A/N: Hello, readers and welcome to the once again long overdue chapter update. RL and writer's block prevented me from getting this out sooner than I would have liked. A big thank you to Danie-Dono, DandereGoneFishing, Garrus Vakarian-N7, Blausen, and Mei-chiri for your reviews last chapter and as always to all those who have favorited, followed or just stopped by to read this story!
-14-
With Khan dead, getting back out of the safe room without attracting attention would have been difficult if they hadn't had the assistance of Kasumi's team. One of the guards they had seen swarm to the vault was actually one of hers, faking the arrest of another of Kasumi's team so as to leave the way free and clear for the others. She was able to contact the guard, a human with a characteristically vorcha sounding surname called Vurk, asking him to keep any other guards from milling about in the area. Mostly for Garrus's benefit, as he had never had a tactical cloak feature installed on his omni-tool or trained in its use. Not something turians learned how to utilize. They weren't a race known for their stealth.
"I have to say I wasn't expecting to see you here, Shep. You either, Garrus," Kasumi remarked as they exited the casino on the top floor. Less of a crowd if they cut through the arcade, Kasumi had reasoned. Though Garrus didn't know much it really mattered since she was insisting on keeping her cloak on until they got to the apartment elevator. "I mean I could expect to see you two together, just not here on the same night of my heist."
"Can't say we did either. But things might have gotten ugly if you hadn't shown up," Garrus replied to the area where he thought Kasumi was walking. Good thing Jane was with him so people wouldn't think him crazy for talking to the empty area next to him.
"So what exactly were you two doing there? At first I thought you and Shep were out on a date, then I saw that other woman with you."
Jane waited until they passed through the doors of the arcade to fill Kasumi in where the pinging and competitive shouts from patrons provided a layer of protection from any nearby ears.
"That explains why you were contacting Liara T'Soni. So Khan was going to rat out whoever was behind the attack?"
"More like he had blackmail material in case it needed to be used. That's why we're hoping EDI can extract something from those drives," Jane said, nodding to Kasumi. Since Jane's dress had no pockets, Kasumi had volunteered to carry it. Being a thief, an outfit with endless and deep pockets was a must-have.
They made their way out of the arcade, navigating through the heavier crowd of people than there had been before. True to her word, Kasumi didn't deactivate her cloak until they reached the sanctity of the apartment complex elevator.
The elevator was far less crowded than last he rode it up, more room to spread out and not get crushed up against the wall, on the verge of suffocating from what Wrex questionably called krogan musk. But he was the farthest thing from relaxed, the sole source of his tension coming from the red-headed woman propped against the back of the elevator wall, gaze pinpointed on the elevator door, as if the answers to whatever she was deeply pondering would appear when the doors opened again. The one who should have been anxious as the leader of a heist she was still keeping a tight lip on hung out on the opposite side, her foot idly tapping in rhythm with the soft music being pumped through the speakers which had been silent on Garrus's last few trips. If she was concerned with the status of her operation, her relaxed posture didn't convey it.
Intrusiveness aside, he wished he had Javik's ability to discover emotion and thoughts through a single touch. Find out what was bothering her, caused her to kiss him like that. Instead he'd have to find out the old fashioned way, through gentle nudging that would likely lead to intense questioning. Or the other way around.
Garrus was half-expecting Miranda to be standing by the door, ready to pounce on them upon their arrival, but the closest person to the door was Joker, walking back to the seat they had left him at it from the direction of the bathroom.
"Hey, look who's back!" Joker exclaimed as they walked further in the door. "Sounds like you all had fun."
"Oh, yeah, hell of a party. Unless you were the host. Didn't go so well for him."
"We heard about Brooks. Should have known that innocent rookie thing was just an act. But at least you replaced her with someone we know won't stab us in the back. Just gotta watch for any missing figurines or books. This apartment's a gold mine for them."
"It's good to see you too, Joker. Are you and EDI still acting like an old married couple?"
Joker didn't miss a beat, tugging at the rim of his cap. "Only on Wednesdays. And when she messes with the temperature in the cockpit. Can't be expected to be the best pilot in the world when I'm freezing my ass off. FYI, Commander, Liara and Miranda and EDI wanted to see you and Garrus when you got in."
Thanking Joker for relying the message, Jane made her way to the conference table, Garrus following close behind, catching a glimpse of Vega punching away at the bag set up in the bedroom at the end of the hall.
