Hello again! So, I ended up adding a few things and decided to split what I originally had planned into two chapters. That way it is not 10k+ words and you don't have to wait two or three weeks! I will keep this short, but, as always, I would like to thank everyone for their interest in my story! I love getting the notification that I have a new email letting me know that there is a new review! And, as always, if you ever want to suggest something or have questions, please feel free to PM me. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 19

Garrus lined up the shot. He took slow deep breaths, waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger. But he knew he couldn't wait too long; others were moving in. The patrols were coming soon too and then he really wouldn't have any time left. Everything seemed to slow down for him as his target came into view. Just as Garrus began to squeeze the trigger, an explosion sounded at the front of the facility. Spirits! They'll ruin everything! he thought as he watched his foes scramble around to defend themselves. Garrus's original target moved between the pillars, giving orders to his groups and adding various weapons to his arsenal. The man paused; it was the perfect shot for Garrus.

Firing his rifle, the shot sailed true and tore through the leader's head. As soon as Garrus had confirmed the kill, he adjusted and took down three more targets. Everyone in the building was scrambling trying to figure out which was the biggest threat. Some went to the front of the building, others tried to find Garrus in their scopes. Garrus took out the three snipers and then proceeded to clear out the rest of the room just as the doors opened to reveal another individual enter the room and begin clearing out enemies. Ignoring the new visitor, he fired the last shot needed to finish.

"Simulation Over," the robotic VI sounded overhead as the environment began to disintegrate.

Garrus stood up in the stark, empty room and reattached his weapon to his back. Simulations were alright, but they didn't really do it for him. All that this reminded him of was when he was with Shepard on Pinnacle Station; even that had been more challenging. Either way, he hoped that the Citadel would start giving them more difficult situtations. Entering the elevator, Garrus leaned against the wall, waiting to arrive in the control room.

It had been a few months since his training had started. Three weeks in, the first batch of candidates had been cut and every three weeks after that, more disappeared. The most recent cut was about a week ago, just after they had hit three months. Every time the selection came around, Garrus never felt like he was at risk. Sure, it might be a little prideful, but he did feel like he was prepared for everything that was discussed or thrown at them; having served with Shepard proved more than beneficial.

Shepard… he thought. It had been about a month since he spoke to her, or any of the crew, last. He knew that it was hard to get a secure connection to contact anyone, especially if they were out hunting pockets of Geth that would require them to go to remote parts of the galaxy. Either way, he knew that he shouldn't be worried, but there was a part of him that was. Some days he really regretted not telling her what had actually happened that night, but at least things were not complicated between them. There was nothing to figure out, no awkward conversations, they were just friends.

The doors opened and Garrus pushed himself off of the wall, striding into the control room. He received a few nods from the station workers and made his way over to his instructor. "Good work, Vakarian. Dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," Garrus saluted and began to leave just as the opposite elevator had opened and a voice, that seemed strangely familiar. Stopping in his tracks, he looked back to see a female turian storming into the control room.

"Sir!" she said sharply and stood at attention.

"The objective was completed before you could arrive. Incomplete. We will review tomorrow. Dismissed."

Garrus watched her turn rigid, her pride obviously wounded as she spun on her heel and a rather audible hiss escaped her. He thought of jumping in the elevator to avoid an awkward confrontation but thought better of it and decided to hold it for her. Her subharmonics bit out a harsh 'thanks'. Yup, she knows I am the one who beat her, he smiled to himself. Stealing another glance at her, something seemed oddly familiar about her. Running over the possibilities in his mind, he thought of her features: average height, dark green clan markings against pale blue scales, green eyes, her formal stance; nothing in particular stood out but he felt as if he knew her.

Just as Garrus was about to shrug it off, he heard her speak and again he felt like he should know her. "You cheated. I had them," she never looked at him.

He almost wanted to laugh. "There are no rules in this game. Targets had the upper hand in holding hostages. I got the job done with zero casualties."

"They just wanted the target eliminated! Casualties happen!" she rounded on him and reeled back. "Garrus?! Garrus Vakarian!"

Shit. He was supposed to know her.

"Spirits! I haven't seen you since I was a recon scout! I didn't think I would ever see you again!"

What the honest fuck… "Karcissa, it has been a while. You have come a long way from recon."

"No kidding. But I never thought I would see you in Spectre training. Figured they would just bump you right up to evaluation. Didn't you just finish serving with that human Spectre? What's her name?"

"Ja – er – Shepard. Commander Shepard of the Alliance Navy. Yes, I was serving with her. But I wouldn't want preferential treatment."

