And I'm back! Sorry for the Houdini act. I have two test this week as well as two teapot sets due Tuesday that are only 1/3 of the way done. That plus the release of Borderlands has cause me to have a mini mind melt and my muse to leave (or be directed into a ceramic muse and not a writing). But I was able to get this chapter together for you lovelys. And expect more of an update next week when I get all of these school things out of the way.

Disclaimer: I'm taking applications for people who wish to form a strike team to retrive the rights to Bio-Ware. Meetings are on every other Wednesday. Until then I do not own anything related to Bio-Ware.

Garrus allowed himself a small groan to leave him as he raised his shoulders one at a time, working out the kink that had formed in his neck as he worked. His gaze traveled towards the heads-up display beside his terminal. It had been four hours since he had begun his work on calibrating the main cannon. He had not realized that the one code he was working on would take so damn long to finish. It had already been well over an hour since John had gone down to retrieve the krogan warlord.

At first Garrus had been a little upset, not being able to go on the mission. But after thinking about it he realized that it might not be the best idea to take a turian and a salarian on a mission to retrieve a krogan warlord and ask him to take part in a mission on behalf of a human-centric group like Cerberus. John wanted to get a feel for his newest member and one enemy of the krogans at the time was enough.

Garrus realized that he hadn't had a real meal in quite a long time and moved out of the battery and towards the mess. But as he reached the mess and took stock of the dextro-friendly food he realized that sadly it would be even longer still.

As he stood leaning against one of the tables in the mess area a light noise reached his ear. At first he believed it to be some of the crew talking but as he listened more closely he noticed it was just one voice. And it had a musical feel to it. He realized that someone was singing just down the hall.

Pushing off the table he moved down the hall to try and pinpoint just where the sound was coming from. Stopping and angling his head decided it was coming from the left a short distance down the hall but not from the females restroom and the crew quarters. That left only the observatory, which was odd because as far as he knew that was an empty room.

Stepping up to the green access panel he let his hand ghost over it to gain access to the room. As the door opened he was greeted with not only the singing but a sight that caused him to fight back a chuckle.

At the far side of the room by the bookshelf stood Jane on her bare tiptoes as she seemed to be stacking things on the highest shelf. Around her the contents of the shelf as well as what appeared to be a new pack were stacked about her feet. As she moved back and forth between the stacks and the bookshelves her hips swayed as she sang a song he had never heard before. At some moments she would roll her shoulders back one at a time or even dip one back far and roll her whole body in a dance.

He brought a hand up to cover his mouth as it became increasingly hard to hide his laughter. Especially as he began to listen to the words of the song. Most of the references his translator couldn't understand but some of the message he got and it was quite provocative. Finally he felt it was about time to let her know he was there, to save her some of her embarrassment. He cleared his throat and knocked on the frame of the door so that she would hear him.

Lucky for him she did as she spun around quickly. She reached up and pulled the receiver out of the side of her ear as an explosion of music filled the room echoing what she had been singing. A bright red tint traveled across her nose as she stared at him. After a few seconds his smile was under control.

"So do you normally hold private concerts or do you sell tickets to your shows?" Her eyes grew wide for a moment before a large grin spread across her lips and she burst into a giggle. She shifted so her weight sunk into one hip as her hands moved to rest on her waist.

"Most of my public shows are free with a cover charge of a drink or two. But my private shows..." A coy smile curved its way across her lips as she took two steps closer to him. Now she stood about a foot away from him. Her gaze was turned up towards him, through her long lashes. Garrus wouldn't call himself a human expert but if he was reading her moves correctly he thought he might be in trouble.

"My private shows are usually earned and receive a special sort of prize at the end." She let her gaze drop so she could take in his full form and Garrus couldn't help but swallow. As her eyes met his again her smile was still there, twisting her lips. "This one was free. Next time I'll charge you."

With that she turned on her heel and moved back towards the bookshelf. Garrus was rooted in place unsure of what to do. John seemed to be right. His sister did seem to flirt with everyone. He had thought he might slide under the radar as 'brothers best friend' but it seemed like that didn't matter to her at all. Now what the hell was he supposed to do? His subharmonics danced somewhere between worry and fear. He was saved from saying anything by her laugh.

