This is a one shot fic, and it has been planned for quite a while. This is for you Tali fans out there! R&R, tell me what you think! Oh, and it has been edited, so those of you who found it bad because of Kal, sorry, cousins idea XD! Now, this is the new, updated version 2.0! Now, let's get to business, shall we?
- She's Mine
Shepard had just given a hell of a speech, which let Tali get exonerated without showing the evidence of her father messing up and getting the blame, the true blame, for what had happened in the Alerei.
Tali was so heartbroken when her father had just given her orders before dying. She was so sad, so depressed. There was never an 'I love you Tali' or at least an 'I'm proud of you' no, it was always work, always something for the Fleet, and nothing for her. Sure, Rael would claim that the work was for her daughter, but he never gave her the attention and love she indeed deserved, and she truly deserved it, he instead got lost in his job. Shepard was aware of that, and that's why he was there, to provide a shoulder and attention, the least he could do for Tali.
Shepard was enraged at how Tali was treated by the Admiralty Board and her own father, who did nothing but give her orders and never showed his love for her, not even before dying. He was so pissed off, but he remained quiet, for Tali's sake. Then there was this Mido'Duras Vas Neema, scanning Tali from head to toe as much as he could, which made Shepard feel incredibly hostile towards the quarian engineer. Kal had told him of the crush he had on Tali and how pervy he was towards her, sometimes even staring at her breasts. 'One of these days I'll rip your mask off perv' Shepards would think while glaring at him.
Suddenly, Shepard found himself in front of the Admiralty Board, with Raan thanking him for his actions. The trial had ended. 'Where the hell was I for the last ten seconds?'
"Commander Shepard, please accept these gifts as a matter of our appreciation for representing one of our people" Said Admiral Raan with an empathetic voice as the trial had just ended. She was happy that Shepard had helped Tali and had gotten her exonerated.
"With all due respect, Admiral, I didn't represent one of your people, I represented one of mine" Shepard said with a powerful, commanding voice that even sent shivers to Admiral Gerrel, the 'aging warship' of the Board.
"So you did Shepard" was all that Gerrel could say. He was ashamed of their treatment towards Tali, and how Shepard was right by accusing them of improving their own political agendas at the cost of Tali's well being. Shepard had been clear that he was pissed off by that during the trial.
Raan caught something remarkable in Shepard's last sentence. She then turned to look at him and found something outstanding. Shepard spoke with possessiveness and pride. Her suspicions were true then. Shepard was completely in love with Tali'Zorah. She smiled under her helmet and made the prayer to dismiss everyone. "Go in peace Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy, Keelah Selai"
After most people left, the powerful quarian admiral approached Tali and Shepard, who were talking about the trial.
"Tali, my dear child, I'm so glad this was cleared up and that you were found innocent" Said Raan with happiness in her voice.
"Thank you auntie, I'm so happy too, and it was all thanks to my Captain" Said Tali.
Raan paid close attention to her body language. 'My Captain' Possessive, proud of him. Her feet were also pointed at Shepard, who was looking at Raan standing at attention, but most of his body pointed at Tali. 'They are a couple already, and they are so bad at hiding it' She grinned under her helmet.
"Tali, my dear, could you leave me a couple of seconds with your Captain, I want to talk to him, in private" Raan said as serious as she could, which gave a good effect.
Tali became extremely nervous and just nodded, giving one last look at Shepard 'I'll watch over you, my Captain' She then turned and left to talk to Veetor, who was standing a few feet away from them, talking to Kal.
Raan then turned to look at Shepard. "So, tell me Commander, since when?"
Shepard tilted his helmet to the side, giving her a confused stare. "Excuse admiral, but what do you mean?"
Raan stepped closer to the Commander, who was confused. "Since when have you and Tali been a couple?"
Shepard was shocked, and started getting nervous about how to respond. After all, Raan was a powerful Admiral, and Tali's only family that was left for her, he couldn't screw up. "I…I don't know what you're talking about Admiral, me and Tali-
"Don't try to lie to me Commander; I saw her body language, and yours. You are both in love with each other. My question is since when?"
"…Since…I met her on the Citadel two years ago technically, but after Haelstrom we….became a couple" Said Shepard with an incredibly shy, nervous voice.
'Tali fell for her Commander eh? I need to clear this with Ta-
"However, I will never leave her side, no matter what you, or those admirals, or anyone in here say, she is my chosen mate, and I love her deeply" Shepard said, proud and happy. He was not going to back down no matter what other people would say.
Raan was a little shocked, but she had been expecting this. "I know Commander, you and Tali have my blessings. She chose well. You now take care of her and love her like she deserves. Now, I want to talk to her in private. Keelah Selai Commander Shepard" She said in a commanding tone, which even Shepard had to obey.
Shepard nodded at the admiral and then walked towards the chat group, composed of Tali, Veetor, Kal'Reegar, and Mido, who was already glaring at Shepard. Shepard then leaned on Tali, which made Mido's blood boil at millions of degrees. "Tali, your aunt wants to talk to you in private" Shepard said in a whisper. Tali nodded and left to talk to Raan, not before excusing herself politely from the group of course.
It was quiet in the group. Mido was glaring at Shepard while Veetor and Kal looked at how the situation was getting tense. Veetor spoke, however, against all odds. "Shepard, it's so great that you were here to help Tali with her trial! You just did the impossible!" Veetor said happily. "Damn straight" Said Kal as he entered the conversation. "Shepard, you gave a hell of a speech and saved Tali, damn that was good, those admirals deserved it" finished the marine, trying to get Shepard away from the glares of the enraged Mido.
