.

Loyalty and Limerence

Part 3

Chapter 16

The Citadel

"Hey there, Big Guy. Care for a dance?"

Jane stood before him, her arms crossed as she looked between the two of them with amusement that seemed to war with something, a look Garrus knew meant trouble. It was almost feral, the sort of gleam that made him feel like hunted prey, and he swallowed, unsure yet if it was a good thing or a bad. Regardless, he could feel his thrumming pulse quicken in anticipation, one way or the other.

His eyes flicked down, and his breath hitched in his throat. She was draped in the most elegant dress he'd ever seen her in, and he chided himself when he realized the first thought he had was how much he wanted to unwrap her like a silken present.

It was a shimmering black dress that fell to her mid-calf, and it flowed around her as she shifted her weight to one side in a way that revealed a long slit that exposed one pale leg. His mouth went dry as he forced his eyes upwards, past her wide hips, the dip of her waist, to take in the details of the dress. It covered her chest almost completely except for a small window that revealed just enough to suggest the rest. The silky fabric reached upwards to her neck, the darkness of it accentuating the vivid fire of her hair. It was styled in an elegant knot, just a few locks hanging loose, tempting him to reach out and touch.

"I, uh-" Garrus' mandibles fluttered, and he swallowed as he fumbled for words. Her smile widened into something more predatory, making his stomach clench almost painfully.

"Um, we're talking here, human." The turian woman glared at Jane, causing Garrus' eyes to dart between the two of them. He must have looked as panicked as he felt, because Jane's amusement only seemed to grow.

"Is that so?" Jane asked, her voice dripping with disbelief. She extended a hand toward him, an invitation, and he took it before he could blink. Her eyes narrowed in satisfaction as she stepped backwards toward the dance floor, leading him onwards as she flashed a quick, victorious look in the other turian's direction.

To his surprise, her omni-tool flashed to life above her wrist suddenly, and with a small wave, the music faltered before cutting out altogether. The people dancing paused, looking up just as a new song started up, distinctly different than before. Garrus could tell by the style and types of instruments that it wasn't turian or even asari. Something human, he expected, but he didn't have time to think about it further as Jane tugged him into an unfamiliar dance position.

"What are you doing?" Garrus asked quietly as he looked down at the odd stance. One of her hands held his out away from them at about shoulder height, her other hand around his waist. She'd positioned his other arm above hers, his hand coming to rest over her shoulder blade.

"Relax," she whispered, "It'll be fun. Just follow my lead and loosen up a little." She began leading him across the dance floor, keeping in time with the music. Garrus' attention remained on their feet as he attempted to see the pattern and learn the footing as quickly as he could. He wasn't a bad dancer, he knew a few similar asari dances, but this one had a quick and interesting pattern he was finding a little difficult to follow.

"Where did you learn to do this?" He asked after a moment, and Jane shrugged before spinning him out and away from her. She tugged him back in, and he was pleased to see that he was beginning to anticipate the dance steps as they began the pattern again.

"It's called the tango, and you'd be surprised what sorts of skills you're forced to learn for undercover missions. I've had more than a few Earth side missions over the years." She stated vaguely, and after a moment of silence, he pressed further.

"Sounds like a story worth hearing. Dancing isn't a standard part of a turian's military training." Garrus pointed out, but Jane declined to elaborate, her smile almost smug as she continued to lead him through the dance. They'd gathered quite the audience, their dance becoming the focal point of the floor.

After a minute or two, Garrus was finally feeling more surefooted, comfortable enough that he chanced a little improvisation. He let his fingers on her upper back trace a gentle circle along the exposed skin there, and he felt her shiver before pulling him closer. As they spun, he let one leg circle out, his torso twisting away ever so slightly before returning to position.

"Now you're getting it." Jane hummed approvingly, her eyes hooded as she looked up at him heatedly. Her eyes flicked to the side, and as they spun around again, he saw the turian woman from before as she turned and left the dance floor. He looked back at Jane, who looked very self-satisfied.

