Garrus was still thinking about the hug he shared with Jane while he was getting ready for their arrival to Virmire. He saw her vulnerable and hurt and still thought she was the strongest female he'd ever known of any species. Hell, she was probably the strongest person he'd ever known, period. He started to think that maybe he should talk to her about how he'd been feeling but it would have to wait until their mission was over. He knew she needed to focus and didn't want to distract her in any way.

They were arriving to the planet's atmosphere. He, Jane, and Wrex were gearing up when Joker popped up on the comm saying they couldn't land because of geth AA guns.

"Can you find a place to drop the mako? We'll take the guns out from the ground." Jane told him.

"Aye, commander. Give those bastards one hell of a surprise." Joker responded.

"Ready guys?" Jane asked him and Wrex.

"Of course. Are you?" Garrus asked. He was still a little concerned after the Cerberus thing.

"Always." She replied with a smile, while cocking her sniper. Damn, he thought. She really is quite the woman.

They got into the mako and waited for it to drop. As soon as it did, Jane told Joker to keep the Normandy at a safe distance. She then did her crazy driving towards the first gatehouse where she joyfully took out the geth. They then jumped out to open the gate for the mako.

They were driving along when Wrex spoke up.

"You seem to be doing better, Shepard."

"I am, thanks. And sorry about before." She replied.

"Don't mention it. Really. Don't. I don't want anyone to know a female human got me to shut up. Not very krogan of me." He replied.

"Mention what?" She said coyly.

"Ha! I like you. You're alright."

They reached the second one and all three of them jumped out. Garrus and Jane sniped out geth from behind the mako while Wrex went up close with his shotgun. Garrus thought everything felt normal again. Jane sniping enemies while smiling, Wrex teasing enemies while killing them. He was enjoying it even if it was dangerous, but hell, danger had a way of finding Jane and he was okay with that as long as he was there to watch her back. After the last geth was down, Jane ran to disable the AA guns and opened the gate for the mako. They quickly made their way to the third gatehouse and quickly dispatched geth there. They saw the Normandy heading towards the salarian camp and made their way there.

Upon arriving, they saw Ashley and Kaidan arguing with a salarian. Jane immediately went over to see what was wrong. The salarian introduced himself as Captain Kirrahe and said he had a plan for when the rest of the cavalry arrived. Jane told him that they were all that was coming. He got angry when she told him the message was a little unclear and they were sent to investigate. He said he lost men to investigating already. He told them Saren was breeding an army of krogan. That's when Wrex spoke up asking how that was possible. Kirrahe told him that Saren developed a cure for the genophage and that it needed to be destroyed. Wrex understandably disagreed. Kirrahe then said that the krogan were a mistake. Garrus thought saying that was a mistake. That's when Wrex got in the salarian's face.

"We are not a mistake!" Wrex angrily told Kirrahe and stormed off.

Kirrahe turned to Jane and told her she needed to either calm him or put him down. She looked at him annoyed and told him she'd handle it.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Do you need some backup?" Garrus asked, touching Jane's shoulder. He was concerned for her safety with how angry Wrex was. He ignored the dirty look Kaidan gave him.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm just going to go talk to him." She replied before walking over to Wrex. Garrus saw him angrily shooting his shotgun at nothing in the distance. He was worried about Jane confronting him like that. He wanted to go over with her but he knew he had to trust her to handle herself. He knew she could, he just wanted to be there for her and he hoped no one would have to shoot Wrex. The damn krogan had grown on him. He watched as Jane approached Wrex. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he could tell Wrex was angry and yelling by his body language. He watched as Jane calmly talked to him then he saw her get right in Wrex's face. He was about to run over to help when he saw Wrex back down. He couldn't believe it. He never heard of a human getting in a krogan's face like that and live through the encounter. She really was amazing. She came back and told them that everything was settled and Wrex was alright. Garrus breathed a sigh of relief. They then went to go talk to Kirrahe.

"I'm surprised you managed to talk down the krogan." Kirrahe told Jane.

"His name is Wrex." She told him sounding annoyed and folding her arms. "And he's my friend so I wasn't worried."

"Ahem. Right." He replied. "So I have a plan. We'll have my men split into three teams and do a frontal attack while you and a small team infiltrate through the side and plant the bomb."

"That seems like a suicide mission on your part." She replied.

"I don't expect all of my men to come back but it needs to be done. I'm sorry but I also need to ask one of your people to lead one of my teams." He said while looking at Ashley and Kaidan.

"I'm sorry. What?" Jane looked at him in disbelief.

"I don't have enough men left on my own." He told her.

"I'll do it commander." Ashley spoke up.

"What? No. I can do it." Kaidan also spoke up.

"Calm down, LT. I'm the right one for this job." Ashley argued with Kaidan. Jane sighed in defeat.

"Who do you think you need?" Jane asked Kirrahe.

"Well, both of them seem capable. It's your choice."

Jane looked at both Kaidan and Ashley.

"Williams. Lead the team. No heroics though. Come back alive."

"Aye, commander." Ashley saluted. Then her expression turned dark for a moment. "It's been an honor to serve with you. All of you." She looked at Garrus.

"Likewise, gunnery chief." Garrus shook her hand.

"Remember, come back alive." Jane reminded her. They all turned to Kirrahe as he gathered everyone and went over the plan.

