Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect
Threshold
"Listen," Rahn said. "I was wondering if you'd want to.. you know, go to the celebration tomorrow?"
Tali sighed under her mask, but not loud enough so that Rahn could hear.
"I'm.. sorry Rahn..." She began. "Its just that I don't really want to go to it. I have other stuff to do. I'm too busy"
The annual celebration marked the new year for the quarian Flotilla. It was a tradition that all of the ships in the fleet to celebrate and have a time of partying and dancing. The Rayya was to hold a dance in its lower decks, where other quarians could socialize, dance and mingle around. It was a time to forget about their diminishing state that started with the revolt of the geth that forced them from their home world to forever scour the galaxy for a different world.
Secretly, Tali loved the annual celebration. She loved the music and the crowds, a chance to talk to some old friends and maybe dance the night away. Though, she also began to get tired of all the invitations to the celebration. Being the Admiral's daughter on the soon-to-be Admiralty Board made her a highly respectable quarian with high expectations. All the males were trying to get a chance at the princess so to speak.
Rahn groaned and asked Tali again, "Are you sure? I can be a fun guy to hang around with."
"I can't, I'm sorry." she said, without hesitation.
She did feel bad, Rahn had always been her childhood friend and they were very close friends. After he walked away, Tali started to walk back to her room.
I'm 17 for Keelah's sake, she thought, I should be able to chose whoever I want to be with.
The last words repeated themselves.
Whoever I want to be with...
Whoever I want to be with..
----
Tali woke up, and blinked twice to shake off the confusion. She looked around, noticing the matte-gray walls that shone with a turquoise tint from the 2 large aquariums that were embedded into them. It was still early, 0435 gleamed brightly on the wall clock. She started to sit up, but realized she was out of her enviro-suit.
W-what..? she thought, as she got up more, only to realize something heavy was around her waist. Then she saw it was an arm -- a human, with a muscular build was laying right beside her, sleeping.
She then smiled, reached in and kissed him on the forehead. Tali was sure of it, Shepard was the one she wanted. She wasn't afraid to say it; even though he was a human, he had taken care of her and risked his life countless times for her. She knew for sure that she was in lo--
WARNING
WARNING
MISSILE FIRED BY AN UNKNOWN TARGET PLANETSIDE
ALL HANDS TO BATTLESTATIONS
Tali gasped as the message repeated itself, and immediately turned to shake Shepard up. He looked up at her, still half asleep.
"Tali.." he whispered and smiled as he rubbed her cheek.
She leaned in and kissed him again, this time on the lips and smiled
"Duty calls Shepard" she started, and then continued suggestively, "Or if you want, you could ignore it and stay here..."
"You know I want to, but duty first" he said, wanting to stay with Tali.
He got out of bed and started to dress when Tali sat up.
"I guess I should get back in the enviro-suit again?" she asked.
"Do you?" Shepard called back.
"Well, I don't think you have any clothes that would fit me." Tali said.
"Sure I do, if you don't mind wearing men's clothing" he countered.
Tali smiled and simply said "Alright."
----
Shepard and Tali walked up together behind the pilot, Joker.
"What do you got for me, Joker?" Shepard asked as he tried to make sense of the console in front of the pilot.
"Someone, or something shot at us, Commander" Joker said without looking back.
"Origin?" the Commander asked.
"Qintan," Joker said glancing at the nearby planet that filled the windows.
It's bright blue and purple sheen glowed brightly. Qintan was an Uncharted World, the only people to live under its vicious freezing temperatures were bandits and pirates. However, this was different. Somebody deliberately tried to shoot down the Normandy. And Shepard wanted to find out who.
Joker turned around and began, "I'm guessing you want to..."
His words trailed off as he noticed Tali, in Shepard's civilian clothes, a dark blue T-shirt, and blue fatigues hugged her waist.
"Nice to see you without your mask on." Joker mused and smiled.
"Anyway, as I said, I'm guessing you want to go down there and inspect, Commander?"
"You know it Joker" Shepard said and turned to Tali, "Go ahead and suit up, I want you down there with me"
"Of course, Shepard" she said and smiled and walked to the lower decks.
"That's so not fair" Joker said humorously.
"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.
