Fire on the Horizon

Chapter 40: The Morning After

Garrus woke up the next morning to the artificial sunlight of the Citadel streaming through a small crack in the curtains. He was on his side behind Jane with his arm draped over her waist. He nuzzled her neck and sat up slightly. Moving her hair out of the way he glanced at her neck and the bonding mark. It would heal nicely, leave just the right scaring, and shouldn't be sore for more than a day or two.

He had to admit he felt a little bad because he knew it had to be painful. He had even put a bit of medigel on it before they slept. He had to reassure her several times that it would not make it go away, just make it fade enough so it didn't look like she had been mauled. He slowly moved out of the bed, a trick he had been perfecting since their first night together before the relay. Turians only slept a few hours a night and much less than Jane did even on her odd sleep pattern. It left him up before her on most nights.

He made his way to the bathroom and moved a finger through the small basket on the counter. He grabbed some soap and flipped the hot water on. He normally liked this time when Jane was still asleep. He could think, get his mind straight, work on whatever he needed to before she got up. He didn't like that time so much this time though. This time he had too much to think about and worry about.

He turned to let his back face the water. Placing his hands on the tile in front of him he leaned over a bit to let the water run down over his back. He closed his eyes thinking about what was next. He knew things were drawing to an end. They had the Quarians, Turians, Krogan, and Salarians. The asari was a hit or miss at this point. They needed one more piece to finish the crucible. Find Kai Lang and they would find the information they needed. Once that was complete, it was a push to Earth and they would be done. One way or another.

He felt his chest clench at that thought. He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around his waist, he looked out to the bed. Jane was still sleeping soundly. Garrus leaned on the doorframe and looked at his mate. He knew the chances of them both getting out of this alive were slim to none. He hoped if they both went it was together. He didn't like thinking about it at all. Not that anyone did.

He shook it off. His mother had always told him that the important things were in the here and now. That the future had yet to be written and rethinking the past did not change the ink on the pages. He smiled at the thought of her. She would have liked Jane. That thought reminded him to check his omnitool. He had packed both his and Jane's in the one overnight bag.

He moved to them on grabbed what he thought was his. Instead he grabbed Jane's. He knew immediatly when he couldn't get the link on his wrist. He shook his head, but noticed there was a message blinking icon on the link. He took it over to her and sat on the bed. He rubbed his hand over her back gently.

"Jane? Janey? Wake up honey. They've already tried to reach you." He waited a moment, rubbing her back gently.

She rolled over and threw her arm over her eyes. Letting her free hand move down to intertwine with his. She glanced at him with one eye partially open from under her arm. He was smirking.

"Real cute babe. Laugh it up. What color is the light?" She laid still waiting to hear his response.

He sounded odd with his response. "Blue?"

Jane sat straight up in the bed and grabbed the omnitool. "Shit! Miranda!"

She got up out of the bed and glanced at the omnitool messaging system. There was no message. Just the light. That wasn't a good sign at all.

Garrus stood up and walked over to her near the closed window. "What's going on Shepard? You haven't said a whole lot about Miranda. I understand if you can't say anything."

Jane sat down on the bed and tossed her omnitool link on the bed. Garrus didn't like the look on her face, the worry. He sat down on the bed next to her and put his arm around her waist. He kept the hold on her loose to give her room to move.

She took a deep breath. "There isn't much to tell really. She is on the run from Cerberus. She lost touch with her sister and thinks their father has something to do with it. The last time I saw her she was tracking him. She asked for alliance access. Garrus, I granted it."

He nodded and listened. "I'll help any way that I can Jane. You know that. I trust your judgement. Do you know where she is?"

Shepard shook her head no and turned to him. "I told her to contact me when she needed me. That was a few weeks ago. Now this. I'll just have to wait."

Garrus nodded and leaned in to brush his head against hers. He ran a hand up her arm and to the bondmark. He smiled without thinking about it as his fingerpads ran over the mark. A slight sigh and moan escaped Jane making Garrus smile more.

"Is it sore? I can get some more medigel if you...."

She grabbed his hand and leaned into it. "No, please don't. It isn't that sore. Unless you are having..."

He put his hand over her mouth and shook his head, eyes closed, and a small clicking sound coming from his throat.
"Don't finish that sentence. Don't even finish the thought."

He sighed and looked at the clock. Jane sighed as well and went to stand. She felt Garrus grab her hand and tug her back down.

She looked at him to see his eyes were closed as if he was choosing his words carefully. He began to speak without opening his eyes at all.

"When I first met you, well let's say I wasn't in the best place in my life. My career was not going well. I was in a job suited for my father, not so much for me. I was doing what my people said was right. I ended up leaving C-sec to go with you. Oh sure, I could say it was to chase Saren down, and part of it was. The other part was something I can't describe. It was like I had to do it. I neded to do it. I needed to be with you."

Jane turned her head a bit listening to him.

"When I saw you on Omega, I had one bullet in the chamber. I had a small clip next to me. Nothing major. I was between a rock and a very very hard place. Then there was you. Like a beacon of light."

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "When you asked me to blow off some steam, I said yes initially because it would be a tension releif with someone i trusted. Then over time I started to think about you in ways I had only dreamed about."

He stood up and began pacing the room. "So, I did something I never thought I would do. I talked to Joker. I told him I was confused why I was having thoughts beyond a one night stand. Why I felt this way. What was wrong with me. Do you know what he told me?"

She shook her head, trying to follow him and make sense of where he was going with all this. He could sense that and nodded. "I promise I'll get you there. Just give me a minute."

She smiled at him and got a smile in return.

"Joker told me about his mom and dad. He said his dad told him once that he knew what true love was because of how it burned. It consumed you. It made you think things you never thought about with anyone else. It made you look at things, including yourself, differently. It made you do things, react, and say things that seemed insane to you. It was like a fire on the horizon. You could feel the heat but you still kept walking towards it until you become part of the horizon."

Garrus smiled and fiddled with his hands for a minute. "Do I regret our bonding? Not in the least. Do I regret anything that has brought me here, to this point, right now? No. Why?"

He knelt down in front of her and grabbed her hands in his. He smiled softly making her look up a bit and at him.

"I have no regrets because I followed the fire on the horizon and melted into the horizon myself."

He kissed her gently until she began kissing back and they fell back into place on the bed for the last few hours before they had to return to the Normandy and finish this once and for all.