Garrus
Garrus held Jack pressed in tight against his side despite her grumbles. He had no intentions of letting her out of his sight again any time soon. The thought of her being locked in another Cerberus cell infuriated him, and even though Jack took responsibility for being captured, he blamed Miranda. She was supposed to be leading the team, and if she couldn't control and command her squad, then she had no place taking people into danger. Especially Jack when Cerberus was involved.
A part of him wanted to hole up somewhere with Jack, give her a real chance to recover and work through the shit the Illusive Man put her through, but he needed to check on Dawn. Jack told him to shut up and stop acting like a 'pussy' when he told her she could stay somewhere safe while he went alone. He only hoped Dawn was in a good mood. The last thing he needed was for her to lash out at Jack and have the two women tearing down the Citadel in a biotic war.
Taking a deep breath, he turned down the hall and nodded his head to the two Alliance guards standing out front. One of them stepped away long enough to duck his head inside and announce their presence. A moment later, the door opened again and James waved them inside.
"She's in the shower. Been in there for a half-hour already." He looked back over his shoulder as he made his way toward the couch, opening his omni-tool and turning off the vidscreen. "Want me to go get her?"
"No," Garrus said, shaking his head. "I'll get her." Turning his attention to Jack, he lowered his voice and said, "I'll just be a minute."
"Fuck, Garrus. Stop acting like I might break if you're not glued to my ass." Although her words were harsh, her tone carried an undercurrent of love and gratitude. Still, she shoved him away and rolled her eyes. "Tell her to get her ass out here." She flashed her teeth at him in a grin. "But make sure she puts on clothes first."
Chuffing, he reached out and brushed the back of a finger along her jaw before leaning down to kiss her, savoring the rare moment of softness she let him have. "I'll be quick."
He left her with one last glance at James before making his way to the bathroom. The sounds of running water and Dawn's voice, high and irritated as if she were arguing with herself … or maybe Jane, met him before he'd even reached the door. He knocked and waited, but she didn't call out to him, so after a few seconds, he knocked again.
Voice rising above the sound of water hitting the tile, she said, "Yeah?"
"Dawn," he started to say, but her name caught in his throat, strangling him. She wasn't Dawn anymore. Not really. Or at least not completely. He swallowed and tried again. "Shepard, it's Garrus. I brought Jack with me to see you."
"Open the door, James, we can't hear you."
He chuffed and hit the door's control release, steam wafting out to slap him in the face as soon as the door slid open. She stood inside the shower, the curves of her silhouette calling to him instantly as she tipped her head back to rinse her hair. The sight of her filled him with such longing, a keen threatened to force its way through him. Spirits, he missed her.
He cleared his throat. "It's Garrus. I brought Jack to see you."
"Garrus?" Excitement and enough longing to echo his own filled her voice as she turned, pulling open the shower stall. Dripping wet, she didn't even stop to turn off the water or grab a towel before stepping out.
He thrummed, a mix of emotions running through him as he couldn't help but take in her beauty. Crossing the space between them, in long, rushed strides, she reached up and hooked her hand around the yoke of his armor. She tugged him inside the bathroom with her, the door hissing closed behind them. Heart thumping against his keel, he wasn't sure what to make of her actions until she pulled him down to her, pressing her naked body against his armor as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her mouth to his.
Spirits.
His arms slid around her, pulling her closer as his mouth opened to receive her tongue before he even had the chance to contemplate the wisdom of the action. Spirits he missed her, missed everything about her, and he wanted nothing more than to shed his armor and be inside of her. But it wasn't her. Not really. Struggling to make himself pull away as the scent of her growing arousal filled his nostrils, he let out a soft growl, grip tightening around her for just a second before he got his head on straight.
Breaking the kiss, he pressed his forehead to hers, it was as much as he could muster. "Shepard …."
She let out a soft, whimper of sound and tried to pull him back into the kiss, but he held his ground. As much as he wanted her, wanted to touch and taste every speck of her, it just wasn't right. Not while she was … what did Thane call it? Disconnected? A heavy sigh made her chest rise and fall, pushing against his before her hands dropped away. Taking a step back, she reached for a towel and wrapped it around herself.
The bitter bite of her emotions burned his nostrils—rejection, fear, hopelessness. He smelled it all and saw it written on her face. Shoulders sagging, he reached for her, but she turned away, grabbing another towel to dry her hair. He watched her for a moment, a keen rising up in his throat only to be forced right back down.
"I'm sorry," he said, moving a little closer to her. He started to reach out again, but he didn't want to push her; she'd pulled away from him once already. "I don't think it's right for us to … hmmm. I'm sorry." Letting out a soft, plaintive trill, he put his hand on the counter next to her. "Jack's out there waiting for me. She's … been through some things. We'll tell you about it when you join us, alright?"
