Hello dear readers!
First of all big, huge thanks to everyone who reviewed this little story and thanks to everyone who put it on alert, honestly, you guys make me so happy!
Now, on with the show!

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He skidded to a halt next to her, and stared. She looked up to him, surprise on her face. For a few breaths they both just stared at each other. Suddenly, she smiled.
Her brilliant smile hit him like a punch to the gizzard and Garrus' knees turned weak. He slumped down on the bench next to her and she giggled in surprise.

"I would offer you some beer but I don't know how you deal with levo-beer." She said, holding up her bottle.

He held up a hand. "Thanks, but I don't need anything." He turned to her. "I'm glad to see you."

"Me too." she said in a quiet voice. After a few breaths she spoke again. "Shouldn't you be in the restaurant with your beautiful lady?"

He smiled at her, his mandibles wide. "I'd rather be here with you." He longed to touch her, to get closer to her. His subharmonics were singing out of control.

She put the bottle down on the floor and turned towards him. She looked him directly in the eyes. "Garrus, I don't know how this works in turian... courtship. The way I understand it, you left a woman you are supposed to marry alone over there to come over here and I don't even know... I'm not sure if we both want the same..." She looked down on her hands and made a small laugh. "You know I'm not even good at this with my own species."

She looked up to him with a lopsided grin. "Usually I just have sex."

Garrus swallowed hard.

She giggled a little and without warning she took his hand in hers. He missed at least one breath.

"But then I just leave and never see him again. That's not what I want with you."

Her hand felt cool against his. He was glad that he didn't wear gloves tonight. His thumb started stroking the soft skin on the back of her hand autonomously. He tried to take in every detail, the little bumps on her hand, the calloused tips that showed practise in holding a gun.

Suddenly she turned and was on her knees on the bench. That move made her taller and her face was right in front of him. Her blue eyes never left his.

"As I was saying, I don't know how turians do this but if you were human I would do this." With surprising strength she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him towards her, her touch under his fringe enough to make him stop breathing. She tilted her head a little to the side and pressed her lips to his mouth.

Soft. Warm.

She suckled on his upper mouthplate and it felt incredible. He relaxed his mouth and it opened slightly. Suddenly he felt her tongue entering his mouth, the tip of her tongue grazing over his mouthplates. Her free hand stroked his mandible and her tongue danced along the inside of his upper mouthplate.

Spirits!
Yes, this is kissing. Please never stop.

Garrus opened his mouth a little more and experimentally touched the tip of his tongue against hers. The feeling of this touch went through him like a live current, he wouldn't have been surprised if he could see sparks running on his skin. She gasped and her hand under his fringe grabbed him harder.

He put his hands on her back, silently cursing her armor for shielding her from him. There was this need - need! - to get closer to her, to touch her, to hold her, to have her whole body wrapped around his own. His subvocals sang out in desire.

The need for air finally broke them apart and they were panting, staring at each other.

She drew in air like she had been drowning.
"Wow. That was ... you have kissed before right?" she asked him with a breathless smile.

His voice was not quite working. "Yes, but it was never like this. You... you..." - he was out of words. In an urgent need he pressed his forehead to hers, knowing that he spread his scent all over her. He didn't care.

A light trill behind them caught their attention.
Sapita was standing behind the bench, looking amused. "You do realize that people are watching you eat each others face?"

With her subharmonics she trilled a question at Garrus, knowing very well what he had done with his forehead to hers.
Garrus resisted to stretch his throat and just hummed. Shepard looked confused between them but didn't seem to be all that embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I ruined your rendezvous." she said with a smile. She was still raised on her knees and still had her hands on him, absentmindedly stroking his shoulder with her many fingers. Sapita stared at her hands and then her eyes moved up to her lips. She swallowed and then said "I never thought I'd see the appeal... it's called kissing, right? With your mouth... why do you do that?"

Shepard smiled even more, "Our face and especially the mouth area is full of nerve endings, extremely sensitive. Same goes for the tongue. Judging from Garrus' reaction there, it is quite pleasurable for turians as well." She looked past her where a tiny asari was standing a few meters back. "Is she with you?" she asked Sapita.

Sapita nodded, "Yes, that is my bondmate Jinala. I called her to pick me up." She looked lovingly over to her. "We have a lot to talk about."

Awareness showed on Shepard's face and she squeezed Garrus' shoulder. Then she grinned at Sapita. "You could try kissing with her, asari have soft lips as well. Just start slow and soft..." Sapita's eyes got wide and she stared at her bondmate with visible desire, swallowing hard.

