Chapter Five: Get a Room

"Holy shit!"

Joker's voice through the comm startled Jane into dropping the barrel of the rifle she was piecing together, which Garrus swiftly caught before it hit the ground. He had asked for her help in going over his weapons, looking for ways to improve their efficiency, but hadn't been accorded much time at the workbench with Ashley Williams hovering over it during all of her spare time. Now that the soldier was on assignment with John, the pair snuck in the opportunity while they had it.

"What happened?" she asked casually, taking the piece back from the turian before clicking it back into place on the sniper rifle in her hand.

"Turn on the vid screen if there's one nearby. I'll patch the Commander's feed in so you can see for yourself."

Doing as he had asked, Jane nearly dropped the entire gun as she took in the sight before her. It was obviously the scene as taken through her brother's visor, and there was quite a bit of jostling and erratic movement from his position in the Mako, but there was no denying what the shore party was up against. Jane and Garrus stood transfixed at what they were watching, their work all but forgotten.

"Is that a thresher maw?" she asked, already knowing the answer but awestruck all the same.

"It sure as hell is," replied Garrus. "Hey, Wrex! You need to come take a look at this," he called out to the Krogan sulking by the crew lockers. Heavy steps in their direction indicated that Wrex's curiosity had been piqued.

"Haha!" the Krogan laughed heartily. "Those damn things are on every shithole planet in the galaxy. Has Shepard come up against one before?"

"Not that I know of," Jane answered. "We lost a friend a few years back when his unit came across one on Akuze, though."

"Mean bastards," agreed Garrus. "And only twice as ugly as Wrex."

"Which makes them half as ugly as you," their Krogan friend replied, picking up on the lighthearted tone of Garrus' comment. Jane gave them half a smile, her attention full on the screen before them. As hard as she tried to play it cool, her heart was beating a hole through her chest at the very real danger her brother was in.

"Johnny, what are you doing?" she asked quietly as the Mako abruptly stopped in the middle of the maw's territory. Jane could tell the ground was shaking as the creature prepared to emerge for another attack. "Jesus fucking Christ, what the hell is he doing?"

Just as the thresher maw began to leap from the rock, the vehicle moved forward a few meters and someone aimed the cannon towards it's open mouth. Jane squeaked, too stunned to truly scream, as a blast was shot down the space worm's throat. Flesh and goo spattered the landscape, and through the comm Jane could hear John's whoop of triumph.

"Um, Jane?"

"Yes, Garrus?"

"While I admire the fact that you have a fairly strong grip, you're cutting off the circulation in my hand."

"What? I…oh…" Jane hadn't even realized that she had wrapped her fingers around his own while watching John battle the thresher maw. Embarrassed, she withdrew her hand, but he took it again and held it up for inspection. Her brother momentarily forgotten, Jane watched as Garrus ran a talon gently across her palm, then touched the tip of each finger lightly before turning it over. He tapped the nail of her index finger, silently pointing out how it appeared shorter than the others.

"It broke a few days ago," she supplied, searching for something, anything, to fill the awkward silence. "I just never got around to cutting the others."

"You keep them short usually?"

"As a general rule, yes. I work with my hands. If I grew them out, they'd just break anyhow."

Garrus had yet to release her hand. Or she had yet to pull it away. That strange sexual tension they had been trying to avoid came creeping back, and neither was sure how to deal with it this time around. Every instinct told Jane to drag Garrus to bed. But she was too careful to allow that to happen. And…they had an audience.

"Oh, get a room!" Wrex teased before walking away, his chuckle rumbling through the cargo bay. Like a flash, Jane and Garrus took a step away from each other, busying themselves on the workbench.

"I've, ah…I've got to finish calibrating the rifle," the turian said, his mandibles twitching with embarrassment as the subharmonics in his voice gave away his suppressed desire.

"And I should see about having something put together in the galley for when the team gets back," Jane replied, her own sudden bashfulness coming into play as she sought an excuse to find some breathing room. "I'll uh…see you later."

And with the Thresher Maw incident completely forgotten, Jane beat a hasty retreat to the elevator.

X

Garrus kept up the pretense of making adjustments to his rifle right up until the elevator door closed and Jane was out of sight. As soon she was, he took a deep breath, then slammed his palm against the workbench in frustration. He could still feel her hand in his own, how Jane had slipped her fingers between his, knowing where to fit them together without giving it any conscious thought in her moments of worry for John. They had been doing so well about working around their mutual attraction, and that simple action had brought it front and center to his attention.

He wanted to get to know her. To learn about her work on the Normandy, what it had been like growing up as an Alliance military kid. Her favorite place to visit, her favorite food, her first love. He wanted to learn every secret she'd ever had. And if he couldn't in good faith ask her brother, Garrus knew there was someone else on the ship who would know.

He was halfway to the bridge before realizing that he had gotten into the elevator while his mind was racing with thoughts of Jane. It wasn't completely bizarre for him to be there. He'd spoken with Joker several times in the mess hall and had developed a good rapport with the pilot. Perhaps it was time to act like a real member of the team and venture out around the ship a bit. At least, he could make it seem that way.

"So was the pilot's seat a Turian design?" Joker asked as Garrus slid into the non-essential co-pilot's chair.

"No, I'm pretty sure that was made for a human's ass to sit in," he returned, keeping the tone light. "You'll have to bitch at Jane if it's uncomfortable."

"No, she wouldn't have had any part in all the crap that makes a ship a home to her crew. Nuts and bolts, Vakarian. She likes to figure out how to make things move."

"Yeah, I've seen her down in the cargo bay working on the Mako. She's probably going to kill Shepard when he gets back."

"Oh, man, you have no idea. And she didn't design the damn thing. I just know that if anything happens to my baby, it will be my ass in a sling." Joker patted the instrument panel affectionately. This pilot loved his ship. "Now cut the bullshit, Garrus. What do you want to know about her?"

Garrus hid his surprise behind a cough. "Her?"

"Oh, please. But since you think you're being smooth about it, I'll give you one for free. She's been with two men since I first met her, and one before that. Two of those guys were Turian. I put her in that bunk to fuck with her head, but I never..." Joker started chuckling, then turned to look at Garrus. "God, I never in a million years thought you'd... That it would be..."

"Mutual?" Garrus supplied, and the pilot's grin faded.

"Yeah. Does the Commander know that you want to shag his little sister?"

"No."

"Then I'll save you the hassle and tell you the same thing you'll hear from him."

"The 'If you hurt her, I'll kill you' speech? Don't bother. I have a little sister, too."

"Then we understand each other?"

"If I wasn't worried about hurting her, I wouldn't have bothered coming to you."

"Fair enough. But Garrus?" All traces of teasing had been wiped from Joker's face. "Don't make her wait too long. We may not all be soldiers, but we are all military here. We know we signed our lives on the dotted line when we enlisted."

Understanding clicked in his head as soon as he heard the words. Garrus knew he would have to make a decision about Jane soon. He only hoped it would be the right one.

A/N: I know, I know. It's been a while. For those of you who have been following this and any of my other stories, the muse is slowly returning. I can't promise I'll have a new chapter within the next few weeks, but it certainly won't be five months again. Keep an eye on my other story, "The Amell Chronicles," since I've been immersed in Dragon Age: Inquisition lately and will be working primarily on that one. Thanks for sticking with me! Keep checking my author page. I'll be back as soon as I can with another update.