Morning Tension

Parable

Jane awoke with a groan into the pillow, her face buried and engulfed by its utilitarian scent. That spoke volumes of where she had found herself before she even had to raise her head, the scent not one present in her bed back on Virmire. No, this smelled an awful lot like the Normandy and, while not strange in and of itself, the lack of bubbling sounds and overly soft, concave bedding - for turian comfort! - was very strange indeed. Lifting her head to figure out where the hell she had just woken up, she growled with clenched teeth at the stab of pain shooting from temple to temple like a hot spear of bad decisions.

On right, I remember now… Too much rum, and not enough fun.

A soft - and entirely too comfortable sounding to have been hungover - rumble beside her announced her bed partner, and she sighed at the sure fire 'I told you so' that waited on the tip of his tongue. The drowsy sound stilled for a moment, as the rapid fire of confused thoughts over their surroundings most likely ran through his head as it had hers, but soon he rolled, draped an arm over her, and pulled her back against his vibrating chest.

"Easy, easy," she whispered with a hiss as he manhandled her across the small - when compared to the one in the Captain's Cabin - bed. "I hate your morning cheer."

He hummed and chuckled against her disheveled hair, mandibles tickling her scalp. "You're just saying that because you're regretting your decisions last night." Dodging her half-assed swat over her hip at him, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it with his own. "Now, now. There's no need to be upset. I'm sure a cup of that chocolate coffee you love so much will help with this hangover." He shifted up and leaned over her, an annoying and teasing smile on his face.

She glared up at him. "You know I don't drink coffee anymore since the pregnancy with your," she said, emphasizing the word by rolling over and giving his chest plates a hard jab with her finger, "damn kids. And I doubt tea is going to do shit against this hangover."

Garrus, damn him, chuckled and looked up to the stars outside of the Observation windows. "Oh, you're right." He smirked back down at her. "Silly me. I must have forgotten." He hummed with a frustrating amount of levity to his vocals as he smoothed some of her hair down with the back of his hand. "I guess drinking so much last night was a bad idea, considering."

"I hate you."

"And I love you," he responded with a grin and light kiss to her lips. "Now, come on. Up and at 'em, I think the saying is." He gave her forehead a gentle nip with his mouth plates before rolling and getting to his feet. His amusement broke for a moment, however, when he groaned and rubbed his back. "I forgot how sleeping in a flat bed feels."

Jane snorted and slowly forced herself into a sitting position, the spinning ache in her skull not able to steal her sweet vengeance. "That's what you get for making fun. The iron fist of karma right in that bad back of yours." Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she hefted herself up to her feet. Hands on her hips and eyes out at the stars, she chuckled. "Fuck. Are we getting old?"

Her mate hummed as she heard shuffling over her shoulder. "Not sure about me, but you-"

Head snapping over her shoulder, she grabbed the pillow she had been so inelegantly drooling into moments before, and tossed it at him as he bent over to grab clothes off the floor. She smirked at his huff and swat at the pillow. "Alright, you shit. If we want to be specific, you're technically older than me. You have two years on me."

She has finally been able to make jokes about her own death, and it didn't cause him to stop and stare with that cold look in his eyes, at least not every time. Now, more recent deaths were a different matter, but perhaps the only good of her hangover existed in the chance to focus on the pain of too much alcohol and not her failure at being the leader she was believed to be. With the pounding in her skull taking front seat, the whispering dead could fuck off. For however long her brain felt like it was melting out of her ears, she was free.

"That doesn't count," he protested with a chuckle and tossed the pillow over at her with little force, surprising her when he threw her underwear at her once her hands were full with the pillow. "I'm sure we can find you something to help with the hangover."

His words were weighted, she knew, because he, above all, wasn't blind. He could, no doubt, see her relieved mood thanks to her condition and, knowing him, didn't want the moment to end anytime soon. She could already tell how much he wished she'd denied Dawn Shepard any help, but like hell was she just going to turn her back on a woman willing to find a way to send her and her mate back to their own reality.

