IMPORTANT: Sense and Flexibility will be going on HIATUS! I will post chapter 31 on Thursday and chapter 32 on Monday. Then I will be taking a month long hiatus from posting and will return to posting regularly on April 5th. Yay! I figured that's a good time for a break since you will all be so busy playing ME3 that you won't even miss me! But I"ve been writing SandF for 6 months straight now and I just need a breather. Visit my blog for the full story on my Hiatus at www(dot)Roarkshop(dot)net

As always, your comments and reviews are always read, loved, and cherished. I try to reply to all comments but there are so many of you now that I just get a little lost in the interim and it's hard for me to respond to everyone. But I read every single one I assure you.

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Roarkshop

Shepard didn't make the trek to Gideon's quarters easy by any means. Even with her feet and hands bound she struggled the whole way as he dragged her along the cold metal floor before finally hurling her past the threshold into his quarters. She sat up against the door once it closed behind her and she was rewarded with the butt of his pistol to her face again. Blood spattered the metal behind her.

"What the hell," Gideon said, panting and tired from the ordeal of dragging her. "You certainly are a stubborn bitch."

"Well it was your fault for letting me find out you needed me alive," she said. "What's the point in making your jobs easy if you don't have anything to threaten me with?"

"You think you're so smart," he cursed, picking her up by the hair and hurling her onto the bed. "I will wipe that superiority right off of your face."

"You can't take away something I've earned," she sneered as she lifted her bound feet and fired them into his chest, making him stumble back.

He grunted and bent to remove a large hunting knife from his boot, and stabbed the mattress as he climbed on top of her. He put his free hand down on her throat and held her hips in place with his knees. She squirmed.

"Well," he said, leaning his face down to hers. "Isn't this nostalgic?"

It certainly is, she said to herself, but they were not sharing the same memory. Gideon was obviously trying to remind her of that fateful night Deelia died, and he failed. As she lay there, with his hand on her throat, only one person filled her mind.

…Garrus.

You're playing with fire here, Shepard.

That's what he had said the night they sparred on the SR1, and he had pinned her down. Just like this. The thought made the fury burn in her chest as she glared into the face of an old enemy. This wasn't Garrus, and as far as she was concerned Gideon was encroaching on that memory. Her hands, still bound in the leather strap, were above her head and she took the opportunity to fire her elbows down into his shoulders.

"Agh," he cursed. "God damn you." He released her throat to grip her hands and put them back above her head. Removing the blade of the knife from the mattress, he pressed the smooth side of it against her face. "There are plenty of things I can do to you without killing you, Jane."

"You will never break me, Gideon. You have nothing to threaten me with."

"Well then I can at least repay the favor you paid me," he said with a grin, tapping his eye patch with the side of his knife. "Then we'll be twins."

"By all means," she said with a sneer. "Anything that makes your ugly face harder to see is a gift."

"Why you little-"

"Boss," came a voice over the speakers. "We've got a situation up here."

"I'm busy," Gideon spat, pressing the blade against Shepard's temple. "Handle it."

"Gideon, we've got a major problem. You need to get up here."

"Damn it," he said, letting his knife slide across Shepard's head over her eye, slicing a long gash in her forehead as he sat up and moved off of her. "We will pick this up when I get back. Try not to get your filthy blood all over everything."

The access panel quickly beamed the ominous red that meant she was locked in.

"Shit," she cursed as she sat up, trying to see around the room. The blood running down her eye was making it increasingly harder to see. This might be the only chance she got; She needed to free herself, figure out a way to contact the Normandy, and then either hide and wait, or kill her way out. She lifted her bound hands to try and wipe the blood from her eye. Something small and metal was glinting on the far side of the room, sitting on top of his desk.

She raised herself up and hopped over to it, trying to keep her balance with her feet bound. When she finally managed to get to the desk, there it was; a small metal lighter next to an ash tray full of burnt out cigarettes.

"Yahtzee!" she cheered, fumbling with it in her hands as the blood covered her eye again. She flicked it on and turned her hands so that the flame was under the leather strap. The side of her palm singed but she didn't move it until the strap had given way enough that she could tear it. Once her hands were free she quickly fumbled her way out of the strap on her ankles and made her way to the door.

Okay Jane, she told herself. You can do this. Garrus showed you a hundred times. Deep breaths. Take your time. She knew if she messed up even one combination it would all lock down and she'd have to wait and take her chances when Gideon finally came back. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart beat as she remembered what Garrus would say.