"You and Tali" he said with mischievously.
Shepard just smiled and walked towards the hanger.
"Don't worry about me, I got EDI!" Joker called out and chuckled as he brought the Normandy into Qintan's atmosphere
----
"So Shepard.." Wrex began, "heard you had a fun time last night."
Shepard looked back at Wrex and just said "That's on a need-to-know basis, Wrex."
"Heh, It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that you're screwin' the pooch Shepard"
"I'm right here." Tali said, butting in, now back in her enviro-suit.
"C'mon Wrex, lets just focus on our task ahead" Shepard said as he looked through the Kodiak's windshield.
Wrex chuckled as he sat back as the dropship exited the hangar bay on the Normandy, it's thrusters taking hold. The dropship, nicknamed the Kodiak was a small insertion craft, capable of landing in the most extreme weather conditions with ease. The strong, icy wind whipped at the Kodiak's windshield as it made it's descent down the planet's surface.
To Tali, this was just another countless mission that she'd participate with Shepard. They were all dangerous and life-threatening, but she didn't care. Whenever she was around Shepard, she always felt a sense of protection, that he'd take care of her if anything happened. In return, Tali vowed that she'd do the same for him if anything happened.
"Alright guys," Shepard began, "I want a tight formation; Wrex you're on point; Tali, you're behind me. We don't know what's out there so stay alert."
"More time to make kissy kissy?" Wrex joked with a chuckle.
Tali just smiled and ignored Wrex's joke. Instead, she just looked down at her legs, and patted the long, serrated blade on her left leg. She'd been in so many missions with Shepard before that she lost track. It was always one successful fight after another. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to resort to using it this time...
----
The Kodiak touched down and it's side door burst open with a hiss, with Wrex charging out, taking point. He scanned the area quickly and signaled all clear as Shepard climbed out, with Tali covering his back. As Shepard and Wrex looked around, Tali knew something was off. Even though the high winds and snow limited their visibility, the place was clearly deserted and barren.
"Stay alert," Shepard ordered. "they could be hiding anywhere."
Besides a few boulders, there wasn't much cover for the team; but it didn't matter anyway. Off in the distance, about 300 yards away was the a tall building, nearly covered in snow. And right beside it was an automated Land-Air Missile System. While small insertions like the Kodiak wouldn't get picked up on the radar, it was strong enough to almost shoot the Normandy out of the atmosphere.
Shepard let Wrex lead while Tali covered the rear as they slowly reached the entrance of the building. As expected, the door was locked shut. Whoever was in there obviously didn't want anyone to follow them inside.
"Tali, think you can hack it?" Shepard asked.
"You guys make me do all the work," She said jokingly. "what would you do without me?"
In less than 4 seconds, Tali hacked in and opened the door. Shepard nodded in confirmation and signaled Wrex to go. The door slid open and the strike team entered the complex. The room was a lobby, a large room with an empty receptionist desk in the far corner of the wall. Behind the desk, to the right was a clear door that led to an elevator.
"Shepard." Wrex said, tilting his head to the corner of the room.
Up on the wall was a lone security camera watching them. Whoever was down there knew they were coming.
"No sense in making them wait." Shepard said as he walked to the elevator's doors. The elevator had buttons for only 2 floors; the current floor and one labeled as B7. He pressed the one marked as B7 and the elevator descended into the blackness below.
----
Tali's anticipation grew more and more as the elevator reached the floor B7. Shepard stood on the left side of the elevator, herself on the right. Wrex, in the middle of course, grinned as the elevator stopped and made a ding sound. He brought up his Assault Rifle as the door slid open. Blue and red pellets flickered into the elevator and stuck on Wrex.
His immunity held as he charged out of the elevator, emptying his assault rifle on 3 mercenaries behind stacks of crates that littered the room. Shepard and Tali followed suite, laying down suppressive fire. One of the mercs shouted something at the man in front of him which apparently caught him off guard. Wrex took full advantage of the man's mistake and lifted him up with a biotic lift. The merc flailed helplessly in the air as Shepard unloaded on him. His body went limp as he fell down, nearly falling on the other mercenary that was yelling at him.
