.
Loyalty and Limerence
Part 2
Chapter 25
The Normandy SR2
They were alive.
All Garrus could think about was the taste of her, the feel of her in his arms, the joy of knowing they'd both made it back alive, their mission complete. No one existed in the world except them.
After a moment, he drew back slightly, enough to look down at her in his arms. Jane smiled up at him, his own happiness reflected on her face as she clung to him. She pulled him down for another kiss, and he felt his subvocals hum contentedly as he succumbed.
Reality returned suddenly as he registered the sound of catcalls and whistles around them. His eyes snapped open to see her equally surprised expression. He quickly stood them upright again, returning Jane to her own feet, and they glanced around to see the squad and crew around them all laughing and cheering. Garrus felt one of his hands come up to rub the back of his neck hesitantly, but he didn't remove the other from the small of Jane's back. He couldn't quite bring himself to completely let go of her yet.
"Wait, what?" A shocked squawk erupted behind them, and they both turned suddenly to see a wide eyed, opened mouthed Shepard standing just a few feet away. "You-" He pointed at Garrus, then to Jane, open amazement on his face, "What-? How-? When-"?
"English, John." Jane smirked as she crossed her arms, leaning into Garrus slightly even as he swallowed nervously, heat creeping up his neck. "We both speak it at least somewhat fluently." Shepard took a moment to collect himself, though he still seemed somewhat stunned.
"I didn't realize you guys were… together? Or is this a new thing?" He gestured between the two of them, his voice nearly an octave higher than usual, and they glanced at each other before looking back at him.
"I, er, wouldn't call it new, exactly. No." Garrus murmured as he glanced away, very unsure how to handle the situation. Bringing up their relationship to her brother, her only family, seemed far too similar to being brought home to meet her family. What if she wasn't ready for them to be that serious yet? She'd told him she loved him, and he tried to remind himself that it was different amongst humans. They may not have the same traditions as turians, but the nerves remained.
Jane seemed relaxed though, as she chuckled and shrugged. "You really didn't know, John? I figured the whole ship knew by now. It's been a few months now, I think." The news caused Shepard's eyes to widen further as he blinked in surprise.
"Months? Christ, really?"
"You honestly didn't know, Shepard?" Kasumi chimed in as she hid her grin behind a hand and a few others laughed again.
"Yeah, they haven't really been going out of their way to hide it." Miranda rolled her eyes despite the smile on her own face.
"I think it's sweet." Jacob added, shrugging a moment later when Jack turned her sneer on him. "What? I can appreciate a good romance."
"The touchy feely shit is gross, stop encouraging them." She groaned and more laughter erupted behind her. The whole ship seemed to be mildly giddy, high on their near escape from certain death.
"Okay, okay, thanks guys." Jane drawled with a small smile and a roll of her eyes, "Glad to see everyone has an opinion on our private life. But feel free to keep it to yourselves."
"So you guys really are together?" Shepard asked, his voice suddenly serious. They turned back to Shepard and the chatter behind them quieted down at his question.
"Yeah," Garrus started, forcing up words that seemed to have lodged in his throat, "I hope that's okay with you, I didn't-"
The force of Shepard's arms wrapping around the both of them almost caused him to stagger backwards, but he caught himself as he registered the sudden hug. Shepard squeezed them both nearly to the point of discomfort, and Garrus could just barely make out the huge grin on his face.
"That's fantastic! I'm so happy for you both!" Relief washed over him at the other man's excited words, and Jane laughed as her arms came up to wrap around both of them. Shepard gave them both one more squeeze before stepping back, placing a hand on their shoulders as he smiled at them. "We've made jokes about being family, but now we kind of are. The brother I never had."
The strong emotion that hit Garrus at those words nearly overwhelmed him, words utterly failing him. Jane's smile softened, and a moment later she reached up to place an affectionate kiss on her brother's cheek.
"Thanks, John." Shepard smiled at her warmly before turning to Garrus with a brow raised in amusement.
"You've been pretty sly this whole time, though, haven't you? I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend."
"Hey now, I said I didn't have a turian girlfriend. Last I checked, she's human." They shared a laugh at that until they were interrupted.
"Shepard!" They all spun to see the crew parting, a purple clad blur darting toward them. Garrus and Jane managed to get out of the way just in time as Tali launched herself at the Commander, giving him a tight hug.
Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her and spun her happily before putting her down and bringing his hands up to cup her helmet. He pressed his forehead to her faceplate, the closest to a kiss he could manage given the circumstances.
"You're okay! You're alive! You did it!" Tali exclaimed excitedly, her voice hoarse with emotion as her hands came up to rest on his before trailing down his arms. Suddenly, she pulled away before punching him hard in the arm.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Shepard yelped, and she jabbed a finger into his armored chest.