If wishes were fishes, Garrus, you'd have food for years.

She hummed as she bounced on her foot to pull up her panties, swaying a bit when she switched to the other one. He caught her, having moved to her side of the bed to hand her the rest of her clothes and grab his own shirt, and she nodded a quick thanks. He might not agree with her, but he wouldn't say a damn thing to her about her decisions, and she showed her appreciation for it in that very same gesture.

She was a grown ass woman and he knew it. No further discussion.

"You good?" he asked, motioning to her clothes in explanation.

She rolled her eyes with a snort. "I think I can dress myself, thank you very much. What does Cassia say, 'Leave me alone and lemme do it'?"

He laughed and nodded, heading closer to the door to grab his boots. "Well, alright, then. She got her temper from you, so I'm not going to question." Slipping his feet into his boots, he crouched down to snap them closed. "I'm thinking of heading down to the cargo bay, maybe find a sparring partner. Get the blood flowing."

"Ouch," she retorted in mock hurt, holding a hand to her chest when he glanced her way. "I'm offended. I could have sworn I 'got the blood flowing' in all sorts of places last night." She smirked at his laugh as he came to her and pressed a kiss on her cheek. "What? No lips?"

"Oh, what? Done bragging about your exploits?" He smiled and pressed his mouth to hers, nipping lightly in his approximation of a kiss. "Our omnitools still work, so ping me if you need anything."

She nodded and waved him off, chuckling at the thought of him finding a sparring partner on this Normandy. It'd be like cheating, she figured, as he already knew everyone's close quarters fighting as well as sparring styles from their own friends and, unless Dawn completely altered how people move on the mat, Garrus had an unfair advantage. Plus, he had those years on them, practice with fist fighting mercs during their 'new endeavours' after the war, and he sported a fucking artificial arm.

Not only is he an expert hand-to-hand specialist, but has to cheat with the moves? That cyborg bastard has learned well.

She chuckled to herself and shook her head as she pulled on her borrowed pants. Grabbing her tank - ah, the good ol' Cerberus issued casuals - Jane yanked it down over her head and arms before grabbing the jacket Dawn had requisitions loan her. At least, she really hoped they were just loaned because it'd be awfully strange to bring back souvenirs in the form of Cerberus uniforms.

I'd much prefer something better, like a fish or model ship.

Shuffling into the flat shoes given to her, Jane stepped out into the crew deck. She yawned as she rounded the corner and caught Dawn sitting at the table, pouring over a datapad as Thane sat beside her with a steaming mug in hand. Some batarian Jane didn't recognize worked with something in the kitchenette, alongside Gardner as he cooked. Odd to see, but, then again, Jane had batarians on some her crews and Dawn had already proven she'd changed things up with James being aboard and a sort of alliance between quarians and geth starting up.

She shrugged to herself and climbed over the bench to sit across from Dawn, yawning as silently as she could, but it didn't quite muffle it completely. She still managed to get Dawn's attention, probably had it since stepping around the hall's barrier, but she apologized anyways. "Sorry about that. Still waking up. Not a morning person."

Dawn smiled, glancing up from her datapad and quirked an eyebrow. "Who is? Coffee? Breakfast?"

"No coffee… Can't stand the taste anymore. But breakfast? Speaking my language." Jane motioned towards the two in the kitchenette, the batarian making what seemed to be like steaming drinks in mugs now that she could see better from her seated position. "But I'll wait until there's room to make something to drink, though. Too many cooks, you know?" The other Shepard nodded, her smile fading a little and Jane considered the double meaning that could have held, cursing herself a bit for reminding Dawn of the fucked up situation in her own head.

As if she needed that.

Dawn dropped her gaze back to her datapad as she spoke. "So… last night… we good?"

Jane nodded, picking at a thread on the jacket sleeve. "Yeah, we're good. You good?"