Miranda looked to be pouring over intel on her omni-tool while Liara and EDI had a holo-image of the casino pulled up, going back and forth on figuring how Brooks pulled off her hit while fooling Jane and Garrus.
"They heard Brooks open a grate at some point, but Kasumi told them she saw the guard let Brooks pass. The storage room door is right across from the safe room door. If there were any guards stationed there, they would never let her through if they saw her coming from there. And as far as we know, those are the only two grates," Liara pointed out.
"But Shepard also said Brooks had a tactical cloak. She may have come through as heard, used the cloak to pass the guards, then come back through uncloaked," EDI said.
"That seems like it carries too much risk. The guard may not have let her through or alerted Khan. Why not just go through to the safe room cloaked?"
"Unless she pretended to go through the vent. And likely the guard who knew her didn't know about the fall-out or was working for her all along."
Liara hummed. "All likely scenarios. Still, it would have been nice to find out..." Liara glanced up at Jane's and Garrus's arrival, her eyes sparkling with relief. "Jane, Garrus. I'm glad you both made it back ok."
Miranda pulled herself away from whatever she had been looking at on her omni-tool. "Good to see you two in one piece, despite my late warning." He was quite proud of keeping a droll comment on the tip of his tongue to himself. He knew she already was well aware the tip had come in beyond when it would have been useful. "So what happened at the casino? How did Brooks reveal herself?"
Jane launched into the play-by-play of events, from their arrival at the casino to when they left Khan's safe room with Kasumi. Miranda, EDI, and Liara listened attentively, though Garrus noticed Liara giving Jane a searching look every time Jane's eyes shifted to one of the others. Had she begun noticing something was off with her too?
Miranda tapped her fingers against her chin when Jane finished. "So much effort. But then you were supposed to die at the sushi place. And Khan may still have needed to be silenced if the intel he had was as explosive as he claimed."
"So how did you even find out Brooks was a traitor, anyway?" Garrus asked.
"At first I couldn't find anything on her. Until I stopped searching under the name Brooks, but instead Hope Lillium. Likely another lie given her fondness for deception. She was the one who put together Shepard's dossiers for the suicide mission. Never paid her much mind. Though I recall her raising objections to certain of the dossiers."
Three wild guesses as to what those dossiers had in common.
"That still doesn't explain what her motives are."
"No, it doesn't," Miranda reluctantly agreed with Garrus. "All the more important we track her down."
"Do we have any idea where she's heading?" Liara asked Jane.
"No, but we were hoping EDI could tell us, see what's on the drives we recovered." Jane called Kasumi over, who strode over to the group, pulling out the data drives along the way.
"Here you go, Shep." Kasumi handed them to Jane who turned them over to EDI.
"I shall begin scanning them immediately. Depending on the level of encryption, it may not take long."
"Should I call everyone together in the meantime?" Liara asked, already working her way around the table.
"Do it."
While Liara rounded up everyone else, who had seemingly spread out among the two levels, Kasumi received a call from one of her team for a progress report. Things were still going smoothly, but one of Khan's guards was starting to get a little suspicious.
"Do what you can to placate him and tell the others they may have a limited window. Grab as much as you can, then vacate the casino. I don't want attention drawn and innocent bystanders in the crossfire," Kasumi instructed.
"That reminds me. You never did tell us why you're stealing from Khan," Jane brought up once Kasumi disconnected.
"People who can't get to the Citadel are having a rough time out there," Kasumi explained. "That casino has more money than it know what to do with. If it can help those refugees survive, it's worth it. And it's not as if Khan will be needing it now."
"A modern-day Robin Hood. Quite admirable."
"I'm just doing what I do," Kasumi replied, muting Miranda's compliment with her modesty.
EDI was finishing up on the first two layers of security walls by the time the majority of their group was journeying to the table.
"Damn, Lola, you can't even go to a party without someone ending up dead," James remarked upon his approach.
"It's never a dull moment with her," Tali replied like it was an indisputable fact.
"If you primitives had done it my way, it would not have given the traitor time to eliminate her target."
"Or you could have just brought me along as your date, Shepard. Cracked some guard skulls. But not everyone can handle all this krogan."
"I wasn't about to play the role of boyfriend left behind in the closet, Wrex." Among other reasons. "And you would have scared the prey."
"Then we need to find bigger prey," Wrex said, making it sound so simple.
