Wow, ok, so I wasn't expecting quite so much feedback, quite a few favs, even some reviews. Thank you so much. Mass Effect and canonical characters are the property of EA Games and BioWare.
/Elin
Tali tapped the final command to initiate the power transfer and stood back, watching the progress of the indicator bars. With one arm tucked firmly into a sling, she'd been relegated to station duty. She had had to fight for that much as well, but she suspected that Dr. Chakwas understood that she needed something, anything, to occupy her mind.
'I need you to make it out of here alive...'
She hadn't slept since waking up, and in the hours since communications had been reestablished with the fleet, substantial amount of her energy had been spent trying to locate Sarah's mother. With EDI apparently... dead, or 'unresponsive' as the more apt phrasing for an AI went, and the drive core knocked out, being unable to work mechanically had left her little to do but sift through information feeds and making tentative inquiries of her own. They'd never met, there hadn't been time for such normalcies as 'meeting the parents', and She wasn't even sure if Sarah had mentioned their relationship, or her at all for that matter. The SSV Orizoba, she'd managed to find out, had gone down fighting in the skies over Earth, valiantly covering the approach of the Crucible. The ships escape pods had been launched but much of the crew were still listed as missing in action. If that was due to the information being spotty or them never making it off the ship was still uncertain, but regardless Hannah Shepard remained one of these unknowns. Still, she felt the need to explain, to apologize for not doing more... for living, when Sarah didn't.
'I can't stay behind!'
Her lithe, three fingered hand closed into a tight fist trying to stem the tide of emotions roiling within. An alarm buzzed and her luminous eyes snapped up to the interface, a red error flash for a moment, followed by the systems log popping up.
INITIATE REACTION SEQUENCE: ... [OK]
REACTION CHAMBER INTEGRITY CHECK: ... [OK]
INITIATE CONTAINMENT FIELD: ... []
...
ERROR: FAILURE OF PRIMARY CONTAINMENT GRID
...
ERROR: FAILURE OF SECONDARY CONTAINMENT GRID, BACKUP SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE
REACTION SEQUENCE ABORTED
Tali stared at the readout for a moment.
'Don't leave me behind...'
In silent fury, she smashed her fist against the haptic pad, and with a crack, it winked out. Breathing heavily and with sloped, shaking shoulders she tried to regain control as she heard a soft shuffling behind her.
"... Tali?" Gabby Daniels soft voice came out almost pleading.
Before the other woman could put her hand on Talis shoulder, she shrugged roughly and extricated herself towards the door, muttering a barely audible "I'll be right back." to Gabby as she went. She didn't want to act this way, she felt silly and selfish. But she couldn't help it, her mind was screaming and her body was itching for some kind of action to be taken, only she didn't know what that would be. The wait for the lift was excruciating as she paced to and fro in front of the hatch, the ride up even more so. When she finally made it to the crew deck, she bolted through, barely dodging crewmates without even registering who they were. When she made it to the observation lounge, she was barely holding together.
'... I have a home..."
With a scream that tapered off into a mournful wail, she threw the nearest object she could reach, then another, and another. She barely registered the sound of the hatch opening and closing, but as she turned around to throw another object; a book, she vaguely realized, she came face to face with Liara. Chest and shoulders heaving and with shaking hands, Tali stared at one of her oldest friends. Then, as quickly as it had seized her, the rage ebbed, replaced by a crushing emptiness such as she had never felt. Not after the death of her mother, not at the death of her father. For the first time in her life, Tali felt utterly alone. The book clattered to the floor, and she finally broke down. A heart wrenching sob escaped her and she felt her legs give. Liara closed the distance in a single stride, crushing the younger women to her chest.
"It's not fair!" Tali sobbed brokenly into Liaras shoulder "It's not fair..."
"I know..." Liara said soothingly.
Liara sat with her friend for hours, and eventually the sobs, just like the anger, ebbed, and Tali slept for the first time in days.
