John sat alone in his quarters going over the dossiers of the new crew they had picked up on the Citadel. Kasumi Goto is an expert on infiltration, extraction, stealth and sabotage. He shook his head and scanned the next. Assassin Thane Krios, one of the best in the galaxy, and a Bounty hunter named, Zaeed Massani he knew this name, a mercenary soldier. He tossed the data pad away and flopped back on his bed.
What the hell did his father have them doing? Missing humans and a ship full of questionable personalities, not to mention Jane, shit John thought, and wondered how any of them would get out of this in one piece.
John was just about to get up, and take a shower when his door buzzed.
"It's open." As the door slid open, John stifled a groan at seeing Garrus.
"Glad you're still up Major."
John quirked an eyebrow at Garrus using his title, and not his name, he was in trouble.
"What can I do for you Garrus? I was just about to hop in the shower."
"I think that can wait, Major. It's time you explain to me, what the hell happened. I think I deserve that much don't you?"
John nodded slowly and motioned to a chair, he watched as Garrus sat and he cleared his voice.
"Garrus, I'm not really sure where to start. Jane is." Garrus held up a finger halting him mid sentence.
"Just the truth, John don't you dare lie to me again, I'm barely able to control this as it is."
John sighed, resigning to the fact he needed to come clean.
"Okay, Garrus Jane did die on Ilos, Cerberus along with the Alliance, or at least my father, recovered her body. "
He paused watching Garrus nod.
"They used Reaper tech to bring her back, I don't know how or what they used, but they did. They then proceeded to train her, and implant whatever memories they wanted into her, for the last year."
John continued to explain what memories they had given Jane, and what he had noted was different about her, besides the memories. He knew Turian facial expressions pretty well, and the last expression after shock, and sadness to wash over his face, was pure anger.
Garrus stood, pacing the room for a moment before turning back to John.
"So that's why she's down there with Alenko right now, that's why she has no clue about me, or Ganis. So tell me John, were you ever planning on telling her, and what the hell is your father playing at? Why the hell would he do this?"
"Don't you think I want to Garrus? But what do I tell her, how do we bombard her with memories that will make no sense to her? As for my father, I have no idea. It doesn't make sense, unless he was just trying to force the issue, you know between Kaidan and her?"
"We're not supposed to at least try? And all of this for Kaidan, I can't see that John, there must be another reason, and I'm going to find out what." Garrus's eyes pierced John's.
"That is the love of my life down there, in the arms of a man who lied to everyone, who to this day wears not only her dog tags, but her Turian fathers, and then doesn't even have the decency, to tell her the truth. Bullshit, John I'm not going to keep quiet."
John flinched at the word love, Garrus did love her, he had never been sure how close they were.
"Yeah, I didn't figure you would just leave it. This isn't fair to you or Ganis I know."
Garrus looked confused at that.
"No, John this isn't about what is fair for me or her father, this is about the entire life, of probably the most amazing person in the Galaxy, vanishing. She's alive, something that shouldn't even be possible. But to have her entire life ripped from her, that has nothing to do with fair; it has to do with right and wrong. That is wrong. She deserves to have people around her that love her, and will tell her the truth."
"You're right of course, I just don't know how to do this, how do we make her believe us?"
Garrus shook his head moving towards the door. "We don't make her do anything, we simply show her and hope for the best, that's all we can do. We couldn't make Jane do anything in her first life, what makes you think this one, would be any different?"
~~00o00~~
Collectors on Horizon, Christ what was going on here? John watched the ship leave as he stared down at the one Jane had killed with her biotics. He noticed Garrus was watching her closely; he looked like he wanted to ask something.
"Jane, why did you run in there? You could have easily sniped him from here, why rush in with your biotics?"
Jane quirked her head and chuckled. "I don't know if I could have shot him from here actually, my shot isn't very good. I'm much better with my biotics."
"What?" Garrus froze his mandibles slack, watching her turn back towards John.
The assassin Krios, stood silently behind them, watching Jane and John in their discussion.
"You know the Commander?"
"I used to, it's complicated."
Thane simply nodded. "Life is complicated."
~~00o00~~
Back on the Normandy things were quiet, with them finding out the Collectors were taking humans, and now John taking calls directly from Cerberus. Everyone was tense.
