The Show Must Go On (The Morning After)

Garrus didn't like himself very much at the moment. It wasn't often his job made him feel that way, which was a good thing. He liked his job and he was good at it. But sometimes he wound up in situations that just weren't very nice. And this was one of them. Normally he had the safety net of not knowing the people involved. Or if he did, it was because they were potential witnesses in the Quarian Quarter of the Citadel. After all, any quarian murders landed on his desk and had for years now.

Dead bodies are easy. Tell the victim's relatives you are sorry for their loss and will do what you can to bring the killer to justice. And 99% of the time he managed to do just that. There was closure for the victim's family and he got to feel like a good guy.

This time though, he was out of his depth. If he was honest with himself he should have handed the case over to Social Services immediately. But he was playing with the rules, because he knew the victim. Hell, he had been the one to track down and rescue the victim. He'd even used up a few favors to do so and to keep things quiet.

Which was why he was now sitting in the room while Dr. Chloe Michel examined Jane. The once over last night was to make sure there wasn't something pressing that needed to be handled right then. This was a much more thorough check up. Under normal conditions, Jane would have had her privacy or even let next of kin into the room. These weren't normal conditions however.

Having admitted drug use, and having no next of kin on record, Garrus had declared Jane not fit to make her own decisions. Since he didn't know what drugs she had been using, Garrus could assume they were mind altering and could affect her judgment. In such cases C-Sec, normally through their Social Services branch, would assign a case worker to try to help the victim get back on their feet.

Garrus had gone and checked and the law didn't state explicitly that Social Services had to be the one to handle the case. Just that the victim was a ward of the State. So Garrus stepped up and that made him privy to just about every that Jane did or had done to her. It would keep things in the family as it were.

And right now said family was outside in the waiting room. Probably alternating between fuming at him and being worried about Jane. Actually, knowing his sister, Solana would have delegated the worrying to Liara and was doing the fuming all herself.

Garrus had left Natalia in his bed and gone to his sister's room. Fortunately, the girls were all awake and already dressed. Over a quick breakfast he told them he was going to take Jane in for a checkup. After which he had to take her down to the station to figure out which if any of the profiles he had gathered were her. And to even see if her current ID was a real one or a fake.

This, of course, was not a popular course of action with those gathered around the kitchen table. Solana threw a fit and Garrus found out that Liara could look quite scary when she was mad. He understood why they were mad though. They had just gotten Jane back and he of all people looked like he was taking her away. The difference was that last night he could be brother Garrus. This morning he had to be Detective Vakarian.

"Detective?" Dr. Michel called from behind the curtain. He might have to make decisions for Jane, that didn't mean he was going to intrude on her privacy more than he had to.

"What's the verdict doc?" Garrus asked. He got up as Dr. Michel pulled aside the curtain that had isolated Garrus from the rest of the exam room.

"She's in good health, both physically and physically. At least considering what you both told me, and without a file to worth from for reference. Still, she has an amazing constitution. That said, she shouldn't try to rush her recovery. I'd recommend no biotics for at least a month. And no intercourse for at least that long. Her body needs time to recover. I think it goes without saying that a rehab program is in order as well as a full psychological evaluation. If you let me know what facility she is doing her rehab at I can do her weekly checkups. Otherwise, I can recommend a doctor at just about any of the facilities on the Citadel." Dr. Michel told Garrus.

"I'll probably take her to St. George's. The staff is nice and they are good at keeping things quiet. Can't let the universe know that Commander Shepard is in rehab."

"Oh. She will be reprising her role then?"

"That would be telling doc. You will just have to wait and watch like everyone else. But as a consolation, that number you wanted. Don't tire him out too much."

The doctor smiled and bid the two of them a good day.

"What number did you give her?" Jane asked as she accepted Garrus' help getting off the examination table.

"You know Natalia has a younger brother right?"

"Yes. I've seen him a few times during filming. He was the one that drove last night."

"Yeah that's him. Adrian. Well, Chloe wanted his number and I gave it to her." Garrus explained. "Now let's see about getting you to the precinct without my sister biting my head off."

Of course, that was easier said than done. Solana was less than pleased to hear that he was in charge of all of Jane's decision making for the foreseeable future.