Jinala had noticed them looking at her and she walked over to them. She stopped next to Sapita, stood up on her tiptoes and they lightly touched their foreheads to each other. Then she turned to Garrus and Shepard and smiled at them with a hint of insecurity.

"Hello. I'm Jinala." her voice was just as high and clear as Sapita's. "I'm Sapita's... I came to pick her up. What were you talking about?"

Shepard smiled warmly. "We were talking about kissing and that you two should try it." The smile turned into a grin now.

The other couple flustered and their movements were like mirror images of each other, hiding their faces behind their hands. Shepard laughed friendly and her face showed true compassion. "I can help you, if you want. Just try it, see if you like it."

Jinala's blue face had turned a shade darker and her eyes never left her bondmate even as she was talking to Shepard.
"I thought that maybe... it is a bit unhygienic?"

Shepard shrugged her shoulders. "Not worse than the exchange of other bodily fluids." Garrus groaned at the image that conjured.

Jinala stood up on her tiptoes again and whispered, "Would you like to try it?"

Sapita trembled and her voice was a hoarse whisper so very unlike her normal bell-like song. "Now? Right here?"

"At least here we have an expert to give us advice" Jinala said with a smile.

Sapita nodded, apparently unable to form words. She lowered her head towards her bondmate and Jinala's mouth came close to her mouthplates. Shepard leaned forward over the back of the bench and began to whisper to Jinala.

"Put your lips softly on her mouth, just a soft touch. Now take her upper lip between yours and gently suckle, yes like that, don't pull, just a little suck. Sapita, relax, you're all tense. Open your mouth a little. Jinala, you can use your tongue to stroke over her mouth. Yes, just like that."

The tiny asari tongue was visible from Shepard's and Garrus's viewpoint, dancing lightly across Sapita's mouthplates. The turian woman's eyes were wide and she was trembling.

Shepard whispered again. "Sapita, move your tongue forward and Jinala, you have to be careful of her teeth but you can stroke her tongue with yours." The women both hesitated but Shepard whispered again, "Trust me, just try it."

The asari and the turian woman moved closer again and Garrus recognized the moment when their tongues touched. Both their eyes went wide and Sapita's legs began to shake, she had to hold on to the back of the bench to not fall over. Garrus knew exactly how she felt. Jinala's hands went to her bondmate's neck and it looked like she had to hold on for dear life.

Shepard let out a small giggle. "Now I have to remind you that there are people watching! I think you got it now, maybe you should try it again somewhere private."

The women broke apart, panting, staring at each other in wonder. Sapita took her bondmate's hand and visibly struggled to get in control of herself again. "Yes, we go. We... to go... home. Now."

She was still slightly shaking when she turned towards Shepard and Garrus. "Thank you. Thank you both. I... we..." She turned to look at Jinala with a loving smile. "There is something about to change." Her voice was steady again. She typed on her omni-tool and both Shepard and Garrus received and accepted the data she send them.

"I wish that we stay in touch. I want to..." She seemed unsure what to say and Garrus could relate. He send out his address as well and trilled reassuringly to her.

"Spirits watch over you. I'm sure you'll make the right decision and I want to hear about it. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything." He hummed his support again.

Shepard looked at him curiously and then turned to her omni-tool and send her address as well. "I would also like to offer my help. If you need anything or have questions about kissing..." she smiled and closed one eye for half a second, "just send me a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can, promise."

They said their goodbyes and Shepard and Garrus watched the two women walk away, holding hands. The turian and the tiny asari looked at each other until they had reached a skycar parked on the side. They saw them get in and program the destination and just as the car rose up in the air, they saw the two bondmates turn towards each other, their mouths touching.

Shepard giggled, "Looks like they're putting in some more practise at kissing."

Garrus hummed in agreement, forgetting that a subvocal hum was not a real answer for humans who had to rely on words all the time.

He suddenly felt her hand on his chest and she was looking at him fascinated. "Do that again." she demanded.

"Do what again?"

"That hum."

He hummed again, this time a reassuring tone. Her eyes went wide and there was something else in her eyes, staring at him. Her mouth fell open in a near silent "Oh."

He looked at her, unsure of what was going on.

"Your whole chest vibrates when you do that. And that hum and vibration go through me, through my whole body." In a sudden movement she ripped off the front of her armor and scooted closer to him so that her chest was pressed against his. She spoke right next to his mandible. "Do it again."