"Here look, it's not that hard," he had said as he pulled her in front of him by her forearm. She stood there in between his arms with her back against his chest, looking at the panel as he worked. "See, you just have to navigate through the different nodes and connect the right combination. But you can't go too fast. If you screw up it resets and the whole thing will lock down permanently."

His voice had rumbled right next to her ear and she could feel his steady breath in the rise and fall of his chest behind her.

Wait… that's not what she was supposed to be remembering.

Shit, she thought to herself. Get it together, Hopeless, you don't have time.

She took a deep breath and slowly worked her hands over the nodes in the console, almost tooslow. The timer had almost finished when she finally connected the last combination. She realized she had been holding her breath as the access panel turned green, and she exhaled with a smile, wiping the blood from her eye again.

Alright, she said to herself, slowly rounding the corner. Now I need a gun.

Garrus had pushed whatever the hell his dad had been trying to teach him out of his mind. It wasn't the first time that Teryk had used his old C-sec tricks to try and make him inadvertently learnsomething. But there was no time for his games. They were within docking distance and they had to find Shepard; No matter what. Stupid lessons would have to wait.

"But, I want to come with you," Tali said, folding her hands over each other. "She's my friend too, Garrus."

"I know, Tali," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "But I need you to stay on those cameras and be my eyes."

Tali took a deep breath and nodded.

"Be safe, Garrus," she said as she walked.

"Are you sure you want to bring the drell instead of the girl?" Teryk asked as he watched the green man approach them.

"Yeah. You and I aren't exactly stealthy people. I'll need him."

Plus, Garrus thought. Shepard will probably want to see him.

"Are you sure you want to come along, Dad?" Garrus continued. "We're probably going to kill a lot of people."

"Well," Teryk said, shifting his weight. "I guess it's a good thing we're not in Council space then, isn't it?"

Garrus smiled.

Thane strapped his rifle to his back and nodded to them as they stood near the port side airlock.

"Alright, Garrus," Joker said, swiveling around in his chair to look at them. "Docking in thirty seconds. Bring her home, Buddy."

"Bet on it," Garrus growled.

"Thane," Garrus said as they marched down a hallway of the Augustine. "As soon as you see an opening, go and find that room Tali said they put Shepard in."

"It will be done," Thane said with a nod.

Teryk was getting nervous as they came up on the first door. He was never one to go on killing sprees; By the book, code of conduct, that was where Teryk lived. But this wasn't about that. If a group of thugs had ever taken his wife he most certainly would have gunned down every one of them, and he also would have expected his father to join him. These thugs made their choice when they took Shepard and threatened his daughter outside of Council jurisdiction. All bets were off.

The quarian had told them a ship-wide alert had gone out as soon as they forcibly docked. It had been years since he had been in a real fire fight. His talons started itching in anticipation.

As they entered the Starboard Cargo Bay, they were immediately assaulted by gunfire. The three of them spread out, ducking behind cover.

Adrenaline filled Teryk as he took out one merc after another with his assault rifle. He had forgotten how exhilarating this was, and yet it was all so familiar. The smell of the ammunition, the feel of the gun kicking in his hands, the sound it made. Teryk smiled.

He looked over to Garrus, and was obviously having a very different experience. There was no joy in his sons face. Only rage, determination, and maybe a little bit of fear. But he wasn't letting the fury make him sloppy. Every shot he fired took someone down, and it wasn't long before they had made their way to the other side of the room.

"The drell," Teryk said, noticing Thane's absence. "He's gone."

"Yeah, he's off doing what he does best."

"I see…" Teryk said, not even remotely sure what that meant.

"Down the next corridor," Tali said in their radios. "And then take the door on the right."

"Affirmative," Garrus said, hacking his way through the security panel on the door.

Spirits, the ship was massive. Teryk had never had a need to be on a cruiser, but it was rather overwhelming. Six floors, huge rooms, no quick way across. How in the hell were they supposed to find her in this monstrosity?

After fighting their way across a floor, they came to a door with two dead guards in front of it. Garrus used his foot to roll the guards head, as if studying it.

"Broken neck," he said. "It's Krios."

"Very observant," Thane said, emerging from the shadows.

"Spirits," Teryk jumped before lowering his weapon. "Where did you even comefrom?" he demanded angrily.

"That's what he does." Garrus said.

"She is no longer in the chamber Tali'zorah led me to."

"Where is she, then?" Garrus barked.

"I don't know. When I found it the door was open, and there was a rather disturbing amount of blood in the room. However, there were the remnants of what appeared to be leather restraints on the floor."

"Maybe she escaped?" Teryk said.

