AN: So, the last few chapters have been short, mostly because I didn't really have any ideas as to how it should differ enough from the game to create original story (it's a bit pointless for me to just reiterate what's already in the game) but I took a short break this morning to focus on my art (GohokeKitty on DeviantArt) and then tonight I had enough inspiration to plan out the rest of this story right until the end. It comes out at around sixty chapters, going into post-Reapers territory. Plus I have a sequel planned so Jane and Garrus are going to stick around for a while yet and it's going to be a hell of a ride.

Since I'm here anyway, quick thanks to everyone who reads this (especially for reading this far!) and a special shout out to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed! All of you guys rock!

So, on with the story.

Chapter 38

"Enough! Both of you!" Shepard stood between Wrex and Victus, her biotics flickering just enough to give warning as she glared at them. Her tone was stern and she glared at them with that dark fire in her eyes that only a truly unstable person would mess with. "Victus, Wrex has a point. The bomb was a shitty decision but Wrex, it wasn't his. This thing has been on Tuchanka for generations and his son just died making it right." Wrex nodded, still angry but seeing her point.

"If you were anyone else, Shepard." He warned and she simply kept her gaze steadily on him.

"Good thing I'm not, then." He grunted and moved away. Shepard sighed, allowing her biotics to dissipate as she turned to Victus with sympathetic eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Victus." He shook his head, as if shaking off her sympathy.

"He did me proud, Shepard. I just hope he knows that." She nodded and moved away. There was nothing else to say, no words to make it better. She headed to the galaxy map and sighed as she prioritised their next few missions. She had already dealt with the Cerberus presence on Tuchanka but Aria had contacted her about an interesting proposal. Something about uniting the merc gangs...

"EDI, let's head to the Attican Traverse next. Last thing we need is Rachni popping up all over the place." She spoke aloud, not bothering to walk up to the cockpit to chat with her new body. She often did out of courtesy but she was too tired and knew that Garrus had just finished with his work for the night. She was about to leave when Traynor interrupted her.

"Commander, do you have a moment?" Shepard sighed a little but smiled as she approached Traynor. She liked the girl, she knew what she was doing and he occasional lack of self-confidence was endearing and reminded Shepard of herself.

"Sure, Traynor. What do you need?" Traynor looked a little awkward at that.

"I don't mean to sound impertinent but... there have been rumours on board that you and Vakarian are together." Shepard sighed visibly at that, shaking her head a little. Between James and Victus finding out, Liara and Mordin and Joker and EDI already knowing and Javik using his Prothean psychic powers it was surprising that they hadn't been outed to the entire crew before. That didn't make it any less awkward.

"Yes Traynor, he's my bondmate. Is there a specific reason you're bringing it up?" Traynor looked a little awkward again.

"Well, Allers was saying that while she's reporting the war and not idle gossip, there are reporters interested in 'human interest' pieces. She mentioned it to one or two crew members who asked about it and they seem to have gotten it into their heads that they can make some credits from gossip about you two. I was thinking that I could block all communications to news networks with the exception of Allers. It won't stop them but it should slow the news down." Shepard smiled, laughing a little under her breath.

"Traynor, you're the best. That would be perfect, as long as it doesn't interfere with other communications or bother you too much." The specialist shook her head.

"It's no problem, Commander. Aside from a couple of idiots the crew understands and respects your privacy." She smiled, pausing for a second before folding her arms and moving onto the question she'd been wondering since Shepard had said it. "So, bondmate is the turian equivalent of husband, right?" Shepard shrugged.

"Close enough. Mates are like husband and wife and bondmates are like fairytale lovers where everything is epic and 'happily ever after'." Traynor smiled, shaking her head a little.

"Figures." Shepard bit her lip a little. She thought Joker had been teasing when he had said that Traynor had a crush on her.

"Thanks for the assist, Traynor. I owe you a drink next time we're on the Citadel. I'll even be your wing-woman." Traynor grinned at that.

"Alright then, Shepard. You're on." Shepard grinned back as she headed into the lift and to her quarters.

"Grunt!" She cried happily, Garrus grinning and shaking his head behind her at her excitement.