Garrus stood in the kitchen, he knew he should eat but he had no appetite, losing himself in his thoughts back aboard this ship was easy, and when he heard her voice he sucked in a breath. He still couldn't believe he was actually hearing her, and seeing her, and it killed him that he couldn't touch her.
"Hey, Vakarian right?" He nodded, and she smiled, it wasn't her smile though.
"We haven't had time to talk with everything, I didn't know back on the Citadel that you were part of John's crew. Do we know each other? I'm having more trouble than I thought, there are so many blanks."
Garrus wasn't sure if he felt like laughing, or crying. He was lost in some awful place in the middle.
"Yes, Jane we know each other. I was on the first crew of the Normandy, to find Saren."
Jane nodded, her face was scrunched up, and Garrus could see new scars along her neck, and cheeks.
"I'm sorry I acted like that back at the Citadel, things were happening so fast. Who was the other Truian? Was he with us as well?"
Garrus sucked in a quick breath through his nose, and nodded.
"Yes he was with us; in fact he and Liara, are the reason we were able to find Saren." Garrus paused, what was stopping him from just telling her everything?
"There are some things I want to tell you."
Jane nodded. "God yes, I'd love for you to help me out, I feel so lost. You have no idea what it's like to have holes inside you.
Garrus knew better than she thought, about how it felt to have a huge hole inside of you, but he ignored this and turned handing her a cup of coffee the way she liked it, and she scrunched her eyebrows together. "You know how I like my coffee?"
"I know a lot of things about you Jane Vandrel-Shepard."
She gave him a confused smile.
"Vandrel?"
"I have something you should read Jane, it would be better to hear it from yourself, instead of me telling you." Garrus handed her the small data pad that Ganis had given him after her death two years ago.
Jane accepted it and stared up at him.
"What do you mean, hear it from myself?"
"That is a journal from when you were young, trust me." With that Garrus nodded and walked away from her down the hall, and towards the main battery, he had to get away from her before he lost control of his emotions.
~~00o00~~
Jane watched him leave, before staring down at the data pad in her hand and making her way to her room to read. The first thing she noted, was that it was written in Turian, and much more curious was that she had no trouble reading it.
Jane read for most of the night cycle, and when she finished the last entry before she left for Earth, she shot up, and out of the bed, once in the hallway she ran to the main battery, she didn't pause as the doors opened, and she practically leapt into the room.
"Is this true Garrus? That Turian, Ganis on the Citadel the one you told me was on the ship, to help us find Saren? He didn't kidnap me; he raised me as his own? Is that fucking true?"
She was yelling, and Garrus had barely been able to sit up, hearing her rant he turned his eyes to her, and stared into flashing orbs of green fire. He knew that fire and it gave him hope.
"Yes, Jane it's all true, you wrote it."
She stalked over to him, sitting on a crate across from him, staring him down.
"Tell me the rest, all of it, now."
Garrus, tried to tell her most everything he knew from her time on Jump Zero, which she seemed to already know, and then Earth while she was in N7 training, about how she and Kaidan were together, and what had ripped them apart. Everything she had once told him.
"What about Nihlus? The one I wrote about when I was a child. Where is he?"
"Nihlus, was killed by Saren, I joined you on the Normandy after that, we." He went silent, and she pushed him on.
"We, what Garrus, you said we had met years before right?"
"Yes Jane we met at war games, you shot me from over three-thousand yards, and it was the most amazing shot I've ever seen."
"And then Garrus?"
"Well in our travels you and I became close, when your father, Ganis I mean joined us on the ship we were all together, those are some of the best memories in my life. Then you died, as I said and I lost it, I had lost you. You were quickly becoming my entire life Jane, and I've missed you, and then as I was walking the Citadel thinking about you, there you were, but you were still lost to me."
Garrus continued, filling in the little gaps for her when she asked questions. When he finished, she had gone silent, and she stared at the far wall unmoving.
"Jane I."
Jane stood not looking back at him, just facing the door.
"I don't know what to say Garrus, I'm not sure I believe any of this, why would they." She swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing.
"Why would the Admiral do this to me, why would he bring me back just to make me into something, whatever this is." She motioned to herself.
