'I'm not dead yet!' I swear it... I have just been very lazy and slightly unmotivated... It took all of my break to get this chapter out. Oh just a fun note I did a fun doll game and created a Jane... Don't laugh.. It's the closest to fan art that I have.. So here is the link: #/d5oiwun If you are bored have fun... Alright that's it... enjoy
Disclaimer: Iownnothingthatwouldgivememoney.. IfIdidchapterswouldcomequicker...
Garrus stepped out of the main battery with a datapad in hand. It was all set and planned out. It had only taken a little digging on his part to find his lead, a man by the name of Fist who was on the Citadel. A man who, for a certain amount of money, could make a person disappear. So all it would take was finding this Fist guy and have a simple 'chat' with him, then they would be one more step closer to finding Sidonis.
His eyes were trained on the datapad as he moved down the short walkway. He had planned to show Jane all of his findings first then take it to John. He couldn't help the excitement he was starting to feel at the prospect of finally getting his revenge. As he neared the kitchen area he heard John's raised voice. Looking up he found he was not the only spectator.
Almost all of the ground team and off duty crew sat at the tables around the room, watching as John seemed to be in a heated conversation with Kasumi. Looking around the room he couldn't seem to find Jane. Spotting Tali, he moved over to stand beside her as she leaned against the glass of the med lab.
"So what exactly is going on here?" The bright lights that served as Tali's eyes broke away from John and Kasumi to turn upon him. He could see the amusement in them as she gave a small tilt of her helmet towards the pair.
"It seems that our little thief joined our mission with a promise from Cerberus that she would be able to have a small mission completed for herself." Her lit eyes curved in a smile as she looked back towards John. "The discussion got louder when she wanted to take Jane over John..."
Garrus's head reared back slightly as he turned to follow the conversation. Of course John would be displeased with that. Overall this was his mission and he usually liked to have the control. And with how much he tended to keep Jane safe and tucked away, he was not going to stand by when she went on a mission, especially without him.
"Those were the terms that Cerberus agreed to. My mission, my decision." Kasumi seemed slightly entertained with the notion of John being upset. Her eyes shone as she crossed her arms and stared into John's eyes with a defiant gaze. Raising her finger it seemed she was trying to further her point. "I am in need of certain person to enter a party and persuade a certain 'bad guy'," now four of her fingers raising in the air to do air quotes, "that they are indeed on the guest list and to be a diversion if needed." Although Garrus could not see under her hood he was sure that Kasumi was now smirking quite largely. He could tell by the way her voice seemed to dance.
"And while you usually seem to do wonders in the ways of attraction, Commander, I do not think that you are this guy's type." She stood with her arms crossed and her chin raised as if to mock John. He stood with his hands planted on his hips in a defiant way. It seemed he wasn't quite ready to budge on the matter. He raised his finger to her as if to try another angle when a voice sounded from around the corner.
"She has a point John. Besides," Jane continued to speak as she stepped around the corner for all to see her. "I think this fits me a little bit better than it fits you. Though I think I would pay a large sum of credits to see you wear it."
Now, Garrus never had had a human fetish, as he told himself over and over. He could understand that there were some human women that human males seemed to fancy. They had those features that seemed to stand out against other humans. But he himself could not really understand the appeal of the large amount of fat stored on their chest or the desire to look at how long their legs were. But this, this was a completely different matter.
Jane was dressed in a tight black and red dress that seemed to hug every single curve and bend. So tight in fact that he could see an outline of the toned muscles that hid beneath the fabric. The bottom of the dress stopped somewhere between her hips and her knees, although he would have to say it favored more on the hip side, leaving her toned legs exposed. Her feet were in odd shoes that were as black as parts of the dress. On the back end on the shoes a large straight piece extended down to the floor causing her to stand on the very toes of her feet. That gave her even more height and forced her calve muscles to become even more firm. The top of her dress dipped low causing her whole upper chest to be exposed and almost inviting, even to someone like him who, until now, had never seen the attraction. Just like the undersuit she usually wore her arms were completely exposed and bare, showing the small stars that danced up her arm. The red in her dress seemed to match the deep new red of her hair, which now hung low down her back, far less curly than what it usually looked like.