"That was for sending me back and not letting me fight by your side!" She exclaimed angrily, but her voice softened as she continued, "Never again, do you hear me?"
"I told you I'd come back." Shepard murmured and she nodded, evidently no longer capable of speech as he wrapped his arms around her again and she leaned into him.
"Okay, as sweet as all of this is, can you please take it somewhere else? Pretty sure I'm going to be sick." Joker groaned halfheartedly as he glanced around the edge of his chair.
"Thank you." Jack added a moment later, and was met with a few chuckles.
"Okay, okay." Shepard relented, releasing Tali, "We've all got plenty of work to do, anyway." His voice shifted into that of the Commander, "Joker, limp us back to Omega, we're in need of serious repairs." He turned to leave, but paused before looking back at Joker, "Good work today, by the way." Joker nodded his head with a small smile before returning to the controls.
"Aye, aye, sir."
Shepard looked toward EDI's console, "EDI, begin the process of removing Cerberus' monitoring devices. I have a call to make to the Illusive Man." His face hardened as he started toward the CIC.
The crowd parted as he passed through, murmurs of congratulations and thanks following him as he strode toward the comm room. The room went silent as Shepard disappeared behind the doors. Slowly, one by one, the faces turned to look at Jane and Garrus, and he felt himself blink in surprise.
"So, what happened after we separated in the Collector Base?" Miranda finally asked, and many of them nodded their desire to know the same, "What did you find up there?"
"Wait, EDI didn't tell you guys anything yet?" Jane asked, taking the words right out of Garrus' mouth.
"No, I thought it best to wait until after our escape through the relay." The AI chimed in and, after a pause, Jane nodded slowly, but then winced, a hand coming up to grip her side.
"Fine, I'll tell you guys about what happened, but I think I need to see the doctor first." At her words, it was as if every muscle in Garrus' body throbbed in unison. The adrenaline was clearly beginning to fade and all the injuries accumulated during the course of the mission seemed to hit him all at once.
"Yeah, that'd be nice." He added, his voice a little pinched.
"Of course, of course." Miranda gestured them toward the CIC and led the way to the elevators, much the ground team following after. They dodged around debris and the crewmates beginning to sift through it all.
As they walked, Garrus chanced a quick look at Jane, noticing as she glanced up at him as well. They shared a smile and her shoulder bumped his gently. Spirits, they were alive.
In the hours following the relay jump, they managed to scan and remove most, if not all, of the monitoring devices aboard the Normandy. Shepard made it clear to the Illusive Man that he was cutting ties with them, and sweeping the ship was only the first step.
EDI seemed more than content with the split, which seemed to surprise many. She made it clear that her allegiance was to Shepard, the crew, and the Normandy, and Cerberus didn't seem to factor into that despite the fact that they'd created her. She was one of the most helpful when it came to ridding the ship of the monitoring devices.
The other surprise was Miranda. She seemed to take the Illusive Man's sudden obsession with saving the Collector Base personally. Perhaps it had started earlier with the events surrounding the derelict Reaper, but after everything they witnessed in the Collector Base, she seemed to have finally decided that the Illusive Man didn't genuinely have humanity's best interest at heart. So she submitted her resignation and seemed to throw herself into the efforts to detach the ship from Cerberus whole heartedly.
Shepard made an announcement to the crew that the ship would no longer be associated with Cerberus and told them that they would have the option to stay or leave once they arrived on Omega. From the snippets of conversation Garrus heard, it seemed like a good chunk of the crew was opting to remain with Shepard aboard the Normandy, though it seemed like a few planned to leave and return to Cerberus, including Mess Sergeant Gardner. Not that that made much of a difference to Garrus, he'd never been given anything fancier than normal rehydrated dextro rations.
Just before their arrival on Omega, Shepard got a hold of Aria's people and made plans to have the Normandy repaired. Garrus was initially hesitant about the idea of hiring a crew on Omega to conduct the repairs, but Aria promised to get her best people on it. For a fee, of course. Luckily, Shepard seemed to have put quite a bit of money aside from his Cerberus funding, and thus wasn't terribly concerned about the price.
In fact, when they arrived on Omega, Shepard announced that he was putting the whole crew up in a surprisingly nice hotel for the duration of the repairs, which would probably be about a week. This was met with the expected enthusiasm from a crew that really hadn't had a true break in far too long.
"Garrus and I can just share a room." Jane stated offhandedly as she helped Shepard with the logistics of setting up the hotel bookings in the lobby. Shepard looked up at her from his datapad, his eyebrows leaping up. "What? Don't give me that look. I'm an adult and I can sleep with whomever I want, thank you Dad."
