Jane coughed as she removed some rubble and started to stand herself up. She tried to use her left arm for leverage but the pain made her fall back down.

"Ugh, dammit. Seriously, why is it always this arm?" She said to herself as she used her other arm to stand back up. She climbed through the rubble as best she could while holding her arm. Where is Garrus? Oh god, don't tell me he didn't make it, she thought as she made her way through looking for any signs of her squadmates. As she made her way through more rubble, she could make out shapes of people in the distance. She couldn't tell who they were but she hoped Garrus and Kaidan were among them. She limped her way towards them when she noticed one sort of limp/jogging towards her. As it got closer, she noticed it was Garrus. Thank God he made it, she thought as she kept making her way forward. It was then she noticed Captain Anderson right behind him. Thank God or whoever is out there, she thought as she felt her body finally give up as she started to fall. But she didn't feel the cold, hard ground. Instead she felt something holding her up, then she looked up and saw that Garrus had caught her. She could see he was battered and bleeding himself but he still came to her rescue. She smiled as she felt her consciousness fading as she finally let herself rest her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, she was in an unfamiliar brightly lit room. Looking around, she realized it was a hospital room. So I survived, she thought. She felt something against her leg and leaned up a little bit to see Carnifex laying next to her.

"How did you get here, Carn?" She asked as she patted his head.

"It took some work but they couldn't say no." She heard Wrex reply. She looked up and saw him and Joker both standing by her bed.

"He means he didn't give them a choice. He tried smuggling him in a few times but kept getting caught. The last time he came charging in with Carn in his arms shouting 'THE HERO OF THE CITADEL NEEDS HER VARREN! FIGHT ME!' Half of the staff gave up due to exhaustion and I'm pretty sure he scared the rest half to death." Joker laughed as he held his hands up mimicking Wrex's actions.

"Sounds just like you, Wrex." Jane smiled then looked down at Carn. "And I'm glad he did. I bet you missed me, boy. I missed you." She rubbed his head in a playful manner and he just replied with his tongue hanging out before rolling over so she could rub his belly. "Where is everyone else?"

"Well they're only letting in a few of us at a time. Regulation, apparently. Tali and Liara are waiting to come in after us. Captain Anderson said he'll stop by later and Wrex uh convinced Kaidan to get coffee or something in order to let us in." He said while giving Wrex a look.

"What? I just asked to see Shepard." Wrex replied while shrugging his shoulders.

"Did I miss something? Wrex asked someone to do something?" Jane asked with a curious look. She knew that didn't sound like him at all.

"More or less." Wrex chuckled.

"He threatened to headbutt him when he initially refused to leave. And said he'd keep head butting him until he gave up or lost consciousness. I believe the words 'fight me, pipsqueak' came out of his mouth, too." Joker sighed, then chuckled.

"Hey, he can't hog all the visiting time. We were all worried about her." Wrex defended himself.

"All the visiting time?" Jane asked.

"Kaidan came straight here and wouldn't leave after he was discharged from his room." Joker told her. Of course he didn't. He's a good guy. Jane thought after hearing that.

"What about Garrus? Is he okay?!" She asked in a panic. She realized Joker never said anything about him.

"He's fine. He had to stop..somewhere first." Joker said seeming a little dodgy.

"Somewhere?"

"Uh uh. I'm sworn to secrecy. You can't even order me to tell you. I'm more scared of what he and Wrex would do to me than a court martial." Joker raised his hands in defense.

"What are you boys up to and should I be worried?" Jane asked with a chuckle.

"Nah. It's just a surprise." Wrex said with a smile. "Well, we better go and let the girls in before they put us in our own hospital beds, heh."

"Bye guys. Come back later and thanks." Jane said as she waved at them.

"By the way, don't ever scare me like that again, commander. I was worried we lost you when they said they couldn't find you on the radio." Joker said as he patted her on the shoulder.

"Is that an order, flight lieutenant?" Jane joked.

"You bet your reaper stopping ass it is." Joker said with a smile as he left the room.

A couple moments later, she saw Liara and Tali enter the room. Before she could say anything, Tali ran up and hugged her while Liara stayed back.

"Tali, she's injured." Liara scolded her but she looked like she was holding herself back.

"Oh, get over here T'Soni." Jane motioned to her. "We won't say anything to the boys." She chuckled. She saw Liara come over and join in the hug.

"Kee'lah, you had me scared." Tali said to her as she pulled away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-ugh." Jane groaned in pain when she tried to shift her body.