The other merc, a female with a sniper rifle fired and hit Wrex in the chest. His immunity held, but he toppled over and crawled behind a nearby rock that provided protection. Tali threw down an overheat that stunned the sniper and rendered her weapon useless. Shepard then lobbed a grenade and yelled at both of them to get down. The male leader yelled and pushed the woman out of the way, telling her to fall back. She leapt out of the way, but he wasn't as lucky. The blast flung him across the room and he slammed into the wall, leaving a blood smear embedded into it.
Wrex stood up and saw the last merc struggling to get back up. He quickly used another biotic lift, causing her to kick her legs to fight the vertigo. Tali jumped out behind the boulder, ran up to the defenseless merc and shot her once in the stomach. The close proximity and sheer force of the bullets ripped the woman in half. Shepard ran up to Tali and secured the remaining area. To the south led another door, also closed shut. With ease, Tali hacked in and opened the door which led to a long hallway.
The lights above illuminated the long hallway which led to yet another door. This time, it wasn't locked, and the door slid open as the 3 approached it. Crates littered the huge room, but other than that the room was deserted. However, a Television Screen flickered with static that was hung on the nearby wall. As Shepard approached it, it flickered to life revealing a figure.
"Commander Shepard..." The man said from the TV. "I've been waiting for you."
"Who are you?" Shepard asked.
The figure stepped out of the dimly lit shadow and smiled viciously at him. He was African-American, with a fresh buzzed cut. He wore orange and blue fatigues, but other than that nothing else was distinguishable in the dimly lit room.
"Again, who are you?" Shepard demanded.
"You don't know me, Commander, but I know you. You can call me Werner. Do you remember a 'Kyle', Shepard? He was a biotic extremist that hid from the Alliance."
"Major Kyle? What does that have to do with anything?"
"He was my brother, Shepard. He was a leader -- helping biotics galaxy wide with their powers, training them to use them in combat."
"Kyle was building a biotic army!" Shepard said matter-of-factually. "He had to be restrained!"
"Restrained? You gunned him down like a common criminal!" Werner spat out. "He was my brother! No matter, however. I'll take pleasure in killing you all"
"You won't get away with this Werner!" Shepard yelled.
"I believe I already have." he laughed as several doors hissed open and mercs flooded the room.
----
Immediately, Wrex was thrown across the room as one of the biotic mercs unleashed a biotic throw on him. He hit the wall hard and let out a low groan as his body fell limp onto the floor, unconscious.
"Wrex!" Shepard shouted over the gunfire.
Tali lept from her cover and jumped by Wrex's side checking his vitals.
"He's fine!" She shouted, "just unconscious!"
Shepard nodded, and gunned down two batarian mercs. Tali dragged Wrex out of the gunfire, away from harm. A human female sniper in the far back of the room looked through the cross hair and aimed directly at the quarian female. However, before she could pull the trigger, a metal slug ripped through her neck causing her to fall over holding her neck, gasping for breath.
Tali glanced at Shepard who had just took out a sniper in the far back of the room. She had to hurry, the Commander needed help. Assured that Wrex was far enough out of harm, she set him down and scrambled back to Shepard's side, her shotgun in hand.
"Shepard!" She called out, and stopped by his side. "are you okay?"
"There's still 2 or 3 mercs out there" He let out with a gasp.
Shepard alone was able to take out at least 7 mercenaries himself, sweat dripping down his forehead. Tali nodded slightly, aimed at the closest merc and pulled the trigger, and watched the numerous metal slugs propel the mercenary's body against the nearby wall. Confident because she was next to Shepard, she peppered another mercenary that was trying to hide behind a large metal case. His shields were quickly overpowered by the sheer force of the metal pellets that slammed on him. As his shields depleted, Shepard quickly put 7 or 8 rounds into the merc as he fell over limp.
Watching the event unfold, another mercenary took cover near the far wall trying to conceal himself. He clutched his sniper rifle, the red armor made him stand out like a sore thumb, but regardless he was too far away for the human and the quarian to notice. As the quarian gunned down one of his fellow soldiers, he lobbed a grenade at her and watch it bounce perfectly into the cover.
"Grenade!" Shepard yelled as he pushed Tali out of the way.
