Neross: Hey everybody! I hope you all had an awesome Halloween. And for those of you who didn't I'm sorry, that's terrible. For those of you who don't celebrate Halloween…you should. Halloween is more fun than a pile of puppies. In any case, I hope you all appreciate this next chapter and enjoy it!
Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!
Beta'd by: Spyke1985
…..
Brandon stuck around for a few days after his first "visit" and made sure to spend time with Maria, despite the limited leave he and Ren had to spend together. There was always a bit of tension between her brother and her new alien friends, but it was something Maria could work with. And when she couldn't Ren was quick to remind his husband about proper manners. Both Alliance soldiers seemed to make hesitant, but quick friends out of Jaksus, although there was something… Off about the turian's behavior, ever since that first initial meeting.
Maria knew something was wrong, but could not for the life of her put her finger on what it was. Somehow, she got the feeling she'd done something wrong… Or else that something had gone wrong despite her best efforts. Each morning when she woke up now she either found herself alone… Or she found Jaksus already dressing for the day ahead. He'd ruffle her hair, even smile at her in way he'd never done before. But there was none of that desire she'd felt from him that morning after the party.
In fact it almost seemed as if the C-SEC agent went through extra steps to put distance between them. Before, Jaksus had never allowed her to venture out on her own farther than a two block radius around the apartment. But now? Now he actually encouraged her to go out with the others on her own. Sometimes he'd stay behind doing research and sometimes he'd go off to C-SEC headquarters.
Maria found it… Disheartening. She kept trying to spend time with him, she'd even stay behind at times when she thought he might be staying… But he always seemed to find something to do. Maria was beginning to become frustrated… Even upset. She asked him if she'd done something wrong but he told her no, that everything was fine, and that he'd simply been caught up with a few things. He promised her that everything was fine, then he went off on his own again.
Maria hated it, and when Branden and Ren left and went back on duty, the human found herself feeling angry… And alone. In a way she'd never quite understood before. She began to hate Jaksus for making her feel like she was beautiful…Like she was not only normal… But strong. And now, it was like she meant nothing. Now, he couldn't even bear to look at her.
Nava tried to make her feel better, and the quarian often took her out to what had been her favorite places to go to… When Jaksus was still bothering to look after her. She began to find the food on the Citadel tasteless, and interacting with others became a challenge. Eventually she stopped going out completely, and locked herself away in the room she shared with her bodyguard. She turned her entire focus onto her work and her study. Sometimes she'd forget to eat, but somehow she'd always find a meal waiting for her when she turned around.
She'd forget to actually slip into bed to sleep… Sometimes forgetting to sleep at all. But when she did nod off she'd wake to find someone had draped a blanket over her shoulders. After a week of this behavior, forgetting to bathe as well, she woke from one nap to find herself in the shower, the water running warm over her, clothing and all. These things, these small things, all sang of Jaksus… But they did nothing but make Maria feel worse that he was choosing to avoid her otherwise.
So Maria forgot everything else and plowed ahead. She turned in report after report, page after page of her work to the Council. She received nothing but praise in return, but it still wasn't enough to heal whatever hole it was that had suddenly been created in her life. She was running out of ideas -running out of patience- the day that she was alone and the doorbell rang.
When she answered the door, Maria could actually feel the floor fall out from beneath her feet.
"Well? Are you going to let me in or are you going to stand there with your mouth open catching flies?" Linda Shepard asked, bold as day, her lightning blue eyes piercing straight into Maria's soul.
….
Jaksus was beginning to hate himself. After that first day spent with Maria's brother, the truth of the turian's situation came back to strike him, painfully, in the face. He'd allowed himself to forget. That he was a turian and Maria was human. That he was a bodyguard and she was his charge. That she was Maria… And he was a fool to touch her. He tried to distance himself from her, encouraged her to go out with other friends while he busied himself with chasing down leads on the batarian group who'd attacked them both.
