Shepard gave explicit orders to the repair crew chief to not allow the Normandy's crew to spend more than six hours at a time helping with repairs. It was driving Garrus crazy. Those were his guns. Shepard insisted that the crew take time to stretch out and relax. She herself enjoyed the opportunity to explore the caves. The first few were full of pre-fabs with survivors from the Citadel and countless colonies. Turian and Alliance guards stood near intersections between species to insure no one caused any problems with their neighbors. Closer to the surface was the space craft hanger and repair bays. She discovered tunnels that lead to surface defense. Deeper caves were left in peace to minimize destruction of the natural formations. It was a way of keeping hope that it would still be there, that the Reapers would be defeated. Nihlus, Garrus and herself alternated shifts so that one of them was on the Normandy helping with repairs as all times.

On her time alone she often explored the deeper caves on her own. Neither of the boys liked that she did that, in case something happened, but they couldn't stop her. Today was one of those days were she was not alone, however. Nihlus liked to go with her on occasion in lieu of sleep or meditation. The caves were just as interesting to him as there were to her. He's seen very few despite his wide travels. In the wetter places a luminescent lichen grew on the rock. The faint yellow and blue glow was, at times, so bright in the sheer amount of it that they didn't need the head lamps. At the bottom of a particularly slippery and naturally well lit slope, they found a ledge that was just wide enough for them to walk comfortably along, side by side. They stopped about half way across to admire the waterfall that rushed down from above on the opposite wall several meters across a deep chasm. They could faintly hear the echo of the water crashing into an underground sea far below them. Nihlus wrapped an arm around Sonya's waste as they looked on. She leaned against him with a quiet sigh. He felt it more than heard it over the sound of the fall. He nuzzled her hair and held her close, feeling her chest as it rose and fell in time with her breathing. They didn't stay long. They both needed sleep before starting their shifts.

Work was coming along quickly, but not quickly enough with the added improvements and up grades to be made. Garrus practically lived in engineering and the forward batteries. Everyone did as much as they could and usually returned 'home' covered in oil and grease. The shower in David's pre-fab was only big enough for one, so they had to take turns. It was one of the few times any of them had space and time to themselves. The Normandy had more space than they did here. Nihlus almost wished the Reapers would find them, just to have an excuse to fly off this rock. Almost. He would miss the caves and the little alcove he and Sonya had found that was completely covered with blue moss. It was strange because it was dry and the moss seemed to only grow in moist areas in the rest of the caves. It had made for a romantic hide away for the two of them. Some place they could go that was just for them. They usually just sat and talked or relaxed in the silent peaceful glow. Today was different, though. He could sense it.

The moss was soft and the stone it grew on was smooth with a subtle curve like a flattened bubbled. He lay on his back, her thigh supported his neck. He wasn't quite sleeping, he could hear the drip of water outside the tunnel that led to their hide away and the sound of her steady breathing. The skin of her bare leg was warm under him. He could smell her musk and the tang in the air. He knew she was reading something on her data pad. Occasionally he herd the tap of her fingernail on the plastic. When she shifted it stirred him from his drowsing state.

"Sorry." She apologized.

"Don't mind it." He told her, and repositioned himself on his stomach to lay beside her. She gave his forehead a gently nudge.

"You almost look like an asari in this glow." He teased.

"Really, well, you almost look handsome!" She teased back.

He chuckled. He knew too well her attraction to him to be taken by the bad lie. Besides that, he could always smell when she was getting excited. She liked his smell too. She had told him as much the last time they were alone there. She'd said he reminded her of earth and the sea and a little like an herb called thyme. A 'manly smell', she'd told him. He leaned in and nuzzled her neck, breathing in her own aroma. None of the other turians had dared to say anything, but the glances had been there. The turian Councillor glared and gruffed, but when didn't he? If they were to blind to see how beautiful what the two of them had, then it was their ignorance.

An arm slipped over her back and she pressed her lips to his mouth. He felt certain he would never tire of her, no matter how often they were together. Which was a bit more than he had anticipated, given the circumstances. It seemed the more she got it the more she wanted it. He wasn't complaining, but a guy does need his sleep. Just not yet.

"I made you something." He told her.

His mandibles fluttered a nervous smile.

