Greetings to all! And welcome back to my latest work in the 'Mass Effect' section, 'Fortuna Venatus'. For those of you not well learned in Latin, it means 'Fate's Game'. Good title right? I certainly hope so! Anyway! Hope you guys really like this so far. I own nothing. Though I really wish I could have Garrus all to myself. Dammit. Oh well. Enjoy!

"Iii" = speech

"Iii" = radio speech

Iii = thought

Chapter 2: First Day

For the first time in several days, Garrus could stand on his own, his blue predatory eyes taking in the sights and sounds of the SR2-Normandy. He was dressed in civvies since his armor was in Jacob's care for repair as well as his rifle for maintenance. As much as he hated someone else handling his weapon, he didn't see himself in a position to argue over it. The ship itself was a marvel to behold and he wouldn't be surprised to know he was the first turian to ever see it from the inside. What with the Cerberus logo plastered everywhere and all. Hell it was even on their uniforms for Spirits sake! But every time one of them walked past, they all gave him a kind nod or a pleasant greeting accompanied with their very human, fleshy smiles. Some had even attempted to engage in conversation, most particularly a red haired human female called 'Kelly'. Sometimes human names were downright odd to him, since he was sure that 'Kelly' was a surname, not a first name. He'd long since shrugged it off when she informed him that she was named Chambers, but felt more comfortable when called Kelly. Something about 'barriers' and 'formality', likely to bring things to a personal level with other people. He hadn't really been listening when she started going off like an excited salarian. This alone irritated him but he managed to hold back. Upsetting another female wasn't on his agenda.

After the woman had finally let him walk away, Garrus decided that it was time to look for Tali. Kelly had been kind enough to mention the ship's elevator in her endless spiel of chatter and how it led to all the decks. She'd even told him he was on deck 3, the Crew deck, and that Tali would likely be on deck 4 which was Engineering. This information alone had made Garrus chuckle to himself. Leave it to the quarian to be right where the engines were. Once inside, he couldn't help but find the silence of the elevator a little peaceful. Though the med bay was all kinds of quiet, it was the kind that was pretty eerie, even to him and his big, bad turian self. But now the silence had a calming quality to it. A calm that he hadn't felt in days. The low hiss of the doors told him he'd reached his destination, stepping out to look out the large window the space presented him with. Down below, he saw the shuttle he vaguely remembered seeing before. Another chuckle erupted from his throat. It wouldn't surprise me if they're still trying to get my blood off the floor of that thing.

Leaving such musings for later, Garrus headed for one of the engineering doors only to be confronted by a pair of bickering humans. A male and a female, both with odd accents who were clearly having an almost… sibling-like disagreement about… something. After several moments of near shouting at each other, the female of the two glanced in his direction only to do a double-take, her eyes widening as they took him in. Confused by her distraction, the male looked and his expression practically mirrored hers. Garrus couldn't help but stare back, shifting his feet, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under their gaze.

"Uh…" he began before calming his nerves enough to try again, this time with a clearer, more confident tone. "I was told I could find Tali here. Do either of you…?"

This seemed to be enough to snap them out of their surprise, the female managing to silence the male before he could say anything. From what he could tell, her voice had a rather natural twang to it, but not so his ears would be irritated by it. "Tali's working on some wiring over that way but we can help ya if you like."

"I trust she hasn't had any trouble during her stay here?" It was more of a command than a question, but Garrus knew he had to be careful how he said things. Humans were rather keen on accidently misinterpreting things that were said to them.

"Like hell! She's the best boss we've ever had and the best engineer this side of the Terminus! The dear lass is like a sister to us. And with the Commander vouchin' for her… it's hard to find any reason to argue the matter." The male said almost a little too excitedly, his accent throwing Garrus through a loop almost as much as the odd word did.

"Lass?" he questioned, eying the dark redhead for answers.

The woman smiled back at him in understanding, though her voice showed strained annoyance, mostly pointed at her counterpart than him. "Pardon him. It just a Scottish word that means 'girl'. Sometimes I think he uses it too much as it is. I'm Gabriella Daniels and this is Kenneth Donnelly."

The man named Kenneth nodded, something about this human's voice sending Garrus all kinds of red flags. "Aye. We heard rumor that there was a turian on board. I guess it was no joke."

Garrus shrugged as if he didn't care. He focused instead on the two humans in front of him, his blue eyes boring into them like high tech binoculars. "No matter. I'm Garrus Vakarian and your commander has been kind in letting me stay on board while I recover. You say that Shepard vouched for her?"

"Oh yeah! Said she'd make a great addition and she has. We can't think of anyone else we'd rather work with now." The female human admitted with such honest enthusiasm that it surprised Garrus. Humans? Who were actually willing to work with aliens? He'd heard about Alliance ships giving it a shot, and he remembered a few humans in C-Sec from his policing days, but actually seeing it work was rare.

He was about to speak again when a familiar voice to his left, their right, made him turn to see a familiar purple enviro-suited girl approaching them from another walkway leading off to … somewhere. "Garrus? Garrus you're up! If you'd just sent a message I'd have come to get you! How are you feeling?"

