STORY NOTES

I forgot to write replies back to the reviews last time! D: Time to fix that.

Kasena (Chap 2): An asari? Really? o.o That would certainly be interesting... Garrus and Solana having different mothers. I might explore that someday.

Verdandi (Chap 2): :D

Scarf (Chap 2): It's okay, you don't have to review every chapter if you don't want to. o.o Thank you for letting me know you're still there though!

Barbex: I thought that Solana should have more personality then the 'sweet, innocent' little sister.

Blausen: YOU'RE LATE. But you're welcome. :D

Guest: Thank you. :D

The descent to the moon had been a quiet one. Solana and Garrus were sitting side by side, with their backs to Joker, while Jane was sitting closest to the door. Garrus noted that she was frowning at the door handle as if it had offended her, and nodded with realization. She was only afraid of what she'd find on that spaceport. Garrus could certainly understand that. He knew at times like these that she wouldn't want to be bothered that much; she was very turian in that sense. It suited Garrus just fine; although he loved her dearly, he didn't want to smother her.

He turned his attention towards his sister and saw that she had been looking in the same direction as Garrus had. He nudged her with the back of his hand and raised an eye ridge. "What's up?" He asked.

Solana turned her head towards him and tilted her head. Jane had said once that turians resembled Earth birds to her in that respect. Garrus just thought it to be natural. It was a way to show confusion. His mandibles twitched outwards. "I said, what's up?"

"Nothin'." Solana replied back. However, the way that she said it was what startled Garrus a bit. Solana was using a dialect of Turian, one that he hadn't heard for quite a long time.. in fact, he hadn't heard it since the last time he went home to Palaven two years ago. In dealing with the Council races, he had learned to speak proper Turian in order to facilitate their translators. He confirmed his suspicions when he saw Jane look at Solana in confusion and he coughed.

"Solana, speak properly." He chided lightly.

"But I don't wanna let her hear." Solana replied in the same dialect, as she tilted her head a bit further. "Big brother, what is she to you?"

Garrus looked at Jane and tried to make the most human face he could, to try to convey his apologies, and then he spoke back to her. "My best friend, and more." Garrus replied simply. There were no words to really describe his and Jane's relationship. They were equals, yet he was her subordinate. They were partners, yet he was more than happy to be her pupil. They were lovers, but they were also co-workers who put the mission before themselves. However, that didn't mean that they wouldn't protect each other on those missions... in fact, it was their jobs to do so, which made it perfect for their backgrounds.

"You gonna mate her?"

Garrus kept his eyes on Jane, and by now he knew she could tell that they were talking about her. She was staring at Solana, her stance showing her irritation. He could almost laugh at it, were it not impolite. He kept his eyes on Jane, and watched as Jane felt his gaze, and connected her own eyes with him. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm not unwilling to, if we can find a way to do so. When we're ready... If she'll agree to it. For right now, I'm happy to let things be as they are, until she's ready for that step." Garrus replied, and he spoke with a soft rumble. He saw that Jane refused to take her eyes off of him... as if just by his tones, she could understand what he was saying. He was glad for that; Solana was stubborn and not letting her into the conversation, but Garrus wanted Jane to know these things... Maybe it was something he should discuss with her, when they weren't in the heat of a moment.

... Oh like that ever happened. What was he kidding himself?

Solana blinked, and then looked at Jane herself. Then, she reverted back to proper Turian. "I could figure that out for you." She said as she pointed a talon at Jane.

"Excuse me?" Jane replied back in confusion. She seemed to have come out of a daze, and Garrus chuckled underneath his breath. He'd have to tease her about that later. He looked towards Solana, who was about to open her mouth to speak again; Garrus quickly interrupted.

"Sol, I can handle that myself, thanks."

"But brother... you're horrible with talking to women."

Jane looked positively baffled. "P-Pardon me?"

"Solana!" Garrus growled.

"What?! You are!"

"He is." piped Joker from the cockpit.

"Oh like you're any better!" Garrus snarled to the front. He looked at Jane quickly. "Captain, I really think that we should be having a quick mission brief right about now."

"Why do you call her Captain? Why not by her name?" Solana asked.