This is awkward small talk. How else do you ask, 'hey, you done freaking the fuck out? 'Cause we don't need two crazy women on this ship.'

The woman snorted and glanced up, her eyebrow twitching. "I'll manage. Always do." She glanced towards the batarian, making Jane have the urge to follow her eyes and barely caught Dawn's returned gaze when she looked back to the woman. "Where's your other half?"

"Probably causing trouble down in the cargo bay. He has a neat little idea that it's fair game to spar with people on your ship even though he's got the unfair advantage." She snorted as the batarian returned with two steaming hot cups.

Dawn chuckled and smirked, giving a slight nod. "Good, maybe he'll push them to up their game."

Jane chuckled, shrugging. "Would teach them not to get into a fight with a half-robot. Or at least dodge any punches from that side."

When the batarian offered her a mug, Dawn's face lit up and she grinned, giving Jane a raised finger to hold that thought. When she accepted the mug, the woman took a deep breath of the steam rising from the liquid within that smelled like - to Jane across the table - strong coffee. Looking back up to her crew member, Dawn said, "Marriage proposal still stands, Grundan Krul."

Thane chuckled lightly and Jane's brow raised at that little tidbit, remembering the name etched into Garrus' visor. She watched Dawn take a sip of her coffee as Grundan Krul drank from his own cup, his lips twitching just slightly with a smile. He patted her shoulder when he lowered his mug and said, "I know."

"Wow. Better be ready if Garrus sees you." Jane looked to the man, tilting her head. "I wonder if you still look the same to him or if your Garrus, knowing how things would go down, affected shit for you guys on Omega. Well, besides the whole rocket to the face bit."

"Archangel already told him, I believe," Grundan Krul said with a shallow shrug/

She nodded at the man's answer as Dawn smirked, explaining, "Garrus changed everything on Omega."

"I guess so." Jane snorted at the idea of knowing everything one is supposed to do and how to do it for the timeline to be the same, or some such shit. "Okay," she said more to herself than the others, stopping her own thoughts. "It's too early and I'm too hungover to think about this." Chuckling, she shook her head. "Changing subjects." Leaning back, she motioned to the mug in Dawn's hand. "Marriage, huh? Girl like you?" She smirked teasingly. "Never thought about the ol' ball and chain myself. Didn't have the interest until Garrus."

Dawn glanced at the empty seat on the bench beside her before looking up to Grundan Krul. Catching his eyes, she nodded down at the spot and he dipped his head, taking a seat at her side. Looking back to Jane, Dawn tilted her head towards the man. "You haven't tasted his coffee."

"Too bad he's not interested in humans," a very familiar, disembodied voice said, and Jane smiled at the thought of Kasumi there, making just as much trouble as her own.

"Nice to meet you, Kasumi." Jane looked towards where the voice seemed to come from. "Good to know you still know all the juiciest gossip."

Kasumi's cloak dropped and she stood at the end of the table, grinning at Jane. "Of course! You should try the oatmeal, it's my grandmother's recipe!"

"What she means is try the oatmeal, decide you don't like it, and then let her eat the rest," Dawn explained as Jane looked back to watch her lift the mug to her lips, her violet eyes watching Jane.

Jane hummed and shifted her attention from Dawn to Kasumi. "Never had it before. Well, any oatmeal."

"Don't listen to Shep. It's the best." Kasumi moved over to sit next to Jane, turning just enough to watch her under the hood the thief always wore. "How can you never have had oatmeal before?"

"Wasn't really something on military menus, I don't think. And apparently our…" She glanced towards the kitchen. "Our cook didn't really consider making it." Shrugging, she leaned an arm on the table. "And Garrus and the twins have a strange aversion to mushy food."

"Twins?" Kasumi perked up at the word even before Jane had finished her sentence. "Are there pictures?"

Jane heard Dawn chuckle and chuckled herself, nodding and opening her tool to the pictures of Damocles and Cassia on the beach for their birthday. "That's Damocles and that's Cassia," she said, pointing to each in turn as she angled her arm to show Kasumi. She looked up to the others. "You can see too if you ask nicely," she teased with a smirk. "Though I might not. You're a bad influence, Shepard. Getting their mother drunk."