Garrus rolled his eyes at her, but jerked suddenly, almost losing his footing as her fingers pressed into the sensitive skin of his waist. She chuckled, her voice low as they continued, the footing getting more and more complicated as they went. She clutched him closer, their heated breaths mingling as their bodies pressed against each other. They were close enough as she gazed up at him that he was tempted to lean down to brush his forehead against hers, but as they spun again, he force himself to focus on the dance.

As they continued, though, he settled into the pattern of it, the rhythm of the music and their bodies washing over him, the heat of it becoming intoxicating. She became his only focus, her gravity drawing him in as they locked eyes, unable to look away until she spun him out again.

To his surprise, he came face to face with an utterly speechless and confounded looking James Vega as he stood with the spectators. The lieutenant's eyes were wide with dawning realization as he watched their dance, and as Garrus spun back into Jane's arms, he saw her look back at James with an easy wink.

"So much for your little game." Garrus muttered as they returned to the now familiar pattern of footing and turns, and Jane chuckled as she looked up at him through her lashes.

"It was getting boring anyway. You're much more interesting." She replied huskily as their thighs brushed against each other, and Garrus bit back a groan. He tightened his grip on her, enjoying the soft feel of her under his fingers. It was becoming harder to focus, and he brushed his fingers over the silken fabric of her dress, struggling against the sudden desire to rip the beautiful thing off her and-

Garrus blinked with the sudden realization that the pace of the music had been quickening, slowly building toward a crescendo as Jane spun him around even faster, the frenzy of the dancing pattern becoming harder to keep up with. Just as suddenly, however, it seemed to slow again, and so too did their movements as Jane slowly spun him around one last time before dipping him back gently with a grin.

The spectators standing around the dance floor burst into applause as Jane stood him back up, both of them breathing hard. Jane made to step back, but Garrus grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in close, his hands moving her to waist and back as he dipped her in turn and kissed her as he had following their escape from the Collector Base months before.

He could vaguely hear the whistles and catcalls, but all he cared about was the woman in his arms, the beautiful, talented, amazing woman he loved more than life itself. He righted her, noting that the music had returned to its usual club variety, and while many of the dancers were returning to the floor, many still had their attention on them.

"Well, John wanted a distraction, right?" Jane whispered as they made their way toward the bar, "I'd say mission accomplished." she added before turning to order a drink from the bartender. Garrus couldn't argue with that. For a few minutes there, most of the top floor of the casino seemed to have had their eyes on them.

"What. The hell." They both turned to see James standing before them, gesturing between them. "Are you two… together? Like, seriously together? Is this a new thing or have you both just been having a good laugh at me this whole time?" Garrus and Jane shared a look before she turned back to James with a grin.

"Definitely the latter." Jane stated, and James huffed a sigh as he crossed his arms with evident irritation.

"In our defense," Garrus shrugged, feeling a little sheepish, "We weren't exactly hiding it. You missed some pretty obvious hints."

"So you guys have been dating this entire time?"

"Just over a year now, wouldn't you say, Garrus?" Jane looked up at him, her smile softening as she bumped her hip into his. He returned the smile as he thought back to that first night – the way she'd looked, silhouetted against the endless stars, her surprised expression when he'd followed her after their illuminating sparring match, the silken threads of her hair between his fingers, the first touch of her soft lips against his plates-

"Something like that." He mused quietly, losing himself in her.

"Huh." James chuckled, and they both turned to see him smile. "You guys really love each other, don't you." Their eyes met again, and Garrus wrapped an arm around her, savoring the feeling of her.

"Yeah." Jane stated simply, her voice low and warm as she leaned into him, and Garrus nearly purred.

"Well, good for you." James said firmly, "The world needs a little more love in it." He paused before crossing his arms over his chest good-naturedly. "Still a bit of a dick move, though, Lola. I think you owe me." Jane raised a brow at him skeptically.

"How do you figure that? Why doesn't he owe you anything?" She jabbed a thumb in Garrus' direction, and he did his best to put an innocent face on. Not that it mattered, James wasn't fantastic at reading turian expressions yet.