"It's not bad enough that I wasn't quite human to begin with, they had to go and make me a soulless, half machine. If what you say is true, I can't have a soul can I?"
The look she turned to him broke his heart, and she shook her head.
"I'm not saying I believe this Garrus, I'm not sure what to believe. I don't remember any of what you're saying."
Garrus nodded. "I understand Jane, I don't expect everything to just snap back into place, and I just wanted you to know the truth, from someone who loves you."
She stared at him in shock, before turning back to the door.
"I don't know what to do Garrus."
"Ask Kaidan Jane, he still wears your old dog tags, as well as those of your dad. Ask him about them."
Jane nodded once before leaving the room, Garrus watched the door close and leaned his head into his hands. Hoping he hadn't just screwed this up worse than it had already been.
Jane stood in the mess; she grabbed her cup of coffee and strode to the helm. Joker was there, he looked like he was reading something, he didn't turn just spoke, acknowledging her.
"What's going on Commander?"
She ignored the question.
"Joker, how long have you known me?"
Joker spun his chair, eyeing her.
"Ever since you were Captain Anderson's XO, so a few years, not counting the ones you were dead."
She nodded.
"And I'm Turian, my father is Ganis, and I was with Nihlus, and Kaidan and I broke up, do you know those things?"
Joker's eyebrows shot up and he coughed nervously.
"Tell me Joker. I'm not mad, just tell me if those things are true."
"Yes, commander, those things are true. Though the part about Lieutenant Alenko, I'm not sure about, we all thought that after you found out that the Admiral was responsible for you not being able to be with Nihlus, and that he had chosen Kaidan for you, like some weird genetics match making service." He stopped at the look on her face."
"That last part are just rumors we'd heard, you know how people talk. But anyway we thought that you would never talk to him again, let alone sleep with him. But at your funeral, they made it sound like you two were days away from getting married, you know oddly not only that, but they made it look like you and the Admiral were a happy family. Shit, I'd never even heard you call him father let alone you guys be anything even resembling a happy family."
Jane cussed under her breath and Joker gave a nervous chuckle.
"I'm sorry Commander, maybe I've said too much, I really need to learn to keep my big mouth shut."
"No, Joker I asked and you told me the truth, as you know it. I thank you for being honest, even if it causes me anxiety; it's something not everyone has done."
Joker nodded and turned his chair back to his console.
"Any time Commander, I've always thought you were neat just as you were, Human-Turian. We all heard the stories about you, you were a living legend."
"And then I was a dead one."
"Yeah, well Commander, I'm not going to argue with why you're back, the issues we seem to have in the Galaxy as a whole, you know, Collectors taking entire colonies of humans, not to mention, what if there are more of those sovereign guys out there? You're the only one who's had one speak to you, we need you Commander."
"It spoke to me? How is that possible? Why wouldn't they tell me that?"
"I don't know Commander, I just pilot the ship. But don't you think you should ask the Major or the Lieutenant these questions?"
"Yes possibly, but I'm not sure who I can trust to tell me the truth Joker, up to this point everyone has seemed pretty willing to keep me in the dark, for some reason. I wish I knew why they would do this."
Joker shrugged as he stared at the screen.
"I may not care for Alenko much Commander, but Major Hackett is a good man, I know he is, he's been under the Admirals thumb longer than anyone, and I think he would be honest with you if you asked."
"Thanks Joker, this means a lot to me, that you were able to tell me."
He laughed and shook his head.
"Don't worry about it Commander, I kind of miss you yelling at me, and calling me Flight Lieutenant though."
"I yell?"
"Not in the way you think, you're a Turian, it's kind of your thing, you know stick up the ass. Your posture is off."
She chuckled and turned to leave.
"I guess I'm going to have to find my stick then."
"Good luck with that Commander."
~~00o00~~
Jane stood in the mess again, trying to decide what the hell she was going to do, her memories, the ones they had given her were a jumble. As she stood trying to figure them out, a light voice from behind her shattered the silence.
"Something wrong Commander?" She turned to see the Drell Krios standing in the shadows, just to her side.
"Damn, Thane no wonder you're an assassin, I would have been dead before I even knew you were there."
