First real moment to breathe... only to be in pain... {ArinaxJoker & VulpexGarrus}

Arina collapsed on her bed, every inch of her aching. Her armor had been tossed aside and she didn't feel like putting on new clothes. It hurt to even get her bra off... she would stick with the tank top and shorts...

She didn't want to look at the damage. This was the first moment she had a chance to catch her breath since Earth. Damn she didn't even get to see Joker...

...did he miss me like I missed him? She silently wondered, clenching the sheets tightly for a moment.

She really missed this bed....

---

Garrus moved into the room he shared with Vulpe, already spotting her armor thrown onto the ground. Looking at the figure on the bed, he mused a little to himself about how she looked dead to the world. Moving over to the bed, he sat silently on the bed.

His eyes studied her body, feeling tense at the sight. Bruises and cuts were all over her.... She had a particularly nasty one on her back...

Wait, she had an equally nasty one on her stomach too... "Damn, Vulpe... Did they send you through a tornado?"

Once Vulpe had gotten onto the ship after the Palaven mission, she didn't skip a beat as she went to her room. If she was thinking she would've gone straight for Garrus, but right now she wasn't. Everything around her was blurry and all she was focused on was taking her armor off of her. And once she got to her room she did that.

She stripped off her armor before doing the same to her tank top and bra. Leaving her in only shorts. She fell face first onto the bed before curling up a little. Her whole body ached and she wanted it to stop. Vulpe took a glance at her stomach, seeing a nice bruise on it.. And she was pretty sure she had another one on her back. No doubt from when Arina and her took a tumble back on earth. Speaking of earth, this was the first time she could relax in a long time. And oh god did she need it.

Vulpe was so deep into her thoughts she didn't notice Garrus was in the room before he talked. Which startled her a little, making her look up at him. But she still hadn't registered it was him, she blinked a couple of times before she finally caught up..

"That and a few brutes.. But the tornados are the Reapers." She said softly before she just laid there staring at him. Her green eyes glowing at him. She hadn't seen him for a long time.. Ever since he was called back to Palaven. "Hi again..." Vulpe said with a small smile that was quickly overwhelmed with emotions, which caused the smile to turn into a frown as tears welled up in her eyes.

Vulpe then ignored the pain she was going through and shot up and hugged him immediately. Her strong walls coming down as she held onto the man she loved. The man she was so glad to see alive. "I thought I had lost you.. I had no way to contact you when the Reapers hit.. I thought you were gone.." Vulpe cried out into his shoulders, her body shaking from not only in pain but in fear. She had really thought she wouldn't be able to hug him like she was doing right now. Her hands gripped onto his shirt as if he was trying to leave her. As if pulling him back to her after a fight they had. And no matter how much pain she was in, she wasn't letting go..

---

Joker walked slowly to Arina's room. He wanted to take it nice and slow, especially since he felt a little rattled ever since Earth. He wasn't going to lie, but his legs did hurt a bit. But he needed to see Arina, he needed to see the woman he was banned to see for the longest of time. God, he remembered that day when he was told he wasn't allowed to see her. That she had betrayed the alliance. He was so angry and he had tried so many times to get to her but was always stopped. But yet he was still allowed to fly the Normandy. Wasn't he just as much as fault as she was? Why punish her? He knew she needed him.. Being cut off like she was.

It still made him angry to know that Anderson didn't try as hard as he usually did. But he did make a point.. If it wasn't for him it would've been even worse. Which was why after a while Joker backed off. He didn't want to make it worse for Arina, but damn it was hard to fly the Normandy without her. He couldn't sleep at night, even when EDI urged him to. Hell, he even yelled at her one time to shut the up and leave him the hell alone at night. Which seemed to be her off button. He had said sorry after, but made it clear at night he didn't want to be bothered. Especially when he kept dreaming of Arina, and had nightmares of losing her again. Dammit he missed her..

His thoughts were washed out of his mind once he reached her room. He opened the door and walked in. Green eyes landing on Arina immediately. He felt his heart skip a beat before he continued to walk to her and sat next to her. Her back facing him. He scanned her body that was in a rough state. He had seen bruises and cuts on her before, but nothing like this.

And without thinking he gently wrapped his arms around her, being careful not to hurt her as he pulled her close to him. His face burying into her shoulder as he laid down next to her. "Hi Rini.. you missed me?' He said softly, holding her close to him.

Arina had started to doze a little, finally able to just out right ignore the pain for a bit. Over the years she's suffered many bruises, but part of her felt the six month she had spent on Earth, with the soft bed and the warm foods every day and night... She felt soft. As much as she tried to keep up with exercising, which was one of the few things she was able to do to relax herself, it didn't feel like it was enough. She needed to be out there, fighting, even if she was tired of fighting.

