Alright long note for you guys... First off two small sorrys. The first is for once again being late. Getting back into classes and not having a lot of free time. The second is for the mix up in past chapters. I have been replaying the first and have been putting Fist instead of Fade. I am sorry for this. Alright now to my main plea of forgiveness. It has been brought to my attention that my spelling is completely terrible. I have always known that I can not spell at all. And I also have the terrible habit of when I read over words, even if they are misspelled, if they are close to the spelling I know what it is and skip over it. I didn't realize just how back it was until I was asked if English isn't my native language. I am ashamed to say that I can not even claim that as an excuse. I know for many of you it ruins the flow of the story when you are reading and come across so much misspelling. The only thing I can say is that I am truly and deeply sorry. I will try so hard to proof read my stories many times and make sure they are not faulted. But I an only promise so much with my awful spelling. I truly hope that I do not lose my dear readers because of this.
Now on to lighter notes... If anyone has done fan art please link it in a comment that way I can share it with everyone ^.^ I'll even put it with the story on my DeviantArt account. And another thing WOW! One away from 90 stalkers! You make me feel so loved. You guys are making me all tingly. I wonder if we can get it up to 100 by the end of ME2.. I will thank the review next chapter(if I remember...) This note is already far to long... Alright now on to why we are here...
Disclaimer: Only in my dreams do I own Garrus and all the wonder of Bio-ware... But in the real worlds I only stare at him longingly.
He was dreaming. How else could he be on the Citadel. Not in a shop or on the Presidium. No, he was on top of one of the Citadel arms staring out into space around him. He stood with no helmet on in his everyday armor just watching the galaxy drift by. His dream self must have heard something because he turned to look down the arm to the figure standing there. She was dressed in the stupidly wonderful dress he had seen just a few days ago. Her hips swayed as she slowly made her way over to him. His eyes raked in every curve and every dip of her body. As his eyes landed on her lips he watched as they moved but no sound came out. He felt his dream self laugh at whatever it was that she had said, clearly whatever it was, it was quite funny.
Her hand moved up to run along his mandible before landing at the back of his head. There her fingers began to move in small circles which he discovered drove him mad. His own hands moved out to wrap around her waist and pulled her flush to him. He had to admit that even if it was a dream she seemed to fit against him so perfectly that it felt meant to be. His head dropped down so that he could nuzzle into her neck. A smell began to reach him, one that didn't belong in a dream but he welcomed it anyway. Her natural scent laced with gun oil, metal and that flower smell that seemed to come from her cleaning soaps. It was comforting and made him feel a level of peace he had not felt for quite some time.
There was a soft click by his head as he turned away from her and looked down the barrel of the gun that was beside his head. His gaze moved down the barrel and to the person holding it. Sensat. He stood with a glare in his eye as he looked over Garrus. Slowly his gaze moved to the woman and his gun moved towards her direction. Garrus began to panic as he tried to explain that this was wrong but as before, no words seemed to come out of his mouth. Suddenly other members of his team began to appear around them. Three moved over to restrain him while the others moved around her. Garrus began to fight against the hands that held him as he reached out for her. A small smile graced her lips as she seemed to accept just what was happening to her. Behind her a figure appeared to wrap his arms around her shoulders and pull her flush to him. Sidonis gazed over towards Garrus with a smile as he reached behind him to pull a gun of his own out. Moving ever so slowly he placed the gun against her temple and pulled the trigger.
A hand on his shoulder caused his eyes to shoot open. With quick movement he reached out and grabbed the figure that loomed above him. With a twist he had the intruder pinned under him on his cot. A snarl was followed by a steady growl as his dream haze slowly began to fade. As reality began to set in, he realized that the smell still lingered in the room around him. The feeling of soft flesh was under his fingers as he began to shake the dream from his eyes.
There laying on his cot in a state of shock was Jane. Her hands were raised and placed on his chest as if to keep him at bay, but there was no force in her gesture. Her breath was hitched slightly as her eyes showed the panic she was feeling. Though he took note of the red that danced across her nose and cheek in a blush.
