Four

Garrus' knees got weak.

Did she just ask him to… sleep with her?

"Umm... I…"

Garrus was speechless. He couldn't remember the last time he'd not had a word to say about anything.

"I'm sorry. I just can't be alone here without-it isn't-I just-I'm sorry," She curled up, pulling her sheets around her. Garrus recalled the nightmares she'd told him about; she didn't want sleep alone; she only wanted him to keep her safe. Garrus inhaled slowly. What could it hurt? She wasn't asking for anything but his protection. And she had saved his life twice now. But could he handle it?

He moved slowly to the opposite side of the bed, and gently pulled down the sheets for himself. He could see her curled up at the other end, in a lilac-colored silk nightgown. This woman loved her silk. Where were her footie pajamas when he needed them? He slowly lay down; waiting for any moment when Shepard would regret her decision or Kaidan Alenko would come bursting through the door shotgun in hand. Neither of these things happened; instead, Shepard rolled over and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against him; he rubbed her back in a small circular motion, attempting to calm her. Her scent was amongst these sheets, she was wrapped in his embrace and there was no avoiding her now. He brushed his fingers through her hair once and then a few more times, letting the strands fall across her back in waves. Human hair was amazingly soft; he'd never felt it before now. She leaned her head up, and he looked down at her.

"Kiss me, Garrus," she whispered. Her words were electrifying and more than anything he would've loved to kiss her. But he worried she was speaking as a broken woman in need of something solid to hold on to. Garrus could not bear it if she regretted him in the morning.

"Is that what you really want, Kait?" he countered. She pushed herself up to eye level with him.

"If I didn't want it, Vakarian; I wouldn't have asked," she replied, and planted a kiss on him before he could say anything. He couldn't have fought her on this if he'd wanted. She tasted sweet and warm; he wanted nothing else. She pulled back only when they were both out of breath, letting her forehead rest on his. She laughed a little.

"Do you keep a pistol on you at all times, or are you happy to see me, Vakarian?" His eyes widened a little when he realized what she talking about. He pulled back from her, feeling embarrassed.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to imply anything; it… just happened," he said with complete humility. She laughed a little more.

"I would've been offended if it hadn't. Well, to be honest I wasn't sure it even worked that way, but I expected something," she said with a devilish smile, pulling him in again. Kissing her was unlike anything he'd ever experienced and it was a testament to his military training that he was able to keep himself at only kissing. Her lips were soft and her hair fell across their faces as they kissed. His hands found their way to her bare thighs and upward, pushing up her nightgown and revealing tiny pink-laced underwear. She smiled against his mouth, giving him permission to do as he pleased. She responded to his touch, running his hands across her back and down through the sweet spot of her inner thigh. The human body was different than a turian; he let his touch be a tour guide to what made this woman tick. Brushing his hand across her stomach and down; her underwear was silken and when he brushed along it, she let out a small gasp. His control was waning quickly; even the most militant of turians couldn't take this kind of torture. He pulled himself away.

"I can't take much more of this flirtation, Kait," he said, in a strange way feeling a little defeated by her. Nearly every fiber of his being was shouting to take her then and there. He clung to the one tiny shred of restraint he had left.

"I don't want to sleep tonight, Garrus."

The desperation in her tiny voice was enough to sway his mind against his body. Every ounce of him was going to hate him for a long time to come for this.

"I'm not saying I don't want it. Because, believe me, every piece of me from head to toe wants it, even if I'm not entirely sure what to do with you," he couldn't help but laugh a little at himself for his honesty, "But, I don't think it's the right time for you to get into this with me. I think… you should get some sleep while you have a chance to, because nothing can hurt you with me here, Kait."

Shepard nodded, yawning already. Garrus couldn't help but smile. Shepard was really committed to sleeping when she was dead.

"I'm not using you, just so you know," she said, leaning into his forehead again.

"I think you could do better as far as one night stands go anyhow, Kait," he replied, smirking. She shook her head a little, already falling asleep.

"What if this was your one and only shot with me, Vakarian? You blew it," she whispered, closing her eyes. Garrus smiled.

"It'll be a story worth sharing one day. I felt up THE Commander Shepard in the midst of a Reaper Invasion. I can die happy knowing I was a part of the solution," he replied, watching her smile as she drifted off into sleep. At the moment, he would be content knowing he held in his arms a woman capable of saving the world. And that even if only for a night, she needed him.

Mr. Vakarian.

Garrus opened his eyes, and was greeted by an empty bed. He got up a little more quickly. He could've sworn someone had just said his name, but there was no one in the room.

Mr. Vakarian, Commander Shepard requested I awake you for the crew's debriefing. It begins in the main hall in fifteen minutes.

The ship was speaking to him. This was new.

"You can call me Garrus…. Normandy," he said uncertainly, still looking around for Shepard or the source of the voice.

The crew calls me EDI. I am an AI installed in the Normandy.

"Very well, EDI. Thanks for the wake-up call."

Garrus dressed quickly, wondering why it had been the ship waking him and not Shepard. He began to become nervous in the elevator on the way down. He hoped Shepard wasn't angry with him. But when the elevator doors opened he knew he was far down on her shit list for the day.

"You brought a test-tube baby Krogan on my ship without telling me? How dare you undermine my authority, Lawson!" Shepard was shouting at the Cerberus woman, who seemed flustered and astounded at the same time. This was Miranda's first contact with a vocal Shepard, and she didn't seem to be faring well with it.

"Commander, we figured it would be best to take care of the Warlord dossier on our own terms. We wanted to let you focus on… your interests," Miranda locked eyes with Garrus as he entered the room. Jacob was beside Miranda, his arms folded and a glare on his face.

"My interests lie with my task at hand, nothing else. And you failed. The man I wanted is dead. And you stole his child," Shepard replied flatly, not even looking at Garrus. He was glad not to be the target of her frustration.

"The Krogan is not his child. It was his project. He told us to take it, and utilize it," Jacob chimed in, looking at Garrus as he stepped to Shepard's side. Shepard glanced up at him for a moment.

"I'm not dealing with this right now. You both are absolutely out of control and I'm suspending you from the next mission," Shepard, folding her arms and staring down the livid pair.

"We did nothing wrong, Commander," Miranda maintained, standing her ground.

"Besides carry out orders you were never given by a commanding officer you not only undermined but disrespected, and then bring aboard a crewmember that is… I'm guessing cryogenically sealed somewhere, of whom you know absolutely nothing and could upon entry to the ship kill us all? I can see where you'd think that was a success of some sort," Garrus retorted, drawing her attention. But before Miranda could open her mouth and start in on him, Shepard cleared her throat.

"Both of you, you're off the mission and I don't want to hear another word about it. And go right ahead and go to your Illusive Man and try to get him to move me in your favor. He doesn't run this ship. I do. Dismissed," Shepard turned her back on them both and took a seat at the main table to a plate full of food. Garrus took the seat beside her, and couldn't help but smirk at her. She shook her head at him and went back to her breakfast.

"Welcome to the Normandy SR-2, Commander Shepard," Garrus said, taking a plate of his dextro-food.

"Very funny, Vakarian," she replied, taking a forkful of scrambled egg. She was sleeping again, eating again. She was back, and she wasn't going to let those Cerberus fools push her around.