesn't matter to me at this point."

Within seconds of him saying that the Krogan and his troop pulled out their own weapons and opened fire at the Normandy team, causing them to scatter and take cover behind whatever was jutting out enough to crouch behind. Of course Shepard made sure to keep Liara near her, Wrex was squaring off with a trooper and FayLynn had been cornered by the battle master. His sadistic leathery smile showed that the Krogan was getting pure enjoyment from seeing his enemy at his mercy, but little did he know that she was anything but ordinary.

"Stay back!" Fay tried to hit him with a warp, but her energy level was too low to make a real impact so it merely bounced off his shields. He laughed and slung out an arm, knocking the biotic to the side and against the wall before she could fire her weapon. Her body hit against it painfully with a dull 'thud'. The Krogan walked closer and continued to spit venomous insults at her as she struggled to get up, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in pain.

"Humans really are pitiful creatures. And it looks like you're also the freak of the pack, even better! What the hell was done to you for you to have these extra parts huh? Experiments, torture? Did they break you little cat?" His voice was teasing and full of hate as he gave her another shove that made his target stumble back again. FayLynn's anger was rising by the second and she couldn't help but growl lowly, her teeth elongating, ears flattening and her pupils narrowing in to slits. He was going to push her too far, she could feel it. And may the gods save him when that time came.

"I'm not a freak you slobbering dinosaur. Now either you back off or I tear you to shreds!" The Agents voice held a strength that the Krogan hadn't expected, but it did not deter him in the slightest. There wasn't any reason to be afraid of this flesh bag before him. The thought of watching the light in her eyes fade as he crushed her slowly made him grin.

"Rrrrhgh, big talk for such a weakling. It's time I finish you off!" As he said this the battle master thrust his fist forward with enough force to crush a steel wall, but it was caught and stopped in its tracks.

"What the-Ahhhh!" His confusion soon turned in to fear and his words in to pained yelling as the biotic whom had captured his hand began to twist it backwards, her features transforming from human into something completely alien. Her armor retracted from her body and folded back into a special container on her back, made specifically for this reason. The body suit she had on underneath would be destroyed in the process, but those were easy enough to come by. The chamber around them rumbled again threateningly and the Krogan looked around in a panicked manner, trying to get the attention of anyone. His red eyes widened further in panic as hair began to grow and encase the whole body of the woman now holding him captive. Her limbs elongated in a painful looking manner and claws appeared on what were now paws; their color being that of the darkest onyx and gleaming as the light reflected off them. If he looked close enough the Krogan was almost sure he would have been able to see his petrified face looking right back at him.

FayLynn sensed his fear as she continued to morph and she silently enjoyed the turn of events. Her vision of the enemy before her sharpened as her two eyes became four, the same striking green that they always were indicating that it was still her. By the time, Fay had finally fully transformed into what can only be described as a genetically modified killing machine, the Krogan's arm was completely twisted around and he was crippled from the pain. His cries fell upon deaf ears as the rest of his group and his captors were still in the midst of battle, though it seemed the Normandy crew was winning.

"Somebody help me!"

"Nobody is going to save you this time." Red eyes widened as a voice he immediately recognized as this mutant's entered his mind, and as he watched her face contort into a snarl and lunge he could do nothing but wait for death. Razor sharp fangs sunk deep into the neck of the battle master and clamped down with tremendous force, getting a firm hold of the flesh before it was ripped away in one swift motion. Blood spurted from the wound and quickly pooled on to the floor, creating a crimson wash that stained the fur of FayLynn's paws. She released the body and watched as it crumpled to the floor, but his eyes followed his movements and he gurgled out several words, blood oozing from his mouth now as well.

"You're…. what are…. you..."

She waited for a moment before speaking through the mind link she had established, making his suffering go on even longer. When she did speak, her voice was devoid of any of the normal warmth it usually had. Only a stone cold poisonous tone was heard. "I am the fear inside of you."

As she said this she bared her fangs and struck, letting her claws easily slice through the remaining flesh of the Krogan's neck and completely decapitated him in one swift motion. Lifting her head up she then let out a tremendous roar that nearly shook the ground, not being able to fight the instinct to display her triumph and superiority. It was only after the shaft tremored more violently that she stopped and looked around, nostrils flaring. FayLynn's ears perked as she saw that the last of the geth had been killed, but Liara was now looking at her with fear written on the Asari's face as plain as day. Not surprising.

"Commander what is that-"

"No time to explain we have to move!"

It was then that they all remembered the crumbling ruins around them and the team began to make a break for the exit, hoping that they could escape in time. Fay hadn't waited to change back and instead ran behind everyone, lagging slightly from exhaustion that was making her limbs grow heavy. She just had to push a little bit further. Chunks of rock fell into their path as they ran and pushed them to their limits, but as soon as the exit door came in to view Joker spoke up over the Commanders comm link.

