Nathan Shepard pulled off his helmet as he walked down the garage platform to the elevator. He was covered in sweat and grime from fighting a small insurgence of Geth.
The Geth had laid a trap on a small uncharted world where the Normandy had been picking up mineral deposits. The Geth had disguised their trap as a distress beacon. Nathan hadn't let one distress beacon go unchecked on their 13 month long journey so far. Typically they almost all warranted Geth traps, but he was thankful it was the Normandy answering their call and not a freighter or random good hearted crew trying to help someone in distress.
"Commander?" Tali trailed him, trying to catch up.
Nathan turned and paused so she could catch up to him. He ran a hand though his short black hair and watched as she trotted over, holding something in her hand. His head ached from lack of sleep and the stress of battle. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and felt a milli-second of relief at the gesture.
"Your pistol," she held it out to him as she reached him, "it un-clipped from your holster when you go out of the Mako."
He smiled as he took it from her, "Thanks, Tali." He clipped it back on his belt and looked back to her.
"You're welcome," she said sweetly.
Nathan couldn't help it, knowing many people probably wondered the same as he, but he wanted so much to see her behind her face plate. Even though he couldn't see her face, the time they had spent together on this mission was rubbing off on him. He was growing very fond of Tali.
Afraid he'd looked on her too long, he nodded once and turned to head back on his way to the elevator.
Tali moved as if to say something, but stayed silent. She wrung her hands together and watched as he disappeared around the corner. A sigh escaped her as she felt her heart tingle at the smile he gave her.
She recalled a moment down on Aequitas, only an hour ago. Tali had gotten bogged down by Geth. She had tried to disable the distress beacon when the Geth got the drop on them. Nathan and Garrus were scouting out to the south of Tali's position, so when the Geth hit she was on her own. She held her ground, taking out several Geth herself, but was soon overwhelmed.
She smiled as she recalled radioing for Nathan and not a moment later he was there, pushing her out of the way of a Geth sniper shot and taking out A.I. with a single headshot himself.
She also recalled the worry in his eyes as he looked to her, calling out to make sure she wasn't hit. She was fine. He had saved her.
Hmm, that wasn't the first time he's saved you either, she told herself. She smiled as she headed down the ramp to Engineering, thinking on Shepard every step of the way.