"Tali..."
The voice felt far away, a hand was gently rocking her leg and slowly Tali pulled herself out of her deep slumber. Groggily, she blinked and sat up. Liara was there, sitting next to her on the sofa with a comforting hand resting on her knee.
"Hi." Tali said, her voice a bit raspy from disuse "What time is it?"
Liara smiled, a slightly mischievous gleam in her eye that reminded Tali if 'the good old days', before Alchera. "18.00 hours, but it's the next day, you've been decked out in here for 18 hours."
Tali blinked owlishly at her, then let out a queit, sad chuckle "Guess I needed it, huh?"
"Yes," Liara said with a smile "and now you need these."
A pouch of sterilized water and a nutrient paste tube was placed on the table in front of her.
"I'm not-" she began but was promptly cut off.
"You. Need. It." Liara insisted, enunciating each syllable and fixing her friend with a piercing gaze.
Sighing, but too tired still to argue, she set to work. The water was welcome, her throat was dry and she felt feverish, but the nutrient paste tasted like ashes in her mouth and she had to fight to get, and then keep it, down. It turned out that eating mechanically means you can do it quite quickly even when having zero desire to do so and fighting back nausea, and she polished both items off in 15 minutes.
"Good!" Liara said, clapping her hands together "Now that I managed to get you fed, we can get to why I woke you up."
Tali turned her head and, despite her somber mood, Liara could spot the telltale Quarian curiosity sparkle behind the visor. Not as brightly as usual, not as clear, but it was there nontheless.
"We've received a transmission from Earth, apparently Admiral Hackett wishes to speak with us. Well, you, specifically, apparently. Ash is already waiting in the Com Room.
Talis gut wrenched again, and she wrought her hands together nervously. "Is it... did they say-"
Liara put a comforting hand on her arm "No, they didn't say. But whatever has happened has happened already, hearing it won't change anything." she said gently.
Drawing a shuddering breath, Tali nodded. "Ok..." she said "Ok."
Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams had never sought rank, or command. Having fought against the stigma of her family name for most of her career, she'd resigned herself to being a grunt for the duration of her service before mustering out. It was after all, as her father always put it, the William's Curse. Getting screwed for doing the right thing and making the call no one else wanted to make.
So it was because of this she was still uneasy about her current status. Not only had she achieved officers status, she was currently acting CO of an Alliance warship. 'Hell,' she mused to herself 'and I'm not even bloody Navy'. She'd had laughed if the reasons for her appointment weren't so damn tragic and hearth wrenching. Sarah Shepard, a woman she greatly respected and considered a dear friend; a dear friend she felt that she'd wronged terribly on more than one occasion, was gone. Presumed dead, as was wont to happen when the space station one's on halfway blows up. They'd 'spoken' about it, briefly, but there hadn't been time, or it hadn't felt important at the time, to really say what needed to be said. And Ashley regretted it now, she'd never truly apologized, Shepard being Shepard had just... offered forgiveness without being asked. The woman was all about second, or even fifth chances.
And then there was the issue of Tali. That was another thing she'd never expected. In her youth she'd been, not racist, she'd never agree to that definition even now, but 'understandably cautious' around aliens. Especially Turians, a people she blamed, subconsciously anyway, for the aforementioned family curse. It was therefore with some consternation she'd come to realize that her prejudices against other races, Quarians in particular, were more or less carbon copied of the prejudices often espoused by those very same Turians. And even though she'd never expected it, she now counted both a Turian, an Asari and a Quarian as some of her closest friends.
"You think this is about Shepard?" she asked after a long, but not uncomfortable silence, her eyes never leaving the com panel.
"Mm," Garrus's flanged voice hummed next to her "Can't think of what else it would be. Sure, Tali's an Admiral but we know for a fact that most of the Admiralty Board survived the battle, so no need to drag her out of bed if it wasn't personal." He paused, glancing down at her "How would Hackett know about them anyway?"