She nodded, and with barely more than a whisper, she said, "We'll be out in a minute."
He stopped pacing and turned toward the sound of the bathroom door opening. A moment later, Dawn walked out, shoulders squared, head held high. She took his breath away. She looked every bit the commander he'd first met and fell in love with, and seeing the fiery, focused look in her eyes gave him a spark of hope.
Gaze finding Jack, she smiled and crossed the floor. "Jack," she said, voice drenched in affection.
Reaching out, she hauled Jack up from the couch when Jack accepted her hand. Dawn slipped an arm around the other woman's waist, pulling her in closer as she cupped Jack's head with the other hand. The sharp scent of surprise rolled off of Jack, but she didn't pull away as Dawn captured her lips. Amusement quickly replaced the shock, and Jack tilted her head, opening her mouth to Dawn's explorations.
"Dios mío," James muttered, watching the women with raised eyebrows.
Garrus would be lying to say he didn't share the sentiment. He watched for a moment before chuffing, trying to clear the scents of arousal rolling off of both women and James from his nostrils, shaking his head. Jack seemed to grin around the kiss before ending it, but Dawn pressed their foreheads together, holding her there a moment longer.
"Missed you, too, Alliance." Jack reached up, cupping the back of Dawn's head for a few seconds before letting her go again.
Stepping back, Dawn brushed her thumb over Jack's cheek before taking a seat on the couch next to James. "What happened? Garrus said something happened."
Garrus fluttered his mandibles. Dawn certainly seemed far more lucid than she did the last time he saw her—even if she intended to greet everyone she saw with a kiss. Still, he knew better than to let his hope carry him too far. He watched as Jack sat back down and turned a little to face Shepard, her face screwed up in an angry sneer. Moving to the chair, he sat on the edge and threaded his fingers together, elbows on his knees.
"The Illusive Man got away, that's what the fuck happened." Jack's words came out on a growl, shoulders snapping up before falling again. "We had his bitch ass, but he got away."
Dawn studied Jack in silence a moment, her eyes seeming to take in everything before she finally glanced at James and Garrus. "Can you give us a few minutes alone, please?"
He didn't really like the idea of leaving Dawn and Jack alone, all things considered, but Jack shooed him away. So, he and James decided to take a walk down to Dr. Chakwas office.
"So, what's with the increased security I saw coming into the Citadel?" Garrus asked as they walked. "It isn't about The Dissension, they didn't give me any more trouble than anyone else entering."
James turned and looked at him, raising his eyebrows. "You don't know?"
"Know what?" Garrus fluttered his mandibles, visor zeroing in on James completely.
"Shit." He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck. "I figured the Broker would've told you. The Council released a report to all the major leaders of the galaxy, even beyond Council Space. They finally admitted to the existence of the reapers and the threat of an upcoming war."
Stopping in his tracks, Garrus' mandibles flared and dropped as he stared at James. "You're serious?"
"Yeah," James said as he stopped, too, turning to face Garrus. "Tali called me, she said they made her admiral because she knows the most about the reapers." He lifted the corner of his mouth in a smirk. "You should've seen the look on Ídola's face when she heard the news."
Humming, mind racing through the implications, Garrus slowly started walking again. Things were moving along faster than anything Jane ever told them. Dawn was doing it, really changing things. Spirits, he hoped it'd be enough. It'd shatter him to lose her again. His time on Omega would look like nothing more than a child's tantrum if things didn't work out for Dawn to survive and break her cycle.
He loved Jack. Adored her. But Dawn was the air in his lungs and the blood in his veins. She was what kept his heart beating.
Rumbling, he pushed the thought aside and said, "She seems a little better."
"She's getting there." James nodded, glancing sideways at Garrus. "But you know … she may never really be the same again."
Mandibles stilling against his jaw, Garrus kept his gaze straight ahead. "I know. Spirits help me, I know."
"Garrus." Dr. Chakwas smiled when she looked up from her desk and saw him. "Shepard just called me using Jack's omni-tool. I was just about to head to her room to examine Jack." She huffed lightly. "Not that Jack seemed too thrilled with the idea, but she did agree."
Fluttering his mandibles, Garrus sucked in a deep breath. "Good, maybe Shepard actually managed to get her to talk about it."
"It seems so, though I wasn't given any details. Shepard just insisted I come to examine a new scar on Jack's head." Standing from her desk, she closed her laptop. "Do you know what happened?"
