Thane
Shepard came out of the bathroom carrying her hairbrush and handed it to Thane. He glanced down at it, confusion tugging his brow ridges up until she folded herself down on the floor at his feet. He chuckled, pushing himself to the edge of the chair, positioning his knees on either side of her shoulders. Turning the brush over in his hand, he adjusted his grip. He'd seen her do this herself at least a dozen times, seen other humans brush their own hair, as well, but he'd never done it for her. He gathered her hair into his other hand and started at the bottom—as he'd seen her do after her showers—running the brush through the still damp strands, watchful for tangles in her hair.
"How are you, siha?" he asked, wondering if it'd be a day she'd talk. It'd been a couple of days since he last saw her, and the last time he was there, she spent the majority of of their visit holding Joker's hat and staring out the window in silence.
"We're hungry," she said.
"I'm making you lunch right now, Ídola," James called from the kitchen area. "Thane, you hungry?"
Thane glanced over his shoulder to see James watching them as he dished food from a pan out on plates. "No, thank you."
"You sure? There's plenty." James lifted one of his eyebrows.
"I ate before I came. I appreciate the offer, though." Thane turned his attention back to Shepard's hair when she squirmed between his legs and huffed. He ran the brush through her hair, moving up inch by inch as he worked. "I spoke with Kolyat today. I regret now I didn't tell him sooner, but he now knows my heart belongs to you, siha."
She twisted, looking up at him and whispered, "The reapers will kill everyone on the Citadel when they move it to Earth's orbit. You should tell Kolyat to leave before they arrive."
Thane froze, the implications of her words clenching a fist around his heart. She'd told him before Kolyat stayed on the Citadel in her other lives, working with C-Sec to pay for his crimes of shooting Talid's bodyguard and nearly killing Talid himself. She was telling him if Kolyat stayed on the Citadel, he'd die.
Thane forced his lungs to fill with air and slowly brought the brush back to her hair when she turned around again. "Siha … Kolyat is on Kahje, remember? You went with me to take him there, we left him with his uncle. You shared wine with The Unwed, and then you and I drank tea at a café on the second level."
She remained quiet for a long moment before she nodded her head. "Kolyat's on Kahje, we remember."
James walked into the living room, carrying a plate in each hand. He sat them down on the coffee table and looked at Shepard. "You ready to eat, Ídola? I made stir fry."
"Lola," she said.
James shrugged. "Uh, okay. You ready to eat, Lola?"
Shepard gave him a shake of her head, pulling strands of her hair free from Thane's hand. "We're not hungry."
"A moment ago, you said you were," Thane said, finishing up her hair and setting the brush down on a table next to his chair. "James prepared you lunch, you should eat."
She turned to look at him over her shoulder again. "Jane wants to talk to you."
Thane's brow twitched, tilting his head to the side, and he saw James freeze halfway to sitting on the couch. If he wasn't mistaken, it was the first time Shepard acknowledged Jane since she returned from the collector base and found Joker had been killed in her absence. Dr. Chakwas hoped Shepard would not only confirm Jane remained intact, but give Jane the opportunity to speak. They all prayed the other woman might be able to provide deeper insight into Shepard's mental status.
"Siha," Thane said, brushing hair back out of her face, "you have control now over when Jane is allowed to come forward. Miranda put in a new implant to help regulate your brain activity and now Jane can only come forward if you choose for her to, remember?"
Thane held her gaze as she watched him in silence, but he saw James opening his omni-tool, undoubtedly sending Dr. Chakwas a message.
After a moment, Shepard's brow furrowed. "We remember, but we don't know how."
He wasn't really sure what to tell her, all he knew was she now possessed the capability to control Jane's access, and in an emergency, should she lose consciousness as she did in Tiberius Towers, Jane might assume control in order to protect her from harm.
"Jane says we need to go all the way back inside for her to come out." The statement, something which would've once caused terror to flit across her gaze, somehow left her without expression.
He stroked her cheek, savoring the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingers. "Can you … can you do that? Go all the way back inside, so Jane can come out?"
Shepard closed her eyes and slumped over, but he darted forward to catch her as she fell against his thigh and started to slip to the floor. A moment later she opened her eyes again, appearing far more coherent than she had since it all began. She blinked, letting out a small squeak before, sucking in a deep breath and grinning.
