.

Loyalty and Limerence

Part 2

Chapter 15

The Normandy SR2

It didn't take long for them to make their way from the Citadel to the Dholen System in the Far Rim. Garrus had been confused, at first, why they were heading out to the far edge of the galaxy, but then Shepard showed him their newest dossier and he understood.

Tali'Zorah vas Neema had finally been tracked down. They were on their way to see about recruiting her. Garrus couldn't quite figure out why she would be at the backend of nowhere, but he was excited to see the quarian again.

As he stepped out of the elevator, Garrus turned the corner and come face to face with Jane. His eyes widened. She'd clearly just left the showers, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a tank top. Around her shoulders was a towel, which she had one hand in as she used it to dry her hair.

Her shoulder length hair.

"Hey, Garrus." Jane said warmly as she vigorously rubbed her hair with the towel before returning it to lay across her shoulders. She gave her head a shake before running her fingers through her hair, dislodging a few tangles. "What do you think?"

"It's shorter." He stated dumbly as he struggled to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. He knew humans cut their hair, Ridgefield had apparently gotten his cut every month religiously, but Garrus had never really given it much thought before.

"Yes. It is." Jane said in much the same way one might point out that space was big, her eyebrow raised. He hurried to continue.

"But I like it, it looks good. It reminds me of how it looked when we first met." She smiled again at that. "Can I touch it?"

"Of course. You don't really need to ask, I don't mind." With that, he took a half step forward to close the gap between them, lifting his hand up to run his fingers through it. He marveled at how the water clung to it, making it stick together in larger locks. "Chakwas did a really good job, it looks great."

"Wait, what?" She asked with confusion as she tilted her head to the side slightly, "What makes you think Chakwas had anything to do with it?"

"Oh, I just assumed that something like that would need to be done by a medical professional. Removing a part of your body seems like a major procedure." By the amusement quickly suffusing her face, he could tell they were on wildly different pages, and he felt an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck.

"Of course not, I had Gabby do it right here in the bathroom." He felt his eyes widen at that, and she continued, "Garrus, human hair has no feeling to it. It's not a living part of our body. Kind of like fingernails or talons. It's pretty much just cosmetic."

"Oh." Garrus felt an odd stab of disappointment lance through him at that, and he looped a lock of her hair around his finger absently. "I didn't realize you couldn't feel anything. It feels good to touch it, I'd kind of hoped it felt good for you, too." Her face softened at that, the amusement being replaced by a warmth that made something flutter in his belly.

"I wouldn't say I feel nothing, it feels good on my scalp. I like when you play with my hair." He felt himself brighten at that.

"Good to know. I'll still be gentle with it, then." He said, which caused her to laugh as her eyes sparkled.

"Well, not too gentle, I hope." Jane murmured quietly, her voice husky in a way that turned the flutters in his belly into a roiling mess, "A girl likes her hair pulled every now and then."

"Is that so?" Garrus purred, forcing himself to contain the anticipation in his subvocals, "What, like this?" He carefully fisted his fingers in her hair, tugging her head gently to the side to expose her neck. The smell of her washed over him as he stepped even closer, tantalizing as he leaned in toward her. A small, pleased gasp escaped her lips as she leaned in as well, her hands coming up to rest on his waist, her fingernails digging into him in a way that made him growl lightly.

Nearby, a door whooshed open.

"Eeeep!" Someone yelped in surprise, and Garrus released Jane's hair as they sprang apart quickly. He looked up to see Gabby standing in the bathroom doorway, her eyes wide and her hand mostly covering a widening grin. "I'm- I'm so sorry to disturb you guys! I'll just-" She quickly snaked around them, giving them a wide berth, before darting into the elevator, a nervous laugh trailing behind her.

"Shit," Jane breathed, and he turned back to see her rubbing her face, "I forgot about her. Give it an hour and the entire ship is going to know about us."

"Ah well, we had a good run." He chuckled and she looked up at him with a crooked grin.

"Well, I was about to head upstairs to work on one of my models for a little before we arrive at Haestrom. Would you like to come up and take a look at it? It's a really neat one." She started toward the elevator, turning to look back at him.