Garrus tried to ignore the conversation as best he could as mortified heat creeped up his neck, trying and failing to focus on whatever Ken and Gabby were chatting about nearby.
"I wasn't-! Gah," Shepard brought a hand up to rub his eyes in exasperation, "Jane, as much as I love that you guys are together - and really, I'm happy for you guys - I really don't want to think about my best friend and my baby sister sleeping together."
"Then don't think about it. It's none of your business." Jane muttered as she turned to lean back against the lobby's front desk, "Plus, are you honestly telling me you and Tali are going to be sleeping in different rooms this week?" Shepard didn't seem to have a ready reply, causing Jane to smirk at him knowingly, "I thought not." They were silent for another moment before Jane added quietly, "I'm happy for you guys, by the way. I'm glad you guys figured everything out between you."
"Thanks." Shepard replied quietly with a small, pleased smile, "And thanks for pushing me to open up to her." Jane smiled back at him before pushing off the front desk and turning to slap her brother on the back.
"As happy as I am, though, I'm equally uninterested in the details." They both laughed before returning their focus to the check in process.
The first day was a whirlwind as they got personal effects moved off the Normandy and got it turned over to the work crew to begin repairs. Joker was not thrilled about the prospect of having workers crawling all over 'his baby', but the repairs were far too extensive for the crew to be able to handle alone. It required major equipment that they just didn't have. EDI promised to keep an eye on them, however, which seemed to soothe the pilot somewhat.
The crew quickly dispersed to get shopping and errands finished up with the understanding that Shepard had rented a private room at Afterlife for a party later that night. They deserved a celebration after everything they'd gone through, and he planned to go all out.
The intervening hours for Garrus passed in a blur as he and Jane picked up supplies and indulged in a little retail therapy. There was very little that more guns couldn't solve, and Omega was admittedly a pretty good place to find those. Jane then picked up another model ship for her collection as well as a new type of fish for her brother's fish tank.
Garrus even found himself awkwardly seated on Aria's couch at one point. For an hour or so, he sipped a drink as Jane spent some time catching up with the self-proclaimed queen. He still wasn't entirely sure whether Aria knew he'd been Archangel or not, and she seemed content to let him wonder.
That evening they made their way to Shepard's private room at Afterlife to find the party already underway. Cheers went up as they entered, and Jane met the cheers with enthusiasm as she demanded a drink. For once, neither of them cared about their wager, the drinks being happily placed on Shepard's tab.
"About fucking time, Princess!" Jack yelled from across the room, clearly already having indulged a bit, "These lightweights don't know how to party!" She beckoned them over, and Garrus nearly stumbled as Jane grabbed his arm and tugged him toward where Jack sat at the bar. The biotic gestured to the barkeeper who poured a series of shots.
Grunt hurried over to grab one as Jane and Garrus both picked up their own, his a different color than the others. Jack grabbed hers while Kasumi, Ken, and Gabby all leaned in to claim one as well.
"To the Normandy! To the best crew, and the best Commander!" Jane exclaimed loudly, eliciting a loud cheer from around the room. They all downed their glasses before smacking them down on the bar top.
Garrus scanned the room, noticing the cheerful banter, relaxed conversation, and overall pleasant atmosphere with a smile. Shepard sat on a couch nearby nursing his own drink, Tali tucked up against his side with a drink of her own, a twisty straw poking up out of the bottle. Legion, Samara, and Miranda stood chatting and a group of crew members danced happily not far away. Tucked into a corner sat Zaeed, Mordin, and Thane talking quietly, and Jacob sat at the end of the bar deep in animated discussion with Jenkins, the two of them having become quite friendly the past few months.
He looked up as Jane placed his favorite drink in his hands, and he thanked her by pulling her close and nuzzling her cheek. She laughed and her hand came up to rest on his arm, her thumb stroking the thinner, sensitive skin reaching up toward his wrist, causing him to shiver.
"Awww! How about a repeat of that display from the other day in the cockpit?" Kasumi cooed, her face breaking into a wide grin, "We want an encore!" Her demand was repeated by a few others throughout the room, causing both of them to look around bemusedly.
"Well, you heard the crowd. Would be a shame to disappoint them." Jane looked back at him, her eyes seeming to sparkle in the low light. Screw it, Garrus thought as he took a large swig of his drink before setting it down on the bar. Then he grabbed her and twisted them, dipping the same way he had after their daring escape back through the Omega 4 Relay, cutting off her laughter with a kiss.
The room erupted in cat calls, whistles, laughter, and applause, and Garrus righted her before reaching over to grab and finish off the rest of his drink.
"You're quite the showman, I'm surprised." Jane chuckled as she picked up her own drink, her other hand wandering until it reached his waist, her fingers pressing lightly into all the right places. He put the empty glass down before grinning at her.