"Hmmm. I'm not willing to face Jack's wrath for giving you information she doesn't want you to have." He smiled as he said it, hoping to lessen the sting of his refusal, and flared his mandibles. "But … I can tell you it's serious. I tried to convince her to go to the hospital when we arrived, but she refused."
"I see." Moving from around the desk, she picked up a leather satchel and draped it over her wrist. "Well, best not to keep them waiting, I suppose."
"They've most certainly put something inside there, but unfortunately," Dr. Chakwas said, frowning as she looked at her omni-tool's display, "I can't tell what purpose it serves."
"They used it to shock the hell out of me when the cattle prods didn't do the trick," Jack said, failing to meet anyone's gaze as she spoke. Despite the steel she tried to put in her voice, the attempt to make it seem as if it were nothing of concern to her, she couldn't hide the scent of fear seeping off of her as she spoke.
"Dear God. I'm so sorry, Jack." Dr. Chakwas seemed to hesitate for only a second before resting her hand on Jack's shoulder and giving her a little squeeze. After a few seconds of silence, Dr. Chakwas said, "It's possible it might be used for other things, too. I'm afraid I can't say with any level of certainty, and I'm simply not able to perform the level of surgery that would be required for extraction. I can set you up with a surgeon—"
"Fuck that." Scoffing and sneering, Jack shook her head and shrugged the doctor's hand away. "I'm not having someone else cut my head open."
"Jack," Dawn said, reaching over to take Jack's hand in her own. "You can't let that thing stay inside of you. Who knows what it'll do?" Eyes widening with a mix of fear and determination, she added, "We can … we can call Miranda."
Lifting her eyebrows, Jack looked at Dawn as if she didn't recognize the woman at all anymore. "Hell no."
"Or Mordin," Garrus said, fluttering his mandibles, praying to the Spirits that Jack would accept some form of help. "Hell, even Legion. He removed shrapnel from Shepard's leg. Whatever it is inside you, it's Cerberus tech. You know what they're capable of."
Looking back and forth between all of them, Jack finally huffed and pulled her hand free from Dawn's grasp. "Fuck all of you." Jumping to her feet, she paced the floor for nearly a solid minute before letting out a frustrated growl. "Fine. Call Mordin." She stopped and turned, locking Garrus in her stare. "No way I'm letting Barbie fuck around with my head."
Letting out a relieved sigh, Garrus leaned back in his chair. Then, he realized if she needed to go to Sur'Kesh, he'd have to choose between going with her and staying with Dawn.
Damn it. Why can't anything ever just be easy?
Jack pushed him back against the cold, metal wall of their quarters aboard the Yagow. He'd been in the middle of changing after taking a quick shower, and she caught him by surprise. Fingers tracing the scars covering his hide, remnants of their mission to kill the Shadow Broker, Jack swallowed, anger and regret spiking in her scent.
He wrapped his hand around hers and brought it to his mouth to nip at her fingertips. "It wasn't your fault, Jack." Letting out a soft, affectionate purr, he used his other hand to tip her chin back and make her meet his gaze. "Don't do this to yourself again. Please? I'm fine, I promise."
Slipping her fingers from his grasp, she grabbed his shoulders, the look in her eye shifting from self-loathing to predatorial. It stirred something inside of him, and he grabbed her hips, lifting her as she jumped. She wrapped her legs around his waist and sank her teeth into the spot just below his mandible as he stepped away from the wall, earning her a hungry growl. Moving her to the bunk, he lowered her to the thin mattress, perching above her to keep his keel from cutting into her chest.
Fingers digging in against his plates and hide, she scraped her teeth over his throat before lifting her mouth to his. Tongue swirling over the tip of his, she rocked her hips, pressing against him in demand. Rumbling, he slid a hand around to hook his thumb beneath the strap covering her nipples and shoved it up before trapping one of the swollen buds between his fingers, pinching and twisting until she moaned in his mouth and nipped at his tongue.
Garrus stood in front of her, as much to protect her as to protect the salarians stupid enough to level weapons at them when they arrived via shuttle to the STG base. He felt the buzz of her biotics at his back, smelled the burned ozone filling the air. Taking a note out of Thane's handbook, he tucked his hands behind his back, doing his best to appear the very image of cool confidence and calm. "We're here to see Dr. Mordin Solus. He's expecting us."
"So you said." A salarian wearing a white lab coat, holding a shotgun leveled at Garrus' abdomen sniffed. "He's been notified. You'll wait here for him to approve your entrance into the facility."