"Hey, yeah, Garrus. Why DO you call her that?"

"It's a sign of respect for my commanding officer while we're on duty." Garrus replied in annoyance. "Something the two of you seem to know nothing about!"

"Oooh. Hey human, I think we pissed Brother off."

"Name's Joker, partner-in-crime." Joker joked (AN: hurr.) from the cockpit.

"Solana."

"No! Who said you two could plot together?!" Garrus retorted back in a mock panic. Granted, a little bit of that panic was legitimate... Joker and his sister, making friends together. Spirits help them all. His sister had a habit of bringing out the mischief in people, and Joker was a naturally sarcastic person... and if he wasn't bitter, he could be pretty mischievous.

It was at this point that Garrus started to hear laughter from Jane's side of the shuttle. She started out in a soft chuckle, and then it grew as time went by, until even Joker and Solana were silently listening. She seemed to realize that everyone was listening to her by now, and she tried to muffle herself with the back of her hand. She shook her head, trying to wave at them to get them to ignore her, but Garrus wouldn't. He couldn't help himself; he kept a quiet and thoughtful gaze on her, protective and caring in nature. He hadn't seen Jane laugh like this for a very long time... in fact, he couldn't remember the last time. She had always been so serious, or stressed. Life constantly threw bullets at Jane Shepard, and it was nice to see her when she was actually starting to relax... even if it was for a moment.

She collected herself and Garrus was a bit disappointed that the moment was over. However, Jane leaned in with a smile on her face.

"Okay guys. Here's what we need to do."

Their feet hit the ground as Joker kept the shuttle hovered. The spaceport was a vulnerable position, especially on the landing pad they touched down on, and so Joker was going to pull the shuttle back to a safe difference until they were ready to leave. Garrus glanced around. The spaceport looked like any average spaceport... there was a launch pad for shuttles, and cranes and boxes everywhere. Garrus did however get a chill down his spine. It happened anytime he saw a big space with lots of cover... he had his eyes pinned to the radar in his visor, making sure that there were no hostile contacts in the area. He raised his assault rifle and looked through the scope; no heat signatures were appearing on his scope. At least he could be happy for that.

He glanced over the grey walls warily. There could be any kind of sniper shielded from his sensors... sometimes all of this tech just couldn't beat your own two eyes. Granted, the day that he voiced that opinion out loud would be the day that his eyes would fail him and his tech would save his life, just to spite him. A small part of Garrus did believe that fate had an ironic sense of humour. A small part of him even prayed to the spirits when he needed, and he knew that the spirits were a harsh mistress.

He kept his eyes trained on the corners as well. Those were popular places for gunmen to shoot from. By now, it seemed that his eyes were darting everywhere but in front of him, and yet he was walking around boxes like everyone else in the group. When he hit the ground, he went from the 'gentle intellectual' that Jane had labeled him as to the cold-blooded sniper, the one who didn't trust anyone other than the people he chose to keep at his back. Or... well... front in the case of a sniper, most of the time.

He, Solana and Jane walked to a door on the opposite side of the room. Jane and Garrus kept their guns trained on the assorted corners while Solana opened the door. Garrus glanced quickly at Jane.

"No one's coming to investigate the intruders?"

"Doesn't seem like that so far..." Jane muttered quietly. "I don't like it..." She glanced around. "Not even a single VI. This damn spaceport's a ghost town."

He didn't quite understand the meaning of a 'ghost town' but he got the basic gist. She was stating that the place was empty. He heard Solana open the door and saw Jane immediately go through. Jane was the worst sniper; she always insisted on going first. He saw her place her sniper rifle on her back and raised up her pistol from her hip.

"So. Not feeling weird yet, Shepard?" He heard Solana ask Jane. Jane shook her head.

"No... nothing resembling indoctrination just yet."

"Do you know what signs to watch for?" Solana asked sceptically. He saw Jane shoot her a dirty look.

"I fought Reapers, Solana. I know when I'm being indoctrinated." Jane replied coolly. "And if I don't, I'm sure that Garrus will spot it for me."