"Who am I to tell a grown woman what she can and cannot drink?" Dawn smiled, and Jane chuckled, tilting her head in agreement to that. "May I pretty, pretty, please see them?"

Thane smiled as he set his mug down after a drink, and Grundan Krul merely sipped his coffee, but it was good enough as Jane flicked the interface on her tool to switch the image around. The image changed from the twins blowing out their candles to one of Damocles trying to steal his sister's ice cream after eating all of his own. "Those are my two little monsters."

Dawn's eyebrows twitched before her expression quickly leveled itself out. "They are biologically both of yours? How?"

Thane seemed to have caught the woman's slight change in emotion before she got a handle over it, but he didn't speak or move. His expression was just as unreadable as any other Jane had seen on any Thane's face, but the fact that he hadn't begun to repeat the seemingly over-cautious actions of last night made her feel like Dawn wasn't about to lose control again.

"I bet Mordin had something to do with it," Kasumi said, pulling Jane's attention away from the other two.

Chuckling, she shook her head. "Actually, he probably wished he had been responsible for at least some of it. It was some weird tech Miranda put in me." She waved her hand in the air. "I have no idea how the science works, nor did I really catch most of the huge words he was rattling off." Glancing over to Dawn, she saw the woman's wide eyes, like a deer caught in headlights on the vids. When Thane moved to take her hand and caressed it with his thumb, Jane stopped, as things started to look all too similar to last night. "Uh, should I really be going on about this?"

"That depends." Dawn paused and tilted her head to the side in that move that looked an awful lot like a woman listening to something everyone else couldn't hear. "Was this something Miranda added at your request, or do I need to invest in pregnancy tests?"

"Uh." Not sure what Dawn really wanted to hear, Jane scratched her jaw. "The latter? I mean, I didn't really wants kids in the middle of a war, as crazy as I am."

Dawn stood up. "Excuse me, for a moment." She stepped away from the table and headed straight for Miranda's office, Jane watching her go.

"Damn, now I feel bad for Miranda. I actually like Miranda now in our universe."

When Jane looked back to the others after watching Dawn round the corner, she saw Thane return his own gaze to her from watching Dawn go. He didn't seem concerned, so Jane figured that was good enough not to worry too much about whatever is going on behind those doors.

"They're beautiful children," he said and Jane smiled, dipping her head in thanks.

"She's alright with Miranda. Jane - her Jane - not so much." Kasumi shrugged beside Jane. "We'll see who wins."

Grundan Krul shook his head lightly. "She'll be alright."

Jane chuckled and smirked at an over-exaggerated thought of the two having it out when, in reality, probably just a civil conversation was going on behind the closed doors. "Miranda, or Shepard?"

"Shepard." He sipped his coffee. "She's not upset with Miranda." He lifted a shoulder before adding, "Yet."

She hummed and glanced towards the door to Miranda's cabin once more. "It's possible it didn't even happen. I mean, you guys have already changed quite a bit, and Shepard started changing things even before, well, you know." She waved her hand so she didn't have to say the dreaded 'd' word. "Your Miranda might not have turned her into a test subject like she did me."

Thane coughed into his fist as Grundan Krul lifted his shoulder again, saying, "Maybe."

Kasumi turned to him. "How can you tell?"

"She said 'excuse me.'"

"Newcomer is lost," Jane said with a raised hand. "What the hell does that mean?"

Thane chuckled. "She tends to forget her manners when she's truly upset."

"True. She also didn't check her thermal clip." Kasumi bobbed her head and snickered at what must have been a running joke based on experience with Dawn's anger aboard the ship.

Jane opened her mouth in understanding of something that should have been obvious. "Oh. Well, she's got better manners than me, then. Apparently, I look pissed even when I'm not."