As the last members of the team in the forms of Zaeed and Cortez joined them, EDI announced she had found something of interest.
"Though the data's root structure was erased, the logic integrity remained viable. I found an encrypted communication from a few days ago. Those mercs who were after you appeared to have bought a lot of weapons. As well as mechs."
"What the hell would they need that kind of firepower for?" Ash asked.
"Isn't it obvious, Alliance soldier? They mean to stage a full-scale attack."
"But they already tried. What else would they be planning?" Tali wondered
"Seems like we won't know until we find Brooks. Unless there is anything else on the drives?" Jane asked of EDI.
"There were other encrypted files stored on the drive. I can continue combing through them, see if I can locate a base of operations. Given their number, it is likely located somewhere on the Citadel."
"Good idea. The rest of us should gear and arm up, make sure we're ready to go when EDI pinpoints their location."
"Great plan, Lola, but, uh, a little bit of a snag. I don't have a gun or armor. And I don't know about you, but I don't feel like testing my odds against mechs."
James did bring up a good point. Only a handful of them brought their weapons with them. And he wasn't positive, but he didn't recall seeing Jane's N7 armor anywhere.
"And both my guns are in my hotel room," Tali added.
"Couldn't you sneak one around in those suit pockets of yours? Didn't you stick some geth parts in there a few times?"
"Bits and pieces. And for a shotgun? My pockets aren't that deep, Garrus."
A quick survey of the group found Miranda, Jacob, Cortez, Liara and EDI without weaponry along with James and Tali (Ash had the benefit of Spectre authority to carry her assault rifle around the Citadel without being asked questions). At least James and Jane were the only ones lacking armor.
"Can't we send a message to the Normandy, have Traynor expedite some goods?" Joker asked.
"We can't afford to take that much time. Or chance communications aren't still being monitored. They'd go underground if they believe we're preparing to storm their location, even if we don't know where it is," Miranda argued.
EDI then pointed towards the lights outside the window. "What about the Armax Arsenal Arena across from us? They would likely have access to some merchandise for sale."
"Those places usually won't unless you are a combatant," James said. "If we don't have time to go back to Normandy, I'm guessing we don't have time for one of us to enter the ring."
Jane's face lit up in realization. "Not if I got an e-mail from them a few hours ago offering a complimentary pass to the arena."
It was decided only a small group should go in order to attract less attention. They'd transport some of the equipment in the bag Jane had brought with her, which of course meant she had to dump all the contents she had in it (not that that was much). Though Garrus was set with his, he volunteered to come with Jacob, Cortez, James, Tali and Jane. He just couldn't take sitting around doing nothing.
He hadn't planned on trying to talk to Tali now with Jane so close by, but Tali took the initiative, motioning for him to fall behind the others as they left the main lobby of the apartment complex.
"Any updates?"
"Nothing encouraging." To put it mildly. "Something's definitely up. Did you try getting in touch with Dr. Chakwas while we were gone?"
"She wouldn't answer. She's at some emergency medical consult at Huerta Memorial. I found that out from Liara." She paused." I told her, what was going on. She's as much in the dark as we are."
That explained why Liara was analyzing Jane earlier. "I'm going to talk to her, see if I can coax anything out of her."
"I hope you can. Out of all of us, she'd be most likely to tell you whatever's wrong."
Having said all they needed to between them, they both pushed ahead to catch up to the others. If any of them noticed they fell behind, they didn't say anything as they passed the vorcha dealer trying to entice new players (some type of card game by Garrus's glance at it) by the entrance to the arena.
For all his enjoyment of a good fight, Garrus rarely frequented combat arenas. Simulators in training facilities, sure, but nothing on this scale. People were milling by the ticket counters at the sides, purchasing their passes, placing their bets. The group made their way up to the top of the landing, where he saw a large crowd gathered by the railing, lined up in a row to watch the latest competitor. Many others were frequenting the snack bar to the left. The store to their right, however, was of more importance to them.
"I just hope they have something in my size. Nothing worse than having to suck your gut in during a fight cause your armor's too tight." James pulled something up on his omni-tool, then quickly shut it off again.
"Waiting for something, Vega?"
James quickly evaded the question. "Don't worry about it, Scars."
"I just hope they have my shotgun model here," Tali interjected beside Garrus. "I've gotten so used to the Eviscerator."