The two humans thankfully stayed silent, watching both aliens with barely contained interest before turning back to their consoles. Garrus moved toward Tali and her end of the room, his ears just barely picking up the two humans going back to their bickering. Rolling his shoulders calmly, the turian finally responded when he was sure the two fellow engineers weren't listening. "No worse for the wear. Though I do find breathing is a little difficult at times but nothing too serious that you should worry yourself over. What about yourself? Apparently you've made quite a niche for yourself here."

"Like you wouldn't believe. At first I thought working amongst humans, even if they're hired by Cerberus, would be like trying to eat levo-amino food everyday but they proved me wrong! Plus Shepard likely gave them a hell of a lecture before I came on board. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Tali asked when Garrus seemed to sway on his feet. The worry in her voice was pretty hard to miss.

Garrus just shook his head at her, trying to get rid of the blurred edges that hounded his vision. Chakwas had warned him that he'd have dizzy spells. "Maybe a little off balance but like I said, nothing to worry about. Now I'm just trying to get a feel for this place." Finally his mandibles flexed into a turian smirk. "Am I right in assuming that you gave her my resume?"

Tali turned her head, rubbing her hands together in tell-tale embarrassment. "You say that like I was trying to kidnap you or something! Besides, you're the only person other than the Commander who's actually a good shot with a sniper rifle."

Garrus blinked at her, not truly sure he'd heard her right. "Just 'a good shot'? Well ouch Tali. You know how to make it hurt."

She gave him a playful shove, making him laugh low in his throat at her flustered state of self. He always knew what to say to make her upset. At least the kind of upset he did on purpose. "You know what I mean! And all the other possible dossiers that the Illusive Man has shown here don't seem to be up to her specs. She even came down to engineering to rant about it, which made me think of you."

"'Rant'?" he inquired, again confused by a human word.

Tali chuckled, like she hadn't in a long time. "You'd have to see it to believe it. Not even Miranda can stop her when she gets going. Especially when she's really angry about something."

"So let me get this straight: you got talked near to death about dossiers that the Commander didn't want, thought I'd make a better choice and actually came to get me?" Garrus said in mock anger, his mandibles twitching with amusement. "You could've just called."

"We did! But your unit leader told us you were on an op on the planet we found you on and that he didn't see any problem in lending you to us. Which I thought was odd but Shepard just told them to send the coordinates and here we are."

Garrus nodded, taking in this information, though some of it honestly confused him. A human soldier, a complete and utter stranger as well as alien to him, going out of their way to help not just a quarian but a turian too? Practically an unheard scenario of as far as he knew. "Uh huh. Any news on my team? Or that Blue Suns complex? My fingers are still itching to get some bullets into their filthy skulls."

Tali shook her head, her voice sounding saddened for once. "Nothing so far but I'm sure Shepard'll let us know. She even lets me know about messages from the Migrant Fleet that she's received. I remember when I first met her she had so many questions! I almost couldn't answer them all!"

"Wait… she interrogated you?" Garrus practically demanded, anger flaring in his chest at the human woman. Just what was up with her anyway?

Before he could go off on a tangent, Tali's hands were waving his anger away, her voice quick but full of worry and surprise. And possibly a little bit of amusement. "Not interrogated Garrus, more like excessive inquiries. She's the first human I've met who's actually shown interest in my people's culture. Even I was surprised how honest she was about some of the comments she made about it all."

"What for?" he asked, hoping to sound more curious than suspicious.

Tali just chuckled at him, the light on her helmet blinking along with the sound. "She was just curious. Apparently I'm the first quarian she's ever seen. Are you hungry?"

Garrus blinked at the sudden question, suddenly realizing he hadn't really eaten a damned thing in close to a week and a half. And Chakwas had already warned him about taking it easy before he attempted anything strenuous. Finally, the turian nodded, the answer coming easily to him since it was an honest one. "A little. I haven't eaten much as I'm sure you already know. Do they even have dextro-amino foods here?"

"There's dispenser that Shepard had put in some time before I came on board. She wanted to be sure that if there were any aliens like us on board, we wouldn't starve to death. I hear she paid lots of credits for it. From what I know, just about everything I've eaten has tasted less like paste and more like actual food."

"That sounds… promising." He responded cautiously, something telling him he was in for a ride somehow.

"You'd be surprised." Tali chuckled, taking his arm and lead him to the door and likely toward the elevator. "C'mon, it's time you met Rupert."

"Rupert?" Garrus inquired, wondering if it was the name of a person, or just a thing with a person's name.

"The cook. Watch out for some of his cooking though. I was out for almost two days because of that man's 'mystery dish'." She said casually. Garrus stopped midstep to stare at her in utter shock.

"He tried to poison you?" Garrus exclaimed, bringing the two human engineers to stare at them with awe and fear at his outburst. Like before, the quarian girl was doing her best to keep him from storming out and wringing a certain human neck. She managed to speak again when he stopped in front of the elevator panel, practically poking holes into the holographic control.

