Because I'm not entirely sure if I said this before: Fic takes place roughly after ME3 time line, (minus Reapers). Many thanks to Elantil for beta-ing despite her busy schedule. And when Garrus says Shepard (just Shepard) then he is referring to John and not Jane/Kaida. Just want to point that out in case anyone is confused.

Hope this chapter finds you well. Leave a review/comment, please. And many thanks for reading/reviewing.

Chapter 4

"… How do I gu'ss her fear by tomorrow? It's ridi-ridiculis!"

"I tink the wurd is ridiculus."

Garrus swayed on his stool. "Tha's what I said. What I say?"

Saren burped, leaning back and forth. He stared at the overhead light for a long time with his mandible wide open. "I dunno. Forgot."

"Prolly not important. So yeah, Saren, what do I do? I don't wanna lose my job. It's bin two yers! Two YERS! I dun wanna was'e two yers."

"I dunno. Pleas—plead for mercy."

"Whut? Wud you do dat? I dun wanna please—pleaze—beg."

"Not to sum human, huh? Even if she's reeeeally purtty?"

Garrus sat up at that. "You tink Kaida's really prity?"

"I tink she'z really pretty." Saren smacked him over the head. Garrus nearly fell over his stool but Saren grabbed him by the collar of his tunic in time. "Dun tell Nihlus!"

"I not tell. I not tell anyone." Garrus pushed the older turian away, turned to the bar and banged his head against the countertop. A wave of nausea hit him in full force. "I tink I'm gonna die."

There was a lull in the conversation when both of them reached for their drinks—an obvious sign that they were far past the point of no return. Garrus was going to feel this in the morning and hate it, he was sure.

"She w's mine once, you know." Saren said suddenly.

Garrus did not just hear himself giggle. "Wha' 'r' you talkin' 'bout?"

"Kaida. Was mine once."

It took about 20 minutes for Garrus to sober up, ingesting that information slowly between the flying klixen and the krogans doing stage dramas in his head.

When it did finally hit him, it was like being rammed by a Kodiak. The very idea that Saren was ever in a relationship with anyone—what more a human— was a more effective cure for drunkenness than a cold shower. The fact that Kaida was the other half of that relationship was like being plunged into a pool full of ice.

"Yer kiddin'."

"I'm not."

"But yer so old." Garrus nose wrinkled. Saren glared. "And mean! How can anyone lick someone so mean?"

There was a hand on his shoulder before the voice of his mentor cut in. "I think the word is like, Vakarian. Like."

"Ugh, don't help me imagine that." This time it was Shepard behind Nihlus, looking pale and sick. "I'm just glad that relationship is over."

"What do you know, huma—" Saren stopped suddenly, plates shifting upward. As dignified as a drunk turian could, Saren made a full sprint to the restroom.

"I told that lightweight not to match you drink for drink. Now looked what happened." Shaking his head, Nihlus followed after Saren.

Garrus cleared his throat. "What are you both doin' here?"

"Janey said Saren called and started yelling at her for no reason. We're here to beat his ass." Shepard paused. "Rather, she called me to tell Nihlus that Saren was going to get drunk. I'm here to strongly suggest that we beat Saren's ass."

The reason why Nihlus and Kaida seemed so familiar with each other added up his head. Other instances where Shepard was more disgusted by Saren than afraid also made its way into his thoughts. Garrus glared. "Did you both know?"

"Know what?"

"That Kaida was with Saren?"

"Well, I am her brother. And Nihlus is the asshole's protégé. It really was years back and shouldn't be relevant now. I dunno why Saren got all huffy."

Garrus grumbled. "Why does no one tell me anything?"

In that time, Nihlus came back with his mentor leaning against his shoulder. His face had a no- nonsense expression on it and Garrus kept his tongue in check for any wisecracks as they trudged through the bar and into the artificial Citadel atmo.

"I can't believe you brought him here." Even as Kaida said that, she was preparing ice packs and towels. She also had pulled out the bed from the couch and had pillows and blankets ready. Even the barf bucket for Saren was by his bed when he had to hurl into it again.

Nihlus scoffed. "Aww c'mon, Kaida, you're so much better at taking care of him than I am."

