Jane slowly opened her eyes and started groaning. She could feel Carnifex licking her and reached over to pet him. Her head felt like someone was hitting it with a rock. She rolled over to see the empty brandy bottle on her nightstand.
"That's right." She muttered, remembering vaguely drinking the night before. She realized she was covered up in her blanket and realized Garrus must've done that before leaving. He's so thoughtful, she thought to herself. She reminded herself that she should thank him as soon as she got rid of the pounding in her head and then there was a knock at the door.
"Ugh. Come in." She groaned.
"Hey, Shep. Want some breakfast before we meet the council?" Kaidan said, peeking through the door. "Wow, you look-" He widened his eyes as he spoke.
"Like the walking dead? Cause that's how I feel. And do you need to talk so loud?" Jane groaned as she sat up holding her hand to her temple.
"Sorry." Kaidan quieted his voice a little. "So breakfast? It may help."
"I doubt it but coffee sounds good. Come on, Carn." She said as she got out of bed and followed Kaidan out of her room. They ran into Tali on their way to the mess hall.
"Hey Shepard!" Tali greeted her enthusiastically. "Thank you again for that geth data!"
"Urgh. No problem, but could you maybe not talk so loud?" Jane told her.
"She's kind of hungover." Kaidan told Tali. "Wanna join us for breakfast?"
"Sure!" She exclaimed then heard Jane groan and lowered her voice. "Sorry."
"Could you guys maybe not walk so loud? Or talk. Or breathe. Why must you do everything so loud?" Jane groaned at them as they headed for the mess hall.
Once they got to the mess hall and sat down, Kaidan handed Jane a plate of eggs and toast and a mug of coffee. She pushed the food away and drank the coffee. She could hear him and Tali talking but ignored what they were saying and just put her head on the table. She heard Garrus and Wrex come in but her head was pounding too loud for her to even attempt to greet them. She then groaned and complained about having to meet with the council. Kaidan asked her how much she drank the night before but she couldn't remember so she asked Garrus. He told them that she drank her whole bottle of brandy then tried drinking his turian whiskey. She threw her head back on the table. Shit, no wonder I feel like death she thought. She asked if she could just tell the council to fuck off since they didn't believe her anyways. She really didn't want to deal with them telling her she's crazy again on top of what happened on Virmire. Just then they heard Joker on the comm saying they'd arrive at the citadel within 20 minutes. Kaidan handed her a capsule and said the doctor gave it to him to give her for her hangover. She angrily snapped at him for not giving it to her sooner and he told her she told him to stop talking, walking and even breathing. She quietly chased the capsule down with the remainder of her coffee, vaguely remembering telling him those things. Tali grabbed her arm and told her to come with her to get dressed. She followed along griping about the council being stupid and saying the turian hated her which Garrus yelled that he just hates all humans. She called back that he wasn't helping and he still owed her a drink.
"So you and Kaidan, huh?" Tali spoke up while sitting on Jane's bed as she got changed.
"Yeah.. I mean, I guess so." Jane replied, pulling her shirt over her head.
"You guess? Is there someone else?" She asked, sounding intrigued.
"Well, no. I don't know. I don't think he's interested in being with, well, a human." Jane told her, pulling up her pants.
"Keelah se'lai! Are you interested in a non human, Shepard?"
"Well, I think so. Maybe. But like I said he probably wouldn't be interested in me."
"Wait. Not human? He?" Tali sounded like she was in deep thought, then squealed. "You like Garrus?!"
"Um, what?!" Jane looked at her wide eyed.
"Well, it's a he and non human. He'd have to be someone you spent time with lately and that leaves only Wrex or Garrus on this ship. Unless it's not Wrex, is it?"
"No! He feels more like a big brother!" Jane blurted out, then put her hands over her mouth.
"So it is Garrus! I knew it." Tali giggled.
"Shh. Don't tell the whole ship!" Jane told her, embarrassingly, then sat on the bed. "I don't know what to do. I like them both." Carnifex jumped up and laid down on her lap.
"Well, it's obvious Kaidan likes you. Have you talked to Garrus about it?" She asked Jane.
"Well, it took me awhile to realize I like him and when I thought about telling him, he told me he's going back to C-sec after we deal with Saren. He seems determined to help people now and I think it'll be good for him." She explained while petting Carnifex.
"He does seem a little less shoot first, ask questions later now than he did when he first came on board." Tali replied. "You've helped so many of us. So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know." Jane replied. "First things first, I need to stop Saren. Then I can focus on-" She was cut off mid-sentence by Joker announcing they were at the citadel.
"Here we go." Jane sighed and thanked Tali for the talk. She decided to grab Garrus and Kaidan to go meet the council with her.
They arrived in the council chambers shortly afterwards and Jane greeted them formally.
"We have called all available fleets to guard the citadel." The salarian councilor told them.
"But Saren's on his way to Ilos." Jane told them. "We need to go after him before he gets to the conduit!"
"We cannot risk war with the Terminus System just on your word that these so called 'reapers' are working with Saren." The asari councilor stated to them.
"Then let me go! I can be discreet." Jane pleaded.
"Just like you were when you blew up a facility on Virmire?" The turian councilor interjected. "It's obvious Saren is making up these reapers to confuse us and make us vulnerable to an attack."
"But I spoke with one of them! I'm not making this up!" Jane spoke with anger.
"We're not saying you are but this could be more mind control." The asari spoke up.
"I'll give the council any support you need and I'm grounding the Normandy." Udina spoke up.
"You traitorous bastard! You'll do anything to get on the council!" Jane yelled, lunging toward him but Garrus held her back.
"That's enough!" The turian raised his voice. "The decision has been made and this meeting is adjourned. We thank you, Udina" Then they all walked out, leaving only Jane, Garrus, and Kaidan standing there.
Once back on the Normandy, Jane found herself staring at Ashley's locker. It was her first time looking at it since before Virmire. She thought about the council and getting grounded, then she punched the locker, put her back to it then slowly slid down until she found herself sitting with her back to it. Just then Kaidan walked in.
"Is this what she died for?" Jane looked up. "So the council could call us liars and let Saren and the reapers win?"
"She died a soldier. A damn good one. She knew what she was doing, Shep." He replied.
"And I failed her." She replied bleakly, putting her head in her lap. Just then she felt Kaidan grab her hand and pull her up. Then he gently pushed her up against the locker.
"Kaidan?" She looked up at his face.
"You haven't failed anyone. You'll find a way to stop them. You're the best damn commander I've ever served under." It seemed like he was about to kiss her when Joker interrupted on the comm.
"Commander, Captain Anderson wants to meet with you. He said he'd be at Flux."
"Of course he does." Jane sighed while rubbing the back of her neck. "Well, let's go!" She said as she dashed out of the locker room. She saw Garrus on her way out and asked if he was coming and he replied with saying he was right behind her.