"Garrus calm down! And no he didn't try to poison me. He was just trying out a recipe and wanted to know if it tasted good since it was dextro-amino based. And he didn't want to give it to the human crew since they'd likely die from an allergic reaction. Besides, it wasn't all that bad anyway. He just needed help tweaking it to a more favorable result."

This only seemed to spur the turian's anger, his blue eyes shining with barely contained rage at this news. "So it was an experiment? And you volunteered! What is this place? A floating science lab?" he glared at the elevator door, as if he wished it would come to them a lot faster so he could get some target practice in.

"No but the human and alien alliance thing is. And if you're going to be here you need to not react so quickly to things like that." Tali said as calmly as she could, in the softest voice she could muster, watching the turian warily for a reaction.

Taking this information into account, Garrus felt some of his anger die while some of the dizziness he felt before came forth to mess with his vision. Rubbing his eyes wearily, Garrus could only nod to her. "Y-you're right. I'm sorry Tali I just… I guess it's going to take me a while to adjust to this whole situation. And it's bad enough that my mission has been a complete and utter failure from the start."

"Are you feeling okay? Maybe you should get some rest instead." She offered even as they stepped onto the elevator, the quarian girl already punching in the commands.

For the first time in a while, Garrus had to laugh. "No, no it's been too long since I ate something and need to see more of this ship anyway. Can't let you have all the fun you know?"

"Of that I'm sure. Let's go get something. For the both of us." He heard her say, making him look at her when the quarian asked hesitantly. "You're not going to kill Rupert are you?"

"Kill him? No, not after you defended him so effectively." Garrus grumbled out, keeping his gaze on the metal walls, as though thinking over his options. "No I think he just earned himself a stern talkin' to."

"Should I call ahead and tell him to start running?" Tali asked, laughing once more. A sound he truly did want to hear from her.

"No, that'd just kill the fun of it." He growled, as if he were pretending to still be angry at the human for nearly killing his 'sister'. "I can't yell at him if I don't know where he is."

"Knowing you, you'll just tear the ship apart until you find him." The quarian girl stated, chuckling at the thought of her turian friend tearing up bulkheads, letting out battle roars as the balding human in question did his best to hide.

Garrus's rumbling voice brought her out of her small reverie. "Oh I'll find him. Not when he tried to poison my sister."

"Garrus!" she exclaimed, surprised he was still focusing on that, giving him yet another playful shove.

When his mandibles flared in a smile, she knew then he was messing with her. "What? I'm kidding! Can't a turian make a joke around here? And not so hard, that part of me still hurts."

"Sorry." She said almost under her breath to where he almost didn't catch it. The elevator came to almost shaky stop. "And Garrus? I'm really glad that you're here."

"Of course you are. You people need a capable sniper after all. Who better than me?" he said smugly, puffing out his chest a little as he held his head up in an almost regal manner.

Tali was too busy laughing to respond, likely hard enough to bring tears to her eyes as the turian just watched. After a while he was chuckling right along with her, earning them some curious stares from quite a few human crew members.

A few minutes later, after Tali had to keep Garrus from glaring at Rupert too hard, the two aliens were seated at one of the mess hall tables with their respective trays. Garrus had bluish grey lumps of… some kind with some kind of oddly orange paste on the side while Tali had some purplish goop and reddish brown mush on hers. Somehow he felt a strong hesitance to try it, almost afraid that it'd either taste horrible, give him an allergic reaction or just outright prove him wrong. And he hated being proven wrong. Eyeing Tali as she used a straw like apparatus to consume her own food, Garrus finally withheld a sigh as he picked up a utensil he was sure was called a 'spoon'. Hoping no one was watching him, Garrus scooped some of the orange paste and put it into his mouth, his alien tongue easily cleaned the utensil only to result in his taste buds to be assaulted by flavor. First he got tanginess, a sudden batch of sour with a bit of saltiness before it finally settled at soothingly sweet. Now he knew why it was orange rather some other odd color. It tasted almost exactly like pholsi fruit, a fruit that his family had only during the summer months to fight off the much hotter atmosphere of Palaven.

He must've been staring at the goop with a look of astonishment since Tali's amused chuckle brought his blue eyes to turn towards her. "Surprised?" she asked, her chuckling not doing much to sour Garrus's mood for once.

"A little. Either that cook is better than you say or that dispenser is top of the line." He finally admitted, eyeing the goop with both wonder and confusion.

Tali chuckled, throwing her head back a little as she did. "I think the Commander would be pleased to hear that from you."

Garrus grunted. He wasn't about to justify her words with a response. At least now some of his dizziness was fading away. Only now he had the odd lumps to deal with, using a single claw to poke one and inspect it warily. The goop had been a pleasant experience but this odd lump of blue and grey? He almost didn't know what to think of the thing. After a moment of consideration, Garrus pushed away his worries at plopped the thing into his mouth. As soon as his sharp teeth broke it, his mandibles coming against his face to keep bits from falling out, Garrus had to blink his surprise.

