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Loyalty and Limerence

Part 2

Chapter 9

Lazarus Research Station, 1.5 Months Ago

In the usual manner of intense firefights, time seemed to have no meaning as Jane fought her way through the burning research station, mechs going haywire left and right. They seemed to have been reprogrammed to attack anything on sight and Jane growled in disgust that she'd gotten there too late to put a stop to whatever Wilson had planned. She supposed her message to Miranda Lawson must not have gone through after all, or perhaps it'd been too little, too late.

So she fought her way through the station, room by room, mech by mech, ignoring the cowering soldiers as she searched for…

"Jane?!" She froze, cold sweat breaking across her forehead at the eerily familiar voice, the voice she heard in her dreams, the voice she heard in her nightmares. Slowly, haltingly, she turned around, her eyes going wide as they landed on a sight that should have been impossible. "What are you doing here?"

"John?" The name escaped her in an airy gasp, her heart thudding in her ears as the three men lowered their weapons, her focus solely on the man in the middle. The man with close cropped dark hair, warm light eyes. Her brother's eyes. Her gun fell to her side as her arms went slack, her shoulders slumping as reality hit her over the head like a truck.

Either she was seeing a ghost, she'd gone insane, or they'd really done it. They'd really brought her brother back from the dead. He'd been spaced, burned up in the atmosphere over Alchera, and she'd heard his last moments herself as he'd sacrificed himself to save Joker aboard the crumbling Normandy.

And yet, there he was. Standing before her. Alive.

Or perhaps she had gone insane. Probably more likely, there was no way this could be what it looked like. Whoever this was, her brother was dead. Nothing was going to change that, she'd accepted that long ago.

John took a step toward her, faltering for a moment as the station shook in the wake of an explosion somewhere, and Jane's arm shot up, her sidearm trained upon his chest.

"State your name." Her hard voice quavered, tears blurring her vision as she glared at the man wearing her brother's face, and despite the quiver in her arm, her gun remained still and level. He slowly raised both his hands, his face open and surprised.

"Commander John Shepard, Alliance Navy. Jane, you know me." His voice was calm and soothing as though he were speaking to a scared animal. "I don't really understand what's going on here, but you have to believe me. It's really me." Jane remained silent, her mind racing and yet nearly completely silent except for a far off ringing that sounded mildly like panic. She had thought she'd been ready for whatever it was she was going to find on this base. Clearly not.

"He's telling the truth. He really is Commander Shepard." The dark skinned man stated as he stepped forward next to John as he also raised his hands up in a sign of peace. The other man remained behind them, limping slightly from a leg injury, his face crinkled in pain and fear. Jane's eyes flicked between all three of them, the ringing in her ears growing in pitch until it seemed almost all consuming. John seemed to sense her deteriorating state, taking a slow half step toward her.

"Jane, it's really me." He stated slowly, his voice firm but gentle, "Please lower your weapon, we'll talk this through." John took another step forward, causing Jane's eyes to widen as she took a step back.

"Stay back!" Her voice cracked, her arm threatening to shake as her vision started to tunnel, her breathing becoming quick and shallow.

"Jane. Do you remember that time when we were kids, I was probably about 10, you were maybe 8? We'd been scavenging out in the old abandoned power plant that day, and you'd fallen and skinned your knee pretty badly." Slowly, Jane began to lower her weapon, the shaking in her arms beginning to lessen as the words washed over her, the familiar memory coming back hesitantly. "I'd used strips from my shirt to bandage it as best I could, but you could barely walk on it. So I carried you on my back all the way home." John had started walking toward her, stopping just before her as her weapon finally fell to her side. "You cried for like an hour, but I kept cracking corny jokes trying to make you laugh, and we were both laughing like idiots by the time we got back to the crew. Do you remember that?"

She did remember it. It was one of her favorite memories from her early childhood, one that she'd cherished the past two years since John had died. Proof that he'd loved her, that he'd done his best to take care of her when no one else would.

"John?" Jane asked again, this time hope swelling in her voice as it quavered. He nodded and her tears finally broke, trickling down her cheeks and she crashed into him, bringing her arms up around him, holding him close as he wrapped his arms around her. "Oh my god, John, you're really alive! How? I didn't want to let myself hope, but how?"

"I don't honestly know, but we have to get out of here. There will be time to figure it all out later." After another moment, they pulled apart and she quickly wiped her tears away, looking up to see him doing the same.