What really caught his attention were the dark markings just around her eyes. He knew of makeup and how most women wore it but he had never seen it so successful as now, the dark black really causing the silvery-blue of her eyes to reach out and grab his attention. Her lips twisted in a smirk as her eyes moved to his and he noticed that her lips seemed to be stained a darker red. He couldn't help but feel a little flustered by her gaze. They lingered with their eyes locked far longer than what would be termed a glance. It seemed like she was searching for a reaction in his gaze. Luckily she looked away and towards John, which set him free from those silver blue orbs.
Looking around the room he took note that he was not the only male that was stunned by her looks. He even noted Thane, who before had been standing and leaning against the wall, now stood away from the wall with his hands hanging loosely by his side. It was the first time Garrus had seen the drell look startled. Good. At least he wasn't the only alien that was captivated by Jane's state.
"What the hell, Jane..." All eyes now moved from Jane over to John who seemed to be fuming as he took in Jane's state of dress. Taking a step towards her it almost seemed as if he was blocking her from the rest of the room. Though his voice was lowered it was still loud enough for Garrus to hear them.
"Why would you go behind my back like this? You know I like to oversee all the missions. I can't let you do this..." As he spoke he took her upper arm in his hand and pulled her slightly out of the way of everyone else. But it was clear from the look of determination on her face that Jane was not going to let that slide. She pulled her arm out of his grip and brought her finger back to poke him in the chest.
"The hell you can't. I'm not a little girl anymore, John. I passed all the tests to get my big girl card. I was even living alone. On Omega. I have been taking care of myself since you died two years ago. You have no say over what I do or not do. Maybe you should take a look and see just how much has changed while you were being brought back from the land of the dead. I can do missions on my own. I can take care of myself. And I don't need a babysitter." Pulling away from him she looked past him towards Kasumi and gave her a nod. "I'll meet you in the drop ship..."
She gave John one last glare before turning and moving towards the elevator. The room became very uneasy as no one was sure what to say. Then suddenly everyone began to find other things of interest, turning to talk to one another or moving off to do meaningless tasks. Garrus stood with Tali, their attention on one of their closest friends who seemed unsure of just what to do.
Kasumi moved over to place a hand on John's shoulder. As his gaze moved down to the girl she offered him a hooded smile. "There is nothing to worry about. It is simple infiltration. I plan on it just being in and out. There shouldn't be any sort of resistance..." John sighed as he looked back towards the elevator. It was clear that something Jane had said had struck a chord but he wasn't going to stop them. He simply gave a small nod and looked over to Thane who was moving up on his other side. The drell offered him a small nod before looking towards the elevator as John had.
"I have been spending a few training sessions with your sister. She is one of the most skilled hand to hand fighters I have seen. I believe that she would surprise you with her skill. She is not to be taken lightly." Large dark eyes moved back to meet John's. There was a sigh from the human male as he gave a small shake of his head.
A heated flare lit up inside Garrus. Just when had Thane been spending time with Jane? Pausing for a moment he realized that he wasn't with her every moment of everyday. So there had been plenty of times. Perhaps there was really nothing to be worried about. As she had just said, she was a big girl. If she wanted to spar with the drell, she very well could. But perhaps there was some merit in venturing out of the main battery more often. As he thought about that, John's eyes moved towards Kasumi. He raised his hand to cover hers while giving her a nod. "Just promise me that you will watch her back."
The small thief gave a sly smile as she pulled away and moved towards the elevator. "And just for you Shep, I'll watch her front, too." There was a small wink before she disappeared into the elevator. John let out another sigh before turning towards Kasumi's room. "A drink... A drink is in order..."
As he moved away Garrus pushed away from the wall and gave Tali a small nod. "I'm going to go and talk to him. There are a few things I need to discuss anyway." He looked from John's retreating form to Tali who seemed to be nervous as she wrung her hands together. Her glowing orbs moved up towards John before shifting back to Garrus.