"Just arrived Commander, but you guys had better hurry before we're all engulfed in lava."

"You heard the man! Move, move, move!" Pushing through the last few feet with vigor and ignoring the dust and rocks flying in their path, Liara, Wrex, Shepard and FayLynn all burst out of the ruins and made a break for the awaiting Normandy.

Everyone ahead of her had no problem, but being in the back of the group Fay had no way of seeing the gap between the edge of the metal catwalk and the platform of the ship's cargo bay; and because of this she fell short. Her back legs pushed off with all their might even though she knew it wouldn't be enough, and she was sure for all those watching her they could see the realization dawn on her face. It was then that a miracle happened. Or perhaps it was sheer luck that she had been in her 'feral' form. Because she had been reaching so far, her claws had managed to sink into the metal enough to hold her body on the very edge of the platform; unfortunately, that also meant that her back end was now dangling over the edge dangerously close to an ever-growing river of lava.

"Rawwrrggh! Rooow!" Her struggles turned into growls and hisses of rage as FayLynn struggled and reached out, calling for help from anybody within a close enough proximity. Luckily Wrex had turned around to check for her and saw her scrabbling for a hold, trying to pull herself back up, and rushed over to help.

"I gotcha Daye! Hold on!" The Krogan reached his struggling teammate just as her claws began sliding down the platform, screeching as her hold began to slip, and took a hold of her scruff; ignoring the angered roar he got in response. She would thank him later. With strength that only a Krogan could possess, he yanked her up onto the platform and threw her partially into the cargo hold so that Joker could close the bay doors. She had rolled a bit and was panting hard, but for the most part appeared no worse for wear and unharmed. As was the rest of the team and Dr. T'Soni.

"Tell me that what I just pulled off wasn't amazing?" The sound of the cocky pilot's voice broke the tense silence in the cargo bay as Shepard and her team tried to collect themselves, their blood still pumping from the close brush with death. How he could always find room to always make a joke the Commander would never know, but the humor was appreciated...usually.

"Yes, Joker you did a great job. Now just get us off this mess of a damn planet, will you?"

With a laugh, still in his voice the pilot responded candidly, not missing a beat. "Aye, aye Commander."


"I thought you said you weren't going to use the 'curse' that was given to you anymore?"

"Yeah well... things change."

"But not like that. Something had to have changed your mind. What happened on Therum?"

"Nothing. We fought geth and picked up Liara T'Soni. That's it."

"But that's not really it, is it? FayLynn just tell me." Having enough of her avoiding his question Garrus reached out and grabbed his friends arm gently, trying not to act like he was telling her what to do. After she and the others had come up to the debriefing room to talk about their next move her nose had started to bleed, so she excused herself and went to the med bay. Garrus almost followed her, but Shepard assured the Turian that she was fine and to wait until she had finished talking to leave. That was when he heard about the ruins collapsing and Fay's decision to use the abilities that had been implanted in her so long ago. And now, as she looked at him wearily through hazy green eyes he couldn't help but feel like he should have waited to bother her. She was probably exhausted from exerting so much of her biotics in so little time.

"I just...lost my temper. This Krogan battle master corned me and was smacking me around, calling me a freak, and I just got a little heated. It was like I could hear my body telling me to change...so I did." She sounded like there was more that she wanted to say, but something was stopping her. She looked around the CIC deck that they were currently in and then pulled him towards the stairs that led down towards the elevator, not saying a word as she pulled him into the metal box with her and hit the button for the engineering deck.

The silence was tense on the ride down and when the elevator finally stopped Fay strode out towards the Mako, Garrus right on her heels.

"Are you oka-"

"Shh. Not out here. There are prying eyes." As she said this FayLynn motioned with her head towards Ashley and then looked over at a few more of the crew members who were in the cargo bay checking inventory. Obviously, she had something to say that she didn't want everybody hearing. Understandable. But Garrus still didn't understand how they were supposed to get complete privacy, at least not until Fay opened the Mako's side door and motioned for him to follow. As they both got settled inside the vehicle and the door shut, the biotic woman sighed and stretched her arms a bit, trying to relax. Waiting a moment to think about what she wanted to say before speaking. The words felt heavy as they fell out of her mouth.

"I...it just felt right to change. Like there had been an enormous pressure building up inside of me and it was released when I let my body do what it needed to do. And the worst part was that I liked the feeling, Garrus. I liked being this mutant animal that tore that Krogan to pieces! What the hell is wrong with me?!" Tears had begun to form in FayLynn's eyes as she became slightly hysteric, distressed at the fact that she was embracing the one thing she hated about herself. Not only did it merely reinforce the fact that she really was a freak it reminded her of how she came to get that power. Remembering was the worst part.

