A/N: Sorry it took so long, here is the next chapter.

Not much to say, except I always wondered why they never really put much hand-to-hand combat in the ME games. It would totally be bad-ass, even if it was just scenes and you couldn't actually execute them.

Chapter 3

Ice Cold

It was not hard to get to Noveria. A few calls to various contacts and a short trip to Illium and they where on their way. There was only one reasonable place they would have taken Jane on Noveria: Peak 15. Liara was wonderful enough to supply them with a few credentials to get them through security without raising any suspicion.

It was just as cold on Noveria as it was three years ago. Garrus hated the cold. It made it difficult to move. The wind was just as bad too. It pushed against the shuttle as they flew lower into the atmosphere. The only thing warm inside Garrus was his blood, hot with the need to kill something. He wanted his Jane back and he wanted the bastards who took her dead.

___

All Jane could do was lay there, trapped inside her body, only aware that she was still alive. She would drift in and out of sleep infrequently, distorting her sense of time. How long had it been? Days? Week's maybe? She could not tell. Sometimes, she would be able to hear people talking; it was like trying to listen through water, only being able to catch a few words here and there. None of it made any sense. She could not tell what they were doing but it was apparent that they were doing something to her and that she might not be the only one.

She could feel her consciousness slowly lift and fall. Not really doing anything except willing herself to stay alive and fight whatever they were doing to her. It was a bit hard since she did not have control of her body. She twitched her face in a moment of disgust. The action felt almost like she had really done it. Her conscious sighed and she tried to flex her hands in and out of fists.

She froze. It was not just her imagination. She could really feel her body slowly coming back to her. Were they done with whatever sick experiment they were performing on her, or were they just getting lazy and forgot to keep her drugged. Staying still at the moment was her only thought. She was not sure if anyone was near enough to see her move but she was not taking any chances. Not until she had full control over her body. Slowly feeling crept through the rest of her body, her skin prickled like it had been used as a pincushion. The air was slightly cold but after being so close to Garrus all the time it was expected.

The sound of voices approaching made her blood run hot as adrenalin rushed through out her body. Creating a tingling sensation as it quickened the return of life to her nerve endings. At first they were only murmurs, as if they were talking through something, then a door hissed open and she heard two distinct male voices deep in conversation.

"I think she is ready for the final dose." One man said. He had a deep and scratchy voice.

"Good. They want her finished as soon as possible." This man had a much higher pitched voice, almost female like. She could hear the delicate clink of metal instruments being moved around and the scuffs of their shoes on the hard floor.

"It is a pity really." The squeaky voice got closer. "She was so beautiful once."

The other man huffed. "It doesn't really matter. She will be able to provide us with whatever we need."

"I don't know... I wish they would let me keep her. Too bad she went and destroyed her face." The voice was much too close for Jane's comfort.

A cold, fleshy hand scrapped across her right cheek. In less than a second her eyes were open and she had a hand around the man's wrist, crushing it so hard she could feel the bones starting to fracture. She was done being their guinea pig. They were not going to stick another needle in her and this man had just crossed the line by touching her face. The man's eyes were wide with shock and fear.

"Oh shit! She's awake! Quick, give her the injection!"

Jane was not going to let them touch her again. Before either of them could react she swung her foot up, a feat that would hurt most people if they were not as flexible as she was, and slammed her heel strait into the man's chin. The force was so brutal, even with being barefooted; she could feel his jaw give way with a wet snap. The man stumbled backward but Jane still had a hold of his wrist. Wrenching his arm to the side she planted her foot on his chest and pulled causing the man to try to scream past his ruined jaw as his shoulder came out of its socket. The man passed out and slumped to the ground like a puppet with is string cut.

"Nobody fucking touches my mark." Her voice was hoarse from disuse but the disgust laced in her voice got her point across.

She was so fixated on that man that had violated her by touching her mark that she had forgotten all about the second voice who, by this time, had recovered from the shock of her being awake. Taking advantage of Jane's inattention he lunged at her, stabbing her in the side with the syringe in his hand and hastily pushing the plunger down. Yelping in surprise from the sudden pain Jane swung around to confront her other abductor. The man was much smaller and not as muscular as his cohort, which was odd, considering this man's voice was so deep and strong. Fumbling a bit Jane managed to yank the syringe out of her side and tossed it to the floor. So much for not letting them finish. Spinning on her back Jane swung her legs into a roundhouse and into a sitting position catching the other man's head with the side of her foot causing his skull to fracture with a sickening crack, dropping him instantly to the floor.

The men were not able to set off any alarms so Jane had a moment to survey her surroundings. It was just like any other medical lab she had been in, except oddly bereft of any actual scientific equipment. Jumping down from the medical bed she started rummaging through the cabinets for some clothing completely ignoring the men at her feet. One of them would likely die from the injuries she had inflicted upon them, but at this point, she did not care. Whoever they were, they were experimenting on her and did not deserve her pity.