"Of course not. Garrus Vakarian, always wanting to prove he is the best on his own accord," her mandible twitched in a smirk. "Say, how about we catch up over a drink?"

"Uh… I guess we could."

"Meet you at Flux, 2000 hours CST."

Garrus nodded, "Sounds good. This is my floor."

"See you around, Garrus," Karcissa purred. Fancy seeing him here… and being placed against him of all the other recruits, she thought.

"Advance on the left flank!" Shepard ordered as she leapt over a wall. Shots hissed by her as the geth pressed forward onto their position. The location was swarmed, the intel being slightly off by about two dropships. Checking her team, she saw John and Tali already taking cover and working on taking out a troop. Kaidan was already in position with one of their new recruits, Jones, they looked to be holding their own. That left their other new recruit, Lewis, he was in front of her, running for cover and firing at the geth.

Jane fired her pistol at the foes to their right and looked forward to see a juggernaut readying a rocket. "Lewis! Get down!" He wasn't paying attention. "LEWIS! GOD DAMMIT!" Finally, he looked back at her. "GET DOWN!" She raised her gun and he looked in the direction that she was aiming. She could almot hear him suck in a breath and he scrambled to the side. Son of a bitch! Jane sprinted as fast as she could and shouldered her crew member to the side, knocking him to the ground. Pivoting on her feet, she leapt to the side just as the rocket contacted the ground a few feet behind her. The explosion quickly changed her direction, causing her to flip like a ragdoll and slam into the ground.

Her head was ringing as the initial dust cloud began to settle and she quickly scanned her surroundings before pushing off the ground. She thought she could see Kaidan shouting for her as he tried to provide covering fire. Jane searched for Lewis to see him pushing up onto his hands and knees. At least he was alive, but he seemed to be making a strong effect to get himself killed. With her feet skidding against the dirt and rocks, Jane ran for her new recruit and grabbed him by the collar of his armor to drag him with her to cover. There wasn't enough cover for all of them, but it would have to do; there weren't that many geth left. Making their way to Kaidan and Jones, Jane threw Lewis on the ground and pressed her back to the rock, hoping that enough of her was behind cover.

With her ears still ringing, Jane shouted her next orders, "Lewis, stay down until you can shoot straight! You two keep an eye on him! Don't let him do something stupid!" She got a quick nod from both of them as she switched her guns and brought out the sniper rifle. After taking another quick look to John and Tali, Jane spun around and threw a biotic lift at the AIs closing in on her brother and friend then turned to her own targets.

John continued to unload his gun at the synthetics before him even as several began to float harmlessly towards the sky. Obviously due to Jane, he thought and glanced over his shoulder to see her sniping away at the targets. He thought that he saw red down the side of her face, but now wasn't the time to focus on details like that; there were too many hostiles. John knew that there wasn't enough cover for all of them, and that meant that Jane was putting herself at risk. If she died over shitty intel from the Council, there would be hell to pay.

Rocks and dust mingled with weapon fire as the battle dragged on. As taxing as it was, the end was in sight, only five geth stood. It wasn't long before there was the deafening silence of wind. Finally, it had ended. They all sat quietly, waiting to hear the sound of another dropship or the powering up of electronics. The seconds ticked by and finally Jane motioned for the all clear.

"Fucking finally…" Jones muttered more to himself than anyone.

John moved next to the man and grabbed his shoulder to lean in and whisper, "Get used to it. Things going wrong is kind of the usual for us."

"Shepard," Tali said, "You okay?"

Jane nodded and took a few steps away from everyone, "Shepard to Joker. Joker, come in."

Lewis propped himself on the edge of a rock and looked around at everyone. He looked at his commander and the stream of blood coming down the side of her face and knew that it was his fault.

"What's eating you?" Jones asked sitting next to his recent friend.

"Damn, man… I feel like an idiot. If I would have just paid a little more attention I wouldn't have put us at risk." Lowering his voice, he leaned closer to Jones, "I almost got Shepard killed. ME! How would that look? Savior of the Citadel getting killed for trying to protect one of her squad that just didn't pay attention."

"But that didn't happen and we are all here and okay."

"I just feel so stupid…" Lewis rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at Shepard.

"Kaidan," Jane returned to the group, "Can you reach Joker? I think my comm unit got knocked out."

"Sure, Commander. Alenko to Joker."

There were a few seconds of silence before a response came back, "Jesus! It is about time someone made contact! Is everyone okay? What happened to Shepard?"