The more he distanced himself however, the more reclusive Maria became. She even confronted him once, asked if she'd done something wrong. He told her what he thought would soothe her… But it only seemed to make matters worse. The part he hated most was the way Nava tried to comfort Maria, taking her out to the places he'd shown Maria. The places she loved. Soon, even that wasn't enough to keep Maria from withdrawing from the people around her. She went back to her old habits, the ones she'd had before Jaksus had encouraged her to go out and experience or even learn things for herself.
He couldn't stand seeing her retreat into herself that way. So he did his best to keep her safe and alive without her knowing. He'd make her food when he knew she hadn't eaten. He'd put a blanket over her the few times she'd manage to sleep. And when she began to smell, he snuck her into the shower while she slept. Not that this really changed Maria's behavior. And Jaksus began to understand that in pushing her away… He'd begun to destroy her. He hated himself for it, but had no idea how to fix the damage he'd already done.
He'd been thinking over that more than that the actual information he was supposed to be going over while at the C-SEC headquarters. Eventually he gave up, shut off his console and took a moment to stretch his sore muscles before he stood to leave. He was leaning back in the elevator, waiting for the doors to close when someone slipped in at the last minute. Jaksus actually smiled when he found Tchaolin Han had managed to slide in before the doors closed. The salarian was smiling, so Jaksus could either assume the dark-green, bright-eyed salarian was happy to see him, or his job with the infamous Saren Arterius had gone well.
"Hello Han, I take it your assignment went well." The ruddy turian said with a grin.
The salarian gave him a rather curious look and tapped him on the arm. "It did… Although I don't see how you would've known that."
Jaksus gave a brief chuckle and tapped Tchaolin on the arm. "You were working with a Spectre. If your assignment hadn't gone well, you'd be dead or else permanently scarred."
Tchaolin gave him a tiny glare and shook his head. "Good point. You, by the way, look like crap. Has your human babysitting assignment taken a turn for the worse?"
Jaksus gave a sigh and tugged on his collar before he shot his friend a glance. "I dunno Han. I think I screwed up. I did the one thing I shouldn't, and when I tried to fix it, I just made things worse."
Tchaolin looked at him skeptically and had the gall to smirk. "Okay… Sounds like things actually got better on your end. I thought you couldn't stand humans?"
Jaksus growled slightly, but didn't bother to deny it. He just hung his head and stared at his feet. "Yeah… So did I. Maria kind of… Proved me wrong. Although I'm beginning to find that she can do that sort of thing to a lot of people."
Tchaolin laughed and shot his turian friend a wicked grin. "Oh man… You have it bad. So what, you slept with her and now you're worried she's gonna report it?"
Jaksus stared at his friend in surprise. "What? No! We uh… We never got that far. I just…I feel like I'm either taking advantage of her, or else getting in way over my head."
Tchaolin gave a smug sort of snort and shook his head. "Well you are in over your head, I'll give you that. So what went wrong?"
At that moment the elevator came to a halt at the side of the presidium lake, and Jaksus gestured for Tchaolin to follow him as he sought out a secluded place where they could talk without being overheard. "Well… We kissed… A couple of times… And then her brother showed up, and… Spirits… I guess he just kind of put everything in perspective. So I tried to end what was happening between us before it could really begin."
Tchaolin sighed and rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. That worked a little too well and now she hates you."
That had never even occurred to Jaksus, and he stared in wonder at his salarian friend before groaning and burying his face in his hands. "Shit… Well that would explain quite a lot. Damnit I didn't want her to hate me I just… Damn."
The dark-green salarian gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "My advice? Get over it. Doesn't sound like you forced yourself on her, so I'm really not seeing a problem. Although I wouldn't let the Executor know."
"Well aren't you just the relationship expert. How's that breeding contract going by the way?"
"Ha ha, Vikil. Listen, I'm serious here. I've been around enough of you species that actually date to know that you're beating yourself up over petty details. So get your head out of your ass and go apologize to that human of yours already."
"She's not… Fine. You've got a point." Jaksus growled, though he smiled regardless. "You know you still owe me a drink."
"I'm off for the next two days. Talk to me tomorrow after you've gotten whatever your issues are straightened out." Tchaolin told him, standing and crossing his arms as he regarded the ruddy turian on the bench.