"I came here on a shuttle, we can use it to get out of here." With nothing more than a nod, the small group turned and began making their way back to the docking bay.

Despite only having four people aboard, the shuttle leaving the Lazarus Research Station seemed oddly cramped. Jane decided it was a mixture of the anxiety, confusion, and awkwardness radiating off each of them. When added to her own emotional struggle with seeing the person who seemed to be her brother back from the goddamn dead, well…

That wasn't even mentioning the elephant in the room that was Miranda's sudden execution of the man who had apparently been the very Wilson Jane had warned her about. The message which, to Jane's relief, had gone through, just not in time to prevent the near destruction of the base.

But John, if that's who he truly was, was safe. And that was what mattered.

Then came the questions for John, the personal history review, and the discomfort aboard the shuttle continued to increase. Miranda and Jacob seemed decent enough folks, for Cerberus operatives at least, and from what Jane could see they meant John no harm. In fact, Miranda seemed to have spent a great deal of time and effort on the Lazarus project, so her investment in John's well being seemed fairly large.

But Jane couldn't stop the voice in the back of her head that kept asking: What might Miranda have done to tamper with John during 'reconstruction'? Had the Illusive Man had some sort of chip installed to control him? Was he bugged? Had they altered who he was or what he remembered? He seemed fairly genuine, but it was too soon to tell. And the doubt was there in her mind like a rot, slowly creeping up around the joy, silently strangling it.

Despite her growing concerns, Jane was determined not to leave John's side as they arrived back on the station she'd left behind in a hurry not long before. Which, of course, made it infuriating when John was sent off with Miranda and Jacob to investigate the colony of Freedom's Progress without her. She was left cooling her feet and gnashing her teeth under guard, waiting for them to return and for whatever verdict the Illusive Man deemed appropriate for her. Apparently, her actions leading up to her arrival on Lazarus Research Station were suspect, and she honestly couldn't blame them for being concerned, all things considered.

Which was how she found herself sitting in the cafeteria, her guard sitting a table away, trying and failing to read something on a datapad that was completely unable to catch her interest. All she could think about was the whirlwind events leading up to the discovery of her dead brother in the hands of Cerberus. It seemed too surreal to be too, and yet-

"Shepard? Jane Shepard?" Her eyes snapped up to see a familiar limping man holding a tray of rations, his eyes opened wide in surprise. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the briefing I had last night. It's good to see you!" Joker exclaimed cheerfully as he placed his tray on the table and carefully sat down across from her.

"Joker? What are you doing here?" Jane asked, her face betraying her confusion as much as her voice. Joker raised an eyebrow even as he grinned.

"Jeez, here I was thinking you'd be happy to see me!" He muttered sarcastically, and had she not been so confused, she might have rolled her eyes like old times.

"Seriously, Joker. You joined Cerberus? You know what kind of organization they are, you know what they're capable of." Jane hissed, nearly growled, her eyebrows knitting as she placed her datapad down, forgotten. Joker's smile melted as he looked at her dryly.

"Oh, because you have room to judge." Joker stated, his voice dripping with sarcasm, and she had to admit he had her there. She might be there undercover, but he couldn't know that, not at this point, not here in the heart of the beast. "Look, the Alliance grounded me after the Normandy was destroyed and I wouldn't shut up about the Reapers. Cerberus offered to let me fly, and they pay a whole helluva lot better than the Alliance. I'm not proud, but I'm not going to spend the rest of my life rotting on the ground." He spat, his lip curled up in a frustrated sneer. After a moment, he continued in a more sedate voice. "Plus, with a mission like this, how could I say no? I grew up on a colony, I'm not going to sit on my ass while they're being snatched up one by one."

Ah, there it was again, the issue with the colonies. Jane had to admit, she had heard whispers the past few weeks, but she'd had other, more pressing issues on her mind. Like her dead brother being resurrected. But John was off at that moment investigating a kidnapped colony, and Jane had to admit, it was suspicious and terrifying to think about.

"But I can't believe it, honestly. The Commander, alive again?" Joker shook his head, disbelief and hope warring on his face. "Guess I'll just have to see him with my own eyes. They just finished showing me around the new ship, and it's something else. If he really is alive, he's going to love it. And clearly they are building the team specifically for him." He gestured to Jane, who found herself tilting her head slightly in continued confusion.