How many times had he heard that from Jane about her Predator? "You sound just like Jane."
"Look who's talking, Mr. Hasn't Changed His Sniper Rifle in a Year."
"That would be a pretty long last name, Tali. Even by hanar standards."
He got a sarcastic "Bosh'tet" for his trouble.
Since he wasn't purchasing anything and Jane certainly didn't need his opinion in picking out quality armor, he decided to wander around the arena while they did their shopping.
He had just passed the turian VI whose mandibles and waist could have passed for the recon scout he had blown off steam with years ago when he heard the cheering from the crowd and the fire fight and explosions from the arena below.
He slithered over to the railing, sliding into the space vacated by a nearby spectator, leaning down to get a better look at the competitor.
Biotic energy was thrown across the arena, tossing the virtual Cerberus trooper to the ground. The competitor also seemed to have a red-skinned varren with them, who charged at another enemy, emitting its own biotic charge (that was definitely new). It was only when the competitor popped up from cover to fire shotgun blasts he spotted the ponytail holding together the one bit of brown hair growing from her scalp and the studded jacket and white straps preventing anyone from seeing all the tattoos decorating her skin. Or in Garrus's case, saved him from a headache every time he looked at her.
When the fight was over, Jack raised her arms in triumph, shouting something Garrus couldn't make out over the noise from the speakers. She then looked up at the crowd of people who gathered to watch her, her eyes scanning the crowd for a fleeting moment before she made her way off the arena floor to the locker room. He didn't know if Jack saw him, but it wasn't as if he was hard to spot.
With the fight over, the crowd had begun to wane, allowing him a path through to get back to his group, to tell them he saw Jack.
He spotted Jane first, back against the shop counter, overnight bag by her side waiting to receive its future contents, watching the others pick out weapons for themselves and for the Liara, EDI, and Miranda, who had given their preferences to what guns and models they wanted.
"I'm guessing things are going smoothly?" he asked upon his approach.
"Surprisingly so."
They heard James and Cortez start to haggle over who would get the higher-end M-55 Argus over what some would consider the lesser-end M-8 Avenger.
"And your armor?" Garrus asked.
"Vega found something similar and they even have a spare N7 set. Not my original, but it'll do. Seems like all I had do was say my name and they were jumping at the bit to suit my every need." She cast her gaze down to the floor, her face contorting itself into that same pondering expression back in the elevator which had evaporated once they had entered the apartment. "Makes me wonder..."
Garrus waited a moment to see if she would finish before asking, "Wonder what?"
Jane's back tensed, the muscles tightened in her face. Telltale signs she was preparing to go on the defensive. Least that behavioral pattern was normal. "It's nothing."
"It seems like something."
Her right eye twitched in time with the pursing of her lips. "I said it was nothing, Vakarian."
He decided it was best to let it go, add it to the growing laundry list of things he would talk to her about.
If this was what the warm-up act looked like, how much worse would the main one be?
He had almost forgotten all about Jack until the clerk came back with Jane's armor and the others were finishing up on their purchases.
"So you'll never guess who I saw fighting in the arena."
Jane paused in her inspecting of the shoulder pads. "Who?"
The pitter-patter of hurried feet, almost like someone was taking off at a sprint, grabbed Garrus's attention. He spun around, expecting to see someone barreling towards them, instead of the fully-grown varren rushing at them, only to brake right at their feet, tongue out between his two sharp teeth and wagging his tail like one of those Earth creatures he had heard one of his C-Sec co-workers gush about called dogs.
"Looks like you have a new friend."
"Yeah." Though the varren seemed unusually friendly, given its owner, it might have been trained to bite anyone's hand off if he tried to touch it. "It was in the ring earlier. Had some impressive biotics."
"That's unusual." The varren was now looking between the two of them expectantly, as if waiting for someone to pet it. "Just as much as one acting like a dog. I've never seen a varren act like this."
He had his hand half-way down to indulge the varren and take his chances that his hand would still be attached to his wrist when it froze mid-way, chilled by her certainty, when the memories of her showering affection on another domesticated varren on Tuchanka proved otherwise.
"I thought that was you up there, Garrus. Figured Shepard wasn't too far away either."
The varren's mistress appeared before them, tossing a towel she had used to wipe the sweat from her brow over her shoulder. At Jack's approach, the varren rushed over to her, greeting her on raised legs.