"Are you sure? I mean I would be more than glad to go and..." Her voice trailed off as she shook her head. "Nevermind. Maybe it is best if you go and speak to him. You both have a younger sister after all... That whole brother protective... thing.." She turned away before Garrus could say something and moved towards the elevator.
A small trill of confusion left his subharmonics as he watched the quarian practically run away from him. Garrus had noticed that Tali had been acting strange lately. It was clear that there was something on her mind but she seemed to have trouble getting it out. He sighed as he shook his head slightly. One troubled friend at a time. Turning towards the room the thief had added a bar to, he set out to talk to the distressed Commander.
As he entered the room he found John standing behind the small bar, looking over all the drinks that were possible for him to drink. He seemed to be in deep thought as he looked over the bottles. Coming up to stand behind him on the other side of the bar Garrus watched his friend for a moment before he spoke. "So... that was interesting..."
John let out a long sigh as he paused in his search. His hands stilled as he looked down on the bar, seeming to still be deep in thought. After a moment he spoke. "You have a younger sister, right Garrus? You know what it's like. Wanting to keep her safe and away from harm. Never letting her get hurt."
Garrus gave a sigh of his own as he moved to sit on the stool in front of the bar. He brought his hands up to rest under his chin as watched his friends back. "I'm a turian, John. My sister has known how to fight and defend herself since she was a young age. Sure, I still worry about her getting hurt but I know that there is nothing I can do about it. I haven't been home in years. And even if I did say I disapproved of one of her actions, if she really wanted to, she would just do it. She has a stubborn streak, kinda like Jane."
Another sigh escaped John as he turned to look at his friend. Leaning on the bar he clasped his hands together. "I've seen her hurt before. And not just physically." His eyes moved to his friend as gold met blue. Raising his hand he tapped his chest. "Has she told you? About the turian?" Garrus realized that John was indicating the turian dog tags that Jane wore. He gave a small nod of his head.
"She said he was important to her. I believe she called him a crush. He died in an attack by the Blood Pack." John gave a small huff as he looked away. "That is a very subtle way to put it." Looking back to his hands he moved to pull up his omni-tool. "He was closer to us than anyone. One of the first turians Jane and I ever met. His dad was brought on board our mother's ship to study human military." John gave a small laugh as he looked into the ship around him. "He very well may have been one of the minds behind the idea of the Normandy."
His omni-tool lit up as John brought up a picture. Turning he let Garrus see the image. "This is us when we were around 12. Well, Jane was about 10." Garrus leaned over so that he could see. On the holo were three figures, two human children and a turian child. The human pair had the red blonde hair, the boys hair in a shaggy cut while the girls hair was pulled up in the back. Her eyes were a silver blue that he knew all too well, just as the boy's honey gold. He found it funny to look at such a young version of his Commander and his younger sister. Between them, with his arms around their shoulders, was the young turian. His plates were a frosty white color while his markings were deep red which caused them to stand out against his face. The red markings framing his eyes seemed to draw attention to the green orbs. All in all he could be thought of as quite the beautiful child.
Garrus gave a small nod as he looked to John. "You all seem very comfortable with each other." John chuckled as he moved his omni-tool back towards himself so he could look through the images again. "You have no idea. We had a good friendship, Trydonis and I. But Jane... there was a deeper bond there." He smirked as he brought up another image to show Garrus. "Granted, they had two years to themselves before Jane started her Alliance training while I had already started."
Garrus looked to the omni-tool and was slightly taken aback by the feeling of the image. It was still a younger Jane, now around 16 or 17, but she looked more like she did now. Her hair was now the bright red she had recently dyed. He suddenly realized that the red of her hair matched the red markings of the turian behind her. Was that her way of taking on his markings?
The way they were posed in the picture spoke of an intimate level. It was shot from the waist up with the turian, Trydonis, standing behind Jane with his arms wrapped around, crossing her front to rest his hands on her sides. His head was down and nuzzled in the side of her neck. Her head was resting back on his shoulder while her eyes were shut. It was clear she was enjoying his touch as one hand rested on one of his hands while her other hand was up and holding the side of his face lightly. A wide smile played on her lips. Garrus couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy as he looked at the pair. He quickly pushed down the feeling as he looked up to John.