"Jane?" He kept his arms around her as she steadied herself, helping her to her feet when she started to push up from the floor.
"Thank God it worked." She threw her arms around Thane's neck and pressed a loud kiss to his cheek, surprising him.
He chuckled pulling back from her, hands on her shoulders holding her at arm's length to look her over. "We weren't sure if you were …."
"Still here?" She arched an eyebrow, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. "Yep. You guys aren't getting rid of me so easily."
James laughed, standing up from the couch and moving around to Jane's side. "Hey, Lola, long time no see." He opened his arms to her when she moved to embrace him, and he hugged her tight enough to lift her off her feet for a few seconds, earning him a laugh in return.
"I don't know how long they'll let me stay here," she said when James put her back down, "so let me say what needs to be said before they pull me back inside."
Hearing even Jane refer to Shepard as 'they' created a new fissure in Thane's heart. Clearly, as he'd suspected, there something more happened within her than a simple mental health issue. He prayed to Arashu it turned out to beneficial in the end. He'd spent much time since he first met Shepard considering her circumstances, what it might mean. Of course, when they first met, he thought her simply insane or incredibly clever. When she first told him of her story, he naturally felt skeptical. As he came to believe her, came to know her … he began to anticipate a time when the delicate balance she kept between herself and the others would falter, and it'd all collapse in on her. The initial stage of the collapse, he believed, occured the first time Jane managed to take control. He only hoped the reforging, so to speak, gave her new strength as opposed to leaving her a twisted heap of slag.
Jane turned to the table, picking up the plate of food James sat there for Shepard and took a seat on the couch. She stuffed a forkful of what looked like a mixture of some grain, meat, and vegetables into her mouth and moaned, eyelids fluttering closed. She opened her eyes again and glanced up at James, talking around her mouthful of food, she said, "This is fantastic."
James laughed, picking up his own plate and sitting down next to her. "I'm glad you like it."
"Jane, what can you tell us?" Pushing the tails of his jacket out of the way, Thane retook his seat and rested his hands on his knees. As pleased as he felt for the opportunity to learn more about what his siha struggled with, Jane's history of erratic, violent behavior kept him perched on the edge of his chair, ready to subdue her should the need arise.
Jane swallowed and stuffed another bite into her mouth. "Dawn's not … just Dawn anymore. I don't really know how to explain it, but she absorbed a lot more of us when she broke down, and now it's like her thoughts aren't her own." She took a minute to chew and swallow. "All the others she's taken in are there with her now, a part of her, but different from how me and everyone else are. All of their memories, thoughts, emotions, wants, and needs … they're all a part of her." She turned to James and asked, "Do me a favor and grab me something to drink?"
"Sure, no hay problema." He put his plate down and went into the kitchen again.
She glanced at Thane. "When she's talking, when it seems like she's confused or forgetting something …."
"It's not Dawn speaking." He sucked in a slow, painful breath, fighting the urge to rub at the ache. He feared for his siha, feared the depth of the trials she must endure, and wished he could be her champion, take them on for her instead.
"It's not just Dawn speaking." Jane scooped up more stir fry and then stopped with her fork just in front of her mouth. "She's still there, just not a separate, unique entity anymore. They're all sort of starting to blend together."
Arashu grant her the strength to survive.
"Are you saying she's like Legion now?" James came back carrying three bottles of water and handed one to Thane before giving another to Jane.
"Thank you," Thane said, setting the bottle down on the table next to Shepard's hairbrush.
"Yeah … I guess that's a pretty close comparison." Jane opened the bottle of water and took a heavy swallow. "But what comes out of her mouth and what she does isn't always a matter of consensus, sometimes it just seems to randomly come from one of the others, like … their thoughts happen a fraction of a second faster than the others, so they get control for a moment." She sat the bottle down on the table and resumed eating.
A knock on the door drew everyone's attention, and James put his plate down. He made his way to the door and opened it, letting Dr. Chakwas in. They spoke in hushed tones over by the door for a second before Dr. Chakwas looked up and smiled at Jane.
The doctor rushed over, taking James' seat on the couch. "Jane, hello dear. I need to run scans on the implant, now that Shepard's allowed you access. I need to be sure it's operating the way Miranda intended."
Jane stuffed more food in her mouth, smiling around her fork at the woman and nodded. Dr. Chakwas opened her omni-tool and began scanning.
