And I'm back. My previous Shepard-Tali story had lost my interest so here is a reboot. This time I'll start from ME2 and all the points where Shepard and Tali had their moment. AND the music video I was going to make has been uploaded at this link: watch?v=gvIEhnvqMTM
Shepard exited the lift. Yesterday, he just blew up an entire decommissioned Cerberus facility on Pragia. He needed Jack's loyalty. More specifically, he needed Jack not to tear the Normandy apart. Nobody wanted a Normandy SR3. It was two years since he got spaced, months since he'd been resurrected and days since Horizon. Ashley was on horizon though it wasn't what people would call a reunion of teammates. She was angry, very angry. Working for Cerberus isn't exactly held in high regard in the Alliance. But I'm not working for Cerberus, he thought.
If there was one thing he appreciated about his new life in Cerberus, it was the familiar faces. Joker, Garrus and even Liara, for a while, made sure he wasn't stepping into hell alone. But there was also Tali. Tali wasn't like the others. Shepard had feelings for his old friend. Freedom's Progress gave him the will to push forward in the hopes of crossing paths with her again. They did on Haestrom. He saves her again and joins his team but Shepard never felt she owed him anything. He only felt he needed to protect her. She's seen so much death, he thought.
Shepard was lost in thought when Yeoman Chambers turned her head toward him with the flirtatious smile she always had.
"Tali wishes to speak with you."
Tali wishes to speak with you. That sentence snapped him out of his thoughts. He replied.
"She mention why?"
"No, sir, but she seemed distraught."
Shepard nodded in return. Chambers winked like she was hinting him to do something. When Tali first came aboard, Chambers mentioned how much she liked Tali. Shepard slipped that he liked Tali too. It was a bit embarrassing to let it out at first to some Cerberus stranger but then Chambers went on about how Tali appeared to show interest, too. Damn, a degree in psychology? Shepard liked the idea that Tali was interested in him, too. But he wanted to take it slow. She just lost her entire team on Haestrom and half of it back on Freedom's Progress. Take it slow like one would with a delicate flower like her. The real beauty lies inside. And now, I'm just daydreaming.
Shepard got back into the lift and pressed the button for the Engineering Deck. The lift reached its destination. The doors slid open and Shepard stepped out. He turned the corridor. He could hear Grunt punching something metallic in his room. God, I hope it isn't expensive, he thought. When he entered the drive core room, Ken and Gabby were at it again. Ken mentioned something about Miranda's uniform making him stand at attention. Shepard couldn't help but shake his head and grin. Then his attention shifted to Tali. The quarian appeared calm. Tali turned her head, her eyes piercing Shepard.
"Shepard!" There was anxiety in her voice.
"Tali, I wanted to check in on you."
"Can we take this outside?"
"Sure thing"
The two left the room. The other two engineers were still bickering. This time about Jack not having any shirt and only having tattoos all over her body. Ken considered going to Jack. The two were now in the corridor. Shepard prayed Zaeed was too busy polishing guns.
Tali took her time and paced the corridor. She was playing with her hands like she always did when she was nervous. Shepard found it attractive in an odd way.
"So about my problem…the Admiralty Board has accused me of treason." Tali's voice stuttered in the end. Treason?
"Is it because you're working for Cerberus?"
"I'm not working for Cerberus. I'm working for you!" Tali was a bit defensive.
"What does happen when a quarian is accused of treason?" At that moment, Tali tilted her head down.
"Well, I have to go the Migrant Fleet and present myself. They'll give a reasonable amount of time for me to appear. If I don't, I get tried in absentia. I'm going to book a fli-" Shepard interrupted her almost impulsively.
"I'll make it a priority. We can head there now."
"Really? You don't know how much this means to me." Tali raised her head again. And her eyes showed a spark of happiness that someone cared, that someone being Shepard.
A few moments of silence passed. Shepard was about to head for the lift.
"I'm scared, Shepard." At that moment, Shepard stepped closer to her and held her hand. Tali looked up at him with those innocent eyes.
"I'll see it through, Tali, I promise." There was no reply. Tali simply hugged Shepard. Tali broke off almost immediately realizing she was a little too hasty.
"Err…um…I didn't mean to imply anything, Shepard. Sorry." Tali was stuttering and played with her hands again.
"You don't have to be sorry. I'll take care of it." He really wanted to say I'll take care of you. But he knew that would be too immediate.
Tali went back to work on the drive core. Shepard took the lift to the CIC and punched in the coordinates of the Migrant Fleet.
Tali returned to her station still hot with anxiety over the conversation. Keelah, I lost it, didn't I? She thought to herself. She liked Shepard. Hell, she loved him. Commander Shepard, savior of the Citadel, first human Spectre, and defeater of Saren. It was he who saved her from Fist's thugs, again on Freedom's Progress and just recently on Haestrom.
Tali had been talking to Kelly Chambers ever since Tali came on board. Chambers' hadn't told her yet that Shepard was interested. But the yeoman did know that Tali had a huge crush for Shepard.
"Shepard just punched in coordinates for the Migrant Fleet. Must have been serious what you two talked about."
"It's personal, Kelly." Tali trusted Chambers enough to use her first name. She might be the only person in Cerberus she would acquaint with.
"He said yes to whatever it is obviously. I bet you're pretty happy down there." The yeoman giggled.
"Keelah, I messed it up. He took my hand to assure me he'd take care of it but then I hugged him. And I'm pretty sure I stuttered at every sentence."
"Did he get angry?"
"No, thank god, no. All he did was to reassure me he'd take care of it."
"Then you have nothing to worry about. The Commander seemed pretty happy punching in the coordinates."
"You're not making that up so that I feel better, are you?"
"I don't lie, well except to some ex-boyfriends of mine. Mind you, one of those was a turian."
"Keelah, this might get uncomfortable. I have to get back to work, Kelly." The yeoman just laughed.
"See ya."
Tali wasn't really getting back to work. Instead, she planned a visit to Mordin. She thought it might be wise to ask a doctor if a quarian-human relationship would work. She also felt it was stupid and bold of her. She took the lift. She made sure Shepard or Chambers saw her. She sneaked by to the entrance of the lab. She tried to collect her nerves. Mordin would never let this out, would he? She was barely prepared when the door slid open.
"Ah, Tali'Zorah. Knew someone was at the door. Being STG sharpens senses. So does constant danger from mercenaries on Omega." Mordin talked in his signature quick and short bursts.
"Uh, hello, Mordin, I was going to ask about a personal medical matter." Mordin almost instantly broke off from his work and scanned Tali with his omni-tool.
"Hm. Doesn't appear to be sick. Life signs normal. What's wrong?"
"I was going to ask…" She cleared her throat. "…to ask about human-quarian relationships."
"Ah. Suspected as much. Body language obvious when in shuttle rides with Shepard. Ah. But yes. Human-quarian relationship is possible but dangerous. Take precautions."
"Dangerous?" Tali was darkly curious.
"Chemical composition between two species different. Turian-quarian relationships common because of dextro-amino acid chirality. Human-quarian problematic. Will upload studies, diagrams and vids to your personal terminal."
"Uh, thanks, professor. And can you please not tell anyone else about this conversation?"
"Doctor-patient confidentiality a sacred trust, Miss Zorah. Would never dream of mockery." Mordin smiled. It was almost a grin that unsettled Tali.
And with that, she left the lab and headed back to engineering.
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