"Is that even legal?" Liara had questioned. Garrus had told her to look it up herself. The academic set about doing just that, which for the time being got her off of his back. As did security at the station. Solana and Liara had to sign in as guests. It didn't stall them for long, but it allowed Garrus to give Jane a little more privacy.

The profiles he'd collected were all similar and all grim. All matched her approximate age, were from mining worlds and middle school drop outs. All became prostitutes and drug users. All had multiple arrests for solicitation and drug use or trafficking. All fell off the grid a few years back. That matched up with when 'Jane' showed up on the Citadel.

"Look Jane. I'm not trying to get you kicked off the Citadel. I'm just trying to find out who you really are. I can get your record cleaned and get your a legal permit to reside on the Citadel. However, you have to help me help you. I can see from the record's that 'Josephine' is a stolen identity. We never caught it until now because we never had a reason to run it before."

It took a little more coaxing to get Jane to budge. Not that Garrus blamed her.

"Jane last night I told you I could help. This is me helping. It's not that hard to get a permit. You just have to do it with your real ID number. If we can't find it, then we'll go to the human embassy and get you a new one. All you have to do is tell me who you bought your current ID from. Then I can fix it so that the biggest thing you have to worry about it is my sister and Liara."

Luckily, they didn't need to go to the embassy. In his canvas Garrus had found the real her. He set about putting the paper work in order so that Jeanette "Jane" Jules would have a residential permit. He then alerted the people he had to in Fraud so they could go about chasing down the supplier that Jane had named. From there, it was off to rehab, with Solana and Liara in tow.

St. George's Rehabilitation Center, despite its human sounding name was a turian facility. It took in patients of all species, but it was owned and operated by the Hierarchy. The name seemed odd to those that didn't know a little Earth history. St. George supposedly cleansed an entire island of snakes and dragons during a human dark age. If that wasn't efficiency and dedication to a getting a job done, nothing was. Suffice it to say, the story was impressive enough to name the center after the human figure. The idea was of course that the staff would cleanse the patients of their addictions with the same results as St. George; completely. The place was pricy, but it was the best center on the Citadel and where Garrus had done his detoxing. Besides, Solana and Liara were footing the bill.

Garrus co-signed all the paper work to make it legal, but otherwise he let Solana and Liara fret over things like the visitation hours and group activities list. Or rather Solana fretted. Liara had calmed down and collected herself back at the precinct. Garrus could only hope some of that would eventually rub off on his sister. As much as he loved her, his sister could be a real hot head at times.

Solana had gone off with Jane to take a look at the common room, leaving Garrus with Liara.

"You know, she wouldn't be so mad at you if you just explained why you were doing things this way." Liara commented.

"And just what am I doing Dr. T'soni?" Despite the formal language, Garrus let a playful note slip into his voice.

"Being crafty, Detective Vakarian. That is what you are doing." Liara returned the light tone of the conversation.

"It's better this way. That way she can be honest if someone causes enough of a stink to warrant an investigation. Her and father both."

Liara pursed her lips together in a thin line. "Is that a possibility?"

"Everything is a possibility doctor. It is only the likelihood that changes."

"How cryptic of you." Liara quipped. "Thank you though. From both of us." Liara gestured down the hall where Solana had gone with Jane. "For what you are doing. And for bringing Jane back. It means a lot to both of us."

"I just found her. You have to bring her back." Garrus replied. Garrus watched Liara nod in understanding, before the asari went to find Solana and Jane.

Garrus had burned up enough favors just locating Jane. Yes he could use up more, that had the potential to cause a few waves. It certainly could be something that his father's political enemies would jump on. Too much favoritism in too short an amount of time was sure to be noticed. So to minimize the waves Garrus had to stick to the letter of the law.

Fortunately the letter of the law was worded in such a way that it had some bend to it. The laws he was applying was meant to keep embarrassing incidents as quiet as possible. Turians, being turians, always had some relative in C-Sec. It was practically a requirement for any turian family living on the Citadel. And on occasion, some relative of a C-Sec turian would get into trouble. Nothing too serious, of course. If it was too severe, no amount of law bending would be applied.