Tali was eyeing him, almost worried that he might suddenly be sick. "Garrus? You all right?"

He said nothing for a moment, allowing himself to slowly chew then swallow what remained of the lump before he finally muttered out. "Hm. Tuperi… with a hint of seasoned varren meat. Tasty."

"Good." Tali exclaimed happily, turning in her chair to practically shout at the aging human in her excitement. "You hear Rupert? He likes it!"

"Good to know! Now I've got about twenty other things he can eat when he damn well feels like it!" the human growled out, half shouting so he could be heard from where he stood leaning against the counter of his small kitchen space.

Garrus turned his gaze toward said human, half shouting at him himself. "Just as long as you don't try to kill me human, I just might take you up on that."

"Smartass." He heard Rupert grumble, making Garrus laugh for some reason before he retorted with a smug response.

"Ah but a skilled one."

"I see everything's going well down here." A familiar female voice cut in, sounding purely amused in a way Garrus had never heard before. Turning, he quickly saw who it was.

"Commander Shepard!" Tali exclaimed happily, almost rising before the woman waved her down, taking a chair next to the quarian as she spoke. "You're just in time! Garrus just got done sampling some of Rupert's cuisine."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, smiling knowingly as she turned her oddly colored gaze towards the turian. "And he's not barfing it back up? That's a surprise."

"I heard that!" Rupert growled out, sounding half-amused, half-insulted by the remark.

"We know!" both woman shouted at him, effectively silencing the cook before Shepard was speaking once again.

"How are you feeling Garrus? I hear you've been cooped up in the med bay since we brought you on board."

Garrus had to shrug, not truly bothered by her statement. "Blood loss does that Commander. I assure you once Dr. Chakwas gives me the 'official' write off, just tell me where to aim and I'll shoot it. And probably without even looking."

"I guess Tali wasn't lying when she said you were a smooth talker. But can you talk the talk and walk the walk as well?" she asked, still smiling, her eyes flashing with challenge.

He stared at her, confused and a little fascinated but nodded as he responded almost mechanically to her inquiry. "I'm not familiar with that idiom but I get the gist of it. C-Sec had my services but they were killer on my skills. After I got done with all that bureaucratic bullshit I got with the military as soon as I could sign up. I got a bit more training but within a few months I was shooting better than my instructors. The mission you two found me on is just one of hundreds I've been on in the last two years. You could say your mission might actually be a nice change of pace."

Shepard's smile had become an impish grin, placing her arms on the tabletop so her fingers to intertwine as she spoke, nodding back at him. "Well I just got a letter from the approving of the transfer. So there's no real backing out now. And I trust that's to your liking?"

"Well I'm not dead yet." He said, indicating his food with a pointed finger. "And if something does come my way that does almost kill me and Tali, let's just say you might need a new cook by the time I'm done."

"Garrus! There's no need for that! I already told you he was experimenting!" Tali said, her voice sounding exasperated that he still had what she said in mind.

The turian just laughed, his tone hinting that he was playing with her again. "Only doctors and scientists experiment. Cooks are supposed to work off of recipes and serve it to others. Not mix and match and hope all goes well in the end."

As Tali groaned, Shepard was chuckling warmly at their banter. "Well for now hold off until you're better for that kind of activity. Until then just do well to get better. We'll be stopping off at another planet to deal with some kind of strange outpost a bunch of Blood Pack have set up. And I just might need a sniper who can take out anything I can't get to myself."

"What about my team Commander? Any word?" Garrus asked, his voice sobering as his other concern came to mind. He was anxious for answers and waiting wasn't exactly his strong suit.

The woman shook her head, her gaze hinting at regret and sadness. "None so far. The letter I received reassured me they were sending a ship to the planet to check it out properly. I'm sure they'll send word when they have something."

"Of course commander." He said nodding, understanding completely. Looks like I've got to wait it out after all. Garrus thought as he turned back to his food.

Taking this as a retreat from the conversation, Shepard turned to Tali, the smile renewed with her human curiosity. "How are things in Engineering Tali? Those couplings I got you working well?"

As if on cue, Tali turned toward her human commanding officer, her voice filled with girlish excitement. "Oh yes they are! They've been working perfectly. Gabby was just telling me about…"

Garrus was only half listening afterwards, watching the two women chatter as he looked on curiously. Most of his attention was on Shepard as he eyed her between scoops of the pholsi goop and the tuperi lumps. He'd dealt with humans quite a bit in his work at C-Sec, as some of the old information came flying back into his memory. Expressions were best remembered since they sometimes changed so quickly. Shepard's face was holding down a calm expression, her silver-grey eyes sparkling slightly as she talked to Tali. This woman was truly interested in what the quarian had to say, and she was smiling as she did so. Humans confused Garrus but only a little. The females were like asari, only they weren't blue and had hair, a thing no other alien race he'd ever met had. While the males were wide shouldered and bulky, human women were smaller, thinner and sometimes curvy. If he were any judge of the species, he'd have to honestly say that Shepard was likely a shining example of beauty for their kind.