Confused, Tali rolled to a stop as a huge BANG crackled in the air and the surrounding area filled with light and heat. The smoke quickly cleared and she saw Shepard clutching his chest. He saved her yet again by pushing her out of the way. However, the grenade embedded fragments into Shepard's chest. The bulk of the blast was held off by his shields, but regardless, he was clutching his chest in pain.
"Shepard!" Tali yelled frantically.
"I'm okay," He said as he stood up limping his way over to Tali. "the shields saved my ass again"
She started to smile, but it was cut short as Shepard lurched back in pain and fell to the ground limp.
The mercenary looked the other way as the grenade went off, the room temporarily blinded with light. After the blast, he peeked out and looked through his scope to see if the two survived the blast. Sure enough, the grenade only depleted the guys' shields with no fatal damage. However, the guy then did something incredibly stupid. He stood up. Behind the scope, the merc smiled, knowing his shields were down. He aimed briefly, knowing the automatic targeting system would deliver the kill shot and fired.
----
"Shepard!" Tali screamed.
She watched as Shepard fell down, mouth wide open in pain and slammed to the ground. He laid there, unmoving, as a pool of blood began to encircle his head. For a brief second, Tali just stood there in shock.
What just happened? She thought.
No...
No!
Shepard!
No.. You can't be..
Get up.. Shepard...
Sh...
"Shepard!" She screamed again as he rushed to his side.
She gently rolled him over and saw a big, bloody wound on the side of his neck. Just as Tali was about to try to apply medi-gel to him, a metal slug pinged the rock near her.
Sniper
She yelled in frustration and jumped over the rock and ran straight at the mercenary. The merc had no time to react as the quarian unsheathed the blade on her left leg.
"You son of a bitch!" Tali yelled as she jumped on him, slicing the blade through his neck.
The merc gurgled in shock, and Tali just twisted the blade and cut out, nearly decapitating him in the process. Satisfied when the body slumped to the floor, she immediately ran back over to Shepard who still was laying there motionless.
"Sh-Shepard...?" Tali asked quietly, as she applied medi-gel to the wound on his neck.
He was still alive – Tali could feel a pulse. Though, it was getting weaker and weaker. Tears started to swell in her eyes as she thought the facts.
"D-don't you die on me." She said through a sob.
For the first time since she started her Pilgrimage, she felt alone and unsure of what to do. She felt so helpless. Tali let out another sob, her cheeks now wet with tears as she sat, holding the dying man she utterly loved with all her life.
"T-Tali.." Shepard let out, with a groan.
He opened his eyes weakly, and coughed up blood. Tali held him tightly, trying to hide her overwhelming emotions.
"Shepard! Please.. you'll be okay, hold on Shepard!"
He coughed again, held up his hand and touched the side of her visor and smiled. Completely overwhelmed, Tali just broke down and sobbed, holding Shepard's hand.
"Tali.." Shepard said weakly, "you know I.. I.. I lov--"
She gasped as a blue sheen completely covered Shepard, freezing him in place.
"Shepard?!" she yelled.
"You don't need to worry about him anymore" a man said, standing over them, his hands glowing with the tell-tale signs of a biotic user.
----
Werner looked at Tali menacingly, a crooked smile on his face.
"What did you do to him!" Tali shouted
"Your little Commander is in a stasis," he said with a chuckle. "while he's under my stasis he's untreatable. He'll just slowly die a horrible and painful death."
"You're doing all this just because he killed your brother?!"
"You didn't know my brother!" he hissed. "He just shot him. Didn't even give him a chance. What the hell kind of leadership is that! Shepard is just a ruthless killing machine... and he deserves to die."
Tali yelled and lunged at Werner trying to sink her blade into his chest. However he was too fast and simply sidestepped out of the way. He laughed amusingly and drew out a sword – an ancient katana that was used during the age of the Samurai back on earth. It was a family heirloom that was passed down from generation to generation. Who'd ever thought he'd actually be able to use it?
"I could just kill you right now..." Werner let out with a low whisper. "but where would be the fun in that?"
Tali growled at the man. He was going to kill Shepard. She had to protect him. Protect Shepard.... Her trail of thought almost got her killed as Werner sliced the side of Tali's left arm. The suit hissed briefly as the air rushed in. She didn't care – Tali knew her immune system was strong enough to fight off more than enough hazards to survive the area.