Ashley chuckled "Shepard listed her as emergency medical contact in her file, alongside her Mom. Not exactly a sign that says 'hey, we're shacking up' but as good as."
Garrus chuckled as well "Not that they needed a sign mind you, that mission on the Geth dreadnought was excruciating. 'Well, I care deeply about the Quarian people', please." they shared a small laugh at that, but quickly grew somber again "You think she's alive?"
"I'm hoping..." she replied, trailing off "She tricked the piper once, why not again?"
They heard footsteps behind them, and Tali shuffled into the alcove, followed shortly by Liara. Ashley reached out and touched Talis arm in comfort briefly, then turned around and tapped the com panel.
"FLEETCOM." came the by now practiced response moments later.
"LT Williams, acting CO SSV Normandy, responding to a communications request by Fleet Admiral Hackett."
"Stand by..."
Ashley turned around to face her friends and crew mates and rolled her eyes in silence.
"Hold for Fleet Command."
The communicator buzzed and the holo shifted, and Admiral Stephen Hackett materialised shortly after.
" Lieutenant Commander." he greeted, returning Ashley's crisp salute "Officer Vakarian, Dr. T'Soni, Admiral Zorah." he greeted the three present not in his chain of command with a respectful nod each. While not Alliance personel, he felt... somewhat responsible for them, given their continued service aboard the Normandy.
"I'll get directly to the point; we've... recovered, Commander Shepard." he said, grimacing slightly as he finished.
They all heard a sharp intake of air from Tali as the young woman swayed slightly in place.
"Sir... when you say 'recovered'-" Ashley began
"She's alive." Hackett cut her off, and paused as Tali sagged against Liaras shoulder and let out a muffled sob she'd been unable to contain fully. "Alive but... in a bad way." The silence in the alcove was oppressive as they waited for the Admiral to continue.
"From what the Doctors here tell me that she's even alive is nothing short of a miracle, the fact that she was apparently moving at first when they found her on the Citadel is nothing short of a medical impossibility." He went on "A combination of sheer stubbornness and the cybernetic implants, or at least the latter according to the doctor here. We're attempting to track down Operative Lawson as we speak, given her expertise on Shepard's particular implants, but communication is a bit ad-hoc at the moment as you've no doubt noticed."
"Sir, can you give us a location?" Ashley asked "We expect to have the Normandy underway within the next few hours, I request permission to take the ship to Earth we... the crew, needs to be there, sir." she finished, feeling awkward making such a personal and heartfelt request of a superior officer.
"Granted, Lieutenant Commander." Hacket replied instantly, with a nod, surprising her "She's being treated at what's left of a London hospital at the moment, but we've got a hospital ship, the Nightingale, on her way into the system. Likely Shepard will be moved there when it reaches orbit, assuming she's stable enough."
"Understood sir, we'll be there."
Hackett nodded "Get your ship moving, LT, we'll speak again when you arrive. Hackett out." the image of the grizzled old veteran flicker out.
Tali finally let her relieved yet anguished sobs out, and clung to Liara who stroked her back and kept repeating "It's going to be alright, she's alive." Over and over.
Even Garrus, normally so stoic, braced himself against the railing, mandibles fluttering with, to his compatriots, unreadable emotion.
"Right" Ashely said after taking a moment to collect herself "We've a lot of work to do, so lets snap to it and go get Shepard. I'm sick of command anyway." this elicited a wet, relieved chuckle from Tali.
Stepping to the side and tapping the intercom "Joker! How we looking?"
A brief pause the acerbic response came "Gabby and Ken tell me we're about ready to attempt another energy transfer LT. They say the containment systems should be up to snuff, but, well, they said that yesterday too, so, ya'know..."
"Good. And the... computer systems?" she prodded.
At this allusion to the unresponsive EDI, the Flight Lieutenant quieted "No change" he replied after a moment, voice utterly devoid of feeling.