"Sure, I'd love to see it." Honestly, he didn't deserve to be this happy.

"John?" Jane called out as they stepped into his quarters, but they were met with silence. She took a few steps forward as she looked around, but stopped when she saw no one. "Huh, I guess he must be in the CIC or something." With a widening smile, she looked back at Garrus and reached for his hand. "Well, since he's not here… Seems a waste of a good bed." She stepped backward toward the large bed, pulling him with her, "Maybe we could pick up where we left off downstairs…"

Garrus let her pull him down the small set of steps, but they both froze as a soft snore reverberated through the loft. Their eyes shot to the prone figure draped across the couch.

"Ah, not again…" Jane's face wilted as she let go of Garrus' hand and walked over to where Shepard lay snoring lightly. "I keep telling him to use the bed, but I keep finding him passed out on the couch." She sighed as she knelt down to pick up the dropped datapad from the floor near where Shepard's hand dangled. Placing it down on the table, she watched the sleeping man for a moment, considering.

"Do you find him like this often?" Garrus whispered as he took a seat on the end of the bed, watching as Jane placed a gentle hand on her brother's back, rubbing it tentatively.

"Yeah," She murmured as she stood up and crossed over to a drawer to pull out a light blanket before returning to drape it carefully over the sleeping Commander. Her sure movements suggested it wasn't the first time this scene had played out. Jane stood over him and watched him for a moment longer before returning to sit beside Garrus on the bed.

"He puts up a good front for the crew, but I'm starting to feel like this mission is wearing on him a bit." He said quietly, and Jane nodded as she leaned forward to place her elbows on her knees.

"Yeah, I think so, too. And I haven't been doing much to alleviate that." Her voice was weary as she hung her head, her towel laying across her shoulders blocking his view of her face.

"You guys have seemed a lot more close the past week or so since the incident with the Reds." Garrus pointed out hesitantly, bringing a hand up to rest on her back, "I bet that has been a huge load off for him. And before that, you were doing the best you could, given the situation. No one can blame you for that." She sat up a little, lifting her head to glance at him over her shoulder with a sad smile.

"I suppose. But I feel like I'm not enough. He needs better support than just me."

"Well, he has me, too. And, honestly, the crew seems to be taking to him pretty quickly. Pretty soon, this is going to be Shepard's crew, not Cerberus'." She chuckled at that as she sat up and leaned her head on his shoulder. He hummed contentedly, bringing his hand around to rest on her shoulder, pulling her closer.

"True. Very true. But still…" Jane pulled back just enough to look up at him, "I just wish he had someone. Someone who-" She cut off suddenly as their eyes locked. Her face softened as she gazed up at him and he felt his heart thud hard in his chest. It wasn't very often that he got to see her looking vulnerable, she always seemed to be a pillar of confidence and determination.

Garrus wasn't sure what she saw as she looked up at him, but a soft pink flush started to suffuse her cheeks. After a moment, she looked away again and brought a hand up to run through her hair. He wasn't sure if he'd ever understand why she'd picked him of all people, but he wasn't about to complain.

"I'm lucky to have you." She whispered, and then it was completely impossible to contain the pleasure in his subvocals. Standing, he offered his hand down to Jane, which she took, letting him pull her to her feet and into his arms. He hugged her tightly to him, marveling at how their dramatically different bodies could still come together so perfectly.

"My thoughts, exactly."

A few hours later found Garrus suited up and ready to head planetside alongside the rest of the ground team. Their initial reports regarding the situation down on Haestrom seemed grim at the very best, and it seemed like a miracle that they'd shown up when they had. Hopefully, they would be able to track down Tali and get her out of there safely.

He was one of the last ones ready to go, most of the team already waiting on the shuttle. As he neared the shuttle, he spotted Jane leaning against one of the nearby crates, staring down at her helmet in her hands with a thoughtful expression he couldn't place. At the sound of his footsteps, however, her head snapped up and she smiled as her eyes landed on him.