Thane raised a brow. "I disagree, you don't look upset to me now."

"Yeah. Because you're not seeing me around this time in my timeline." She chuckled and looked around the ship. "Wasn't a good tour for everyone, let me tell you."

"Indeed," Thane agreed with thoughts obviously on their own tour into hell as he sipped his tea.

"Ahh, resting bitch-face," Kasumi spoke, breaking the tension in the air brought on by thinking about the upcoming mission and whatever other fucked up shit this crew is dealing with. "Why do you think I keep my hood up?"

Jane looked over towards Kasumi and laughed, nodding. "Touché." Chuckling, she lift her own jacket's hood over her head. "How do I look?"

"Perfect," Kasumi said with a grin.

"I just walked into a strange conversation." Garrus, jacket open and hanging loosely over his shoulders, walked around the barrier and passed behind Thane and Grundan Krul, headed for the kitchenette fridge. "Do I want to know why you're wearing a hood like Kasumi?" He asked with a glance to Jane over his shoulder.

"Probably not." She grinned and patted the bench beside her loud enough for him to hear. "Come sit, handsome. And tell us why you're here so early."

The doors to Miranda's office opened, and Jane watched her husband jerk his chin in silent greeting, Dawn returning the gesture. Looking from the woman to her crew, Jane watched Kasumi's eyes barely visible in the shadows of her hood follow her mate as he grabbed a bottle of cold water. Grundan Krul glanced over his shoulder, cup in hand and eyes looking a bit wider than usual as he blinked. He quickly turned back and sipped his coffee, maybe to recollect after whatever the hell that shock just was.

Jane heard her husband rumble in agreement before he turned. Suddenly, he stopped mid-step to return to the table, eyes widening at the sight of Grundan Krul and mandibles falling lax at his jaw. Dawn, seeing the shock on his face, moved between him and Gardner, taking his elbow and seeming to say something that helped Garrus gather himself as they moved towards the table.

Well, that solves whether or not he was completely prepared to see the man.

Garrus shook his head at whatever was said and they split to take their places on either side of the table, she between Thane and Grundan Krul and he beside Jane - and, ironically, right across from the man unintentionally causing the awkward tension that settled over the group just then. Looking to her husband, Jane lifted a brow in question, and he rumbled, nodding and laying a hand on her leg to reassure her that he was alright with this. It seemed like they were both dealing with their own ghosts during the days with Dawn and her crew.

Across the table, Grundan Krul also gave Dawn a look laden with questions, but she simply smiled and picked up her coffee. "So, what'd I miss?"

Jane reached under the table to take Garrus' hand and moved their linked hands up onto the table. "We were talking about how I look so much better with the hood up. And taking bets on what was going on behind those doors." She feigned a frown. "I think I lost."

"Hmmm. Not quite the same level of mystery as Kasumi, but it works." Dawn grinned, holding her mug close to her lips. "So, how much did you lose?"

"My legs," Jane said with a dejected sigh, looking to her husband as Dawn snorted. "Looks like you're carrying me."

"I can do that once they're gone. Those things are heavy." That got him a light swat on his chest, but he then grabbed her hand and put it back on the table with his own before she could retaliate further. "I know, I know. Don't insult a woman's weight. Even if she's half metal."

Dawn picked up the datapad she had previously set aside, when Jane sat, and looked it a few seconds before handing it over to Grundan Krul. Once in his hand, he gave it a passing glance before setting it down in front of him without actually taking the time he'd have needed to read it. Not unless he could read like an AI, which - while impressive - Jane doubted.

Curious, but not enough to actually care what just happened between those two, Jane looked over to her mate. Garrus watched the exchange - but mostly the version of his former teammate - but he turned away and down to her, flicking a mandible. She could read that well enough. He was alright, but just thrown by seeing the dead. Whatever happened back on Omega that he still hadn't told her, it wasn't bad enough to give him a mental breakdown like it probably would herself.

