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Loyalty and Limerence

Part 1

Chapter 6

The SSV Normandy

A week or so later, Garrus made his way down to the cargo bay like usual in the morning, but Jane was nowhere to be found. Trying to crush down the surprising disappointment he felt, he arrived at the Mako's console. Suddenly, he heard a metallic clang echo out from under the vehicle. Slowly crouching down, Garrus saw Jane, tools in hand and a streak of grease across her cheek, wrestling with a panel on the Mako's belly.

"Need a hand with anything?" He asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion. She looked up, her expression of focus fading as she recognized him. To his surprise, her hair was pulled back and gathered with an elastic at the back of her head. What was that called again? Something really silly. Horsetail? Ponytail. That was it. Her hair was in a short ponytail, barely long enough to stay. But it was enough to keep it out of her face, which had a few smudges for her trouble. She looked different. Not bad, but different. It was amazing how much hair affected how humans looked.

"Thought I heard the elevator going. Sorry I'm up in your space, but I don't have anything interesting to work on at the moment and saw that it was slated for maintenance today. Thought I'd give you a hand." She grabbed a rag and wiped her hands off before tucking it back in a pocket.

"Didn't realize you had experience with vehicles."

"Not much beyond basic care and maintenance, but certainly enough to help out with that."

"Well, I appreciate the help. Don't let me stop you." Garrus gestured for her to continue, and she laughed before leaning forward and resuming her work. Returning to his console, he was just booting it up as he heard a ping of an incoming message on his omni-tool. Pulling it up, he saw the awaiting message in his inbox and froze as he noticed the sender.

From: Vakarian, Castis

Garrus felt something in his gut clench as he realized what it must be. He'd sent his father a message when he'd resigned from C-Sec, but more than a week had passed and he still hadn't heard back. Until now, apparently. He knew it would be nothing good, though, particularly given the tone of their relationship the past few months. He took a deep breath before proceeding to open the message.

It didn't start well, and with every line Garrus could feel his eyes narrowing, his mandibles pulling in tight, his blood rushing with anger. Without actually cursing him out, his father had managed to call into question his intelligence, sanity, and honor. Garrus was, apparently, impatient, rash, and an embarrassment. Without bothering to respond, he deleted the message with an angry hiss.

"Something the matter?" A muffled voice from under the Mako called out, and Jane shifted to the side to peer up at him with a quirked eyebrow. Taking a moment to collect himself, he could still feel the blood thumping under his plates.

"No, it's nothing." He shifted away, not wanting her to see him so irate and upset. Looking back at the Mako's controls, he decided a few hours fighting with the clunky system would help distract him from the hurt and anger thrumming through him. After a few moments, Jane made her way out from under the Mako and came to stand nearby.

"Well, you're glaring a hole through the screen in front of you, so I'm going to hazard a guess that something is wrong. Out with it, Big Guy." Shifting his glare to her, he huffed as he fought the urge to snap at her.

"Okay, I just got a message from my father. He had some choice words over what a disappointment I am. I don't really want to talk about it." Her eyes widened as she seemed to consider his words. Hoping that he'd fed her enough, he looked back at the console.

"Sorry to hear that, that's rough. Did he explain why?" Rolling his eyes, Garrus crossed his arms, looking away.

"Oh, it's nothing new. He and I haven't seen eye to eye for ages, and me leaving C-Sec just seems to have been the nail on the coffin for us." He glanced back to see real concern cross her face.

"Isn't he happy that you're on the mission to stop Saren?"

"I don't think he's going to be happy no matter what I do."

"Ah." Jane's lips bent down in a thoughtful frown. "I'm sorry you don't get along with your father. Family's important, I hope you're able to reconcile with him someday."

"Look, I'm reeeally not in the mood to be lectured at right now about my relationship with my father." Garrus snapped angrily, but instantly regretted his loss of control as he watched her eyes widen in surprise. Quickly, though, they narrowed with irritation of her own.

"Not all of us even have fathers we get to reconcile with anymore." She spat back at him, her voice low and cool. He felt the heat of his anger grow cool with guilt as he processed her words. Fuck, now he was that guy.