"You sure took your sweet time, Big Guy." She grinned as she shoved her helmet under one arm before giving her head a small shake, her hair fanning out. She gave it a ruffle with her fingers, giving it a roguish, 'just rolled out of bed' sort of look that perfectly matched her playful grin.

"What do you think now that it's brushed and dried?"

"Stunning." Garrus grinned back at her as he looked around to find them alone. He took a step closer, completely unable to keep his distance, "But it's much less fun to play with when I have my gloves on." He muttered as he lifted a hand to flip a single red lock. Jane opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a gagging sound behind him.

Garrus turned his head to see Jack strutting toward the shuttle, her expression caught between amused insinuation and utter disgust. She sneered at them, rolling her eyes.

"Ugh, get a room, Princess." She muttered as she brushed past them roughly.

"Get a life, Jack." Jane shot back, only to be met with an amused bark of laughter as the other woman ducked into the shuttle. Jane sighed as she turned her attention back to Garrus. "I knew Gabby was going to tell everyone."

"In her defense," Garrus pointed out, "We haven't been very good at keeping it to ourselves…" Jane considered that for a moment before shrugging, chagrin on her face.

"Touché." She admitted, and Garrus chuckled as he slid his helmet on his head, doing up the latches to seal it.

"Ready?" He asked as he looked down at her. Jane seemed to consider him for a moment, her expression almost tentative. "What's wro-" In an instant, she reached up to grab the sides of his helmet, pulling him down closer to her. She quickly pressed a kiss to the glass of his faceplate, letting go as his breath caught in his lungs. Hastily, she rammed her helmet onto her head and looked away.

"That was stupid. Don't tell anyone I did that." She demanded over their personal com channel as she turned back to him and jammed a finger into his chest, causing him to fight back a laugh.

"Well, don't tell anyone I liked it." He shot back as she took a step backwards. Laughing, she turned and entered the shuttle without further ado.

Haestrom was so much worse than he'd anticipated. They'd known about the oddly intense sun beforehand, hence the order to bring their helmets. But the sizzling of his shields baking bothered him so much more than he'd expected. The team darted from patch of shadow to patch of shadow, the silence of the empty colony broken only by the far off sound of explosions and the crackling of their barriers in the fierce sunlight

"Okay, you heard the man. We need to get our hands on those demolition charges in order to get past that debris. Jane, Garrus, I want you to both take up positions and cover us. Keep the geth off our backs while we search for the charges. Got it?" Shepard barked through the com channel, helmeted like the rest of them.

"Yes, Sir." Jane responded, and soon she and Garrus found themselves the best vantage point from which to see the battlefield laid out before them. Sniper rifles in hand, they took turns ducking out of cover to take shot after shot, geth falling one by one under their barrage.

"Feels good to be doing this again. Just us, a couple of rifles, and a good ol' battle of skills." Jane commented over their personal channel, and Garrus couldn't help but grin at her, even if she couldn't see it.

"Just like old times." He watched as she took aim, her body perfectly still, her arms strong and lithe. No matter what she was doing, she always looked fantastic, often almost otherworldly, like some sort of warrior spirit. He blinked at that thought, shaking his head. Wow, he sounded absolutely besotted. Perhaps he was, at that. She'd taken up residence in his head and wouldn't leave.

"What, exactly, are you staring at, Big Guy?" She asked with evident amusement, and he realized she must have caught him looking.

"Oh, uh…"

"It's okay, you're allowed to look." She teased and he could just barely see her wink through the glass of her helmet. "Just don't let John see you slacking." Just then, the ground shook with a thundering explosion, the shockwave causing the air to hit them like a wall.

"Jane, Garrus, good job. Thank you for keeping the geth off us. The charges went off, we'll wait for you to join us before we press forward." Shepard's voice reached them through their coms and they nodded at each other before switching out their sniper rifles and standing up. "Hopefully Tali isn't too much further ahead. We need to reach her before the geth do." Shepard continued, his voice hard with anxiety. As they made their way down toward the group, Garrus couldn't help but notice Jane's sudden shift from relaxed and amiable to quiet and thoughtful.