Anderson had sounded surprise when he asked if she had forgotten how to shoot. It wasn't her fault she was rusty... No one would give her a damn gun to go to the shooting range with. A lot of people deemed her "not all there" and refused to let her have a gun. It was hard feeling safe without a pistol on her or near her bed at night.

It was hard to feel safe not sleeping on the Normandy...

If only everyone had listened to the warnings.... had believed me about the Reapers... There wasn't really any point in thinking those thoughts anymore... She honestly hadn't thought about the Reapers during her six month grounding.

When the door to her room opened, she tensed a little. If it was Liara or Traynor again, they were going to learn quickly she wasn't in the mood to talk to them or deal with anything they had to say. Liara was a good friend, but Arina could still feel that the asari had feelings for her. Traynor had moments where Arina could swear she was trying to flirt with her...

Kelly Chambers had been the same way... Vulpe attracts Turians and I attract women... that makes sense... She had thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

Maybe if I just lay here, whoever came in will go away... She thought, miserably.

If she could get enough rest, she would go see Joker... But damn, why did she feel so afraid?

Her thoughts halted when the person sat on the bed. Definitely not Liara or Traynor... She thoguht, numbly, just before feeling strong, familiar arms wrap around her. Her breath hitched a little, not from pain, but from the familiar scent that engulfed her as she was brought close to his body.

A familiar tickling sensation went through her skin when she felt his beard in her shoulder. Her heart pounded quickly as tears welled up in her eyes. The six month away, she didn't cry, she only felt numb.

"Hi Rini.. you missed me?"

A shiver went through her when he spoke. God, she never thought she would hear his voice again. Tears started to fall as she quickly turned around, not caring at all about her body screaming in protest. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, refusing to let go. Butterfly kisses moved around his face, his hat already knocked off. Her body shook.

"What the hell do you think, Moreau?" She mumbled, her voice sounding a little horse. She looked at him with watery lavender eyes, before kissing him fully on the lips, letting him know how much she missed him in that single kiss.

--

Garrus gave her a soft look, his hand brushing some of her blonde hair from her face. "Hey again..." He said softly, before seeing the mixed emotions on her face. Damn...

Then she shot up and hugged him tightly, as if he was going somewhere. His arms wrapped around her in response. "...Damn, Vulpe... That's how I felt when they hit Earth..." He buried his face in her shoulder as he rocked her softly.

"The galaxy may try it, but they're never keeping Archangel away from his Siren..." He told her, before pulling back a little. He raised her face to look at him, his hand caressing her cheek. "I will always come back for you." He said, resting his forehead against hers.

Then he laid them both down, knowing she shouldn't be pushing herself so much. "Remind me to upgrade your armor..." He mumbled, hating seeing her so badly bruised up.

Vulpe stared into Garrus' eyes, listening to every word he spoke as he rocked her. Something she missed. She always loved how he rocked her when she held onto him, it always made her feel better, no matter what. And when he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, she smiled at him. Her green eyes were glowing a bit brighter right now. "I know you will. You always have." She stated before she kissed his cheek.

But when he laid her down, she winced a little, holding on tight to him. He then stated how her armor needed to be upgraded. "You also need to upgrade our omni-tool. I'm never going to have what happened when the reapers hit again. That was a nightmare." She said as she started to remember how they were talking through their omni-tools before the call got cut off by static. And not too long after that the reapers had hit earth. And it didn't take long for her to find out Palaven had went dark as well. Which made her panic.

As she thought about this her hand went to his cheek. "Even though I was getting beaten up pretty bad, nothing was worse than when I couldn't reach you." She said with a serious expression, knowing he was still worried about how beat up she was.


"I don't know what I think. I'm still wondering if this is a dream." Joker stated before he kissed her back, holding her close to him gently. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't want to keep her away from him. After a few minutes he pulled away to look into those beautiful lavender eyes that made his heart melt. And once again.. he was melting. His hand instantly ran through her hair before bringing her lips back to his, kissing him once more before finally pulling away for good.

"I still curse the council for every day they kept you away from me. I couldn't stand it. No matter how much I tried to get acceptance to see you, they kept spitting in my face. I couldn't stand how they treated you.. You saved their asses from the Collectors and this was how they repaid us. Seriously, after this we should sue their asses. Also say screw them too. Because nobody, and I mean nobody keeps me away from my girl." He stated as his right arm wrapped around her waist and held her close to him, wanting to show her how much he meant that.

"I love you, Rini, and I'm never letting anyone keep me from you again. Never." He said, gently wrapping his pinkie finger around hers. "I promise."