This was actually part of the last chapter but it was getting a little long so I broke it up.

Thanks everyone again for your reviews. I hope all of my friends and readers in the States had a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend. I hope you enjoyed these last two as much as I did.

^.^

~~00o00~~

Garrus moved his head back from Jane and stared down into her eyes. She was about to speak when Jokers voice filled the room.

"Commander, we have an issue. There is a distress call from Virmire, and it's not the Salarian's."

Garrus watched the immediate flood of guilt wash over Jane's face as she pushed herself up and away from him. He let her, he knew she would be conflicted and though he wouldn't apologise for what he'd said and done he would give her time. Something he mused, Kaidan should have learned to do long ago.

She cleared her throat and composed herself before answering.

"What is it Joker?"

"You'll never guess."

"I don't enjoy guessing games Flight Lieutenant."

"Even so Commander I think you should come up here."

"I'll be right there."

Jane turned slowly towards the door and paused only for a moment, she didn't look back at him just sighed.

"Garrus I..."

"Don't worry about it Jane, let's go."

Kaidan was next to Joker when they entered the bridge and he stepped to the side eyeing her and Garrus. Jane pointedly ignored the look.

"So what is it Joker?"

"How about I just let you listen to it Commander."

Jane quirked a brow and clasped her hands behind her back. "Very well then."

"My name is Liara T'Soni, I need to speak with Jane Shepard of the Systems Alliance. Repeat, I am Liara T'Soni we're pinned down on Virmire. I have information for Jane Shepard of the Systems Alliance. I'm with her father. Requesting immediate backup."

As the recording ended Jane's heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest.

"What did she mean she's with your father?" Major Hackett stepped up next to Jane and she flinched.

"She doesn't mean him. She means she's with Ganis; my dad. Joker, get me down there as close as possible to where that was sent from."

Jane turned and left the bridge and almost ran to her quarters.

John looked at the faces gathered. "She means the Turian then? I thought he was taken by Saren."

"Yeah she means the Turian Sir." Kaidan turned saluted and left the room.

Garrus nodded to John. "We know as much as you do. Hold on though this might get rough. If something has happened to him we're all in for one hell of a ride. I'm going to go get my gear; I suggest you do the same."

Garrus left the room glancing towards Jane's quarters. Even though every fiber of his body told him not to he turned and stopped outside Jane's door and hit the buzzer.

"Enter." Garrus smiled as he heard the string of cuss words that followed when he entered the room. Jane stood over the bed, she was making it. Not just making it, but military making it. She had also started tossing dirty clothes away and the whole scene caused Garrus to chuckle.

"What are you doing Jane?"

"I'm cleaning, if, if he's with her and he comes here he's going to see this disaster and I just can't.." She trailed off as he stepped up next to her and took her hand in his lifting it and rubbing the dust he knew he'd find there.

"Jane, I think he'd care less about the room and more about this." There was that look of guilt again and he let her hand fall from his and back to her side.

"You don't think I know that? Damn it Garrus I can't do this with a headache I needed to get rid of it. He might not be alive down there; I need to have it together."

"Jane.."

"Don't Garrus, don't tell me what I already know. Get your gear and get ready to drop."

Garrus turned leaving the room, this was going to get so much worse if things were bad down there he thought with a grimace.

~~00o00~~

Jane looked around the landscape this was the only place Joker had been able to set them down and it would be the only place he could get them out it needed to stay secure.

"Alenko, Williams stay here keep the drop zone secure. Wrex, Garrus, John on me." Kaidan made to argue but the look Jane shot him caused him to change what he was going to say.

"Roger that Commander, securing the drop zone."

Jane nodded once and her team set off down the hill.

They had been walking twenty minutes in silence when Jane heard voices from the other side of a ridge in front of them. She motioned for her team to get down and stay as she climbed slowly to the top of the ridge and set up her rifle.

"How does she do that? I don't hear anything. Do you?" Wrex motioned towards Jane and Garrus shook his head.

"No, but she's always right. Her senses are twice that of even a normal Turian." John looked confused.

"Are you guys kidding? I can hear them."

Garrus lifted a brow plate. "Well seems there's more alike between you two than just looks Major."

John frowned. "Yes, and I'm getting the feeling it's not really a good thing for either of us."

They saw Jane turn and give them all a look motioning for them to shut up.

Jane adjusted her scope and looked down the ridge. The first thing she saw was a Salarian pointing back towards what looked like a camp and some large buildings the Asari nodded and her eyes landed on her dad. He was standing in armour his side to her, his rifle in hand. She closed her eyes and released what was almost a sob at just seeing him alive.

Motioning for her team to come up and over she took them down the ridge and towards the camp. Her pace was quick and her dad saw them first and she broke rank running to him.

He smiled as she slammed into his chest and threw her arms around him, his forehead met hers and his talons brushed gently against the side of her head.