"Since when do you own a varren?" Garrus asked, watching her order the varren down.
"He's from Thessia. Naturally biotic from all that element zero. Their biotics make them short-tempered, so a lot of them get abused or abandoned. Can you imagine someone doing that?" She reached down to scratch the top of Eezo's head, such a gentle action not something he would have thought Jack capable of a year ago. "I found Eezo at a rescue place. I'm trying to teach him that it's okay to trust people. He started out really angry, but I've been giving him lots of love, and now he's a big old softie."
Eezo nudged the palm of Jack's hand to prove the point.
"He could still hold his own out there."
"Course he can. I'm not going to let him get so soft he forgets how to fight." Jack then took in the presence of the others for the first time. "So whose ass are you going to kick?"
Jane let out a dry puff, another of those half-hearted laughs he had heard that evening. "Is it that obvious?"
Jack shrugged. "Pretty much."
"Short version, someone tried to kill me and a woman we thought an ally was actually a traitor. Long version, guess you'll have to come with and find out," Jane invited.
Jack pretended to put some thought behind it. "I can never resist a good fight. And you always did pick the best ones." She crouched down beside Eezo. "What do you say? Huh, my big bad-ass biotic?"
He jumped up and down, his dark pupils lit up, sharing the excitement with his mistress at the thought of spilling some merc blood. Wait til Jack found out there was a Cerberus connection. It would be all the human holidays combined for her.
The others then joined up with them, placing some of the purchased guns in the bag along with Jane's armor. The arena had been kind enough to give James a duffel bag for him to carry his in, also allowing for more room for any who didn't want to carry theirs. Jane then informed that Jack and Eezo would be joining their ragtag team.
"I'll go get my stuff from my locker. Be back. Come on, Eezo."
"Miranda's gonna freak when she sees her," Jacob muttered to him once Jack was out of earshot.
Possibly, but if Jane could keep Jack and Miranda from killing each other before, she could likely do it again.
One stroll and an elevator ride later, they were back at the apartment, with an extra human and varren to aid the fight. Only one of their group was predictably less than thrilled about that particular piece of news.
"I didn't expect to see you walking through the door." More like Miranda never wanted to see hint or hair of Jack again.
The scowl on Jack's face was indicative the feeling was mutual. "I'm here for Shepard, cheerleader. Back off."
"And with a loose varren, no less," Miranda continued, nodding in the direction of a wandering Eezo, making a beeline for the bar. Garrus hoped there was no alcohol there for the varren to tip over or break the bottles. "Like we don't have enough problems."
"We met up with her at the arena. I invited her and she volunteered. I trust neither of you will have an issue with each other," Jane said, staring the both of them down until they both agreed there would be no issue (least in front of Jane).
Scuttlebutt had spread the story last time. Of the screaming and biotic match Miranda and Jack got into during the run-up to the suicide mission, Jane coming in with her "Commander Shepard no nonsense" attitude and breaking up the fight. He was getting a taste of that now. Except there was something else, something almost threatening vibrating in the undertone, as if daring to challenge her authority rather than having them come together for the sake of the mission...
Liara didn't need to gather the group this time, all being relatively close by. James brought up the rear, closing his omni-tool with a satisfied grin. Guess whatever he was checking on finally went through.
EDI informed Jane that so far she had not found any sufficient information as the location of their hide-out and she was reaching the end of places to scan on the hard drives. Even though they didn't have to rush out the door, they still decided to take the time to hand out the weapons. Glyph zoomed into view just as they were finishing emptying the bags of them, flashing in warning.
"It appears this drone is preparing to rebel."
Javik's technophobic observation was ignored by Glyph, announcing to the group, "I have just monitored the Commander's Spectre access code in use at the Citadel Archives."
EDI pulled up a holo-schematic of one part of the building. "It appears the Archives are in emergency lockdown. Whoever's hacking your records is there right now."
That someone was likely Brooks.
Jane leaned in to get a better look. "What do we know about the place?"
"Council helps sensitive historical info there. Real hush-hush. Even my old C-Sec clearance never got me in," Garrus provided.
Jane didn't look put out in the slightest at the challenge, ready to just get on with this. "Then we find our own way in. Gear up and let's..." She skidded to a sudden halt, staring down at the volus that had somehow seemingly entered the apartment without anyone's notice. "What's with the volus?"
"Oh, pizza delivery guy. I got the munchies."
