Author's Note: This is a bit darker Fem Shep/Garrus pairing. Both are trying to infiltrate a batarian slaver ring on Omega that specifically target human females. Shepard, of course, goes undercover as a slave. However, when Garrus comes to the rescue, they are both forced into a situation that requires them to play along. There are questions of consent here, and obvious sexual situations, so if that bothers you do not read on. Rated M, so you've been warned! Please enjoy, review.

Slave

Shepard had taken this job for Aria for her own reasons. Although the queen of Omega simply didn't want an operation running without her approval, the fact that these batarians were specifically targeting human women fueled the commander's anger enough to agree to help. But, it was going to be tricky. And there was a good chance that she was going to put herself in serious danger. Pretty much her specialty.

When she suggested the idea to Garrus—and that he needed to come along and play a part—she was surprised to see the turian so agitated.

"Selene," he bit out, using her first name for once, "There is a good chance you could be…hurt. Those batarians cater to every species' fucked up notion of a sexual fantasy. You could be forced into a situation before we could pull you out of there…"

"Garrus," Shepard said in a scolding tone, her eyes glinting with her usual cockiness, "Who else do you want me to put in that situation? Jack? She'd kill the batarians before they got to their base. Miranda? Kasumi? I'm not putting my team at risk when I can do it just fine. And probably better."

Mandibles flaring in indignation, Garrus crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her with his disapproving, avian eyes. This was Garrus-speak for 'Since you're the commander, I won't give you further grief, but you're really being an idiot and I disapprove.'

"Besides," Shepard finally added, "You're going to be my john, protecting me while the rest of the team infiltrates the base and takes those fuckers out."

Something small flashed in Garrus' eyes and she thought she saw something close to…desire? From her best friend? No, no way. Not that she hadn't thought about what it would be like with him. I mean, with the type of street cred that Garrus, the Archangel, had what woman couldn't think like that, at least occasionally? And turian stamina was somewhat legendary on the extranet. Not that she looked at that sort of porn. Much.

Noting that Garrus seemed to relax a bit after being informed of his role in this game, he finally asked about the mission, "So, we're getting you captured by slavers, following your signaling device to their lair, and then I come in, 'hire' you as Kasumi and Grunt infiltrate and take out the slavers?"

"Sounds right," Shepard replied, grateful that Mordin was able to come up with an undetectable signaling device that was imbedded just below her skin. Well, he said virtually undetectable, hopefully that would be good enough.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why am I the john? Would someone like…Thane, be better at that sort of thing? He just seems creepier."

Shepard inwardly winced at Garrus' assessment of Krios. His questionable morality that allowed him to use children and the poor to do his wet work, and then claim that he wasn't responsible for all the death he had caused, hadn't set with her either. But he was good at his job. She just didn't trust him, like she did Garrus. And this mission was all about trust.

Shepard didn't say that though. "The batarians cater mostly to turians, so you were the natural choice."

Garrus nodded and then looked at her quizzically, "Kasumi I understand, but how will Grunt pass without notice?"

"Well, Kasumi was able to reconfigure her cloaking device to encompass Grunt, so they will sneak in, find the slavers and take those bastards out."

Garrus let out a sigh of resignation that she knew he picked up from her. Did turian's sigh? She smiled inwardly, knowing she he had finally agreed to her proposal.

"Alright, Shepard," Garrus said, voicing his agreement, "I said I'd follow you to hell, and I suppose this qualifies. Just don't make me regret this."

Selene was on the slaver ship. Thane actually "sold" her to the batarian that was scouting for fresh meat on Omega. Shepard was surprised he only got 20,000 credits for her, she was obviously worth quadruple that amount. As Cerberus had found out when they rebuilt her. She absently scratched her wrist, the injection site for the signaling device that Mordin had assured her would work. She hoped so, as she glanced down at the getup she was currently wearing. She currently wore a white bikini top that was completely sheer, except around her nipples. A matching skirt hung loosely around her hips and flowed down to her ankles. Although the lack of clothing should have made her feel naked, it was actually the lack of a firearm. She couldn't remember the last time she' felt so vulnerable. Maybe on Mindoir. Now, Selene even had a pistol under her pillow for Christ sakes. The cell that the batarians had placed her in was pretty bare. Without anything to look at, and unable to see any other slaves, she began to ruminate over Garrus' strange reaction. He had always been somewhat protective of her. They were friends, buddies even, and since she came back from the dead he had been even more concerned about her. But there was something else. Something in his eyes that wasn't there before. When he looked at her, it seemed that he looked deeper. Like she was some sort of puzzle that he was desperately trying to figure out.