He hummed. He felt her shiver, pressing her soft chest on his hard cowl and her head fell forward, her breath blowing over his neck. She was so close. He felt his genital plates shifting. He desperately tried to hold on to the realities of them sitting on a bench on the Presidium, people walking around and staring at them and this wonderful woman pressing herself against him, trembling.

She raised her head to look at him and he recognized what he had seen in her eyes before. Lust.

"That is..." she was breathing hard, "You should need a license for that. That hum is like... like a sex drug."

She kissed him lightly and then moved back, only her forehead still pressed to his. She whispered with a hoarse voice, "I want you so bad right now, you have no idea."

"Oh, I'm sure I have a pretty good idea" he replied, his voice shaking. He held her by her shoulders and felt his forehead releasing his scent again. He really shouldn't have done that, not without talking to her about it but he couldn't stop. He had to mark her with his scent. No one else should ever touch her again.

Garrus knew he was being ridiculous, he acted like he had just flown down from the trees like turian ancestors in ancient times.

She pulled his head down towards her and kissed the top of his fringe. Garrus grabbed her shoulders harder. Was there any place she wouldn't kiss and would it ever not feel incredible?

"I swear, I wish we could just check into a hotel right now and continue this," she said with a sigh, "but I actually have some work to do. I'm supposed to meet a contact in a little while." She picked up the breastplate from the floor and snapped it back on.

"I'm coming with you."

"You can't, Garrus, you're not even wearing armor."

"But I'm C-Sec, I know my way around the Citadel, I can help you."

"Armor, Garrus, and you not wearing any!" Her hands indicated all of him and apparently displeased with the lack of reaction from him she punched him hard on his arm.
He clamped his mandibles tight to avoid showing his wince.

"Do we have time to stop at C-Sec? I could put on armor there."

She checked her omni-tool and shook her head. "No, no time, we have to go now if we want to make it there on time." She put on her gloves and got up and turned to leave.

He had to stop her. "I stay behind you, keep in cover, watch your back."

She seemed to consider this. Then she threw her head back in annoyance. "Right. Someone has ordered, no asked me to train my leadership potential cause they want to me to be more than just a grunt... " She sighed in annoyance again. "So I'm supposed to get used to working with a team. Might as well start now."

She straightened her back and clasped her hands together behind her back. She looked so much like his old sergeant, he felt himself standing to attention in reflex. Her tone was all commanding officer. "Do you have a gun?"

"I have a pistol." He swallowed a 'Sir' and pulled out his spare Striker pistol he had taken with him out of pure habit. He certainly had not expected to get into a firefight tonight.

Her pose relaxed again. "Well, it ain't pretty but it will have to do." She indicated with a dip of her head that he was to follow her as she started walking.
He noticed that her armor had no Alliance markings or any at all. He wondered what kind of a mission would have her alone in unmarked armor, walking into some ugly corner of the ward.

Garrus didn't have to ask, she started talking about it while they walked. Their path took them far away from the beautiful area of the Presidium and down into the ward. He wondered why they had not taken a skycar. She walked with a brisk pace that Garrus found comfortable to keep up with. Her voice was low and quiet and it was clear that her words were only intended for him.

"This isn't really an Alliance operation. This is a mission for the Alliance NIS, the investigative branch of the Alliance Navy. I've been doing missions with them for the past four months. Mostly I work alone, infiltrating, get the intel and get out again, that sort of thing you know? Some of it is general intelligence, some is plain busting criminals, the sort you probably run into all the time." She looked up to him and he nodded, not knowing what else to do. He could hardly tell her how that look into her blue eyes had taken his breath away just now.

She continued talking in her deep voice, "The ANIS is after a guy who deals in some nasty weapons and is involved in the death of three marines on Arcturus station. I followed his trail here but I lost him on the Citadel. I'm supposed to meet an informant who can tell me more about him over there in that warehouse."

She pointed to towards a grimy building that looked dark and uninviting even in the never changing bright light of the wards.

Garrus stopped her walk by grabbing her arm. "Shepard, fill me in, what do you know?"
She looked slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry, I've done this alone for so long, I forgot." She looked up to the Citadel sky. "Well the weapons dealer's name is Verringer, he was caught on camera at the crime scene, three dead marines and an asari matriarch. We..."