Jane moved up to stand by Thane's side as James walked Dr. Chakwas out of the suite. Thane glanced at her, feeling her gaze on him. She smiled at him, and then surprised him by taking his hand in hers. He hesitated as she tugged at him, his thoughts and feelings torn and confused.
He'd told Jane once he thought she and the others were disconnected, and indeed he did, seeing them and Dawn as parts of a whole in need of a reunion. Yet their distinct personalities, hopes and dreams, the different ways they fostered relationships and even whom they fostered relationships with made Jane a very different person than the one he came to love. He loved Jane, too, in a way. Without her, Shepard wouldn't be the woman she was, wouldn't be his siha. He put his faith in the gods, trusted in their judgements and their will, but with as much faith as he carried within him, it clearly wasn't enough to stop his mortal mind from struggling to put everything into familiar terms.
He relented, letting her lead him over to the couch and sat down at her urging.
She sat down next to him, far closer than he anticipated. "Do you trust me?"
"I—I believe you have been making genuine efforts to repair the damage you have done." Her question shamed him, knowing he could not honestly say he trusted her, as much as he might wish to. It wasn't without reason, however, and he believed she understood his hesitancy.
She snorted softly. "Uh huh. I need you to extend your trust to me for just a few seconds, okay? There's something important I need to do."
Thane blinked, gaze searching her face for any sign of her intentions or deceit. "Very well."
She pulled one of her legs up onto the couch, pushing her knee into the cushion as she moved closer to him, and he froze, staying very, very still as she brought her face nearer to his. She raised a hand, her soft fingers pressing against his chin, turning his face away from her as she leaned in closer.
Lips all but brushing across his scales, she whispered in his ear, voice undoubtedly as soft as any human could make it. "The Intelligence, the AI controlling the reapers, is housed somewhere on the Citadel. We can't be sure, of course, but a startling thought has occurred to Dawn and the others …. What if it's monitoring us somehow? Watching, listening, reading electronic communications? Some of the things we've already talked about while visiting the Citadel, and some of the things they've said since all this happened …. There are things too important to not discuss, regardless, but we already know we have Harbinger's attention." She pulled away, sitting back on the couch to look at him, the trace of raw fear in her eyes testing his resolve.
If she proved correct, and the Intelligence actively monitored them, then the Citadel was quite possibly the most dangerous place for Shepard to be while in such a vulnerable state. Undoubtedly, there were hundreds if not thousands or more indoctrinated people on the Citadel. Perhaps even some working in The Pearson Sisters' Sanctuary. The Intelligence may know about Jane and the others, know Shepard was something more than just a mere human. It may know she found a way to defeat the reapers.
"That is … a disturbing possibility." He reached out and covered her hand resting on her knee with his own, giving in the urge to offer her some expression of solidarity and comfort. "I will speak with Garrus, discreetly, we will look into this."
She turned her hand beneath his and squeezed his fingers. "Be careful." Letting go again, she gave him a sardonic smile. "Dawn will come after me next if anything happens to either one of you."
He chuckled, pulling his hand back to his lap. "You seemed to believe the others are happier now, joined with her in this way. You don't want that for yourself?"
"God, no." Jane shuddered. "They're losing their sense of self. Dawn's losing her sense of self. Besides, there's still hundreds of us left inside, someone has to keep them in check."
Thane waited for Garrus inside his small, open-floor, spartan apartment. Thane sent Garrus a message when he arrived and found the turian wasn't home, and thankfully, Garrus gave him permission to let himself in to wait. He paced the floors, stopping to look at a photograph of Shepard and Garrus aboard what must've been the old Normandy. There were few other photographs, but only one other drew his interest. It was a picture of what looked like Garrus as a young man with his family—his mother and sister, at least. Garrus' father didn't appear in the photograph, which Thane didn't find surprising having learned Castis Vakarian also worked with C-Sec and spent the majority of his time on the Citadel while his wife and children remained on Palaven. Garrus never really spoke much about his mother and sister, at least not in Thane's presence, though he knew the family's matriarch developed Corpalis Syndrome.
The door slid open, and Thane turned to watch Garrus come inside. It pleased him to see Garrus moved more steadily than the last time he saw the turian. He'd even resumed wearing his armor. He spotted Thane instantly and flashed him a strained smile, mandibles fluttering.