Wait… what? What on all of Palaven am I thinking? I'm a turian for Spirits sake! And she's a human. Our species aren't supposed to get along and from what I know, very few turians have actually considered taking a human as a companion. Why the hell am I thinking about this now? Of all times? Garrus berated himself, making sure he was watching his food rather than the object of his thoughts so to avoid things becoming awkward. The last thing he wanted to do was to ruin any possibility of a friendly relationship with the woman. From what he knew of humans and their procedures, fraternization was prohibited heavily on military vessels. Only this isn't a military vessel. His mind provided almost wickedly. The turian almost bit his own tongue to push the thought away. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about such things. And especially not in front of Tali. Schooling himself and his thoughts, Garrus focused on eating and managed to tune out the conversation going on in front of him.

Shepard had felt the turian's gaze on her, but chose to ignore it. She was sure Tali had noticed too but didn't mention anything. When Garrus had finally looked away, it seemed to her almost like a bashful or even embarrassed move. She knew quite a bit about turians, though she'd rarely had the time to actually talk to one. Hayden was sure that his behavior was one very few actually encountered. When speaking to him earlier, she was surprised at how human he sounded, though his voice and appearance said otherwise. Besides that, his mannerisms and tone were definitely raising red flags in Hayden's mind. Flags that hadn't come up since…. No, no I won't think about him. Like hell I'm going to think about him now. She thought, smiling and nodding at something Tali said, silently regretting that she wasn't really listening anymore.

Luckily Tali noticed her mental distraction and repeated herself, likely smiling amidst the purple mist that clouded her face from view. Only this time Hayden caught what she said and responded properly. They continued talking tech until Tali finally whispered to her. "So what do you think of him? Is he exactly as you expected?"

"I can't honestly say I expected him to be polite. Hell I half-expected him to be a complete and utter jerk. Probably because I'm a human and the history between our species isn't the best. But a polite turian, and a funny one at that? I didn't think turians did funny." She remarked, both knowing full well the turian in question wasn't listening.

Tali chuckled almost like a girl about to tell a fellow gossiper a sinful secret. "Well he wasn't what I expected either, and he said so about me too. He even defended me when others tried to hit on me or insult me. Garrus can be quite the gentleman when you get to know him."

"Somehow I don't doubt that. So he's really as good as you say?" Shepard asked, as if she were skeptical of the turian's skills. But she wasn't, since his file was filled with recorded marks she hadn't seen since she'd caught a glimpse of her own file from her Alliance days. She just wanted the quarian girl's honest opinion. Which she got.

Tali simply scoffed, as if she'd been asked what her favorite food was. "I've seen him shoot people from almost over a mile away, and could do it with just at least two shots. He's good Shepard. Probably as good as you, or possibly better. But I'm sure he'll prove that on the mission you have planned in a few days time."

"Indeed." Placing a mischievous smirk on her face, Hayden turned back to the turian in question, nodding at his now empty tray. "You doin' okay there Garrus?"

"Hm?" Garrus responded smoothly. "Oh me? And here I thought I'd been forgotten. Or are you ladies going to continue to talk about me while I'm sitting right here?"

"Okay you-! Garrus? What's wrong?" Tali asked, her voice once again hinted with worry when the turian suddenly swayed, even though he was still seated.

Garrus bit back a groan that tried to escape his throat. Not now. He thought at the pain in his side as well as in his face. "Ugh. D-don't worry it's nothing. It's just some of my meds are wearing off again. You can show me the rest of the ship later Tali."

Suddenly Shepard had a kind smile on her face as she rose from her seat, her silver-grey eyes giving him a friendly gaze he wasn't accustomed to. "Not before you get to see your quarters first."

"My what?" Garrus stammered, taken aback by this news. He'd planned on heading right back to the med bay, which was literally just behind him but his own sleeping area? Even his mind told him only officers and leaders got their own quarters, not grunts like him. The turian could only blink at the woman in disbelief. "I have quarters? Seriously?"

Shepard laughed, almost throwing her head back as she made the wonderful sound that sent a strange feeling through Garrus. If she noticed the odd look on his face, she didn't give notice when she spoke further. "You're part of my team now, and having you sleeping without a personal space of your own would be cruel of me. And the med bay's a little cramped to have a doctor and a turian both living in it. Besides, even Tali has her own room. There are bunks but that's for those mostly between shifts anyways. I've already gotten the orders through for your things to be put there once they're delivered. Lucky for you we managed to find a cot big enough for your alien ass."

"C'mon, it's just this way. And don't worry, it's right next to mine." Tali said with an amused chuckle, suddenly next to him and helping him to his unsteady feet, holding his arm just as she had before. Just standing up was a hassle, some of the pain in his skull nearly taking him off-balance.

"I'm not even here two weeks and already I'm being babied. What in all of Palaven did I do to deserve this?" he grumbled in mock annoyance as the two females lead him past the elevator and towards one of the crew doors.

Shepard was laughing at him again. Great. "Simple: you let us come and find you."