"You okay? Something on your mind?" Garrus asked, switching back to their personal channel. She glanced at him quickly before bringing a finger up to tap her helmeted chin in consideration.

"Yeah… I just had a thought."

"Oh?"

"I don't know, it's just a hunch, but-"

"Hurry up, you two." Shepard snapped, causing them both to pick up their pace.

"I'll tell you later, don't let me forget." She said before breaking into a trot.

It felt like ages until they actually managed to track down Tali. By the time they made it into the bunker she was in, Garrus could almost feel himself starting to pant from the heat of the intense sunlight. The moment they stepped foot into the bunker and closed the door, more than one person pulled their helmet off, and Garrus wasn't surprised to see the humans were nearly dripping with sweat. That was one biological function he didn't envy. Jane's hair was wet with it and she lifted a gauntleted hand to brush a few damp strands from her forehead

"Thank you, Shepard." Came Tali's melodic, filtered voice as she glanced at them over her shoulder from where she worked at a terminal, "If not for you, I-"

"Tali!" Jane called out, putting down her helmet and striding toward the quarian with her arms thrown out.

"Jane? Wha-" Jane grabbed her in a big hug, grinning as Tali flailed a bit in her arms, "Keelah, Jane! Even with my filter, you smell awful." Tali choked out, causing Jane to burst into laughter and put the other woman down.

"Sorry! Even with my suit's atmospheric regulation, that sun was brutal. Once we get back to the Normandy, I'll take another shower." Jane took a step back, but continued to grin at her. "It's good to see you, Tali! It's been a long time."

"It's good to see you, too, Jane. You stopped replying to my messages ages ago, I was starting to get really worried about you." Tali replied and Jane lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck. Garrus could see that the Tali that stood before them now was different from the girl they'd said goodbye to all those years ago. She'd been little more than that: a girl, alone amidst a galaxy set against her kind. But this woman had come into her own, no longer saddled with the wavering doubt of her girlhood. She stood tall, confident, and sure of herself in a way that seemed to radiate off her, despite her clear exhaustion.

"Ah, yeah, sort of a long story. I can explain later." Jane stated before gesturing back to Garrus. At that, he stepped forward, gaining Tali's surprised attention.

"Good to see you, Tali." He extended his hand toward her, coming to a stop just beside Jane.

"Garrus! It's good to see you, as well." Tali said as she took his hand in a friendly shake. "I shouldn't be surprised to see you with these two." Tali pointed out, her voice amused and laced with a suggestion, her shining eyes narrowing slightly as she tilted her head toward Jane. Jane looked at him with a crooked grin.

At the sound of slightly shuffling feet behind him, Garrus turned to see Shepard stepping forward, a slight hesitation present in his face. The atmosphere of cheerful greeting seemed to shift at that moment, becoming something more uncertain, tentative. He could instantly see a change in Tali, her confidence seeming to falter while at the same time she stood a tad taller, as though to make up for it.

Shepard seemed oddly unsure of himself, as though he didn't quite know what to do with his hands. It struck Garrus as so unlike the usually confident Commander that it was almost funny. Shepard started to hold out his hand before seeming to second guess himself, shifting his arms open as though for a hug.

Tali, who had, in turn, extended her hand to shake Shepard's, seemed slightly confused and almost flustered when his arms shifted. Before she could adapt, however, Shepard hurriedly dropped his arms and extended his hand again for a now somewhat awkward handshake. Tali looked more than a little perplexed, her helmeted head tilting slightly as she looked down at their shaking hands. Beside Garrus, he could hear Jane snort softly in amusement.

"Tali," Shepard stated warmly, his smile growing soft as he shook off his slight embarrassment, "It's good to see you again." After a moment, he brought a second hand up to cover their conjoined hands affectionately, and Garrus felt his eyes widen at the intimacy of the gesture. It seemed a tad too much for Tali, who stuttered slightly as she replied, the flush evident in her voice.

"Sh-shepard. It's good to see you again, too." She managed before they dropped each other's hands a moment later. As the two of them started into a conversation about Tali's mission, Garrus chanced a look down at Jane, who's eyes had narrowed in interest, her smile wide and sly like a cat's.