"I wouldn't put it past her," Garrus said, hacking his way through the next door.

"If she's escaped, it's reasonable to assume she doesn't know we're here," Thane offered.

"Good point."

"Well then she'd probably try to contact you, right?" Teryk said.

"Tali," Garrus said into his comm. "We think Shepard escaped and is heading for the Communication Room. Can you lead us there?"

"I uh, yes." There were a few moments of silence as she figured out the new route. "Go back," she said. "There is an elevator on the Main Deck of the last room you were in. You can take it up to the fourth floor."

"Roger that," Garrus said as they ran to it.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Shepard didn't really see anything. Her sensory skills were completely offline. It was simply survival. A ship-wide alert had been set off and she wondered how they had found out she had escaped. Did they find the empty room? Or did they find the dead mercs she had stolen guns from? It didn't matter. They were throwing everything at her.

She fought her way up. She remembered the path Gideon had taken her from the Communication Room and took that same path now, determined to find it, to get a message out. She had a mission, an important mission. She had people, she had family, and she had so much to lose.

She wasn't going to die. Not again. Not like this.

Not without him.

Another bullet soared through her thigh and she cringed before shooting the merc where he stood and the shotgun blast rocketing him back into the wall. They were making a significant effort to wound her without killing, being careful not to shoot at her head or chest. She wondered, almost distractedly, why they were doing it.

Is it worth it, Gideon? She thought as she mowed down man after man. She was merciless. She didn't spare a second thought for them as they choked on their last breaths. She didn't look like much, god damn she was bleeding all over, no armor. She had tried to put on a helmet from one of the dead mercs, but it just impeded her vision rather than protected her. Instead she opted for a shotgun and a rifle and stomped her way up.

She didn't know how many times she'd been shot. She didn't care. She needed to get a message out. The only thing keeping her up was adrenaline. There was no pain. There was no suffering.

There was only the mission.

It wasn't until a familiar voice shook her from her frenzy that she actually really saw what was going on.

"Jesus Christ," the man cried as he backed away, trying to find a gun that was working.

"Oh," Shepard said with a smile, lowering her shotgun. "Hello, Finch."

"Jane, please," he said as he tripped over a pile of his dead companions. "This isn't you. You can't do this."

"This is what you made me, Finch," she sneered before firing a round into a merc who was still squirming. She laid down her rifle and picked up the pistol the dead merc had in his hand.

"Shit," he cursed, dropping his clip. "God damn it."

"I told you I wasn't going to be your puppet, didn't I? Didn't I tell you not to underestimate me?"

"I…. I…."

"Is this what you think weak and defenseless looks like?"

She fired a round into each of his knee caps and he cried out, crumpling to the floor. She approached him and put a foot on his chest to make him stop squirming.

"You brought this on yourself, Finch," she said coldly before sending him out of his misery with a shotgun blast to the face.

Shepard turned to leave, shotgun in one hand, pistol in the other, but her adrenaline started to wane. She knew she had to keep her energy up if she was going to be able to get a message to Garrus. She coughed and blood spurted from her mouth and down her chin.

"You're almost there," she told herself. "You can do this."

As the three men rode the elevator up, the sound of their collective heartbeats was all Teryk could hear. The drell's was even and controlled, the complete opposite of Garrus' thrumming in his chest.

The elevator doors opened and they were all stunned at the sight it presented. They lowered their guns and made their way slowly into the room full of dead mercs.

"Spirits, drell," Teryk said. "This hardly seems necessary…"

"This…" Thane interrupted. "Was not me."

Garrus kneeled and rolled one of the dead mercs over onto his back, revealing the huge shotgun blast in his chest.

"That's my girl," Garrus said with a smile.

"This is all Shepard?" Teryk asked.

"Yeah. She's fighting her way out."

"That seems brash, even for her," Thane said. "She's unarmored, she can't get far."

"None of these men are Gideon," Garrus said, ignoring Thane.

"The one with the eye-patch?" Teryk asked.

"Yeah… he's not here. He's still alive."

"Garrus," came Tali's voice over the radio. "I've found Shepard but she…Keelah, she's in really bad shape. She's limping and leaving a trail of blood. You have to hurry. She went down the corridor on your left."

"Damn it," Garrus said, turning to run in that direction.

Stupid human, Teryk cursed to himself. She was going to get herself killed trying to be the hero. Why wouldn't she hide? Why wouldn't she wait for them? She had to know they were coming for her. She had to know Garrus would find her eventually. Getting herself killed to expedite the process wasn't going to prove anything. All that would come of that is the inevitable collapse of his son.