"Ugh, gross." They both turned to see Shepard approaching them, his face screwed up in playful disgust. "I don't think I'll ever get over how weird that is."
"Don't start with that again, you ass." Jane poked him in the chest and he swatted her away.
"I'm allowed to tease my sister for making out with my best friend in public." Shepard gestured to the barkeeper for a refill before clapping Garrus on the shoulder, "No offense, buddy."
"None taken, though you might not have room to judge." Garrus shrugged, failing to hide his grin as he glanced at Tali who was heading in their direction. "Congratulations on that, by the way. Glad you both figured that all out." Shepard blushed as he smiled, reaching for his newly poured drink.
"Thanks. You were right, by the way. Once we were able to talk about it, it all seemed so… easy. So natural."
"I'm happy for you both." Garrus said warmly and Shepard wrapped an arm around him in a one armed hug as he took a sip of his drink.
"You know…" Jane trailed off, her grin gaining a somewhat mischievous glint as she leaned back against the bar, "I had been feeling charitable before, but if you insist on being a pain, then I guess I should show off my newest purchase from earlier." With that, she pulled up her omni-tool, glancing at Shepard out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh?" Shepard asked hesitantly, as Tali came to stand beside him.
"Did you get a new omni-tool mod or something?" She asked curiously, and Garrus couldn't help the short bark of laughter as he shook his head.
"Even better." He stated as he picked up his newly refilled glass, taking a sip as Jane typed a few commands into her omni-tool gleefully. After a pause, she held her hand face up between the group, a small hologram of her brother standing above her palm.
"Good to meet you! I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy!" The cheerful figure waved its little palm, his voice familiar except about an octave too high.
"What… Is that?" Shepard's eyes widened as his eyebrows leapt up his forehead in surprised confusion.
"Don't you remember when we were helping Thane out with Kolyat? Bailey mentioned there was a Commander Shepard VI. Well, turns out you can buy just about anything on Omega." Jane stated offhandedly, her tone at odds with her smug smile.
The small figure looked up at Shepard, "Extranet says you're Alliance Military. Take care of yourself out there, Officer."
"You've got to be kidding me." Shepard's expression became less and less amused by the moment, but Tali nearly bounced as she gripped his arm.
"It's so cute! Where did you get it?" She asked, looking at Jane, whose smile only grew wider.
"There's nothing this galaxy can't beat if we all work together!"
"I'll get a copy for you." She said cheerfully as other people nearby began to notice and move closer to see.
"My personality matrix can predict what the real Commander Shepard would say with seven percent accuracy!"
"I heard about that VI!" Jenkins said animatedly as he joined them, "It was all the rage after, er, well… After everything that happened after the Battle of the Citadel. I thought about getting one, but they cracked down on them pretty fast."
"Well, for a small fee, everyone here can be the proud owner of an adorable little Commander Shepard." Jane announced to the group, causing Shepard to groan.
"I come preinstalled with a flight sim of the SSV Normandy."
"Now this I've got to see." Joker chimed in from a chair a little ways off, turning in his seat to watch the tiny orange hologram.
"Got any pets? You look like a varren person." Jane snorted, bringing her free hand up to cover her mouth as she attempted not to burst into laughter. Shepard brought his hand up to cover his face as it flushed red with embarrassment.
"Anyone ever tell you you're one hell of a looker, soldier?" There was a giggle from beside him, and Garrus looked over to see Miranda, of all people, also bringing a hand up to cover her own smile. He had to admit, that was a sound he'd never expected to hear from the usually uptight woman.
"Don't be a stranger!"
"I don't really sound like that, do I?" Shepard asked, his voice almost petulant as Jane tapped some command into her omni-tool, causing the tiny, orange Shepard to turn and salute everyone
"Of course you don't." Tali stated in the gentle tone of a mother soothing a ruffled child as she patted his arm kindly. She turned to Jane before whispering, "You need to get me a copy of that. Please." Jane winked at her as she took another sip of her drink.
"Huh," Garrus leaned in to get a better look at the tiny hologram, "This was obviously based on images of you prior to the attack on the Normandy SR1." He looked back up at Shepard, examining his face, "I hadn't thought about it, but I can't really see the reconstruction scars at all anymore. They've really healed up well."
"They have, haven't they?" Shepard smiled as he brought up a hand to rub his cheek, but Jane let out an exaggerated sigh as she shut off her omni-tool.
"Yeah, it's such a shame. You looked like such a badass, but now you're back to looking like a boy scout." Jane stated with mock disappointment before turning to Garrus, lifting a hand to gently pat his scarred mandible. "I'll console myself that at least one of you is still good looking." They all shared a laugh and the crowd began dispersing.
