Their Finest Hour

A/N: I give full credit for the Dextro food choices to Liz Carter with her A Star to Sail Her By series. Go read it. Her fic Kiss the Cook gave me the inspiration for the second part of this fic. Enjoy.

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Shepard braced herself as Liara threw her arms around her body in a hug that left Shepard's still healing ribs aching. "It's so good to see you, Commander!" Shepard chuckled and returned the hug. The young Asari seemed more like her youthful self rather than the hardened and wounded woman Shepard had left on Hagalaz as the new Shadow Broker. She likened her exuberance to a small puppy and the thought made Shepard's smile even brighter. Liara led Shepard to a couch up a set of stairs at the back of the main information hub. Feron seemed to be in his usual spot and gave the group a smile that seemed a little less forced than last time they had met.

"So..." Liara sat opposite Shepard, that subtle smile that always told Shepard she knew more than she was letting on crawled on to her face. "I hear you pissed off the Illusive Man." There was no question about how the former Prothean specialist felt about Shepard's choices, nor was Shepard the least bit surprised at Liara knowing what she had told The Illusive Man.

Shepard shrugged one shoulder. "I just don't trust the Illusive Man. I don't like his methods, never did. Unfortunately, the Council's opinion of me is tainted because of him." Shepard leaned back on the couch, relaxing against Garrus as she splayed her legs out as though to punctuate her exhaustion. "I can't even ask them to part with a little information let alone the credits needed to keep the Normandy running."

"I could loan you some information to convince them." The mischievousness in Liara's voice had had Shepard's curiosity piqued.

"It's - tempting," Shepard's voice faltered as she debated with herself whether or not to take the gift Liara offered. "But, no." Shepard shook her head, hoping she did not offend Liara. "The Council has it in for me enough already, I don't need blackmail added to my list of offences, Spectre or not."

"Of course, Commander. However, you do know that I have a soft spot for hard cases," Liara smiled at the one eyebrow lift Shepard gave her. "and I am going to give you what I can. The wonderfully diverse sex life of Councilor Valarn will have to wait."

"Liara..."

"Oh! Did I say that out loud?" Liara put her hand to her mouth, a very unconvincing look of shock on her face.

"Yes, you did." Shepard chuckled, shaking her head. "I have my own wonderful sex life right here." Shepard patted Garrus' knee, the look of smug male pride unmistakable on his face. "I don't need to read about Valarn's. But, while we're on the subject of people that annoy me; Aria asked me to retrieve something for her."

"Ah," Liara handed Shepard a data pad, sitting back to watch as she scanned through the information. It was as much for Shepard as it was for Aria. "And," Liara brought up her Omni-Tool and transfered a massive amount of data to Shepard. "here is what I promised you. You might even be able to make some credits off of it."

"Thanks, Liara." Shepard scanned over the data, noting with some surprise at how much of it there was. "I'll have something to read after I wear Garrus out, tonight.

Liara covered the snort with her fist, as Garrus' mandibles flared, his eyes wide as he regarded Shepard with an incredulous stare. "Wear me out? Oh, it's on now!"

Feron smiled as Liara descended into a giggling fit as Garrus and Commander Shepard, first Spectre descended into taunts and ambiguous references to past dalliances while threatening repeats of 'stellar' performances loud enough to make the whole of the galaxy explode. The young Drell began to understand why Liara liked the two so very much.

---

Shepard rubbed her eyes, feeling like they were going cross. When Liara said that she had access to every piece of information in the galaxy, she was not exaggerating. Jane Shepard groaned as she felt two strong hands kneading the tense muscles of her shoulders. "Thank you, Garrus," she sighed as he worked the knots out with his strong hands.

"Any luck," he asked, running his hands through her hair, knowing that it always made her smile.

"Mm... some." Shepard sighed, leaning her head back. "Most of these are Intel reports from Liara's agents." Shepard was definitely not going to get used to that idea anytime soon.

"Anything interesting?" Garrus gently ran the backs of his claws down her neck and over her collar bones, making her muscles melt as she reclined her head against his chest.

Shepard sighed again. "You could say that. This one is from the Migrant Fleet and it looks like the Admirals have gotten in a kerfluffle about some tech - Oh shit." Garrus stopped his kneading of Shepard's shoulders as her muscles tensed.

"What is it?" He looked over her head and tried to find what had alarmed Shepard on her screen.

"Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh. I remember she sent me a message after we got Tali out of her little pickle." Garrus smiled, he always did enjoy that expression, though he did not completely understand why.

"And?"

"She's been getting into knock down, drag outs with Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema over what to do with Rael'Zorah's research."

Garrus' mandibles flared in surprise. "Tali's not going to like that."

"Neither is the Council. If these two got enough supporters, we could be looking at an outright civil war." Shepard, leaned back, tapping her bottom lip as she thought. "I wonder if Tali is still in contact with Kal'Reegar?"

Garrus watched as Shepard slipped back into Spectre mode, thinking how best to keep the galaxy from tearing itself apart. He leaned on the back of her chair as he watched her scan through the rest of the information. He was content to just sit back and watch her assume control. Garrus laughed at that thought, wondering how long it would take for those two words uttered together to stop giving him what Joker had called, the 'creepy crawlies'.