"You made me something?"

Sonya looked at him in disbelief and then amused curiosity. She raised a brow at him. Her dark eyes were like jet in the blue glow of the cave. Nihlus reached for the pack that he always brought containing supplies like rope and a gun... just in case there was trouble. He pulled out two thick leather tubes that were about 18 centimeters long. They were strung up along one side in a 'x' pattern that reminded her of a corset.

"What is it?" She asked, trying not to offend him, but throughly confused.

Nihlus grinned at her. "They're cuffs to protect your thighs from..." He cleared his throat, "me."

Sonya grinned when the skin on his neck turned a little bluer, and not from the moss. His eyes caught the glow when he looked back up at her making them even more fierce and alluring than they already were.

"Thank you, that's very thoughtful."

She smiled and kissed his cheek just above his fluttering mandibles. She took the cuffs with her when she pulled away. The leather was smooth, and she was pretty sure it was a reddish brown, the altered color seemed similar to the skin of his throat. She started to remove her panties. Everything else was removed as soon as they got there. They liked the feel of the moss on their skin.

"What are you..." Nihlus spoke a little slower than usual as the last bit of material lost contact with her skin.

"Let's try them out!" Sonya smirked at him. "Show me how to put them on."

They both knew she knew how to put them on. It wasn't complicated. But if she wanted to roll play, he wouldn't argue. He took one from her five fingered hand and loosened the cord. She shifted her body and presented him with her muti-toed foot. However different she was, he found her incredibly sexy. He slid the cuff over her spur-less calf, over her knee and up her luscious thigh until the backs of his fingers on one hand touched the delicate folds of her ness. He saw the nub quiver inside it's hiding place when they did. It made resisting his urge to dive in extremely difficult. When she put her foot on his shoulder so he could tighten the cords along the back of the cuff he must have made some sort of noise, because she giggled at him. By the time he had the other cuff on his own wetness was dripping onto the moss and his member was fully exposed. She stood up, her head almost touched the ceiling, and modeled the new accessory for him. He had meant for them to be functional, he hadn't meant for them to be sexy too.

"Spirits..." He breathed.

She seemed to have that effect on him quite often.

"Like what you see, Spectre?" She teased him.

He didn't have to answer. All she needed to know was blue, wet and ribbed, pointing at her like an arrow. He couldn't stand in the small space, so he crawled over to her. His nose and tongue went strait for the thing that was at eye level, her navel. She moaned as he pressed his face against her mid section, nuzzling her and purring, lapping at her skin as he trailed down to the sweet stickiness that beckoned to his senses. He kept advancing on his knees as she backed away until her back hit the wall and forced to to the ground, writhing as his skilled tongue liberally explored and lapped at her sensitive area.

"Agh, no more..." She panted, "I..huh... can't take any... mmmore!"

"Mmmm..." He purred, "but you will!"

He pushed her legs wide when she tried to resist him. Her fingers went to his head, instinctively searching for hair that wasn't there. Her scramble for purchase was a crazing sensation on his fringe that only urged him deeper with a growl. Her release was a trickling stream that flowed out of her like so much sweet water. She used the force of her orgasm to push off the wall and catch him off guard. She pinned him, if only for a few seconds, to the floor of the cave. The grin that spread over his face told her of the trouble she was in for. He quickly and expertly overpowered her and trapped her beneath him. In one powerful thrust he was in her. Arching her back in response to his sudden presents inside her, she could only gasp and release a loud moan that fell flat in the small, moss padded space. She could cry out her pleasure as loud as she wanted and none would ever hear her, save the one who wrought such ecstacy upon her. His growls and purrs further roused her need of him, her want of him. The white paint that glowed blue and the piercing eyes of her lover forbade her to forget who it was that loved her now. She moaned his name and he pushed harder into her, drawing out every drop of her need as she quivered beneath him. When her legs quaked and her mouth trembled against his throat, he took in her scent and howled his release deep into her body. With Sonya pulled on top of him, her head resting on his chest, Nihlus lay on the moss stroking her hair. It was some time before either of them could breath well enough to speak or find steady strength to move. Out side the moss cover walls of their escape, the galaxy lay in peril, but his only thoughts were of the one that lay over him like a shroud. Being with her, having her love, made him happy.