However, if someone was charged with being drunk in public, there would be a small fine and that's about it. What would happen is that the guilty party would be placed under 'house arrest' with the C-Sec relative being the 'jailor.' This mean that the jailor was responsible for anything the guilty party did for the duration of the arrest. At this point familial pressure was usually enough to straighten out the errant turian. If they didn't straighten out then the family either let the turian be taken to prison or shipped them off of the Citadel.

In Jane's case, Garrus had volunteered to be her jailor. He was bending the rules more than normal as he had no familial claim to her, but the wording of the law allowed for it. He just had to keep her out of trouble until she left rehab. Then pray to the spirits that she didn't relapse.

Keeping busy is a good way to keep from relapsing. If you're too tired to do anything else except sleep and eat and work, there isn't much room for things like drugs. Or at least that is what had worked for him. Garrus hoped that Tali was serious in getting Jane back on the show. It would be a great boon if Jane had a job lined up.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Tali was having a great day. She had gone home, had that much need long shower and showed up to work in such a good move that her newest assistant didn't know what to make of her boss. The poor girl had been hired during Garrus' time away, and had never seen her boss after a date night. The other assistants were only too happy to see their boss walking on sunshine again.

The contract with the Party for the Advancement of Synthetic Life Forms had been finalized meaning that the Miss Edwina Core would be joining the cast in addition to this 'Legion' fellow. On some level Tali felt a little odd referring to a robot as a 'he'. On some other level, growing up on the Citadel made that sort of thing almost common enough to be normal. She still wanted to meet the droid in question. Mostly to make sure he was small enough to fit on the sets. Edwina, or Eddy, had reassured Tali that Legion's chassis was within normal organic height parameters.

Tali hadn't wanted to press for more information by pointing out that "normal organic height parameters" could mean almost anything. Whose normal? Human? Krogan? Asari? Elcor? Volus? But Tali didn't want to ruin her good mood so she had let it go. She'd deal with that another day.

As it was a slow day, Tali took the time to check in on the show's forums. There were various polls up, one of which was of interest to her. At the end of the first season, Tali had put up a poll asking what characters people would want to see return to the main cast. She had been contemplating having an all new cast each season. The story would be tied together by the setting itself and the actions of the previous cast effecting the world. However, Tali had still put up the poll to get something of a pulse on characters popularity.

Apart from the mega thread asking for Commander Shepard back, the thread associated with the poll was the largest ongoing thread. And the results did surprise her. Garrus was the most asked for male character, while she was the most asked for female character. Maybe she should reprise her character. Tali had had fun with the character. Especially when she got to work with Garrus.

Should she ask him to come back? They had never really talked about the show or his role in it past that first night she spent in his bed. It seemed like a lifetime ago instead of the short year it had been. He could come back. The character wasn't written off in such a way that it would be impossible to bring back. And he was a fan favorite based on the forums and the poll.

And there was the fan fiction. Untold amounts of Shakarian littered the official fan site and all over the extranet. It twisted at Tali's stomach in both a good and bad way. On the up side of things, it just showed how much people really liked his character. On the down side, Tali didn't like the idea of Garrus with anyone else. Even if that Garrus was a fictionalized version of the real thing.

Yes, it was petty and childish to be jealous of a fictional character hooking up with another fictional character. But she knew the people those characters were based off of. And she'd seen them interact on set. Perhaps, in an alternate universe where Jane wasn't a lesbian, they might have hit it off.

Tali contented herself with the fact that the T-shirts sold very well. Maybe she could really step up the romance between herself and Garrus... No. She couldn't think like that. That would be assuming that he would rejoin the show, and she'd make plans based off of that. And the last time she'd done something like that... If she was truthful with herself, Tali was incredibly fortunate that Garrus had taken things so well.

And besides, acting on top of everything else was exhausting. And the main cast was huge. Ten characters in addition to the Shepard. Tali would have to find the time to talk Jane into coming back. She really was the embodiment of that character.

Though, perhaps Tali could bring her character back and just have her really hang back. And with so many characters to introduce it could be a good while before her character even appeared on the show. Maybe she could offer Garrus something similar. It was worth a shot.