"They really seem to be in love here." John smiled as he brought his arm back so he could look at the image. "They really were. Jane even told me a week before the attack that when he came to visit they had plans to..." A small blush rose on John's face as he raised a finger to scratch the side of his face, a nervous tick John seemed to have when embarrassed. "Well, they had plans to finalize their relationship and become mates."
Garrus was once more taken aback. He had simply thought them very close. But to be mated, sharing markings, they might as well have been official bondmates. He looked to John who was putting away his omni-tool. "You were okay with that? Letting your sister be mated to a turian?"
John chuckled as he shook his head. "Looking back now, I wish I had stopped her. Maybe then I could have saved her from all that pain. He wouldn't have come to visit her on the Citadel and he wouldn't have been on that ship. But I didn't. I was all for the idea. He was one of my closest friends. I couldn't think of a better guy for her. Someone I knew would look after her and keep her safe."
John sighed as he shook his head. Reaching out, Garrus placed a hand on his friends shoulder. "You were doing what you knew was good for your sister. You didn't know what was going to happen." John sighed once more as he looked to his friend.
"Garrus, you have no idea what it was like. To be standing there with her on the dock as a busted ship drifted into port. Waiting while the passengers filed out slowly, so many hurt. I could feel her heart break as they carried out his body on a gurney. It broke my heart to watch her collapse on his lifeless form demanding him to wake up. Yelling at him that there were so many promises left for them to fill." He shook his head as he looked away. "I never want her to live through that again. And every time she wants to go on a mission, all I can think of is her coming back to me in the same fashion."
Garrus sighed as he withdrew his hand and rose to move behind the bar. Looking through the bottles he spoke to John. "There is only so much you can do John. At some point you need to let her go a little. You forget she has already lived through that feeling, not only once, but twice. You died, remember. She had to relive that pain, the one you are trying to shield yourself from." Garrus sighed as he pulled a bottle down and handed it to John.
"Look, I'm not saying that you need to stop caring or that nothing will ever happen. I'm just saying she did have a point. She is a very capable woman who can take care of herself. She is strong and talented and a very skilled fighter. And I don't think that you really need to worry about someone breaking her heart. Because even though she is friendly with others and tends to flirt, I have not noticed her really opening up to anyone. I think she spends more time with me than anyone out of boredom." He mentally told himself to not tell John about his budding attraction. That was something that needed to be left out. Mostly due to the fact that he wholeheartedly believed that it was all one sided. Jane treated him just like any other male on the ship. It was simply an attraction that seemed to run in the family. John created the same feeling in many of the girls he knew. Liara, Ashley and Tali were all proving this point.
He gave a small chuckle and a turian smile as John gave a small nod. There was an underlining look in Johns gaze that was gone as soon as Garrus noticed it. Dismissing it as his imagination, Garrus grabbed a bottle of turian brandy and moved back to the stool.
"So now to switch topics to something less... worrisome." At Johns soft smile and nod Garrus began to explain about the discovery of Fist and his plan to track the man down. Jane had been right, John was on board with the idea. He understood that his friend needed to sort out this problem before his full attention would be on the mission at hand. They had finished talking about Garrus's personal mission and had moved the topic to days of old when EDI's voice called out to John.
"Commander, the drop ship is returning to the cargo hull. It appears that the mission was a success." John gave a small nod as he looked up towards the voice. "I'm on my way EDI." His eyes moved towards Garrus as he tilted his head towards the door, asking if Garrus wanted to join him. The turian gave a small nod as he set his drink down and moved after John towards the elevator.
As the doors of the ship opened John and Garrus both stood waiting, John a little more eager than Garrus. Kasumi was the first to exit followed by Jane. Garrus was slightly surprised by the fact that Jane wore neither the dress she had worn to the party nor her normal mission gear. Her torso and legs were covered by an armor suit that closely resembled John's, her arms still bare. It was a black suit with a red trim that did reflect the dress she had been wearing. Her hair was pulled up and away from her face, very much like the style she wore on normal missions.