His eyes moved back to hers as she looked at him over her shoulder. "Spirits Garrus, I'm just fucking with you. Stop looking like I'm about to jump you at any second and have my wicked way with you." He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. A small chuckle escaped him as he raised a talon to scratch his brow plates.

"Damn I thought you were serious for a minute there. Took me a little by surprise." Give him a charging krogan. No problem. A situation where he needs to find a way out of a room filled with mercs. Got that. But throw a flirting woman at him and Garrus felt like an academy boy just starting to develop his adult plates.

She chuckled along with him as she turned and began to organize her things once more. "That's one thing you've got to learn about me. Just like John said, if there is a chance to flirt I'll take it. But it's going to take more than looks and a good aim to get me to fall for someone. It's the inside that gets my heart to flutter, not the box it's given to me in."

She looked over her shoulder once more with a large grin. Garrus was utterly confused. How was he supposed to take her comment? Did she mean that she found him attractive? That would be the first time he was complemented for his good looks by a human. And the rest of what she said - just what did she mean? There were too many questions that he really did want to ask.

So instead of leaving he stepped up to move beside her to help her stack her things on the shelf. After a few seconds she looked at him with a raised brow. "So did you have a reason for coming into my new room? Or were you simply drawn in by my siren song?"

He looked down at her as his subharmonics trilled his confusion. She chuckled lightly while she raised her hand to try and stifle it. "Sorry I forgot, human vs. non human." She now turned around to fully face him as she began to explain. "Sirens are human mythical creatures that lived in the ocean. When humans used to travel across the sea in boats they would sing in a way that the humans found irresistible. So they would become entranced with the song, seduced by it and either crash their ship or jump overboard to get to the beautiful women. Then the siren would kill them and in some stories eat them."

His face twisted slightly from confusion to horror as he took a small step back. "Humans are quite weird to think of such a thing..." His eyes looked her over slowly as he thought about her words. From the little he had learned about human history there seemed to be a lot of stories that tied sex with death, mostly in mythical settings. No wonder humans seemed to be so shy and reserved about sex. She chuckled again as she let her hip shift slightly so she bumped his side.

"Humans only use that expression now to talk about something irresistible. It's no longer about sex or capturing men. Almost anything can call to you like a siren's song. Maybe even some calibrations or a nice gun." Now it was his turn to chuckle as he relaxed and looked to her.

"That I can understand. Those Black Widows are a real beauty that always catch my eye." She joined him in a small laugh as she picked up a frame that held a picture of a younger version of her with a younger John. It was odd to see the hero of the galaxy so young and posing with his younger sister. He watched as she lifted the frame to place it at eye level on the shelf. "So Garrus, what can I do for you?"

She had been right that her song brought him to her at first but now that he was here he found that he enjoyed talking to her. And he really wanted to ask her about her friend on his team. He had been thinking about it since the mission, since he found out really. Just how he was going to bring it up without hinting at his own secret identity or what he knew he had no idea. He gave a small nod as he handed her another book to stack.

"There was something that I wanted to talk about with you, now that we are alone." She smiled at him as she took the book and looked up to him once more through her lashes. At first he was afraid that she mistook his intent. Maybe she thought he was flirting with her. But as she turned away and began to shift the items on the shelf she spoke and it was clear that wasn't the case.

"You want to talk about your team member that I knew, right?"

"Yes that is- Wait... How did you know...?" He was at a loss. There was a whole speech that he had prepped in his mind and now it was wasted. She knew who he was. A large smile grew on her face as she moved to sit on the small couch that was beside the bookshelf.

"How did I find out that you were Archangel?" He nodded as he moved to sit beside her as she shifted so that she could pull her feet up and under her as her arm rested on the back of the couch. "You got to give me some credit here Garrus. I lived on Omega through the whole Archangel rise. He was a sharp shooting turian who wore blue." Her free hand move up to point towards his chest indicating his armor. "He was a do good-er that I always thought would get along amazingly well with my brother. And then a day after he is reported as being killed by a gun ship rocket I come across a turian in blue who has a huge and less than a day old injury on his face."

She smiled as her eyes moved to his scarred face, lingering for a moment before returning to his eyes. "It also didn't help that you seemed really interested when I started talking about my friend. On a personal level almost. All the pieces were there, it was easy to put them together."