The Drell chuckled lightly, his hands clasped behind his back.
"It wouldn't have mattered how much noise I made Commander, you were quite lost in your thoughts. As I asked, is there something wrong?"
She watched him for a moment then shrugged, deciding it didn't matter who knew what anymore.
"Well, I'm getting the feeling I'm living a life that isn't mine, first off I shouldn't even be alive. I don't know who I should trust, hell I don't know if I can trust myself. I have no idea what I even am."
Thanes eyes went blank.
"Jane Shepard, the name was mentioned in a hushed tone, the Turian looks down into his brandy, looks up to me, tells me how they grew up together, red hair, green eyes. How she was with a human now, he's still in love with her, is going to meet her on the ship Normandy, he looks towards the door, nods to me, swears he's going to have his mate back."
He stopped, blinking bringing himself back to the present.
"I met Nihlus when I was on a job; he was the only person to ever catch me in the act. I liked him, I was sorry to hear of his death."
Jane blinked trying to clear her vision. "What was that?"
"Just a memory Commander, one I have of Nihlus, we Drell's remember differently, but that is neither here, nor there, now if you would continue."
Jane nodded continuing her thought. "I wish I remembered, how do I match this reality, with that one?"
Thane regarded her for a moment.
"I don't know what it's like, to not remember, in fact, sometimes I wish there was a way I could forget." He held up a hand before Jane could speak.
"No, that's a discussion for another time. You know Commander, reality is based on perception, perhaps you need to change your perception?"
"How do I do that? I don't know who to believe anymore."
"Well, how about you stop listening to others and start making decisions on your own, change your perception, from one of having to believe someone else, to believing yourself, and what you see. Also, I have some techniques you might be able to use; you should be in your quarters, quiet. Its call meditation, I'm not saying it will help you right away, but it might help you focus, cleanse your mind. Try it."
~~00o00~~
Kaidan paced in front of Jane's door. John stood to the end of the hall, and Garrus leaned against the wall across from them.
"What the hell did you tell her Garrus? She's been in there for two days. God damn it, two days and she won't talk to me."
"I told her, what you should have told her Kaidan, the truth."
"The truth? Fuck we want to start throwing around the truth? John lied to me, he said they found her alive, not that they brought her back from the god damn dead!"
"Yes, well I shouldn't have, I should have told everyone the truth from the start, but you know what, I didn't want you freaking out like you are right now. You shouldn't have gone right back to her though, it's just like a replay of the funeral. You, pretending nothing is wrong. What the hell is wrong with you Kaidan? My sister doesn't love you, and you need to leave her alone."
Kaidan went silent and froze mid-step. "Fuck you, John."
Tossing Garrus a sideways look, he moved away from them and down the hall towards his room.
"Well, this should be fun." Garrus rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, you think she's okay in there?"
"No, would you be?"
John shook his head and they walked away together trying to figure out what to do from here, they hadn't received another communication from either Cerberus or the Alliance since Horizon, when they were told to hold their positions.
~~00o00~~
For almost three days, Jane tried the technique that Thane had shown her, but her head was still a jumble of mixed memories, or things people had told her, they had no true order. Giving her head a shake she stood and stretched her back, sitting on the floor sure hadn't helped her muscles.
She was busy pacing her room when her buzzer sounded. It had been a day since anyone had tried to bother her. Biting her lip she ignored it and continued to wonder her room. Wall to wall, she was restless, she wanted to hit something. Run, maybe she could run. She frowned, that would mean she would have to go out there.
She heard Garrus's voice at the door telling her he was leaving something for her, that it belonged to her. She waited, giving him long enough to leave.
Opening the door she looked down, a simple sniper rifle leaned against the wall. Picking it up it felt warm, familiar in her hands. She sighed as the door closed behind her and she set the gun against the wall across from her bed, she stretched and lay down, closing her eyes.
~~00o00~~
Jane looked around, was she dreaming? Of course this must be a dream. She was floating above a planet, Palaven she noted to herself, then wondered how she would know that.
As she watched the bright lights spread over the planet she realised it was burning. She looked behind her, Sovereign, what looked like thousands of him were there behind her. She felt them look at her, she felt them calling to her, she could hear the screams of the people on the planet, as a rush of heat swallowed her, and she sat up in a cold sweat, she was in her own bed, on the Normandy and the screams had been her own.
