Author's Note: As always, please review. I live off 'em. Seriously. Secondly, I must apologize for how long it took me to work this out. Hope it's worth the wait!

Chapter Two: Fear, Lust, and New Experiences

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of Tali's own heart beating reverberated inside her helmet. She had fought Geth, mercenaries, even a Reaper. None of that had brought upon her the same kind of fear she felt now. "Oh, Keelah." She mumbled for what had to be the hundredth time, as she watched the elevator's numbers slowly tick downwards. Her hands began wringing together.

Only a few hours lay between the Normandy and the Omega 4 relay. Tali was unsure of what waited on the other side. Well, that wasn't true. No one was saying it, but everyone knew the expectations; It was most probably a suicide mission. But Tali had known the stakes when she signed on. If they stopped the collectors, they would put a massive dent into the Reaper's plans. And that was all good.

What Tali hadn't known upon retaking her place aboard the Normandy was that she would be given the opportunity to express her feelings for Shepard. And, to her surprise, that Shepard would admit that he felt the same way. A moment of unbridled joy swept through her, thinking of that conversation.

Anxiety had clawed at her though. Tali grimaced, remembering how foolish she had sounded as she tripped over her words, trying to tell Shepard how it wouldn't work; she could get sick, endanger the mission. But Shepard seemed to have been expecting that. He had said just what she needed to hear, just what she had secretly wanted him to say. That he wanted her, and that they would make it work.

And that was why Tali stood inside the Normandy's elevator, watching as it slowly worked it's way up to Shepard's cabin, her heart nearly erupting from her chest. The massive dose of antibiotics that coursed through her veins would combat any foreign material, but it didn't do anything to her anxiety. She had never shown her face to anyone. What would Shepard think? What would he say? What would he-

Her thoughts cut off suddenly as a small chime accompanied the elevator's arrival on the top floor. The door slowly opened. "Oh. Shit." She mumbled, stepping timidly out of the elevator. Had her mind not been so overloaded with fear, she would have probably have laughed at that choice of profanity. Shepard had taught it to her.

Now, only a half inch door of metal and plastic stood between her and him. I have to do it. I can't do it. I need to do it. I can't do it. I want to do it... The debate that raged inside her mind kept her firmly planted outside the door. Tali understood that she loved him. She understood that he loved her. Then what else do I need to do? She chided herself. Just walk in there and...

Unconsciously following her own advice, Tali was shocked to find herself walking towards the door. It opened with a slight swoosh. The fear and anxiety that had plagued her turned into panic as Shepard came into view. Her suit was blinking some kind of warning about her heart-rate, but she couldn't bring herself to focus on it. Shepard was turning towards her. "Tali?" He murmured, an eyebrow raising.

There was no backing out now, she finally decided. She just had to go with it. "D-Do you remember how w-we talked before about what I could do to... to... to prepare for..." She was mumbling, stuttering, stammering. Focus, dammit!

Shepard only smiled. He set down the datapad he had been reading before taking a couple steps closer to her. "Yes, I remember."

That smile disarmed her fear, at least a bit. She found her herself blinking away a tear. Of happiness or fear she could not tell. Shaking her head slowly, Tali tried to remember what she had wanted to say, what she had practiced down in Engineering, with her voice modulator turned off.

"I-I've taken some... No. Q-Quite a few antibiotics as well as some herbal supplements to bolster my immune system." She matched Shepard's couple of steps, bringing her directly in front of him. "And I was going to bring some music, but I didn't know what you would like. Or some food, b-but we don't eat the same kind of..." She stopped, lowering her gaze so she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. "I'm babbling like an idiot."

Shepard once again smiled as he put a hand upon each of her shoulders. The feeling, even through the suit, was electric. "Its fine, Tali. It really is. You don't need to impress me."

The young quarian found herself being drawn by Shepard towards his bed, where they sat on the end. She just wanted to enjoy the moment, to revel in the the feelings that welled inside her. But she couldn't stop talking. "I-I just don't want to... I want this to work. I've thought this over. I've minimized the risks. But-but I'm still nervous."

Taking her hand in his, he winked at her. "Nervous? I haven't noticed."

The sarcasm wasn't lost on her, but she was just too tense to acknowledge it. "Yes. Nervous. And that always makes me talk too much. It's a defense mechanism. And it's stupid. And..." Her mind registered that Shepard was moving closer to her, but she couldn't stop talking. "People who... People who just see the helmet can't see my e-expression, so I have to make it clear... what I'm..." Now Shepard was reaching towards her face, a hand landing on each side of her mask. What was he doing? The sound of her faceplate's pressure seals disengaging as he unsealed it answered that question. The statement she had been making died as she whispered it's abrupt end: "...feeling...", before watching as Shepard placed her faceplate upon the bed.

He wasn't looking at a suit. He wasn't looking at a faceplate. He wasn't looking at a haze of purple polarization. Shepard was looking at her face, and he was smiling. That realization ignited the fire that had been within Tali since she had agreed to meet him here. And that fire emboldened her. With a bit of a yelp, she found herself pushing Shepard back upon the bed, before she pounced upon him. Pounced? Her subconscious laughed, Where did that come from?