The night progressed as shore leave get-togethers usually did, becoming more rowdy and ridiculous as the night wore on. It slowly began morphing into something of a goodbye party, however, when it came out that a few of the ground team soon planned to part ways with the Normandy crew.
Kasumi, Zaeed, Samara, Thane, and Mordin all appeared to have things they needed to take care of now that the mission was over, and planned to depart before the Normandy's repairs were finished. The prospect of saying goodbye to them was sadder than Garrus expected, and he marveled as he thought back to those first few weeks aboard the Normandy. The team had seemed so disparate, so disconnected, he'd thought it impossible for them to feel like a family.
And yet, here they were. A family. And like last time, they had to part ways. Unexpectedly, it began to feel somehow even more painful than when the team had slowly begun departing the SR1. Garrus supposed it probably had to do with how much longer this mission had lasted, giving them more time to grow together.
The evening stretched on, somehow disappearing in chunks with every blink of the eye. In the morning, it would become nothing more than short, vivid flashes of memory, strung together by blurred impressions and additional drinks.
A tipsy Mordin giving very suspect romantic advice to a terrified looking Jenkins.
Legion hacking the sound system in an short-lived attempt to learn how to DJ.
Samara and Thane showing up the dance floor with an unexpected, impressive display of some sort of asari style dance.
Zaeed loudly attempting to teach Grunt the words to a few rousing drinking songs that seemed to get louder and raunchier the longer they went on, particularly when the krogan seemed to grasp the lyrics.
Jacob and Jack engaging in a series of competitive biotic displays of strength and control that ended only when Shepard had to step in with his own biotics to pull a very disgruntled Gabby off the ceiling as he gave the two a telling off.
Kasumi teaching a fascinated Miranda sleight of hand tricks with a deck of playing cards and Miranda's tipsy, fumbling attempt to imitate her ending in a spray of cards in the face of a very unamused barkeeper.
Garrus eventually found himself lounging on a couch alongside Jane, playing absently with a lock of her hair as she chatted animatedly with a very drunk Tali, John content with his glass of water beside the happy quarian. The sounds of cheerful, drunken revelry permeated the air as they enjoyed a last hurrah with their departing friends, and Garrus felt something akin to hope in his breast. With a Commander like Shepard, surely the Reapers didn't stand a chance. And they could have years yet before they arrived.
"Seriously, John," Jane turned to look at her brother, rolling her eyes, "Let me go get you another drink. This is a celebration, you can't just sit around drinking water of all things. You're not allowed to be boring tonight!" Shepard looked at her with a crooked smile.
"Unlike some people, I don't plan on waking up with a hangover, so I'll stick to water for now. Thanks. " He stated dryly before taking a long swig of his water. "How about I get you some, too, so you're not hating life tomorrow?"
"You're such a buzzkill, John." Jane chuckled fondly, "At least you've loosened up some and drink a little these days. Back on the SR1, you almost never indulged during shore leave."
"Do you remember that one time Engineer Adams tried buying him that big pink drink with the cute little umbrella?" Tali asked as she giggled, and Jane nodded as she grinned.
"John looked so torn! He wasn't sure which would be the worst crime, turning down a gift or setting a bad example. Didn't you just quietly pass it off to Wrex a few minutes later or something?"
"Look, I didn't-" Shepard paused suddenly, looking down at his omni-tool which must have pinged. "Thought I set this to priority messages only…" He muttered quietly to himself as he pulled up the screen. Jane and Tali continued talking and laughing, but Garrus watched as John's face slowly pinched in concern the further he read. Closing his omni-tool suddenly, he carefully extracted himself from Tali, who looked up at him with confusion.
"Is something wrong, Shepard?" Garrus asked, but the other man shook his head placatingly.
"I don't think so. I've just got a call I need to take from an old friend. I'm going to head back to the room for a little privacy, but I'll come back down as soon as it's done." Shepard directed that last bit to Tali, who nodded her head slowly, clearly battling with the drinks in her system to establish an understanding of the situation. Shepard laughed, shaking his head, "Have fun, guys. See you in a little bit."
With that, he turned and left, the door closing behind him. Jane's eyes followed him out of the room, her expression considering. "Huh. Wonder what that's about."
"I'm not sure," Garrus stated, interested only until he noticed he'd long since finished his drink, "But how about we grab another drink and join the others on the dance floor?"
The end of the party was a bit of a blur to Garrus, and it wasn't until they were stumbling back to their room that he started to feel as though he were regaining at least a little of his cognitive ability. A small, wee little bit, at least. It took them quite a while to make the short trip, due in part to their meandering path and the occasional pauses in nooks or alcoves when either of them got a little overly affectionate.