Jaksus smiled at his friend and gave him a half-hearted wave as the salarian went on his own way. The C-SEC agent sat there for some time, gauging how he'd settle things with Maria, considering all of his options. Finally he sighed, stood, and headed back to the apartment.
He managed to make good time, despite having his head up in space. He took a few moments outside the apartment's door, taking several deep breaths as he settled his nerves.
He opened the door hesitantly and was surprised to spot Maria in the living room, considering how much time she'd been spending holed up in their room. She was sitting on the couch, one of her datapad books clasped in her hands. "Maria… Look… There's something I need to say so just… Don't say anything until I'm done."
"I know I've been… Absent lately. And I'm sorry for that. After that thing with your brother I just… Well, I panicked. There's no real precedent for what's happened between us and what I… Well… What I want to happen between us. Deciding to end what we had just started was a mistake… And I'm sorry." He told her, his voice heavy with regret.
And then the strangest thing happened to him. A voice, older than Maria's, and deeper replied. "Well…I should think so." Then the woman Jaksus had thought was Maria turned, and the turian found himself gazing at an older woman with eyes the color of lightning… And just as fierce.
Other than the color of her hair this woman looked nothing like Maria. Her face was too angular, her nose too sharp, her mouth a different shape. She was taller than his ward as well, and thicker at the hips, thighs, and in the chest. For a moment Jaksus was confused, embarrassed, and concerned… Until he remembered the announcement Maria had made over a week ago. "You're uh…Linda Shepard I take it?"
The woman's lips twitched up into a smirk, and she stood with a grace he knew Maria had never exhibited. "I am indeed. And you must be the stupid turian looking after my favorite little genius."
Jaksus glared at her, as the woman simply raised a brow and folded her arms across her chest. "Don't look at me that way young man, those were her words, not mine. If you hadn't been so concerned with your own issues, you might have noticed the issues of the woman you're clearly head over heels for."
The turian balked and shot the woman a nearly insulted look. "I…I'm not-"
"Good at admitting what's painfully obvious to everyone else? Clearly." Linda inserted, leaving no time for Jaksus to finish his rebuttal. The ruddy turian growled and glared at the older woman before rolling his eyes. He honestly couldn't tell if this introduction was more painful than the one he'd had with Maria's brother.
…..
Linda Shepard had essentially pushed her way into the apartment, and Maria was more than a little helpless to stop her. But that was the way with her, Maria knew that. The older woman had shouldered her way inside, and taken one look at Maria that made her turn red from embarrassment and run for the bathroom to take a shower and change into some actual clothing.
From there her sister's mother-in-law smiled, and dragged her out to lunch. Maria had no idea how Linda knew, but the place she chose was her favorite lunch spot on the citadel. A tiny little hole-in-the-wall amongst Zakera ward that sold meals dedicated to Krogan tastes; mainly varren skewers, but they had a few other dishes that Maria enjoyed. Including a strange dish made with crawler meat that tasted similar to curry. Maria wanted to ask how Linda knew about the place at all, wanted to ask why she chose to come… But ended up loosing track of what she wanted to say when A'Garr spotted them from a table tucked away in a corner.
The big krogan smiled in his usual way, until he caught sight of Linda. Then his expression faltered as he gazed in curiosity at the older, taller woman beside Maria. "And here I thought Maria was the only human that was as colorful as those strange asari birds." A'Garr commented, as he shook Linda's hand.
The older woman smiled in her easy, confident way, the smile causing creases to appear around her eyes. "You should see my granddaughter. She's like a little living flame. Linda Shepard, the details can get confusing, so just think of me as Maria's older friend."
A'Garr grinned and shot Maria an impressed lift of the brow. "Well whatever you are, any friend of Maria's is a friend of mine. Come sit, I'll see if this place has anything your sensitive human stomachs can stand."
Linda gave a laugh, took a seat, and flipped through the menu once, briefly; before shutting it closed, shoving it forward on the table and giving a smirk. "Well now I'm just intrigued. I'll have the thresher stew and a shot of ryncol to wash it down. I'd hate to think of my husband rolling in his grave because his wife didn't rise to meet a damn challenge."
