Shepard wandered through Akuze unarmed and in his civilian clothes. He was searching, but he was never sure why. Looking through the windows in the prefab buildings he could see that they were all empty. A colony which was once home to hundreds of civilians now sat like a ghost town baking in the sun. As he ventured deeper into the colony the quality of the buildings quickly began degrading. He could tell there had been a battle, but the evidence for the most part wasn't made of bullet holes and blast marks, although there were a few. Mostly he noted that several of the buildings seemed melted, not by heat but by some kind of chemical or acid. Continuing down the vacant streets he swore he noticed shadowed figures staring at him through the windows, but they vanished when he turned to face them. He reached a crossroads, somewhere in the heart of the colony.

"Shepard…" A voice whispered in echoes from the path to his right so he followed. The buildings degraded further as he continued down the path. Then he noticed a figure in what he recognized as an Alliance marine uniform facing away from him far down the road at the next intersection.

"Shepard…" He knew that's who must be calling to him so he picked up his pace. As he continued his approach, the colony's degradation continued and a dark caustic acid began spilling into the streets from the windows of the prefab buildings, never quite reaching him. Shepard tried to call out to the soldier as he got closer but found his words disappearing as soon as his mouth tried to form them.

"Shepard…" The marine called out to him once more when he was within an arm's reach. Cautiously, Shepard placed his hand on the marine's shoulder, in an attempt to turn him around to get a better look at him, though he wished he hadn't. The marine spun toward him, revealing a familiar face now partially melted and disfigured. The same dark acid Shepard had seen in the streets began pouring from the marine's mouth and eye sockets as it grabbed a hold of him.

"SHEPARD!" It now shouted at him as acid continued to pour from the marine's facial orifices until the body collapsed leaving behind only a tattered uniform in a pool of acid and liquefied human remains. Feeling that he was being watched Shepard then noticed dozens of other marines standing in the windows of the prefab buildings whose faces were also marred by acid. At almost the same moment the ground began to shake and a terrible shrieking noise pierced the air.

Only then did the commander wake up. Sweating and out of breath, he tried to steel himself in the cool blue light permeating from the extravagant Cerberus fish tank. To his right, Tali still slept peacefully. Her dark hair, now currently free of her suit, spilled against the down pillows and framed a soft smile she often kept in her sleep. One that Shepard both admired and envied.

In the time since the attack on the Collector base, Tali had been spending more nights alone with Shepard in his cabin. Over the course of a few weeks, and with some help from various special antibiotics and sterilizers, Tali's immune system allowed her to at least enjoy the comfort of her new boyfriend's bed as well as his body.

After a few more moments of admiration, Shepard checked the time and found that he had only little more than two hours of sleep. Certain that he was unlikely to get more, he stood from the bed and slid on a pair of leisure shorts that hung from his couch's armrest. He then sat back against the couch, the leather cool to his skin, and poured himself a moderate size drink from a bottle of whiskey he had left out for occasions such as these. It wasn't long before the glass was empty and he was pouring himself another one.

"John?" Tali's voice rang quietly from the bed where she was now sitting up and awake. He turned to her.

"I didn't wake you did I?" He replied.

"Well living in a suit most of your life, you develop a little more sensitivity to things, so when I'm not wearing my suit it's even more effective. But I don't mind."

A silence began to build between them. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Yeah… Everything's fine."

"Bad dreams?"

"You could say that."

Tali stood from the bed to join Shepard on the couch. She didn't bother bringing anything to cover herself. She enjoyed being out of her suit for as long as possible when she could be. She sat close to him while he hovered over his drink and ran her fingers across his back. Shepard leaned into her a bit.

"After everything we've been through, I still can't get two nights of good sleep in a row." Shepard said with a heavy sigh.

"So I've noticed." Tali replied. "Maybe I should be a little harder on you, get you really exhausted so your body doesn't have a choice." She teased.

Shepard let out a small laugh. "As much as I would enjoy that, my mind is the real problem here. It just can't let go of the past. Of course I'd still be willing to try your suggestion." He turned to Tali with those last words and the two shared a kiss.

"You know I'd do anything I thought might help you." She said as she rested her head against his shoulder.

Shepard then took her hand in his and nuzzled his chin against her head. "Well I'll certainly let you know if I come up with anything."

"So tell me about this dream you had." Tali inquired as she drew circles with her finger in his palm.

"I was afraid you might say that." He replied

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I just think I might be more helpful if I knew exactly what was keeping you up."

"Well it's a recurring dream, one I've been having for a while. Something only I really understand."

"Does it have to do with that vision from the Prothean beacon?"

"No, not this one."

"This one? You mean you have more than one recurring nightmare?"

"A few actually. Some of them involve reapers and collectors. Others I'm falling from space and burning up in a planet's atmosphere. Can't imagine where that came from." He had a notable facetious tone with his last remark. "But the one I had tonight is my oldest, and probably most painful."

Tali had to let that last word sink in for a moment. This was a rare moment of weakness she seeing in her captain. Shepard was a known hero throughout the entire galaxy. He had the most powerful will of any man she had ever met, human or otherwise. But here he was with her, talking about the scars of his past. It made him seem so much more human, and all she wanted to do was comfort him.

"I'm sorry John. I know what it's like to be haunted by your past, even though I can't imagine the things you've been through." Tali had a building suspicion this nightmare he was referring to had something to do with that mission on Akuze she had heard so much and yet so little about. She squeezed his hand tight in hers. "But I'm always here to help, even just to listen."

"Thanks Tali, it's reassuring to know I'll always have you there for me." He said as he kissed her forehead.

"So would you like to talk about it?"

The commander thought for a moment. He had already relived Akuze enough for one night. "Tell you what." He said. "Next time it comes up, I'll tell you all about it."

"Well then let's hope you never have to tell me about it." She replied with Shepard's favorite smile.

"Yeah let's hope." Shepard chuckled. "For now, let's just sit."

Shepard put an arm around Tali who took this chance to snuggle closer to him. For a while the two rested there on the couch, simply enjoying each other's company. Shepard tried to cherish these out of suit moments with Tali as best he could, even just a simple hand holding. It always saddened him a little bit when she had to hide herself in her suit again.

It wasn't long before Tali had fallen back to sleep against the commander. Gently, he placed one hand under her legs, tightened his grip around her shoulder, and proceeded to lift and carry her back to bed. She stirred somewhat and let out a small sigh.

"… Big strong arms." She murmured.

Shepard laid her down and placed the covers over her then was quick to join her. With her last bit of consciousness she rolled over and placed her head on his chest and her hand up across to his shoulder. He enjoyed the sensation of her hair across his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. She was out cold in seconds. Shepard however remained awake for a while. With all the time he spent staring up at that cold ceiling he thought he should have some kind of mural painted up there, maybe install a screen so he could browse the extranet to kill time. For now he just ran his fingers through Tali's hair. That always seemed to soothe him. He relaxed with a few deep breaths and soon was back to sleep.