"Wait - Verringer?" Garrus needed a second to recall why he knew that name. "We just busted his warehouse. Almost got blown up in it. Found weapons, drugs, and coolant."

"Coolant? How weird." Shepard looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You almost got blown up?"

"Just a little. I'll tell you later, okay?" She looked worried but nodded. He continued, " We had another reason why we raided the place, had something to do with weapons as well. We found the cooling agents by accident. We, Johnson and me, have this case with organ transplants and we figured they would need lot's of coolant to preserve the organs. That is actually the connection how Frank met Sarah but we can talk about that some other time. Have you heard anything of a Matriarch Gars'ada?"

Shepard stared at him. "Well, yes, she's dead. We found her dead with the three marines on Arcturus station. What is the connection?"

"She actually owns - eh owned - the company that Verringer is running in her name. As far as we know she wasn't a criminal."

"Well that's good to hear, it puts the other guys in a better light. We still don't know how the marines were involved in this." She took out a heavy pistol, the like of which he had never seen before, to check it once and snapped it back to her she started to walk casually towards the front door.

Garrus made a rasping sound in his throat like humans did when they tried to get someones attention. Her head snapped around and she looked at him like she had completely forgotten that he was there.

"Right, I was supposed to tell you what we are about to do here." She examined the outside of the building. "There are some stairs on the outside there, see if you can get to a window overlooking the inside up there. I'm expected, so I just walk in through the front door."

"That's more of a sniping position, and I only have a pistol..."

"I know, it's not ideal but it will just have to do."

She put her gloved hand on his arm and smiled her wonderful smile that Garrus just wanted to drink in. "Just watch the surroundings, everything will be fine."

Garrus nodded. "I'll have your back, Shepard."

She walked towards the door and Garrus sprinted over to the stairs. His clothing enabled him to move quietly but he still felt uncomfortably exposed without armor. The window was a bit high up on the wall. He had to move a box and step on it, but then he had an excellent view over the mostly empty warehouse.

Shepard had already entered and looked completely relaxed. She had her hand on the grip of her pistol but didn't raise it. She just walked in, there was no cover, no protection at all. Was she crazy? Garrus shook his head, he had to talk about her disregard for safety later.

A salarian, standing next to a few shipping containers was looking at her nervously. Three krogan were hulking, like krogan do, behind him. The salarian fidgeted with a handgun, clearly not used to handling a weapon regularly. The krogans on the other hand looked very capable and Garrus felt even more worried. Shepard was smiling! She wasn't intimidated by any of this. Casually she waltzed over and leaned her elbows on a shipping container. This posture had her backside jutting out. From his viewpoint this presented him with a perfect view of her armored ass.

Garrus swallowed a groan. He couldn't let this distract him now, he had to be attentive, protect her. When did you start to find a humans ass so attractive anyway?

She was talking to the salarian and Garrus tuned his audio implant to his and her omni-tool. He was relieved when he could hear her.
"So, I have the information you wanted right here." She padded a pocket on her thigh. "So, what do you have for me?"

The salarian spoke with a squeaky voice. "I can give you all of Verringer's and Matriarch Gars'ada's business contacts, financial supporters and connections. And I can assure you ..." he made a squeaky little laugh, "you will be very interested in those connections."

Shepard straightened and her carefree posture fell off her like a coat. She was all business now and her hand on her pistol a clear threat. Garrus was amazed at the change and had to force himself to tear his eyes away from her. He looked at the three krogan, two had green crests and one was red. They all wore heavy armor, scratched and dented. No insignias as far as he could see, freelancers apparently.

He saw the red krogan doing something with his omni-tool, him even having one was unusual already. But he noticed that Shepard's omni-tool lit up at the same time. She didn't look at the red krogan but that in itself was a giveaway because she never let her attention stray away from the other guys. Garrus wondered what that meant.

Down below the exchange went through without a problem and Garrus saw Shepard turn and walk out. He hurried down the stairs to meet her. She looked over to him but shook her head once. She walked quickly away from the building but into a different path. He tried to keep up without indicating that they were together. Suddenly she stopped and Garrus hid behind a corner.

After a minute the red krogan came out of the building next to her. Garrus aimed his pistol at him, knowing full well that pistol slugs were hardly efficient in stopping a krogan. But the red krogan just stood at an arms length away from Shepard and they talked. Suddenly he turned and looked directly at Garrus and shouted "I can smell you from here, turian. And I can smell you on her too."