"So," Kasumi said, drawing Jane's attention before smiling and tilting her head. "How'd you get the metal legs?"

Jane snorted and looked down to her own legs, patting her thigh with her free hand. "These things? Well, believe it or not, a Citadel is pretty fucking heavy when laying on your legs." Beside her, her husband trilled faintly and leaned down to press his head to the top of her own, obviously still affected by the last hellish hours of the war and what they went through both together and forcibly apart.

TLADOCS

Pain, hot and sharp, lanced through her as she sucked in a wet, ragged breath. Coughing, blood burbled in her lungs. Every inch of her body burned as if on fire. Twisted chunks of metal and thick, broken slabs of concrete kept her pinned, cutting through her body and crushing her. Electricity arched over her skin as her implants fizzled out, sending bolts of lightning through her head.

Dawn sucked in a slow, deep breath, her fingers trembling. Thane's hand slipped into hers, an anchor to the present moment, helping to chase the phantom pains and images away. She almost heard his voice—though he didn't speak a word—whispering in her ear, telling her to acknowledge and let go. She squeezed his fingers, his thumb brushing over her knuckles as she let the breath out just as slow.

Jane V. and her husband watched her, their eyes scrutinizing, as if they expected her to fall apart at any second, so she forced a smile on her face. She took in another slow breath, only distantly aware of Grundan Krul picking up her coffee cup and stepping away from the table. Jane stirred, as restless and agitated by the unwelcome memories as Dawn herself. She blinked, clearing the residual death, destruction, and gore of the ruined Citadel from her mind. Grundan Krul returned, setting a fresh cup of coffee down in front of her, and she glanced at him. He dipped his head and sat back down next to her, picking up his own cup.

Letting out a long breath, Jane V. leaned against her husband, and he rested his chin on her head. "I don't want to make things more difficult to tamp down those … others. Maybe we shouldn't talk about that?"

Dawn snorted, just a soft huff of breath through her nose. "It's really not as bad as it seems. Last night was unusual; my resistance lowered from the alcohol and heightened emotions." She picked up the steaming cup of coffee and glanced down at her own reflection in the dark liquid, shaking off the uneasy feeling her face didn't look the way it should. "You really don't need to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid for you," Jane V. said, drawing Dawn's attention back to her as she pursed her lips. "No, afraid isn't right. I know how fucked up it is to have your own head betraying you. Not quite the same between us, but you get what I mean."

"Yeah." Dawn sighed. "This wasn't even the same thing as last night." She cleared her throat and took a sip from the cup, glancing at Grundan Krul to offer him a smile in thanks. "I have vivid memories of the Crucible—of everything. Sometimes they hit like full on flashbacks, not something Jane shows me, I'm just … there. Anything and anyone can trigger them." She shrugged. "So, yeah, talk about whatever you want, it isn't going to matter either way."

"You going to tell them why?" Jane asked. "You're telling them everything else."

"No. It's not relevant," Dawn thought, lifting her mug to her lips. "I didn't plan on telling them anything about you being able to take over, but you opened the door on that one yourself."

"She doesn't make any sense. They don't make any sense. They shouldn't exist." Jane's voice sounded strained, as if on the verge of another shift, swinging back towards another bout of insane rambling.

Dawn sincerely hoped it wasn't the case. They'd been making so much progress, the last thing she needed just then was to listen to Jane go on and on about what she felt during the Lazarus Project, or start reciting creepy versus from Edgar Allen Poe. Not to mention, the potential for her to truly try to seize control increased when her mindset turned dark.

"Jane, we don't know what caused any of this, so we don't know why she wasn't affected. For all we really know, there are far more like her than there are like us," Dawn thought. "We're going to keep working together to figure this thing out and end the cycle, yeah?"

"Yeah." Jane retreated, her thoughts less present in Dawn's mind as she seemed to resign herself to observing events instead of participating in them.