"Understood, be on standby for engine startup procedures."
"Aye aye, LT." he replied, and the connection broke.
"Right!" she said, turning to the others in the room "Tali, I'd understand if you're not up to it, but Donnely and Daniels could use you down in engineering."
Sniffling, Tali let go of Liara and stood straight "Of course, yes, sorr-" she said, flustered
"You've nothing to be sorry about" Ashely cut her off, holding her hand up in a stalling motion. "I just figured you're probably more anxious than most of us." she said with a wink.
"I'll go make sure the weapons systems won't cause power fluctuations" Garrus added, and then promptly walked out.
"Bya all means" Ashley said to his retreating back in poorly hidden amusement.
A few hours later, with all available systems primed and ready, the engineering crew of the Normandy were all holding their collective breath. With Tali back to something at least resembling her old self, the work had proceeded at a far quicker pace than the previous day, even with one arm in a sling she really was a mechanical mastermind, Ken remarked.
"Initiating power transfer!" she called to Gabby over the din of the spluttering power generator perched precariously on the floor next to the drive core, who stood by one of the panels opposite. "Monitor the containment field integrity in real time and shore it up as needed."
"Got it!" Gabby called back.
They, or rather Tali, had pulled an old Migrant Fleet trick out of her proverbial hat and rigged an external, extra containment field field generator out of spare parts and a portable power generator. It was an old trick born of desperation, a last ditch backup used in a fleet where emergency shutdowns in the events of containment failures didn't always work. And a fleet where there may very well be a nursery or a hospital right next to said jury rigged power core.
She tapped the final commands and stared intently at the real time log feedback.
INITIATE REACTION SEQUENCE: ... [OK]
REACTION CHAMBER INTEGRITY CHECK: ... [OK]
INITIATE CONTAINMENT FIELD: ... []
...
PROCESSING
...
INITIATE CONTAINMENT FIELD: ... [OK]
CHECKING SECONDARY CONTAINMENT GRID: ... [OK]
FIRING IGNITION COILS: ... [OK]
The engine room hummed and lit up in a blue shimmer as the drive core came to life once more. Ken and Gabby cheered behind her and Engineer Adams clapped her on her good shoulder with a laugh.
"Well then, not exactly to specs but there you go."
"You humans and your 'specs'" she teased back.
Chucking, he slapped the intercom. "Adams to CIC!"
"Go ahead Adams" Ashley responded promptly.
"Drive core is up and running thanks to our resident Quarian genius, LT" he replied, making Tali blush a little behind her visor "Wouldn't recommend taking her above 30% though. Core's not exactly stable, but we've got main power."
"Roger that, engine room. Monitor the situation continuously and prepare to get underway, CIC out."
Tali wrung her hands nervously. She was eager to get underway, certainly. In fact, in all her life, she didn't think she'd ever hated the vastness of space, the distances it meant, more than she did in that very moment. But she was also nervous about what she might find once they got back to Earth. The thought of Sarah, injured and maybe in pain... alone, it tore at her from the inside. Still, she was alive, which was more than she'd dare to hope. It had seemed so final, but yet again Sarah had done the impossible, come back from the brink or even from beyond.
Walking out of engineering, she wandered without any particular destination in mind, so she was surprised when she found herself on the top deck, staring at the hatch to the captain's courters. She hadn't been back here since the night before the assault on Cerberus headquarters, the last time she and Sarah had truly been together. Entering the room, she took a deep breath. Even through all her filters and gadgets, it still smelled like her, the bulkheads veritably radiated her presence, from the collection of model ships; something that Tali found infinitely cute to the point that she'd never even been able to give Sarah so much as a friendly ribbing about this slightly age-inappropriate hobby, the the decidedly un-military regulation mess that was her footlocker. The Quarians had Rannoch back, but for Tali, this was home, wherever Sarah was, she had a home. She only hoped they would share it again.