Shepard raised an eyebrow in surprise at that but didn't say anything. Garrus walked over to them. The krogan snorted, "Normally I wouldn't trust a young hatchling like you but Shepard seems to trust you and I trust her judgement." Garrus still couldn't stop the hostile growl leaving his throat. He moved closer to Shepard to protect her.

The human woman looked fragile compared to the krogan but he was not threatening towards her. He looked at Garrus with a condescending smirk and then back to Shepard. Then he sniffed the air and grinned. "Shepard." The krogan said with his rumbling deep voice. "You can't jump him now despite all this mating scent in the air. We don't have time." He laughed out once.

Shepard flushed pink and nudged Garrus in his side with her elbow. Then she straightened again and spoke seriously. "Wrex, this is my friend Garrus Vakarian. Garrus, this is my old friend Urdnot Wrex. He has some more information concerning our squeaky salarian." She called him squeaky just like I did.

The krogan rumbled, "The guy has started a new business with batarian slave traders. He has a batch of new slaves in a cargohold in the lower wards that he wants to transfer very soon. I just got the time a few minutes ago, we have to get there fast to stop him."

Garrus was confused, what was the krogan trying to gain by giving Shepard this information? Shepard looked at her omni-tool and then back at the krogan. "We should call C-Sec, and get Garrus in armor before we get into that."

The krogan shook his head, making the air waver around him. "No time for that. Call C-Sec but we can't wait for them." He turned to walk away and called back over his shoulder, "Be there Shepard, I'll be fighting from the inside."

"Alright Wrex, but after this you and I are going to have words!" Shepard shouted after him, pointing with one of her fingers at him. Garrus couldn't believe that she threatened a krogan like that.

The red krogan just nodded and disappeared inside the building.

Shepard was checking her omni-tool and then looked at him. "You need armor and a rifle, and we have to be at these coordinates in like ten minutes. Options? Ideas?" He ran through his options, even if he got Frank to bring him his stuff it would take more than ten minutes. Shepard was checking her omni-tool again and suddenly started running. "Come on Garrus, there is a armor and weapons dealer around the corner." She sprinted fast, he had to take long strides to keep up.

Did she expect him to just buy new armor? He couldn't really afford that. Before he could stop her she ran into the store. Somehow, with a brilliant smile and purring compliments, she convinced the salarian behind the counter to hand over a turian armor set for him for 'testing'. In the same manner he got an assault rifle to 'test'. As he hurriedly put the armor on she promised the salarian salesman an endorsement from him if he was satisfied with the armor.

"One day, an endorsement by him will be invaluable, trust me, he will be a hero!" She sounded so convincing that Garrus stopped closing latches for a second and stared at her. She indicated towards him to hurry up and ran out of the store. He scrambled behind her into a skycar she had ordered. "Hurry, hurry!", she yelled, "We're fucking late! Call your friends at C-Sec, we need backup!"

He hesitated. "Do you really trust this krogan? Couldn't he lead you in a trap?"

She looked at him, clearly irritated. "Yes, I trust him, can you trust me?"

He looked into her eyes, "Yes okay, I trust you." I do.

She turned back to flying the skycar manually and extremely fast. It was nerve wrecking. He thought more than once that they would crash into another car but they always got away at the last moment. He called C-Sec for backup and to distract him from the near-death situations happening in front of him. Just as he had transmitted the coordinates, Shepard pulled the car down fast and landed it rather inelegantly on the roof of a two-story building, screeching and skidding.

Garrus let out the breath he had been holding to stop himself from screaming. Shepard was already running towards the edge of the roof. She spoke into her omni-tool, "We're here Wrex. Situation?" She threw herself on the ground and peered over the edge down into the back court of the building next to them. Garrus scooted up next to her, wincing when he heard his brandnew armor scratching on the ground.

Shepard apparently received some reply from Wrex that he didn't hear. She realized that as he looked at her and started to link up their omni-tools. "Wrex is ready, they will be moving the cargo down the alley to a little illegal spaceport hidden somewhere. We have to get down there now. I want you behind me, check the surrounding buildings for unexpected guests. I confront them and Wrex will be our surprise behind their backs. Let's go."

She scooted back and got up to run over to a set of rusty stairs. Garrus held her back by her arm, he didn't like her plan at all. "It would be better if I confronted them, I'm C-Sec. And you would be vulnerable..." He stopped, because her eyes narrowed and the look she gave him was frightening.

