~Jane~

She was dying.

Her skin was falling off as the acid ate it away and the very air stung as it caressed her like needles across every nerve. She had to get her suit off, had to peel whatever the acid touched off her, she had to or she'd be eaten alive. Why the hell was someone holding her down?

Jumping awake with a scream, Jane found herself on a couch in a dark room. Garrus' apartment, I'm in Garrus' apartment, on Garrus' couch, she assured herself. It was only as she was calming down that she noticed a figure crouched to the side of her.

As her eyes adjusted she noticed Garrus holding his hand up to his face. Getting a better look as he opened up his Omni-Tool, the room lighting up with a dim glow, she saw that he was rubbing the grooves that ran along the bridge of his nose.

She instantly knew he must have been trying to wake her and, in return, she punched him as she came to and felt bad immediately. She knew a Turian's nose was sensitive and although hard to harm, a good hit in the right spot would defiantly ruin their day. "Damn," she cursed, "I'm so sorry, Garrus. I didn't know…"

"No it's alright," he raised his free hand. "I should've known not to wake a dreaming soldier." He lowered his hand from his face and flicked out a mandible in a smile but she couldn't bring herself to mirror his good will. Mandible falling back into place, he looked at her with concern in his eyes and asked, "Want to talk about it?"

She dropped her head and shook it to the negative. "Not really. Thanks, but no."

He nods when she raises her eyes back to his while standing up. He motions to his bedroom, "You've only been asleep for about five and a half hours. I don't need to sleep anymore, so you can take the bed." He steps back as she stands up and continues, "The room will just go to waste otherwise."

She yawns, but shakes her head again. "I'm not really tired anymore," and she doesn't lie. The nightmares did a good job of making her give up the pretense of sleep for the rest of the night.

He shrugs, obviously not wanting to hound her, and for that she's grateful, and pulls up his Omni-Tool again. "I'm sure you can order some food to be delivered if you're hungry. I still have some time before work that I was just going to spend either here or picking something up. If you want, I can stay here and eat with you." The last bit he says in such a way that it is her decision.

Nodding, she pulls open her Tool and gets a transfer from his own of their location information so she can order deliveries easier. She scrolls through the options and picks a place that seems nearby and orders a coffee. She is nowhere close to being hungry with her dream still clear in her mind, but she orders a bagel as well just in case she gets hungry later.

He leaves to his room and quickly returns with a chair. He places in on the edge of the kitchen area for her to sit instead of with her back to him if she were to sit on the couch. Sitting down, she watches him as he opens his fridge and scans its contents and smiles when she catches sight of the insides of said fridge.

It was almost completely empty with ten items in it at most from what Jane could see. The fact that he had to scan it made the image even better and she couldn't help but let out a laugh from behind her hand. He looks over his shoulder at her amusement and flicks his mandible and pulls out a square container. He then walks to the stove, removes a pan from the cabinet hanging above it, sets the pan on the stove top, and turns on the burner.

About ten minutes later, the door chimes and she moves to answer it to leave him to continue with his cooking. Accepting the coffee, still hot, and bagel, just as equally warm, she pays for the meal and returns to the kitchen area. She places her meal down on the counter and heads over to her things.

Digging through it, she finds what she's looking for, a chocolate bar she purchased when she was waiting on Earth for her flight here to the Citadel. She returns to the kitchen just as he finishes heating what looks to her like noodles but thick and dark blue, and pours it onto a plate.

"Come on," he motions to the couch with his plate in one hand and the bag containing her bagel in the other, but stops short when he sees the candy bar and tilts his head to the side in confusion. "I don't know much about human diets, but I do know that that," he points to the chocolate, "is not proper breakfast food."

She smirks, "you know that, huh? I think you're far from an expert." She grabs her coffee and sits down next to him on the couch. "One human friend does not make you an expert."

He scoffs, "if that friend is you, it should." He takes a bite as she laughs, finding that her nightmare is not at the forefront of her mind at the moment.

Breaking off a piece of the chocolate, she opens the coffee and places the piece in, swirling the cup a bit to start to melt it. She sees him watch and at the silent question in his eyes she shrugs and says, "I don't much like the taste of coffee."

"You know what helps get rid of that coffee flavor? Not drinking coffee," he supplies after swallowing his own dish.

She waves him off as she replaces the lid. "I need coffee to wake me up." She tries a sip, it is still a bit strong but it's the best she can do. Usually she has creamer to mix in with the coffee, but when she placed the order there was no option to order any. "So to fix my problem, I put chocolate and cream to mask the coffee flavor." Shaking his head, Garrus gives up and allows her to sip her coffee as he finishes off his meal and the two enjoy the companionable silence.

Shortly after finishing their meals and Garrus cleaning up his mess in the kitchen, he leaves for work. He has given her access to the door lock in case she wants to leave during the day and explore the Citadel and she may take up that offer, but for now she finds that she wants to wash the remnants of her nightmare from her skin.

As Jane strips the clothes from her body, she is left with only her reflection and what she sees is testament to the fact that her dreams of Thresher Maws is not merely the make-believe of subconscious, but the reliving of memory.

Covering her entire back, from over her shoulders to the top of her butt cheeks, are scars from where the Maw's acid splashed onto her. The injury has since healed, but in the burn's place there lies the rippled and slightly discolored skin that stretch and pull when she turns this way or that.

Jane never was one for looks and it isn't their appearance that really bother her, she takes it as a reminder of what she survived and how she vowed to never lose another squad if she ever had any say. What does bother her is the memories the bring back to mind when her clothing rubs them a certain way.

As she starts the showers and begins to wash herself down she remembers that for a time, from about '78 until a few months ago, she hadn't thought about Akuze and even felt like she had overcome the pain of losing friends.

She couldn't figure out why they had started to return and why they were just as vivid, if not worse, than the real event. Each team member's death felt as if she was the one dying - she could feel every broken bone, every burn, the very pressure of the ground and beast swallowing her up - and she had never experienced that before in her dreams. What could have changed for her to suddenly start to relive the worst part of her life and the loss of the first group of people she had ever come close to?

The realization, when it came to her at light speed, nearly knocked her off her feet.