Through fighting the geth on the way to the base Garrus noticed Jane disrupt the geth communication relay, destroy their satellite uplink, and destroy their flyers.

"That should help them a bit." He heard her say quietly to herself. He could tell she was worried about Ashley.

They reached the base and Garrus went to the console. He told Jane he could unlock the doors and possibly divert any remaining guards to where the others were. Jane told him to just unlock the doors, that they others had enough to deal with. He figured that's what she'd do. Once inside they made their way through the guards with relative ease. They found some salarians locked up that seemed like they were going crazy. Upon talking to one, he explained to them that Saren had indoctrinated them using his ship. More mind control, great. Garrus thought to himself. Jane let them out. The one that they talked to left after Jane said they were going to set off a bomb but the others just stood there like they were in a trance. They continued on until they reached a room with guards and doctors, after taking care of them an asari surrendered. She said she was just a scientist and told them more of indoctrination. She said she was pretty sure that Saren himself was indoctrinated and gave them a key card to his personal lab.

"You should get out of here. We're going to plant a bomb." Jane told her.

"You can't be- you're joking?" The asari stammered.

"Nope. Gonna blow this place sky high." Jane replied, mimicking an explosion with a hand gesture.

"You're not joking. I'll never get out of here in time!" She said, horrified.

"You might if you run fast enough." Jane said, then watched the asari run off.

"You enjoyed that." Garrus told her.

"Maybe." Jane smirked and Wrex just chuckled.

They then headed into the room the asari had pointed out and saw another beacon. Jane went over to it and Garrus saw her freeze in place. He went to pull her away but Wrex stopped him.

Just a few minutes later, Jane turned to them and told them the vision was a warning sent out to the galaxy about the reapers attacking and they slowly wiped out the protheans. She told them she wanted to hurry up and set the bomb so she could warn the council. As they went to leave, a hologram showed up. Garrus commented asking what it was, and Jane turned around. The hologram said it was Sovereign and they realized that it wasn't a reaper ship. It was a reaper! Jane communicated with it. It stated its distaste for organic life and said it was their destruction. It told them this cycle was upon its destruction. When asked about "this cycle", it said that the pattern had occurred more times than they could understand and upon each civilization's peak that they came and destroyed them. It told them that they created the citadel and the mass relays, not the protheans. Garrus couldn't believe it. When asked why they would do that, it told them so organics would evolve into the path they desired and would end when they demanded. When Jane asked what they wanted of them, it told her that they were beyond her understanding. Jane then asked where the rest of the reapers were, and it said they were coming and organics could not escape their doom. Jane told it that they would stop them, that machines could be broken. It told her that her threats were empty and that their exchange was over. The hologram disappeared and all the glass around them shattered. Garrus instinctively moved to cover Jane from the glass shards. Just then Joker came on the comm to tell them that Sovereign was headed their way. Jane said they needed to hurry up and set the bomb off and they ran to the bomb site.

Upon reaching the site, they saw Kaidan walk out of the Normandy with the salarian bomb. Just then Ashley came on the comm saying she was pinned down by attacking geth at the AA tower. Kaidan told them to go, that he needed a few minutes to set the bomb anyways. They ran for Ashley's location. After exiting the elevator, they saw a geth ship head towards the bomb site. Jane radioed Kaidan and he said that geth were dropping all over the place. He told her he was making sure it would go off no matter what and told her to go help Ashley. Ashley came on the comm and told her to go help Kaidan. Garrus saw Jane freeze for a moment and thought he saw her eyes start to water a bit, then she spoke up.

"I'm sorry Ashley." He could hear her voice trembling.

"Don't be, commander. It was an honor serving under you." Ashley replied.

They ran back to the bomb site and immediately took out the geth that had surrounded Kaidan. As they ran towards Kaidan, Saren appeared. He sent a biotic blast that sent all of them flying. Garrus saw Jane dodge a few extra attacks and take cover behind a wall. She immediately started asking him why he was doing this. He told her it was for survival and that as long as he did what Sovereign wanted, he was useful. She accused him of being indoctrinated himself. He just told her he preferred that over being extinct and tried to coax her into joining him. She refused him and started shooting at him. He came at her and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air. He's going to kill her, Garrus thought. He couldn't get a clear shot of Saren, so he shot at a fuel tank and the explosion caught Saren's attention. Jane took the opportunity to punch him in the face and he dropped her and retreated.

Just then, the Normandy flew into the area. Jane grabbed Kaidan and they got in. As they were flying away, Joker told them to hold on to something as they put as much distance from the bomb as they could. Garrus saw Jane look out as the bomb went off. He wanted to console her, to reassure her, to be there for her but he didn't know what to say. After a brief silence, they made their way to the conference room. Once there, Kaidan immediately spoke up.

"You should've saved Ash instead. Why didn't you take her?" Kaidan confronted Jane. Garrus couldn't believe it. He saw Jane make this hard decision to save Kaidan and he was blaming her. Garrus was about to say something but Jane spoke up first.

"I'm sorry but I had to make a choice. And I chose to save you." She told him.

Liara then offered to help Jane make more sense of the beacon's vision. After melding their minds, Liara said that the conduit was on Ilos. Jane dismissed everyone so she could update the council. Garrus once again wanted to try to console Jane about Ashley.

"I'm sorry, Jane." He said. It was all he could think of to say. She didn't look his way or say anything. He took one more glance at her and went on his way.