There was moment of silence amongst the table's inhabitants, then after a moment A'Garr gave a nervous chuckle and tapped the menu she'd slid forward. "You uh… You do realize that thresher maws spit acid right? That doesn't just leave the meat."
"You say that like it'll change my mind. Honestly I really like the idea of eating something that could have swallowed me whole when it was alive. Now… Unless anyone else has some kind of objection, I'd like to get my damn meal and my damn drink."
And that, was officially, that. A'Garr withheld his laughter until their meals arrived, and Linda ate away without so much as a blink. She grinned a bit in satisfaction when the meal was over, then promptly washed everything down with her drink. Which funnily enough gave the older woman pause. She stared at her glass as if it had suddenly grown legs, and arms, then flipped her off. " Okay… So that made me instantly drunk. "
A'Garr couldn't help but explode with laughter, and Maria ended up laughing along, the first time she'd done so in over a week. Linda just… Had a way about her. She made people fall in love with her; her sister's brother-in-law had been the same way. And Gene… Well… She had the same potential. Shepards just had that sort of spark in them that made them the kind of people others could trust and follow, almost without question. Maria loved that about Linda and her family… But she also greatly envied it.
After their lunch, they said good bye to A'Garr and went their separate ways. Maria and Linda returned to the apartment, and Linda insisted that Maria pick out something nice to wear for the evening, because she was definitely going to take her out. She grabbed one of Maria's books and nearly locked the bedroom door behind her. Maria sighed… But ended up smiling regardless. She'd forgotten all about her problems and her pain with Linda there. She'd forgotten all about how angry and disappointed she was with Jaksus. And she was extremely grateful for it.
So she turned, hoping to find something to change into, when she noticed a new dress amongst the others that she'd never seen before. She frowned, wondering where it could have come from, then realized it was nothing more than Linda's subtle way of giving her a gift. She'd done it before; she was a generous woman, but she liked to hide it. She gave her nearly one hundred digital books once, ones that she had needed and wanted, but when Maria had tried to thank her for it, Linda had acted confused and denied she'd done anything at all.
So Maria smiled to herself, bowed her head, shook it in disbelief, and pulled the dress from the depths of her closet. She slipped it on with some hesitation, but as she stared at herself in the mirror Maria could hardly believe she was even the same person.
The dress was a deep midnight blue that hugged her curves, but exposed most of her back. It had a high collar and came down in a thinner, darker, material that held tiny spots of silver-like stars. The same material sliced down from her hip to her feet in a flare of starlight. It had thin sleeves that lay just below her shoulders and exposed her collar bones. The dress made her eyes shine and darken all at once, like the ocean waves during a storm. In comparison, her hair looked like a flaming beacon and her skin as creamy white as milk.
Maria loved it. She giggled, and had to take a deep breath in order to stop herself from crying. She slipped on a pair of shoes that Corina had picked out for her the day they'd gone out shopping together, then practically ran to show the dress to Linda.
But when she opened the door, she found Jaksus outside as well as Linda, and Maria felt her knees weaken as she looked up at the ruddy turian she'd kissed, then lost. He'd been talking to Linda when she'd come out, but the second he spotted her Jaksus went silent. And he just stared at her, with his direct, sharp, predatory gaze.
Maria didn't know what to do. She felt her spine tingle in a way that was becoming all too familiar, and she had no idea what to do about it. He made her want to melt into the floor. Maria had to thank all the gods in existence when Linda stepped in with a smile and took her hand. "Well now… That's much better. Why don't you give me turn so I can see how the back looks?"
Maria hesitated, but after a moment did as she was asked and gave a slow spin. She must have missed something when her back was turned, because when she was facing the others once more, Linda was grinning as if she knew something and Jaksus looked embarrassed. "You're perfect Maria. Absolutely beautiful. Don't you agree cop-boy?"
Linda's tone caught Jaksus' attention and he glared for a second at the older woman before he turned his attention back upon Maria. His expression became strange, and Maria felt heat rise into her face as a smile slowly grew upon his. " Yes…" He said, his voice no more than a husky murmur, "She looks stunning."