"Spirits." She mumbled as she kicked her feet out of bed, she eyed her rifle, her face screwing up in confusion.
"What are you doing down there?" She grabbed it and made to put it on her weapons rack, but the weapons rack wasn't there. She blinked, clearing the left over sleep from her eyes, and took another look around. This wasn't her quarters, what the hell?
She walked to the small washroom to the side; these were her old XO quarters, the only other one on the Normandy with a washroom.
She sat the rifle down against the wall again, leaning against the sink she cupped the water splashing her face. Glancing up into the mirror she ran her fingertips over her cheeks, felt the scars, ones she didn't recognise, her eyes lowered to her dog tags around her neck.
She cussed as her hand clenched them, had she lost her dads? Her dad, was he here? She was having trouble remembering what she had done the day before, and why she was in her old quarters, had she been really drunk, and passed out? She sure smelled like that could have been what happened.
She hit the shower, and as she stood washing, her hands drifted over her chest, another scar in the middle of her chest, she frowned as her hands went lower, another scar just above her belly button. Her eyes darted from side to side, trying to figure out where they had come from, and that's when it hit her.
She stumbled back against the wall of the shower, and slid to the floor. She remembered, she remembered leaning against a wall just like this, watching her blood flow to the ground, Kaidan's face becoming nothing but a distant blur, before her world went dark. And then, nothing, she had known nothing, until that first gasp of air.
The memories of what had happened in the last years came back in a flood, and as they hit her, her anger grew.
How the hell could he have done this to her? Leaving the shower Jane found a fresh uniform, and changed. How could someone she should have been able to trust do this to her, and she didn't mean the Admiral, she meant Kaidan.
She remembered everything, her childhood, her death, and her betrayal once again at the hands of the Admiral, but she almost expected this from him, but for Kaidan to act like nothing had happened? What Joker had told her he'd done at the funeral?
She was pissed, and she was going to find out for herself, what the hell his problem was.
~~00o00~~
Jane left the room intent on finding Kaidan, when she did find him he was gathered with just about everyone on board the Normandy on the bridge.
The group turned to her as she entered and she stood to the side at parade rest.
"Continue, I just wish to speak with Lieutenant Alenko." John's eyebrows shot up in surprise at her tone, he motioned for Kaidan to go. Kaidan stepped forward and before they were barely in the hall, Jane nodded towards his neck. The crew behind them watched in silence, as the door hadn't closed behind them.
"I believe Lieutenant, that those are mine. I would like them back; you have no right to them."
Kaidan's eyebrows pulled together as he slipped the dog tags off, and handed them to her.
"Spirits Kaidan, I gave these to you when I died, to give to Garrus and my father."
Kaidan inhaled deeply. "You remember your death baby?"
"Yes, I remember everything Kaidan, and don't you dare call me that again. I told you before Ilos that I didn't love you, I meant it Kaidan, you were my friend. You lied to me again." She replied between clenched teeth.
"Jane, I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do, what to say. I was so happy to have you back. To have you willing to be around me."
Jane lifted her finger cutting him off and leaned towards him.
"I don't care what you thought Kaidan, you were wrong. A friend would have told me, no matter what they wanted. I'm going to ask you something Kaidan, I want the truth. Joker told me that you let the Alliance pass over my father and my."
She paused, realizing the door behind them was open, and the crew gathered had listened quietly in shock this whole time. Deciding it was too late she continued with a shrug and a gesture.
"My, well Garrus, at my funeral, that you let them think we were still getting married. Now I know the Admiral knew better, but I expect nothing more of him, but you Kaidan?" Jane's eyes welled with tears.
"How could you let them do that, how could you do that? You know my father Kaidan; you know what we mean to each other. How could you let me react to him like that on the Citadel, why didn't you tell him? We should have explained it to him." The tears came then, they weren't tears for him, they were tears for Ganis.
"I'm not the only one who lied to you Jane, John didn't tell you, and he lied to Garrus and Ganis on the Citadel. I was doing as he told me to."
Jane clinched her Jaw and leaned forward pointing a finger at his chest.