"That expression means trouble." Garrus chuckled and Jane elbowed him in the side, which he returned playfully.

"Suspicions confirmed. I think I have a plan." She whispered, her voice dripping with self satisfaction as she glanced to where Tali and Shepard had moved to as she showed him some readouts on a nearby console. They stood a hair too close to each other, and Garrus had no trouble understanding Jane's meaning.

"I get the feeling that your help might not be necessary…" Garrus replied quietly, causing her to roll her eyes.

"You underestimate exactly how daft and blind my brother can be."

That evening, once they'd showered and gotten their equipment put away, Garrus found himself seated alongside Jane in the Port Observation deck again, as he did so many evenings. He'd heard the jokes before about the two of them being attached at the hip, they'd hung out so often on the SR1 that the joke had started pretty early on. But now he found himself completely unable to stay away from her.

He'd experienced his share of novels and vids over the years, and he understood logically that this was a normal part of a new and exciting relationship. But he seemed to have an all consuming desire to be in her presence at all times. When he couldn't be, for whatever reason, he found himself daydreaming about her in a way that probably left him appearing to others as though he was completely brain dead or had lost his mind. Then again, perhaps he had. He couldn't bring himself to care.

"I think one is enough for me for tonight." Jane murmured from where she was tucked next to him, his arm across her shoulders as he let his fingers play with the loose ends of her freshly cut hair. "I tucked a few waterbottles under the bar, would you mind grabbing one for me?" She asked as she leaned forward to place her empty glass on the low table before them.

"Sure thing." Garrus stood, stretching as he felt the usual ache that came along with a hard fight well fought. He made his way around the bar and as he ducked below the counter to begin searching for the water bottles, he heard the door open.

"Jane! I was told I'd find you here." Tali all but squealed as her hurried footsteps carried her into the room. He could hear her bodyweight plop onto the couch beside Jane, causing the human woman to chuckle.

"I see you're settling in just fine." Jane stated blandly, only just covering her amusement. "Are you enjoying the new Normandy?"

"Oh, yes! It's gorgeous. And I definitely want to gush all about that. But first-" Tali paused and Garrus opened a cupboard, failing to find the water. "Tell me about you and Garrus." Tali's voice dropped conspiratorially, insinuation clear. Garrus jerked and banged his head on the top of the cupboard, only being saved from making a loud noise by the solid construction of the bar. Wincing, he heard Jane groan in exasperation.

"You heard about that from Gabby, didn't you." She stated, her voice pained and irritated.

"Well, from Kenneth, actually."

"Same thing. They're pretty much two halves of one whole." Garrus heard Jane scoff as he opened another cupboard, pleased to have finally found the elusive bottles of water.

"You're one to talk. So, tell me how it happened! That's so exciting!" Tali's modulated voice squealed. Grabbing a few waters, Garrus closed the cupboard and stood up.

"Is this what you guys do when I'm not around? Sit around and gossip about me?" He asked, grinning as Tali nearly jumped out of her suit. "I know I'm terribly interesting, but…"

"Garrus, you bosh'tet! You scared me! What were you doing down there?" Tali exclaimed, her hand on her heart as Jane patted her back. Garrus held up the waters, giving them a little shake.

"Want one?"

"Oh." Was Tali's only reply, but after he walked around the bar, she nodded, and he tossed her one. "Thanks."

He handed the other to Jane, who thanked him as well, and then sat down next to her. Jane opened it, took a sip, and after a moment of consideration, nestled herself back beside him. Garrus took that as permission to wrap his arm around her shoulders again, and Tali lifted one hand up to cup her faceplate with a happy sigh.

"You two are adorable together! So? How did this happen?" Tali urged, settling into her side of the couch, her water bottle forgotten in her hand. Before either of them could answer, Tali broke back in, "Oh! Did this happen sometime during the last two years? You both disappeared, did you run away together? How romantic!" She exclaimed excitedly, and Garrus decided her imagination was running wild with her.