"Because I know which one of you wears the pants." James snorted, and though Jane laughed, Garrus couldn't stop the slight tilt of his head as he pondered the human phrase, confused. As far as he knew, they both usually preferred wearing pants, and at the moment, Jane was actually wearing a dress.

"And what, exactly, did you have in mind?" Jane asked skeptically as she crossed her arms, and James shrugged.

"Nothing crazy. But I'm planning on getting a little ink-" he gestured to his back, "-sometime before we ship out again. Could use a buddy for a little moral support."

Jane blinked as her arms dropped to her sides, "Wait, is this about what we talked about a while back?" She asked, and Garrus eyed them both with confusion, no idea what they were referring to.

"It might." James replied vaguely, and Jane's expression seemed to brighten even as it softened.

"Sounds like a plan. Let me know when and where, and I'll be there." She murmured, and though James seemed about to reply, all their comm's sprang to life at once.

"Jane, I need a hand down here. We're almost through, but this last part is being tricky."

"Of course. Be right there." Jane muttered quietly before putting down her nearly untouched drink.

"Anything I can do to help?" Garrus asked as he followed her toward the stairs, attempting to keep his stride as casual as possible. Shepard paused, considering.

"Yes." Shepard drew the word out as he finally came to a decision. "We could use a hand with distracting some guards."

"Sure thing." The comm cut out as Jane steered them toward the entrance to the backrooms. Garrus could pick out a number of the team as they mingled, snippets of conversation drifting toward them as they passed.

"Human, I met your ancestors long ago." Javik was saying to one guard, "They were living in caves and throwing rocks at wildlife." The man looked on with a well-worn sigh.

"We remind guests that some of our drinks do contain hallucinogens." He said, his voice bored as though he'd stated the same many times that evening. "Please drink responsibly."

Garrus choked back a chuckle. He could see why Shepard would request assistance. At this rate, they were going to attract the wrong kind of attention. Tali was nearby begging another guard to show her which foods were safe for her to eat, and not far off, Kaidan appeared to be 'crying' in front of another guard regarding money supposedly lost while betting.

"Okay, what needs doing?" Jane whispered as they came up beside Shepard, his eyes shimmering unnaturally due to the lenses he was wearing. They were more than a little eerie.

"The safe room is that door just over there." Shepard gestured covertly to a door at the end of a short hallway, just beyond the side room they were looking into. "We need to access the panel just over there, but it's nearly impossible with the cameras and guards watching. My first thought was 'damn, I wish we had Kasumi', but then I realized you're not so bad, yourself." He looked at Jane, who looked back at him with mock offense.

"Gee, thanks." She murmured with an affectionate roll of her eyes. "If you've been running around messing with the security system right under their noses this whole time, why didn't you call me for help sooner?"

"Well, you were late, so I didn't have a whole lot of options but to do it myself." Shepard hissed as he frowned at her, and she shrugged with a sheepish toss of her shoulders. After a pause, he smiled and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You do look good though." His eyes flicked to the exposed scars on her arm, and she looked away.

"Thanks." Jane replied quietly before slipping past him, her pleasure at his words warring with her obvious discomfort. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Okay. Garrus," Garrus nodded as the Commander turned to him, "strike up conversation with the guard over there, make sure he's facing away from the panel. I'll handle the other one."

"Got it."

"Okay. Jane, as soon as you disable the two cameras, you need to disengage the controls over by the door. Then we need to get through those doors as quickly as possible. Brooks, are you in position?"

"Yes, I'm at the panel by the door. I'm ready to pass through it as soon as the system is down and you guys get here."

"Everybody set?" Shepard asked quietly, and after a chorus of acknowledgments, they began.

Garrus made his way toward the guard, his mind racing for topics of conversation. He caught a glimpse of Jane out of the corner of his eye as she pulled up her omni-tool, and an idea occurred to him.

"Ah!" He exclaimed as he gestured toward the guard, getting his attention, "A human. Perfect. I'm kind of on the outs with my human girlfriend. Could you give me some insights?" The guard stared at Garrus through his visor as though he'd suddenly grown a second head.

