They shared a trepid kiss, timid and uncertain, inexperienced and embarrassed.

She hadn't asked him to come. She hadn't asked to relieve any tension and he hadn't regaled any stories about sex with other turian hand-to-hand specialists. Not once did she request his presence in her room, nor did she mention anything about her stress levels being absurdly high.

Despite all that Garrus still found himself standing in front of the door to her cabin with a bottle of wine in his hands. Granted, alcohol probably wasn't the best option considering what lay ahead but he knew it helped her to relax. Right now she needed that, and she needed a friend to rely on. Even though things had been off between them, he could still act his part when he was needed.

Though his skin was hardly sensitive, he could still feel her unmistakably soft lips press against his scars, the slight moisture her touch left on him, the heat that coursed through her body when the two of them pressed together.

More than a few people had given him strange looks when he marched from the gun battery with a bottle of wine and a determined look on his face. Hell, he hadn't intended for anything to go beyond a friendly conversation, but apparently everybody else thought his intentions were elsewhere. Kasumi saw him, stopped in her tracks, gave Garrus a once over, cried "Oh my God!" and squealed with delight when she saw him enter the elevator and press the button for Shepard's level.

Then there was the added agony of seeing the elevator go down instead of up, having Zaeed enter the elevator with him, and then stopping again at the third and second floors so other people could board. Most chose not to when they saw the look of extreme agitation that Garrus bore.

Zaeed was a different story. As soon as the elevator door opened to the CIC he made to step out, but stopped long enough to turn and eye the bottle and Garrus. "I don't know how that's possible," he said with a slightly disgusted look on his face. "And I don't know if I should ask Mordin and satisfy my curiosity or go drown myself in a few bottles to try and get this goddamn image out of my head."

His hand settled into the curve of her neck, pulling her closer, closer to him. He was afraid she would leave, that this moment would end and everything would be ruined. Once she realized what he was, that he wasn't human, surely she'd be gone…

And yet she opened her eyes and looked upon him with such intensity that it would have been impossible for her to miss the obvious. She accepted him, returned to him, melted into him.

He debated for a few minutes if he should even bother her now. She was probably preparing or writing messages to old friends, somebody like Anderson, in case things went wrong. More than likely she wanted to be alone so she could visualize how everything would play out and try to plan for the unexpected. She usually hated company before a mission. Why should this be any different?

Maybe he should turn around and join Zaeed, share the wine with him instead. The old bastard would appreciate it and Shepard would appreciate the silence. Besides, things were still awkward with them and he'd probably just make a fool of himself anyway.

Her hands pressed against his chest, slowly pushing him backwards, towards the bed, as she simultaneously began undoing the buttons of his shirt. He marveled at her many fingers and how dexterous they were, he wondered how dexterous she'd be in a few more minutes, and then he stumbled down the two steps that were in her room.

As an automatic defense he moved to rub his neck, but she wouldn't let him. Her strength was inhuman when she grabbed his arms and shoved him backwards, into the downy softness of her bed. He sank into it, a little startled, and watched as Shepard reached behind her, unzipped her dress, and tugged the garment off her.

He left the wine at her door and went back to the elevator, pressing the button for the second level. He had given up, sure, but it was for the greater good. An annoyed Shepard was a very terrifying thing: add an ungodly amount of stress into the mix and you had a demon on your hands.

Kasumi, however, intercepted Garrus as soon as he stepped off the platform of the elevator. It didn't escape him that she had been chatting with Kelly, and he was positive he didn't want to know what it was about. Goto cornered him, demanding answers, and when he said he had only left the wine as a present he had nearly been slapped by an outraged thief.

Now he wasn't so sure which was worse – an annoyed Shepard or an insurmountably disappointed Kasumi. Thinking that he didn't want a flashbang shoved up his ass, he retreated to the elevator and returned to the top floor before the kleptomaniac could take advantage of the fear that she struck into his bones.

His eyes roved down her body, trying to memorize each alien curve that lay bare before him. Her form was much like an asari's but her muscles were more defined. Her skin tone was another obvious difference, as well as the wild hair that rose up in defiance on the crown of her head. Still, though, she seemed much softer than any species, far more likely to be killed by a sharp object than any turian, and probably more susceptible to things like radiation or…

A worried look passed over his face as he considered the mission that lay ahead and the dangers it posed. She was tough, but seeing her like this – without her protective gear and mostly naked - he couldn't help but realize how frail her species really was.

She saw his concern and drew near to him, sitting on the bed at his side, her attempts at seduction momentarily forgotten. He shook his head and glanced away, embarrassed yet again though this time because his expression had made her uncertain if she should continue.

Neither one said anything at first. The atmosphere was becoming tenser as each second passed by. He considered explaining his thoughts and fears, how he worried about her and what would happen once they passed through the relay, how he didn't want a repeat of the previous two years, but he couldn't bring himself to voice it. She didn't need to worry about that sort of thing right now and the thought of something like that happening again was terrifying.