"We are all good. Shepard's comm unit got damaged in an explosion. We need pick up."

"We have your coordinates, on our way."

Jane held her arm trying to keep herself from rotating her shoulder too much. She was pretty sure a shot got through at some point, but there was no sense in worrying anyone about it. Turning around, she looked out at the vast expanse of sand dirt and rock. Why would they find so many geth here?

"Credit for your thoughts?" Kaidan asked sidling up next to Jane.

She gave a quick look and smile to the man on her right. "Just thinking. It doesn't make sense why there would be so many geth here. Scans didn't pick up anything besides the first few geth and thresher maws. Why would they be here?"

Kaidan stood quietly for a moment. It really didn't make sense. Unless… "This may sound a little crazy… but do you think it could be a trap?"

She let that thought sink in, "You're right, it does sound a little crazy. But unfortunately, it is just the kind of crazy that we normally deal with."

They heard the ship coming down and both looked up to the welcomed sight. Jane waited for all of her crew to board before getting on herself then made her way to the cockpit. "How are we looking, Joker?"

"All good up here. Not going to lie, you had us all worried when you missed the first check in… and the second… and then the third. Shit get a little crazy down there?"

"When does it not?"

"Good point," he chuckled. "Find anything that might help?"

"Nothing yet. Kaidan had an interesting thought though. He was thinking that this time seemed almost like a trap."

"A trap? Would it be crazy to think it was specifically for you?"

"Glad I'm not the only paranoid one here."

"Just keep an eye out. Your job will never be done in the galaxy, and we can't function without you."

"Thanks for the sentiment, Joker," Jane laughed and immediately regretted it.

"Hey, Shepard," he spun in his chair to face her as she stopped a few steps into the bridge, "You may want to schedule in a pit stop. We have a good amount of fuel for now, but just in case…" he let his voice drift off.

They both knew that with their luck they might get caught up in a geth fight and then be running on empty to get to the next fueling station. "Go ahead and plot a course for the closest Alliance or Citadel run station. We have been without a secure channel for over a month so we need to check in anyway."

"Roger that. Oh yeah, and you might want to go see Chakwas for that bullet wound," he smirked at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey, Chakwas," Joker radioed down to the med-bay, "I am sending Shepard down to you. If she doesn't show up in five minutes we may want to form a search team."

"I'll make sure she gets here," Chakwas answered.

"You suck," Jane narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"So, what's the deal with the commander? I mean, we know all the stories, but there is obviously more to her."

Kaidan fought not to roll his eyes as he overheard some of the new members of the Normandy crew. They are just curious, he told himself, anyone would be.

"Who knows?" Reynolds responded. "I thought there would be more aliens on this ship. Now there is only the quarian. Not going to lie, I was kind of hoping that asari would be here."

"Hey, Alenko," Jones called out.

The lieutenant looked up from his datapad and at the group playing poker, "Yes?"

"You have been with the commander since the Normandy first flew. What's the deal?"

"You will have to be a little more specific than that."

The group looked at each other, all unsure where to begin. Lewis spoke up first, "I thought she was a biotic. Why does she have a sniper rifle?"

The memory of when he snapped at Jane for giving Garrus that rifle burned in his mind; he was still embarrassed about his reaction to that. "She is a biotic, a really good one too but she hides it a lot. Even I don't know the full story behind it. The rifle she gave to one of our previous crew members, I don't know why she has it now. But there is no denying she is amazing with it. Probably almost as good as him."

"Yeah, I think I remember, he was on the news stories too, right? The turian? Vakarian?" Jones piped up. Kaidan only nodded in confirmation.

"Huh… You ever wonder if there is something deeper between those two?" Reynolds, a new member in engineering, said.

"Ew… a turian and a human? Gross, man…." Davidson's face twisted in disgust.

Kaidan tried to ignore them again but as soon as he brought the datapad back up, they started again.

"Alenko, was there ever anything between them? Or between her and any of her crew?"

"Why would you ask that?" Kaidan did his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"You know how it is, rumors always float around on the bases… well, these were more stories," Reynolds replied.

"To my knowledge, no."

"What were some of the missions like?" Lewis asked. "Before, when you had all the original crew on here. What was it like working with everyone?"

"Or what about some of the missions like before all of the Saren madness?" Jones followed up.

"Why don't you ask Shepard herself?" Kaidan replied.

Everyone looked at each other, obviously daunted by the task. "How would we even do that? You can't exactly invite your commanding officer to a game of poker," Davidson said.