John seemed just as taken aback by the change. Looking her over he pointed to the suit. "When did you get that?" Jane smiled as her head tilted towards Kasumi. The thief gave a small smile under her hood that didn't seem to reach her eyes as she clutched a small box to her chest. "Kasumi seemed to have 'acquired' it when she acquired the dress. I'm guessing that she didn't like the idea of me being exposed."
Kasumi raised her shoulders as John looked to her. "It was just the two of us... And since both of us tend to do the up and close style of fighting and there was no one to watch our backs, I felt we needed a little bit of an extra safeguard." John gave a smile to Kasumi that seemed to express his thanks. Garrus couldn't help but smile as well as Jane rolled her neck.
"It did the trick quite well... But I would love to get out of it now..." Her eyes moved to her brother's as she took a step towards him. "How you wear this every time I have no idea." John gave a small chuckle as he nodded. There was a silence that lingered for a moment as the siblings stared each other down. Garrus watched in amusement as they seemed to have an entire conversation of their own with just simple looks. In the end Jane smiled and gave a nod as John stepped towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. It seemed that they had made up.
The silence was broken as Kasumi spoke up. "If you don't mind, I think I am going to retreat to my room for a while." A hint of sorrow crossed Jane's face as she gave a small nod to her. The men watched slightly confused as the girl made a small bow with her head before turning and moving towards the elevator. Once she was out of sight John turned to look at his sister with a raised brow. Jane gave a small smile.
"We retrieved a gray box or something like that... It is pretty much all the memories of her lover who died a while ago. She was conflicted on whether to destroy it or not. I told her if it was me, I would keep it. It seemed she took my advice." Garrus turned to watch Jane as her eyes stayed trained on the elevator. Having heard her story from John he now knew on a different level just what that meant to Jane. If she had a way to view all of her turian's memories he was sure she would have kept hold of them.
John moved away from her, seeming unsure of what to say, and looked up towards the hull. "Joker, set a course towards the Citadel. We have quite a bit of business there..." He looked back to Garrus giving him a nod before turning and making his way to the elevator himself, leaving Jane and Garrus alone.
Taking this moment Garrus moved over to stand in front of Jane. "Fist is on the Citadel. We are one step closer to getting Sidonis." Jane's eyes seemed to light up slightly as she looked to Garrus. She gave a small nod as she moved to make her way to the elevator as well. "Good. We should start looking as soon as we land."
As she took a step, she seemed to drop into a limp that favored her right leg. Garrus moved quickly to catch her as she let a curse slip. A small chuckle sounded from her as Garrus's subharmonics called a sound of worry. Her eyes moved to him as she braced a hand on his arm.
"Right towards the end of the mission my shields dropped too low and my leg was grazed. We only had one pack of medi-gel left so I didn't use it just in case we needed it for a more pressing matter. Didn't really bother me then but now... " She made a small chuckle again as she looked to her leg. After a second she glanced back up to him, raising a brow. "Don't tell John?"
He chuckled as he gave her a nod. "Of course not... I just got him to accept the fact that you were right about going on missions alone. Don't need him having a freak out again." He flashed her a small turian smile as he pushed his own worry down. Getting hurt on the battlefield was something that happened all the time. But that thought didn't stop other thoughts from entering his mind. Ones that seemed to center around him making sure that the next time she went out on a mission, he would be there as well. Just to make sure.
She chuckled slightly as she began to move towards the elevator once more, with a little help from Garrus. "Well, aren't you useful. Not only are you a crack shot but you can talk my brother down when he's in one of his fits." Garrus flashed her a large grin as they entered the lift. "Don't forget amazingly attractive and quick-witted."
Jane laughed as she pushed the button to take her to their floor. "Of course, of course. Who could forget that?" There seemed to be a mocking tone in her voice as she looked up to him. The rest of the ride up and to her room they discussed their plan on finding and getting information out of this Fist character.