But not tonight. Tonight, Tali wanted it to be about them. Confirm that they were exclusive, hammer out what that meant, possibly a very loose discussion about their future. Tali's face broke out into a big grin. It felt nice thinking of the two of them as a singular unit.

She wondered how soon she could move back into his room. She'd come to really like his room. It had been her sanctuary while he was gone. And the idea of living together with him made her giddy. She'd get to sleep next to him every night and wake up next to him in the mornings.

And he had his own kitchen. Did he know how to cook? She certainly didn't. Stirring a pot in Mrs. Vakarian's kitchen was the extent of her cooking skills. Tali's mother had never taught her. In fact Tali was pretty sure her mother had never set foot in a kitchen. Everything was done by servants at home.

That thought managed to put the brakes on her good mood. Growing up with Solana, Tali just sort of got used to how things were at the Vakarians. In her mind, any differences were cultural or species differences. Tali had never thought of the economic class difference. Would Garrus think it weird if she hired a cook? And who cleaned? Would hiring a maid be too forward?

Unless the Vakarians hired invisible people, they didn't have any. Tali was over at all hours over the years and never had encountered anyone except the Vakarians and their occasional guests at the residence. Solana cleaned her own room, Tali knew that. But Tali cleaned up her own room as well. It made sense. How else would you know where anything was if you weren't the one to put it away?

Money. If there was a common future for them, at some point they would have to talk about money. And the fact that she made stupid amounts of it. Her income this last year had eight digits in it. If she had to guess, based on C-Sec pay scales, Garrus had only made five figures. Would that scare him off? The fact that she made so much more money? Could she bring up money tonight? Or was that something for down the road? And how far the road?

A chat with Solana was going to be necessary. Solana rate of turnover might not be encouraging, but the turian was also an avid reader of all those 'relationship' magazines. Tali thought they were nothing, but a mix of BS and bluster, mixed with a touch of common sense. However, Tali was feeling so overwhelmed by her recent realization that she was willing to listen to BS and bluster. If only to get an idea of what was considered 'normal.'

Fortunately, Solana called up Tali and asked to meet for lunch.

"What's up sis? How's Jane?" Tali asked after they had ordered. They had met at their usual haunt, a little cafe near the Zorah Theatre. It was a popular hang out with dancers and teachers due it's close proximity and good service. Tali and Solana had been frequent customers since they first started dancing.

"Garrus checked Jane into St. George's this morning. It's a really nice place and their record is impeccable."

"And it costs 80,000 credits a month." Tali said reaching into her purse. Tali had looked up what she could on St. George's Rehabilitation Center after Garrus had ended his stint there.

"I'll pay you back, I swear." Solana said as she watched Tali write out a check.

"Let's just get Jane better first." Tali replied. "I know she just got back and there are other things she has to work out. However, could you feel her out for me? I would really like her to reprise her role as Commander Shepard. And Liara to reprise her role as well. Not for the whole season, just for some set up if Jane agrees to come back."

"I'll talk to them both. And thank you for this. Really. Thank you." Solana took the check from Tali's outstretched hand.

"Don't worry about it." Tali watched Solana frown and held up a hand to forestall what Tali knew her sister was going to say. "Look, if Jane comes back, I can write this off as a business expense. If she doesn't, consider it a present."

"Tali, I can't let you do that. This is too big to be a present. I mean, this is"

"How much you make in a year, I know. What? I have to go over the Theatre's books every quarter with mom." Tali tried to be nonchalant about the fact that she knew exactly how much money her sister made. And there was no way that Tali was going to mention that she was the one responsible for approving pay raises. Not that Solana didn't earn her pay. She was one of their best dancers and a great teacher who was very popular with the students.

"Well, I do get my Army pay too. I can pay you back, Tali. It just might take a while. I don't need a hand out."

"Solana, it's a present. I don't want you to owe me money. So you don't."

"Tali, I can't just take the money and not pay you back. This isn't like we're going shopping. This is a serious chunk of change."

"Then consider it a gift for Jane."

"Tali." Solana whined.

Tali just patted Solana's arm. Their lunch arrived and they ate in a tense silence.

"'Lana, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"It's about Garrus and me." Tali said with a small smile.