"Shepard! Ha! So, did those idiots finally realise they were wrong and let you out?" Shepard shook her head, grinning.

"Not exactly but you know the galaxy, if I'm not around to save it everything falls apart." She joked and the krogan laughed.

"I've missed you Shepard, not enough explosions without you around." Shepard laughed at that.

"Well, I'm here now so that problem should solve itself. Look at you, Grunt. You're all grown up. I need to stop losing time to death and prison and the like. It's becoming ridiculous."

Garrus watched as Shepard bit her lip so hard that it bled as they headed back towards the shuttle. She had always been detached and pragmatic in the past so losing people had never been a problem. This was different. This was a family member and she had made the decision that had lead to this situation. He tried to alleviate her guilt through their bond but she was having none of it, pushing him out so that she could allow the feelings within her to consume her, if only for a few moments before she steeled herself against it all again. She knew the risks of having friends and caring about people after Ashley's death ans she had decided that it was worth it but at that second, she was questioning her judgement. She turned to see the emptiness left by the young krogan one last time before boarding the shuttle, only to find, instead of emptiness, a blood-stained krogan limping towards them.

"Grunt!" She cried, running towards him.

"Anybody got something to eat?" He managed before collapsing as Shepard held him up. Garrus moved to help her support him as they moved back towards the shuttle. EDI approached and relieved Shepard of her burden so that she could scan Grunt for injuries with her omni-tool as they loaded him onto the shuttle and took off.

"Most of this blood isn't his but he is injured. He's regenerating, though. He'll be fine, just needs to eat and let himself heal." Shepard said aloud, mostly for herself as Grunt had lost consciousness, EDI already knew what she was saying and Garrus was more worried for her. Grunt was tough and Garrus had no doubt that the tank-bred krogan would make a full recovery but he worried that Jane was letting her emotions overwhelm her.

"Of course he'll be fine, Jane. You taught him well." Garrus said, putting his arms around his bondmate as EDI looked at them questioningly.

"Shepard, I have a question about human behaviour." Shepard smiled, shaking her head as relief swept through her. Garrus worried what she would be like when the inevitable happened and they lost someone. He knew that Commander Shepard would remain strong and continue on with their mission but he wondered what the cost would be to Jane.

"Go ahead, EDI." The AI nodded as Shepard sat next to Garrus.

"I have observed that your behaviour towards certain crew members such as Grunt, Jack and Jeff is similar to the behaviour displayed by parents towards children. I have also noted the behaviour in Doctor Chakwas towards even more crew members. I find it puzzling..." Shepard blushed at that, biting her lip.

"Well, I guess I think of all of the crew as my family and so I guess the crew all sort of fit into familial roles if you look closely enough. Grunt is, technically, a kid so I guess I treat him like one, Jack reminds me of a young me so I guess that's why I act that way towards her and Joker acts like a kid most of the time. He's like an annoying little brother." Her mouth twitched into a bittersweet smile as memories of her cousin James came to the surface and Garrus held her tighter.

"So you're saying that certain characteristics in those closest to you trigger maternal instincts?" Shepard cringed a little, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"I guess. Can we just stop talking about it?" EDI nodded.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable." She said and Shepard just smiled.

"It's okay, just don't tell Joker that I think of him as a kid brother. I'll never hear the end of it." She joked and Garrus brought his forehead to hers, causing her to sigh.

"Want to tell me what's wrong, ani? You've been shutting a lot of people down when they try to talk to you lately." She squirmed a little at that, looking awkward.

"I guess curing the genophage has everyone thinking about kids." Garrus let his gaze fall as he realised just what was making her uncomfortable.

"It's upsetting you because we... because humans and turians can't-" He rambled a bit but she cut him off.

"Well, my mom said no kids until I'm thirty. It's one of her Rules. So, it's not a problem yet." He just gave her a look.

"Even going by your whole 'two-years-dead-don't-count' thing, you had a birthday while you were locked up so you are technically thirty." She frowned a little.

"And here was me thinking you'd missed that. Why didn't you say anything?" He smiled at that.

