Inserting the language chip had to be the toughest moment of Garrus's day; no, his entire year. Saying Shepard put up a fight was an understatement. What was usually a two minute injection for a child in a doctor's office turned into a half-hour struggle for the ragtag group.

Ira and Garrus were tasked with holding her down – easier said than done – and he struggled to keep his patience with Shepard, whilst Ira hadn't had any from the beginning. As a result, Ira now sported two bruised eyes and a chipped tooth, whilst his mandibles were scratched bloody by her apparently not-so-blunt nails. Even Liara – who Shepard clearly preferred over them already – hadn't been safe from her grabby hands, and had been pulled roughly by her tentacles. Garrus noted the tears in the asari's eyes as she finally managed to stick the needle in Shepard's neck.

Though they soon forgave Shepard for her violent nature, excited to hear her speak, even Ira lingered with bated breath.

He'd expected her to start talking straight away, to demand answers in a language he could finally understand. Yet she continued to scream at them in her strange tongue, and Liara was forced to explain how the chip needed to study her language first, record down every word she said and analyse each syllable separately before it could be compared with their own dialects.

In other words, the more Shepard talked, the quicker they'd be able to understand her.

Perfect then, that she was currently sulking with them.

"Shepard," Liara said, pushing the tray of asari food closer. "You can eat this. I promise."

It had been two hours since the ordeal, and Garrus had counted only two words leaving her lips – and he was sure they'd been insulting.

"It's no good. You'd think she'd be grateful." Ira was leaning against the wall, picking her teeth with one nail. "Little bitch is lucky shes still alive. Dr Curaes' all but given up on the other one."

Garrus grunted. Sad but true. Liara had only spent a few minutes with the second Taylor, returning to Shepard's prison to explain there was nothing she could do for him until Dr. Mordin arrived.

"Shepard, eat." He insisted. They'd been forced to strap her legs to the bed again, a fact she clearly was not happy with if her furrowed brow was anything to go by. She also didn't trust any food they pressed her way – which, he was reluctant to admit, was probably his fault – and the idea of force feeding her was slowly becoming their only option.

A plan Ira was looking forward to, though he wasn't sure why, forcing the chip into her hadn't exactly been fun. Pushing what she believed was poison into her mouth was, most certainly, a death wish.

"Isn't it odd how familiar she looks?" Liara said, breaking the surly silence and smiling at him from the other side of the bed.

"Familiar how? She looks nothing like us."

"No. Well, her figure I mean. It's so like asari, but then if you look at body scans, their organs are very similar to that of turians. These Taylors have a lot more in common with us than you'd think."

A shame then, he thought, that the turian fleet was preparing for their untimely decease.

He sighed wearily, tired and frustrated. Even the simple woosh of air gained him a glare from Shepard. Any progress they had made on trust was gone for good apparently, and he couldn't help but be a little irritated with her about it. He was the reason she was alive after all. Sure, he was also the reason she was stuck with them, but alive nevertheless.

"I should go. My shift starts in a few hours. I need some rest before then." He decided, rising to his feet and ignoring the way Shepard braced for impact. She made him feel like a monster, and he'd had enough of her company for one day.

Ira dipped her head. "I'll take my post outside then."

"Oh, don't you want to stay in here with me? I thought we could get a few words out of Shepard. I'm sure she'd prefer the female company." Liara said with just the faintest hint of desperation. Garrus couldn't tell if she was scared of being alone with Shepard, or if she really thought Ira would be of any help.

"No thanks. I've had my fill of alien psycho bitch." Ira sneered, flashing a broken tooth before leaving the little room and standing by the door.

Garrus gave Liara a weary smile before he turned down the hall and left them all to it. For the first time in days he was happy to get away from it all and to his room, practically collapsing into his bunk once there. Who knew standing guard could be so exhausting? Shepard made them work for it, purposefully. He did not doubt that she was done with trying to escape either, and with the way she was being treated, he begrudgingly could not blame her.

His thoughts drifted oddly to the captain, recalling how queasy it made him feel watching the man sniff her hair, but then sleep claimed him, and he began to dream of angry red headed aliens.

The weight on his chest was what woke him up, and Garrus grunted as grabby hands fondled his sensitive waist. The automatic lights were off, meaning that, by the ship's clock at least, it was late into the night.

"Ira?"

She hushed him, tongue flicking out to lick his neck. Her bony hips rubbed against his own, and Garrus felt the first tickle of arousal pull at his stomach. He could not remember the last time they'd tested his reach and her flexibility. For the past few days Ira had acted like she'd rather rip his neck out, and that still seemed like a very real possibility, if the way she was biting at it was any indication.