"Sir, I am definitely not an expert." The guard grunted, and Garrus struggled to keep his face straight at the man's deadpanned words. Behind the guard, Jane flickered, then disappeared.

"Oh, but surely you have more of a clue than me. What sorts of displays of contrition do human women usually like? I could-" Garrus racked his brain for something outrageous. What would a krogan do to impress a girl? "-err, I could headbutt someone? Or maybe rip apart a varren with my bare hands?"

The guard's eyes widened, his lip curling in horror and disgust, and Garrus kept his mandibles close to his face as he tried not to laugh. Just behind the guard, he watched as a camera sparked, and its small red dot died.

"Or, uhhh… I could recite sappy poetry?" Garrus asked hopefully, his mind drifting back to one odd krogan he'd encountered back on Illium. The guard's expression slowly morphed into one of confusion, then consideration.

"That's… not a bad idea, actually." He said thoughtfully, "I think poetry usually goes over well with ladies?" He paused to think, and nearby Garrus heard a soft click and hiss as another camera shut down. "You probably know her best." the guard continued, "Why don't you just take her out for a date doing something she loves doing?"

Garrus blinked, the truth of the words sparking a sudden idea. The distraction he was supposed to be providing shifted to the back of his mind as he considered the guard's suggestion. He'd been working on a plan in the back of his mind for a little while, and though he'd figured out where he'd take her, he'd been drawing a blank regarding the details. He'd considered some sort of grand romantic gesture, a la what Kasumi had helped him plan before the Collector Base. But without Kasumi, he'd been left floundering. At the guard's words, though, he had a revelation of sorts.

He did know Jane. And he knew exactly what sort of activity she'd enjoy most. She and he weren't terribly dissimilar in that regard, which was part of why they worked so well.

"Okay guys, both cameras are down, about to disable the controls. Get ready to move your asses." Jane hissed into the comm, and Garrus smiled.

"You know, you're right." He said to the guard brightly. "I'm going to give it some thought. Thank you for your advice, it was invaluable. Goodbye!" With a duck of his head, Garrus turned and walked off as casually as he could.

"You have a good night, now." The guard said as his attention quickly switched to a different group of guests nearby, and Garrus made his way toward Shepard nearby.

"Okay, go!" Jane exclaimed as she reappeared before the security controls, her hair slightly disarrayed, her eyes narrowed as she focused. A small panel nearby popped open, revealing a disheveled looking Brooks, and Shepard gestured to Garrus to wait. The final guard looked away, and they both darted forward to join the two women.

Brooks opened the safe room door and waved them all in. The door closed behind them, revealing their quarry, Elijah Khan, the arms dealer responsible for the weapons used during the attack on Shepard at the sushi restaurant.

The older man sat behind his desk as he stared into an impressive fireplace, his back to them, his head bowed as though in prayer. Shepard stepped forward carefully.

"Khan," He started, his voice steady and even, "I'm not here to threaten you. We need to talk."

The man behind the desk didn't move, and that was when Garrus noticed his unnatural stillness. Jane noticed it, too, because after a moment, she moved around the desk. Her face darkened as she looked down at the man, pausing only a heartbeat before reaching forward to swivel his chair around so that he turned to face them.

"What the hell?" Brooks exclaimed as Jane shot her a hard look, but Garrus could understand the woman's shock. He couldn't help his own intake of breath as they all took in the bloody hole drilled neatly through the dead man's forehead. Shepard muttered a curse under his breath as he ran a hand over his close cropped hair.

"And here I had this bad-cop routine all planned." Garrus muttered dryly, and Jane rolled her eyes, the corner of her lips quirking upwards in a hint of a crooked smile. It had been awhile since she'd given him shit about being C-Sec, and he wondered if she was queuing up jokes at his expense.

Brooks moved over to Khan's console and began typing, but then looked up at Shepard in consternation, "Commander! There's a deletion order on the terminal."

"Damn it." Shepard cursed again, and Jane shouldered in to access the console.