"Because you hate your birthday. For you, it's an excuse to eat cake and get drunk, nothing more. And you don't need an excuse for that." She grinned at him.

"You know me too well." He smiled back, his eyes filled with worry.

"Enough to know that you're avoiding the subject." She sighed at that, placing her hand on his.

"Garrus, I meant what I said when we met Kara. We'll figure it out when the time comes but right now we're in the middle of a war. I just... I don't need it drilled into me every five minutes." She sighed and he nodded.

"Still not wishing you'd fallen for a nice human guy?" She shook her head, smiling.

"Not even a little, ani. You?" She barely ever called him ani and he felt as if every molecule in his body reacted when she did.

"Never." He managed as she touched her forehead to his.

"So, the entire crew is headed to Purgatory because..." Garrus started as they left the Normandy.

"Because I need to speak with Aria and Joker is the king of questionable ideas." He laughed as they headed towards the lift.

"So, what does the Queen of Omega want with us and why is she here?" Shepard shrugged at that as she keyed in their destination.

"She seems to think she can help out and I figure Aria's not a bad ally to have." Garrus growled a little in disagreement and she laughed a little. "Well, that's why I'm bringing Archangel with me." She said, pulling him close as if for a kiss when the elevator doors opened.

"Dammit. Why did they make the lifts here faster just as I got someone to enjoy the ride with?" He laughed at that as they headed towards the club, disregarding the funny looks they got from everyone except the asari. They figured if their privacy was screwed anyway, they might as well enjoy it.

"So, what's the plan here? Do you talk with Aria while I look intimidating?" She grinned at that.

"Sounds good. You do dangerously sexy well, you know." She said, pulling him close to quickly kiss him before they headed into the club, earning them a few glares.

They approached cautiously, watching as a C-Sec officer tried to deal with Aria. It was amusing to watch and Garrus shook his head a little as his bondmate grinned.

"Enjoy the show, Shepard?" She kept grinning as she sat next to Aria.

"I guess there's one rule on the Citadel, huh?" She joked and Aria nodded.

"I guess so. I hate this place, so sickeningly uptight." Shepard raised an eyebrow at that.

"Then why are you here?" Aria stood up, starting to pace and Shepard quickly looked to Garrus who was still standing just beside her, managing to look badass without much effort.

"Cerberus stole Omega from me. The Illusive Man is now squarely at the top of my shit list. He will pay for every second I've spent in this bureaucratic hellhole." Shepard nodded at that, smirking a little.

"Join the club." Aria turned to face her, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that's exactly why you're here. I've managed to talk the leaders of the Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse into following my rule but I need you to close the deals." Garrus growled at that.

"We don't need help from scum like that." He spoke up and Aria shrugged.

"You would say that, Archangel. The fact remains that they're out there anyway and war time makes criminal activity much easier. Under my rule their guns would be pointed at the Reapers, not you." Shepard shook her head a little.

"Even if we agreed, I'm hardly one for diplomacy." Aria nodded.

"Yes but it's not diplomacy I need. They need to know I'm serious, I figure Commander Shepard will convince them. And if you want to take your vigilante boyfriend with you, it'll only help to keep them in line." Shepard sighed, biting her lip a little.

"I'll think about it." Aria nodded.

"Once you've decided, talk to my guy at the bar. You can't miss the sleazy ass." Shepard nodded as she got up with Garrus in tow.

"So, you don't like this, do you?" Shepard asked him and his sub-harmonics rumbled with frustration.

"No. But Aria has a point. It's not as if I can hunt them all down any more so having Aria keep them in line seems like the next best thing." He admitted, reluctantly and she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a kiss. After a few moments she pulled away grinning and he couldn't help but grin back.

"I promise as soon as this war is over, we'll take the Normandy and hunt down all the merc gangs you want." Garrus grinned at that, lowering his forehead to hers.

"I thought we were going to get married after the war." She shrugged.

"Think of it as our honeymoon. Anyway, I'd better talk to Aria's guy. Can you pop upstairs and tell any of our crew up there that we'll be docked until noon tomorrow? If they want to get pissed then we should let them." He nodded, pulling away from her and she headed towards the lower bar where Joker was sitting.