"Give me a minute, I have to get this armor off, it's killing me," Garrus said as soon as the door closed behind him, and he moved to a locker next to the door.
"Of course." Thane moved closer, holding his hand out in offering. "Allow me to assist."
Garrus chuffed, an annoyed sound, but nodded his head nevertheless. "Alright."
Thane knelt before him, working to relieve him of his greaves while he worked on his breastplate. Together, they removed Garrus' armor in silence, stacking it in the locker. When the last piece was inside, Garrus closed the locker and turned to look at Thane, mandibles flaring before fluttering.
Thane tucked his hands behind his back. "I've just come from visiting Shepard."
"How is she? I plan on going here in a few hours." Garrus waved at the couch and started walking over. "I'm going to stop by one of the restaurants she likes and bring her dinner." He sat, humming. "I suppose I'll get James something, too."
Thane followed him, grateful for the offer, and took a seat. "Ah, when I left, Jane was still present."
"Jane?" Garrus asked, mandibles flaring wide. "Jane's in control?"
"Indeed." Thane dipped his head. "Shepard informed me that Jane wished to speak with me, and I reminded her she had control over when Jane could come forward. It took her a moment, but she figured out, with Jane's help, how to allow the transfer of control."
"That's good, I suppose. And Jane's okay? She's not …." Garrus trailed off, as if it frightened him to give voice to the hope filling his eyes.
Thane offered him an understanding smile. "She seems of sound mind, yes."
Garrus let out a heavy sigh. "Good. So, what did she tell you?"
Thane leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands. "Shepard has … taken in a significant number of the others, and now they are … I suppose you might call it merging with her."
"Merging with her?" Garrus shifted on the couch to face Thane more fully, brow ridges pulled low. "What do you mean?"
"Shepard—Dawn—is no longer an individual separate from those she has absorbed. Jane described a blending of their psyches, their thoughts and emotions are no longer well defined as coming from an individual. It is why she has been using terms of plurality when speaking of herself."
"Spirits." Garrus rubbed his forehead. "Is this … how long will this last?"
"Dr. Chakwas doesn't know if it will be temporary or a permanent situation." Thane took a deep breath, meeting his gaze. "I'm sorry, Garrus. This must be difficult for you to hear."
Garrus chuffed, pushing himself to his feet to pace the floor, throwing his hand out toward Thane in clear irritation. "It's not for you?"
"I … I have come to view the others as parts of a whole, Dawn as part of a whole. When I gave my heart to her, I gave it to all of her." Swallowing, he took a moment to order his thoughts, wary of how his views might impact Garrus. "It pains me to see her suffer, to see any of them suffer, but perhaps this will prove to be a positive thing, perhaps she is making herself whole once more. I suspect for you, however, it may feel more like losing her completely."
Garrus let out a derisive huff and shook his head, stopping to stare at Thane. "You think this is a good thing?"
Thane took a moment to answer, choosing his words carefully. "I pray it's a good thing."
Garrus huffed again, moving to a chair to sit down. "She's still in there. I'm not giving up on her. I'll find a way to help her, dig her back out."
"And if you can't?" Thane asked, keeping his voice soft.
Garrus let out a low, threatening growl.
"I don't ask to antagonize you, Garrus." Thane shook his head. "I've come to care about you, and I love Shepard. I wish for you both to be happy." He turned his palms up, holding them out in supplication, asking the man to be patient with him. "So I ask, what will you do if she is not able to be separated from the others ever again? Will you find a way to open your heart to who she is becoming, or will you turn away? I have no doubts she will continue to love you and want you to be a part of her life."
Garrus' shoulders slumped, head hanging, mandibles making a sort of gentle, helpless flutter. "I don't know, Thane. I already lost her once, and it about killed me. I just … I don't know."
Thane let Garrus' words hang, filling the air between them, weighing heavily on both their hearts for a long moment before he said, "Humans have a saying, tomorrow is promised to no one. I have spent years knowing I am dying. I can only pray you and she will have many, many years together after I have gone to the sea." He held up a hand, silencing the other man when he opened his mouth as if to speak. "She is not yet dead, Garrus, but tomorrow is promised to no one. You may lose her again, I hope this is not the case, but for now, she still draws breath, and so long as she still draws breath, no matter if she is one or one thousand, she will love you. Love her, Garrus."