She swung at Werner again, their blades deflected each other. He was a skilled swordsman, no doubt, so Tali had to outsmart him. And she had to do it fast, otherwise Shepard would be dead without a chance of help. Tali tried to cut him from under, but he was just too fast, dodged and kicked her visor, cracking the glass.
Tali stumbled backwards and groaned from the blow. She was lucky enough her neck didn't snap.
What do I do... she thought.
This guy is way too tough, I can't beat him!
No!
There has to be some way...
For Shepard..
Werner laughed again as he swung at Tali, knowing full well that she had no chance. She dodged, but he still managed to nick her leg, causing her to wince and lose her balance and fall down. Panting, she stumbled to get back up. Tali wasn't going down without a fight. Not under these circumstances. She couldn't lose; it wasn't even an option. If she were to die, she'd take him down with her. And then maybe Shepard would still have a fighting chance of survival.
She continued to deflect Werner's attacks, though he still managed to scratch her up badly.
I can't do it.. Tali sobbed.
I'm going to die..
Shepard's going to die..
It's all my fault...
It's all my fau--
"Pathetic" Werner spat out. What kind of quarian can't even fight back in a sword fight? Heh.. You aren't even worth being on the Commander's team. All of you quarians are useless"
He huffed with amusement and readied his sword. Werner lunged at Tali, ready to deliver a swift kill. However, a ethereal sensation coursed through his body and began to lift him up, off the ground.
"W-What is this!?" Werner shouted.
Tali looked up at him and saw him floating in the air, surrounded by a blue veil that encased him.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to hit women?" Wrex let out with an amusing groan, his hand glowing blue.
Wrex's biotic lift left Werner completely vulnerable as he tried to fight it. Tali sneered and lunged at him, her blade slicing through Werner's chest. He let out an agonizing moan and fell to the ground limp. Tali withdrew the blade from his body in disgust and holstered it back onto its position on her leg.
"Wrex!" she yelled.
"Heh. Looks like I missed all the action." He said, and looked at Shepard.
Tali started to run towards Shepard's side again, but collapsed as the amount of stress, both emotional and physical took its toll on her.
Wrex then stood there, looked around the room, and just sighed with disappointment.
----
Tali gasped as she sat up, noticing the unmistakable walls of the Normandy SR-2. The room was dimly lit, but she could see the walls and noticed another hospital bed was beside hers. She was about to look over to see who it was when Dr. Chakwas came in and turned the lights on.
"I see you're up, Tali" She said.
"Doctor!" Tali said. "What.. what happened?"
"Well, right after you collapsed, Wrex called the Normandy and we had you and Shepard evacuated and put in the medical bay."
"How long was I out...? Where's Shepard? Is he alright?"
Dr. Chakwas smiled and said, "About 12 hours, and he's fine. The bullet only hit the side of his neck and didn't puncture the spinal cord. Give him a couple days and he'll make a full recovery. Same goes for you too, Tali. You got yourself some nasty cuts. But you'll be fine; Mordin gave you an antibiotic while you were sleeping to fight off any infections you may have caught when your suit was cut open down there. And we're trying to find another Enviro-suit for you, the one you're still wearing has cuts and a cracked visor."
Tali smiled and simply asked. "Where's Shepard right now?"
Chakwas simply motioned towards the bed beside Tali's and walked out of the room.
She winced over the pain, but managed to stand up and limp to Shepard's bed, where he was resting peacefully. She then just simply sat beside him and held his hand and watched him sleep. After a couple minutes, Shepard cupped her hand, opened his eyes and smiled at her.
"Tali.."
"Shepard... I'm so glad you're alright" She moved in and gently hugged him. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't of protected you.. I mean, If I had just maybe of been more alert and stuff and--"
Shepard cut her off by simply saying "Let me kiss you again"
She blushed as her heart raced and stammered. "W-wh-what? Here? Now?"
"Nobody's looking" he replied amusingly.
She smiled again, unhooked her helmet and set it aside.
Shepard touched her cheek gently as they both moved in and kissed each other.
