They went up the elevator to her quarters, stealing glances at each other on the ride up, Shepard holding fast to his arm. They kept silent, mindful they had no privacy from the Cerberus bugs on the ship. The doors opened, she put her code in and the doors wooshed open. Garrus stepped in behind her, and as he glanced over at the fish tank, he was nearly knocked over as she threw her arms around him and buried her face in the chest of his armor.

"Oh my god, Garrus," she started to sob.

He grabbed onto her as her legs buckled underneath her and he knelt down on the floor with her.

"Jane, Spirits, are you okay? Should I get Dr. Chakwas?" he started to bring up his omni-tool.

"No, no, I'm just so-" she looked up at him and held his face between her hands, tears spilling down her face. "I thought you were dead, and then we found you, and you were nearly killed in front of me." She smiled, stroking lightly the bandages on the right side of his face.

He reached his hands up around hers. "I just can't believe it's you. I love you so much. I mourned for you," he looked down and choked up.

"I know, I'm so sorry. If there had been any way for me to let you know I was alive, but," she shook her head, "I only became conscious a few weeks ago."

He looked at her, still in shock. He stood up and helped her to her feet, holding her hands, "I'm never leaving your side again. If anything ever happens again, it happens to us together."

She nodded. "I know." She hugged him again. They held onto each other as if trying to make the last two years disappear.

He leaned back and stroked her short curls. "I thought so much about when you came to see me on the Citadel. Knowing I'd told you I loved you made it easier when you were gone. Does that sound weird?"

"No. I thought about it too when I was being spaced. At least I'd told you I loved you so you wouldn't be wondering after I was dead."

He frowned. "Were you really dead? You experienced that?"

"I was suffocating, and I was dying, but because the planet was cold, I ended up in a coma. Lawson, the first officer who stayed with you on Omega, was lead on the project to bring me back. She's offered to give me more details, but I haven't asked. I think it would just freak me out. I've got a lot of implants, cybernetics. But, I'm still me. No control chips in the brain or anything." She pointed at her head.

Garrus laughed.

"No, seriously, I asked about that."

"I bet you did."

She motioned over to her couch and they sat down, not letting go of each other's hands. She smiled at him, "It's weird, for me it's only been a few weeks since I saw you. I wasn't sure how much you'd changed in the last two years. If you'd feel the same way about me, or not."

He scooted closer to her, "Your memory was the driving force for my life after you were gone. I left the Spectres, changed my identity, and tried to honor you by fighting criminals on Omega. My love for you became a part of my DNA, and now you're back, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making you happy."

She blinked at him. "I –" she was speechless.

"Marry me Jane."

Her eyes widened in shock, "What? You just got out of surgery, I mean, are you sure, are you thinking clearly?"

He looked at her intently, "You are the love of my life, and I have the miracle of having you back. I never want to let you go, I don't want another day to go by that we're not together. I'm not making the mistake again of thinking time is a guarantee. If you aren't ready, that's okay, I'm letting you know how I feel. I'm being honest with you. And no, this isn't after-effects of anesthesia." He gave her a crooked grin.

"Oh, hell, yes. Yes I'll marry you." She threw her arms around his neck and laughed, peppering him with kisses. He kissed her back, and it became passionate, deep.

"Ow," Shepard pulled back.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"No," she held up her hand and looked at her fingers, "Your armor, it's shredded from that missile blast." She looked at him and frowned, "We need to replace it, and some clothes for you too." She sat back on the couch. "We're still docked at Omega. Think I can get you some here?"

"Yeah, we can go out and do that." He absently stroked her shoulder.

She shook her head no, "You're still recuperating. You can trust me to get you some great stuff."

He sighed, "Okay." He smiled at her. The ordinariness of their conversation was comforting.

She grinned at him. "You can get settled in here with me, then. Let's get something to eat, and then I'll go out and get some new armor so you can go out with me on the next mission. Sound like a plan?"

"Yes, my dear." He reached out for her hand.

