Chapter 7: Double Date with Reapers [Note: One more chapter after this!]

"Hey Jimmy!" Anna walked up to Vega's corner in the cargo-hold, and sat on his work bench, interrupting what ever he was working on, "Jane's taking us out." She removed her visor, so she could look at him, well really look at him. It would make him pay attention,

"I don't think it's gonna be a vacation, Anita." He crossed his arms, and looked up at her.

"Well, shit. We're going to Sanctuary. It's a possibility."

"Right. Keep dreaming, loca."

…...

Sanctuary was anything but. It was a horrible place where civilians were turned into Reaper slaves, and horrible experiments were performed – all by Miranda's father.

The team found themselves in a heated battle, with a brute and various other creatures keeping heavy pressure on them. Vega and Garrus were struggling to keep Anna in cover, so she could get her missile launcher ready and take care of the brute. Jane was distracted with her omni-blade tearing apart a cannibal.

Vega greeted Jane as she rolled into cover near him, "Shit, Lola. This is the last time Anita and I go on a double-date with you and Scars."

Garrus laughed, "Ha. So this is a date then. Where's dinner?"

Anna finally got her launcher to cooperate, she blew the brute up in one clean shot. "Right there!"

James slid over to her, "That was the cheesiest line ever." He helped her strap it back onto her back, "Good shot, Ace."

She smirked, "That was the cheesiest line ever, dumbass."

A bullet grazed her cheek, "Someone use incinerate on that mother-fucker!"

"I've got your back, sis." Jane said as she incinerated the cannibal that had fired at Anna.

"God. These lines really have to stop." Yet another brute came crashing through, and Anna began to dislodge her launcher yet again, "Fucking hell! Cover me!"

"I'm setting up a perimeter," Jane replied at she set up a turret, and immediately sent out a combat drone. "So, I've got your front and back covered."

…...

They promptly dealt with the hostiles on Sanctuary, they returned to the Normandy with plans to hunt down Kai Leng. Once the debriefing was over, Anna and James stuck around.

"Hey, Lola. While you and Scars were talking with that chica, Miranda or whatever, Anita and I were at a terminal. We found some info."

Anna playfully pushed James, "No, fucker. He means I found the info. Jimmy can't do shit with tech." She turned to Jane, "I'll forward it to your omni-tool. I didn't know if you wanted me to send it to Eve or not... I think it's a list of families, well family names. Maybe we should notify someone? You know, so they know that they've died."

Jane took a brief look at her omni-tool, she nodded, "Thanks."

Vega added before he left, "Oh, and Lola. You and Scars are treating us to a good double-date after all this shit. One with steak."

…...

"Anna!" The auburn haired woman turned to see a quarian waving to her, and then realizing that she was in the not-completely empty war room, quickly dropped her hand. She walked over to her station, and said, "Hey, is your shift over?"

Anna turned her head a little before replying, "Just have to send out this last message. Why?"

Tali leaned back a little, "I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a few drinks? Even if you can't, I'll still go, but it'll just be a little lonelier, I think."

Anna grinned, "No, it would be damned sad to drink alone." She stoked the keyboard a few times, "There. I'm done. Now lets go get hammered."

A few drinks in, their conversation deviated from talking about various tech upgrades, to parents.

The quarian's speech was starting to slur, "Miranda tried everything to get away from her father, but failed. When are we going to stop living in our parent's shadow, and live for ourselves?"

The human downed a shot before replying, "Well never, I guess. That's the doom of all children. You can't ever get away from your parents, and you can't ever do right by them..." She turned her head towards the other woman on the barstool next to her, "You know our mom, Hannah, never even tried to contact Jane while she was locked-up on Earth? Never ever. How messed is that?"

It sounded like the quarian gasped before replying, "Why'd she do that? Or rather, why didn't she do that?"

Anna chuckled once, "She must've believed the damned news reports. Eve and I didn't. We were allowed to send 'er one message each for that whole time. But at least we sent her somethin'. Jane was able to get word out before she was locked-up. To us all, including mom, that she was alive and sorry for not contacting us sooner. Ha! Mom was furious. Damn. You know, she's the first human Spectre and all, and shit. Jane doesn't need to give us a reason for why she didn't contact us. Happens all the time with people who go into protective services, you think they died. But mom, she's got like a, like a blindfold or something on... Wait. I think that's the most I've ever said at one time. Damn."

Tali giggled, "Sounds like if we get you drinking, you'll give Eve a run for 'Most Talkative Person'. But, if I was ever locked-up for months like that, and my father was alive, I'm sure he would have at least tried to contact me. Your mother sounds like a real boshtet." She took a few more sips before continuing, "You know, I never thanked you for saving Kal'Reegar."

Anna swiveled in her seat, "Saving who now?"

Tali sighed, and ran a hand over her leg, "Kal'Reegar. I'm sure that if you weren't advising the quarian fleet, and if you didn't get Garrus' authority, Kal would have died trying to fix that nasty comm tower!"