Shepard noticed the looks before she had journeyed to Horizon, but what after Kaidan had said to her she started to look at Garrus differently. She always went for the convenient guy, the one everyone expected her to be with. Kaidan was the natural choice a couple years ago. And it was certainly the path of least resistance—she crooked her figure and he came running. But like the old saying goes, what is easy is not always right. It was then that she began to notice the small things Garrus did. She occasionally tossed her armor on the cargo bay floor after a long and strenuous mission. He picked it up, placing it into the cleaning hatch. He always had her six, allowing her to do some pretty astonishing things to their enemies without a scratch on her to show for it. He didn't care that she was working with Cerberus, a group that was pretty much anti-alien. Garrus did it for her. When he wasn't working hard on calibrations of her ships guns, they would have great conversations. He appeared in the mess hall frequently during her regular dinnertime, just to chat. She knew turian's didn't have to eat as often as humans. For Shepard, actions always spoke louder than words, and she started to care for him. But, she relied too heavily on Garrus to enter into a relationship that might distract him. Sigh. Who was she kidding? She was scared shitless that Garrus had no feelings for her like that. So, she pined away like a love-sick school girl. Pathetic. This was probably why she went on fool missions for Aria—it allowed her to put it out of her mind.

Suddenly, the door to her cell opened and a batarian slaver entered. "Hey honey," he said, slithering closer to her, "Let's see what we have here."

The batarian moved the small piece of cloth covering her breast and pinched her nipple. Shepard pushed him away, and he stumbled back. She may be unarmed, but she wasn't defenseless.

"Hey," another batarian walked in, calling to his buddy, "Don't be roughin' up the merchandise. Boss will be pissed."

"Whatever," Shepard's would-be rapist replied, "I just need check her for signals and I'll be out of here."

Selene swallowed, hoping that Mordin's device did its job. The batarian pulled out a small device and began to scan her. When he got to her wrist, she held her breath, but he didn't say anything. He completed his scan after a few minutes and flipped the device closed.

"Find anything?" the second batarian queried.

"Yeah, there was one in her wrist, but it's deactivated now."

Shepard's heart plummeted to her stomach. Oh. Shit.

Garrus paced the tech lab, watching the red blip on the screen that indicated Shepard's signal. They were tracking her in stealth mode. Grunt, Jacob, Kasumi, and Mordin were also in the room, apparently doing the same thing. Although Mordin was busily taking scans, no doubt about the scientific aspects of the device.

"Are you sure it will go undetected?" Garrus heard himself ask again.

The salarian gave Garrus an impatient sniff and replied, "Device is prototype. But will work. Most likely."

Garrus still didn't like the answer, but contented himself with the fact that Mordin was pretty much a genius, and all of his science projects had worked so far. Luckily, he was pretty sure only Mordin could really tell what he was feeling and that was only because he had studied turian body language. With his mandibles sitting rigidly against his face, and his hands itching near the gun now strapped to his waist, any other turian would read this and see extreme agitation. He didn't know how the humans or krogan saw his actions.

The problem was, he had the hots for the commander. At least he thought that was the human term for it. He wanted her. This was odd, because he had never looked at a human and thought, wow I want to fuck that. But with her, everything was different. All she had to do is give him one of her crooked smiles and he instantly thought of how that smile would look as she lay under him. Or, Spirits forbid, if she bent over. Her pert ass put even Miranda's to shame, and he obsessed over how he would stand between those round cheeks and fuck her raw. What the hell is wrong with me? Since when does my mind instantly turn to such dirty ideas?

That's why this mission was so appealing and yet so distressing. Shepard being his sex slave was one of his main fantasies, but he knew he could never live it out with her. She was with Kaidan, for Spirits sake. And even if she wasn't—as one might imagine after the idiot abandoned her on Horizon—she would never look at him. He was alien to her, in every sense of the word. And…even if she wanted a fling, he couldn't provide. That was the hardest part of this whole situation. He was in love with her. Some part of him knew it when she died. When he had found out, he got stone drunk and slept with some human girl that had Shepard's hair color, but not as vibrant. Or at least he thought he slept with her, Garrus didn't remember much of the night. A month later he left for Omega. His soul had died with her, and if he was truly honest with himself, he had gone to Omega to die a warrior's death. He was in the middle of dying when Shepard walked in and saved his life—both literally and figuratively. It was then that he admitted to himself that he loved her. And that he would honor that by dedicating himself to her cause and protecting her from all that would oppose her. Or help. Shepard really could take care of herself most of the time. Except when she was unarmed and in a slaver's den. He glanced at the screen and the red blip disappeared. He blinked, thinking he was imagining it. Nope. It was gone. His eyes quickly shot toward Mordin.

"Hmm," Mordin said, punching in a few buttons, "Unfortunately, device is disabled."

Mordin's round, black eyes, turned toward an enraged turian. Jacob and Grunt had been reading Garrus' not-so-turian-specific cues, and instantly went over to restrain him. It took their combined strength to subdue him.

"Mordin," Jacob yelled, grunting at his exertion, "Get the hell out of here!"

"If she gets hurt, so do you!" Garrus promised the quickly exiting salarian.

"Calm down," Jacob said quietly after Mordin left, "Getting angry won't get her back. You need to think with your head, and not the one in your pants."

Confusion momentarily drained Garrus of any fight, and then realized what Jacob said. His eyes searched the human man's eyes, and he saw that Jacob understood. And might even have similar feelings for Shepard. But, he would deal with that later—and perhaps violently—but for now the most important thing was that she was missing and he needed to find her.