Garrus just nodded, shifting his hand behind his back to signal Jack to hold fire and wait. He prayed to the Spirits she noticed and would listen. A moment later, an elevator door at the back opened and Mordin stepped out, strolling toward them with long, purposeful strides. He stopped to say something to another salarian, and the man lifted his hand to his comm. The others lowered their weapons, and Mordin smiled, moving down to stand in front of Garrus.
"Garrus! Jack! Good you're here." He turned, waving a hand back toward the elevator. "Come. Will take you to my labs."
Relaxing as the salarians surrounding them scattered, moving back to whatever they were doing before his arrival, Garrus grinned at the old man. "Mordin, it's good to see you. Thanks for making time to have us. We wouldn't bother you, we know you're busy, but it's important."
"Dr. Chakwas forwarded scans," Mordin said with a nod, turning to lead them back to the elevator. "Glad you came. Will have things taken care of in no time. Kirrahe here as well." He glanced over at Garrus and then Jack. "Might be good to catch up. Important things to discuss."
Stepping inside the elevator, Garrus waited until Jack tucked herself in against his side and the door closed before looking at Mordin again. "I just learned the Council released reports admitting to the reapers and their approach."
"Yes." Mordin gave him a quick jerk of his head in the affirmative. "Spoke to Councilor Valern. All of Sur'Kesh on high alert. Had to call in favors to clear your arrival."
He paced outside the room, the stifling atmosphere created by no less than four salarians working to keep Jack stabilized while Mordin dug around inside her skull became just a bit too much for Garrus to swallow. The scent of her blood still reached his nostrils, though, thick and sticky with its sharp, metallic tang, making it impossible for him to relax.
"You won't help her by wearing a hole into the floor," a soft, grazing voice said.
Pivoting, Garrus spotted a female krogan standing in the doorway at the end of the hall. Her face was shrouded, and although he'd never met her himself, he recognized the aura surrounding her from Jane's descriptions.
Eve.
Clearing his throat, he turned to face her completely. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."
"You haven't disturbed me, Garrus Vakarian." Her eyes creased, and he thought she was smiling.
Tilting his head a little, he asked, "You know who I am?"
"Mordin spoke of you, said the turian he worked with aboard the Normandy would be coming to Sur'Kesh with a human named Jack in need of medical attention." She lifted a hand, gesturing around her. "There are no other turians on Sur'Kesh."
Garrus chuffed and chuckled. "I suppose not. You must be the shaman from clan Urdnot."
"I am." She nodded and then turned, slow and lumberously as if it pained her to do so. "Come. Keep an old woman company while you wait. Mordin will take good care of your Jack."
"Why would you call her my Jack?" he asked, taking hesitant steps down the hall.
The shaman only chuckled, though, the scent of her amusement reaching his nose as he moved further away from the operating room. He lost track of her as she disappeared inside another room, so he picked up the pace a little, scenting the air as he went. Over the sting of anesthetic and antiseptic, he smelled the distinct scents of three, female krogans. Sickly. One balancing between life and death. Stopping in the doorway, he scanned the room, visor picking out the heart rates of the krogans, Eve's hearts beating the strongest by far.
The two others looked at him with wide, unblinking eyes, as if they expected him to suddenly sprout a second head. He chuffed softly, prepared to turn and leave them to their rest, but the shaman waved at him as she climbed onto her bed and gestured at an empty chair not far away. Hesitating, Garrus took a moment to glance over his shoulder back toward the room where Jack laid unconscious, skull cracked open, wires and tubes working to keep her going.
"Sit down, Garrus," Eve said. "There's nothing you can do for her now."
He turned back to look at the shaman, mandibles flicking. His feet propelled him forward to follow her order before even thinking about whether or not he really wanted to. Jane wasn't kidding about the level of command Eve carried. He nodded his head to the two other women and settled himself down into the chair, humming softly to himself.
"I am told you are in part to thank for my life and the lives of my sisters here," Eve said, pulling her feet up onto the bed to wrap her arms around her knees as she watched him.
Reaching up, Garrus scratched at one of his scars. "Hmmm. Yeah, I was with Shepard and Mordin when they went to look for Maelon on Tuchanka."
"There is something happening. Security has increased here, but no one is telling us anything," one of the other krogans said, the one whose hearts beat the weakest. "Do you know what's happening?"
"Terkan, we've discussed this," Eve said, and Terkan looked away. "Whatever is happening, Mordin does not want us to know, and I trust he has his reasons. He has been laboring himself nearly to death to nurse us back to health, the least we can do is honor his wishes." She turned her head to look at the third krogan who seemed far less interested in Garrus the longer he sat there. "Besides, Garrus is not here to feed us information. Surely you can see his concern. His mate is in the middle of an operation."