Anna's eyes widened, "Oh! I remember that report! Yeah, that was one hell of a situation. I had to rush to authorize Palavan ground-troops to mobilize on that tower, and give the quarians some backup. Damned if I know who the hell authorized one quarian team to handle a swarmed comm tower, that was vital, mind you. So I did my job, since Palavan-side they weren't. You know, I'm a strategist through-and-through, but I still like to kill stuff." She winked, "So... Who's Kal'Reegar?"

If Anna could see Tali blush, then she would be looking at one brightly colored quarian. Tali still tried to cover her face on reflex, "Ah... Well, he's a friend. I've worked with him before, and ah..."

Anna slapped Tali on the shoulder, "I'll keep an eye on your boo. I'll keep him safe, don't worry." She smiled.

Tali's voice went a few octaves higher, "My what?"

…...

Some time later, a nearly fall-over-drunk Anna made her way to Vega's spot in the cargo-hold.

"Jimmy!" she giggled, "You want some dirt on the quarian? What is it you call 'er? Sparkles, Spotty, Speckles? Shit..."

Jimmy walked over and wrapped an arm around her waist to support her, "Are you drunk, Anita? I thought that couldn't happen." A shit-eating grin spread over his face.

She smacked his shoulder, "I'll be all better in a few minutes. The meds have almost kicked in."

He laid her out on his new cot, her face turned towards the celling. He snickered, and raised her head, so he could put it on his leg.

She grasped his hand once he sat, and exhaled slowly. Lucidity was returning to her, "James..." He reached down and took off her visor, she continued, "I think Jane isn't handling everything too well. You know, I tried to cheer her up on Horizon. I think we kinda cheered her up."

She sighed, "Shit's hit the fan. There's so many transmissions I go through, and Jane goes through just as many. Calls for help, advice."

She looked up at him, "And the damned death tools. The numbers of refugees. There isn't enough room for them, anywhere..."

She spoke in a quieter voice, "There's just so much death, period. I don't think Jane can handle it. I mean, I hope she does..." She trailed off.

Vega spoke in a low voice, "How are you handling it, Anita?"

She was nearly whispering now, "I don't know... I really don't." She shook her head.

He scooped her up, she laid her head on his shoulder, and he carried her to the nearby shuttle.

…...

Eve froze as she felt a hand on the back of her neck. She reached up and turned off her earpiece, before turning around. She was face-to-face with a Kaidan, who was very much in her personal space, not that she had a problem with it.

She smiled at him before he spoke, "So, what were you listening to?"

Her smile grew wider, "Cats."

He chuckled, "You do seem to be a sucker for antiques. I could hear you singing down the hall."

She motioned with her hands, "Yeah, well, it seems I'm a sucker for two things – antiques and medicine."

His hand slid down to her upper-arm, "You know, I've had some medical training. I've been trained as a field medic."

Her eyes grew wide, "Really? Seems as though you embody both things I'm a sucker for." He grinned, she continued, "How much training are we talking about?"

He pretended to think about it, "Well, I'm no doctor, but I think I could give you a run for your money, on some things."

Her voice lowered, her eyes shinning, "You want to put that to the test?"

He sat next to her on the sofa in the lounge, no space in between them. A malicing grin passed over Eve's face. She suddenly straddled his waist, and pushed a few keys on her omni-tool. Traynor noticed the door flash red as she made her way to the women's restroom.

…...

Near the end of his shift, Jane went into the main battery, "Hey Garrus. You have a minute?"

Garrus turned around, "Yeah. Definitely."

Jane started to wring her hands together, Garrus rose an eye ridge, "Is something wrong."

She ran a hand in her hair, and slowly released a breath, "Yeah... It's just..."

Garrus walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

EDI suddenly went on comm, "I am sorry to interrupt, Commander. But Hackett is on call. I believe it pertains to our current destination, the Cerberus base."

Jane slowly pulled out of Garrus' arms, "It's okay, EDI. I'll be there in a minute."

She looked up at Garrus, "I have to take this." He nodded, and she left.

Once Garrus finished his shift, a half hour later, he headed up to the Captain's cabin.

He grew very concerned when he saw Jane hunched over on the bed, clasping a data pad in her hands. Her knuckles were white.

When he sat beside her on the bed, he could see the stress radiating from her. He wanted nothing but to comfort her.

Ever since she said that she loved him, he has been waiting for the opportunity to fully return those affections. Exclamations of love weren't really a turian thing, but then again, he was a bad turian. And the women he loves is hurting.

Garrus' concern only grew more throughout the entirety of the mission on the Cerberus base. When Jane saw those recordings of her resurrection, he was the only one there for her. She left her sisters behind on the Normandy. EDI and Kaidan couldn't say, or do, anything; it wasn't their place to.

Jane was planning the final battle on Earth, she had earlier received word that the Crucible was completed. Anna was in the process of organizing the fleets. Garrus didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if he and Jane would survive this, he didn't want to think about it.

…...