When he returned to the top level he was a little stupefied by the lack of a wine bottle at the front door. He stood there, staring uncertainly at the now-empty spot that his alcohol had been residing only moments before, and didn't know what to do next. The wine was his only way in and now that it was gone…

The door slid open and revealed Shepard garbed to the nines in a dress that he was positive he'd never seen before. She held Garrus' bottle in one hand and arched a brow at him, her smirk already spreading like a wildfire. In her other hand she held a couple of wine glasses. Without saying anything she tilted her head back, indicating that he should follow her inside. He did, and the door slid shut behind him.

EDI was active right inside the doorway and, upon Garrus' entrance, Shepard dismissed the AI. "She told me you had been here. I got her to get Kasumi all over your ass, too."

She busied herself in the corner of her room while Garrus stood awkwardly by the door, trying to explain his reasoning for coming. He made his intentions known, let her be aware that this was just a friendly visit to see if she was okay.

For a few moments nothing was said. She looked hard at the glasses, still empty, and fiddled with them as she thought. Not looking up, she asked him what he would think if she wanted his visit to be more than just a friendly one.

He didn't answer. Their eyes met.

A warm and gentle caress met his jaw, urging Garrus to send his gaze towards Shepard. As he did, his senses were filled with the essence of her. Sight took in her shivering, body; her scent carried tinges of sweat that mingled in with an earthy sweetness that was foreign to him. His nerves tingled beneath the heat of her touch. Her breathing was deep and steady and…

Again she pressed her mouth to his. All his worries soon vanished when her weight pressed down upon him, pushing him back down into the bed that they both currently shared. It didn't take long for him to get lost in her again, in her tenderness that seemed entirely unlike her.

He wanted to tell her how scared he was of screwing everything up between them, that he valued her and her friendship more than anything in the world, that he wanted this – them – to happen so badly that it made his head hurt. She should know that she didn't have to do this with him, that he knew Jacob would be perfectly willing to help her relieve some tension if she needed it, and that Garrus would be there for her no matter what.

He tried to say it all, especially that last bit, but as soon as he tried to form the words his vocal cords seized up. His body was refusing to allow him to say what needed to be said, probably because it badly wanted what he was trying to refuse. Then there was the idea of Jacob being tangled together in a bed with Shepard instead of him and his jealousy rose to a maddening level.

A glance to the side, to avoid her penetrating gaze. "I don't want to ruin us," he said quietly. "I don't want things to end badly, like everything else does."

Not once did her eyes waver, nor did the strength of her voice falter despite her low volume. "We're already ruined, Garrus." The thought rang true in his mind, a fact that he didn't want to accept. "We're both broken. We can't go back to just being friends."

For many minutes the only movement was her hands following the unfamiliar lines of his chest, following the twists and turns that delighted and fascinated her beyond compare. He had no doubt that she was used to human men, so the idea that he was something new and exciting was not hard to imagine. He didn't know what ran through her head, but for him he felt like the king of the universe. It made no sense, but he didn't care.

Then it was his turn to explore her, to see her and feel her for the first time. Long fingers touched short tendrils of hair, snuck down past her face and into her neck. As he passed over her neck he noticed her inhale deeper than normal, a sure sign of a sensitive spot. He grinned to himself and turned his hand loose on her chest, breasts, stomach…

Everything was so damn soft that it blew his mind. How could someone so strong be so inherently weak? In his mind Shepard had always been indestructible. She had survived the impossible countless times, taken bullets and other injuries that barely fazed her when they would have put a normal man in a grave. Even the depths of death couldn't hold her. She was the spirit of war, was she not?

If that was so, then how could her body be so easy to destroy? It was worrying, terribly so.

As if sensing his growing concern, she grabbed his face into her hands and pulled it to her own. He was lost in a burning kiss and, soon after, her body conformed to his and it was all too easy to bury himself into her.

Garrus still couldn't meet her eyes, not when he knew he would betray himself and his wants. "Shepard…"

"Do you still only go for turian women?"

He was surprised by this question, so much so that his attention snapped back to her. A sad smile, soft and understanding, graced her face and made Garrus want to explain the world away. He couldn't leave her thinking that he wasn't interested, not when the exact opposite was true.

But, then again, it was an easy out.

He shook his head. He couldn't lie, not to her. "No, that's not it. I'm…interested in humans. No, not that. I'm interested in you, but not because you're human. It's just that you're you, and I respect that, which is why I don't want—"

Three steps. That was all it took for her to cross the distance between them. "You're not the only one who's afraid, Garrus. Out of all the people I've met in this damned galaxy, you're the only one who stuck with me through hell and high water no matter what the situation was. You never judged me for any of my decisions, never questioned my allegiance when I joined Cerberus, never wondered if I was something other than what I claimed I was. I don't want to lose your friendship, but I'm not about to go into some suicide mission without letting you know that I care about you in a way that I probably shouldn't."

He could already feel her warmth from here. His resolve faded with the coldness that he had experienced earlier and soon he could think of nothing but her and how badly he wanted them to be together. "I know the feeling," he said with a quiet chuckle, the thick air dissipating fast. "My father's going to kill me."

Whatever awkwardness he had been expecting never arose. Everything he had was given to Shepard in one glorious moment that neither of them would forget.

His hand rose and touched her shoulder, stroked her arm. Her own hand lifted and touched his scars. The slim distance between them lessened as their heads drew near to each other.

They shared a trepid kiss, timid and uncertain, inexperienced and embarrassed.