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Tali asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, even though I feel like a building fell on me." She chuckled.

"You got lucky. Dr. Chakwas said you have a few broken bones in your left arm and right leg, some cracked ribs and a concussion. You need to take it easy for awhile." Liara told her sternly.

"Heh. Even if I tried to leave, I doubt anyone here would let me." Jane chuckled. "And did you say Doctor Chakwas? As in the Normandy's Chakwas?"

"She wouldn't take no for an answer. She told them she was treating you whether they liked it or not. Then she barged in and started treating you. I think everyone was too surprised to even react." Tali giggled as Liara explained the events to Jane.

"She's such a mother hen sometimes. But I'm glad because she's the best damn doctor I've ever met." Jane smiled.

"Well, we better let you rest now. Come on, Tali. We'll come back later. You just focus on resting." Liara waved to Jane as she gently ushered Tali out of the room.

"Bye, Shepard. I promise I'll come back." Tali waved energetically as Liara pushed her out.

"Bye." Jane chuckled as she waved back.

Just moments later, Jane felt herself drifting back to sleep even though she wanted to be awake to see Garrus. She woke up sometime later to the feeling of someone kissing her forehead. She opened her eyes to see Kaidan standing there, holding her hand.

"Hey, Alenko." She greeted him with a smile as she gently moved her hand to pet Carn. She liked Kaidan still but she just couldn't get the conflicted feelings about Garrus out of her head. She knew she'd have to pick one of them soon but she wanted to talk to Garrus before she made a decision.

"How about it, Shepard?" She heard Kaidan ask.

"Huh?" She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't hear what he said.

"I was thinking we could do a nice steak dinner sometime once you're feeling better." He replied.

"Oh. Uh, sure. Sounds good." She said letting out a smile as to not worry him. It was just then that she looked over to see Garrus's backside as he was walking away. She immediately tried getting up to go after him.

"Oh, no you don't. You're confined to bed rest for the next couple weeks." Kaidan scolded her.

"But-" Jane tried arguing. She needed to talk to Garrus.

"No buts. Chakwas and Liara would have both our skins if I let you get up." Kaidan said. Just then there was a knock at the door and Tali came walking in with a bouquet of roses and a stuffed Varren toy that looked almost like Carnifex.

"Garrus just dropped these off. Aren't they adorable?!" Tali exclaimed as she handed them to Jane.

"He did?" Jane smelled the flowers and hugged the Varren with a smile.

"Really?" Kaidan asked with a tone of jealousy.

"Well he said it was from all of them at C-Sec. They wish you a full recovery. I didn't know they did stuff like this!" Tali said full of awe.

"Neither did I." Jane replied as she knew they normally never did things like that unless it was one of their own in the hospital. "Is Garrus coming? I saw him leaving."

"That was the weirdest thing. He was talking to us normally, all concerned. Then he asked about you and Kaidan, practically shoved the gifts into my arms, and walked away." Tali responded, confused.

"Oh." Jane replied. Oh no, I hope he didn't think me and Kaidan were exclusive. I really need to talk to him. She thought as she hugged the toy varren tighter.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll come by sometime soon. He probably had a lot to do at C-Sec." Tali said as she gave Jane a quick hug and left again. Oh, C-Sec. I guess he really did go back. She thought sadly. She hoped after everything that he would stay with the Normandy and her. She told Kaidan she was really tired and wanted to rest.

A week had gone by with everyone visiting her, except Garrus. She really missed him and didn't really realize how much she enjoyed his company until he was gone. All she wanted to do was get out of the hospital and ask why he hadn't been by. While she was lost in her thoughts, there was a knock on the door. She looked up to see Anderson and the asari counselor walking in.

"How are you feeling, Shepard?" Anderson asked her with a smile.

"A little better. It would be nice if they would let me out of this damn bed." Jane replied as she sat up.

"You've just got another week if you let your body heal, but spoken like a true soldier. You gave us all quite a scare, y'know." Anderson said as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"So I hear. What brings the Asari councilor to a regular marine's room?" She asked looking at the asari.

"You're not just a soldier. You're a spectre and the hero of the Citadel. And we have some business to discuss with you." She said.

"Skipping pleasantries and getting straight to the point, I see." Anderson chuckled.

"After you saved the Citadel and the galaxy, we've decided to add a human to the council and we'd like your recommendation for someone." She told Jane.

"Me? Why me?" Jane asked, confused.

