"I found love where it wasn't supposed to be - right in front of me. Talk some sense to me. And I'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take." ~ Found/Amber Run

Garrus and Wrex watched Alenko and Shepard spar. Hand-to-hand combat skills needed practice constantly, and Shepard wasn't one to lounge around. She needed action, needed purpose and direction, needed goals. Her red hair was tied back on top of her head, but loose strands stuck to the sweat on the sides of her face. She was fairly small in stature, but very strong for her size. Shepard sunk a left fist into Kaidan's side. He staggered backward, and Kate adjusted her boxing glove.

"You're pulling your punches," She spat at him and wiped her brow. Kaidan's face flushed a deeper red, and he shook his head quickly.

Wrex chuckled. "You thought she wouldn't notice?"

"If you're focused on pulling your punches, you'll never get better," She said coolly. "I don't need you to go easy on me." Her voice was even, but Garrus could hear the underlying irritation.

"I just need a break, Commander," Kaidan said as he rubbed his rib cage.

Disappointment briefly flickered across her face. She looked around at the watching crew. They usually took turns. Often, Shepard did more instructing than participating. Liara and Tali had little combat experience, and the different species took time learning each other's strengths and weaknesses. Shepard had been uncharacteristically antsy today. He scanned her with his visor. Her heart rate, even resting, remained elevated.

"Let's dance, Wrex," Shepard smiled at the krogan and then drank from her water bottle.

"Shepard, out of respect, I'm going to decline."

"How is that respectful?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"It isn't a fair fight," Wrex said.

"No fight is ever fair," Shepard pointed out and set the bottle back down.

"I would only have sit on you and I would crush crush you. Then what would I tell the Alliance?" Wrex asked. "They'd probably call the salarians in to give us another genophage if I sat on Commander Shepard and killed her."

"You'd have to beat me to tell anyone anything..." She bounced back and forth between her feet. "C'mon."

"I'll take you," Garrus said.

"Yeah, Vakarian?"

Garrus nodded. "I'm one of the top hand-to-hand specialists in the turian military. I promise not to pull my punches," Garrus said, glancing over to Kaidan, who flushed again. "Though you might wish I did."

Shepard smirked, and her emerald eyes glittered as Garrus pulled on his turian boxing gloves. He looked down at his talons briefly. Shepard was wearing her padded under armor spandex, but humans were much softer than other sparring partners. Briefly, he wondered if he would be able to pull his punches without her being able to tell.

"Shepard, are you sure this is a good idea?" Kaidan asked.

"I'm with LT, here, Shepard," Ash said from the other side of the cargo bay. "It's not a fair fight."

Shepard scowled at Williams's comment.

"People have made a habit of underestimating our commander," Liara said. "It usually has not ended in their favor."

Shepard shook her head, and charged forward. She caught Garrus around the waist. Her biotics flared as she attempted to lift him off his feet. He laughed, but secretly admired her brute strength. She had managed to knock him bag a few steps. Had she been taller, she might have been able to leverage his weight better, but she was short - even by human standards.

"Now, now, Commander," Garrus said coyly. "No biotics. That's cheating." She sunk a punch into his under armor, missing the scales and finding soft flesh. He grunted.

"She has to make it fair somehow," Ashley spat.

Shepard growled as he threw her back off of him. She rolled across the ground. Rising to her knees, her eyes raked over him, looking for a point of attack.

She stood and slowly circled him. He swung half-heartedly at her, a move designed to entice her to try and strike. She didn't bite, and instead stepped back. Then, running toward him, she leaped upward into the air, grabbed his fringe and yanked his head down. His abdomen met her knee once, twice, and then she let go of him and retreated. Garrus bared his razor sharp teeth in a turian smile. "That was dirty, Shepard."

She smiled at him. She lunged toward him again, he feinted back, and then in one swift motion he knocked her feet from under her and was on top of her pinning her to the ground. Only after she was on the ground looking up at the turian over her did he realize that he had put his hand behind the back of her head to ensure her head was protected. He met her green eyes. She was breathing hard. Everything was silent for a moment. It didn't even seem like time was moving around them. Did she feel the nervous energy, too? She struggled briefly under him, trying to free her hands.

Garrus was suddenly encased in biotics. Shepard looked away from him.

"I think that's enough, Garrus," Kaidan said. Releasing the biotic hold, "We need to get some shut eye. We can't be too far out from Feros now."

Kaidan released his biotic hold on Garrus, who immediately stood and moved toward him. Shepard scrambled to her feet and stepped in front of Garrus. "Kaidan, you should not have done that. Garrus beat me fair and square," Shepard said.

Kaidan looked down toward the floor. "I just want to make sure everyone's focused on the mission."

"That's my job, LT," Shepard said firmly. Garrus moved away toward the mako. "Get some rest everybody." Shepard said as she stepped into the elevator alone.

"Sorry, Garrus," Kaidan said softly. He pressed the call button for the elevator. Ashley disappeared into her bunk apparently wanting nothing to do with any of them. Tali disappeared a few moments later.

Liara moved closer to Garrus. In a very quiet voice, she said, "If you care for Shepard half as much as I think you do, you should tell her." Garrus didn't make eye contact as she stepped into the elevator with Kaidan.

Garrus was furious, but he didn't really understand why. Alenko and Shepard were both young, both human... If they wanted to be together, they could be. They worked. It shouldn't bother him as much as it did. He hadn't known Shepard that long. Sure, he'd read about her long before he actually laid eyes on her, but then she'd just been... interesting. Shepard had never declared anything either way. He kneeled down beside the mako and examined the gears on the wheel. They had loosened on the last mission. He turned to grab a wrench and noticed Wrex staring at him.

He growled in irritation and stood. "What?"

"You're really going to let that whelp get the girl, huh?" Wrex asked, though it wasn't really a question.

"You assume an awful lot, Wrex," Garrus said.

"I assume the same thing Liara assumes, and Tali... And Joker... And the doctor," Wrex said. Garrus tensed. He hadn't thought his budding affection for Shepard had been that obvious. He felt his neck warm and darken. "Don't worry, Garrus. I think Williams doesn't know because she doesn't want to know, and somehow I still don't think Shepard knows."

"Shepard is our commanding officer. She doesn't have time for such distractions," Garrus said.

"Ah, but you still don't deny it," Wrex pointed out.

"I have no interest in distracting Shepard," Garrus said coldly.

"But you have interest in Shepard," Wrex said.

"Everyone has interest in Commander Shepard. She's a damn icon," Garrus said.

Wrex waved him off and shrugged. "Whatever. If you're fine with losing the most impressive woman in the whole galaxy, then you don't deserve her anyway."

Garrus took a step back. He didn't like the finality of that. "You have no idea if she'd even consider another species."

"Neither do you," Wrex said. "Shepard likes you, Garrus. There's chemistry. If you don't see it, then I don't know what to tell you."

"I'm not taking romantic advice from a krogan," Garrus said and walked away toward his bunk.

"Whatever," Wrex said lowly. "Your loss."