"Tell me you're not going to listen to him. I think the Spectre poster boy would make a nice literal poster, don't you think, sis?"

"Out. Get out." With that she had Nihlus and her own brother booted out. She had also instructed Lily that they were not even to enter the elevator. Not for a long time.

Garrus was stuck with watching duty again, feeling the vestiges of gris clinging on to his more rational self. Kaida sat by Saren's bedside. Garrus was ready to squirm if he witnessed a tender moment, not entirely sure if he was ready to see Saren as a romantic, loving being.

Instead, Kaida took one long withering look at her former lover. She unceremoniously took the plastic bag of ice and plunked it down against Saren's forehead plates. The older turian groaned in pain.

"Fucking asshole." She muttered. Lifting the ice bag up higher, she did it again. The groan was even more pained. "I hope you feel that through your douchebag plates."

Garrus laughed. "So, you do know how to cuss, Kaida?"

"I was Alliance. What kind of marine—former, I know—doesn't know how to cuss?" She looked at Garrus, right eyebrow cocked upward. She seemed paler than he remembered earlier that day but strangely ethereal and beautiful in just her robe—bound by a dainty silk rope on her slender waist.

Spirits, he drank too much. Suddenly, he was thankful that there was another person in the Ridge and she would have a harder time reading his thoughts.

"So, you were out getting plastered because you're going to lose tomorrow?"

Apparently, he wasn't completely immune to the mind reading. "I still have a day."

She rolled his eyes. "Well, a deal is a deal. I will wait till the end of the deadline before I watch you resign as Spectre."

"Whatever." He really didn't want to think about how his years of toil were going to mean nothing by tomorrow. He crossed his arms. "So, how did the galactic sensation keep the fact that she was dating a turian Spectre from making tabloids and extranet kiosks everywhere?"

She smiled back, not the least bit intimidated. "I was considered Alliance elite, Spectre. Not to mention, Saren is the cream of the crop for your Spectre group. It's really not that hard to ask people to look the other way. Besides, privacy was always available at the Ridge and many other sanctums across the galaxy."

"There are more of these places?"

"In nearly every major city. Even Surkesh. The Ridge is the place for the Dragon, after all." Her smile was odd, something about it was between genuine and practiced. Garrus was never an expert in human expressions to begin with. Even John Shepard baffled him most of the time.

"So, why did you two break it off?"

"Well, Saren and I ended where you and I began."

He didn't mean it to but his heart beat a little faster. "Meaning…?"

"What else could I possibly mean? It started off with a wager. And Saren lost."

When he couldn't come up with a reply, she stood from her seat at Saren's bedside, crossing Garrus as she made her way up. Garrus huffed as he followed her shadow with his eyes, watching her bedroom door slide close before he made his way to his own.

Later that night, Garrus couldn't sleep. It didn't help that if he took a few long strides to the living room, he would bump into his sworn nemesis. Garrus still couldn't believe that he tried to share a moment with that bastard. He prayed that the Spirits would take Saren's soul tonight. Though that was impossible—Saren was too much of a bastard for anyone to want him, except maybe Kaida. Gross.

After another half hour of tossing around the bed and flinging the covers and pillows, he got up to get himself a snack and some water. He took a peek at the living room to see if the monster was suffering but it turned out he wasn't there.

Maybe the bastard left? Good riddance too since Garrus had no idea how he was going to face him tomorrow without being somewhere between angry and embarrassed and hungover.

As Garrus finished his bowl of leftovers, he stood from the table and poured himself another glass of water before he heard a crash and a thud upstairs.

He pulled out his pistol on instinct, finger on the trigger as he began to make his way up the stairs. Then he remembered the one rule of the Ridge and paused. Lily wasn't acting up so that mean it wasn't an intrusion. But it also meant that maybe Kaida was in some other trouble, or worse, it could be Saren. No, no. Garrus still shouldn't be up there.