…
Linda told them to call on their friends, insisted they invite them all, then pushed Jaksus to change. When he was done he found that the older woman had magically changed as well; the green and black casual dress she'd worn before was now something even Jaksus could identify as a high-fashion pant-suit. There was a high-collar and bare shoulders, flared sleeves as well as the cuff of her pants. Trim waist with a thin belt that hung off her hips as if it were about to fall. And all of this in a deep rich blue and black with sleek silver accents. He had to admit, this woman knew how to make herself and those she cared about look good.
She took one glance at him and smirked in the way that Jaksus was beginning to associate with either bad or embarrassing experiences, and placed a gentle guiding hand on the small of Maria's back. "Well now… And here I was afraid he wouldn't clean up well. Your boy looks good Maria."
The shorter human turned a bright shade of red and tugged on her hair. "Oh, um he's not... We're not-"
"Uh huh. That's nice sweetheart. Come on, let's shake some tail-feathers and get going. I want to see if I can out drink that Krogan friend of yours." Linda said, in effect dismissing Maria's stuttered objections. In a flurry the older woman had them out the door and managed to grab Nava as he was returning from his job out on the wards. The quarian stuttered out objections and confused questions, all of which were soon dismissed or otherwise ignored by Linda, as she whisked them all off to the wards once more.
Jaksus was happy to find that the restaurant they'd been invited out to was one he knew. What's more, he was happy to find Tchaolin Han waiting for them there. The salarian's eyes lit up at the sight of Jaksus along with his strange little entourage, and the turian could see the salarian's face practically crack with amusement. Jaksus shot the fellow C-SEC agent a look, but shook his hand in greeting anyway. He introduced Han to Maria, Linda, and Nava; and had to fight from laughing as the salarian finally found himself facing someone who could talk almost as quickly as he did.
He could practically taste Maria's intrigue and excitement as she began to question Tchaolin about his job, where he lived on the citadel, his family life, and his dating habits. Han blinked rapidly and shot Jaksus a pleading glance, which merely made the turian laugh. Not long after, both Corina and A'Garr showed up, and the old Krogan seemed excited to see Linda there. He greeted both humans warmly and sized up the new salarian amongst the group.
Tchaolin merely grinned at the Krogan in the way one bad-seed might grin at another, and soon A'Garr was smiling again. After a moment of introductions, the group headed inside and Jaksus was less than surprised that Linda Shepard took control, but more surprised that no one fought the human woman over it. The turian was rather impressed when Linda silenced the waiters' silent objection over the few odd members of their group with nothing more than a look. She commanded the room in a way he'd seen few individuals able to do. It was hard to remember that this woman was just an artist.
The older woman wound up sitting beside Corina, and Jaksus looked on in near amazement as the asari seemed to fall under the woman's thrall. What's more, thanks to the asari shop girl, Jaksus was able to learn a great deal more about the strong human being, who seemed so capable of reading the people around her as if they were all open books. He learned that she'd been a young journalism student when she'd met her husband. They married six months after they met, because Linda had been impatient and refused to wait to marry the alliance solider she'd met and fallen in love with.
They had their first child, a girl, not long after; and Linda began to work through her husband's occupation to move the entire family up in the world. She invested in alliance interests, and was soon making more money for the family than her husband did. Then, while she was pregnant with her son, her husband died while on tour. She gave birth to her son on her own, and her children inherited her name and heritage instead. Her investments and money still in place, Linda turned to the other talents she had to keep money coming in while staying at home and caring for her children. It just so happened that painting was the thing she excelled at.
She made a name for herself in the art world, but refused to tour with her paintings until her children were out of the house. One off to college, the other following in his father's footsteps straight into the Alliance. There her son met Maria's oldest sister, fell in love, got married, and had a child. Maria's niece, and Linda's granddaughter, Gene Shepard. But there, the story ended. Everything else was sort of shrugged aside, or else ignored for another topic. It made Jaksus nervous and gave him the impression that something terrible must have happened.