"Whoa there. No, this is a somewhat new development." Jane grinned as she twisted in her seat to glance up at Garrus, her eyes sparkling with silent laughter. "Garrus isn't that smooth, I'm not signing up to elope any time soon. Sorry, Big Guy." He couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh." Tali stated with evident disappointment, "But still, I'm really happy for you both. I've been rooting for you guys since back on the first Normandy." Tali sighed happily again, her eyes crinkling in what must have been a smile. Jane looked surprised, turning to look at Tali in confusion, but the quarian continued, "So, Garrus, did you finally make some sort of big romantic gesture?" His free hand came up of its own accord to rub the back of his neck as he shrugged with embarrassment. Tail's interest came from a much more genuine place than Wrex's, he was convinced the krogan just liked a good laugh at his expense, but it made him just as uncomfortable.

"Nah, I tricked him into sparing with me so that I could seduce him." Jane drawled as she crossed her legs and took another sip of her water bottle with complete nonchalance. Garrus snorted at that, raising a browplate at her as his mandibles flicked.

"Huh. As I remember it, you got cold feet and ran away just as things were getting interesting." He muttered with a smirk and Tali gasped in genuine delight while Jane choked on her sip, nearly spluttering as she turned in her seat again to glare at him affectionately.

"I did not!" She laughed indignantly, giving him a playful shove which only made them laugh more. "Okay, maybe I did a little bit. But we figured it out eventually." She muttered, her face flushed with pleasure as she gazed up at him. He wasn't sure how long he held her eyes, but he managed to tear his eyes away from hers as Tali began bouncing happily in her seat.

"Awwww! You guys are like a scene right out of Fleet and Flotilla." She crooned, causing Jane to smirk as she turned to face the quarian again.

"Speaking of overly sappy romanticism… You're still head over heels in love with my brother, aren't you." It wasn't a question. Tali froze, her eyes going wide.

"I- what? Oh, it's, um… I don't- I didn't-" The younger woman stuttered as she looked away, fiddling with the edge of her hood absently. She looked up to see both of them looking at her knowingly and she sighed, "Oh, Keelah… Am I really that obvious?" She asked and Garrus imagined she must be blushing furiously.

"Perhaps a little." Garrus pointed out, a hint of laughter in his voice, "But besides Shepard, there's only Jane and me from the old Normandy. So unless you're as obvious as we apparently are," He added, his voice becoming a little dry, chuckling as Jane elbowed him lightly in the side, "I think you'll be fine."

"Well," Tali abruptly stood up, brushing imaginary dust off her suit, glancing at them quickly before picking up the water bottle she'd accidentally knocked over in her haste, "I have a lot of… things I need to get to… You know. Settling in, repairs, calibrations… I'm going to get going." Tali hurried toward the door stiffly as she radiated embarrassment. She paused before stepping through the open door, turning to face them, "It's really good to be back on the Normandy. And I'm really happy for you guys." She added, her voice warm and genuine.

"Thanks, Tali." Jane replied with equal warmth, "We're happy you're back on the team, too." Garrus nodded his agreement, and Tali left, leaving them alone.

"I'll leave you both be, too." Jane and Garrus jumped as Kasumi shimmered into view on a couch across the room, grinning like a cheshire cat. "Give you some privacy."

"Goddamn it, Kasumi. Give us a warning, next time." Jane hissed without any real heat as the hooded woman all but pranced through the door. Once they were truly alone, Jane seemed to melt into him, finally able to relax. They listened to the silence and the hum of the ship for a moment before Garrus ventured to open his mouth.

"Does she just… do that? Sit around the ship stealthed without anyone knowing?" He asked tentatively, and Jane shrugged.

"Yeah, pretty much. It's just one of her quirks, I wouldn't overthink it." He couldn't help the perplexed look of surprise that crossed his face, which caused her to laugh. "I think she spends a majority of her time in the armory watching Jacob do push ups." Garrus didn't know what to say to that, so he just let it go.

The moments ticked by and Jane looked down at her half drunk water bottle before shifting so that she could turn to get a good look at him. With surprise, he noted the hesitant look in her eyes and he felt himself tense.