Garrus didn't answer. Her words were very true... she did know when she was being indoctrinated. Though he had never told Jane, he had seen what had happened, the night that Jane destroyed the Reapers. At least, he had seen part of it. He had commanded a team that had consisted of Tali, Javik and himself to find her distress signal about a week after the incident, and Javik had shown him as much as he could of what happened to her... including the moment where Jane had shot her mentor, Anderson. It was still a little hard for him to recall that vivid pain... although Anderson had never really spoken to him, it was almost as if he had felt Jane's anguish that night. He couldn't imagine what that had to be like... and he thought of Jane as a mentor. He couldn't imagine being forced to shoot her.

Granted... he also thought of Jane as more then a mentor.

The three of them walked down a narrow hallway, which made Garrus incredibly nervous. He holstered his sniper rifle and pulled out his assault rifle. There was no cover, other then the doorways of the different rooms. It was a narrow, brightly lit hallway, with almost zero space to manoeuvre. This was the best place to spring a trap. He kept himself walking backwards as they walked past the first two doors. He was ready to shoot at the smallest sign of movement.

"Jane, this isn't the best place." He rumbled quietly.

"I know, I know... it'd be nice if we could at least find some signs of life." Jane muttered. She seemed to be just as nervous as he was. It was at that point that Solana stopped and jabbed her thumb at the door beside her.

"I propose we split up. I'll check through here. You two, pick a door each and we'll see what we find."

Garrus doubled back to one of the first two doors, and Jane followed, picking the door on the opposite side. He aimed his rifle at the door, and opened it up. His flashlight automatically flickered on, which signaled to him that the room was dark. He searched around the room, which seemed to be a small storage space for shuttle parts, looking for any sign of life... then any sign of death. He then raised his hand to his comm piece.

"Clear."

"Clear." Jane called from behind him. Garrus turned around and glanced at the other doors.

"What was your room?"

"A storage closet."

"Same. Do you think these rooms will pretty much be the same?"

"I'll bet." Jane replied wearily. "Who knows; we might be able to find a tradesman or something." She bit her lip with her dulled human teeth and Garrus shook his head. She didn't believe her own words. That much he knew from her motions. He walked down the hallway and heard Solana's comm in his ear.

"Clear."

The three of them advanced up the hallway in this fashion until the very end of the hallway, where they found a T-shaped fork. Garrus looked to the center of the fork, where there was a door in front of them; then a door to the left, and a door to the right.

"Well... I've got center then."

"Left." Solana called.

"Right." Jane murmered.

The three of them opened their doors, and Garrus blinked in surprise.

This was a far larger room, one that seemed out of place. It was a small research lab, except it seemed majorly in disarray. Boxes and shelves were scattered all around the place, along with broken glass from windowpanes. The room was dark, with only a pulsing blue light resonating from the far left corner of the room.

He heard Jane and Solana call their rooms as clear, but Garrus didn't respond. He kept walking towards the light, stepping over boxes as if they were obstacles set in his path. He took cover behind a box nearby, and peered around the edge.

He was baffled by what he saw. Several humans; at least five of them, were around a black and cerulean orb. It was floating in the centre of the space, but what was most startling was that four of the humans, all adult males, were laying limp around it. Their limbs were contorted in such a way that didn't seem natural for sleeping humans, and Garrus' scanners were showing no vital signs. The fifth was the biggest mystery, however.

It was a boy. He seemed to be no older then eight, but Garrus was making that approximation based off of turian lifespans. He could have easily been younger or even older for all that Garrus knew. The boy had a messy mop of shoulder-length black hair, that seemed incredibly curly; Garrus had never seen a human's hair that curly, or wiry. He had darkened skin, skin that looked very similar to Jacob Taylor's skintone, and bright brown eyes that were staring directly at Garrus. He was gangly, and he looked as if he hadn't eaten in quite a while, his plain brown cloth garments hanging off of his bones. Garrus crept from hiding and tried to be as gentle as he could.

"Hey, little guy." He rumbled softly, and the boy seemed to barely give a response. The boy's eyes simply blinked. Garrus lowered his rifle, making sure to keep it pointed away from the boy, and he held out his left hand.

"Can you understand me? It's okay... I won't bite." Garrus honestly didn't know what to do with kids, so he was treating this situation as if this child were his own little sister. He tried to be as gentle as he possibly could. But the boy again, didn't respond. He just blinked again. Garrus frowned.