Garrus's mandibles were tight against his face as he felt conflicted over what to do. Obviously, the right thing to do would be to try and comfort his friend, but at the same time he didn't really know how to go about doing that. Humans were not like Turians when it came to their feelings; Turians were very direct and sure. Humans...well, they could say that they were feeling one way and then be the complete opposite. Rubbing the back of his fringe as he tried not to look as awkward as possible the blue eyes officer did his best to keep his voice encouraging as he reassured the woman in front of him.

"Nothing is wrong with you. Maybe this is a way of your body telling you that it's time to stop fighting yourself and just...be who you are."

"I don't want this...thing, to be who I am! All people see when they look at me is ears and a tail. They see something that doesn't belong." In her mind FayLynn was cringing at how pitiful she sounded saying all these things, but it was how she really felt. On the one side, she really did want to accept every part of herself, the bad ones included, but it was just never that simple.

"Is that what you think I see?" A pause between them followed the Garrus's question before she answered.

"Do you?" Her voice was low and unsure and her eyes were cast downwards, looking at her feet to try and think about anything else. Anything would be better than this awkward situation she had put herself in.

"Spirits Fay! How could you even think that?! Are you that insecure?!"

"Yes!" FayLynn raised her voice more than she probably should have, but there was no way to stop it. The tears that had been collecting finally spilled over and ran down her face, staining the skin as they went. Her face contorted in to a mask of pain and sadness, staring at Garrus in desperation before dropping her head into her hands. The last time she had broken down like this was before she left the C-sec Academy. To be brought down to this level again was embarrassing, especially when it was in front of her Turian crush/best friend.

Whilst the human woman in front of him began to cry, the now unsure blue eyed Turian was trying to figure out what to do. As a young boy, he was never taught how to deal with emotional women and as a man he never really handled it too well either, but it wasn't like he could just sit there and watch her breakdown without consoling her in some way. Swallowing his nerves and fears of being pushed away, Garrus moved forwards and switched seats so that he was sitting next to FayLynn instead of across from her. He then scooted over so that their thighs were touching and he lightly nudged her with his shoulder as he spoke, trying to sound as understanding as possible.

"I'm sorry Fay, I didn't mean to call you insecure. You know I don't see you as anything but someone I care about." As he said this Garrus saw Fay shake her head and lift it out of her hands to look over at him, eyes shining from the tears.

"Please don't apologize Garrus, it isn't your fault. I'm just being stupid and sensitive... freaking female hormones are terrible. Making me cry and act all...rrgh."

"Huh, you are a lot of things Fay, but stupid isn't one of them. You're one of the smartest people I know." Well, she wasn't yelling at him and pushing him away. That was a good sign.

"Liar." A smile had now worked its way on to her face and she rolled her eyes at his good-natured exaggeration. He always knew how to cheer her up even if he didn't mean to. As he continued to spout off all sorts of compliments that were mostly silly Fay leaned her head on to his shoulder, sighing as she began to calm down and her emotions settled. This caused Garrus to stutter a bit and rub the back of his fringe with his free hand as he tried not to think about how warm she was against his arm.

"Well uh-I mean yeah-or no...do you enjoy messing with me?"

"Immensely. Thanks for being my friend Garrus." FayLynn looked up at the Turian as she said this and gave him a crooked smile, a few stray tears escaping their imprisonment and streaking down her cheeks. Garrus saw this and brought his free hand up to brush them away gently, letting it linger near her neck as he heard her breath catch. Had her eyes always glowed that brightly?

"So, uh, I guess until we reach the Citadel I'll go and rest or something. Maybe meditate in the training room; I heard from Dr. T'Soni that it helps with control over biotics." Fay tried to keep the blush from her cheeks as she felt the heat of their proximity. So badly did her body want to act on her feelings, but what if something between them did happen and it affected the mission? It could put them all in danger during a fight or worse; get Fay and Garrus kicked off the ship. No. She would keep it together for the both of them. Besides, waiting never killed anybody.

After getting all her rational thoughts together the C-sec Agent smiled softly at her Turian counterpart, placing her hand over his own lightly and squeezing before pulling him close. Even though it was awkward in the cramped space of the Mako the gesture was still appreciated as Garrus returned her hug after a moment's hesitation. Maybe he been a little too into the moment, but the warmth from her words and her gesture meant that he hadn't overstepped either.

"Thank you for being there for me, Garrus. You don't know how much it means to me." She then pulled away and moved to get up and leave, then stopped, turned back around to place a chaste kiss on the Turians cheek. Her own face turned cherry red with embarrassment as she then left in a hurry. Of course, she would do that after such a bold move. The recipient of her affection didn't move for another minute or two after FayLynn had left, merely touching the spot where she had kissed him and noting how warm it still was before talking to himself. Saying the words that he could never gather the courage to say in front of her.

"And you don't know how much you mean to me..."