As quickly as he could he relaxed and pulled away from her, the growl dying out quickly. He now went into his own state of panic. He had pinned Jane to his bed as well as snarled at her. There was so much to apologize for he didn't even know where to begin. As he looked to her he raised a hand to run over the back of his neck as he thought of how to start. "Look, Jane I-"
But she cut him off as she sat up and shook her head. A smile was now on her lips as she seemed to be relieved. "It's ok Garrus. I should know better than to shake a sleeping turian awake." She laughed as she moved off of his bed to stand up. "Though I have to say that was more surprising than I could have imagined. I didn't know whether to be turned on or terrified..."
Garrus sat in a whole other state of shock as he watched her. He was aware of her flirting capability, that much was true. But now it was getting hard to tell a joke from serious flirting. Or maybe it was just his hope that she was starting to feel for him the way he was starting to feel for her. He gave a small shake of his head as if to clear it. He would save those thoughts for later. A smirk grew on his face as he looked over to her.
"So is there another reason for sneaking into my room at night, or do you simply like to see my reaction from crawling into my bed and waking me?" He watched as she seemed to regain her composure as he reminded her of her reason for being there. From the serious look on her face he could tell this was not a friendly, hang out calling. She gave a small tilt of her head towards the door as she moved towards it backwards so she continued to face him. "Joker woke me. We have docked at the Citadel. I felt you wanted to get out there as quick as I want to."
He nodded as he stood to move towards the door. He quickly sat back down as he realized that he was wearing nothing but his bed sheet. Of course nudity was nothing to a turian but there was an odd feeling to be standing naked in front of Jane in the main battery all alone. A feeling he was not quite familiar with.
He had recently started to sleep out of his armor, a habit that was hard to break but needed. On this ship they did not have beds that were turian friendly. His cowl on a human bed alone caused his neck to ache, adding armor to that was even worse. So he started to sleep without armor and quite a few pillows. But not being used to sleeping nude plus the added fact that she had caught him off guard had made him completely forget about it.
He let his eyes move to her as she seemed to be looking him over with a questionable gaze. After a second she caught on and waved her hand as she moved towards the door. "Darn, I hoped you wouldn't have noticed." Her hand rose to move a strand of deep red out of her face. "I guess I should wait outside while you get dressed." He heard her laugh before she disappeared behind the door. He shook his head as he rose to start getting dressed.
An hour later found them in the wards of the Citadel. Garrus used his investigation skills and found out just where they could meet up with this Fade guy. As they entered the room they were greeted by a volus and two krogan guards. Beside him Jane gave a small laugh looking over the suited alien. "You have got to be kidding me..."
Garrus couldn't help but agree. This was not what he was expecting when he thought of a person that could make others disappear. As the volus moved over to them he began to study them with raspy breaths. After a moment he gave a nod. "Which one of you are needed to disappear? Or is this a forbidden love runaway case?" He could feel Jane's eyes on him as he caught her smile out of the corner of his eyes. It seemed she was going to let him run this mission. He shifted slightly as he looked back to the volus.
"I would much rather you make someone reappear..." His statement clearly took the volus back. He seemed to become frantic as he shook his head. "That is not the services that I supply..." Garrus could feel his temper start to rise. They were getting so close. He wasn't going to let a small volus and two krogan stand in the way of his revenge. Pulling out his sidearm he trained it on the volus. "How about you make an exception, just this once."
The volus took a step back and began to shout at the krogan to fire at them. At his side Jane pulled out one of the pistols at her leg and pointed it at the nearest krogan. A smile was plastered on her face as she stared him down. After a second she spoke to him. "Do you really want to die for him?" She asked in a sweet tone but it was clear she was ready to take him down if need be. The krogan looked to his companion before they both turned and walked away. Garrus didn't even bother to hide his smile as he looked back to the volus. "Now Fade, lets get to business."
The volus took a step back and shook his head. "I'm not Fade. I just handle his matters." From his side Garrus heard Jane chuckle as she shook her head. "I knew it.." Garrus let his attention move back to the volus as he began to pace.
"You can find Harkin in the shipping district. He has a whole group of mercs with him. Mostly Blue Suns." Garrus holstered his gun as he looked down to the volus. "You better hope he is there. Because if he's not, I'm coming after you." With that the volus turned and walked away. Garrus turned back towards Jane who stood with her arms crossed, her weapon back in it's spot on her thigh, and a smile on her face.