Jane V.'s gaze searched Dawn, apparently finding whatever she sought, she nodded her head. Turning her attention towards the kitchen, she wiggled in her seat until her husband lifted his head, and she stood. "I think I'll see if I can make myself something to drink. Anything I should stay away from?"

Dawn shrugged. "Levo and dextro is all marked, so help yourself."

The other woman made her way to the kitchen, waving a hand over her shoulder in acknowledgement. Dawn sipped her coffee, soaking in the feel of Thane's hand still in her grip, and turned her attention to the older, grizzled turian sitting across the table. Twice, in the span of seconds, she caught him cast furtive glances at Grundan Krul, only to look away when the batarian's gaze drifted anywhere near him.

Dawn cleared her throat, and the turian's gaze shifted to her. She offered him a smile, her gut telling her even though his wife might be accepting of the events from the night before, he might not be so willing to set them aside. "If there's something you need to say about last night, might as well get it out."

He lifted a shoulder, a rumbling coming from him before he said, "Nothing to be said. Your crew has everything under control as well as can be done."

She grunted, a noncommittal sound and nodded. "You sure?"

"If you're asking whether or not I'll let my guard down? No." He took a drink from his water, his gaze drifting to Grundan Krul over the end of the bottle.

Dawn snorted before it shifted to an all out chuckle and shook her head. If ever she found a universe where a Garrus willingly let his guard down in strange territory, she'd believe she'd truly died and it was all some sort of fever dream in the last moments of consciousness. He watched her, lowering his bottle back to the table, his unscarred mandible twitching, until she composed herself.

"Is it you I don't trust? No. It's that Shepard in your head," he waved at her with his free hand.

"Me? What the hell reason does he have to not trust me? So what if I pushed a little last night? For all he knows, I just wanted to say hello. Ask him. I want to know why the hell he doesn't trust me."

Dawn's eyebrow twitched, Jane had a point. She hummed and sipped her coffee, keeping her gaze on Garrus V. while she weighed out the potential risks of giving Jane a voice with those two. "She wants to know why you don't trust her in specific."

He raised a brow plate, slowly turning the bottle in his hand. "You let her speak through you." It wasn't a question, just a stated observation before he rumbled and spoke in whatever turian dialect he and Garrus used the night before; her translator unable to make sense of it, but the exasperated tone rang through clear enough.

Thane coughed gently into his fist, and Dawn glanced at him, catching the tight lines of his lips pressing together in disapproval before his face stilled once more. He didn't offer her a translation, as he did the last time, which only made Dawn more curious about what Garrus V. said. Maybe she'd ask Thane later. She turned her attention back to the older turian in time to catch sight of his wife returning, carrying with her a bowl in one hand and a mug in the other. His head inclined toward his wife, even as his gaze swept back over Grundan Krul.

"Sometimes," Dawn said as Jane V. settled back into her seat. "Dr. Chakwas encourages me to, but sometimes … sometimes what she's saying isn't worth repeating. She's got a point though." She arched an eyebrow at him. "You gonna give her an answer?"

Jane V. glanced between her husband and Dawn before shifting her gaze over to Thane, lifting the mug to her lips. "It cool if I took some of your tea? I figured it's yours with the drell written on it."

"Of course."

Dawn kept her gaze on the turian, her eyes narrowed as she watched him, waiting for his response.

His mandibles pulled in tight against his jaw, his steely gaze pinning hers in place. "Alright other Shepard." Leaning forward, he rested his forearms on the table.

Out of her peripherals, Dawn saw Jane V. freeze, her spoon midway to her mouth, gaze darting between her husband and Dawn. She felt Thane grow even more still than usual next to her, but he didn't say anything.

"First? You took command over a body that doesn't belong to you without the true owner's permission last night. And don't try to deny it, because you seem to have a track record with it according to her crew." His mandibles shifted, just one sharp jerk. "Second? You have a habit of shooting her crew."