As they finally neared their room, Garrus couldn't help but feel like some sort of normal happy couple. They'd had as close to a normal day as they'd ever had, and once his head started thinking about it, it was hard to stop. What would a normal future look like for them, anyway?
Would they settle down? Live on the Citadel? Or Earth, perhaps? He knew there were some parts of Earth with warm enough climates to be comfortable for him. Palaven was out of the question, the radiation outside would be too much for Jane, wouldn't it? Or maybe there was some other small colony that would work for both of them. Would they get jobs? What kind of house would Jane want to live in?
Would they become bondmates? Garrus let his imagination roam as Jane fumbled with her omni-tool, bringing up the code for their room's lock despite his roaming hands distracting her. Of course he wanted to be Jane's bondmate someday, and since this was his own little fantasy, he couldn't see why not. Would they have a normal turian style ceremony, or would she insist on doing it the human way? Or a blended ceremony? That would probably be best. He knew nothing about human customs other than what he'd seen in a few vids, he'd need to do research…
They finally made it into their hotel room, closing the door behind them. The lights were still off, the only illumination the neon lights shining in through the windows. Jane's arms were wrapped around his neck as he pushed her up against the wall, hiking her legs up as he pressed against her.
Would they have kids? Now that was a harder question to answer. Garrus could imagine raising a few kids with her, and he wondered if she was interested in being a parent someday. Had she ever mentioned it before? His brain was far too fuzzy to begin remembering. Would they adopt? Maybe one human child and one turian. Or was she interested in carrying her own biological child to term? He was sure they could find a doner.
They fell onto the bed, he wasn't sure where his shirt had gotten to, and Jane seemed to have lost her pants. Had he done that? Damn, he was good.
He could picture growing old with her, retiring somewhere warm and tropical, assuming they didn't pick somewhere like that to live to begin with. Maybe they'd travel, create some sort of bucket list, all the best sights to see around the galaxy before they died. Maybe they'd have grandchildren to visit, to spoil rotten. Maybe-
Garrus froze, his teeth grazing against the soft, fragile skin of her throat, one hand holding her wrist down as the other ventured up beneath her shirt.
"What's wrong?" Jane asked between heavy breaths, her desire and anticipation evident. He didn't bother hiding the wistful smile as it passed across his face briefly.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it." He murmured into her neck as he continued where he'd left off, savoring the taste of her and attempting to memorize every little gasp and moan she let loose.
Of course they'd never have any of that. He was making castles in the sky. They weren't normal people living normal lives. They'd probably never be normal, average civilians, and he wasn't even sure he'd want to be. And even if they were, the Reapers were coming. No one would get to live peaceful, happy lives when they arrived.
There was a long and bloody war looming in their future. Thinking about what-ifs and maybes was a pointless, fruitless, and painful endeavor. They may all have made it through the Collector Base alive, but the chances of all of them making it through the war with the Reapers was slim to none.
Garrus forced the thought from his mind, choosing instead to focus on the beautiful woman whispering his name beneath him.
"I love you, Jane." He whispered and he felt more than saw her smile as her hand found his, their fingers interlacing.
"I love you, too."
The week seemed to fly by in a haze of good times and quiet moments, and before they knew it, the Normandy's repairs were nearly complete. Garrus and Jane began packing up their belongings and prepared to say goodbye to their little slice of normality.
"So, where do we go from here?" Garrus asked absently as he checked over one of his sniper mods before packing it away. "We dealt with the Collectors. What's the plan now?" Jane paused, looking down at the clothing in her hands absently as she considered the question.
"I'm not sure what John has in mind. I've told him that I need to meet with the Council, and I imagine he will need to as well, so my guess is we'll head to the Citadel next. I've submitted my report about everything that happened, and they promised back before this mission even started to let me investigate the Reapers when all of this was done. I plan on doing just that." She sighed before moving toward her bag and placing the clothing inside, "The Reapers are coming, and none of us are ready."
"I know. I don't even know where to begin."
"Somehow we need to convince people that the threat is real. Hopefully we can use what data we gathered at the Collector Base to help convince them. Then maybe we can start with getting early detection protocols in place to help save as many people as possible when the Reapers finally arrive. We'll need to start stockpiling supplies, creating safe houses, and thinking up a strategy to beat them." Jane mused as she continued packing her bag, and Garrus shifted his attention to her fully.
"And what do you think that strategy should be?"
"Well, first off, the galaxy is completely splintered. We can't win as we are now. The krogans verses the salarians and the turians, the geth verses the quarians, the batarians verses… well, everyone. We need to begin brokering peace between the races so that we can face the Reapers as a galaxy united. I can't see any other option." Garrus stared at her as she placed article after article into her bag, and after a moment she looked up at him with a raised brow. "What?"
