Delayed Translation

Part 14:Bunny and bird

Sidonis's words had stuck to Garrus somewhat, not enough to make him fully paranoid but on edge.
For two days had Garrus walked around looking over his and Scion's shoulders whenever they visited the commander. On the third had Scion slapped him on the back telling him to act normal or he was out.
Garrus had stopped looking around but he still observed his surrounding carefully.

" Are you going to explain why you have been jumpy as a bunny or not?"

Garrus turned around and saw the commander looking up at him from her chair. There were no bruises on her forehead. They had vanished pretty fast and he assumed that Scion had helped her behind his back, yet again.

" A what now? " He asked confused, as the translator did not have any correct translation for bunny.

" It's a small fluffy cute prey animal that always looks over its shoulder for predators. The tip of your nose kind of reminds me of theirs. " She said nonchalantly and touched her own nose.

Garrus snorted at the explanation, feeling a bit offended to be compared to it. He was supposed to be a hard plated turian. A race renounced for their sharp edges and talons.
Garrus was glad that Scion and him had decided to take turns guarding her and that he was currently away. The silver-eyed turian would never have let him forget the comparison.

" I can assure you I'm no bunny. I simply like to be prepared for the worst. And that means being on my watch when sneaking behind my superior's back. "

Haniel rested her head on her hands as she leaned down over the table. Her gaze wandered around the room and settled on his own blue eyes.
Garrus felt awkward as she kept eye contact with him and the silence between them did not help. He felt his body tensed and he suddenly became too aware of it.

" So what hunts the bunny? " He asked and cleared his throat when the silence was too heavy for him.

He hoped that she would look away giving him a moment to relax, but no luck.

" Well many animals. We have the fox, wolfs and birds of prey. Perhaps you are more like a bird of prey than a bunny. "

Garrus's eyes narrowed at the word bird. He had heard it before; the humans used it as an insult toward turians.

" Calm down big boy. I did not mean it in the bad way. A bird of prey is often an elegant, calculating and skilful being that attacks with precision. " She explained with a calm and reassuring voice.

He felt pretty content of the explanation. Skill and precision, now that was something he was okay being associated with.
Garrus was about to make a leap and compare her to one of his native animals when the door swung open and Scion walked in.

" It's time to switch..... what?" Scion asked as he noticed how Garrus mandibles twitched and a faint annoyance could be detected in his subvocals.

" Nothing and .... Yeah ... Yeah I will be going then." Garrus answered and started to walk as slowly as he could.

He stopped at the door and gave the human commander one last look before he reluctantly left her alone with the other turian.

Scion watched as Garrus left the room and he waited until he had entered the elevator before he closed the door. He sat down across the table and gave Haniel a serious look.

" It will happen tonight. You better be ready to run."

Haniel sat up straight and gave him a small nod.

" What about my stuff? Is there anyway I can get them back? " Haniel asked and felt a bit ashamed for asking.

" Just asking. Not that I need them if I manage to escape ... I can probably get a new armour and weapon when I'm back at Normandy. " She hastily added hoping that she did not seem ungrateful. This turian was after all already risking his life to let her escape.

Scion chuckled before he answered.

" I can probably get them but won't promise anything. But it will be a shame for you to cover up in armour again. You have such pretty legs. " He said and winked.

" I hope you mean by human standards or I will be pretty worried. Turian legs look so different." She snickered back at him.

" Of course, you have pretty human legs. " he reassured her with a smirk.

" So .... We are not taking the big guy with us?" Haniel asked and nodded towards the door.

She did not know why but it felt kind of sudden to leave the blue-eyed turian.

" No and he would probably not want to come. He is too much of a good turian to join in on this. " Scion answered and observed her.

Had she and Garrus somehow got closer and would it mean more work for him?
He knew that Garrus was.....curious if not even interested in the human. But Scion was not completely sure about how she felt.

" Either way .... Thanks for doing this...."

Her words brought him back from his thoughts.

" No worry. Not every turian wants this war to last forever. "

The sound of alarm bells and Sidonis's loud voice woke Garrus up and caused him to almost fall from the bed.

" SOEMONE IS ATTACKING US ! GET YOUR WEAPON !" Sidonis yelled as he grabbed his assault rifle and tossed Garrus another one.

Garrus caught it with ease and exited the room together with him. Yet again was he surprised over the lack of crew. There were only five other tutians that were out in the corridor with their weapons ready.

" How did they manage to sneak up so close!?" Sidonis cursed and looked around for enemies.

They had yet been boarded but Garrus assumed that was just a question of time. Sidonis made his way towards the CIC. Just as Garrus was about to follow after he noticed something in the corner of his eye.
Two figures were sneaking around under the flashing warning lights. He noticed that it was towards the directions where the escape pods were located and then it clicked for him.
He rushed towards them and sure enough it was Haniel and Scion.

" What are you doing here? " He hissed out as he approached them.

Scion immediately had his weapon ready and Garrus readied his own out of reflex. The two of them stood still for a split second aiming at each other.

" I'm leaving. Don't try to stop me. " Haniel said with a surprisingly cold voice.

Garrus met her stare and knew that she would do anything within her power to board an escape pod. The warning lights and alarms rang but for a second all Garrus could hear was the sound of his own breathing.
He was split in two. Should he stop them? It was the right thing to do.
But if he tried to stop them and succeeded they would probably get punished. He did not really care about Scion. That one could need some discipline hammered into him. But the commander had already been beaten and treated as shit. He was also sure that they would not longer be allowed to be her guards so her situation would probably worsen if she were captured again.
Garrus stood frozen on the spot and just watched as they boarded an escape pod. Suddenly his body reacted just as the door was about to shut behind them.
Before he knew it had he boarded it too and was crammed into the small space with them. A loud clunking sound signaled that they had separerade from the ship.
Garrus heard distressed subvocals from Scion but did not give it any thought as he was too surprised over his own action.