"Great. I just might work harder to be elusive next time." He promised, giving the woman a turian smile, his tone likely hinting at something else. The look she gave him confused him, something about it sending more red flags to various parts of his mind, as well as his anatomy.

That damned smile was back again, a mischievous in her eye. "Smartass."

Garrus chuckled, somehow believing that'd become the word of the day.

Blue eyes of cerulean gazed at the space before them, a predatory set of eyes taking in the room that was alien to them. Mandibles flexing thoughtfully, fighting down the pain growing in his chest, Garrus took in the new space with a level of appreciation. It was bare of anything personal though once his things got on board he could easily change that. He could feel Tali and Shepard watching him from the doorway, Shepard with her arms crossed over her chest and leaning back in an almost smug sort of way while Tali seemed to be rubbing her hands together. Only one word came to mind: they were both nervous. Almost as if they expected him to be angry about the place he'd been dealt. Though Garrus wasn't angry, or frustrated at what he'd been presented with. He was actually a little relieved. It was a little smaller than he was used to but a little bigger than he expected. Not that he wanted anything big or anything. He just didn't want to be coddled or treated like something that could easily break at the slightest touch or sudden wrong move or something. Mandibles flaring in a smirk, he turned to face the two women still watching him.

"This'll do nicely. Thanks Commander." He said, giving her an indication of his head which he knew was a human sign of appreciation.

The woman before him waved it off with a light scoff. "Shepard is just fine. We're teammates now. I don't see why you can't use my name."

"I see. I understand ma'am." He said, nodding at her, his feet apart and hands behind his back in a loose military stance. "Was there anything you needed at this time?"

"Nothing for now. Get some rest. I'll tell Chakwas she needs to come over and give you your meds. Tali and I still have work to do. Get well Vakarian." She said sternly, though the smirk still on her thin, pink lips told him otherwise.

"I'll come check on you later Garrus." Tali said reassuringly, standing in the doorway next to his new commander as if she were leaving a child in another person's care.

Garrus chuckled, the words coming forth before he could stop them. "Take your time ladies. No need to rush. There's plenty of me to go around."

He couldn't quite tell but he was sure that Tali was biting down a laugh while Shepard gave him a look. And it was such a look even her watchful eyes flashed with something he couldn't quite place. Amusement? Astonishment? Oh hell was he flirting now? And in front of Tali no less? And not just with anybody but with his new commanding officer? Both women muttered their goodbyes to him, the door sliding shut quickly enough for Garrus to finally release his cool appearance to slump onto the bed and groan.

Oh Spirits above did I just say that? Of all the things to say! And to a human! What in the hell is wrong with me? I don't even know her! He thought to himself, the pain in his chest an almost secondary thing to his conflicted thoughts. Never before had something like this happened to him and he honestly found it scary and worrisome. Was his mind playing tricks on him or were these rising emotions real? Garrus groaned again, lying down to find the unusually soft mattress and sheets comforting and a definite change from the stiff med bay table. He'd settled himself rather nicely and was about to give in to sleep when the door to his new quarters opened, nearly making him sit up. When his eyes took in the new arrival, he was relieved to see it was Chakwas with a look of understanding on her face.

"You're lucky I make house calls Officer Vakarian or you'd have to hustle yourself over ten yards to me rather than the other way around. How are you feeling? Those new medications I prescribed working well for you?" she asked kindly, opening her small kit to bring forth a syringe and a bottle of clear liquid he was sure she'd given him before.

He nodded at her, but noticed she wasn't looking at him and spoke, his voice weak and filled with oncoming sleep. "They're working well, thanks. I'll be glad for the day I won't have to take them anymore though."

"Without a doubt. Just lie down. I'll do the rest." She said gently, the turian complying gladly as a small sting accompanied him to his cloud of softness. His tired eyes began to blur his vision, the afterimage of the old woman showing she had quickly packed and risen to her feet, her voice an amused whisper. "See you tomorrow Officer Vakarian."

"Until tomorrow Doctor." He managed to say sleepily, barely hearing the door to his quarters click shut as he was left to the empty silence of his new room. The meds seemed to take seconds to be put into effect, the world quickly vanishing in a thick veil of darkness.

A tapping noise was the first thing he heard some time later. He wasn't sure if it was a few hours or even just the next day. All he knew that someone, or something, was tapping at his door and calling to him in a voice he oddly enough couldn't place for the life of him. Garrus wanted to open his eyes, he really did, but the aftereffects of sleep kept them shut, kept his body in the position he last remembered himself to be in. Time went by and Garrus could still hear the noise at his door, almost too loud and insistent to be just anybody. When it sounded off again, Garrus's mind finally told him the person at his door was indeed Tali, who was once again likely filled mask deep with worry. The turian wanted to get up and let her in, reassure her that he was alright and many other things that came to mind but his body still refused to move. His eyes still refused to open as he commanded and Garrus was sure that his new meds likely had something to do with it. He could hear Tali getting frustrated and was likely fiddling with her omni-tool to get the door open, which he now vaguely remembered locking at some point after Dr. Chakwas had left. After what seemed like forever, Garrus felt his body shift, if only slightly. This action only seemed to bring back how comfortable he was, and how moving was now out of the question. Likely his body was punishing him for all the stress and duress it'd been forced to endure, on top of wounds that were still healing, even with advanced medical help. It was by this moment Tali managed to get the door open, her voice ringing in the silence of the room.