"Everything's been wiped." Brooks continued, "I don't know if it was him, or the killer, or–" She gasped, her eyes going wide, "When I tripped that alarm, did I screw this up?" She paused, watching as Jane continued typing, her fingers swiping through the displays. "What are you looking for?"

"Mistakes." Jane answered curtly, glancing up at Brooks quickly with weighing eyes before returning her focus to her work. Finally, she stopped, her face triumphant as she took a half step backwards. "Thought so. Whoever it was had to do this fast. They wiped the terminal, but not the comm." Jane looked up, her face thoughtful as Brooks nodded in understanding.

"Oh." Brooks licked her lips before brightening. "So, we can take the comm back to the safe house to scan it, or-" Jane tapped the display one last time and the huge screen behind them sprang to life. The picture was fuzzy, leaving it impossible to make out more than the silhouette of a person. They all turned in surprise, and Shepard's face darkened.

"Elijah." The heavily modulated voice of the figure said, "Come crawling back?"

"Guess again." Shepard growled as he crossed his arms, glaring up at the screen and the indistinguishable face. Brooks immediately pulled up her omni-tool and mouthed that she would trace the call.

"You." The person stated, and though they couldn't see the face, they could almost hear the sneer. "I see you've recovered from flopping on the floor like a fish." If they hadn't yet been convinced that this was the person behind the attack, they were now.

"You'll need to do better than that." Shepard's stance relaxed as he leaned back, raising an eyebrow, "The last guy that trash talked me was a few kilometers taller than you."

"Brave." The voice snorted lightly, and the person, whoever it was, seemed to sit back in their seat. "I thought as much. But it won't matter. You have nothing. All you can do is wait for the hammer to fall." The final words sent a shiver of dread through Garrus. Whatever this person was planning, they hadn't seen the worst of it yet.

"Why do this?" Shepard asked sharply, stepping closer to the screen, "What did I do to you?"

"I'm going to take everything you have, and everything you are." The person promised darkly, their voice full of a sudden seething intensity. The connection cut out abruptly a moment later, and Shepard huffed a sigh before turning to Brooks.

"Damn it!" She breathed as she tapped her omni-tool in frustration. "Sorry, Commander. There wasn't enough time to trace the call." She said regretfully, and Shepard shook his head as he turned back toward the door and waved a hand in Jane's direction.

"We're not finished." He stated firmly, "Pull out the data drives." Jane nodded, ripping her narrowed eyes away from Brooks as she returned her focus to the console before her.

"The ones that got wiped?" Brooks asked skeptically as she watched Jane, "You think we can find something?"

"With EDI, anything is possible." Jane murmured as she continued typing. A disk popped out from the side of the terminal, and she snapped it up quickly. "The sooner we get this to her, the sooner we can track down this threat."

"Exactly." Shepard agreed, snatching the disk as Jane tossed it to him. Garrus began to follow after him and Brooks as they made for the door, but drew up suddenly. He turned to look back at Jane, who had stopped to look back at the dead body of Elijah Khan one last time, her expression unreadable.

"Everything okay?" He asked quietly, but Jane stood stock still for another moment before finally looking back at him.

"Yeah. I just…" She trailed off, her eyebrows drawing down in consternation. "Something feels… I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this." She shook her head and started toward the door. "Come on. Let's talk about it more when we get back."

Back to the apartment, EDI and Brooks immediately set to work on the encryption in an attempt to figure out if anything could be salvaged from the disc. As soon as it was cracked, they began discussing what little they found regarding the mercs' weapon purchases, only to be interrupted by Glyph's announcement that someone was using Shepard's Spectre codes to break into the Citadel Archives.

A plan was devised, and they split up to hurriedly begin dawning their equipment for the mission. As soon as Jane and Garrus stepped foot into their room, she quickly shut the door and turned to him.

"Shut up and listen." Jane began, her voice hushed and urgent, and Garrus felt himself stiffen in surprise at her tone. She turned and began pacing as she reached up to pull pins from her hair, letting it tumble down around her face. "Something is wrong."