"So, off to kill some Blue Suns it seems. They must have sent Sidonis to Fade after they made their deal. That's how he disappeared so quickly." Garrus nodded as he moved over to stand in front of her. He could feel his excitement growing. They were so close that he could almost taste his revenge. Looking to Jane he could tell that she was in the same place as he was, constantly shifting her weight showing her excitement.
"So this Fade is actually Harkin. What a small galaxy we live in..." Garrus looked to Jane to see she had a puzzled look on her face. "A friend of yours?" He laughed roughly as he shook his head. "Hardly. We worked in C-Sec together. I'm guessing he is using the inside loop he learned in C-Sec to make people vanish. Makes sense."
He gave her a nod which she returned. It was time to get down to business. But there was one thing that bothered him. They had agreed to contact John when they needed him. But there was a part of him that enjoyed it just being the two of them. And an even smaller voice was telling him that, while John agreed, there was a large chance he might try to keep him from killing Sidonis. And that was something that he just would not stand. As he walked out of the small area that they had been in, he chanced a glance back at Jane to voice his thoughts.
"I think this will be something that we can take care of ourselves. We are both very capable of taking out a few mercs. Don't really need to bother John with this sort of thing." He gave her a small smile as she offered a simple nod. Her steps quickened so that she came to walk by his side. "I agree. John never really gets a day off. No use pinging him for nothing." Her smile reassured him as he turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
It was a quiet and short flight to the shipping district where they found a group of Blue Suns being commanded by a human male in simple clothing. Right away Garrus identified him as Harkin and just as quickly Harkin send his group of mercs on them.
As they began their fight, Garrus stood beside Jane, firing from cover as they made their way towards the room Harkin had ran in to hide. But as they got closer they split up, Jane taking the left as Garrus took the right. It was when he was in the middle of reloading that he heard a small gasp over his com. Immediately a slight panic began to spread in him. Raising his hand he spoke over the com. "Jane, are you alright?" Had she been hit? Had something gone wrong on her side?
His reply was a chuckle before her light hearted voice came in over the com. "Yes, sorry about that. Just excited about a silly song. One of my favorites." There was a pause before she continued. "Did I give you a mini heart attack?"
He couldn't help but chuckle as he shook his head at her. "Not fully but still gave me a scare. The last thing I need is to go back to the Normandy with you hurt. I'm pretty sure John would ground us and not let us out of our rooms for quite a while." He chuckled once more before moving to take out two of the mercs that were pushing towards him. As he moved up to the next bit of cover he caught a flash of red from the others side of the room as Jane did the same.
"Oh, don't worry about that, I know how to handle John. And I'm pretty sure I would be in more trouble than you." He had to laugh at that as he steadied his rifle to take out a merc that was peeking over the edge of a crate up ahead. "You know Jane, I seriously doubt that..."
That was the end of their conversation as they pushed forward. As they neared the room after taking out the mercs that had appeared, he watched as Jane ducked into the room from the left side. Deciding to take the other side and come from the rear, Garrus moved into the room to see Harkin standing with his arms up, Jane in front of him with her gun aimed straight towards him.
Garrus moved up behind him and placed his pistol to the back of his head. "Hello Harkin. It has been a while." Harkin turned to look at Garrus with fear. Good. He wanted this man to be afraid of him. After a moment it seemed that Harkin found his voice.
"Vakarian. What do you want?" Garrus took a step forward causing Harkin to take a step back. Garrus noticed how Jane stood at Harkin's back still. She would make sure he could not run. It was good but he wasn't quite used to this sort of style. Usually John would come to his side and do most of the talking. But now it was all up to him. He liked the bit of power he held once more, back like it was on Omega. But this wouldn't end like Omega. He would make sure of that.
"I'm looking for someone, someone you helped to disappear. I need you to make him reappear." Harkin seemed to pale as he shook his head. His hands were still in the air as if to show his submission but his words said otherwise. "I can't do that Garrus. It's bad for business." Garrus gave an angry snarl as he leaned forward so that he was right in Harkin's face.