"What's wrong?" He asked carefully, suddenly worried he'd said something wrong.

"Tali said she'd been wanting us to get together since we were all on the SR1." Jane stated quietly, her voice completely neutral in a way that made him feel nervous.

"Eerrr, yeah. She did."

"Was that just her being a sappy romantic? Or…?" She trailed off, her eyes seeming to scan his face, searching for something he tried desperately not to reveal. Slowly, her lips seemed to quirk upwards, a smile unraveling and stretching across her face as her eyes glittered with suspicion. "Garrus Vakarian. How long had you been crushing on me?"

Garrus struggled for a moment, panicking at being put on the spot. His first reaction was to search for some sort of escape from the conversation, but her smile caught him. He cleared his throat, searching for the words as he tried his best to subdue his flailing subvocals.

"Honestly? It came on gradually, I don't really know when it began." Garrus let his eyes wander, fixating on nothing in particular as he let his mind drift back to their days aboard the SR1, "I can't pinpoint the exact moment, or the location, or the look, or the words that started it. It was too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew it." He finished, regretting that he didn't really have an answer for her. "But it was around the time of the mission on Virmire when I first realized how I felt." When he looked back at her, his breath caught at the small, tender smile on her lips.

"All this time?" Jane asked quietly, and as his chest tightened, all he could manage was a small nod. "I had no idea." She murmured as she reached a finger up to trace along the blue markings across his face, gingerly brushing across his bandage with care. "You're a big softie, you know that?"

"I don't know if I've ever heard myself described that way." Garrus leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, which she happily returned. "And what about you?" He had no idea what to expect from her answer and found himself both anticipating it and terrified to hear it.

"Me? Well," She grinned, "If I had to date it, it'd be from the moment I saw your magnificent scar." His eyes widened in surprise and he stopped himself from bringing a hand up to feel his scarred mandible.

"Really?" Garrus asked with astonishment, which caused her grin to grow large enough to cause her eyes to crinkle with pleasure.

"Christ, no, you idiot." Jane laughed, "No, I know the exact moment I knew I felt something more for you." She added, her voice sobering as she looked down to play with the collar of his shirt, her fingers brushing against his throat in a way that set his blood on fire. "The moment I stepped into that apartment on Omega and you removed your helmet. When I realized who you were, when our eyes locked, I thought my heart was going to explode. I was so unbelievably happy to see you, and I just knew." She looked back up at him, "I'd thought I'd never see you again, and it broke my heart. Especially how we'd left things. And then that gunship, and I really did almost lose you. For good." Garrus leaned forward to brush his forehead against hers and she smiled again.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Garrus murmured and she shook her head.

"You were having such a rough time when you first came aboard, and then everything with Sidonis… It just didn't seem like the right time. Plus, I wasn't entirely sure how you felt. I had my suspicions, but…" At that, she pulled away a little, leveling him with a look. "Why didn't you say something? I think I made my feelings pretty clear on more than one occasion."

"Ah, well, I was just… taking my time." Garrus flailed before clearing his throat and looking away, completely unable to admit that he'd had almost no idea that she'd been, in retrospect, flirting with him. "You know me. I always like to savor the last shot before popping the heat sink."

He froze, actually processing the words coming out of his mouth. His eyes met with Jane's as she stared at him, "Wait. That metaphor just went somewhere horrible." He muttered and they shared a moment of silence before she bit her lip, attempting and failing to stifle her laughter. Suddenly shifting, she flung a leg over him to settle herself on his lap, her fingers playing with the hem of his shirt as his came up to grip her firmly.

"Just shut up and kiss me again."

(Note: We're back home safe and sound! Thank you to everyone who sent us well wishes. This was a fun chapter to write! Thanks as usual to my wonderful beta readers, Zwober and thelordofdarkreunion, as well as all of you lovely readers. I cannot overstate how much I appreciate all the kind love and support that this story has been met with.

Additionally, I don't know which chapter officially has the most references to other games/books/movies, but this one is probably up there. I think there's probably at least one reference to something else in most chapters, please call it out if you ever spot one! I take a lot of joy in them.)