"Garrus what're you—oh keelah!" he heard her say, and if he could truly move, he would've smiled.

Tali was swift to silence herself at the sight of her sleeping friend. It was very rare she ever saw him sleeping and now her plans to get him to show up for dinner were ruined. The turian sniper looked too peaceful for her to disturb him now. Before she'd left him he'd looked so tired, almost as if the whole world were trying to drag him down. Something she'd hoped to cure with more food, but there was no chance of it now. Standing in the doorway of the turian's quarters, now feeling awkward even though there was likely nothing to be awkward over. She was about to shut the door and leave when she turned to find Shepard jogging over, her face showing her confusion.

"Tali why are you-?" the woman in question asked before Tali quickly waved her gloved hands at the human female.

"Shh!" Shepard snapped her mouth shut in response, staring at the quarian in confusion, wondering slightly why she'd complied to begin with. Tali pointed into the dark room at the turian's sleeping form, an expression of understanding blooming on Hayden's face.

"Oh. I see. You worried?" she whispered, giving the turian a look of concern before eyeing the girl before her. Easing the quarian's worries had suddenly become a priority since the turian had come on board. Not something she was unwilling to deal with, but soon it might prove tedious.

Tali nodded, wringing her hands together nervously. "Just a little. I was hoping to get him to join us for dinner but I guess not."

"You were worried for your friend. I can understand that. Go ahead and get some grub. I'll handle things here." Hayden said coolly, a kind smile making itself at home on her face.

The quarian female stared at her, and likely blinked in surprise if the two white orbs briefly vanishing in the purple abyss of her mask was any indication. "Are you sure? I know you don't have much experience with turians but-."

"Tali… don't make me order you. It's fine. Besides I was planning on checking on him myself in a while anyway." Hayden remarked coolly, the statement roughly the truth the quarian was likely looking for. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

After what felt like forever, the quarian girl finally relented, nodding in acceptance to her commander's words. "Alright commander. I'll see you later."

Shepard nodded, smiling as the quarian turned and left. Looking into the semi-dark room, Hayden could clearly see the sleeping turian lying on the bunk, his back to the wall so that his scarred right side was out of view. Though the room felt warm enough, Hayden knew enough about turians to know they hated the cold since their home world was so hot and humid. With no thought to privacy or even personal space, Hayden entered and subconsciously found the extra blanket hidden away in a small cabinet of a closet. Being honest with herself, Hayden had never seen a sleeping turian either, but wasn't about to let her curiosity get the better of her. Focusing on her task, the human woman quickly unfolded the large wool cloth item, satisfied that it was big enough to cover the turian. With no hesitation, she practically tossed the thing over him, holding onto the edge of it almost like it were a sail. Before the fabric settled on the alien's prone form, Hayden was already diving forward, careful not to disturb the male as she tucked the soft material around whatever sides she could reach. If one were observing her at such a moment, one would think she were tucking a child in to bed just before the daily bedtime story was told to the anxious youth.

But the turian before her wasn't a child and he wasn't even awake, as far as she knew, for a 'bedtime story'. So she decided to deal with what she got and made sure he was completely covered save for his head, pausing only to make sure his arm wasn't dangling awkwardly over the side of the bed. Though he was dressed in civvies, Garrus seemed to still have the mind to put gloves on. Curiosity fought with dutiful command as Hayden struggled with the decision to take the glove off and see just what it felt like to touch a turian. Her military side won out, making her bite her lip before she started to rise to leave. If not for the hand that suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist she would have. Stunned and wide eyed, Hayden turned to find a predatory eye, blue like the sky and still half-filled with sleep stared up at her.

"Garrus?" she asked, half wondering if his actions were simply brought on by nightly movements or just odd dreaming.

Mandibles twitching as his eyes remained focused on her, albeit with a sleepy look in them, he spoke. "Shepard… you sneak into other people's rooms often?"

Hayden found herself smirking at the remark, once again taking her spot next to his bed, this time sitting on the cool floor. "Only when they're sick or down for the count, like you are."

"So nice to feel special. Was Tali just here? I coulda sworn…" he started to say, his words trailing off, his voice sounding weak and unsure. What she did next truly surprised him.

Turning her hand in his grip, Hayden let her fingers intertwine with his as she spoke, her voice calm and low. "Just go back to sleep for now. Don't worry about anything else."

"I can live with that." The turian stated with some hesitation, his eyes seeming to glitter with the thoughts he was pushing away.

"And Garrus?" she said, chuckling a little until his eyes focused on her again.

"Yes?"

Her words came in a whisper, a mirthful look on her face as if he'd said something funny to her. "You can let go of my hand now."