"My favorite subject." Solana responded wryly.

"Do you, Do you think that the fact I have money will bother him?"

Solana gave Tali a skeptic look. "About Garrus, eh?"

"Well?" Tali pressed.

Solana let out a deep sigh. "Tali, it doesn't bother me that your family, or you, have a lot of money. It's always been that way. It's normal. And I don't think it will bother him. It does bother me that you don't want me to pay you back. Like I'm incapable and need a hand out."

"Solana, you're the one that came to me and asked for the money."

"Yes, as a loan." Solana angrily stress the last word.

"We're family, right? This is what family does." Tali tried.

"You still have to pay family back." Solana shot back.

"Not if it's a gift." Tali replied.

"Tali, I love you, but sometimes I want to strangle you." Solana sighed as she rested her forehead in the palm of her hand.

"Well, it's a gift for Jane." Tali said with a tone of finality. Solana only nodded slowly. Tali wasn't sure if it was in agreement or defeat.

"Since we're already talking about subjects that I enjoy, anything else you want to talk about?" Solana asked sarcastically.

"How are you classes going?" Tali switched topics. She didn't want to argue with Solana any more. Besides, Tali wasn't sure if asking an angry Solana for advice would be such a great idea.

The rest of their lunch was much better. Solana left with a promise that she would talk to Jane for Tali about the Commander Shepard role. So, lunch wasn't a complete disaster. However, it did dampen Tali's mood considerably. She didn't get to talk to Solana about what she wanted to talk about and had managed to get her sister mad at her. They rarely fought and Tali knew they would make it up to each other. But there was that uneasy period while they came back to each other.

Tali's mood was kept buoyed up by her impending dinner date with Garrus. Yes, she had some things to talk about that she was unsure about, but she was sure they could work it out. Though Tali decided she would shelve the money thing for a while. If it set Solana off, who probably had the most exposure to Tali's money via their shopping trips, then Tali didn't want to talk to Garrus about that just yet.

Still they would have to talk about being exclusive. That thought warmed her heart. They'd 'official'. A real couple at last. They'd be boyfriend and girlfriend. Or 'intended' in the turian vernacular. Tali shivered. She'd have to cover the meaning of that term in quarian. And warn her brother. If only to stop him from having a heart attack. Or running off to their parents and giving them heart attacks.

Tali wasn't sure if she was ready for that step yet. Sure, they slept together on occasion, but they hadn't lived together yet. Nor had they spelt together yet. Though Tali got the feeling that particular bridge was one they would soon be crossing. She certainly hopes so. If they were going to live and sleep together then that had better be on the menu.

Maybe she had better talk to Garrus first. Her fantasies were running loose. If left unchecked, she'd think she was moving in and getting laid this evening. Still, she could daydream a little.

Tali buckled down and managed to get some more work done. It was the usual endless sea of paperwork. If not for the show, it was for one of her other enterprises or ideas. She was thinking of opening up a restaurant in a joint venture with Adrian. And there were her stocks to keep track of and the family theatre's paper work. And of course her second potential show idea she was starting to put together on the side. All this kept her busy and before she knew it Garrus kissing her cheek before taking her out to dinner.

A/N: I'm still slowly plowing through the editing. I've gone over chapters 1-4, but haven't uploaded them yet. I'm a little short of the 5k mark once more with this chapter, but this is a natural break so there it is. Next time: Will Tali's case of blue balls continue? Who knows? In two previous drafts of other chapters Tali and Garrus have already done it, but that messes up a storyline I'm doing with Garrus.

To the guest(s) that commented on my lack of reviews and commas. Have you seen what characters I have this tagged as? Garrus/Tali and Solana. 99% of the Mass Effects fans probably don't even know who Solana is as she never appeared in the games. And 99% of ME fans pair Garrus or Tali with Shepard. The G/T ship is an extremely small ship. We're more of a rowboat, honestly. If a story doesn't even show up on radar, no one will bother to read it let alone review it. And I'm fine with that. I'm not after reviews. I write because it is fun for me. I post it up because maybe someone else might enjoy it. Even with its overwhelming lack of commas and the occasional missing word or misspelling.