"Because you're a damn hero and the council wouldn't be here without you." Anderson chimed in.

"Well, then I would recommend Captain Anderson." Jane replied without hesitation.

"Me? I'm a military man. I don't know anything about politics." Anderson replied with shock.

"That's why you'd be perfect. We don't need another politician. We need someone with military experience. I don't think the reaper threat is over, just postponed." She told him.

"Very well. We'll take it into consideration. You rest now. We'll brief you on your next mission once you're better. And you have our complete gratitude for everything you've done." The Asari said before leaving.

"I sure hope you know what you're getting me into." Anderson said. "By the way, you did good. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, sir." Jane said with a salute and said goodbye to him.

Another week had gone by and Jane's sadness of Garrus not visiting turned to anger then disappointment. She was leaving the council chambers after receiving her orders. She had already said goodbye to Tali, Liara, and Wrex. She wanted them to come with but they had their own things to deal with and she understood. She was going from person to person trying to track down Garrus when she finally saw him near the warehouses.

She put her hands on her hips and called out to him. He greeted her by her last name like they were just acquaintances. When she questioned him about it, he said he was on duty and she was a hero, so he was being professional. What the fuck? She thought. It didn't seem like the Garrus she knew at all. He seemed distant and maybe even a little sad. She questioned him about really going back to C-Sec and asked him how it was. He told her it was better than before, but she could tell he was lying and didn't know why. She just forced out a smile and told him she was happy for him. She then decided to confront him about not visiting her. He told her he was busy at C-Sec and recovering himself then apologized while hanging his hand. Jane couldn't stand seeing him like that so she put her hand under his face to lift it up and thanked him for the gifts. He told her it was from everyone at C-sec but she had her doubts. She told him she already said goodbye to the others and wanted to say goodbye to him before her mission. He questioned her about it just being her and Kaidan then and she explained the rest of the crew would be there also. She knew he got the wrong idea but before she could say anything, he put his hand out for a handshake and said it had been a pleasure to work with her. She wanted to slap him, yell at him, tell him she liked him as she felt her heart sink but she just bit her tongue and shook his hand then told him not to be a stranger. After shaking her hand, he walked away. She stood there for a moment and whispered, "I'll miss you, Garrus Vakarian." And walked in the opposite direction.

A few months had passed and Jane had started to fall in love with Kaidan. She still missed Garrus and tried messaging him several times. She sighed as she checked her padd and saw messages from alliance headquarters and Anderson. But Garrus had not written back even once. Even though she was glad the others decided to do one more mission with her.

"I guess he only ever saw me as a commanding officer." She quietly said to herself, while petting Carn. "I really do miss him, boy. But I have you and Kaidan so I'm okay." She said hugging him. They had been in the area for weeks without any sign of geth or reaper signs. Just as she was about to get up, the ship shook and she fell off her bed.

"What's going on, Joker?" She asked over her comm.

"We're being attacked! It's not geth. I don't recognize the ship. They're cutting straight through our shields!" He replied in a panic.

Jane immediately suited up and ran out of her quarters. After she saw the damage and learned their weapons weren't doing anything against them, she called for an evacuation. She immediately started helping others to escape pods then she ran into Kaidan.

"Is this everyone?" She asked him.

"Almost. Joker is refusing to leave." Kaidan said.

"Get to a pod and I'll grab Joker." She told him.

"No way. I'm not leaving you." He argued.

"I'll be fine. I'll be right behind you." She said as she gave him a kiss. "That's an order."

"But- yes, ma'am." He said as he gave her a worried look then went on his way.

Jane made her way through the wreckage and went to the cockpit.

"We need to go. Now!" She told Joker.

"No. I can still save the ship!" He refused as he frantically pressed buttons.

"The ship is lost. And I'm not losing you." She said as she forced Joker up and started leading him towards the escape pods.

"Ow! I think you broke my arm." He complained as he wobbled along with her.

"We'll get it fixed as soon as we're safe." She told him as she helped him into the pod.

Right before she could get in, a blast hit them and she felt herself getting pulled away. She pressed the button to seal and send off Joker's pod right before it became out of reach. Without the gravity, she tried to float her way to a different pod when another blast came and destroyed the ship. She found herself having trouble breathing and reached behind her to feel her oxygen tank had been ruptured. She desperately gasped for breath to no avail. She silently apologized to Joker and Kaidan and felt regret for not seeing Garrus again before her vision turned to black.