"You mean besides the unknown entity who stole your brother's Spectre codes to break into the Archive?" He asked dryly, and she shook her head in frustration as they both began stripping and pulling on their undersuits.

"There's something about Brooks."

"Brooks?" He asked, surprised. "What about her? Are you saying we can't trust her?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it." Jane began as she started pulling out and affixing her hard suit. "She seems so familiar, like I'd met her before or something. But I can't figure out where or when. I'm starting to think she's not exactly who she says she is. There's something about her eyes, something disingenuous."

"Are you sure?" Garrus asked, reaching for his gauntlets.

"No, I'm not sure. But back at the casino, in the safe room with Khan… For a moment there, I could have sworn-"

The door opened, and Jane cut off just as she finished the last clamp on her boot and looked up. Garrus turned and-

There was a sharp sting of pain. The world spun.

Everything went black.

"-rrus."

His brain pounded against his skull painfully. Garrus groaned as something shook his shoulder.

"Garrus." The familiar voice murmured in his ear, and he winced. "Garrus, you need to wake up." He opened his eyes, and Jane's face swam into view. "Are you okay?"

"Yeeeeah." He groaned before pushing up onto his elbows. He blinked as the world seemed to sharpen around him and his confusion grew. "Where…" He trailed off as he sat up fully and looked around. "Where are we?"

"That," Jane began softly as she sat back on her heels, "is a very good question."

They were alone in a low ceilinged, windowless room on some sort of long, low platform. One wall was open to reveal a series of giant cylinders that were large enough to easily fit a few krogan.

"Ah, you're awake, I see." Jane and Garrus both looked up at the voice, and she smiled as her face lit up.

"John! Thank god you're okay." She stood as Shepard approached. "Where are we? How did we get here? Where…" Jane trailed off as he came to a stop before them, his arms crossed as his eyes darted between the both of them. Garrus pushed himself to his feet, and by the time he was standing, Jane's eyes were narrowed. "Where are the others?" She asked slowly as she searched her brother's face.

"This is the Citadel Archive. The others should be along soon enough." Shepard stated evenly, but something seemed off. Wrong. Garrus couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about his tone. Jane's fist clenched tightly, a sneer of anger and disgust slowly unfurling across her face.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you wearing my brother's face?" She spat, and alarm bells went off in Garrus' head as his attention snapped back to Shepard's face, his hand reaching for a sidearm that he knew wasn't there. The other man's eyes widened a fraction, and he smiled with a toss of his shoulders, his arms opening outwards in a display of friendly confusion.

"Jane, what are you talking about? It's me, John. Your brother. We grew up together on Earth." Shepard said calmly, but his smile never reached his eyes. Jane let loose a bark of bitter, unamused laughter.

"Surprisingly, this isn't the first time I've run into someone I thought was impersonating my brother. Last time he managed to convince me he was the real thing. You're going to have to do better than that piss poor performance."

Shepard's hands fell to his side and his smile morphed into something cold and calculated as he shrugged, and Garrus' blood ran cold. Whoever this was, Jane was right. It wasn't Shepard.

"It was worth a shot, but I knew I'd never fool you." The lookalike raised an eyebrow consideringly. "I'm interested to know how you figured me out so quickly, though." Jane stared at him, her expression stony as rage seeped from her like heat waves.

"The small scar on your hairline above your left temple." She stated simply. The Shepard doppelganger lifted a hand to finger the marking. "Unlike my brother, you don't actually have any scar there. I can see that you've shaved the hair away there, but there's no actual mark. The skin there is smooth." After a heartbeat, the man chuckled darkly.

"Ah, they told me you were sharp. I suppose I shouldn't have underestimated you."

"No. You shouldn't have." Jane muttered before she surged forward, reaching for him.

"Jane, don't!" Garrus exclaimed, as he reached out to intercept her, holding her back.

"Let go of me!" She yelled as she fought against him, intent on reaching her target, but he held fast.