"Your cheeks are so damp.." Shepard smiled
"I was worried about you, Shepard" Tali replied, rubbing his forehead gently.
He pulled Tali in gently so that she was practically laying on top of him.
"I'll always be here for you Tali, you know that"
"And I will be here for you too, Shepard. Always"
"I love you, Tali." Shepard said.
"I love you too, Shepard" Tali said as a single tear dripped off her cheek, and kissed him again.
--Later--
Shepard and Tali entered the Commander's Private Room, still embracing and kissing passionately. Both of them made a full recovery and were instructed to just rest for the night. However, the doctor never said what they couldn't do for the night.
Shepard led Tali to the bed, and lied down. Tali followed of course, still kissing.
"Are you sure you're ready, Tali?" Shepard whispered.
"Of course, Shepard. Though, you might not want to keep going when I.. well.. you know.."
"Tali, you're beautiful. I could care less that you're a quarian. I love you for who you are. Just because I'm human and you're quarian doesn't mean we can't love each other."
"Well," she smiled "can you help me out of this thing, Shepard?"
Both of them stood up, and Shepard hugged her tightly from behind and started to undo her enviro-suit. Tali became uneasy for a few moments – she just wanted for Shepard to like her. Shepard hugged her as the last of her enviro-suit fell off and just simply said "You're beautiful Tali..."
"How do you know?" She said jokingly "I doubt you've ever seen another quarian like this before"
He smiled and pushed her close to him, kissed her and the both of them rolled under the sheets of the bed.
"Have you done this before?" Shepard asked.
She bit her lip and shook her head. "Don't hate me if I do it wrong.."
"Well if it helps, I haven't either" he said with a smile.
Shepard hugged Tali close to him, as she let out a small whimper.
"Does it hurt?"
She shook her head and smiled.
He set the pace, going slow. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt Tali or make her feel ashamed about anything. He treasured her and cared for her like nothing else before. Both Shepard and Tali felt comfortable; there was nothing wrong or out of place – it felt enjoyable and natural. Shepard didn't need a condom – their different genetic makeup acted as a natural condom. Though this also meant that Tali would never be able to support a pregnancy with Shepard.
Gaining confidence, Shepard went just a little more faster, again not daring to make Tali uncomfortable. Keeping with the rhythm, Tali was enjoying it. It was pleasurable, and there was no reason at all to be ashamed. She absolutely loved Shepard. Though, in the back of her mind, she did feel guilty that it was impossible for her to bear children for Shepard. If she couldn't give him that, then she wanted to at least show Shepard how much she loved him. So when Tali started to speed up, it caught Shepard off-guard and he started to cringe.
"I'm sorry" Shepard chuckled.
"It was me, Commander, I got too into it and.."
Shepard cut her off with a kiss, "I'm not done yet" he said with a smile and they both continued.
A few minutes later, it was obvious to both of them that they were getting close. Their panting was growing and Shepard was starting to cringe more and more. At the last few seconds, they both embraced each other, lovingly. Shepard let out a slight moan as he hugged her; and Tali held her breath and whimpered again as she held onto Shepard tightly.
"A-are you okay Tali?"
She nodded, but then looked away, the guilt already becoming a bit too much.
"Tali.."
"I'm sorry I can't bear your children Shepard..."
He wiped a tear from her cheek, hugged her and said sweetly, "It doesn't matter Tali, With or without children, you know I love you."
They spent the next couple minutes just panting. Tali was still laying on Shepard, listening to his heartbeat, and he was stroking her shoulder lovingly. She looked up and kissed Shepard one more time.
WARNING
WARNING
Shepard and Tali groaned as the warning lights went off again.
"Can't we ever get piece and quiet?" Shepard said.
"That's what we get for being soldiers" Tali smiled.
He started to get dressed when Tali brushed the bed.
"Wanna go again, Shepard?"
He looked at her and then looked at the door.
"I'm...." Shepard began. "... I'm pretty sure its just Joker messing around with the buttons again."
He smiled as he got back into the bed with Tali again.
Once again, Shepard just stared into Tali's eyes, brushed her cheek and said lovingly, "I love you, Tali."
She simply smiled, reached over, hugged him and kissed him on the lips and said, "I love you too, Shepard."