"C'mon..." He glanced towards the boy's arms. In most Citadel cultures, an omni-tool was given to a child as soon as they were old enough to converse, or at least understand speech. This boy seemed to have misplaced his, however; there were no indications of omni-chips on his arms. This was something Garrus found odd. He raised his hand to his comm device.

"Jane, Solana, you may want to get in here. I found someone... a child."

"A what?" Jane's voice crackled through his earpiece. He heard the doors on the other side of the room open and their footsteps entered the space.

The echo seemed to have alerted the boy, for he shot his head up in the direction of the sound. Then he backed away, and shielded the orb in front of him with his body. He held his arms out and spread his legs so that he resembled a human star. Then, the scrawny boy started to speak.

It was not the speech of a human. It had subharmonics that not even Garrus' ears could truly comprehend nor his voice could replicate. There were a mix of voices... men and women, and two voice that came out most clearly. A high pitched voice, cracking, and a low baritone of a voice.

"THE DARKNESS MUST NOT BE BREACHED."

"Garrus!" Jane's voice called in panic.

The orb behind the boy started to spark with the same cerulean energy that inhabited its depths, menacing and deadly in nature. Oddly enough, Garrus wasn't thinking immediately about that danger and getting away from it. He was only thinking of the boy shielding it. He reached out and grabbed his tiny wrist in his giant hands, wrapping his wrist in an unbreakable grip. The boy yelled out in outrage, the same voice yelling with him. He thought he heard Solana and Jane round the corner, but he wasn't sure. He just acted.

He yanked the small boy to him, away from the orb. Cerulean lightning arced between the boy and the artifact, and he heard the boy's eerie voice in his ear.

"WHY DO YOUR PEOPLE FOLLOW US?"

"JANE! SHOOT THE ORB!" Garrus yelled out. He wrapped his arms around the boy, shielding him with his armored body.

He felt the heat of a grenade behind his head, and an excruciating pain on his fringe. He saw his shields go dangerously low as shards of the orb deflected off of his body. He tilted his head in the direction of his teammates and saw his sister holding a pin in her hand and a furious look in her eye.

He didn't have any time to thank his sister for the save before the little boy in his arms fell limp. He looked down at the boy, a panic flooding his entire body. For all the times that he had fought against humans and beside humans, he had never seen one of their offspring... and the first time that he might, the offspring was potentially dead?

"Jane. Jane!"

He felt Jane beside him, scanning the small boy with her omni-tool. After a minute, Jane let out a breath. "He's alive, Garrus. He'll be alright, but we need to get him to the med bay."

"Can't say the same for these humans." Solana's grim voice sounded from behind him.

He felt Jane stand up beside him. "Alright. We're pulling back. We're going to get this little boy some attention; figure out what the hell happened to him." She raised her hand to her comm piece. "Chakwas, I need a quarantine set up in the med bay, immediately. We're bringing a potentially contagious victim on board. James, Gabby, I need you two on the ground; you'll be doing a full scan of this place. I want video footage, audio feed, everything that you can get. We also need to make sure there aren't more artifacts like this one. Solana will be accompanying you. Joker, get back to our destination for evac, now. Garrus-"

"Don't need to tell me, Jane." He said quietly as he stood up, the little boy hanging like a doll in his arms.

When the four of them had arrived back on the ship, Chakwas had immediately committed all four of them to her medical ward. Only after Jane had explained to her that only Garrus and the boy had any kind of interaction with the orb was Solana and Jane allowed to go. Garrus spent a lot of his time confirming the suspicions that the orb had been the thing to infect the humans, and as soon as it had been destroyed, the boy had stopped acting possessed. None the less, it still took Chakwas quite a while to check them both; she was too busy trying to keep the boy alive. The boy had suffered a minor heart attack, Chakwas had told them; something had strained his body, most likely the artifact. He'd make a full recovery, she assured, but she also was concerned about his mental faculties.