That solved that mystery. Though it wasn't much of a well-kept secret when a random volus delivering food came to the door.
The volus breathed in and out through his filter, extending his hand with said pizza to Jane. "Double pepperoni."
"Really, James? You had to do this now?"
"I was hungry," James defended himself from Ash's question. "There was nothing around here. And I didn't think they'd be back so soon from the casino."
"Do you think this is some kind of game, Lieutenant?"
At first Garrus didn't register where the voice originated from. But then he began to quickly realize the source, what it was. The Commander Shepard no nonsense voice, but it was distorted. Lower with that underlying threat, even lower than it had been with Miranda and Jack.
"Uh." James rubbed at the back of his neck same as Garrus, massaging it with his five fingers instead of three. He looked like he really didn't know where Jane was going with this. "Ok, Lola, maybe it wasn't my brightest idea."
She spun around on her heel, staring at him through narrowed eyes.
"I really don't think you understand the seriousness of our situation. That's the only thing that we should be focusing on, the only thing that matters. Personal needs come last."
If that had been the case, if she had believed that, she wouldn't gone out of her way to help all the members of the crew prior to the suicide mission with their problems; the only mission that philosophy would have held true for would have been Zaeed's when Jane chose saving those factory workers over his personal vendetta. And how many times had she gone against mission parameters to make sure the least amount of blood was spilled, the more innocent people were saved?
James raised his hands in a defensive posture. "Ok, ok, Lola, relax. I get the memo."
But Jane wasn't finished, stalking up to the soldier, fixing him with a stern look. "Be sure that you do. Or you'll be off my team faster than it took to get that pizza." She widened her gaze to the others. "And the same goes for all of you."
Her voice, her posture, her expression. It all demanded obedience. Not asked to follow her, but demanded. It didn't feel right at all.
Without waiting for a reply, she yanked her bag with her armor off the floor and stormed off towards the stairs to change.
"Well that's a side of her we don't usually get to see," Wrex commented once she had journeyed upstairs.
Even Jack seemed surprised. "What the hell is eating the Queen of the Girl Scouts?"
Javik lifted his hand, flexing his fingers. "I could always touch her to find out. Personally I am content with this change in attitude."
"Well, some of us aren't," Liara retorted. Her eyes then met Garrus's, silently asking him to go up and talk to her, unable to hide the worry. Likely as he was unable to.
"So..." In the heat of the moment, Garrus had completely forgotten the volus was still standing there, having been a front-row witness. "Whose is going to pay the bill?"
He didn't stay downstairs to find out what became of the pizza or its deliverer, completely intent on his sole mission. The time for stalling, for dismissing the behavior as over-figment of imagination, was long past.
He didn't even take the time to knock, pulling apart the wall folds which served as a door and barraging right through to their shared space, coming upon Jane just as she was starting to undress, coaxing her one arm through the strap.
"What the hell, Vakarian?" she demanded, hurriedly guiding her arm back through, though it's not as if she was shielding something he hadn't already seen. "A moment's peace too much to ask?"
She folded her arms over her chest, staring at him challengingly, as if daring to prod.
He crossed his own arms, staring her down. He would take the dare. "Was that really necessary?"
"I don't know what..."
"Vega. I know the timing wasn't great, but did you need to lay on him like that, in front of everyone?"
"He knew we might have had to leave at a moment's notice. He knew until this was over it wasn't safe to let just anyone come up here. If you don't get that either, then I don't know what to tell you."
Jane then picked up the N7 chestplate, turning it around in her hands, inspecting it even though she had already done that at the arena, silently telling him to leave. But he wouldn't. Not this time.
"This isn't just about Vega, is it? It's about something else. What's really going on, Jane?"
She didn't look up at him or let out so much as a peep, still tilting the armor piece to and from.
"You've been acting off all night," he continued, refusing to turn away now. "And I'm not the only one who's noticed. Tali, Miranda, Liara. They all sense something. And I'm sure if I asked any of the others after that display they would say the same." At least that they'd say it was certainly out of character.
Still she said nothing, no expression.
"There are gaps in your memory, you didn't mind wearing a short dress when we both know you hate them with a passion, you snapped at Vega and the things you said down there..." He dared to step closer to her. "Some of your reactions to things aren't usual; you've even seemed emotionless. You froze me out at the arena. And that kiss back at the casino. It...it felt like nothing was there." He cautiously laid a hand on her shoulder. "Please tell me what's wrong."