"What… are you talking about?" Jane asked slowly, the dots not connecting in her mind. She was clearly missing a good deal of information, which was mildly infuriating given what she'd been up to the past few months.

"Uh, the new ship?" He said by way of explanation, as though it should have been obvious. "The one that is pretty much the old Normandy but way bigger and muuuch fancier? Probably cost them a boat load to build. I'm going to get to fly it as soon as the Commander is ready to take command. That's what they have you here for, isn't it? To be on his team?" They sat there, staring each other down as the silence dragged on.

"You'll have to excuse me, Joker. I should go." With that, Jane stood up and marched out of the room, her guard following in her wake.

"Thank you for joining me, Shepard." The Illusive Man murmured from his chair, his throne, before puffing on his cigarette slowly. Jane stood tall, her feet planted firmly, her hands held behind her back as she nodded, attempting not to let the strangeness of the hologram show on her face.

"Of course." She replied as he stared her down, making her skin crawl as she waited for him to speak.

"You overstepped your bounds when you hacked into the system to contact Lawson and discover the location of Lazarus Research Station. I don't know what you thought you were doing or why, but I don't like my operatives breaking into classified data uninvited." The cold snap in his voice made her stand up straighter, her fists clenching as she forced herself to prevent a sneer from forming on her lips.

"Of course, sir." Jane repeated, but refused to drop her eyes, feeling her face harden in pinched anger at the reprimand. "It won't happen again, sir."

"It'd better not. If you hadn't played a part in preventing Wilson from destroying all the work and investment put into the Lazarus Project, you'd be facing serious consequences right now. As it is, I'm on the fence as to what to do with you." The Illusive Man glanced away at one of his data readouts as he knocked a bit of ash off the tip of his cigarette with a seeming lack of concern.

"Put me on John's team." Jane all but demanded, squaring her shoulders. He turned to stare at her for a moment before chuckling in a derision.

"Out of the question."

"What? Why?!" Jane broke her stance, stepping forward as she struggled to contain her anger at the dismissal.

"I could tell you that it's because you're a liability. That it's because you're hot headed and a bad influence on the Commander. You're his weakness. If you hadn't been aboard the Normandy SR1, perhaps he wouldn't have died during the attack." Jane drew back at the onslaught, the pain at the last accusation lancing through her like a bullet to the chest. "But mostly it's because I don't trust you." The words sat between them, heavy with the weight of their deserved truth.

"I'm one of the best damn infiltrators you have and we both know it. John needs the best at his side for this mission, and I'm the best." Jane stepped forward again, aggressively jabbing a finger in his direction as her eyebrows drew low in a glare. "Plus, I can guess at the game you're playing, the reason why you have people like Joker on the crew. If you want to try to woo John, convince him that Cerberus is his friend, great. Who better than his own damn sister? If you think you can do better than me, fine, but it's humanity that's on the line. Are you willing to play dice with the fate of the galaxy? Because I'm not."

The Illusive Man considered her for a long moment, his face betraying the thought he gave her words before he gave his cigarette another deep draw, releasing the smoke in a long, slow stream.

"Fine. I'll place you on his team." Jane felt the smirk forming on her lips, but froze as he continued, ice sliding down her spine, "But let me be clear: I'll be watching your every step, as will EDI and Lawson. They will be reporting everything back to me directly, so you better watch yourself. I will do whatever I must to prevent you or anyone else from ruining this mission. Because you're right, I'm not going to play dice with the fate of humanity."

"Miranda, have them set a course for Omega. We need to track down that Doctor Solus if we're going to stand a chance against the Collectors." John stated as he flicked through a few screens on his console beside the galaxy map, and Miranda Lawson nodded before heading to speak with the navigators.

Jane leaned against the desk beside her brother's console, her arms crossed as she glanced down at her nails. She looked up to see John reading a file intently, his expression serious and focused. She couldn't help the small smile as her chest swelled with bittersweet emotion. She'd never thought to see that expression again, but here they were. She'd mourned him, she'd cried, she'd gotten back up and continued on without him. But here they were.

Reaching down into her pocket, she fingered the small cloth wrapped bundle, traced the star shaped medal within. She'd drop it off in his quarters next time she was up there. It was odd to part with it after all this time. But it was his, afterall. She looked back up at him, and couldn't help but let her eyes roam his face, taking in all the details she'd thought she'd never see again. He was standing right in front of her, she could reach her hand out and touch him, and yet part of her still couldn't believe he was actually alive.