"I'm- I'm sorry. That was rude of me, I'm just upset over the message. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Garrus took a deep breath, trying to sort through his emotions. "And I'm sorry for your loss." Jane's expression softened and she shrugged.

"No worries, I don't really remember him, honestly. And it's okay, I understand. We've all got a lot on our plates right now, throwing family bullshit into the mix doesn't help any." They stood there for a moment in companionable silence before she crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one side with a smile. "I had a thought though. How about a spar?"

"Sparring? Here? Now? Is that something you typically do on Alliance ships?" Garrus felt his mandibles drop open in surprise, his eyes going wide.

"No, not typically, unless it's one of the larger ones with a gym. But it's not unheard of. Isn't that a normal way to blow off steam in the turian military?"

"Well, yes, but are you sure?" And how did she know that?

"Yeah, you look tense and like you need a good thrashing." She paused, her smile growing wider as her eyes narrowed, "Unless you're a louza?"

"I didn't think humans knew much about Palaven's poultry, but those are fighting words." Garrus grinned, "Okay, sure. You're on." He followed her to the center of the cargo bay and watched in surprise as she untucked her alliance issued shirt and tugged it over her head. She turned around, tossing the shirt over her shoulder, revealing the black tank top she had underneath. The front of it had a red stripe running down one side, the N7 insignia stitched upon the other. It suddenly occurred to him that he was about to face off against a highly trained Alliance special ops marine, and he felt his mandibles twitch with nerves.

They both started a few light stretches and warm up exercises, and he tried to remind himself that he was a hand to hand specialist. He, too, had quite a bit of training and he could hold his own. Thank god he wasn't wearing his armor, though, because the more he watched her move, the more he was starting to believe he was going to need every bit of speed and flexibility he could get. Even though she usually wore lighter armor during missions, she seemed so much smaller in nothing but her tank top, Alliance fatigue pants, and combat boots.

As they turned to face one another, Garrus tried to stand at his full height, looking down at the small human woman before him. He knew that turians looked every bit the apex predators that they were, unlike the larged eyed, soft skinned humans. Seeing not even the slightest hint of a flinch on her face, Garrus realized mind games weren't going to work here. As she fell into a defensive stance, her smile growing more confident and relaxed, he was starting to wonder if perhaps she was the one playing mind games.

They started out slowly, exchanging a series of jabs and punches easily blocked. Jane's stance and technique matched up pretty perfectly with what he remembered from his training courses about hand to hand combat with humans, so he started to feel more confident as they continued. She seemed to remain mostly on the defensive, though, more reacting to his attacks than initiating her own. As she ducked one of his jabs, dancing away before he could follow it up, he grinned at her.

"What's that human phrase, you have so many good ones… Ah yes, you seem to be "all bark and no bite", Lieutenant." He taunted, putting his own fists back up on defense as he circled her. She snorted her amusement as she brushed a few loose hairs out of her eyes.

"Can't show you all my cards immediately. But if you're feeling confident, then let's get started." The laid back tone to her voice brought to mind the image of a hunter playing with it's prey, and Garrus felt himself tense. Suddenly, she darted forward, unleashing a flurry of strikes he could barely keep up with. Before he knew it, he was doubling over as her elbow made contact with the softer flesh of his waist. She lept away, giving him time to recover before continuing.

Determined not to be completely shown up, he began pulling out all the stops, managing a few hits here and there, though none quite as solid or well aimed as hers. He was happy for the challenge she presented, though, even if it was humbling for his pride. He could feel the tension leaving his bones as they continued exchanging blow after blow, his smile becoming more natural as his breath became more ragged.

Knowing he was nearing the end of his stamina for a causal sparring match, Garrus decided on a final charge, leaning into the attack with everything he could. Suddenly, Jane's stance changed completely, going from a traditional boxing defense to something completely different which he'd never seen. She seemed to flow around his attack, almost melting as he came at her. The next thing he knew, he felt her grab hold of him and he was flying through the air, his stomach landing hard on the floor. He felt his arm tugged behind his back as her weight came to rest on his back, pinning him. Cheers erupted around the room, and with a groan, Garrus realized that they must have acquired an audience at some point.