"Garrus told him." The sudden, sorrowful sigh from Jane nearly made Dawn wince; nealy. "It was an accident! How many fucking times do I have to say it was an accident and I'm sorry? I mean … I'm pretty sure it was an accident. What the hell does he even care, anyway? I didn't shoot him?" She growled, her frustration hitting against Dawn's consciousness in waves. "Tell him one time does not make a habit."

Dawn smirked and held a finger up, her head tilted a little to the side as she thought, "Seriously? That's it? That's your defense, all you want to say?"

"What would you say?" Jane asked, her words little more than a snarl.

"Well," Dawn thought, "for starters, I might try to explain the circumstances leading up to the event. I think the moment of insanity is a better defense than 'one time does not make a habit.' Not to mention, you're not even addressing his first concern."

"Whatever, tell him whatever the hell you want. It's not like you care if he hates me, too. Screw you both." Jane growled, pulling back into her little corner of Dawn's mind, a snarling ball of anger and vulgarities.

Dawn turned her gaze back to Garrus V., a smile still tugging at the corner of her lips. Jane wasn't wrong, Dawn did feel a little vindicated hearing the gruff turian defend her person, in his own way, even if she felt relatively sure she had nothing to do with his ire. "She said 'one time does not make a habit.' The rest isn't worth repeating."

"Perhaps." Garrus V. sat back upright. "But, then again, she also happened to dig into your own head just before that."

"That she did." Dawn took a sip of her coffee, ignoring the fire-fueled words floating around in the back of her skull. "Not that it's Garrus' place to tell you about. I assume it was Garrus?"

"No, it was Grunt," he said, his face a stoic mask.

Her eyebrow twitched, the urge to snipe back at his sarcasm only egged on by Jane's tirade. His attitude toward her certainly didn't give her any faith in the claim his issues involved Jane and not Dawn, too.

"Doesn't feel very good, does it? Having him look at you with his face—with your Garrus' face—but not know you, not trust you, and not even like you."

"Fuck you, Jane," Dawn thought, turning her attention to Jane V. when the woman sighed in exasperation.

"Boy," Jane V. said, letting the oatmeal plop from her spoon, "this conversation has gotten awfully tense. Perfect hangover talk."

"If it's ruined your appetite, I'll eat your oatmeal," Kasumi offered, her light words breaking the tension building up inside of Dawn.

Dawn chuckled. "Indeed."

Pushing the bowl toward Kasumi, Jane V. laid her elbow on the table and glared at her husband. She hissed something, sounding disjointed and wrong without a second larynx, and he glanced away from Grundan Krul, turning his attention fully to her. He responded—the words just as lost on Dawn as before—and Jane V. hit his arm. He sighed and nodded, apparently giving in to his wife's wishes.

"Mordin will be headed down to Namakli within the hour." Dawn said, draining her cup and standing. "Did you two want to go down with him?"

Jane V. shrugged and nodded before standing up. Nudging her husband, she jerked her head back towards the port observation. "Head over there and get suited up?"

He nodded, standing and leaving without a word.

Catching Dawn's gaze, Jane V. said, "He can be a prick sometimes. I apologize."

Keeping her face as neutral as possible—and with years of experience, she knew it'd be pretty damn neutral—Dawn shrugged. "No need. He didn't say anything that isn't true."

"Yeah, okay." Jane V. didn't sound all too convinced, picking up her mug and finishing her tea. "Just remember, I've been using that Commander-Shepard-doesn't-give-a-shit-face longer than you."

Dawn shook her head, a wry smile on her face as she turned away. "With all due respect, no, you haven't." Carrying her coffee with her, she started walking toward the elevator.

The other woman chuckled. "I didn't say longer than all the Shepards, just you." Her voice came from a little further away as she added, "Don't take what he says personally. Just kick his ass or something to get him into shape. I give permission."

Dawn snorted, letting Jane V. walk away without further comment, content to let the woman think she understood the depth of which the other Shepards impacted Dawn. As much as they were unique individuals, they were all her. All a part of her, melded and inseparable from her, their memories her memories, their years of experience, hers.