She growled, actually growled at him and spoke very quietly, "This is not an official C-Sec operation with me here. Stick to the plan."

He nodded, too annoyed to answer her with words.

As they walked down the street, a door opened in the building and let out the three krogan they had seen before and two turians along with the squeaky salarian. In between them seven small children, asari and human were chained together. Garrus had to bite back on the hateful keen he wanted to scream. Children!

Slavers were already the worst of the worst but slavers who traded children? The worst stercus of the lowest life forms.

Shepard had her heavy pistol drawn and trained on the salarian. Garrus raised his Assault rifle as well, almost shaking in anger. Shepard stepped forward, "You are under arrest by the ANIS for slave trading. Drop your weapons!" She spoke with authority but Garrus considered it a needless gesture. Those were slave traders and mercenaries, why did she waste her time talking to them?

In that second a shot rang out and hit the ground next to Shepard, spraying shrapnel on her leg. Garrus cursed, he hadn't checked the roof of the building behind him. He aimed with his assault rifle and shot at the assailant. It wasn't a sniper, but his shots were still well enough to take the shooter down. In the meantime a full-on firefight had started between the salarian and the turian mercenaries on one side and - surprisingly - all three krogan and Shepard on the other side. Shepard and the krogan had taken cover behind some of the many containers that were always scattered around the wards. Behind one box the red krogan, Wrex, was protecting the children with his massive body. He held up a biotic barrier, enclosing the crying children inside a shimmering blue bubble.

More turians appeared on the roof and came running into the road from the building. Shepard's heavy pistol apparently even had a scope and she took out the snipers on the roof with frightening precision. Garrus sorely missed his sniper rifle or even his regular pistol. The assault rifle he was 'testing' wasn't correctly calibrated and shot slightly off the mark, he had to compensate by aiming a bit to the left. He grew more annoyed at that by the minute. Finally he switched to his old Striker pistol. It didn't have the same kind of punch as the assault rifle but at least it was calibrated.

Shepard and Garrus' shooting with the work of three krogan shotguns soon sent the surviving mercs running. Shepard indicated to Garrus and the krogans to follow her in her pursuit of the fleeing turians. But she had a different order for Wrex. "Protect the children Wrex, take them to C-Sec."

"You got it, Shepard." He turned towards the children and removed their chains. Garrus saw with bewilderment how the huge krogan bent down to pick up a probably injured human boy and gathered the other children around him. They quickly moved away from the firefight.

Shepard ordered the two other krogan on a path around the building to cut off the mercs escape. They hesitated, apparently irritated to get ordered around by a human. Shepard stepped up to them and made her voice even deeper and louder, reminding them to either step up their game or get lost. The krogans decided for getting lost and lumbered in the other direction. Shepard shrugged her shoulders and mumbled "Mercs" as she walked past Garrus.

They moved carefully but as fast as they could from cover to cover, following the turian mercs. Garrus moved up to Shepard, who carefully peered around a corner before running again.
"Did you expect them to listen to you?"

Shepard sighed, "No, not really. They're just mercs, they blew their contract for the kids, which was nice of them, they didn't have any obligation to follow me. It might have been different if Wrex was here."

"Wrex is also just a merc. Honestly, how could you leave the children with him?"

Shepard rolled her eyes and slid over another box, rolling over her shoulder on the ground and pressing herself against another container. "The children are under the protection of Urdnot Wrex, krogan Battlemaster and my friend. You think that'll be a problem?" There was a challenge in her look back towards him.

Garrus had scrambled over to her position with a bit less elegance. He still felt clumsy in the unfamiliar armor. "Well, he's a krogan? I mean, Spirits! A krogan! And a merc." He couldn't quite fathom the idea.

She sighed and looked at him. "Garrus, I left the children in the care of a krogan Battlemaster who probably has buried more infants in his lifetime so far, than the number of children he is with right now. There is no one in this galaxy who is more protective of children than a krogan." She looked him in the eyes. "He will do everything in his power to get them to safety."

Garrus stretched his throat with a low trill. He had never thought about the Genophage like that. Burying so many children. Shepard seemed to read his face as he understood her reasoning because her look got softer. "Trust me, Garrus. The children will be fine."

He could only nod as his gizzard clenched around the intense feelings inside him that he couldn't quite place. How about you finally give her the trust that you promised?

Another short sprint took them to a construction site. They had plenty of cover but so did the mercs. Garrus couldn't find a good position to cover the whole area and any movement forward took them right in the line of fire. Shepard looked at him, clearly seeing the same problem. They were a bit further apart and Garrus heard her whisper through his comm implant. "How many do you see?"