"Not bad, Big Guy. I've fought far worse." Jane's voice was void of any smugness, mercifully, as she got off him and gave him a hand up. Wrex had been right about her competitive nature, but she had good sportsmanship, at least. She was clearly exceptional, and he had yet to see her lose. He was interested to see how she handled defeat, and as they shook hands, Garrus felt a surge of determination to better himself. Not just to beat her, but to have her see him as an equal.

"Ha! Nothing like seeing a tiny little human put a turian in his place!" Wrex laughed with an enthusiastic clap, and Garrus deflated a bit. Turning to face their small crowd, Jane adopted a laid back stance that he was coming to think of as so very her.

"Don't worry Wrex, come on down tomorrow morning when I'm a little less sweaty and then I'll kick your ass, too." She turned to grab her shirt before heading to the elevator. "I'm going to go wash up a little before I get back to work. Good match, let's do that again some time!" She waved in his direction before she left, and Garrus found he was looking forward to the challenge.

It was a few hours later that he realized with surprise that he hadn't thought about the message from his father at all since their sparring match began.

They made a point to share a quick morning match every few days, but generally preferred to keep it early in the morning to avoid the chances of spectators as best they could. It was wonderful to have such an effective way to relieve stress and keep his body moving between ground missions. His system was starting to adapt to the longer day cycle, but rather than let himself sleep in until the same time the rest of the crew woke up, he made a point to set a vibration alarm on his omni-tool to allow him to continue waking up early.

He was also growing to really value the Commander's daily rounds. He made a point to stop by and catch up with each of his crew members throughout the day, often dragging Garrus into interesting or thought provoking discussions. Shepard's strong moral code and his strict adherence to it was a marvel to Garrus, particularly that he nonetheless was very quickly proving his effectiveness and dependability in the field. He'd always figured that worrying about casualties and details made one less able to complete their mission or do their job, but every ground mission he accompanied Shepard on proved him wrong. Between both the Shepard siblings, he was finding himself desiring to be a better and stronger person in a way he never had before.

About three weeks after their retrieval of Dr. T'Soni, Shepard announced that they were nearing the planet of Noveria in the Horse Head Nebula. It had taken some time, but the council had come through, having tracked Matriarch Benezia there. They were to prepare to head planetside in the morning.

That evening, Garrus entered the mess hall to find Liara sitting by herself, picking at her plate of food, but eating little. He was starting to respect the asari somewhat, from the little time he'd spent with her. She was clearly very intelligent and had a lot of information that could be useful for the mission. But there was part of him, a large part of him if he were honest with himself, that wasn't sure they could trust her. However, she wanted to help and be a part of their crew, and Shepard seemed to trust her. He trusted Shepard, and thus he needed to find a way to extend his trust to Liara, as well. Grabbing a bottle of water, Garrus sat down across from her.

"A little late for dinner, isn't it?" He asked mildly, noticing the draw, worried expression on her face.

"What? Oh. Yes. I wasn't able to eat earlier, but Dr. Chakwas asked me to try. So, here I am." She muttered, looking up from her plate only long enough to confirm who he was.

"I see. Anything you feel like talking about?" He probed carefully, not sure how to set her at ease.

"I just-" She paused, steadying herself, "I just can't believe that Benezia would be involved with Saren and the geth. It seems completely unlike her. I don't understand."

"The audio recording Tali found in the geth memory core was pretty damning." Garrus pointed out as gently as he could. He realized that the woman was her mother, but the facts were the facts. She was going to have to reconcile with that one way or another.

"I know. I just don't think I will be able to believe it until I hear it from her myself." Liara took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders.

"Understandable. And you will probably get your chance when we land tomorrow." He pointed out with a nod of his head. He was looking forward to the mission, it had been aggravating treading water as they waited for more information linked to Saren or the geth. They were finally moving forward again and he was eager to get back on the hunt. If only Noveria weren't famous for being so damn cold.