"You know what else is bad for business? Being dead." To prove just how far he was willing to go he brought his gun down, so that he could fire a shot straight into Harkin's knee. As the guy dropped with a yell, Garrus let his eyes move to Jane to judge her reaction. The girl simply stood, staring down at the man with narrowed eyes. It was clear that she was in the same standing as him. How many evil men had Harkin hid away so that they were not held accounted for their crimes? How many innocent people were hurt because this man helped those who did not deserve it? A smile grew on his face before he let his attention move back towards Harkin. The man sat pleading on the ground.
"Alright alright... Who is it you are looking for?" Garrus moved so that he was now looking the man in the eyes, squatting down to do so. "His name is Lantar Sidonis. From Omega." Harkin gave a nod that he knew exactly who Garrus was looking for. Slowly the man rose on his good leg and hobbled over towards the terminal that was nearby. Garrus rose and turned to watch him as he seemed to have a one sided conversation with who he assumed was Sidonis on the other side. He stated that he was compromised and needed to send him to an agent. It was an almost perfect set up.
As Garrus watched him, his eagerness began to show as he himself began to shift as Jane had earlier. They were so close. But he had to deal with Harkin in the meantime. He was scum and the galaxy would be a better place without him. Slowly he raised his gun to aim at the back of the man's head. As soon as he finished the call he planned to take him out. But a small hand on top of his caused him to let his gaze move down towards Jane who gave him a small shake of her head. His subharmonic began to chime in confusion. He had thought she was with him in this. Why was she stopping him now? She moved so that she could lean in to whisper in his ear so that Harkin could not hear.
"It's true that he is worthless trash but he still cooperated. And when word gets out that a simple shot to the leg can get him to give up his clients he will lose all business. And with that he will be harmless and useless. Plus, we are about to get our own revenge, others might get the same idea if they find out they can hunt down those that he has hid." His eyes glanced back to Harkin as he thought over her point. She was right in a sense. Looking back to her he gave a small tilt of his head. "But how do we know word will get out? Everyone here that might have said something is dead.." Her eyes lit up as she looked from Harkin and back to him. There was a hint of glee in her eyes as a twisted smile spread across her lips. "Oh trust me... There are quite a few people on Omega that are sure to hear about this. There is a certain doctor that had many cases of families who were grieved and the one who grieved them seemed to vanish."
He could not help the smile that appeared on his face. He made a mental note not to get on Jane's bad side. She seemed to have ties all over the galaxy and knew just how to pull the strings to make someones life miserable. But he still couldn't have Harkin run off to warn Sidonis. So as he told them the meeting spot Garrus moved up to give the man a solid head butt to knock him out. With that they moved on their way to get their revenge.
When they arrived at the designated meeting spot Garrus took a look at his surroundings. His trained eye caught the perfect ledge to set up on. He would have a great view of the entire area and would be able to take out Sidonis. Looking to Jane he gave her a small nod. "I'll set up, up there." He pointed over his shoulder to the point that he indicated. "It's no use trying to act as his contact, he already knows your face. But I'm sure if he sees you he may come straight to you. If not then you can always herd him my way..."
Jane gave him a nod in return as she turned to look at the crowd of people. It was clear that she was nervous as well as excited. She shifted her weight as she had before but her eyes kept shifting as well, trying to catch a glance of Sidonis. Garrus felt an urge to reassure her. Reaching out he placed a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes quickly moved to him and a timid smile came to her lips. "It's almost over Jane. We are just a few minutes from paying him back for all our grief..."
She nodded once more and was still fidgeting but there was a bit more lax to her body. Pulling away from her, he began to move towards the catwalk. Once he was fully set up he raised a hand to speak to her over the com. "Alright Jane. I'm in position. Call him over and keep him talking. When he is lined up, I'll let you know." In an afterthought he looked through his scope to see her face looking up towards him. "Make sure you keep your com on. I want to hear what that bastard has to say..."
He saw her lips curved in a smile as she spoke. Her lips moved but he heard the voice through the com in his ear. "Sure thing, Garrus.." He watched as she turned and began to move to the middle of the room. He could still see her perfectly as the people moved around her. After a moment her hand rose and her fingers moved in a little wave. Her head was turned away from him so he could not see her expression as a turian quickly made his way towards her. As he reached her his arms opened wide and he captured her in a large hug. Over his com he heard their conversation.