"Oh." Garrus replied softly, his eyes following his own arm to where their hands were joined and slowly let go. Apparently the meds were messing with his reaction times. After a moment of tense silence, Garrus felt he had to mumble out. "Sorry."

"No problem." The human female said, shrugging it off, absently noticing his arm had gone completely limp and situated it back onto the bed at his side and under the blanket as she went on to ask. "How are you feeling?"

For once, Garrus let out a tired sigh as he briefly shut his eyes and pressed his head into the soft pillow. What to say? What could he say? She was his new commanding officer. And from what he knew, humans got particularly angry if you lied to them about something. So, in true turian form, he opened his eyes to look at her, and told the truth. "Numb, sleepy… a little out of it. Could be my wounds, could be my meds. I don't even know anymore."

"When are you going to tell Tali about what happened to your face?" he noticed the mirthful look was gone, replaced by a concerned stare, her brows coming together as she frowned. "She was tearing the ship up when she heard."

Garrus couldn't help but chuckle, the sound slightly muffled thanks to the pillow holding his right mandible in its soft grasp. If he could shake his head he would've but he resolved to just shrugging mildly instead. "That's Tali: overreact and overanalyze. I got almost fifty messages from her all in the same hour because of this."

This time Shepard laughed, a sound he found intriguingly musical all of a sudden, her words quickly bringing him away from his strange thoughts. "Yeah, we had to pry her away from her terminal so she could get some work done. It's a wonder our drive core didn't overload she was so worried."

Doing his best to glare at her, Garrus managed to sound somewhat insulted by the woman's words about his foster sister. "Is that the only reason I'm on this ship? So your engineer can focus on her job?"

"No." she said simply, the smile once again gracing her pink lips, making him eye her cautiously. From what he knew, humans could be sneaky when they wanted to be, not to mention moody. It was likely this particular human was being serious, or was just messing with him.

"Oh? Do tell human."

"Better: I'll make you a deal." She said, the smile becoming a devilish looking grin as her silver-grey eyes sparkled brightly in the dark.

Garrus couldn't help but sigh, a mild laugh rumbling through his chest. "This sounds like one of those 'deal with the devil' things for some reason."

Once again Shepard laughed at him, the sound making Garrus think of music for some reason that he couldn't' explain. "I'm sure but it's not that devious. When you're up and about, and maybe when we're all together, you tell us your story about your face, and I'll tell you why I went out of my way to find you. Deal?"

He blinked, taking in this information as Shepard stared back, silent but expectant. After a few moments of consideration, Garrus managed to nod at this, the pillow once again hindering his movement. "I can see the fairness of this. But then Tali has to tell a story too."

Hayden suddenly scowled, as if in thought before shaking her head. "No I think I've heard all of hers."

"We'll have to see about that then." Garrus couldn't help but laugh, his voice losing some of its strength as sleep started to sneak up on him again. "Deal."

The smile was back, bright and full of happiness he'd rarely seen on a human's face, the female human spoke with a sense of pride as she got up to leave. "Good. Now sleep. That's an order."

"Yes ma'am." Garrus snickered, calling out just as the woman reached the doorway to his quarters. "And Commander?"

Stopping and half turning, she responded in a voice almost as soft as his. "Yes?"

Smiling to himself and unsure if she could see, Garrus eyed her silhouette in the doorway as he spoke as smugly as his voice would allow. "Thanks for the tuck in. It's so nice to know I'm in such good hands."

Hayden hoped the darkness kept him from seeing her bright red blush discoloring her face and neck, all the while managing to keep her voice cool and steady in turn. "I could say the same. You just might make a place for yourself here yet."

Garrus blinked, astonished. He'd expected the woman to act a little flustered or at least embarrassed by his words. Only she'd just stood firm and acted like he'd said something completely different than what he'd said. As if he'd just informed her of something as commonplace as a cracked bulkhead or a malfunctioning vent. Just as casually and on-beat as a well-accustomed statement, not a random vaguely sexual suggestion. Before he could say anything more, she was already gone and the door was closed, leaving him in the dark once more. Greatly confused by their exchange, Garrus could only close his eyes and try to sleep away the pain that numbly persisted behind a shield of drugs. The only thing save the silence and the drugs that put him out this time was the light smell of cinnamon coming from where his hand had touched hers. Bringing his palm to his flat nose, he took a cautious whiff of the new scent, though he knew that most human things smelled odd or disgusting. This scent however, smelled as sweet and spicy as its name suggested, helping him forget some of the stressful thoughts still dogging the back of his mind as he lost to unconsciousness.

And that's the end of that! So ends chapter 2 and I hope it's a best seller to everybody who read it. But enough about that now. It's time for chapter 3 to roll right on in. be patient everybody. Great rewards come to those who wait! Here's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 3: On the Job With You

Things are already heating up between our two favorite characters and it's not getting any cooler. Could their first mission together further intertwine their destinies or are things set to pull them tragically apart? Find out when we come back in the next installment of 'Fortuna Venatus':

Chapter 3: On the Job With You!