The cuffs were a big hit. They worked and they were sexy. No chafing. No soreness. All pleasure. It was the best gift ever... except the Normandy of course. Everything was scheduled to be completed on the girl by evening the following day. She was tired and dirty as she left the hanger bay of the SR2 and headed for home and a shower. Nihlus would be sleeping before his shift. Garrus met her at the bottom of the ramp, covered with his own filth, to walk with her. Grease was smeared all over his face.

"Change colony allegiances?" She teased.

"Nope. I'm undercover for a special mission." He played.

"Oh, I see. Well, don't get caught with me then. You'll blow your cover."

"Naw, I'll just tell them you're a mole." He shrugged. She laughed. He smiled.

A comfortable silence fell between them. After a time Sonya spoke again.

"I'm ready to be off this rock." She told him. "The walls are more open than the Normandy's, but I feel trapped here. That would normally make me edgy, but I only feel that way in the pre-fab. I've always hated those things."

"I understand the feeling." He agreed.

They rounded a lake with a cluster of three crystal formation jutting out from the center tipped in blood red. Garrus' mandibles twitched as if he remembered something.

"One of the salarians was in engineering today. He wouldn't shut up."

Sonya grinned.

"But he told me that they think the red coloring in the crystal is some kind of bactria that gets inside when the crystal is newly forming. That's why it's only at the tips. It slowly grows and spreads it the weak stress fractures it creates inside the crystal itself. For all we know it could break out and kill us all."

"Oh..." She grumbled and smacked his arm. "Why can't it be a miracle cure?"

"Do you really thing the galaxy works that way?" He asked, looking down at her with a raised brow plate.

"I didn't used to," She admitted "Thane helped to change that."

Remembering the drell made her heart ache. She still missed him, still loved him. He had been something for her that she had needed that Garrus just couldn't be, though he had been what he could be for her at the time. She was thankful for her time with the drell. Garrus and Nihlus filled their role in her life, but neither of them could take Thane's place in her heart. She prayed from time to time to the gods he had believed in for his happiness in his faiths afterlife, and in any life he may have beyond should he be kindled anew. She prayed that he was reunited with Irikah. He deserved to have some happiness after the life he'd been force into. But for all his suffering he'd found love before the end. It was, in a way, his final lesson to her. She wondered if she would see him again when she died 'across the sea'.

"For example, look at what has happened with us! Just because bad things happen, doesn't mean good things can't. So the Reapers are wiping life off the face of the galaxy, it has brought so many species together that usually hate each other to fight for a common goal. If we can survive this, a whole new future awaits us that may have taken centuries to archive."

"Such a positive out look, Captain. When did that happen?" He teased.

"Hey, can't a girl have a good day?" She smiled.

Garrus didn't answer, but he acted like he understood. The barracks were at his finger tips shortly after.

"This is me. See ya later."

He nodded to Sonya and went strait for the shower.

"How's the Normandy coming along?"

She could hear David talking through the wash room walls. Pre-fab piece of crap.

"Good. We should be able to disembark in a day or two." Nihlus answered.

"I hate to see you go, but it'll be good to have the Normandy back on the battle field."

The battle field. The glory of killing a Reaper, of driving them back to dark space or ridding the universe of them all together, that was her goal. Not for the glory, but for the end result. For the chance at a life that might be something increasable. It was worth fighting for. A reason that was her own, not something superimposed upon her as an Alliance soldier, or Cerberus operative, or Spectre. She turned off the water and grabbed a towel. She passed David in the hall. He gave her a pat on the shoulder and a grin as he went to his room on the opposite end of the pre-fab. In the room she shared with her mate, Nihlus was already waiting for her. She crawled in next to him and he welcomed her into his arms. He curled his body around her. It was warm and comfortable against the plated and spurred raptor like alien she called husband to her human friends. Most of them didn't understand and a few were angry with her for not taking a human mate, but it wasn't their choice or their right to judge her. 'Dad' Anderson accepted it. He only wanted for her happiness. Most of her core crew felt the same. She was pretty sure one was even jealous, though that one had her own man. Nestled between the sheets for the few hours before Nihlus would rise for his shift on the Normandy, she slept soundly. Being with him and having his love made her happy.