Thane fell silent once more, letting the keen tearing through Garrus wrap its mournful hand around his soul. Garrus' struggle to fight back the emotion, to silence his grief, was obvious. Thane pushed himself to his feet, moving to stand next to the turian and settled a hand down on his shoulder, fully expecting Garrus to shove the hand aside, but he never did. Thane stayed there, offering Garrus his support the only way he knew how, until Garrus' keening subsided.
After a moment of silence, Thane said, "There is something else." He produced a piece of paper from his pocket—after the extreems Jane went to, whispering her fears into his ear, he thought it might be best to communicate her message to Garrus in a way he hoped to be more difficult for The Intelligence to pick up on. He'd stopped by one of the novelty stores on his way to Garrus' apartment and purchased a pen and actual paper, not wanting to risk even writing the message down on a datapad.
He passed the paper to Garrus, dipping his head at the folded note when Garrus gave him a confused look. Garrus opened the note, and almost immediately, he tensed, balling the paper up in his fist. Humming, he stood and crossed over to the small, open kitchen area and tore the note up before tossing it in the trash. Turning back around he met Thane's gaze, and it was the cold, serious look of a man who'd pulled his battle sleep around him once more.
Garrus flicked his mandibles. "If you're not busy tomorrow, I was thinking about making a run to see Grundan Krul. You should come with me."
Thane raised a brow ridge, obviously Garrus wished to convey something to him in private, away from the Citadel. He just wasn't sure whether or not Garrus truly meant to go all the way to Hagalaz. "Indeed?"
"Yeah, I have some things I need to run by him." Garrus fluttered his mandibles. "And I think we could both use a change of scenery for a day or two."
"Very well." Thane dipped his head. "If you wish, I will accompany you back to The Pearson Sisters' Sanctuary this evening."
Garrus seemed to consider the offer for a moment before nodding. "I think she'd like that, to have us both there for a little while."
"Indeed." Thane smiled.
He shifted the bags in his hands and knocked on the door. Despite holding himself straight, it seemed clear Garrus suffered under the weight of his armor once more. Still, Thane understood his desire to wear the armor while outside of his home—the tension on the Citadel remained at a stand still, making it a dangerous place for any turian.
James opened the door, reaching for the bags Garrus held. "Dios, I'm glad you're here," he said, voice low. "She's getting irritable. She wants to leave and doesn't understand why she can't."
Thane stepped into the suite after Garrus, making sure the door shut behind him. "Jane has gone back inside?"
"Yeah," James said, glancing over his shoulder at Thane as he made his way towards the kitchen, "Ídola yanked her chain right after you left. It was kinda scary, she just dropped like a ton of bricks, nearly hit her head on the corner of the coffee table."
"Garrus," Shepard said, coming out of her bedroom. She made her way straight to him and took his hand in hers, looking up into his eyes. "We want to go." She tugged on his hand, as if she expected him to heed her request and lead her from the hospital—indeed, Thane supposed she did, after all, she was Commander Shepard, and Garrus her true second in command. "We need to leave the Citadel, there's things we need to do."
Garrus fluttered his mandibles. "Where do you want to go?"
Thane sat his bags down on the counter next to James and turned, tucking his hands behind his back to watch Garrus and Shepard.
She sighed, her brow furrowing. "Away from here," she said, voice pleading, on the verge of a whine. Tears welled up in her eyes. "We have to go."
Garrus hummed, lifting his free hand to wipe the tears off her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Dawn. Anderson's the only one who can decide when you leave."
She let out a soft whimper and leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his breastplate. "Anderson won't let us leave."
He put his arm around her, pulling her in closer. "I'm sorry." Bending a little, he pressed his mouth against the top of her head.
"Hey, Ídola, Garrus and Thane brought us dinner," James said without so much as glancing in their direction, unfortunate, because Thane felt certain James wouldn't have dared to interrupt the tender moment they shared. "You hungry?"
She looked up, and just like that, the emotions were gone from her face. She pulled away from Garrus without a second look, her gaze barely flicking over Thane as she passed by him to look into the bags.
Thane stepped aside, moving to Garrus and patting the deflated looking turian on the shoulder. "Come, I'll help you out of your armor."