Another thing that gave him the 'creepy crawlies' was the odd gurgling noise coming from Shepard. The first time he had heard it, it had disturbed him to think that a Human's hunger could actually be 'heard'. It reminded him of the gurgle of partially blocked pipes that drained out of his shower while he was busy making enemies on Omega. "I can hear your stomach, Shepard."

"Uh huh," Shepard grunted, continuing to type out a message to Aria, already having decided that she did not want to go all the way back to Omega just to aim the data pad at her head.

Garrus waited until she had sent the message before he gently took her hands away from the keyboard, watching with some amusement when Shepard's fingers continued to move, her expression somewhat annoyed.

"I can't type like that, Garrus."

"That's the point, Shepard. You need to eat."

Shepard sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Ok. Just give me a few minutes, alright?"

Garrus nodded and released Shepard's hands and let her get back to work while he used the private bathroom. He came back out a few minutes later and was not the least bit surprised when Shepard had both the data pad and laptop in front of her and was working from both. He shook his head, he should have known better. Garrus slid his arms over the back of Shepard's chair and leaned down so that his head was right beside hers. "You're not helping anyone by starving yourself, Shepard."

"Mmm," Shepard whined as she drug Garrus closer, making him bend at the waist over the back of her chair. "I have my snack right here," she mumbled as she gently bit down on the tough skin of Garrus' neck, smiling as he threw his arms out to hold on to her arm rests as she made strange noises that almost sounded like 'Nom, Nom' against his neck. Garrus was not quite sure if he should be amused or turned on by the feel of her thin edged and surprisingly sharp teeth gently biting his flesh.

"Um," Garrus cleared his throat as he tried to pull away, stopped as Shepard locked her teeth on his skin, making his eyes go wide. He could feel just a small twinge of pain, and yet he knew for a fact that the woman could exert surprising strength with her bite. If she wanted to, she could tear his throat out right here and now. The thought aroused him enough to almost forget what he had been about to say. He was reminded by that same dangerous sound coming from her stomach. "I meant that you need to get some - oh, you are so evil, Jane." Garrus gripped the arm rests of Shepard's chair as she gently soothed the bite with her tongue. She definitely enjoyed it when he called her by her first name.

"What was that," she teased as she ran her fingernails under his chin, letting him feel their edge as she slowly drug them down his neck. She loved the feel of having him completely helpless.

"I said... I mean... Oh... Food!" Garrus finely got a hold of his raging desire as he picked Shepard up and slung her over his shoulder. "Enough of that, woman." He punctuated his order with a sharp tap on her rear end. "If you don't eat, your stomach's rumblings are going to scare Grunt away."

"If he does run away we'll be able to continue our mission to conquer the rest of the ship." She grinned at Garrus. "Next, Udina's desk."

"I am sure he would be thrilled," Garrus sarcastically drawled, imagining Udina's face if he knew that the two of them were planning on using his desk in such away. Councilor Anderson just might give them a medal if he quit. Shepard's stomach rumbled even louder, Garrus able to feel the vibration through his shoulder. "Come on, let's get some food in you before you shake the whole ship apart."

---

Garrus practically pushed Shepard out of the elevator and into the mess like a cart. He knew she was exhausted, however even the bane of all that was evil needed a good meal. He left her to serve herself from the warming bins. The mess was surprisingly empty for dinner since most of the crew were on their well deserved shore leave and Thane most likely meditating, that left only the essential crew to occupy the ship for the next month. "Mm..." Garrus followed the wonderful smell to Tali who was sipping something that looked an awful lot like Key'nar juice. He looked back into the kitchen and felt himself salivate. Across from the roasted chicken, potatoes and various vegetables, sat a covered plate as beautiful as his sniper rifle, Gardener beaming like he was showing off his first born. "Here ya go, Garrus. I got the ingredients this morning and with Tali's help, whipped this up for you."

Poached Koh'nok egg drizzled with B'henna pod sauce. His eyes went to Tali who was sipping her drink and looking very satisfied with herself. He suddenly felt a swell of affection for the Quarian mechanic as he brought the plate to the table, followed by Shepard. Tali already had a mug of chilled Key'nar juice waiting for him. Shepard examined the egg as Garrus cracked the top and took a small piece of meat from inside. The look on his face was one of pure ecstasy and Shepard could not help the grin that grew on her face. The shell looked like a massive Robin's egg complete with darker blue spots. The meat was white like any egg she had eaten but the yolk was the prettiest sapphire she had ever seen. Combined with the amethyst of the B'henna pod sauce, it looked almost too pretty to eat. The roasted chicken on her plate seemed drab in comparison.

"So," Tali sat her glass down as she watched Garrus devour her cooking. "How is it?" She and Shepard broke out into laughter as Garrus tried to describe how his food tasted only to sound like his entire mouth had gone numb and he nearly choked on the egg in his attempt. Donnelly slapped Garrus on the back as he took a drink of the deep purple juice.

"Thanks," Garrus had finely found his voice. "I said it's delicious." He shoveled a few more bites into his mouth. "Beats nutrient paste any day."

Shepard leaned toward Tali, "You have any other recipes?"

"Of course, Shepard." Tali used her Omni-tool to transfer a few recipes to Shepard. "As human's say, 'The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach.' " That saying seemed to be true of Turian men as well. "Though, let me know if you want to try the more complex ones. Those need another set of hands."

"Kinky." Tali whipped her head around in time to see Donnelly's lecherous grin.

"It's always the quiet ones," Garrus chuckled as Tali covered her visor with her hands.

"Keela!"