"Don't you tell me what John did, I'll speak to him later. I'm talking about what you chose to do Kaidan, that you chose to pretend that we were together, not just since I came back from the fucking dead, but since I died! That was your fucking choice, I'm sick of you, I'm sick of the Alliance."
"What are you talking about Jane?"
Kaidan didn't like the look in her eye, it was cold, Turian. He knew that look, it was the one she turned on him, after she had shot those hostages on Randiv.
"John." She spoke to the Major, but she kept her gaze fixed on Kaidan.
"John, is this still my ship?"
John nodded. "It was only in my command until you regained enough, to take command back yourself Jane, sounds to me like you're as ready as ever."
She nodded, still staring at Kaidan, eyes cold, unfeeling.
"I want all communication with the Alliance cut off. Gather all the information we have on the collectors and reapers, I want to make a few stops before we continue, give this to Liara, have her find Wrex and Tali. People I can actually trust." She paused, punctuating trust, still staring at him. Before nodding and continuing.
"What? Jane! You can't just break away from the Alliance; steal their ship, that's mutiny."
Jane arched her left eyebrow and leaned back on her left foot, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I can, and I am. I don't know what they want from me, but I won't be a part of it anymore. I'm going to do what needs to be done, which is stop the reapers. I've seen what they want, and I have to stop it."
"You'll be arrested Jane, you too John, both of you. You'll be traitors to the Alliance. How are you going to get your information then?"
Jane narrowed her eyes at him and addressed the crew behind them.
"If anyone takes issue with this, they are free to leave with my blessing. Say so now."
No one spoke, no one moved, Kaidan was shocked.
"As far as how I'm going to get my information, well it seems Cerberus built me, and from what I remember while I was there, they may be using the Alliance to their own ends, but they care for the Admiral, and the Alliance about as much as I do. I'll start there."
Her eyes burned into his.
"As for you, get off my ship."
"What? You can't be serious?"
"Oh, I'm deadly serious Alenko. You have two choices, first, get into an escape pod, contact the Alliance and tell them whatever story you like, or I shoot you. The choice is yours." She spun and walked back on the bridge letting the doors close in Kaidan's face.
John stood, quietly chewing on the inside of his cheek until Jane was facing him.
"I'm upset John but I know what you meant to do, and at least you told Garrus the truth once he was here. Thank you for that at least. I need your help. If we're going to do this we need people we can trust. John what I'm about to tell you, about what I've seen. You'll never believe it, and we have to do anything in our power to stop it. And I believe that starts with finding out what the Collectors are doing."
"But Jane, working with Cerberus?"
"I know what you're thinking John, but it's a means to an end, and we're in charge this time, I need the info they have. After that, well I don't know. We'll figure it out then."
"You realize, we're going to be arrested and most likely shot for this."
Jane chuckled. "Yeah well, I've already been dead once. It wasn't so bad, you'll see."
Johns jaw dropped, and Jane smirked at him, elbowing him slightly.
"One thing at a time John, let's worry about one thing at a time."
~~00o00~~
Captain Anderson stood before the image of Admiral Hackett.
"Sir, we've picked up Lieutenant Alenko, he's ranting about how Shepard and your son have taken the Normandy. She's gone rogue Sir, and you know the council upheld her status as a spectre. So once again Sir we have a rogue spectre, and this time they have one of the most advanced ships in our fleet."
Ambassador Udina was to Anderson's left, his face was red, and he leaned forward slamming his fist on Anderson's desk.
"And I don't care whose children they are, I want them arrested and tried for their mutiny against the Alliance. After everything we've done, to have her go and repay us like this."
Admiral Hackett nodded slightly to Udina.
"Thank you Udina, of course. If you would excuse the Captain and myself."
Udina sighed, and spun on his heel leaving the room.
"Captain, you will support Udina from within. You will do what you need, to try to capture Shepard and the Normandy, but you will not. Understood Captain?"
"As always Sir." As the image of Hackett faded, Anderson kicked his chair over, before striding out of the room to meet Udina, and start his bullshit chase of Commander Shepard.
~~00o00~~
The doors to the battery opened, Garrus's back was to her. He hadn't been on the bridge with everyone, and the moment she was done with John and Joker, figuring out where to go first, she had come here.