"Hey, you can stash it in my room if you want." James finally turned to look at Garrus. "She's, uh, she's been throwing things around in her room."
"Thank you, James." Thane guided Garrus towards James' bedroom, closing the door behind them. "If you wished to speak with Jane, you might have luck asking Shepard to allow Jane to come back out once she's calmed down."
"Maybe." Garrus shirked off his breastplate after Thane finished with the seals.
Thane set the piece of armor on James' bed and started to reach for the next latch when he heard Shepard's frustrated yell and the sound of breaking glass. Both he and Garrus rushed for the door. When the door slid open, Thane stopped in his tracks, seeing Shepard curled in on herself, leaning against the wall crying while James nursed a gash in his forehead.
Thane glanced at Garrus and nodded his head towards Shepard. "I'll help James."
Garrus' mandibles fluttered, and he nodded, making his way to her.
"Where's the first aid kit?" Thane crossed the floor to James, looking over the cut stretching from just over his left eyebrow to his hairline, angled toward the back of his head, when James pulled the towel away from his face.
"There's one under the kitchen sink and one in the bathroom." James moved to sit down at the breakfast bar.
Thane went to retrieve the first aid kit and grabbed another clean towel off the stack next to the sink, wetting it under the faucet. He returned to James and opened the first aid kit, taking out the spray antiseptic, luckily whoever stocked the kit chose a brand which included a coagulant. Head wounds tended to bleed rather profusely. "Are you experiencing any symptoms of a concussion? Should I call Dr. Chakwas?"
"No, don't bother the doc." James pulled the towel away again, letting Thane spray the antiseptic over the wound. "Damn, she got me good."
Thane glanced over to where Garrus sat next to Shepard, his arm around her as she leaned into his side, face hidden against his chest. He kept his head down, talking softly to her. Thane turned his attention back to James and began cleaning the surrounding area of blood with the wet towel, giving the coagulant a chance to completely stem the flow. Setting the towel aside, he opened the Medi-gel and used one of the swabs in the kit to smear the substance over the cut little by little, as he used his other hand to pinch the skin closed to speed healing and reduce scarring. Once the Medi-gel set, Thane gathered up the supplies and returned them to the cabinet beneath the sink before washing his hands. James took the bloody towels and made his way to the bathroom.
When he turned back around, Thane saw Shepard moved into Garrus' lap, her face buried in the dip of his cowl. Thane smiled when Garrus met his gaze, and Garrus flicked a mandible in response. Thane found cleanser beneath the sink and used it to wipe down the countertop of the breakfast bar, before working on the trail of blood left across the floor, and cleaned up the broken glass.
James came back out of the bathroom, all traces of blood gone from his skin. The easy smile so common on the man's face disappeared, in its place, his lips were pressed into a tight line. He made his way back to the cartons of take out Garrus purchased on their way to The Pearson Sisters' Sanctuary.
Thane went to help him, pulling plates down from the cabinet after washing his hands once more. "James … I will spend the night here if you need to take the night off. Perhaps Garrus would be willing to stay, too. You've been here non-stop, this must be wearing on you."
James let out a heavy sigh and pressed his palms into the counter, hanging his head. "I just hate seeing her like this, you know?"
"Indeed."
"I mean … I don't expect her to just snap back or whatever. Dios, I don't even care about this," Jame said, pointing at his freshly sealed injury. "She's just so frustrated right now, so lost. It makes me feel helpless."
"I believe your being here with her has helped her immensely, but you need to care for yourself, too." Thane turned to face the man. "Go. Eat first if you'd like, but then leave, even if just for a few hours. Relax, find something fun and entertaining to do."
James sucked in a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, okay. A few hours. I'll stick around and eat, make sure she knows I'm not angry with her before I head out."
"That's kind of you." Thane pulled the cartons over to him, making sure to keep Garrus' separate. "Why don't you go sit down, I'll handle this."
Thane washed and put away the dishes while Garrus and Shepard sat on the couch together watching an action vid. He dried his hands and wiped off the counter before draping the towel over the edge of the sink and made his way back to the living room area. Shepard glanced up, her gaze tracking him as he moved, and she smiled. Returning her smile, he sat down on her other side.
The movie came to an end, credits rolling over the screen, and Garrus leaned forward, picking up the remote and turning the vid screen off. He shifted on the couch to face Shepard, taking her hand in his. "Dawn … Shepard, do you think you can let me talk with Jane for a little while?"
