I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been reviewing! I love all of them (even the critics! It's nice to hear the adverse side of this so I can edit accordingly in the future!). Always a thank you to icyfreezerpop for editing me work and cancelling out my love of comas!
Garrus quickly closed the gap between him and Jane, crushing her to his chest as he pressed his face against her neck. He inhaled the scent that was uniquely hers, Jasmine and gun oil. He loved her scent and it sent a warm tingle through his bloodstream. He had his mate in his arms again.
He took a step back to look in to her eyes, and had he been truly thinking he should have been prepared for her reaction.
A hand sailed through the air and connected roughly with the side of his face and mandible. He brought his own hand up to cover the stinging flesh and bone as he took another step back, "Jane, what the…" He started, but was unable to finish his sentence when he saw the look on Jane's face.
"How dare you! I was awake for three fucking weeks and you never sent a god damned message. You didn't even see fit to come to my own memorial because it was 'pointless' and now you act like you give a flying fuck!?" She raged at him, her hands gesturing angrily.
"Don't fucking touch me!" She demanded as he subconsciously went to reach for her again. She removed herself from temptation with a quick turn and marched into the bathroom, the lock quickly changing from green to red.
He stared at the door for a minute while he collected his thoughts. Had he been thinking, he might not have gone to her and forced his presence on her – he remembered everything he had done and said, though the logic behind it was muddled now that he was thinking for himself. He was raging internally over what to do; he needed to comfort his mate, prove to her that he loved her with every fiber of his being and it was an intrinsic bone-deep need coursing within him.
But, he also understood her reasoning and position. She had every right to be furious as she didn't know the situation. Moreover, she had moved on.
As he thought that, he turned his head slightly to look at Tiberius Cretin. He was an attractive turian, sure… And Garrus was even happy that she had chosen someone he would consider worthy, but worth wasn't really all that comforting when he thought about them together. She was his mate and he would win her back.
He had to remind himself that now wasn't the time for posturing and competitions. He wouldn't fight for her yet. He would talk with Sparatus, get an in with her again, and work his way back in to her favor. He had enough to atone for and he wasn't about to add undue stress onto that list.
It made sense to him, as he thought it out. It was a logical plan and he knew he had to follow it, but part of him still wanted to rip Tiberius limb from limb and hack the door and show her what she meant to him.
He glanced once more at the door and did the hardest thing he could remember doing, he left her alone.
"I think we need to talk." He said to Sparatus, who simply nodded and gestured for him to follow him out of the apartment. Garrus followed quietly, not sparing Tiberius another glance.
Once outside the apartment Sparatus led him though a hallway and up a flight of stairs in to another apartment, this one apparently vacant.
"Vakarian, you no doubt have questions of your own, but I'll ask mine first. How the hell did you discover this?!" He gestured to the floor and presumably to the apartment below them.
Garrus contemplated on how to answer the Councilor. He could be honest, but he didn't want to out Liara. She was a good friend and it would be a disservice to her. Instead, he settled for a partial lie.
"The Shadow Broker contacted me and asked me if some x-rays and medical files looked like anyone I would know. They were only some pictures of old wounds and scars, so I told him no – that it looked like any other soldier. I lied. I instantly recognized the scars as being Jane's, I was with her for two years before the end of the Reaper Invasion, and of course I would recognize them. I asked him who they were of and he said your guard, Oya. I've been working my way back here ever since."
Sparatus' hands curled and unfurled as he talked, but nodded. "Do you think this is contained?" Sparatus asked, the undertones of the question clear. Garrus nodded his assurance. He knew it wouldn't get out publicly who Oya really was.
Sparatus sighed before opening himself up to questions with a simply swipe of his hand. He was still debating on what to do with Vakarian and waiting on a response from the other two Councilors on his proposal.
"Before I ask what in the hell is going on, I need to make a formal complaint… About my mentor and partner Quinela."
Sparatus was surprised and his mandibles twitched with such emotion, of all the ways for Vakarian to start this conversation – this was not what he expected. "What sort of complaint?"
"I have proof that she has been systematically drugging me and manipulating me to her own ends." He used his omni-tool to transmit the medical data that Liara had left with him as well as the drug used and its origin.
Sparatus looked over the file and his expression grew more and more outraged the more he read. Finally, he transmitted the data to someone – presumably the other members of the Council – and looked to Garrus.
"You're sure you are no longer under the effects of the drugs?" Garrus couldn't give an affirmative and simply sighed, "I don't know. I haven't felt the need to return to her company since I stopped taking them, I did have a bit of a withdrawl as if I was taking something like Red Sand – that's when Jane and Tiberius found me. Overall I can say I feel like I wouldn't go back to her command, but I can't say for certain."
Sparatus nodded again, "Well, I appreciate your candid answer. We will run our own tests on you. I guess that explains why you had left Shepard to begin with, eh? I was with you when you said you wanted to become a spectre partially because it would allow you two to continue working together. Don't get me wrong, had you not displayed other qualities that we look for in a spectre I would have turned you down flat, but you were a good soldier and a good leader. I was surprised when you had officially started to romantically partner with Quinela and I have to admit that I am glad my initial assessment of you was not wrong."
The Councilor moved to lean against the kitchen counter as he spoke, his words more candid that Garrus was used to. "I'm not going to lie, it's not going to be easy. Those two are pretty close. But, I may have a way for you to stay 'in-the-loop' as it is. We've found that two guards each is not necessarily enough and we were discussing adding a few more guards to increase security while we send some people out on missions. I am not opposed to offering you one of the three slots we're opening, but I need a commitment from you that you will not intentionally cause strife between Tiberius and Jane. They are a good team and I would hate to see that suffer due to personal issues."