"What do you think about this guy from Omega- Archangel? Ever heard of him?" Jane snapped back to reality at her brother's question, giving her head a small shake. She thought back to her short stint on Omega, racking her brain for any memory that could help.

"...Maybe? I'm not sure. I might have heard the name, but I don't remember anything specific."

"Ah well. He seems to have a good skill set, not unlike Garrus back on the SR1." She saw his eyes drop, disappointment etched across his face, mirroring her own. She felt the usual gut kick whenever she thought of Garrus and the way she'd ended things between them. "Anyway, when we arrive on Omega, would you be willing to take a small team and track him down? I'm not feeling entirely myself yet, and I don't want to stretch myself too thin. I'd like to rely on you if I can." Jane felt her chest swell in unexpected faith he put in her, and was once again amazed by the joy of having him back in her life.

"Of course, John. Anything you need, I'm here."

The Citadel, Present Day

"-and you know most of it from there. It didn't take too much work for me, Zaeed, and Jacob to convince the mercs to hire us to help take down Archangel. After some good old fashioned sabotage, we got ourselves across the bridge, and the rest is history." Jane finished from where she was perched on the desk, her elbows resting upon her knees, her fingers steepled before her.

Garrus couldn't rip his eyes away from her, and as she looked up, their gazes locked. Before him sat humanity's second Spectre, completely unknown and unrecognized. He thought back to the pomp and circumstance that accompanied Shepard's ascension to Spectre and the publicity he'd had to endure, all the popular intrigue.

Going over everything she'd recounted, which was a fair amount as the story had been quite long, he couldn't help but see her in an all new light. Shepard held all sorts of acclaim and accolades due to so many reasons including his actions on Elysium, becoming humanity's first Spectre, the search for Saren, and everything surrounding the Battle of the Citadel. And yet-

This human woman before him seemed, in his eyes, every bit as amazing and awe inspiring in her own way, her accomplishments just as noteworthy. Then again, perhaps he was somewhat biased.

Garrus coughed when he realized he'd been staring at her and quickly moderated his subvocals.

"Uh, so I suppose congratulations are in order?" He asked somewhat hesitantly, causing her to tilt her head slightly in confusion, something he found mildly endearing.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I imagine, given the circumstances, not many have had the chance to congratulate you on becoming the second human Spectre, all things considered." Garrus shrugged, causing Jane to chuckle bitterly.

"Yeah, thanks, I guess. Still not sure how I feel about it. I suppose I'd enjoy the freedom if it hadn't come with so many strings attached." She must have noticed his confused look, for she clarified, "Hard to enjoy the benefits of the job when I'm caught between keeping my cover with Cerberus and my obligations to the Council. I thought that it was all going to be over with, but my meeting with them just now didn't really go as I'd hoped." She looked away, her expression decidedly disgusted. Garrus couldn't help but remember her opinion on politicians.

"If you explain all of this to Shepard, he'll understand and stop worrying about you and Cerberus so much. I'm sure it would be a weight off his shoulders to understand where your loyalties lie." Jane's face fell into a strange mix of irritation and dismay at the suggestion.

"I want nothing more than to tell him everything I just told you! I thought that once I uncovered the purpose of the Lazarus Project that my mission would be over and I could stop lying and focus on the Reapers alongside John. But now the Council wants me to remain undercover in order to keep tabs on Cerberus, this mission, and John. The blasted Council outright forbade me from telling him about any of it!" Jane exclaimed as she ran her fingers through her bangs, brushing them out of her face angrily before jumping down off the desk, pacing across the room.

"What? Why?" Garrus asked, shock reverberating through his subvocals as he stood to follow her.

"It's all my fault. They read my reports and now they're concerned that he might not actually be John Shepard, or that he's been tampered with during the reconstruction process, or something like that." Jane paused as she stared into the fogged window aimlessly. "They're worried he might be some sort of Cerberus pawn now." Her voice had a quiet, faraway quality, as though she were somewhere else entirely. Garrus came to stand just behind her and hesitantly lifted a hand to place it lightly upon her shoulder.

"That's not your fault, Jane. You did your job to the best of your ability. You couldn't have known they would come to that conclusion." He said gently, but she turned slightly, her expression pained and almost guilty looking. "What's wrong?"