"Ira, we can't." He flashed a glance to the opposite bunk, then remembered that Vestre was still in the medbay with bandages holding his face together.

They were alone. Yet that didn't sooth his worries.

"We can, if you loosen up a bit. Wheres that Vakarian enthusiasm I enjoy so?" She twirled her fingers around the soft skin at his waist, dug in painfully for a few moments, and then stroked in a gentle rhythm that made him purr.

His head lolled back, hands squeezed her thighs, grinding her plates against him. Despite their clash in personalities, he had missed her warm body at night. Ira was already naked, and began to see to his clothes as well. She didn't bother with his shirt, instead pulling the laces of his trousers and tugging them over his protruding hips. She'd never been one for messing around, and her touches were demanding to say the least. Half his garments were banished to the floor, then Ira worked on tempting his member out from its sheath. Long fingers gentle but confident as they stroked and tickled.

Her touch drove him senseless. Garrus could feel himself giving into temptation, when a flash of red hair invaded his mind, and he winced at the anger he was no doubt about to unleash within Ira.

"What about Shepard?"

"What about it?!" She snapped, just like he'd known she would, fingers digging in painfully hard.

"Ah! I just meant – " Garrus growled, grabbing her hands and holding them away from him. "One of us is meant to be watching her."

"Oh. Don't worry about that." Ira turned to putty on top of him once more, tugging one hand free to rub her fingers against his member, making him hard without much trouble, damn her. "Saren sent me away early, said he'd watch it for a while."

"WHAT?!"

Garrus sat up so suddenly they nearly butted heads, taking Ira by the shoulders and shaking her. "You left them alone with Saren?! The spectre?!"

"Whats the big deal?! Get off!" She snarled and lashed out. The hand that had been so gentle only moments ago slapped him across his face, but he didn't care. He just wanted her off. He needed her gone.

Saren. Liara and Shepard were alone with Saren.

Pushing her from his lap, he got to his feet and fondled in the darkness for his uniform. Panic made him clumsy, and Ira watched with fire in her eyes as he struggled to pull his trousers back on.

"If you leave this room Garrus, I – " Her voice cracked, something that surprised him. He only ever saw Ira either angry or horny. She was not the crying type, and he turned to face her in the gloom, not sure if he even trusted the tears welling in her little violet eyes. "If you leave this room we're done. For good. I won't ever speak to you again, I swear. Not. One. Word."

His heart wrenched. He didn't want that, despite everything. It had just been a bad week for them. That was all. A rough patch. Why did she have to give him this ultimatum? Why couldn't she just understand?

"Is that a threat?" He murmured, low voice still seeming too loud.

"No. It's a promise."

Another pause, interrupted only by the ship's humming engines. She'd never looked more beautiful, sat naked on his bed, legs curled by her hip, supporting herself on one hand and watching him with vehemence. For a moment Garrus was almost sure she cared for him, really cared.

But as he waited, the tears did not spill onto her cheeks, and he slowly came to the cold realization that they never would. They probably couldn't. Ira was incapable of compassion, she'd left those under her protection to the mercy of Saren, all so she could reclaim her favourite toy; and his heart turned cold even if he still burned with desire.

"Good bye, Ira."

He turned, and immediately she screamed, flinging the nearest thing she could grab. Fortunately for him, Ira didn't have much reach, and it was only his pillow. The door slid shut before it hit its mark, and Garrus didn't spare a glance back as he ran to Shepard's cupboard of a cell.

The lights above flickered, not helping the fear that already electrified his blood. What Saren wanted with her was anyone's guess, and his imagination ran wild as he zoomed past the medbay, the cafeteria, and down towards the holding cell.

Yet when Garrus rushed through the door all was still.

He tried to control his ragged breathing, Saren was stood by the bed, Liara by the corner, Shepard was right where he'd left her.

"Vakarian, is it time for your shift?" Saren did not manage to keep the disdain from his voice, though he doubted he'd tried "no matter. You may leave. I've got everything under control here."

"Sir." He felt like an idiot, yet his feet refused to turn. Garrus studied Shepard's face, trying to recognize the foreign expressions he'd been practising on reading. She looked afraid. Or maybe that was the wrong word, he doubted Shepard would show a lick of fear even in front of a thresher maw. No, it was more cautious. Her odd little eyebrows were furrowed down, lips pulled tight at the corners, gaze varying between Saren and Liara, who – in contrast – did look terrified, now that he noticed her.

"Dr t'Soni, is everything alright?" He asked, ignoring the spectre's glare.

"O-Of course." She said, glancing to her feet.

"Leave, Vakarian. I'm giving you free time."