"Oh, no. Jack's not … we're not bonded." He chuckled, fluttering his mandibles. "And I'm fairly sure if she heard you call her my mate, she'd be ripping apart the room with her bare hands and biotics."
Eve chuckled. "A real woman, then, and a warrior, too. One who knows her own worth, who doesn't measure her value by a man." She watched him for a minute. "You love her, though."
Humming, he nodded, glancing back at the door. "Yeah. I love her."
Garrus nodded to Kirrahe when the major took a seat at the table across from him. They were in a small cafeteria on the second floor of the base, tucked back behind a lab whose door only read 'live specimens'. Garrus knew better than to ask what kind of live specimens the salarians kept in the facility, though Dawn once told him a yahg got loose on the base when Cerberus attacked, trying to get their hands on Eve and the other krogans. He suppressed a shudder, hoping to never see another yahg after his encounter with the last Shadow Broker.
"Mordin suggested you may be able to help STG acquire schematics of a reaper vessel." Kirrahe glanced around at the relatively empty room, folding his hands together on the table as his gaze settled back on Garrus. "It would significantly help us to understand how best to fight the enemy, structural weaknesses, shielding, weapons … how to defend against them, as well."
Garrus hummed, mandibles fluttering softly against his face. "It shouldn't be too hard to come by. The geth probably have something, they've been studying the reapers and fighting the heretics for awhile. And if they don't, I have a few other resources I can look into."
"Excellent. Any news on the resettlement of Rannoch? I'm quite impressed Shepard managed to pull that off." Kirrahe chuckled and then shook his head. "Though I don't suppose I should be."
Smiling softly, Garrus thought about how insistent Shepard was for the quarians and geth to take the credit for their new alliance. He hummed. "If she were here, she'd tell you it was all the quarians' and geth's doing, but, hmmm, she definitely helped by working her particular brand of magic."
Kirrahe offered him a consoling smile. "How is her recovery progressing, if you don't mind my asking?"
"The doctors say she's recovering relatively fast, but with the reapers coming …." He trailed off, letting out a heavy sigh.
"It's not fast enough," Kirrahe said, finishing Garrus' statement with a nod. "I understand. What are the turians doing to prepare?"
"I have no clue. I only learned about the Council's announcement maybe three hours before boarding the Yagow to bring Jack here." Chuffing, Garrus shook his head. "I barely had the chance to process the news, let alone reach out to anyone about it. If I had to wager a guess, however, I'd say planetary wide defenses are being increased on all turian controlled planets, the production of civilian ships and weapons has halted while they focus on improving and producing military grade ones instead, and a lot of turians who left after mandatory are returning to active duty. What about the salarians?"
Kirrahe tipped his head toward his shoulder. "Much the same. Many of our research facilities have shifted to focus on weaponry and shielding advancements as well."
Garrus slid his hand beneath hers when his visor picked up on the increase in her heart rate, telling him she was waking up. A moment later, her fingers twitched around his before closing completely to surround his hand. Opening her eyes, she blinked a few times before letting her eyelids flutter closed again. The corner of her mouth lifted in a sneer, and she let out a soft groan.
Humming, he brought his other hand up to brush a knuckle over her cheek. "How are you feeling?"
"Like fucking shit." She groaned again, tentatively running the fingers of her free hand over the Medi-gel covered incision. "Where the hell's Mordin? He better have some damn good shit to give me."
He chuckled, leaning over to kiss her hand before standing up. "I'll go let him know you're awake."
"No need." Mordin rounded the corner. "Received notification of shift in vitals." He made his way over to the bed as Garrus sat back down. Stopping next to Jack, he pulled a penlight from his pocket and shone it in each of her eyes, ignoring her growls and colorful language. "Surgery successful. Diagnostics on implant revealed potential to act as control chip. Technology somewhat more advanced than those removed from Shepard. Also capable of killing you within seconds. Most likely similar to 'killswitch' in Shepard's friend on Gellix. Lucky to be alive. Good you decided to come to me."
Jack grit her teeth, jaw twitching under the strain. "Miranda better find that sonofabitch and end him."
Garrus let out a soft growl, tightening his grip on her hand. "Don't worry about the Illusive Man. One way or another, he'll get what's coming to him. Just focus on healing from this, alright?"
"Fuck, how long do I have to stay here?" She glanced between him and Mordin.
"Two to four days, depending on your rate of healing." Mordin moved to a table next to her bed and opened a drawer, pulling out a hermetically sealed syringe and a vial. "Will have more definite answer tomorrow." He filled the syringe and inserted it into her IV port. "Will help with the pain."
Garrus watched, running his hand back and forth over her arm as the drugs took hold and she slipped off to sleep.