"Nothing. I'm just impressed, you've clearly put a lot of thought into this already." He pointed out evenly, and she shrugged.
"I can't just sit around doing nothing. I've been thinking a lot about what Vasir said, and I'm not going to sit on the sideline through all of this. I've been given a fair amount of power and authority as a Spectre, and I'm going to try to use it to do some good for the galaxy. Right now, I think that means doing everything I can to prepare them for the Reapers. Whether they like it or not." He chuckled as he nodded his head. "What about you? What are your plans?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Garrus admitted after a minute. If he were being honest with himself, he just wanted to be where she was. The past week had been amazing as they rode the high of completing their mission, but now it was becoming hard to keep daydreams of impossible futures out of his head.
Aloud he only said, "I haven't given it much thought yet. I was so focused on just making it through the mission. There was a part of me that didn't really think we were going to make it back alive." She seemed to understand, but as they returned to packing, it suddenly occurred to him what he really should do next, "Actually, I think I need to go home. Visit my family. See my mom. It might be my last chance."
Jane paused her packing again, looking up at him as her face fell, "Right, I almost forgot about that with everything that's happened. She's not doing well, is she?"
"No. I heard from my sister yesterday, Mom's been accepted into a new treatment program, but it's probably too little, too late."
"Garrus, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do? Anything we can do? I know John would want to help, too." She asked earnestly, and Garrus smiled sadly before looking down at his hands as he leaned back in his chair.
"Thanks. But I don't think there's much anyone can do at this point. I think I've done all I can, and I've run away from this longer than I should have. I think I just need to be there with her and say goodbye while I still can." He heard her as she crossed the room and came to a stop beside him. He looked up just as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling his face into her middle gently.
"I'm so sorry." She said again, her voice soft, "I can't pretend to know how it feels. My parents might have died, but it happened so long ago that I don't even remember them." Garrus brought his hands up to pull her closer as he leaned into her, the stab of pain unexpected as he truly let himself contemplate the impending death of his mother.
He'd spent a good deal of time actively not thinking about her the past few months, and the pain of it seemed to hit him all at once. He took a deep, ragged breath as he attempted to calm the keening that wanted to erupt from his subvocals.
"Do you think I could come with you to meet your mom and family?" Jane asked hesitantly after a moment, and Garrus froze, wondering if he'd heard her correctly. The sudden thought of bringing a girl home to meet his family was absolutely terrifying. He'd never thought he'd get to that point in a relationship with someone, though that didn't seem to stop his dad from asking occasionally.
But spirits, he'd love to introduce her to his family. Introducing a significant other into the clan was a big deal in turian culture. He tried to remind himself that it wasn't nearly as important to humans, but it didn't stop his racing thoughts. She couldn't possibly understand what she was asking, it was a tradition generally reserved for couples who were seriously considering becoming bondmates. Could that be something she would actually want to consider with him?
Jane stiffened slightly as she noticed his mild panic, pulling back to look at him with an odd expression he couldn't place.
"It's okay, I understand if you don't want to introduce me to them, forget I asked. I know turian/human relationships aren't very common, I can see why it would make you uncomfortable." She pulled back a little further as she looked away, and he had the dawning realization that she must think he was ashamed of her or something equally as ridiculous.
Garrus stood and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He brought his forehead down to rest against hers as she looked up at him.
"Jane, I would be honored to introduce you to my family. But I-" He pulled back slightly as he fumbled with his words, trying to figure out how to explain it in a way that wouldn't send her running, "I think there's a cultural difference, though. For turians, bringing your girlfriend home to meet your family has certain… connotations."
"Oh?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow at him, smiling with amusement as he struggled with sudden embarrassment.
"Y-yeah. It's, uh, it's sort of the last big step before a couple decides to get bonded."
"Bonded… That's like getting married, right?"
"Yeah, it's pretty much the same thing. Once a couple has both their parent's approval, they're usually considered as intended." Jane's eyes slowly widened as she seemed to understand.
"So, it's like getting engaged." She finally stated as he pulled back a bit further.
Garrus swallowed, suddenly very nervous, "Yeah."
"I see." She said softly as she glanced toward the window, the shimmering lights of Omega reflecting in her eyes like stars. He stood there with his breath trapped in his chest, anxious as he waited for her to continue, anticipating and dreading her reply.
Finally, Jane looked back up at him, "Garrus, I've never really seen myself as the wedding kind of person, a little too much pomp and circumstance for me," She started, and his chest would have tightened with disappointment if not for her small, soft smile and a slight blush, "But I'd really like to meet your family."
The confusion at what she might be implying must have been visible on his face, or possibly in the hesitant, hopeful flick of his mandibles, because she laughed as she brought her hands up to pull his face down to hers for a kiss.