"If I'm being honest with myself, I don't know if I actually would tell him everything yet even if the council hadn't told me not to." Her voice was quiet, the admission barely passing her lips as though it physically hurt to rip the words out of her chest. His own chest ached at the raw vulnerability he saw in her eyes as she looked up at him. He remembered the old interrogation tactic of using silence to encourage someone to continue, and after a moment, she did. "Garrus, what if they're right? What if it's really not John? Or what if they really did tamper with him somehow?" She paused, her eyes dropping as she continued, "What if he's just some sort of clone? He seems to remember things only John could know, but I can't shut out the voice that keeps telling me it's not him, that my brother died-"

"Jane." Garrus stated firmly, causing her eyes to lift back up to his as his hand gripped her shoulder firmly. "I might not know him as well as you, but I'm fairly positive he is really John Shepard." Her eyes darted between his as they seemed to delve into him in search of answers.

"How can you be so sure? How can you be so confident? Miranda says they wanted him to be as close to his true self as possible, and that the Illusive Man refused to let her put a chip in him, but I trust her substantially less than I could throw her. There's something different about John, he's not the same as he used to be. Like that stunt he pulled with the guards on Purgatory."

"Honestly, I don't know. It's just a feeling, but don't think Cerberus tampered with him. I think what you're sensing is just him dealing with the trauma of what he experienced. Just like the rest of us. He died. You don't walk away from that without baggage." Jane continued to watch him for a moment before she seemed to relax, a small, enigmatic smile gracing her lips.

"He's not the only one who's changed." She murmured quietly and Garrus opened his mouth to question her, but she turned to face him completely, taking a half step backwards as she crossed her arms. "I'll give it some thought. Thanks, Garrus, for this. It was still kind of a dick move to follow me here, but maybe it was for the best. Maybe I'll work with Kasumi to figure out how to deafen EDI in the Port Observation Deck so we can have a safe place to talk on the Normandy, too."

"That'd be nice." Was all Garrus could manage as he felt his face flush slightly at the warmth of the smile she was directing at him. He coughed, slightly panicked at what to say next.

"Let's get out of here before we draw attention to ourselves." Jane gestured him to the door, stopping to enter a command into the console to unshutter the windows before leaving the small office.

As they made their way out of the embassies, Garrus felt like a weight was melting off his shoulders as they continued to laugh and chat over inconsequential topics. It was as if the final barrier between them had shattered, leaving them as close as they'd been back before the attack upon the original Normandy, if not closer. It was like having his old friend back again, as though she hadn't truly been present until now. It felt as though the smile on his face was permanent, as though nothing could destroy the light feeling in his chest as they made their way through the Presidium.

"-and Jenkins really had no idea what he was getting himself into. Within moments of starting the match, I'd tossed him like halfway across the room. When he finally managed to get to his feet, he threw his hands up in the air and whooped like he'd just gotten off a roller coaster." Jane chuckled as they reminisced about their days aboard the SR1 and Garrus couldn't help but smirk.

"Good to hear I'm not the only one you can toss about like a ragdoll." He offered, tucking his hands in his pockets as they strolled across a bridge crossing over one of the many lakes.

"Ah, but no one is quite as fun to manhandle as you, Big Guy." Jane grinned as she shot him a side eye, causing him to scoff goodnaturedly even as he felt his heart thud at the words.

"You might have had your way with me back then," He ventured, causing her to lift an eyebrow in amusement, "But we both know the field is a little more evenly matched these days."

"Is that so? Sounds like a challenge." Her voice dropped at that, gaining a huskiness that it'd lacked before, and he glanced back at her to see her looking up at him with a sly grin and heavily lidded eyes that sparkled with amusement. Garrus swallowed, lifting a hand to fiddle with one of his shirt's buckles as he looked away again, cursing his nerves.

He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with her, but his mind drifted back to the meeting he'd had scheduled soon with one of his old contacts regarding tracking down Sidonis. He looked back at Jane, who was watching him curiously, a weighing look in her eyes.

Screw it, he thought.

"How about we go pick up something to eat? My treat." He blurted out suddenly, causing her eyebrows to jump in surprise. Her grin was back in a moment, her eyes continuing to sparkle with undisguised mirth.

"Garrus Vakarian, are you asking me out on a date?" Jane asked in mock disbelief, holding a hand up to her chest in exaggerated surprise. His heart jumped into his chest at her words, causing him to backpedal, despite her good natured response.