Screw the rules, Garrus thought. He had never been a very good turian to begin with anyway. He made his way upstairs, curbing the fascination at how huge the second floor actually was before he noticed that the door was left open and he hid behind the frame before he turned around, gun drawn—

"Stop your heroics, Vakarian." Saren's sarcastic drawl and sub-vocals resounded in the room, though with less force than usual. The adrenaline pumping through Garrus's bloodstream died and Garrus felt his head pound as he sheathed his sidearm.

Garrus took in the situation, saw the broken glass shards scattered around the floor and Kaida kneeling, clutching her head. Her complexion had become a sickly pale, sheened with a layer of sweat. Her face pinched with her eyebrows drawn and her teeth bared as if to keep from screaming. And Saren was the most surprising thing of all, kneeling in front of her with his talons clutching her shoulders tightly.

"What are you doing up here, Saren? What's happening?"

"I came up here to—argue." He actually looked and sounded ashamed. If it was any other situation he would have taken a picture with his omni-tool and mailed it to Shepard. "Then she stormed off to come here. Then I heard a crash.." He faced her again when she whimpered. A strange and weak sound that wasn't like Kaida at all and Garrus' heart sank like he never knew it could. "Can you hear me, Jane? Stay with me."

"What does she need? What can I do to help? Do we call Huerta?" He summoned up his omni-tool and was already typing down the codes to call their VVIP line when Kaida put her hand up, halting him.

"It'll pass," She spoke in turian and Garrus closed his eyes. Weakness and calm laced all throughout her voice and sub-vocals. Kaida had a beautiful Cipritine accent, and it was both fascinating and harrowing all at once. Only that it's last note had a lingering pain that made Garrus's knees weak.

Saren pulled her closer to him. Garrus talons tightened into fists.

The three of them waited for the pain to pass in silence.

"Has this been happening often?"

Saren didn't ask how long it's been happening or what has been happening, this implied that it was something that occurred long before—when the two were still together. Garrus felt like he was intruding so when she finally had enough strength to sit up, he excused himself.

Instead, Kaida stopped him from leaving and he was directed to sit on the bed next to her. Saren was left standing in front of them and Garrus was sure that not all the anger and the glaring was because of Kaida's health.

"You're overreacting, Spect—"

"Don't call me that. Like we're strangers." Saren always seemed infallible, calm and sarcastic even under the worse circumstances. His cunning and his wit were as sharp as his skills on the field. Now, Garrus was looking at a completely different Saren. Tethering at edges, eyes twitchy and fists opening and closing as he growled at Kaida's confused expression. "Don't make light of this, Kaida. Not this."

"Don't act like you care so much, Spectre. We've been living separate lives for these past two years. I've enjoyed the solitude." She gave a Saren a look between amused and sardonic. "Apparently, you didn't quite enjoy it."

"That you let the Council even hope that you are fit to be Councilor is ridiculous."

Garrus hadn't heard harsher words. He felt a wave of protectiveness come over him. He opened his mouth with a ready rebuttal but Kaida reached for his forearm and shook her head from side to side. She seemed to have taken worse abuse because she barely seemed affected.

Even though Garrus thought there wasn't anyone more fit for the position, even when he thought Saren couldn't be more of an ass than he was now—the look in Kaida's eyes, the serenity there, was all it took for Garrus to huff and back down.

"I heard enough of your ranting earlier. I don't need to anymore." She spoke again, completely in turian. "Leave the Ridge. I don't need to ask you twice."

Garrus standing with his hand on his sidearm was probably less intimidating than Kaida's glare.

There were signs of hesitation when Saren's back straightened and the line of his jaw tightened, clenching— barely containing sharp sets of teeth and harsh, bitter words. Instead, Saren sent Garrus the most poisonous glare to date before he made his way out the room. Garrus followed him, for good measure, until the stairs and watched as the Spectre left the Ridge. Not once did Saren to turn around to look back.

Garrus stood there for a long time. Seconds, minutes, maybe even hours. He recounted his whole day up until that final point when Saren left, recalling every action and expression Kaida managed to muster today.

It was well before sunrise before Garrus walked back into Kaida's room. She was sitting up, not asleep as he thought she would be. He remained standing at the foot of her bed, hands behind his back, head bowed before it rose and he looked her straight in the eye.

"I know what you're afraid of."