Garrus had been in quarantine for a couple of hours when Jane had come down to visit the med bay. She had her own duties to attend to, and now his as well, now that her right hand man was in quarantine. Yet when she entered the med bay, she certainly didn't look like a woman who was ready to focus on business. She walked to the end of the room where the two of them and Chakwas were. Chakwas was bent over the boy's unconscious form, doing whatever it was that she did as a doctor to humans; Garrus had no idea. There was a blue field around both of their beds, protecting the outside air from any contaminants. To be honest, Garrus thought that he'd be fine to walk around, but until Chakwas figured out what happened, she wouldn't hear a word of it.

Jane stopped at a bed beside the containment field, and then she sat down on it. She kept her eyes on Garrus the entire time. Garrus saw a neutral look on her face, but he knew what that meant; she was worried. His mandibles twitched outwards and he gave a nod.

"Jane, need me for something?" Garrus asked. It was a play on words; he used to always ask her if she needed him for something, but he'd call her Shepard. He still called her Shepard in public, but right now he felt that she needed a little more familiarity. He was satisfied to know that he was right; the corner of Jane's mouth curled upwards and her eyes softened.

"Well, yeah, I do, but you're kind of on the other side of a field." Jane motioned to the blue hexagons in front of them and Garrus shook his head, a little grin on his face. He never knew with Jane exactly what she meant, but it was always amusing to figure out what... he'd have to later. He tilted his head and the two of them just looked at each other for a moment, until finally he started to speak again.

"It's looking as if the boy will make a full physical recovery. His brainwaves also seem to function within normal human parameters." Garrus saw Jane raise an eyebrow and he raised his hands. "I'm just saying what Chakwas said. She's unsure about what his mental faculties will be when he wakes up, however."

"Understandable." Jane replied. Her brow was furrowed as she seemed to process the information. Garrus sighed quietly. He glanced over his shoulder at the boy behind him, but his view was instead blocked by Chakwas' suit. She now had the helmet off, which made Garrus stare up at her.

"Um... Chakwas... quarantine?"

"I cannot find anything physically wrong with him. I think the quarantine is unnecessary. Whatever was driving those people mad, it wasn't anything that can be spread. You're free to go." Chakwas replied. She was typing a code into her omni-tool, and the barrier faded. Garrus hopped off the bed and Jane came to stand beside him. Chakwas went back to busily working on the boy and Jane looked at Garrus.

"Y'know... I think I've found another hole in your armor." Jane said quietly. She had a bit of a mischievous tone in her voice, and Garrus picked up on it immediately. He glanced down at the short human and raised an eyeridge.

"I'm sorry. Another?"

"Yeah. I mean... your psychological armor."

"Oh?"

"Well, the first is women hitting on you."

Garrus shook his head. "Oh yeah. Like you would react differently if a turian were hitting on you." He remembered how nervous Jane had made him, how she made him feel like a fool when they were first arranging to... blow off steam. He closed his eyes. "I don't act that way around most women."

"Ahuh. I'm flattered." Jane replied dryly. She smiled. "You also have a soft spot for kids."

Garrus blinked, and he thought about it for a moment. Yeah... he supposed he did. He stayed silent for a little bit, thinking. What had prompted that kind of panic in him when he held that child in his arms? Garrus looked up at the wall and then looked to Jane.

"I.. guess so. I just... tried to treat him like I would Solana when she was young..." Garrus looked a bit confused. "I thought I implied before I wasn't adverse to the idea of kids?"

Jane looked confused for a moment, and then she suddenly laughed. Garrus knew what she was remembering. Right before they had done the final mission to get to the Catalyst, so they could destroy the Reapers, Garrus had suggested they should figure out what a turian-human baby looked like. Although it had been a joke, Garrus was definitely interested in having kids someday... even if they did have to adopt. He felt Jane pat his mandible gently, and he hummed happily.

"No, I guess you're not." Jane commented softly. She watched Chakwas for a moment, and Garrus felt an arm slip around him. He laid his own arm over her shoulders and the two of them stood there for a while, watching the sleeping boy. Garrus was somewhat surprised at the attention, but he wasn't exactly saying no to it. They were a rather private couple, rarely did they ever have a moment for themselves, and rarely did Jane ever drop the act of being the captain. None the less, she had gone from captain to woman in the short space of time, and Garrus was enjoying it. He brushed her shoulder with his thumb and felt Jane squeeze him gently.