Later in the mess hall, they talked more, going over recent events, even some preliminary wedding plans. Garrus was surprised to see her able to eat dextro food, a change since her Cerberus rebuild. She found out he had an apartment on Omega, and wanted to go by and pick up his things for him.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Jane. It could be dangerous."

She shot him a look, and he realized that as much as he wanted to put her in a bubble and protect her the rest of her life, he would drive her away if he smothered her with his love. He sighed, "Could you take one of the crew with you?"

"Yes. I'll have them keep lookout."

He looked up as Joker came in and greeted them, "Hey Garrus! Glad to see you buddy!" he walked up and grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously. "You okay? You were in medbay since yesterday." He eyed the bandages on the side of his face.

"Yea, Dr. Chakwas fixed me up good. She's amazing."

"True, true." He turned his attention to Shepard, "You ready to set a course?"

She shook her head, "I have some business here on Omega. Shouldn't take too long, though. We'll probably head out tomorrow."

He adjusted his cap. "Aye, aye, Commander. I tell you what, Garrus, I'm glad you're here. The artillery systems are so out of wack, it's a mess."

Garrus laughed, "Missed me, did you?"

"Yup." He pointed to the back past the kitchen. "Armory bay is back there. You can probably set a cot up there too. I know the bunks in the human quarters are too small for you."

Garrus said, "I've already got sleeping arrangements made, but thanks. And I'll take a look at those guns. My calibration skills are a little rusty, but I'm sure I can lend a hand."

Joker noticed suddenly how closely they were sitting together, that Shepard was in the crook of Garrus' arm, her hand on his leg. He looked between the two and saw a slight blush on Shepard's cheek. It dawned on him, and a large grin spread over his face. He got up, "Good to have you back, man."

Shepard made short time of getting some expensive armor for Garrus, having it sent to the ship. She took Jacob with her to Garrus' apartment. It was in a seedy part of town, he'd warned her, and he was right. They walked through the winding streets, keeping their weapons in their hands at times to keep any ideas out of the criminals' minds roaming the streets. These were more small time, vorcha, petty thieves. They knew better then to start something with Cerberus operatives. She looked at her omni-tool and squinted up at a three story building, more of a flop house.

"This is it," she said. They went up to the third floor, and Jacob stood outside the door while she put the code in. The door unlocked and she turned to him, "In and out, we've got to make sure not to attract too much attention."

Jacob nodded and stood fast outside the door. Shepard walked in and stood for a moment, taking in the scene. It looked like no one had found out he was there, nothing was disturbed. She smiled, he had always been so neat and orderly. She turned and found his closet and started looking through his clothes. She pulled out some things, knowing she didn't have much time to take everything with her. Something caught her eye, and she reached in the back of the closet and pushed aside a coat to find his Spectre cadet uniform.

She gasped, a flood of memories coming back to her the last day she'd seen him. She felt the wool collar, rubbing it between her fingers. He'd kept it all this time. She was tempted to take it with her, but knew she didn't have much room in her duffle bag. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to finish stuffing his clothes in the bag and close the door. She turned and looked more closely at his spartan quarters. The business building across his window blinked different colored lights into the room. She felt the weight of his grief and struggle over the past two years weigh down on her. She sat on the edge of his bed and looked around. Gathering her thoughts, she looked underneath and got his boots out and put them in the bag. Zipping it up, she flung it over her shoulder and stopped short in her tracks as she saw the wall by the door. Pictures of her, her and Garrus together were on the wall. She walked slowly over and picked one up, brushing some of the dust off it. She recognized it, it was the one of them together when she visited him on the Citadel, a picture of their first official date, he'd told her then.

"Damn." She put herself in his shoes, living two years thinking she was dead. She looked around the apartment again, thinking about how he'd suffered. She could feel tears welling up, and cleared her throat, refocusing on the task at hand. She grabbed the rest of the photos quickly and stuffed them in the bag, closing it and opening the door. She nodded at Jacob and they quickly exited the building.