He chuckled slightly as he leaned back in the seat and raised a finger to lightly trace the scarring on his face. "I guess you are right." His pride was a little hurt that she figured it out so easily. But truth be told she had information that a normal person wouldn't have. Things like her medical background. A normal person wouldn't be able to tell how fresh his wounds were. A normal person from Omega wouldn't know his history or his ties with John. So she did have a bit of an advantage. His thoughts were interrupted as she spoke a name that made his blood boil.

"Sidonis... How did he die..." Instead of an answer he couldn't stop the deep growl from his chest. He stood up quickly and moved to the window to stare out into the space stretched out before him. He felt a soft hand on his arm. Looking down piercing blue orbs met pale blue that held a small amount of sorrow. He realized that she thought him angry about his death, just like the rest of his team. Turning his gaze away from her he looked back to the stars.

"He isn't dead... yet..." He could tell that the news shocked her as she backed away from him and took her hand away, bringing it to her lip. "But I don't-" She shook her head slightly before looking back towards him for an explanation. He sighed but refused to look down at her. This was something he hadn't even told Shepard about. He didn't really want to relive it all this soon but for Jane it was personal on the same level. The only person he knew that had known any of his team.

"Sidonis is the reason they are all dead. He made a deal with the Blue Suns to hand us over for money or his own life, I don't know." His eyes moved over towards her now as he took in the confusion on her face that was slowly bleeding into anger. "I would assume that you were part of the deal as well. Archangel and his team along with the only sibling of the legendary John Shepard. That's quite the catch."

A growl escaped the small human as she turned and looked ready to destroy something. She paced a few steps back and forth before she turned back to look at him. Garrus was taken aback by the anger he saw in her eyes, she suddenly looked very dangerous. He had to admit that her anger fueled his own and he almost physically felt the connection between him and her. They had both been put on the slaughter board by someone they had trusted.

"That son of a bitch! He played me as a fool! Got all close and chummy with me just to hand me off. I wouldn't be surprised if the bastard was working with them the whole time." She growled once more as she tossed her arms and turned to walk away. "I should have listened to my gut. Don't trust anyone on Omega! But did I listen? No. It took a few encounters but he worked his charm and..." She growled again and turned to point a finger at him. "Do you know where he is?"

Garrus shook his head as he crossed his arms. "If I did I would have John point his ship in that direction. Pay him back for the lives he sacrificed." He watched as she moved to stand in front of him. Her arm was held out as she narrowed her eyes. Her gesture was one that he was quite familiar with but surely she didn't know it, did she?

"When you find him I want to come along. I think I have a some bullets I can put aside for him. There are a few things he owes me as well. Not as high priced as the lives he took but believe me a price that needs to be paid."

His eyes moved back towards her arm once more as his mandibles shifted into a smirk. She did know what she was doing. Reaching out he grabbed her forearm as she returned the grip. She leaned forward as he did as well. Their foreheads touched lightly before they pulled away. It was a turian promise. Between mates it was executed in a more intimate fashion with the couple in an embrace and the touch lingering far longer but the message was still the same.
'I promise with my life.'
A mated couple would be saying that they would promise to love each other for as long as they lived. But here in this moment she was swearing to him that she would help him get his own revenge while he was swearing to help her get hers as well. It was something that as far as he was aware only turians did. So it was very interesting to do it with a human.

As she released his arm she stepped back with a large smile. He couldn't help but share the smile as he watched her for a second. He chuckled as she gave off a less aggressive growl and turned towards the door.

"Great, now I feel the need to beat the shit out of something." She paused and looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "Want to go a few rounds in the cargo hold?"

The way she fluttered her lashes and cocked her hip once more showed she knew exactly what sparring meant to a turian. He chuckled and shook his head as he followed after her.

"I'll have to skip out on that. I'm sure there are more calibrations that need to be done." She gave a small huff that turned into a snicker as she raised her hand to wave him off as the door opened and she moved towards the elevator.

"Boys and their toys. Alright then suit yourself. I'll see you around, Tex." She turned in the elevator to push the button and gave him a small wink as the door shut. Garrus turned towards the main battery shaking his head. With Jane on board things were sure to stay very interesting at the least.