"Why not?" John stuck his head in the doorway and smirked at the group. "She always likes to be included with her crew. She prefers to have a good rapport with everyone." He looked around at the timid faces of the new crew and winked at Kaidan. "Here, how about I join you guys and then I invite her?"

They shared a few looks then nodded. This should be fun, John thought.

Garrus sat as his terminal, tapping a claw on the edge of the desk. He shouldn't try again, if she were available and wanted to talk to him then she would contact him. She was in dangerous territory, she was wouldn't be able to make secure contact anyway. Before he realized it, his talon had drifted over the keys and made the call.

He waited and waited, but there was no response or confirmation that it went through. He checked the time and realized that he did technically have plans tonight, but he didn't want to leave just yet. More time ticked by. He would be late. More time. Definitely going to be late. Then his heart sank as the red flash of 'connection failed' came up on his screen. Letting out a sigh, he stood up and left the apartment, still in no hurry to reach his destination.

His mind was lost in a haze and he didn't even realize that he had reached Flux until the music pounded in his ears. Scanning the room, he found Karcissa sitting at the bar. Making his way over to her, he sat down on an adjacent stool.

"What in the name of the Spirits?" she said, "Garrus? Late? I didn't think that was possible."

"Got held up. Sorry."

"No problem. So, I would ask what's new with you but it has kind of been all over the news."

Garrus ordered a drink and looked away sheepishly. "Well, since we are caught up on me, what's with you?"

"Served for quite a while with the turian military. Got my first notification of Spectre candidacy but it was one in several thousand. That was about a year ago. Got the invitation for this program just after the attack on the Citadel. I have to admit, I am a little surprised there are as many turians as there are here. I thought they would throw a ton of humans into the selection."

"You know a lot of other candidates?"

"Not really. I have been trying to get as much intel as I can. See who I am up against. I am kind of wondering how I didn't find your name first."

"I was originally going to stay under Shepard's command, but between her and Sparatus, I decided to join."

"Hmm, well, I am glad you did."

Garrus didn't even hear her comment. He was able to tune into her description of missions she had been on and answered her when she asked about situations he had been in, but overall, he wasn't paying attention.

"Garrus, did you hear me?"

"Huh?" Garrus tried to remember what she had said last but couldn't bring anything back, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"I was just saying how stressful this training is, it seems to be affecting you quite a bit."

Giving a shrug, Garrus answered her honestly, "No, not the training. I just have some other things on my mind."

"Well, even so, seems to be distracting you and we both know that isn't good. I could always be a sparring partner for you… if you would like."

Garrus stopped drinking from his glass and put it back down, "Heh, sparring might not be a good idea for us. We both know how it ended last time."

"My point exactly."

Garrus froze and stared back at Karcissa.

"I wasn't thinking about the 'traditional' kind of sparring."

This was one of the times Garrus was very thankful for being able to hide his emotions, "Look, Karcissa, I don't think I can."

"Oh, come one, Vakarian. It would be just like old times," she ran her talons along his fringe and down his neck. Her mandibles spread in a devious grin when his hand wrapped around her wrist.

He gripped her wrist and pulled her hand away from him dropping it when it was out of his space, "No. I am not really looking to revisit old times." At least not those times.

"What?" She was shocked to say the least, "You aren't mated, are you?" she checked the junction of his neck and shoulder but still didn't see anything.

"No. Not mated. It's… complicated."

"Another species?"

Garrus didn't answer right away but nodded.

"Wow, I have to admit… I always knew you weren't one hundred percent turian but I still didn't think you were the type to cross those lines." An awkward silence between them and she tried her best to alleviate it, "Spirits, your father will be furious."

Garrus chuckled, "Yes, he sure will be."

"Well," this night did not go how she had planned, "if things don't work out with whomever it is, offer is on the table. Um… good luck?"

"Thanks…"

Jane leaned back in her chair, kicking the floor to keep herself spinning, thankful to finally have some time to relax. It had taken a day to travel to the closest station which was Citadel-run. She had given everyone some time off, knowing that the stress could be getting to them by this point. It would have been nice to join them, but she didn't have that luxury.

The first thing she had done when they docked was contact the Council, and how did they thank her? By sending her further into the Terminus System; they obviously didn't want her around. After that, she had gotten their supplies squared away and then went for another check up with Chakwas. The doctor was paying a lot more attention to her now that her team had changed.