It was a rather hefty "if" that was being placed on Garrus, but he was willing to deal with the constraints. He had no intention of overtly causing issues between the two of them, he was just going to remind Jane every chance he got of what they had. He just needed to get past her anger and that was something that was not easily done – Jane Shepard did not let go of personal grudges easily.
"Sir, if I may request, I would like for you to make what I said about my circumstances public. It wouldn't do to hide it from the team and it would make them more aware should anything strange start to happen with me."
Sparatus nodded and sent himself a memo to type up the briefing to be sent to the teams. "Good, then this will be your apartment for now. We can decorate it as you see fit. You are not to have any guests here, if you feel the need for personal 'friends' then get a hotel. With that being said, we haven't decided whether to keep your identity a secret yet or not… So for now, keep your participation in the Guard to yourself."
Garrus nodded and watched as the Councilor left. He slowly made his way around the apartment before taking his armor off and falling on the bed. This day had not gone as planned, but the situation as still salvageable and he would work his damnest to make sure Jane was by his side again.
As the Councilor and Vakarian left, Tiberius walked over to the bathroom door. He placed his hand against it as he wondered what to do. He couldn't lie, when she slapped Vakarian his heart had calmed. He was beside himself for a few seconds as Sparatus introduced them to him. If there was one thing he wished he could unsee it would be the shock, horror and comfort that briefly flashed in Jane's eyes when Vakarian held her.
But then she had struck him, and told him to leave. Tiberius felt he could breathe after that and turned the rest of his uncomfortable feelings back on Vakarian. How dare the man care again so suddenly? Tiberius wasn't about to let Jane go without a fight and he had smelled the hormones radiating off of Vakarian as he walked out.
Pompous ass.
Tiberius went in to the bedroom and removed his armor before going back to the bathroom and worked on hacking the door. The moment the door flashed green again he stepped into the choking steam that was encasing the room.
It didn't take him long to find Jane sitting naked on the shower floor, her skin red from the heat of the water. He kicked a few pieces of her armor out of his way as he stripped his way to her. The water was even hot to him, so he reached up and turned the nob to a more reasonable temperature.
He didn't know what to say to her and decided that it would probably be best if nothing was said. Instead, he sat next to her and pulled her against his chest. He eventually maneuvered her so she was sitting between his propped up legs, his arms around her waist and her head resting on his chest.
She didn't protest at all and he started to worry again until he felt her hands cover his own. She dropped her chin to her chest and sighed loudly.
"That was… Unexpected." Was all she said, her voice gravelly with disuse. "Mmm… Yes it was, though I did like the way you put your close quarter combat skills to use." He tried to joke back with her, earning himself a soft chuckle.
She turned and wrapped her own legs around his waist as she stared up at him. "I'm not going anywhere." She said with a hint of self-determination, like she was telling herself it as much as him. It made him feel less like a school-boy; she didn't know how to act either.
"I never thought you would." He replied as he leaned down to press his forehead against hers, a soft chuckle bouncing her chest. "Liar." Was all she said, their attention redirected from talking towards action as they reminded each other of just how committed they were.
Elsewhere on the Citadel, Spectre Quinela paced the dark warehouse. She hadn't heard from Garrus since she called him after the attack on Palaven. Her unsuccessful attack. She had tried to call him multiple times and ended up simply having one of her men tail him as he made his way back to the Citadel.
What is he thinking? She raged at herself as multiple scenarios ran through her head. He had been in contact with his old friend, Liara T'Soni; though Quinela couldn't listen in on their conversations because Ms. T'Soni had abnormally complex encryptions on her communications. He had met her at the Presidium Café as well, and she had taken a sample of his blood.
Quinela could only assume that her lover had been compromised – though she wasn't too worried about it. It could work to her advantage. She had wanted to attack the Council and now she could. He had been taken to the Elite Guard's complex and she assumed he was being interrogated there. If he had weaned himself off of the drugs enough to be coherent, he would plead his case to Councilor Sparatus and could earn their trust.
Garrus Vakarian was a predictable character so she felt with a certain amount of certainty that she could rely on him to help her when he thought himself hindering her. Besides, she could enact her whole plan and get him back all in one fell swoop.
There was nothing but honor keeping him at the Council's side and she had been slowly whittling away at that for years now. No, he would understand her regime change. He had said as much before she had drugged him that the Council needed to change.
She believed that the Council was too stuck in its' ways. It was the entire reason the reapers had hit them so hard to begin with. They had been warned for years, but the damned asari, thought they knew best and kept everything at the status quo.
No more would the asari and salarians be in charge. The turians were the best force to take control, order and control were their specialties after all. The humans… well, they could stay as advisors and cannon fodder, and they had proved to be at least good for that. The salarians could keep on with their science projects… and the asari could continue to be the entertainment of the galaxy, since most were only good for shaking their asses in sleazy bars.
No, the turians would bring order to the galaxy and she would be their leader. She had seen war, she knew what it took to reign everyone in. She had no qualms about costing lives in the short run to create galactic stability in the long run.
She wasn't the only one that felt that way, either. She had a small private army of soldiers from all different species who agreed with her. Most were soldiers who had become disillusioned with the Council after the reapers had started attacking. All had lost people because of the Council's ineptitude and all were ready for a change.
She would be that change. She would bring the hellfire that Council Space so desperately needed.