"I, er, I just meant- You know, we should take advantage of being on the Citadel, appreciate some food that doesn't have to be rehydrated before being eaten. I didn't mean to imply- I don't want to make you uncomfortable." Garrus spouted in a rush, his eyes darting to her and away as he lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck nervously. She laughed before stopping him with a hand on his arm.

"Whoa! Consider me seduced, smooth talker. Now shut up and stop worrying. Lunch sounds great, I'm actually pretty starving." Jane stepped back, shoving her hands in her pockets, her grin relaxing into a pleased smile that made something in Garrus' stomach do a backflip.

"Well, okay then. I know a nice place not too far from here, caters to both dextro and levo, so it should be fine for both of us." Garrug offered, gesturing a little further on.

"Lead the way, then."

Which was how he found himself seated across from Jane at what she ensured him was a "cute little cafe" overlooking the water, watching as a cool breeze ruffled her hair. As she looked down at the menu, she absently lifted a hand to tuck the stray lock of hair behind her ear, and Garrus caught himself staring. He tore his eyes away, looking around at their fellow patrons to distract himself.

With a sinking sensation, he noticed the two people sitting at the table next to them, both reaching across the table to hold hands as they lovingly gazed into each other's eyes. Looking over at the next table over, he saw another couple. In fact, a good deal of the tables seemed to be filled with couples, and Garrus couldn't stop himself from swallowing nervously as he looked back to find Jane looking back at him. Suddenly, she yawned before stretching her arms up over her head casually.

"My god, it feels good to have all of that off my chest. I haven't been able to open up to anyone in ages. It was good to talk about even if I technically shouldn't have." She leaned her elbows onto the table before her, resting her chin on her interwoven fingers as she glanced out over the water.

"Yeah, it's honestly a relief," Garrus admitted quietly, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair slightly, "I couldn't figure out why you'd join Cer-" He cut himself off as she shot a hard look at him, "Well, you know. Makes a lot more sense now." Her eyes softened at that and her teasing smile returned.

"Oh, you know me." Jane drawled slowly as he lifted his drink up to take a sip. She continued after a minute, "I just love dominating aliens." He choked, barely managing to not spit his drink out. His coughs transitioned into laughter as she grinned and he shook his head.

It wasn't long till they were placing their order, but when he noticed the interested and lingering looks their server directed at them, he wondered if they really looked as much like a couple as those at the tables around them.

Is this what it would be like? If they were together, more than just a casual fling? He'd probably spent more than a healthy amount of time imagining all sorts of things between him and Jane over the years. The fact that they were different species had really only factored into his daydreams in the physical aspect of things, but he supposed it went a lot further than that. Human and turian couples were pretty rare, particularly ones in open romantic relationships.

Shaking his head, he returned his focus to Jane, deciding not to think about it. Who knew the next time he'd have a chance like this? He was determined to fix this memory in his mind. Regardless, it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, and before he knew it, he was paying their bill and they were leaving.

He was determined to track down his contacts and get what information he could out of them, hopefully set some of them on the trail to track down Sidonis. But he was loath to let go of this time with her and the connection they had begun to reestablish. As they left the cafe, he paused, turning to face Jane.

"I have some people I need to meet up with first, but will you be heading to the Dark Star Lounge with everyone else this evening?" Garrus asked tentatively, hoping his voice didn't sound too eager.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He grinned at her response before double checking the readout on his visor. His mandibles widened, his teeth showing as his smile gained a somewhat feral gleam.

-Kill Count-

[GV: 276]

[JS: 273]

"I should hope not, as I believe the tables seemed to finally be turning. Time for you to pay up." Garrus chuckled as Jane rolled her eyes good naturedly, groaning as she made her way toward a nearby public transport console.

"Ugh, so you did notice. I was hoping if I didn't say anything, you might let it slip your mind. Ah well, can't win 'em all, I suppose. But next time, you'll be buying again, so don't get used to it." She rolled her shoulder in an apparently unconcerned manner before glancing at him over her shoulder with a mixture of amusement and challenge.

"Ha. You're just not used to being beaten for once. Don't like not being the one on top for once?" He taunted, crossing his arms over his chest, enjoying having a moment to gloat.

"Don't get cocky, Vakarian." Jane laughed as her cab arrived and she opened the door. "I don't give up without a fight." With that, she winked before disappearing into the vehicle, closing the door behind herself and leaving Garrus feeling oddly light headed as though the last few hours had been some sort of dream.