Bringing up her omni-tool, Jane checked the time. Hmm… I wonder, she mused and brought up the Citadel Standard Time. It was late enough to when he would be out of training but quite possibly too late to contact him. She missed having him around, and just talking to him. Stopping her chair, she let her hand hover over the terminal. But what if he is sleeping? Or maybe he is with someone, I am sure he is under a lot of stress there. Still, her hand typed away to make the connection.

She waited. And waited. Her heart began to pound harder in her chest, her throat felt like it was closing and she could feel her heartbeat in her ears. Why am I getting nervous?! It is Garrus for fuck's sake! It was taking too long. To try to calm herself, she curled up in her chair and grabbed the edge of her desk to sway back and forth.

Garrus heard the chime of his terminal and rushed into the room. He opened the request to see that it was an encrypted signal. His mandibles began to flutter in excitement, Calm down, it may not be her. Accepting the transmission, all of his anxiety and stress melted away at the sight of her. She was sitting back in her chair, wearing her N7 tank top with her fringe down, framing her face. He had to hold back a laugh (but not a smile) as he saw her swaying back and forth in her chair looking up at her ceiling. "Having fun?"

Jane snapped forward, her face blushing furiously, missing the sound of the connection. "Garrus! Hey, good to see you." God, so good to see you…

"You too. Glad to see you are alive."

"Yeah, I know it has been a while. We couldn't get a secure channel out there and ran into a few issues."

"Since when do things not get complicated around you?"

"I know, I know…" she laughed. "How is training going?"

"Very well. They have made quite a few cuts already, but I am still hanging in there."

"Taking top marks I hope."

"In both assignments and style," he chuckled.

"That's my turian!"

Garrus smiled at her, glad to see her happy, even if she was a little damaged, "Those look fresh," he tapped the side of his face and arm that mirrored her injuries.

Jane looked down at the bandage that ran from her shoulder to her elbow and ran her fingers over the scratches along her cheek. "Yeah, ran into about three dropships worth of geth. Had to keep one of our new guys from getting blown up."

"The stress of being a leader."

"Don't mock it, it will be you soon."

"Soon? I am only three months in. I still have quite a way to go."

"Yeah, but I know you will be a good leader."

"Thanks, Jane." He watched her bite her lip and knew she was debating something; he couldn't help but wonder what it was. "Got something on your mind?"

"Well…" she stopped when she heard the sound of her door open and looked to the side.

"What'cha doin', sis?" John said coming into her room. He peeked over at her screen and saw his friend, "Whoa! Garrus! How are you doing, buddy?"

"John," Garrus nodded in greeting, "I'm good, you?"

"Eh, you know… seeing beautiful landscapes, touring the galaxy, getting shot at, surviving my sister's driving… the usual," he flinched as Jane punched him in the arm. "Still in line to be a Spectre?"

"I am," Garrus said simply.

"Oh, come on!" Jane smiled, "This is John, brag a little! Apparently he is leaving everyone in the dust," she boasted for him.

"We would never doubt it," John smiled. "Oh! Since we are boosting each other's egos a little, did Jane tell you about playing her new recruits?"

"No, she didn't," Garrus laughed.

"Yeah, so some of the new guys were playing poker, I joined in and invited Jane. She acted like she had never even heard of the game! Loses a few rounds, then next thing you know, she takes everyone's winnings in about seven rounds! Ah man, you should have been there."

"I'll be sure to reenact it in our own game," she smiled.

"It's a shame that won't be sooner," John said, his voice dropping slightly.

Garrus didn't miss his friend's words, "What do you mean?"

Jane looked at him and could feel the ache in her heart at not being with him, "The Council is sending us further into Terminus space. It seems that they don't want me returning to the Citadel anytime soon."

"Probably worried you are going to make a fuss over the Reapers and actually bring back evidence," Garrus said.

"Our thoughts exactly," John added. "Just leave it to Jane to make enemies in high places!" he laughed and ruffled up Jane's hair.

Jane smacked him away, "Hey! I made one friend at least! There is Anderson."

"I think Sparatus has warmed up to you as well," Garrus added, "Though I don't know how much of it is 'liking' as it is indifference."

"Baby steps," John smiled. "Anyway, sorry to barge in, I guess I interrupted what you guys were talking about."

Jane and Garrus looked at each other; she was the first to speak, "Nah, its fine. We were just talking about his Spectre training."

Garrus nodded, "Yes, and then I was going to ask how my rifle is working out for her."

"Beautifully," Jane smiled. "I almost forgot how much I loved sniping."

"Even I didn't realize how good she was with it. I think we might need to have a shoot off between you two," John joked.