"I see three from here, Shepard."

"Yeah, me too. They have us pinned." She looked up and around, looking for alternative paths. "I make my way over there and will take out the one on the right. As soon as he is down, you start shooting the guy closest to him."

"Shepard, there is no cover for you to get over there, that's crazy!"

"Have some faith, Garrus." She smiled at him and he swallowed his retort. He said he would trust her, it was about time he started with that.

Shepard moved further over to the side and rolled behind the half finished wall of the building. Then, instead of moving forward as he had expected her, she moved upwards. Using the scaffolding and the rough exterior of the unfinished wall, she climbed up fast and smooth. The building had no roof yet but when she reached the top she jumped from one beam to another, crouching on the beams in between. Her movements were elegant and efficient, and he was once again reminded that humans were predators.

He almost couldn't take his eyes off her. She moved with such an ease, quiet and fluid. Deadly.

To keep the mercs distracted, he fired a few shots blindly towards them, and they returned the favor in kind. Their shots hit his cover and he identified the sounds of three different guns. From his cover he could just see Shepard climbing down on the other side of the building and dropping herself the last three meters. Suddenly one gun didn't shoot anymore. Garrus risked looking over his cover, he could only see one of the mercs and fired a few shots with his pistol. The merc dropped with a cry. There was no more shooting.

Garrus heard Shepard in his ear. "All clear." He stood up and walked over to her. She knelt beside one of the mercs, checking out his combat rifle. Tossing it over to Garrus she said, "Here, I think this one at least shoots straight." She noticed. Looking around, he noticed that the three mercs were still breathing but seemed to be sedated.

Shepard grinned at him. "I got to use my new toys." She held three of the metal tubes he had seen in the afternoon (was it really this afternoon?) in her hand. "Worked perfectly, dropped quietly in seconds." She looked very pleased with herself.

I really shouldn't doubt her abilities.

They ran up to the next corner and as they looked around they could see the illegal spaceport with a shuttle waiting. The mercs were scattered about, covering the entrance while two were arguing with the batarians in the shuttle. Shepard indicated to Garrus that they should wait. Suddenly she turned her face towards him and looked at him seriously, "I have a question. What was that back there when I confronted the squeaky guy, Vakarian?"

"What?"

"Well I remember quite clearly almost getting shot. What happened?" She looked at him cold.

Garrus stretched his throat in embarrassment, "Sorry Shepard, I hadn't checked the roof. I was distracted ..."

"Distracted by what?" Her eyes had him bound.

"The children, the krogan, your command, you..." he averted her eyes, he didn't want to see the disgust in them.

Her voice was lighter as she spoke to the back of his fringe. "You have a problem with me in command? Is it because I'm female or because I'm human?"

He turned back to her and he recognized the hurt in her face. What are you doing? "I don't care that you are human," he answered hurriedly, "really, I don't. And a female commander is not all that unusual in turian military either..."

Before he could continue they got distracted by shots ringing out in the spaceport.
The mercs were trying to enter the shuttle but the batarians obviously were not there to save them. The shuttle lifted up without them but was stopped by a C-Sec ship before it could go to FTL. Shepard sighed in relief. "I'm glad C-Sec got here in time."

She looked around the corner of the cargo box they used as cover and shouted over to the left behind mercs. "You are surrounded and have nowhere to go. It's time to be smart and to drop your weapons now."

Garrus couldn't believe it. He hissed at her, "We should just shoot them. They were trading kids as slaves. Kids! They have no honour, they don't deserve to be treated so ... honourable!" He growled in anger. Children! Turians! Slave trading children!

Shepard put her hand on his arm. Her face was full of compassion and sadness and her eyes pulled him towards her. "Garrus, we are here for justice, not vengeance."

He stared at her. He knew she was right. He was a cop after all, he couldn't just shoot whoever got him angry. He nodded, couldn't say anything, his anger still fighting with his rationality.

What the hell is wrong with me?

()()()

I really wanted to wait longer with the kissing but obviously I'm incapable of slowmance. These two, they just can't keep their hands and mouths from each other.

I read a story on the kinkmeme a while back that had this background about the krogan being the best protectors of children. I thought that was an awesome idea and had to use it, so whoever wrote that, Kudos to you.

ANIS = Alliance Navy Investigative Service
(yes, I know)