"Red! I knew you'd find us."

"Dad what are you doing here I thought Saren.."

He cut her off with a raised finger as her team joined them. She stepped back waiting.

"I'll explain everything Red just..." he trailed off as his eyes landed on John and he blinked trying to clear his eyes. "What?"

"Oh sorry dad this is John Hackett, yeah uhh he's my brother." Ganis laughed regaining his composure.

"That's funny Red; I don't remember having any other children." She rolled her eyes.

"That one will take a bit of explaining." She motioned towards Wrex. "This is Wrex you'll have to forgive his demeanor he's Krogan you know and has issues."

Wrex grunted. "Only with Turians and Salarians and you seem to enjoy surrounding me with both."

Ignoring him she turned to Garrus but he had already stepped forward and taken Ganis's wrist in a Turian greeting.

"I'm Garrus Vakarian Sir."

Ganis shook his hand and laughed.

"Vakarian, I know your father, hard ass military man and one hell of a C-sec officer."

Garrus nodded. "Yes Sir."

"Military yourself then?"

"Once Sir, and former C-sec; left to help Jane here."

The look Ganis gave him was subtle shock and respect.

"You left C-sec to follow Red, at the risk of ticking off a father like yours. I'm impressed."

"Yes Sir I guess I'm not a very good Turian."

Ganis laughed. "I did much the same thing once." Garrus watched the look Ganis gave Jane and knew what he meant.

"Dad." Jane stood still, waiting. "Dad what are you doing here?"

"Well the short answer Red is I escaped. Your ol' man is brighter than he looks. I ran into Liara here and well now you're here."

The Asari stepped forward.

"It's a little more complicated than that. I'm Liara T'Soni, I'm a researcher, I've studied Prothean tech. As to how I got here, my mother asked me here, I shouldn't have trusted her. She lured me here with the pretence of a Prothean find something called the Conduit. The only things I found when I got here were Ganis here and a bunch of Salarians who were looking into Sarens research on the Genophage. And what seems to be a prothean beacon."

"Show me the beacon." Jane moved towards the camp and Liara followed. "I've already checked it Shepard, whatever they were looking for they seem to have found. There isn't much left here but tanks and.."

As Jane approached the beacon a slow hum started and once again something inside the beacon reacted to Jane and in a flash and scream she was out cold on the ground.

"Red, Red, open your eyes Soldier."

Jane sat up with a start and blinked. "Shit dad, that ship...it knows we're here, it's..." Ganis nodded

"I know Jane but we don't have time, what time we did have is almost up, you need to calm Wrex down and we've got to get out of here."

Wrex was pacing in front of one of the tanks with Liara behind him trying to get the very large Krogan to calm down.

"We have a problem; the team here is going to destroy everything here. It seems Saren has been breeding an army of Krogan."

Wrex jumped forward. "It's not possible!"

"It is if he figured out a cure for the Genophage."

Wrex was stunned but only for a split second.

"Then they aren't destroying anything."

Liara shook her head. "It's already done, the bombs are in place. That's why the distress beacon, we've got to get out of here."

Wrex growled and Jane spun to him. "Shepard stop this, this is my entire race we're talking about you know what this would mean for us. You know, you were raised by the Turians you know what they did."

"Wrex you heard Liara, it's done there is no stopping this. Do you see the people left here? That's who we need to worry about. If the Genophage was cured here it can be cured elsewhere. I need you to help me. Sometimes Wrex we have to make the tough choices. This is one of them. Help me get everyone off this planet and I give you my word I'll help you." Jane didn't wait turning back to Liara.

"How much time do we have?"

"Not long, the Salarian teams are under heavy fire and ordered to stay where they are until detonation."

The Salarian to her side nodded.

"Go, there isn't much time. I'll make sure my teams are successful."

"You're not coming?" The Salarian shook his head. "No my mission is here and I must see it completed."

Jane relented turning back to Liara. "Where is Saren?"

Liara looked down and then back to Jane her violet skin shimmered in the pale light.

"The Salarian's say they left back the way you came. They weren't here when we got here."

"Well that ship they are in, dad they can't hide that thing. If we hurry we can catch them in orbit."

"Williams, Alenko we've got them and we're headed back to your position is the evac zone secure? Joker is inbound."

Silence answered her and she repeated the question, nothing.

"Shit. Double time it people."

~~00o00~~

As they reached where they had left Kaidan and Williams Jane could see Joker but no sign of Kaidan or Ashley. As she stood trying to figure out what to do, her omni-tool crackled and Sarens voice filled the air.

"Shepard, you seem to keep misplacing things. I'm still ahead of you and once again to make sure you stay behind me, you have a choice to make. I've taken your team and I've separated them. You have ten minutes until those bombs go off. You don't have time to save both. These are their locations, the choice is yours."