He continued to watch Liara. It was barely visible, he might not have noticed at a glance, but her head shook. A tiny tilt either way that sent his blood cold.

He was not leaving.

"It would be disrespectful to my Captain, sir, if I ignored my duties."

The spectre rose to his full height, and the muscles in Shepard's arms bunched in response, eyes remaining narrowed. Her unease rubbed off from him, and Garrus found himself wishing he had a gun.

"I outrank your Captain. If theres anyone you're disrespecting it is me." His tone brokered no argument.

"I… can't, sir."

He wasn't sure how he mustered the courage to stand strong and lock eyes with the spectre. There was just something about him that made his skin crawl. It was the wrong thing to do, lawfully; yet morally Garrus knew he'd make this decision again, and a thousand times over if his conscience had any say.

"You… can't?" Saren did not raise his voice, but somehow that made the tension thicker. Liara shrank further into the corner, wringing her hands together.

Shepard's gaze now remained fixed on Saren, face a blank canvas that he could not have read even if she'd been turian. Yet her presence was oddly comforting. He felt safer, somehow, with Shepard in the room. Even if she was strapped to her bed and currently incapable of controlling even her bowel movement.

"Saren," Liara said, voice cracking. "Shepard still can't talk. Maybe if you came back t – "

The suggestion sent the man's temper over the edge, and he cut her off with a snarl, stepping forward and swinging one arm back to strike. Maybe he wanted to slap her, maybe he just wanted to scare her, but Garrus intercepted him anyway, not really thinking of the consequences as they begun to crapple.

Pulling the spectre back proved harder than anticipated; despite his lithe frame, Saren was alarmingly strong, and snarled as he tried to twist away. Elbow flashed back, crunching into Garrus's cheek plate, and during the searing pain he couldn't help but recall the naked woman he'd left in his bed for this.

"Ugggh!" Saren gained the upper hand with ease, and Garrus was pinned to the wall by his neck without a moment's notice. Liara screamed, Shepard watched with what he assumed was horror, and Saren squeezed.

Squeeze. Squeeze. Wheeze.

The irony was not lost on him, and Garrus might have laughed had he been able to breath. So this is what it had been like for Shepard, choked by a turian. At least his skin wouldn't turn blue and purple as a result, but Ira wasn't here to save him like she had with her.

Wheeze. Wheeze. Squeeze. Wheeze.

"Let go of him!" A shock of blue, and then Saren was being lifted from the air as Liara's palm shot out a singularity. She was clearly a powerful biotic, as crates and medical supplies quivered before being slowly dragged towards the sphere of dark energy. Garrus too felt his feet sliding, and grappled blindly for purchase whilst Saren struggled to reach his gun with the lack of gravity.

Even Shepard's heavy bed creaked along the floor, and she cried out shrilly, hands fumbling against the sheets as she tried to shuffle away; the biotic ability clearly new to her.

"Stop! Stop it! I'll talk!"

Liara gasped, the sphere disappeared, and both turians fell to the floor with grunts.

"I'll talk…" Shepard said again, in perfect turian, tone stronger than he could have believed.

She sounded beautiful.

She was also in big trouble.

"I knew it," Saren grasped the bed sheets with one claw and pulled himself up, eyes dark. "I knew you were lying."

"I never lied," she held her chin high. Shepard had taken charge of the group despite being their prisoner, despite her unfitting gown, skinny appearance, and unwashed state. She was a natural leader, and Garrus no longer felt like the one doing the protecting. "You just had nothing interesting to talk about, you big, stupid, dinosaur."

The insult boiled his temper once more, and Saren latched on to Shepards jaw, this time meeting no resistance as Garrus and Liara watched on – stunned into silence.

"Vakarian," Saren's face was close to Shepard's as he spoke, and the two did not break eye contact.

"Yes, sir?"

"If you want to survive the night, you'll take the Taylor to the Captain's office for her interrogation. Now."

Damn him, but he was back to following orders, despite having a faint idea of what these interrogations would involve. And damn her for not talking this entire time. For not letting them know the chip had worked, for keeping him in the dark when he could have prevented this.

Damn.

"Of course… sir."

Saren gave a curt nod and finally released her, turning on his heels and marching out without another word. No doubt to get ready.

The doors tried to close, but was caught on an upturned box from Liara's singularity, thumping repeatedly against the stupid thing whilst the others watched with weary faces.

"That's something." Shepard broke the silence first, much to their surprise, "why do you all call me Taylor? That's not my name."

"Shepard," his tongue felt heavy, in fact everything did, and he slumped into the chair next to her cot before continuing. "He's going to kill us."

"Well," Shepard said, "shit."