Eventually, Garrus finally told her what had happened. Bailey, the attempted coup, the council, Ashley Williams, Udina ...

Thane.

Tanith felt her throat close off when he told her about the Commander's lover. It was the last thing he went over, uncharacteristcally hesitant as he brought forth the words, describing images with a sharp-shooter's clarity. It was like watching an impending mid-air collision, impossible to look away.

Her mind began to wander the moment she understood that Thane's injuries, coupled with Keplar's, was bound to be fatal even with how quickly they got him to Huerta Memorial. What a horrible way to end that romance, she thought, worrying at her bottom lip. I had always hoped he'd find treatment, or a donor, or something. Shepard, of all people, deserved someone to come home to after all of this. At least ... maybe getting to be with him at the end will give her some comfort...

"... -but that bastard Kai Leng-"

The world came back with a jolt.

She sat up with a jerk, feeling the blood drain from her cheeks. "What?" she barked.

Garrus blinked up at her, surprised. "What what?"

"Kai Leng. Kai Leng was there? On the Citadel?" Her tongue felt like sandpaper. Prickles on the back of her neck like a sword was hovering above her flesh-

"Tani?"

He never pulled a trigger on Sorrow's End. In fact, she wasn't even sure he did more than watch and smirk as her fellows died, like they were all too far beneath him to even be worthy of his blade-

"Tani."

-but he was here. He was close too. Gods, can he feel me? What if there's something left in my 'tool, what if he can track-

"Tanith."

Garrus gripped her chin and brought her gaze to meet his. He was sitting up now, frowning at her, cupping her cheek as he took in her rapid breath, her wide eyes, dilated pupils, the clammy texture of her skin. "What's up?" he asked softly, voice reverberating with subvocals meant to convey reassurance and comfort.

She tried to swallow, failed the first time, then tried again. She licked her lips and tried to find the words.

"It's nothing, I'm ..." Her eyes went unfocused, glazed with thoughts of- "The commanding officer at the colony, the one in charge of the e-executions..."

He'd been so cold. I wonder how much of him is even human. I wouldn't be surprised if his heart wasn't replaced with a giant piece of throbbing Reaper tech.

"Crap. Tani-"

She ran a hand through her hair, dredging up a smile and willing herself to calm down. If nothing else, she did a good job faking it. "Stop, no Garrus. It just took me by surprise. Honestly, before the other day I think I'd be curled up under my desk somewhere if I'd known about Kai Leng." I still might, but the delay means something, right? "No one knows where he ran off to, though?" she ventured. "Because if you all knew where he was, that'd be awesome."

Her lover managed a smirk. "Come on. I got something that might make you feel better." He swung his legs over and gripped the edge of the cot, feet on the floor. He paused. And paused. And-

"Garrus?"

"Give me a second. I still can't feel my legs."

Back in his armor, Tani followed Garrus through to the Shuttle Bay. She'd thrown on some boots and her pants just in case, but she really needn't have worried; the place was empty.

He stood in front of the armor console, dredging up specs and imaging of a very specific set of armor.

"We ran in to a new kind of enemy chasing after Kai Leng and his team." His hands flew over the keys, tapping up inquiries and bringing the projection into focus. "He has a team of mostly female soldiers called 'Phan-'" he began.

"Phantoms." Tani gave a shudder, ignoring the way his head whipped around to stare at her. "Yeah, I know them."

He crossed his arms over his chest, continuing to stare. She glanced over at him.

"I'll write a report up as soon as I get a moment," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I didn't think that it was classified. It was a disgusting sector fo Cerberus, honestly I thought they'd given up on it. Reaper tech and brainwashing kind of go hand-in-hand, but their first candidates for the program weren't volunteers but were definitely human. Given the Illusive Man's charter, I was surprised he put any amount of resource in to it."

Garrus had resumed his typing. "He certainly put a lot of resources in to it. Look..."

And there, in all it's glory, was the infamous Phantom armor.

Form fitting and seamless, it was feminine and beautiful in its hard edges and razor loveliness. She'd seen a few of them but nothing completed, knew a bit about how they were manufactured and even what model of modifications that'd been updated for the third incarnation of the set.

He cleared his throat, bringing her back to the present. "I'm making this for you," he stated.

Tani blanched, did a double-take, then laughed. "I ... don't think that's going to fit-" She ran her hands up her thighs, over her round, wide hips. "-all of this."

Garrus flicked his mandibles, smirking. "That's why I'm going to make it. I'll need a few extra sets so I'll have enough material-"

Tani punched him in the arm. He had the grace to pretend it hurt.

"...but there are a few issues with the shields, I've noticed."

She nodded. "Phantoms are biotics, they project their barriers through the implants in their heads." She stroked a line through the holographic projection, outlining the power source. "I am not a biotic. It'd be just for looks, Garrus. But, hey, if that's what you want me to wear when I finally manage to ride you like a wild pyjak-"

That got a laugh out of him. She smiled.

"No, I'm going to design it so it's less of a biotic's setup, and more ... like ..." he tapped up another set of specs. "This."

She frowned, leaning closer to his call-up. "Garrus ... that's an infiltrator's rig."

"Yep."

"But I'm not-"

"No, you aren't a soldier. But that doesn't mean you won't ever see action." He tapped the console a few more times. "I'm going to fiddle with the design, but I..."

He paused, leaning against the edge of the console, braced against his hands. She recognized the rigid lines in his neck and shoulders; it was something that happened to Lorik when the weight of his responsibilities became too much, when he wouldn't let anyone else ease his burdens.

Tani reached out to trail careful fingers down his neck. She watched a tremor ripple through him.

"Talk to me," she murmured, encouraging.

He remained quiet a moment longer.

"I watched her face when the blade went through him," he breathed; his subvocals were rich with emotion, a throb of sensation that quelled and quieted and brought tears instantly to her eyes. "I saw something in her break, clean and hard, before regret flooded in and ... the self-hate ... it was ..." The velvet of his voice stalled; he turned his face away from her. She didn't argue.

In another minute, he drew a long breath and tried again, his voice stronger now. "I can't promise I'll always be around to protect you or save you when things get bad. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm ever going to let Shepard out of my sights, because as long as she lets me watch her six, I will." He shifted, finally turning to her but keeping his gaze down, gripping her wrists and rubbing the back of her knuckles with his thumbs. "But I want to do something to protect you. Especially because I can't be there. I need to know you have something to help keep you safe."

Tani couldn't breathe, listening to him; it was so hard to let him do this, to let him speak to her from a place so deep inside of him. Shouldn't she run away screaming? Wasn't this all too fast?

He continued, pulling his eyes up to hers at last. "I need to do this. Let me do this. It'll be one less thing for me to worry about when I'm out in the field." He didn't say please. His gray eyes were begging on behalf of all of him.

How could she say no?