BA HA HA HA ! I'm so proud of myself! I not only got Shepard and Garrus out of the Battery... But I created a small mutiny out to make Garrus eat... and a third persons POV on the situation...

And possibly caught the Normandy on fire by letting Shepard cook... O.O ... OOPS...

A little bit more fluff and less of that depressing stuff! Oh and I merged a lot of thoughts, memories, and past events in here and they are all in italics so if it is confusing or you can suggest a better way to lay it out please let me know!

As always

I don't own squat...

AND

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I only am to please you fine readers and if you don't let me know how I'm doing or what you think... I'm afraid I am forever doomed to write stories no one likes so...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!

But, he also needed, craved, and desired the knowledge that Shepard had not led him astray.

"Jane…"

He had muttered once into the darkness of that rooftop when he truly thought he was going to die of a bullet, tiredness, or starvation.

"Jane..."

He had whispered once more when he saw her through his scope, thinking she was his Valkyrie coming to take him to the afterworld.

He had in that moment, for the first time in a long while, felt some comfort. If he was going to die, at least she would be the last thing he would see in this world and the first face he would see in the next.

When he was hit by the rocket, he awaited the darkness with a sense of peace. He had seen her again and she was alive. He could rest now knowing she was safe.

GARRUS!

She screamed his name and the awaiting darkness lost its appeal, and her voice brought him back.

Fight Vakarian… Don't you leave me… Don't you dare leave me now...

Her voice in his head was just a loud as the voice crying in his ear.

Both voices however were ordering him to fight and he would never disobey an order from his commander. He would never disobey and order from his

Jane…

She had never once let him down.

In the end she had once again saved him, proving her worth to him just as always; first as his Valkyrie rescuing him from the roof top on Omega, and then again by standing in his cross hairs.

And for that he hated himself. How had he let it get that far? Did he really need to kill the empty shell of a Turian that Sidonis came to be in order to live with the guilt that he doubted her?

Jane…

The last time he uttered her name had been in utter defeat.

For a split second he had been so focused on shooting Sidonis that he had nearly shot threw her, his savior.

Why isn't she moving? … I can get him… She'll only be grazed… Unless she moves then…

He felt nauseous as he jumped back. Taking a breath and looking through his scope to make sure he had not done the unthinkable. He told her to let Sidonis go, knowing that killing him would do nothing for his guilt, nothing to bring his team back, and absolutely nothing to absolve the sin of nearly shooting Jane Shepard.

He was still, a week later, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he loved his commander, and he had nearly shot her.

How would she react if she knew? …

She sighed in relief and he relaxed some.

Had she really been that worried that I've been acting funny because of Sidonis? …

Knowing that he had screwed up and that he had worried her caused him to fidget. Feeling the need to reassure her farther and alleviate himself of some of his guilt, he shuffled a little closer.

"Actually," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm glad you stopped me, and, uh, you were right."

She glowed at the praise, and he felt on top of the world. Her smirk at being told she was right was endearing to him and caused him to let out a turian chuckle.

At his laugh she cocked an eyebrow and propped a hand on her hip. Doing her best "Superior Cheerleader Miranda" impression, which he had only seen one other time, and it had involved him, Shepard, Tali, and a whole lot of alcohol. Tali had even gotten Shepard to flip her... that stuff on top of her head.

Hair l think it's called...

Garrus was quite fascinated with that stuff. It was red, a rare color so he was told. It was long, shiny, and looked soft.

Soft as Asari silk I bet…

He fisted his hand to keep himself from running a taloned hand through it just to see if it was as silky as it looked.

Another thing that fascinated him was the way she would tie it up. Sometimes, the way she would arrange it looked down right painful.

The extranet said it doesn't have nerve endings… Curious…

He liked it the most, however, when it was dow-

"Well if it's not Sidonis," her smile dropped, and Garrus was brought back from his musings, "what's wrong?"

"Well if it's not Sidonis," her smile dropped. Garrus looked up at her and winced, "what's wrong?"

She was even more confused now. If his weird behavior was not related to Omega or Sidonis, then why was he not sleeping or eating and why was he avoiding her like Kelly avoided talking about the Scale Itch?

"I... uh…"

Garrus once again lowered his gaze to the floor, flexing his hands in an attempt to keep from rubbing at his neck.