"Having fun, Joker?" He shook his head.

"Not yet. I'm not nearly drunk enough for that." Shepard laughed, shaking her head as she heard someone call her name across the bar.

"Jane!" She frowned and her eyes found a human man who seemed very familiar, although she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Yeah?" She asked as he approached and he grinned.

"Damn Jane, look at you. You got all sexy." She frowned at the blonde man whose grey-blue eyes were wandering her form. She wished for a moment that her jeans and vest weren't so tight until she finally recognised his voice.

"Look who's talking! It's like you replaced all of your fat with muscle, Daniel." He laughed at that before giving her a look that she figured would probably set most girls' panties on fire. But she wasn't most girls.

"So, how about you ditch your boyfriend here and we catch up. For old times sake." He said suggestively and she folded her arms.

"Daniel, this is my pilot Joker. Joker, this is Daniel, the worst Spanish student I ever tutored." Joker nodded to him and Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"'Worst' is probably a little harsh." She shook her head.

"You didn't know what 'holla' meant." She pointed out and he smiled.

"Fine, fine. Now, if he's not your boyfriend, how about my offer?" She just smiled.

"Joker's not my boyfriend. See that turian in the heavy armour with the rifle and blue clan markings?" Daniel frowned as he watched Garrus walk down from the upper bar.

"Yeah?" She grinned.

"He's my boyfriend." She watched Daniel's shocked face as she sat the smugly. She always loved messing with him.

"Does this mean you're not introducing him as your husband until after you've had a proper wedding?" Joker asked and she sighed.

"Boyfriend, bondmate, fiancée, husband... does it really matter?" She asked, turning her attention back to Daniel. "Dan, you look like a fish." He shut his mouth that had been hanging open and he frowned a little.

"Wait, I recognise that guy... Is that Archangel?" She raised an eyebrow at that.

"I guess that makes you Aria's guy, then. " He nodded.

"Yeah. After... well, I didn't like the idea of foster homes and it turns out that while I'm not talented with much else, I know how to hold a gun." They stood a little awkwardly, neither wanting to remember Mindoir. "I... I wanted to say that I was sorry. And thanks. I always said that if I ever saw you again I'd thank you for helping me with my work when you didn't have to." She shrugged.

"You were the only person who wasn't mean to me. Other than being a complete ass, of course, but that's just you." She joked and he laughed as Garrus approached.

"Hey Jane, who's your friend?" He stood next to her and she leant into him a little.

"This is Aria's guy, Daniel. The biggest ass I've ever known and good for nothing unless you need a walking Pokemon guide." Garrus gave her a questioning look.

"Pokemon?" She smiled.

"An omni-tool game. Daniel went to school on Mindoir and I ended up tutoring him in Spanish. Those lessons often devolved into which starter pokemon is better or which bands were better." Daniel pulled a face at that.

"You were too into all of those singer/songwriter women. Too girly for me." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yeah, yeah." She said, rolling her eyes and Daniel gave Garrus a look.

"So, how long have you been into turians, Jane? Had I known, I wouldn't have taken it personally when you kissed and ran." She rolled her eyes again, shaking her head.

"Actually it was right after I kissed you. You were so awful that it put me off humans forever." She joked and he frowned at her, mockingly.

"I'm wounded. Really." He said sarcastically and she laughed, shaking her head.

"Okay, so give me the intel so that me and my dangerously sexy bondmate can go and deal with them." He sighed jokingly as he brought up his omni-tool.

"It's always work with you. You know, I could never distract her for more than five minutes at a time." He said to Garrus but Jane just smirked.

"You don't have Garrus's distracting skills." She joked and he raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently not. Okay, the Eclipse leader, Jona Sederis, is currently locked up. We've worked on getting her released but Bailey is being stubborn so you'll have to use your 'teacher's pet' routine on him." He said, reading from his omni-tool.

"I didn't have a 'routine'." She pouted and he just grinned, turning to Garrus.