To his frustration, she wrenched herself from his grasp, tossing the chestplate to the workbench which landed with a loud clatter as it struck both the bench and wall.
"In case you hadn't noticed, someone tried to kill me again a few hours ago. Focusing on stopping this threat is all that matters. So excuse me if I don't act all perky. Why must you always pester me about every little thing?"
He was taken aback by her vehemence, but quickly regained his footing. "Because this isn't who you are, none of it is! And because I love you, damn it! I want to help you!"
The l-word, a word he didn't say often because he liked to rely on his actions to convey such emotion, had absolutely no effect on her. Just like the kiss. "You can help by leaving this room before I kick you out myself. Now."
He knew it took a lot for Jane's long fuse to get lighted. When it did, she was a force to be reckoned with, especially when he was on the receiving end of it. Rare, but it usually occurred when he would pull what Jane called a risky stunt out on the battlefield or when she'd get defensive over something he defined as the same. But ultimately he knew it was just the temper talking, that she really didn't mean a word of it. There was never such disdain as he had heard in the past few minutes, usually reserved to the bitterest of her enemies.
"I'm not leaving."
The blackest expression he had ever seen on Jane's face appeared, distorting her usually attractive face into something horrendous. He had never seen such anger, and that was saying a lot when she had dealt with the likes of batarian terrorists, Saren, the Illusive Man, and the Reapers.
"I gave you an order, Gunnery Chief! So help me you'd better follow it!"
"Or what, Commander?" He hated using her title or even her last name (except in teasing). Though it had been weird the first time, she had been known as Jane to him for some time. But if this was how she was going to play it, so be it. "You'll hit me?"
He didn't think she'd actually do it. Even at her angriest, she had rarely jumped at the chance for a more violent way of resolving the situation, especially against those she cared about. Always said she was better than that.
That's why the sudden, willing punch to the jaw took him by complete surprise.
He reeled back at the force, clutching at the door frame to keep him from falling on his ass. It wasn't powerful enough to break anything, but he rubbed at it just to be sure.
"I believe I've made myself clear, Vakarian. Now leave."
So much for hoping that she got some aggression out with that hit. If anything, she sounded like she was more than willing to go harder the second time around.
He was getting nowhere fast and it infuriated him that he knew he had to give up so soon. It infuriated him that she hit him, that she was being so stubborn, to the point she was letting her anger take control (something that rarely happened), but it also killed him. Killed him that he couldn't get through to her, something he wasn't used to. It was as Sha'ira said. A part of her had begun to close itself off, even from him. It'd hurt, make things awkward between them during the mission, but he'd have to wave the white flag.
At least until he could regroup with the others.
She only dared to breathe the sigh of relief when the turian had finally left the room and did not attempt to rush back in. Perhaps the turian's professions of love would have worked on Shepard, melted away the anger, but such proclamations did not work on her.
She knew she was treading on thin ice at the final leg, but she was not sorry for losing her temper, letting her true personality show. Either on the farm-boy or the turian. They would obey her authority. She was not supposed to be their friend or lover; she was their commander. Shepard may have insisted on building such relationships, but she refused. They were emotional baggage, every single one of them. She was the lone wolf who wielded the power of command to all those who followed her. How could they see her as such if she did as Shepard did and insist on placing them all on the same pedestal, as equals? Is that why Shepard's team followed her so feverishly? Was that why there was such sickening admiration, such hero-worship, of her as there clearly had been with that attendant at the arena? Because she made people believe they were just like her and she like them? Was it truly so simple?
Soon they would be off to the Archives, where Brooks and her mercs would be waiting for them. Vakarian would rush to tell anyone who would listen of what happened between them. Lawson, the quarian. Maybe even the asari. It would do them little good. None of them would be more successful than the turian had been.
The only problematic one, she thought as she began the process of undressing and suiting up, was the Prothean. She had heard the Prothean's comment, stopped at the top of the stairs where she couldn't be seen to hear what was said in her absence. If the turian told him, he might insist that the Prothean try to read her mind. She could not afford her plans to be ruined by a species with some sensory ability.
Guess she'd have to add the Prothean to the list of those who she was planning to eliminate separately from the others.
A/N: To everyone waiting for the reveal of the clone's true identity to Garrus, hold tight, it's coming up really soon :)