"It was my pleasure, helping a dear friend like Tali was the least I could do" Shepard told the group, pride in his voice. Kal knew that Tali and Shepard were a couple, but as a marine, and a friend, he kept him mouth shut. Veetor, as usual, did not have a clue of what was going on, much to Kal's amusement.
Mido had enough of this. He had wanted Tali ever since they met, but he never acted because of two reasons. One, he was very shy, after getting a beating of at least a dozen females, he wasn't quite sure Tali would accept him, much less take him as a mate. Second, Tali was deeply in love with Shepard, which made him so mad, feel so jealous. He was now preparing for a preemptive strike against Shepard, get him as much pain as he could.
Although this man, this human had saved both Tali and Kal, and gained the respect of most quarians, he still hated him. He was so mad at the fact that Tali never chose him and that she chose a human over a male quarian.
"You said pleasure? Surely it was something else." Mido said out loud, which made Kal and Veetor look at him and quickly get nervous. 'No no no no, this is getting worse' Thought Veetor.Kal was getting tense. While he hated Mido with a passion, for being such a perv, he would not dare disrespect someone else without an excuse. He was a marine, he was disciplined, and he had to show it.
"You want to share something, Mido?" Shepard said loudly. He was getting tired of Mido, and he was so close at charging at him, beating his ass to submission in the process.
"You did this not out of pleasure, but because you just want her on bed don't you?"
"What did you say?" Shepard said, enraged, with his temper long lost.
"That Tali should be with one of her race, not with a disgusting human!" Mido said loudly. He was so jealous of Shepard being with Tali, and his strongest argument was the race topic. It was the most obvious one, so he had to use it, and use it to full effect.
Kal was getting mad at Mido's insubordination and disrespect, but he had to let Shepard do this alone. Although Kal wanted to just shut Mido off, he was going to let Shepard do the honors, of course.
Veetor and her mate were already walking away slowly while most quarians were looking at the group with wide eyes, Xen in particular. 'Let's see how much fire the Commander has within him' the mysterious admiral thought to herself.
"What makes you say that? What gives you the right to choose for her?" Shepard said while making serious, dead steps towards the lone quarian engineer, who was not backing down from the conflict, which he had started.
"She's supposed to be with a male quarian! She must be with one of her race, have children which she can't have with you Shepard!" Mido said, putting venom in the last words. He was smiling mischievously under his helmet. 'This is it'
Shepard stopped dead on his tracks and began analyzing what Mido had said, which made the mischievous quarian smile under his helmet. 'I got him, now let's destroy what's left of him' However, before Mido could speak, Shepard got his head up and shot a powerful glare at Mido, which made him shake out of fear. 'Oh shit, Kelaah'
Mido knew what Shepard was capable of in the battlefield. Kal told him of his actions on Haelstrom, of destroying a Geth Colossus. Tali had mentioned his achievements more than once; he was not only a master strategist, but also a very, very powerful soldier, capable of turning the tide of a battle single handily. He knew his ass would be kicked within a second if Shepard wanted to tear him apart.
"No matter what you say, you utter piece of garbage, she's mine! I love her and she loves me!" Shepard said proudly. "If you dare get in our way, I'll tear your mask away and piss on your face before tossing your sorry ass through the nearest airlock! Am I clear you pervert?" Shepard said, looking at Mido with intense blue eyes, full of fire.
Kal was smirking under his helmet. Sure, it was bad to smile at this, but he had to. Shepard had gotten his respect on Haelstrom, after almost single handily destroying a Geth Colossus, and leaving a trail of destruction before that. Now, he was seeing the true Shepard under that armor, fighting like a lion for his mate. 'Heh, Lion of Elysium, it is a good nickname for you Shepard'
"Shepard!" Then came a voice that made Shepard jump a little. All three males then turned to see the source of that sweet voice. It was Tali'Zora Vas Normandy.
"I heard what you said! I'm so proud of you John." Tali said lovely while hugging Shepard. It made Mido even madder, but now it was Tali's turn to speak to the pervy engineer. Mido had always been a perv. Tali was the only one who never cared nor did anything against him, which gave him the fire, the energy to continue looking at her, pursuing her relentlessly and never leaving her alone. Time to change that.
"I chose Shepard as my lover and mate. I'm sorry Mido, but you are just a friend" She finished as politely as she could while her right hand made it to Shepard's hip, which made him smile warmly. No one could see it, but Tali knew he was smiling, she could see it in his powerful, deep blue eyes.
"You dare touch her Mido, and you will wish you were never born" Shepard finished with a hidden smirk as he made his way, hand in hand with Tali, who was giggling softly, towards their ship, their home, the Normandy.
Everyone was dumbfounded; they were impressed by Shepard's outburst and confession that he loved Tali. Kal was laughing his ass off, impressed and finding extremely funny how Mido was trembling, even shaking for his life. Veetor was nervous of an incident happening but got calm after seeing Shepard leave the scene. 'That was close, Keelah' the former loner thought. Raan was smiling under her helmet. 'That's how a mate is supposed to be'
Mido was looking at the floor, ashamed and… scared shitless. 'Kelaah, that was so close' he thought.
Xen was incredibly impressed by Shepard. 'Tali chose well. Shepard would make a good mate. Aggressive, possessive and loyal, just what any woman would want'
Kal then patted Mido in the back and said loudly "You didn't piss on your suit did you?" Kal finished with laughter as he left to talk to another fellow marine about what had happened. Mido was left there, alone, ashamed, resentful and scared. 'I guess she's all his'
'Game Over Mido' Kal thought as he watched Mido walk slowly out of the scene.
Thanks for reading! This was for you all Tali fans out there! Make me proud with your stories and share your thoughts!