"You should listen to him." The Shepard impersonator drawled languidly, and Garrus looked up to see the man's pistol trained on them. Jane stiffened as she noticed the weapon and immediately stopped fighting. Garrus moved to place himself between the two of them, and the other man smirked as he stepped closer. "I honestly didn't think this was going to go so smoothly."

Garrus snorted, "What, is this the part where the villain gloats and monologues, giving up his dastardly plot?" The smirk slowly melted off the doppelganger's face.

"No." His pistol lowered slowly. It snapped back up, catching Garrus in the side of the head and his world exploded in pain as he grunted.

"Garrus!" Jane caught him as he stumbled backwards, and she lowered him to the ground as he struggled to regain his bearings. She glared up at the man wearing her brother's face with burning hatred. "What are you, and what do you want with us?"

"I'm Commander Shepard. Or, I will be. Soon enough." The man replied, his pistol not trained on them, but still at the ready. "The Illusive Man had me made, a backup in case anything went wrong with the original when they resurrected him. But Cerberus doesn't matter, not anymore. I'm awake now, and once I handle your brother and all his little devotees, I can step into the role I was made for."

"Ah, so you're a clone? Just a pale imitation of the original?" Garrus snorted as Jane helped him back to his feet. He could see a satisfying twitch of anger on the clone's face as his eyes tightened.

"You and your pitiful excuse for wit don't matter anymore, Archangel. You and all your friends are about to be trapped inside these iridium vaults and forgotten forever." He turned to sneer at at Jane. "Your brother should be here soon enough and you'll all vanish. That's the handy thing about this war – No one questions when a few extra people disappear."

"And why did you go to the bother of, what? Kidnapping us? Why not just kill us? And how did you pull it off, anyway?" Jane asked with genuine curiosity.

"It helps that you're all so gullible. We had no trouble getting past your defenses, earning your trust…" The clone's smile widened as dawning realization bloomed on Jane's face.

"Brooks." she whispered, and he nodded with satisfaction.

"She knew you suspected her, or at least that you didn't trust her. It was quite easy for her to knock you both out, slightly more tricky to get you here. But I needed a contingency plan, and you'll work nicely." Jane's jaw clenched, and she took a half step backwards as the clone raised his sidearm to level at her chest. Garrus tried to move to stand between them, but Jane raised a hand to stop him.

"What do you mean by 'contingency'?" She asked, and the clone raised his other hand as his omni-tool sprang to life.

"You're Shepard's sister. Commander Shepard's darling baby sister. Word is he'd do anything to protect you. He's been stubborn, refusing to fall in with my plans since this all began, what with surviving the initial hit and pulling the data off Khan's terminal." He paused, letting his words sink in. Garrus jumped back as a blue force field appeared before them, separating them from the clone. "You're nothing more than plan B. Leverage in case your brother decides to be difficult again. Bait, if you will."

Garrus and Jane both turned to see that the blue barrier extended completely around them, and panic began rising in his chest. He could see a flicker of fear on Jane's face before they turned back to Shepard's lookalike.

"Settle in and get comfortable. Your stay will most likely be of long duration." The clone turned and began walking toward the exit. "It was fun while it lasted, but I should go." As he disappeared through the door, the ground suddenly jerked below them. Garrus' arms swung out as he struggled to keep his footing, and Jane grabbed hold of him as she attempted to stay upright. The panel they were standing on shot toward the wall, which Garrus abruptly realized wasn't a wall at all, but one of the archive vaults. Its circular door had opened, and the whole platform was being inserted inside.

The floor settled as it came to a stop, and the door closed, locking with a loud clang. Garrus blinked, but couldn't see anything within the utter darkness. He struggled against the bone deep dread quickly numbing his limbs. The silence was deafening, echoing through his skull as he racked his brain for ways they could escape the vault, but he was coming up blank. He reached out in search of Jane, hands fumbling before him until she broke the silence.

"Fuck."

(Note: Wow, friends, I have been so sick. Thank goodness I have buffer chapters, not much has happened this past week or two. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much to my beta reader, thelordofdarkreunion, all my writing friends, and all of you readers! Especially those who have shown their support, I appreciate it so much!)