"Spirits, Jane. I prayed I would see you again but I never thought that I ever would." A flare of fire that had nothing to do with his revenge rose in Garrus's gut as he watched the embrace. There was something about another male touching her so friendly like that that struck a sour chord in him. Pushing those thoughts from his mind he turned his attention back to the events at hand.
As Sidonis pulled away from her, he let a hand linger on her arm. The way they were standing, Jane's head blocked Garrus from Sidonis. He was about to say something to Jane when her voice came over the com. It was full of anger and hate, even he could hear that. Maybe it was a bad idea to send her to meet him. She had quite a bit of rage built up just as Garrus did, but she was face to face with the one who caused her pain. She had a chance to call him out on that pain and it seemed she was going to take it.
"What's the matter Sid? Surprised to see that I actually made it out of their alive? Thought that the Blue Suns would have taken care of me after you left?" He caught a small glimpse of Sidonis's face from around the side of Jane's head. But it was too close, he couldn't take the shot just yet. Sidonis seemed completely in shock as he stared at the human girl.
"Ja-Na, what are you talking about?" There was no stutter, there was no hint of lying. He seemed to be truly unsure of what she was talking about. But it appeared that Jane didn't hear it that way. She began to lay right into him. "You bastard! You handed me over to the Blue Suns. Right after you gave them your whole team. You called Garrus away so they could take out the whole group. Handed me over. Then you skipped town and disappeared under the care of Fade. You are more of a coward than I ever would have thought!"
A flash of fear crossed Sidonis's face through the scope as his eyes began to move around. "You know Garrus, Jane?" He heard Jane give a small laugh as she shifted her weight. "Of course I do. He is the one who busted me out of the Blue Suns cell. He is the turian that traveled with my brother. In fact, I'm here with him now..." That was a kick she should not have done. Now Sidonis was aware of the fact that he was targeted. But the turian seemed to not give a damn about it as he moved closed to grab hold of Jane's elbows of her crossed arms. He moved in close as he spoke to her almost too quietly for him to hear, almost.
"Jane you have it all wrong... I didn't hand you over... They grabbed me after one of our meetings. They started to lay into me and threaten my life to give up the team. I wasn't going to do it. I would rather die then hand over everyone. But then they found you. They brought you in to make me talk." There was a pause as Sidonis seemed to have trouble saying the next part. Garrus watched as the turians hand moved up to cup her cheek. That small fire of rage was back in Garrus's gut. It was joined by another feeling of anger. This was going nowhere near what he had planed. This was all going to hell real quickly.
"Jane, they brought in a screen. Had me watch the feed. Watch as they tortured you. Watched as they stripped you down and abused you in that damn room. I couldn't watch it. I had to cave, to save you. I gave them the base and the team..." Jane pulled away from him and turned to face Garrus. Her eyes seemed to be trying to find the right emotion for the moment. There was a war behind her eyes as she looked up towards him for help. Garrus had a clean shot of Sidonis but now he was unsure if he really wanted to take the shot. He steadied himself as he looked towards Sidonis once more. The other turian moved to place a hand on Jane's shoulder.
"It's been killing me since I left. Because of me the whole team is gone. The only thing that kept me going was that they swore to me that once I was off Omega they would let you go. Well, that and the knowledge that I got Garrus out of the slaughter. And from what you said he got off Omega as well." Jane turned once more so that her back was to Garrus as this load of information hit him. Sidonis had called him away on his own accord? He had always thought that it was so the Blue Suns could take the base. He always thought that if he had been there then they would have lived. Did Sidonis not trust in his leading skills? Once more Jane seemed to be on the same foot as him.
"What do you mean? You left your team without their leader. They were slaughtered because he wasn't there. Why would you do that?" Sidonis's head shook as he seemed to fight back, defending himself. "Jane, they had so many mercs, so many. He wasn't there to see. He would have been taken out like the rest. And they had you. They knew that if they let it be known that they had Shepard's sister as a hostage, then Archangel would come and try to save her. The sister of the great hero of the Citadel in merc's hands, Archangel would never stand for that." He shook his head as he looked up. It seemed he caught sight of the reflection from the scope as his eyes landed right on Garrus. When he spoke next he addressed him rather than Jane.