They followed the trail of bodies and Teryk noticed Garrus taking a moment to make sure they weren't this Gideon as they ran. In the distance, he heard gunshots.

"She's close," Garrus said, obviously also having heard it. They sprinted down the corridor and came up on the chamber the gunfire was coming from. Just as it had stopped, Garrus started hacking his way through the door.

They burst through the room, readying their weapons, but Garrus didn't even have time to raise his rifle before he saw her.

As she stood there, amongst the corpses of her foes, Teryk turned to look at his son.

He recognized it as soon as it hit Garrus' face. It had hit Teryk the same way, all those years ago. He could replay the moment in his head with perfect clarity. Decades later he could recall the memory at will like he was seeing it for the first time. And now he was watching it again, like a third person view of his own memory.

Shepard turned, raising her shotgun at them with a sneer, thinking they were threats. And Teryk watched as Garrus realized that he was hopelessly, and uncontrollably, in love with her.

Damn it, Garrus thought as he fumbled with the door's mechanism. He was rushing and couldn't slow his hands down. If he didn't relax he was going to mess it up. But she was in there, he knew she was. The gun fire had stopped so they were either just in time, or just seconds too late.

The doors whooshed opened and the three men marched into the space. Spirits, the smell of human blood was overwhelming.

But there she was.

It hit him like a freight train.

Shepard turned around, raising her weapon at, what she thought was, new enemies. And in that moment before realization hit her face, she was absolute in her power. Her clothes were so ripped and torn you could hardly call them that anymore. All four of her limbs were drenched in blood and he didn't know how much of it was hers and how much was that of those she had killed. The right side of her face was covered as well, her furious green eyes showing through the blood and strands of hair.

"Oh god," he said softly. He reached out a hand and braced himself on his father's shoulder. It was all he could do to keep from hitting his knees. Spirits, she was perfection. He felt like something had slammed full speed into his stomach and had completely knocked the wind out him. His heart leaped into his throat and started beating faster and faster until it was just an unintelligible hum. He tried to take a breath, but it just wouldn't come. Just seeing her, realizing how purely and utterly enamored with her he had become, left him in stunned silence. Of course he was in love with her. She was everything to him, she had been for months now. How could he not have realized it sooner?

Stupid, stuipid, turian.

"Goddess Arashu," Thane said softly.

"Garrus…?" she said, her eyebrows upturning with realization.

He took a step toward her, commanding himself to stay on his feet, to be strong for her.

"Yeah, Shepard," he said.

She smiled, the relief in her was visible as she started to sway. The shotgun shivered in her hand and she lowered it to her side. As the realization that she didn't have to fight anymore hit, the exhaustion hurriedly overtook her.

"You," she said as she wavered back and forth. "You came for me…"

"Of course I came for you," he said, taking another step toward her.

She started trembling as she tried to say something, but her knees gave out and she fell backward. Garrus reacted immediately, abandoning his rifle and running to her.

Shepard was in his arms before the gun even hit the ground.

He caught her with a hand behind her shoulders, and the other hand cradling her head. She went limp in his arms and he could feel her body shuddering. Spirits, he didn't realize just how bad she was hurt. She was riddled with bullet holes and burn marks. How was she still alive?

"Hey," she whispered with a tired smile.

"Hey," he said back.

"You look like hell," she said with a cough.

"Not all of us can pull off half-dead like you can," he said with a laugh, trying to assess her wounds. "You okay?"

"Been better," she said weakly. "But I didn't let him break me. I count that as a win."

"Me too," Garrus said as he bent and lifted her into his arms. He pressed his forehead to hers as he stood again. "I've got you now, Jane. Leave the rest to me."

She nodded before her head fell to the side and unconsciousness claimed her.

He exhaled through his nose and motioned his head toward Thane.

"Krios," he said. "Take her."

Krios obliged, but the confusion was obvious on his face. Garrus tried to ignore how the image of Thane holding Shepard made his blood hot.

"You're faster than me and she's in bad shape. Go. Get her to Chakwas."

"Of course," he said with a nod before turning and sprinting back to the Normandy.

Garrus took a moment to try and compose himself with a hand over his eyes and a few deep breaths before turning and heading back into the gut of the ship.

"Where are you going?" Teryk asked, watching him go.

"I'm going back for Gideon," Garrus growled.

"Wait, Garrus," Teryk said picking up Garrus' gun from where he had abandoned it. "Your rifle."

"I won't be needing it," he said as he stomped off. "Not for Gideon."