"I was worried about you for a moment down there." She said quietly.

Garrus looked down at the fiery red head and laughed, a little hum escaping through his nose. "Were you now?"

"Yeah. It's not often you get caught in a situation like that. I had no idea what that artifact would do to you, or what the boy would do to you."

Garrus smirked and laid his forehead on hers for a moment. He felt her relax from the touch. Then, he dragged his forehead away and stared into her platinum eyes.

"Now you know how I feel."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh c'mon Jane. When we fought Saren, instead of getting behind cover and shooting him down with your sniper, you decided to get out your pistol, stand away from any kind of cover, and start shooting in his general direction."

Jane huffed. "He was moving too quickly for a good shot with the scope."

"I also seem to remember a certain crazy red head not giving a damn, shooting down a gunship with a missile launcher and zero cover after an old friend of hers got hurt."

"Yet you don't remember that you were laying with your face getting painted blue by your own blood. I needed to get that gunship down before you died, or lost that scarred mandible you're so fond of." Jane replied dismissively.

"Was that the same theory when you dove down a platform to grab my hand after that Proto-Reaper nearly knocked me off?"

"You're complaining?"

"It was reckless."

"That's hardly fair!" Jane protested. "You would've definitely died if I hadn't done that!"

"Just saying, Jane." Garrus replied quietly in her ear, his mandibles caressing the base of her neck. "Now you know how I feel every time you're about to dive headlong into a firefight."

There was a long pause from the woman, and Garrus noted that she had her eyes closed. She was trying to keep up her stance of indignation, but she was doing a terrible job of it; her eyebrow was twitching, and her lips kept on curling upwards. And then downwards. And then upwards again. She had her arms crossed by now, and Garrus could tell she was trying not to laugh.

"Alright, alright. I get it. I'm a regular Evel Knievil."

"A what?"

"It's a famous human daredevil. He died back in the early 21st century. He was known for stunt riding, mostly over several cars and even canyons, and he broke over 400 bones during his career."

"... sounds like a good description for you. Did he ever die in an explosion and come back to life?" Garrus placed extra emphasis on 'he', and got exactly the reaction he wanted; Jane screwed up her face in protest.

"Now, that DEFINITELY wasn't my fault." Jane retorted indignantly.

"I don't know Jane. If you hadn't drawn so much attention to yourself... arranging to blow up Sovereign... The Collectors might not have had to come take you out." Garrus teased.

"Yeah, well, deal with it. You're dating a daredevil zombie, okay?"

"... zonbye?" Garrus asked in confusion again. He tried to replicate how the word sounded in Jane's tongue, but he couldn't quite get it right with his subharmonics. Jane laughed and turned off her translator for a second, then pointed at her lips.

"Zahm-biie." She articulated.

A small voice replied back in a jumble of speech that Garrus couldn't understand, but Jane's look of recognition told him that she could. The speech was very flowing, with an emphasis on the "ah" sound and a few other sounds. Garrus was confused. The voice was higher in pitch, yet cracked slightly on some notes... in the same way that the boy's voice had sounded when mixed with the other voices. He looked quickly at the boy.

The boy had awoken. Chakwas seemed to be in as much shock as the other two were. Bright amber eyes were staring at Garrus, blinking every once in a while. The boy still rested his head on the pillow on his bed, and made no other effort to move, other than his eyes. Garrus smiled a bit, and waved. The boy still blinked at him. Garrus saw Jane turn back on her translator and grin.

"Hey there little man. You feeling better?" Jane asked the boy. The boy slid his eyes towards Jane and blinked again. Then, his head gave the tiniest of nods. Garrus chuckled.

"Well, that's a good thing. You gave us a scare there."

When he saw the boy's look of confusion, Garrus blinked. That confirmed it. He couldn't understand the boy, and the boy couldn't understand him. He looked at Jane, and pointed at the boy.

"I think my translator's broken, what is-"

That was when he recalled it. The boy had no omni-tool. He had no way to translate his speech for the other omni-tools around him. The only ones who could understand him had to know the language... and apparently, Jane spoke the same language. Chakwas seemed to as well. He looked at the boy, and then back to Jane.