"None of the teachers really knew who she was so when she talked to them about anything she acted like a swot and they figured she was the quiet hard-working type so they never gave her any bother. The amount of homework she got out of... And she was only in school for a couple of months every year!" Garrus grinned at that.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." She pulled a face.

"Well, it's better than getting a reputation as a troublemaker. You know, I got warned about you when I recruited you, Garrus." He gave her a questioning look.

"You never told me that." She shrugged a little.

"Yeah, well, all it did was make me like you more." She admitted and he grinned.

"God, you two are so... nauseating. Okay, for the Blood Pack, you need to speak to our guy Narl. We've got a plan in place to remove their leader with our guy, he'll fill you in once you get there. As for the Blue Suns, Vosque wants a favour and he's a total jerk." She raised an eyebrow.

"So, why aren't you two the best of friends?" He shrugged.

"Hey, I'm just a bit of an ass, not a complete douche." She nodded, raising her eyebrow again.

"Uh-huh. Well, thanks for the info. It's... It's nice to know that some things don't change." She admitted and he nodded.

"Yeah. You're not the same awkward, shy girl who left Mindoir, are you?" She shook her head.

"Something tells me that the sleazy ass thing is just an act. I guess pretending to be who you were before is better than admitting how badly what happened hurt you, huh?" He took a deep breath and nodded.

"Maybe. Maybe some things are just hard-wired. Take care of her, Archangel. I've lost enough childhood friends..." Garrus nodded at that and they left the bar.

"I'm sorry if you got cut out of that conversation a bit, Garrus." She said as they headed out of the club.

"No problem, ani. I'm guessing you haven't seen him since..." She nodded.

"He was the only person who didn't treat me like I was invisible or a freak on Mindoir. He was a total jerk and couldn't go five minutes without making a sexist comment but... it was never malicious, you know? He didn't mean it, it was just how he coped with the bullying. Anyway, I kissed him that last summer on Mindoir and then I didn't talk to him again before... After that I didn't know if he was alive or dead and I never really looked into it. I guess he made his way to Omega." Garrus held her tight as she allowed the memories to envelop her for a moment. "It's weird to think about it... me before I met you. Doesn't quite seem like me..." She shook her head, smiling a little.

"Same. I'm pretty sure me before I met you wouldn't have ever dreamt of going vigilante. So, let's go deal with some merc gangs. Archangel and Phoenix style." He said and she grinned, nodding and putting thoughts of Daniel and the past back where they belonged; in the past.

"You can come out now, Kasumi." Shepard called and Garrus gave her a questioning look.

"How'd you know?" The thief asked as she de-cloaked and Shepard just grinned.

"Lucky guess." She said and Kasumi shook her head.

"Well, lucky guess or no I'm not coming with you. It kind of defeats the point of disappearing forever." Shepard grinned at that.

"Oh trust me, I understand completely." Garrus laughed a little at that.

"Yeah, she's still trying to figure out how we're going to disappear with the Normandy after we've taken care of the Reapers." Shepard shrugged at that.

"Hey, gotta have a retirement plan" She reasoned and he laughed.

"Don't suppose I could talk you into a house on the beach somewhere?" She shrugged again.

"Maybe as a summer home." She joked and Kasumi shook her head.

"You two are sweet but I'm off. Send me an invite to the wedding, though. I might even show up. No promises, though." Shepard sighed at that.

"Kasumi, the Crucible project could use your skills." The thief sighed at that.

"I'm not a scientist, Shepard." She pointed out and Shepard sighed in response.

"Come on, Kasumi. They're going to need hard to come by resources. Plus, once it's over it's not like they're going to be checking pockets or anything." The thief nodded at that.

"You say the nicest things, Shep. Fine, I'll go." Shepard nodded as her friend headed off before turning to Garrus.

"Come on, we've got about half an hour to kill before Gabby and Ken show up." Garrus gave her a questioning look.

"The two engineers from the SR2?" She nodded.

"Yeah, turns out they were still being held for working with Cerberus. I used my authorisation to have them released when I was in the Spectre Office. Now, come on, Kara was messaging me about making a chocolate fudge cake yesterday..."