The connection went dead and two coordinates popped up blinking at her like a bomb attached to her arm. She sucked in a breath. Kaidan was South, Ashley North. He was right if she had ten...nine minutes they would never make it to both.

"Fuck."

Ganis lifted a brow plate but didn't speak.

"What was that about tough choices Shepard?" Wrex added dryly.

"Shut it." Joker was there and Jane shouted a set of coordinates to him and they set off. Seven minutes.

As they approached the location Jane looked at the timer she had set. Three minutes.

She spotted a body on the ground and jumped out with Garrus, loading the body Garrus stared at Jane hard.

"You know we don't have time."

"I know, Spirits."

"Give Joker the order Jane."

She sucked in a breath and barked for Joker to get them out of there. He hit it and they broke the atmosphere with the explosions ringing behind them.

~~00o00~~

Back on the Normandy Garrus stopped Jane as she headed for the helm. She turned to him and her face softened as she saw her dad behind him, but her arms were still folded over her chest. Ganis couldn't help but laugh, Garrus was butting his head against a brick wall.

"I don't want to talk about it." Her eyes dropped to the ground. "Get everyone to the helm we need to figure this shit out."

Ganis placed a hand on Garrus's shoulder. "It's not worth it when she's like this."

"I know Sir. Come on let's go."

Jane stood before them at the helm, Kaidan was the last to enter the room and she ignored the longing gaze he was directing at her.

"Okay I think it's time we get the whole story. Dad?"

Ganis cleared his throat. "All of this is going to be hard to explain Red. You won't believe half of it but well here it goes."

Ganis informed them of what he had learned while on the ship. First of all that it really wasn't a ship but a living machine. "Saren calls it Sovereign." He went into detail about the Conduit they were looking for and that Ilos was where they were headed.

"Yeah I believe you, it talked to me."

The room went into shocked silence and she shook her head. "Never mind, it..it hates us that's all I need to know." The pain in her chest and the pounding in her head was raging back, she didn't want them to know it had called her a part of it.

"Red, they are planning on attacking the Citadel."

"We've got to warn the Council and figure out how to get to Ilos." Jane began to pace and Liara stepped in front of her.

"What we need is to get to the Mu Relay. And this ship is the only thing that can get us through it undetected."

"I thought the Mu Relay was lost." Kaidan was pacing now and Ganis stood stopping his motion.

"That's the other thing, Liara's mother is with Saren, and she knows the location." The room turned to Liara and she stared at her feet. She looked ashamed but Ganis interjected.

"Her mother spoke to me several times, telling me how she was trying to save Saren from himself. Something happened to her, she became distant and I think Saren must have done something. But before she lost herself she gave me the coordinates and told me to make sure Shepard stopped this."

Jane washed her hands over her face. "Major, I need you to talk to the Admiral tell him we'll need the fleet if we can't stop them in time. We should return to the Citadel inform them of what's happening and drop off my dad."

"What? There isn't time for that Red. You message the Council and you tell them what is going on. We can't chance going back there. There isn't time."

"Dad, no way you're not coming on this. We don't know what we're going into."

"And what you think I'm some old brittle man? I'm going."

Jane's head dropped to her hand. "Fuck."

"Red, watch your mouth we're not in the field."

The group stifled snickers and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, Major contact the Admiral like I said and bring him up to speed. I'll contact the Council warn them. Everyone else check your gear get some food and prepare your-selves. Dismissed."

Everyone separated and Jane told Joker to hold his position until they had everything in place and went to her quarters. She had just slumped to her bed when her buzzer rang.

"Enter."

Kaidan stepped into the room and the door slid shut behind him. Jane sighed but before she could speak Kaidan was next to her pushing her back on the bed his lips on hers. She was so shocked that she didn't respond as he dug his hands into her hair his lips searching her face and neck. Blinking Jane found her voice and pushed Kaidan back.

"What the hell Kaidan?"

"Jane, you came for me. I know what that must have done to you. But all I can think is that you chose me, that you must still love me."

Jane stood and leaned back against the wall away from where he sat on the bed, she couldn't make eye contact with him and shook her head.

"Don't Kaidan, don't push this."

"Jane, I love you and now I know.."

Jane cut him off and almost shouted.

"No Kaidan, no I don't. I chose you because I owed you, you saved me once. I couldn't leave you down there, not with everything. I don't love you. I never did, I wanted you to save me. I know now I don't need you to save me. I need you to do your job."

Shock, then sadness and finally anger spread over his face as he stood.

"Don't do this for him Jane. I saw the way you look at him. You're doing it all over again. You ran from Nihlus to me then back to him and now you're running to Garrus. You're human Jane, you belong with me. Always have, I've always been there for you. I've loved you no matter what, through everything."

Jane's face fell and she sighed.

"I know Kaidan."