"Okay." Shepard closed her eyes and slumped over, falling against Thane. A moment later she opened her eyes again and sat up, blinking as she glanced between Garrus and him. "Twice in one day? Careful guys, I might get used to this."
"Jane?" Garrus flared his mandibles.
"Hey, Garrus. It's good to see you." She offered him a grin and then glanced at Thane before turning her head back to look at Garrus. "I'm guessing Thane filled you in on everything already, so what's up? Not that I'm not delighted we're on speaking terms again."
Garrus chuffed a weak laugh and nodded. "We talked. We're going to go see Grundan Krul tomorrow, look into some things."
Jane nodded. "Good. Tell him I said hello."
Garrus chuckled. "I hope, besides for this other thing you talked to Thane about, you might have some insight. Something I can tell Grundan Krul to start looking into, hmmm, to get ready for the war."
Jane sat back against the couch and brought an ankle up to rest on her knee, threading her fingers together to rest over her abdomen. "Hmmm. Well, Ambassador Udina may have ties to Cerberus. If Anderson gives up his position on the Council to fight in the war, Udina stands to replace him. It'd probably be a good idea, even with Miranda poised to take over Cerberus, for Udina to not be allowed into such a position of power. God only knows who else he's got dealings with."
"I never liked Udina." Humming, Garrus nodded, and Jane snorted. "I'll have Grundan Krul look into him, see if there's something we can use to discredit him enough that the Council would never let him join. Maybe even make him lose his position as an ambassador."
"Good idea." Jane sucked on her teeth. "Dawn had some groups of krogan promise to back her when the reapers arrive, maybe you can touch base with Wrex, see where the krogan stand. Kirrahe and some of the STG also offered their support. You could have Grundan Krul reach out, see what progress they're making. If they won't talk to him, you may need to contact them yourself. Or ask Mordin."
"Not a problem." Garrus shrugged. "I'm sure we'll get something figured out. Anything else?"
"Admiral Daro'Xen made a targeting laser before out of geth tech, let's us sync up the entire Flotilla and the Normandy's weapons to hit whatever target the user paints—even from orbit. It'd be a significant help. Figure out if it's something she's still working on now they're resettling Rannoch, if not, take it to Legion. And see what we can find on what the other races are doing to prepare. Sparatus came by a few days ago, he's making headway on The Dissension, and he mentioned preparing the turians for war, but he didn't elaborate on it really."
"I've spoken with a few hanar diplomats," Thane said, drawing Jane's attention to him. "The hanar are upgrading Kahje's planetary defense systems and have a meeting scheduled with Anderson in a week to discuss how they can assist more directly. They've agreed to send drell task forces to the front lines—or wherever they can best serve—when the reapers arrive."
Jane reached over and patted his hand, leaving it on top of his. "Thank you." She glanced at Garrus before turning her gaze back to him. "Both of you. For taking on all of this while we're stuck in here."
"Of course, siha." Thane placed his free hand on top of hers, squeezing her fingers.
Jane seemed taken aback, blinking her eyes rapidly for a moment. "You called me 'siha.'"
"Indeed. Does this bother you?" Thane lifted a brow ridge. "I was under the impression it is a term I often used with you."
She smiled. "Bother me, no. Just surprised me a little."
Thane chuckled, letting go of her hand. "How else may we assist?"
"Hmm." Jane pursed her lips, pulling her hand back to lace her fingers over her abdomen once more. "Once Miranda is in place and Cerberus is under control, you can have Grundan Krul start looking for Javik on Eden Prime. Dawn gave EDI the rough location, if you contact her, she can pass it on to Grundan Krul. But make sure no one tries to open Javik's stasis pod, they'll risk killing him, and I'll be exceptionally pissed. I know how to get it open—most of us do." She turned a litte, her attention zeroing in on Garrus completely. "Garrus … when the reapers get here, you've got to get us out of this place, it doesn't matter what condition Dawn is in. We belong on the Normandy getting shit done, and I think Dawn and the others will do what needs to be done when things are put back into motion."
Garrus met Thane's gaze, and Thane dipped his head. Garrus hummed and nodded. "I don't think Anderson will have any problem with it, but if he does … we'll make sure you're released, one way or another."