"I'm not ready for marriage or anything like that right now, not with everything going on. But when all of this is through, cultural differences be damned, I just want to spend the rest of my life with you. One way or another, whether it be relaxing on the beach or going down in a blaze of glory against the Reapers."
Garrus couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up at that before he leaned down to kiss her again, pulling her close as one hand came up to run through her hair. Something wonderful and painful was happening in his chest, happiness and hope lodging there as his thumb stroked gently down her cheek.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too. However long that happens to be." He whispered as he felt her fingers trace down the plates of his chest through his shirt before playing with the hem. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too." Jane replied before squawking with indignant laughter as he bent down and scooped her up, depositing her on the bed with a small bounce.
"We've still got a few hours before we have to report back to the Normandy. It would be a shame to waste what little privacy we have left, don't you think?" Garrus murmured as he tugged his shirt off over his head. She grinned back up at him lazily, her eyes roaming his chest with apparent approval.
"I'm sure John will forgive us if we're a little late…"
As soon as the last crewmate was accounted for, Shepard ordered the newly repaired Normandy to push back from the dock. Garrus was pleased to see that part of the work done was to have the numerous Cerberus logos removed. It did leave the ship feeling oddly spartan, though, and he wondered if Shepard would have them replaced with Alliance symbols.
Part of it, he decided, was also the reduced crew. Not many had chosen to remain with Cerberus, but the additional lack of Kasumi, Thane, Zaeed, Samara, and Mordin made the loss seem bigger than it was.
There were a number of others that, like himself, seemed slightly unsure as to what their next step should be. Most people agreed that the Normandy's next docking would probably be the Citadel, and many hoped to have more information about what Shepard's plan of action might be after that. They seemed to hope that that would, in turn, make their next step an easier choice one way or another.
"So?" Jane finally asked her brother as she leaned against the desk supporting his console by the galaxy map in the CIC, "What's the plan? I need to meet with the Council soon, so I think we should head for the Citadel."
"Soon." Shepard stated, not evening looking up from what he was reading on his console, "I have a little business to handle first, then we'll head straight for the Citadel. I need to meet with the Council, too."
Garrus couldn't help but compare the relaxed, congenial atmosphere aboard the Normandy now with the tense, anxious one they'd had as they'd rushed off to save their crew from the Collectors. Everyone seemed laid back, relaxed, and rejuvenated after their extended shore leave, and not having any life or death missions hanging over their heads made all the difference. They knew that somewhere, far off in dark space, the Reapers approached to begin their slaughter. But it felt like an abstract, far off thing that was easy to push from their minds.
All except Shepard, it seemed. Garrus figured he must be ruminating over the Reapers, for he seemed to become more distant and thoughtful as they neared whatever their destination was. If it wasn't the Reapers that he was concerned about, Garrus didn't know what it could be.
No amount of prying from Jane or anyone else seemed to be enough to get Shepard to open up about where they were going, which seemed to aggravate her to no end. She tried a couple different ways to weasel it out of him, but to no success.
"Jane, stop worrying about it." Shepard finally stated, his voice firm, "It's nothing big or important, just something I need to take care of quickly. A favor for some old friends."
"The Bahak system? Why the hell are we out here in the boondocks?" Jane finally asked when they arrived a few days later, but Shepard fobbed off the question with a request for Jane to look into something that needed recalibrating down in engineering. Garrus figured they'd learn what they needed to learn when Shepard called them in for a briefing before whatever this mission was. It wasn't the first time they'd known next to nothing about a mission prior to arriving. He trusted Shepard to tell them what they needed to know.
Which was why it was surprising when he entered the CIC the next morning to the sound of Jane's angry voice echoing down the corridor from the cockpit. Garrus quickly made his way to the source of the argument and found Jane all but screaming at an angry faced Joker.
"What the fuck do you mean 'no'? You don't get to hide important information at a time like this!" Jane growled, her face pale despite her obvious fury, "Tell me, or I swear I'll steal the shuttle and go down there to look for him myself!"
"Jane? What's going on? What's wrong?" Garrus asked, coming to a stop and holding up a hand to stop her as she took a menacing step toward the seated pilot. She glared up at Garrus, but as their eyes met, he saw a flash of fear cross her face.
"John's gone. He took the shuttle in the night, and now no one knows where he is. He's missing."
(Note: Happy New Year, all!
Surprise, part 2 is not quite over yet. Just a wee bit to sort out yet. I'm so touched by the warm reception the last chapter received, particularly over on Ao3, thank you to everyone who has reached out! It has been some serious fuel on my writing fire. Part 3 is underway, and I'm very excited by how its turning out. See you all next week!)