He knew better than to pry, and it seemed the others did as well. The conversation turned and Jaksus learned no more about the connection between Maria and Linda, other than the fact that they'd become quite close through Maria's sister. Jaksus wondered about it, but after awhile he became focused on something else. He became focused on Maria. On how close she was, on how beautiful her dress made her look, and how excellent she smelled. Suddenly his absence from her became so apparent to him, and so painful he could hardly breathe.
He was extremely grateful when the dinner was over. He was even more grateful when Linda opted to return to her hotel instead of coming back to the apartment with them. He did raise a brow in a curious way when Corina asked if she could go with her. The older human seemed confused as well, but eventually conceded, and the two went off together. Tchaolin bid his good-byes, and to Jaksus' surprise went off with A'Garr with the promise of drinks. Which left Nava, Maria, and Jaksus to return together to their apartment.
Jaksus and Maria had a hard time striking up a conversation with one another. The quarian on the other hand had an easy time talking about his new job with Maria. Apparently Nava had scored a job working for the Citadel port authority, repairing ships that had been damaged. Even better, he seemed to making a good amount of money at his job. Enough that he'd even begun to start looking at apartments in the wards so he could have a place of his own. While Jaksus highly enjoyed the idea of the quarian engineer moving out and leaving the apartment to just the two of them, he'd also grown quite fond of having the excuse to keep Maria in his bed. Still, he preferred the idea of the apartment without the interfering quarian engineer.
When they got back, Nava thankfully retired to his room, which left Jaksus alone with Maria. The silence began to stretch on, until finally Jaksus gave Maria a wicked grin and the little human turned a bright shade of red. She opened her mouth in a question, and Jaksus took the air and words straight from her as he crossed the room and lifted her in a blur. He swung her up and grinned when she seemed so surprised and so totally in awe that everything was lost to her.
He carried her straight back into their bedroom and sat her down on their bed. She gave a tiny bounce and stared up at Jaksus in question, until he meshed his mouth against hers. He kissed her like he'd wanted to kiss her for days. He poured all of his desires into his kiss, tracing his hands from her face to her torso, and then to her hips. Those desirous hips which seduced him with every swaying step. He kneaded at the flesh he found there, surprised at the muscle he could feel… Surprised even more at just how pliant she was.
He felt her hands drift up hesitantly to his neck and then his fringe, her fingers searching, investigating, putting pressure here and there until she found a spot beneath his fringe that had him humming. He'd forgotten how much she'd been reading, maybe she'd been reading a little something about turian biology. Either way… He loved it.
When he at last broke contact with her lips he found her dazed, but smiling in a hesitant way, her eyes a dreamy swirl of blues. "I uh…I missed you too?" She offered quietly, hesitantly, her voice lingering on something of a hysterical giggle.
Jaksus' mandibles flickered with his conflicting emotions, but eventually he smiled and laid down beside her, pulling her into an embrace. "I was an idiot…" He muttered, barely letting the words pass his lips.
Maria said nothing, instead she simply lay in his arms for a moment… Until at last she wrapped her arms around him as best she could. "I know this thing between us is going to be difficult. I know that at times it'll be overwhelming or even confusing but… Maybe… We can talk it out together. We can rely on each other… Next time I mean." Maria told him, her tone tentative, reserved.
And despite how fragile she sounded, Jaksus found a hidden strength in her words. Or at the very least a strong strategy. So far they'd avoided actually discussing what they wanted out of … Whatever it was that they had. But as Maria spoke, Jaksus wasn't sure that he didn't want to spend most of the foreseeable future beside the tiny human in his arms. He smiled in her hair and pulled her closer, "That… Is definitely something I can do."
….
Neross: Well my readers I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter…um…please don't hurt me. It turned out well right? RIGHT? *hides behind chair*. Don't kill me it'll turn out all right I promise. More happy next time. Anyway if you want to rant and rage at me or praise me you can do either or in a review right? And then I'll get to the next chapter faster. As always thanks a million to my beta reader Spyke1985.
Until next time, keep on rocking out!