"He's speaking human, isn't he?"

Jane chuckled. "It's called English." He tried to comprehend how to say that word in his head, but he honestly didn't think he could move his mouth the same way she did to make that word. So that was the name of the human language. He frowned.

"Do all humans speak it?"

"A fair few. It's my native tongue, and the serving language of the Systems Alliance." She replied. Then she looked back to the boy. "Where did your omni-tool go, bud?"

The boy said more words, a weak tone in his voice, and Jane translated. "He says that he doesn't know. He doesn't even remember coming on the ship. He's also asking why there's a turian in an Alliance spaceport... Hmm." Jane paused for a moment and spoke to the boy. "You're not on the spaceport anymore... you're on a ship near the spaceport. Can you remember what happened?"

The boy paused for a little bit, his face screwed up. Garrus felt alarm when he saw water streaming from the corner of his eye, although he stayed completely silent. "Is... he okay?" Garrus asked shakily, pointing towards the tears. Turians didn't cry unless something was in their eyes, or something was wrong with their eyes... He saw Jane nod her head and wave him off dismissively.

"It's okay, it's okay... we can talk when you feel better, okay? What's your name?"

The boy said one word, and Garrus assumed it to be his name. "Jonathan." The boy had said.

"Can we call you Jon? My turian friend here will have an easier time saying that until we can get you an omni-tool."

The boy nodded quietly and Garrus watched the boy staring at him. He waved again, and the boy tried to smile. "Hello." Garrus said to him. The boy blinked and then said more words to Jane. Jane laughed.

"He says you talk funny." Jane said with a wry smile. "How does he talk funny, Jon?"

Jon spoke again, and Jane translated, "Jon says that your voice sounds like a couple of voices trying to talk at once."

Garrus laughed. "He's probably talking about my subharmonics. We communicate deeper meaning through them... kind of like human facial expressions."

Jane translated Garrus' explanation and the boy gave a long sound, an "Ohhhhh" sound. Jane smiled and turned to Garrus. "He understands now." She tilted her head and stared at Garrus. "Let's let Chakwas fix him up while we wait for James to report back, hmm?"

"Yes. See if we can get him an omni-tool as well, even if it's a used one. Your language is interesting, Jane, but I don't think I could make half the sounds you can." Garrus spotted Jon staring at him in amazement and laughed. "And I don't think he can make half of my sounds, judging by the look on his face."

"Just another thing to discover about the other races." Jane commented. "Okay. Hey, Jon, we're going to take off for now. Dr. Chakwas is just going to make sure that you're okay. We'll come back later, okay?"

Jon nodded a small nod and Jane and Garrus walked out of the med bay. Garrus felt Jane wind an arm around his, and Garrus stopped to look at her. The look on her face was a look that he didn't get to see often enough; she was looking at him with pride and love in her eyes. Garrus felt his heart flutter a little and he tilted his head.

"Hmm?" He hummed to her.

"Oh... nothing. You just surprise me sometimes, that's all."

Garrus felt Jane let go of his arm and he shook his head in confusion. He stood and watched her retreating form walk away, wondering if this was a good time to sneak back to the main battery. But, it seemed that she had other plans for him. She turned her head to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't even think about sneaking off. We've got to go figure out how we're getting to Despoina."

Garrus looked baffled. How did she know... and what was this about Despoina? He walked briskly to her side and tilted his head curiously.

"Despoina?"

"Yep. I'm going to figure out the origin of this whole mess here on Franklin... and figure out what the hell that voice was. You in?"

Garrus looked around at the hull walls around him and stared at Jane. "Even if I wasn't willing... where the hell can I go?"

"True. We ARE missing in action... might as well make the best of our situation." Jane replied.

"... You know, Jane, normally my way of making the best of the situation is either to do calibrations or... well, at the very least something that doesn't put me into danger about twice a day."

Jane raised an eyebrow and glared playfully at him. "Don't even start, Vakarian."

"Yes ma'am." Garrus mockingly saluted.

CHAPTER NOTES

I decided to try introducing a character that's been in my head for quite some time. Say hi to Jon.

I also decided to try playing with the different racial aspects a bit. We'll see how and where this goes.