"I don't think you do. I wish you would have left me down there."

With that he turned and was out of her quarters. Jane's first instinct was to follow him but instead her knees wobbled and she slid down against the wall, her head hit her knees and the tears flowed, tears for Ashley, tears for Kaidan and what she had done to him not just now, but ever since that first day on Jump Zero.

Jane didn't know how long she sat against the wall. The next thing she knew Talons were drifting through her hair..

"Red?"

She sniffed and lifted her face to his. "Hey daddy."

His talons traced the freckles and scars on her face.

"I know this has been a lot to take in Red. You had to make a tough choice down there. I understand."

She shook her head.

"Kaidan hates me."

Ganis gave her a knowing look and pulled her to his chest.

"Red, I told you in the beginning how that would work out."

"Spirits dad I know but it's a little complicated now."

"Because of Garrus? No don't look at me like that, I'm your dad, I know the looks he's giving you and I saw the way you look at him."

"I can't dad."

"Why? Because of Nihlus? Kaidan even?"

She nodded against his chest and felt like crying all over again. "Nihlus was my fault, I should have never left him alone, he got killed because of me. I can't take it if anything like that was to happen again."

"Which is why you saved Kaidan. Yeah I can see why he's mad, but that was always going to happen. As far as Nihlus is concerned, he loved you Jane. But he's gone now, don't let misplaced guilt keep you from finding a shred of happiness in this messed up galaxy sweetheart."

She pushed back and looked into his eyes.

"Dad, I don't know if I can." She looked away from him knowing what he saw in her eyes.

"The things I've done. I'm not your little girl anymore."

Ganis chuckled and pulled her head back against him nuzzling into the top of her head.

"Jane Vandrel. You'll always be my little girl. No matter what. I don't care what you've done. I care what you're going to do. And I know you're going to do the right thing. If there is a chance you could be happy with Garrus don't let anything stop you." He chuckled again and the deep rumbling tones soothed Jane's head.

"The man left C-sec for you. Risked his father's wrath which isn't something to take lightly; trust me I've met the man."

"As far as everything else is concerned we'll get through it, together. Now tell me about this John I've been dying to hear this story."

~~00o00~~

Jane walked the Normandy checking in on all of her crew. John had just come out of the shower when she bumped into him.

"Commander. I've spoken to the Admiral, he also suggests we not go back to the Citadel he suggests." John coughed and tried to hide a smirk. "He suggests that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission. I'm inclined to agree with him, he said he'd take care of the Council and try to make sure things were prepared on that end should we not be able to stop this."

Jane laughed. "He really said that? You must have a better way with him than I do Major."

"Well I did have to grow up with him. And do you think maybe Commander you could call me John?"

Jane smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

He smiled at her, her smile she mused and he moved down the hall away from her. The unspoken question between them of what they were, would have to wait she thought and remembered something Garrus had told her.

Sometimes Jane who you are is more important than what you are.

With that thought she made her way towards where she knew Garrus would be. Sure enough as the door slid closed, she found him rifle in hand. He heard her enter and tilted his head slightly towards her.

"Need something Shepard?"

"No not really, I just wanted to talk."

Garrus turned fully to her at the tone in her voice and placed his rifle on the workbench.

"Sure Jane or should I call you Red?" He teased her and she laughed taking another step towards him.

"Your dad is great, I know where you get all of your quirks now. I'd love to have all of us have a contest. See if we can't best the old man."

Jane's eyes squinted as she laughed. "Yeah well don't let him catch you calling him that."

"It must have been great to have been raised by him. My dad was really a by the book sort of man. No non-sense I always got the feeling I was a disappointment to him. Your dad looks at you like you're the most perfect thing he's ever done."

He watched as Jane blushed and he stepped forward taking her hand in his.

"But you wanted to talk, not listen to me rattle on."

Jane ran a finger along his mandible and Garrus leaned his head down against hers.

"I need to talk to you Garrus, there are a lot of things I need to tell you. So you understand."

He nodded."Okay Jane, but I need you to do something for me."

He nuzzled his head against hers as he spoke and she nodded. "What Garrus?"

"I'm losing myself to you and I need you to promise me that if there can be something here you'll let it happen."

"Yeah, I think I can handle that; as long as you still want to try this after what I have to say."

"Well..." Garrus rubbed his jaw with his hand and Jane playfully punched him.

"Jane, I'm willing to try and if we make it out of this mess. Well, we'll deal with the rest of it then. For now I hope you can talk while I hold you because I've wanted to try this."

He pulled her into his arms as he sat on the floor leaning into her neck.

"You're so soft and you smell amazing." Jane blushed again and swatted him away from her neck.

"You're distracting me."

"Hmm what? Oh ignore me, talk." Jane turned in his lap, leaning her back against his chest and started her story, ignoring for at least a moment everything else around them.