He's not going to talk… And all I'm doing is pushing him farther away… Which is the last thing I want or need to do… We've made progress… He's talked to me… I even got him to laugh…

Not laugh, more like chuckle, but she was not being picky. She was just happy their relationship seemed just a little bit closer to normal.

"Come on big guy." She grabbed his clawed hand and half lead half drug him through the door, down the corridor, and into the mess. He seemed reluctant to follow her at first, lightly tugging his hand back. However, when he realized he did not have a choice, he followed along just a few steps behind.

The mess was quiet. It was late and everyone, except for the few unlucky mates on the night shift, was asleep. Even Chakwas had turned in giving the dimly lit med bay a haunted look. There was, however, a lone soul inhabiting the deserted kitchen. Her purple blue clouded mask obscuring her worried face as she cooked up every dextrose dish she knew in the hope that the commander would somehow manage to finally drag that stubborn Turian out of the Forward Battery.

If anyone can manage it she can…

Tali had been worried about her Turian comrade for a while now. On several occasions she had invited the only other dextrose on the Normandy out, but had been repeatedly turned down.

Can it wait for a bit? I'm in the middle of some calibrations.

"Bosh'tet!"

She swore under her breath. She did not know what was wrong with Garrus but knew it had something to do with Shepard.

Maybe he had finally figured out how he feels... Ever since that whole thing with Sidonis…

She shook her head. Who was she kidding? It had started way before Sidonis.

Those two have been dancing around each other since the SR1… Wonder if Joker knows… Or Kelly…

The thought brought a smile to her face. If Joker and/or Kelly knew then whole ship would know. She was also pretty sure everyone already knew about those two except for, well those two.

Honestly, she was worried at first. They were both her very good friends and she had concerned that if they had gotten together and it had not work out that the whole dynamic of the ship as well as her friendship with both would be compromised.

Ok, she might have had an itty bitty crush on Garrus at the time.

But come on with that voice? … Girl would have to be deaf to not be attracted to that…

She was pretty sure the Cerberus psychologist had taken noticed as well as Dr. Michel.

Sending him chocolate… The nerve of that woman…

However, Garrus had been a flight of fancy for her to be replaced with Kal'Reeger, and the more she saw Garrus and the commander together the more she knew that they were a perfect fit. Shepard needed someone she could trust and Garrus needed someone who could make him feel worth something.

No Shepard without Vakarian…

And it was true.

Garrus Vakarian had been just a shell of his former self without Shepard. The one time she had seen Garrus after Shepard's death on the Citadel after the Normandy exploded had proven that.

Anderson had hailed her as well and she was there when Garrus had mowed over the Counselor and tore the loading dock apart. He had gone through each and every escape pod leaving chaos in his wake. It was almost as though he thought Shepard was hiding from him and he had felt the need to check under every seat, behind consoles, ripping out wires, shredding the fabric of the uncomfortable cushions that lined the fiberglass benches.

"She's gone Garrus."

Tali had said solemnly when the distressed Turian had come down from his destructive high.

"Don't say that Tali."

He looked utterly defeated, sliding down the wall of the last escape pod, head in hands.

She would have sworn he was crying. His body shook and there was a tremor in his deep double pitch voice.

"Did you find out what happened?"

She had talked to the crew, found out what happened, tried her hardest to keep everyone out of Garrus's rampaging path. She had thought Shepard would have been proud that she had managed not to fall apart when she was needed the most. There would be time for her mental breakdown later in the privacy of her enviro pod after she had done all she could here.

She smiled.

"Have you ever tried to wipe your nose while wearing an enviro suit Shepard?

Tali had once asked. Wrex had been doing a wonderful impression of Garrus. Garrus had not been amused which had made it all that much funnier. She and Shepard were lying on the floor; beers still in hand laughing so hard tears were streaming out their eyes.

"Can't say I have."

"Well, it's not as easy as you might think."

And at that they both collapsed into another fit of giggles while Wrex and Garrus looked on in amusement.

No, breakdown could wait.

"Garrus," She sat down next to him, "Garrus, she died saving the crew, saving Joker."

"She's not dead," He shook his head in disbelief, "she can't be."

"Commander Shepard might have been many things Garrus, but in the end she was only human."

"No she's not."