"I'll be sure to set one up at some point," Garrus said, "Set the record straight."

"Anytime, big guy," Jane smiled at him.

"You seem awfully relaxed lately, Garrus," Karcissa said a little bitterly.

"I found out that what I had been stressing over was all for not," Garrus answered. He continued to clean his gun ignoring those around him. It had been another month and a half since he had talked to Jane, but she had told him that this time a month absence would be normal and he should only question it if it were longer than two. Of course he still worried for her safety, but this was a lot better than last time. Finishing with his rifle, Garrus stored it in his locker and turned back to Karcissa, "I'm heading out. Have a good evening."

"You too…" she half-heartedly said.

Heading back to his apartment Garrus couldn't help but wonder how or why things seemed to be going so well lately. He felt like he should question it. As soon as he entered his home, he heard the sound of a transmission request. He practically ran into the room to catch it, hoping he wouldn't be too late. There it was, encrypted transmission, and his heart skipped. Opening the channel he saw Jane sitting at her desk and she immediately smiled at him.

"Hey, Garrus."

"Jane," he nodded. "Everything went well, I assume. I don't see any new wounds."

"Yeah, got out of it all unscathed," she confirmed. "But the best part is what we found. We managed to get our hands on some possible Reaper tech and some Prothean artifacts. You know what that means?"

Garrus knew, but he shook his head, wanting to hear her say it.

She saw right through it, "Of course you do! It means that we have some solid evidence to bring back to the Council, at the very least get it analyzed at the Citadel. And still, if that doesn't work, then I have a reason to come back to the civilized part of the galaxy to give the Prothean info to Liara. Which all means… that I have an excuse to visit the Citadel."

"Sounds great. Will you actually have some leave to stay or will it be a quick drop off?"

Jane rolled her eyes, "I am in charge here, Garrus. I think I can manage to give us a few days off there. Mind if I steal you away from your training?"

"Can you even do that?"

"I am a Spectre, big guy," she waved her hand, "I do what I want. Don't worry, I'll write you a note excusing you from class," she winked with a laugh.

He couldn't help but join in, "Alright, just don't get me in trouble. I don't want you to hurt my chances here."

"You know I have your best interests at heart."

"Really? Because the amount of danger that we got into before certainly didn't make it seem that way." Jane stuck her tongue out at him causing him to laugh. "So, when should I expect you?"

"Let's see…" Jane looked at something out of sight from him, "We have a few more routine missions and we need to eliminate some geth that have been wandering close to some colonies… so, with Joker's flying and getting those assignments completed, I would say three weeks. And I plan on giving us one week of leave while there."

"It will be good to see you – all of you – again."

"You too, Garrus." There was a slightly awkward pause before Jane spoke again, "Well, I can't really stay, still have quite a bit to do before we get back there. How about we go dancing when I get back?" she giggled.

"I don't think you could get me to do that again, Shepard. One time thing."

"We'll see," she grinned, "How about we at least watch a movie?"

Garrus thought back to how things played out last time they watched a movie; he wouldn't mind that happening again, if she were sober. "Sure, sounds like a plan."

Jane bit her lip. Damn, Jane! Just do it you pansy! "So, interesting thing…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I found this glove…" she reached towards the back of her desk and pulled out the black glove that she had found in her room the day they left the Citadel, "It was under my desk and then I found its mate next to my bed." She looked at Garrus's face but it was unreadable. "Any idea how they got there?"

Spirits… just tell her. No, it should be in person, you can't break that news over a call. Not even a month more, it can wait. "I am starting to think you need to clean your room more often, Commander." He laughed at the way she narrowed her eyes at him. He racked his brain hoping to find a good excuse. Ah! Yes! "Remember that first night I watched a movie with you? My gloves had come off that evening, I must have left them."

Jane's mouth twisted to the side, "No… I could have sworn you took them with you when you left."

"Nope," he lied, "It was from that night."

"Hmm… I don't know… Maybe you are right. I mean, when else would it have happened? I thought it might have been from our last night on the Citadel, but I guess I was pretty drunk. Who knows if I am remembering things correctly."

Garrus shrugged, hoping it looked natural

"Alright, bye, Garrus. See you in a few weeks."

"Bye, Jane." The connection closed and Garrus leaned back in his chair. It's weird, almost like she was toying with me with the glove. But, it will only be three weeks, he thought; he couldn't wait. He then thought about the event that would be occurring within that week, No, it is just a coincidence. She couldn't possibly know.