Garrus could smell her; it must be something she used in her hair he thought. He closed his eyes, remembering the feel of her hair between his talons, the feeling of her under him, and his body instantly began to respond to the memory. He tried to distract himself, cleared his throat and asked.
"Is there something I can do for you, Commander?"
"Yes there is Vakarian, you can start with why you would lie to me."
Garrus spun to her, her face was a perfect deadpan and she was desperately trying not to laugh.
"Jane, I would never lie to you, why what do you think I." Jane lifted a finger cutting him off, causing his mandibles to go slack as his brow plate practically hit the ceiling.
"You said I shot you from three thousand yards. I remember it being more like three-thousand five hundred."
Garrus's breath came out in a rush, as Jane took a step towards him.
"By the way, thank you. I did need to hear all that from someone who loves me, and who I love, more than anything. You were the last thought on my mind, that day on Ilos. You and my dad, I remember wishing you were there, to hold me. To tell me everything was going to be okay. My biggest regret, was you not knowing how I felt."
In that instant Garrus pulled Jane to him, he leaned his head against hers, his hands gliding from her shoulders down to her waist.
"Jane, I knew, I know how you feel. I never doubted it, I had wished more times than I can count, that I would have been bold enough to ask you to just throw propriety out the window, and be my mate, though we had only known each other for a very short time. I love you, I will always love you Jane Vandrel-" Jane placed a finger over his mouth before he could finish her other last name.
"It's just Jane Vandrel to you, and if you ask nicely, maybe Jane Vandrel-Vakarian."
Garrus's mandible spread wide in a grin and he picked her up and pinned her against the wall.
Her legs wrapped around him as he pulled her shirt over her head and began licking and nipping her entire body.
Their lovemaking was hard, urgent and needy at first, Garrus pushing her, asking her for everything. The fire between them burned blue, as their touch became softer, warmer, with a promise and permanence in each glance, and soft touch. As Garrus lost himself within her, Jane repeated his name softly, it was the sweetest sound Garrus had ever heard. Pulling her to him on the small bed in the battery he couldn't let her go. She burrowed into him, enjoying the low growl in his chest.
"Jane, will you be my mate? Be one with me, share my life, not only this one, but into the next?"
She nodded without hesitation.
"I love you Garrus."
"And I love you Jane, I never stopped loving you." He stopped tapping a talon against his leg.
"I'll have to message your dad, ask him."
Jane was floating, she was so happy, she never wanted to leave. But when Garrus mentioned her dad she bolted upright, smacking her head on the shelf above her.
"Spirits, Garrus my dad!"
She was off the bed and dressing before Garrus could stop her.
"Where did he go? Home?"
"Yes, Jane I told him to go back to Randiv, until I could send him word."
She nodded and hit her comm.
"Joker, forget what I said, change course to Randiv, I need to see my dad."
"Roger that Commander, John thought you might, so we've already made that heading."
Jane smiled. "Tell John thank you for me Joker."
"Roger that Commander, enjoy yourself." She heard Joker snorting a laugh, as the comm went dead, and she turned back to Garrus who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Straddling his lap, she ran her fingers along his mandibles, to the back of his head under his fringe. She was answered by the deep growl in his chest she had expected, and smiled.
"We have a lot of catching up to do Jane." Garrus smiled, grabbed her waist and flipped her under him, nipping and licking up her sides and to her neck.
She sighed running her hands over his shoulders as he explored her body, rediscovering its soft curves.
"I always forget how soft you are against me, Spirits I could do this forever."
Her smile faded, and Garrus watched as her eyes got that far away look he used to see when she was thinking.
"Garrus, do you think we can do this? There are so many people against us, not to mention the real threat we face. I don't know if we'll make it out of this."
Nipping the side of her neck to draw her eyes to his, he shrugged.
"As long as we're together Jane, I don't care. The Galaxy could explode tomorrow, and it wouldn't matter to me, as long as you, were the last thing I knew, saw, touched." He dipped his head and snuggled into her neck.
She shushed him with a bite to his neck, and while they were in each other's arms they forgot everything, but that perfect moment in time.
~~00o00~~
~"It's just a chapter in the past. But don't close the book, just turn the page."
^.^