Her ransacking produced a heavy, if not plain, utility jump suit, and a pack of medigel to cover up slightly irritated and bleeding hole in her side where the needle had enter her skin. She striped out of the medical smock they had her in and began to dress in the unisex clothing but stopped briefly when she noticed the little symbol on the breast pocket. What in the hell does Binary Helix want with me? It did not really matter, she would figure out what they wanted once she was out of here. Performing a quick search of the surrounding labs for weapons and/or any information on what they were doing to her turned up squat. The place was practically stripped and gutted which was odd if they were actively working on her. She had a feeling that the place was once abandoned and only recently reoccupied. Sighing in disappointment Jane walked towards the door wincing a little at the cold metal under her bare feet. Carefully, she peered out of one the windows that framed the electronic doors to the hallway leading toward what Jane assumed was the center of the complex. There were armed mercenaries everywhere. Taking a couple deep breaths to center herself she girded herself for what she was about to do. Thankfully, her parents' insisted she learn extensive hand-to-hand combat along with her sniping classes. "Better safe than sorry, Jane." Her mother had told her when she asked why she had to learn this. She snorted at that. Yeah, I hate it how mothers are always right.

___

Garrus, Miranda, and Jack entered the building that should have been deserted. After they had let the Rachni Queen go the place had been shut down, or so everyone thought. It was quite apparent that it was not deserted; there were human mercs everywhere.

"Are you sure she is going to be here?" Miranda whispered as they crouched behind a wall. He nodded.

"I can smell her." It was strange to notice that he could still smell her. It had bothered him deeply that her sent was gone for the past week and he had to sleep with her clothing just so that he could get a few hours of rest.

"Damn. I thought you said that those weird Rite effects would wear off after a while. It's been what? a year?" Jack never really thought about anyone except herself, it was shocking that she would remember that.

"Yeah, the initial effects. The, uh, need to…" Garrus coughed. "… it lessens if, well, blood isn't drawn." Talking to anyone about Turian mating was just plain weird. "Normally, Turians don't…" Garrus paused again, why was he having to describe this again? "… bite their mates, but they are much more aggressive, uh, during… It is just much safer for me to do that then accidentally break something. I have a much higher tolerance for levo-acids than most Turians, but it still gives me slight indigestion; It doesn't seem to bother Jane much as well."

Jack cocked an eyebrow at him. "Men and sex, from what I've heard, it wouldn't matter if you drew her blood or not."

Then she was right back to the icicle she was when they had first picked up. "Ha! Not like you're just as bad Jack." At least Miranda had his back every now and then. Since she and Jacob had left Cerberus they had all gotten along much better.

"Oh shut it, Miranda. At least I can go and get some from whoever I want." Jack was certainly softening up. A year ago she would have called her a "cheerleader whore". Miranda gave her a look of superiority.

"Whatever," Garrus broke in with a glare, "you can fight about that when we get Jane and we are back on the ship."

A loud noise made all three of them jump. The mercs where yelling and there was a lot of confusion. The three of them took the chaos as an opportunity to start taking their shots. It caused even more confusion, as the only rounds the mercs had were purely concussive. A door hissed open on the opposite side of the room and a slim figured dressed in slightly baggy clothing leapt out.

Garrus had never seen Jane like this before. He could see the fire in her bright green eyes and her dark hair was a wreck. She had no weapon in her hand. What does she think she's doing?! Then she was a blur and gone from his crosshair. Garrus looked up and saw her move like he had never seen any human move before. He knew she was flexible, but this took it to a whole other level. The way her hands moved, disabling a man's weapon and sending it flying into the wall, which shattered on impact. Her leg seemed to have no limit to how high they could kick. He had never seen anything like it before. It was… arousing. Wait, was he standing here, when he was suppose to be fighting off mercs, becoming sexually distracted by a women killing someone with her bare hands?

Miranda and Jack did not seem to notice that he had lowered his rifle or maybe they just did not care. Garrus never even fired another shot. He just stood there, entranced, watching her twist her body around turning her whole being into a weapon. All of the mercs were dead by the time he noticed that everyone else was staring at him. As Jane moved closer toward them he realized he was frozen. He could not even move to hug her.

"What?" Her voice was a little hoarse.

"I… uh, I've never seen anyone do that before."

Jack laughed. "You've never been to Earth."

Garrus glared at her and twitched his mandible in annoyance. "No shit."

That brought him out of his shock enough to catch a wave of Jane's scent. It was intoxicating. Sweeping her up into his arms he practically crushed her against his chest. His blood was running so hot right now he hoped he would be able to restrain himself when he finally got her alone. Mordin was not on the Normandy anymore, having gone home to visit his nephew, so there would not be any antihistamines or epinephrine to make sure that neither of them went into anaphylactic shock.

"Let's get out of here. I'm tired of the cold." Garrus wanted her alone.

Jane gave him a confused look. "Where are we anyway?"

A/N: Please, don't be upset if Garrus seems out of character. There is a reason for it.