She did not know if he was saying she was any more or any less than human or if he was refuting the fact she was dead. She tried to ask him as he shrugged off her hand which was lying delicately on his shoulder in a distinctly comforting manner. He rose and stormed past her on his way out of the loading bay and out of her life.

He had become like a big brother to her. They had bonded over food, being the only two dextroses aboard, as well as the only ones with three fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot.

"How do they walk on those things? You'd think they would fall with the way their knees bend!"

Garrus sipped his beer looking out onto the dance floor of Flux.

"Want me to show you Vakarian?"

The commander got up and attempted to dance next to the booth the three were sat at.

"You call that dancing?"

"I haven't fallen over yet!"

Tali, still caught up in her own musings, did not notice Shepard's poor excuse for dancing.

"I'm more shocked at how their hands work. Do you really need all those fingers? And how can they stomach those things... hog dogs?"

The drunken Quarian slurred.

"Tali, its HOT dogs."

"Whatever Garrus, I just don't see how they can eat their pets! I mean you don't see me eating varrien do you?"

Shepard corked an eyebrow as she sat back down on the other side of Garrus and across from her.

"You have a pet varrien? On a fleet ship full of immune deficient Quarians?"

The three had been close but she knew Garrus was closer to Shepard than to her and that he had taken her death harder than anyone, aside from possibly Joker. During the long two year period she had returned to the fleet, her thoughts had not strayed far from her two best friends. She tried to act in accordance to how Shepard had taught her and she prayed that, wherever he was, Garrus was safe.

Now that they were all back on the Normandy, Tali had only assumed that things would go back to normal.

Suicide mission… Cerberus crew… An AI… Tank bred Krogan… Mad scientist… Convicted felon… A commander brought back from the dead roaming the halls… Well… Ok… Nowhere close to normal…

Well as normal as can be expected. At least her friendship with Garrus and Shepard she expected to go back to the way it was before, and in many ways it had. Shepard always took Garrus out every mission and Tali out on just about every other one. There was more to do now on the Cerberus vessel so she stayed busy. Garrus had gone back to teasing her like a sister. Of course it had started with an apology for not staying in touch better, but Tali knew what he had meant.

The differences had mainly been between the commander and her Turian partner. There was almost an awkward tension between them. They rarely spoke to each other outside of combat, and when they did it was short, sweet, and to the point. Tali for the life of her could not get them in the same room for any length of time without one or the other making a very hasty exit, especially when the alcohol started loosening their tongues. She knew their feelings for one another ran deep. How deep, though, she was not quite sure.

Noticing that Garrus had neither eaten nor slept clued her in that something was wrong. And being the caring Quarian she was, she might have sent Chakwas an anonymous tip via EDI expressing her worries.

I still don't like the AI… But she is growing on me just a tad…

She did this knowing that sleep aids would probably be recommended and that Shepard would have to be informed. And if one thing was sure, Shepard, no matter what odd relationship problems were going on, would never let the health of her crew go treated. I just was neither in her nature nor in the team's best interest.

Another thing Tali knew was that Shepard could not cook to save her life, and if she could not be trusted with her own species food there was no way Tali was going to let her cook a dextrose meal.

I want Garrus better not dead … Or laid up with food poisoning either...

So before Chakwas turned in, she might have sent an anonymous message to Tali saying that the commander was trying to lure out the illusive Turian that was hiding out in the Forward Battery and it might be a good idea if she came up from Engineering and fixed a little something.

Or at least bring up some extra fire extinguishers.

"Come on big guy."

Shepard's voice roused Tali from her thoughts.

Switching off the eye of the stove she placed the grilled cheese sandwich on a plate and sitting it on the counter before making a mad dash to the elevator, leaving behind a large array of dextrose foods as well as a few levulose treats as well.

Shepard deserves a snack to after coercing him out…

She smiled as she heard the two gasps from around the corner and she knew she had done well.

At the sound of Shepard's gasp, Garrus looked up from where his eyes had been glued to their entwined hands, and once he managed to get his mandibles off the floor he managed to look down at the woman next to him.

"Did you…?"

She, shaking her head, eyes having trouble leaving the vast counter of food finally looked up at him.

"No…"

"Then who…?"

Then it hit them.

"Tali!"

Well that's all folks ... I promise I will update soon... already have half of the next chapter finished so ... shouldnt be too long

and as always

PLEASE REVIEW!