"Knowing her now, if you were in my position, would you have done it differently? Would you have let her die?" Garrus fought back a growl as he thought it over. Ten lives versus one. But that one was Jane. Memories flashed through his mind of his team. Them joking and fighting together all over Omega. Then other memories began to trump those memories. Images of Jane. When she first met him in the Blue Suns base. When she fought together with her brother. Even just images of her laughing and joking with him and the crew. He gave a defeated sigh as he lowered his rifle. Sidonis was right. He would have done the exact same thing.
Raising his hand he spoke to Jane. "Let him go... There is no revenge to gain..." Pushing away from the catwalk he rose to his feet and shut off the com. Looking down towards them he watched as they spoke to each other. Sidonis moved to embrace Jane but she blocked him and shook her head. After a few exchanges of words she gave him a slight push and moved away from him quickly. Garrus watched as Sidonis seemed to be lost as to what to do. In the end he turned and walked away in the opposite direction.
Descending the catwalk he found Jane pacing in a small wing off to the side of the main street. She seemed to be mumbling to herself. As Garrus drew near to her he stopped just inside of the area. She paused and looked up to him with a flash of anger.
"It's my fault. I'm the one that got your team killed!" Her feet began to move again as she paced back and forth all the while continuing to talk. "I'm the one that is all to blame. He gave up ten lives," her eyes moved up to his for a moment before darting away, "almost eleven lives all for me. If I could have stopped them from grabbing me or never had even met Sidonis your whole team would be alive and well."
She moved towards him quickly and before he could stop her she brought the barrel of his rifle up to rest on her chest. She stood for a moment with a look in her eyes that seemed to cry despair. "This is your revenge... I would not hold it against you. You deserve to have some form of closing. And I am it. I am to blame for it all!" He could see her mentally crumbling. She was falling apart. There was a clatter as his rifle fell to the ground. Reaching out he took hold of her shoulders and brought her flush to his body. His arms moved around her to bring her even closer. He dropped his head to move very close to her neck. Taking in her smell he gave a soft sigh.
"Jane, I can't blame you. Never would I blame you. And he was right. If I were in his place I would have given anything to have you safe. Even the lives of my men. You are worth those lives..." He felt her body shake and the salty smell that reached him told him that she was crying. Even through the tears he could hear the words that escaped between gasping breaths.
"Why... why would... my life... be worth... all... of theirs..." He had to chuckle slightly as he pulled back. Raising her face he raised a thumb to wipe away the tears that trailed down her face. Spirits damn him, he really was starting to be attracted to this human. Even with puffy red eyes. "Jane, you come into peoples lives like your brother. Without even being aware people grow so attached to you and care about you. You are an amazing person and are not to be forgotten easily. You have a way of touching people in ways that they wouldn't expect. And it's in a good way. And people want to do anything for you. Kinda like your brother. He risks his life to save so many but any one of us would sacrifice the whole mission just to keep him safe. It's a power that you two seem to share."
He chuckled again as he brought her back in a hug. It was such a comfortable feeling of having her so close. This was not good. He was sure of it now. He was falling for her, and hard. "I can't hate you for being the wonderful person that you are..." He felt her pull back as she looked up towards him. Her crying had seemed to subside for the moment which was a relief. She moved a hand to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand.
"You think that I am wonderful?" He chuckled as he pulled away from her, sure now that she was over her emotional roller-coaster moment. He couldn't blame her, she had just been through an emotional shit storm. Moving to her side he placed a hand on the small of her back to lead her out of the small wing.
"Of course I do. Maybe not as wonderful as I am but you are so close, it is almost scary." He chuckled as she did as well. There was so much he wanted to say to her, tell her just how wonderful he thought she was. But he kept his mouth shut. He was not about to add to her drama. It was clear she had had her fill for the day.
"Come on... I'll buy you a drink. You and I both need one." He looked down to her with a smile that she eagerly returned. Turning away from the wing they began to make their way towards the wards where they would be able to get a drink or two. As they began to walk Garrus could not help but notice that Jane did not pull away from his hand on her back. In fact, she even seemed to be leaning into it, even in the slightest of ways.