There was no time to answer the questions her subconscious posed, however, as Shepard drew her in closer. He went for a kiss, but the bottom portion of her mask prevented him from reaching her mouth. With a slight shrug, he placed it upon her forehead. To her embarrassment, she found herself tilting back her head as she moaned in ecstasy. It wasn't really that the kiss had been anything spectacular, or that Shepard had some extraordinarily intoxicating effect on her. But Tali had been within her suit for around two years, since she had first received it upon completing her pilgrimage. She had spent two years cut off from the world outside her suit, feeling only through fabric, smelling only through an olfactory array, seeing only through a mask. Now, though, she was feeling the fresh air upon her face, smelling for the first time Shepard's actual scent, feeling for the first time his, or anyone's for that matter, lips brush against her forehead. She just couldn't help the moan.

The human beneath her pulled back, another smile spreading across his face. "You seem to be getting more out of this then me." He said, gesturing towards a thin red cut that had appeared beneath his left eye.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Shepard. I-I.." Tali was breathing deeply, finding it hard not to revel in the feelings that raged within her body. Her mask's chin, which ended in a sharp point on each side, must have scrapped across his face when she had leaned her head back. "...I really need to get this suit off." She finally finished, before sliding off of him. "It will only take about ten minutes. You can wait here while I use your bathroom-"

He interjected quickly: "Can I help, Tali?"

The question hung in the air for a few seconds as she found herself at a loss for words. Throughout her life, Tali reckoned that she had taken off her suit completely only a half dozen times. To have Shepard help her? The idea was thrilling. But a question remained that had to be answered. The young quarian had already turned her back to him, forcing her to look over her shoulder to respond. "Why would you want to?"

Shepard returned to a sitting position on the end of the bed before answering her. "To tell you the truth? I'm curious as to how quarian suits work. And I want to learn, really I do."

Tali smiled, and for the first time realized that Shepard was capable of seeing it. "You seemed to know how to remove my mask just fine..." She replied, a playful inflection sliding into her voice as she turned back towards Shepard.

The human sitting upon the bed only shrugged. "You did a little research on how we could make this work. I did a little research on how you work. But there is almost nothing on the Extranet about your people."

"Well, there is always Fornax." Tali giggled, which elicited a laugh from Shepard. "But, to be serious," she continued, "quarians don't usually talk about such things. And with the Fleet off of the extranet grid? I guess it makes sense you couldn't find much. Plus... Well... I've always kind of wished... Because you never, um, before now I mean, saw my face. That you would..." The anxiety was slipping back in as she began wringing her hands together. How am I supposed to say this without sounding like a... whore?

Shepard alleviated those fears as he stood up, moving to hold her hands in his to stop their nervous movement. "How about we stop sitting around and just do this? Where do we start?"

"W-Well, um, you..." The feeling of Shepard's hands against hers, even though her gloves still remained between their skin, helped her confidence return. "The belt." She finally blurted out, fighting desperately to remain calm. Her anxiety was now mixing with lust, diluting her fears. "E-Easy things first. The belt, for starters."

Allowing one hand to remain gripping hers, Shepard moved his other slowly down her waist, to the belt buckle. With a soft click it came undone before silently sliding down her legs until it hit the floor. Tali closed her eyes as Shepard slowly slid his hand farther down her legs, focusing on the left one. Two more clicks followed by a slight clang announced that the knife affixed to her shin was off. As Shepard rose again to his full height, he waited for a couple seconds before tapping the chin of Tali's helmet. "You still with me Tali?" He asked quietly.

Her eyes popped back open as the sound of his tapping echoed in her head. As soon as she realized that her breathing had again become heavy with passion, embarrassment flashed across her face. "I'm sorry, Shepard. Its been two years since I have been out of this suit. And no one-no one-has touched me with such..."

Shepard couldn't help but smile at her demure response to his question. "You need to stop apologizing. We both want this, and there is nothing wrong with enjoying it. If I was in a suit like that for so long? Well, I sure as hell would be more than a bit sexually repressed."

"Shepard!" She gasped, her face blushing. And while there was more than a bit of truth in his statement, Tali couldn't bring herself to acknowledge it. Instead, she backed away from the human, raising her left hand as she activated her omnitool in an attempt to change the flow of the conversation. "I almost forgot to turn off the suit's subsystems. Just one second." She punched a few keys, turning off the biometrics, air filters, and other such secondary subroutines. "There." She mumbled, before reaching with her right hand to begin unhooking the lowermost of the two black packs that adorned her left arm.

Shepard again moved closer to her, raising one of his hands to meet hers. "Here. Let me help you with..." He cocked his sideways as the pack around her lower arm came off, although eleven small hoses still connected to to her suit. "Whats with the tubes?"

"Why, these ridges are little houses, where the insects that live within my bloodstream reproduce." The silence that followed her statement was absolute. It was the kind of silence that only followed something incredibly morbid. After a few seconds, Tali couldn't stop herself as a laugh escaped her lips. "I'm kidding, Shepard. Just kidding!"

The look of what could only have been described as horror that had plastered the human's face contorted quickly into a smile. "Well," he laughed, "I guess I do deserve that after the 'sexually repressed' comment I made." Watching Tali carefully unhook the first of the small hoses as she nodded in agreement, Shepard attempted to mimic the action. Unfortunately, the length of the hoses prevented the black packs from being lifted up very high, and the resultant clearance was just to small for him to stick his fingers in.

Shooing his hands away, Tali grinned. "It was designed for three fingered hands. If you want to help, you should be able to reach the tubes that connect to the packs on my upper arms. They're bigger." A soldier's hands have nowhere near the same dexterity as a quarian machinist, and it showed as Tali had removed both of the lower packs before Shepard had even managed to unhook one of the upper ones.

Fiddling with the last tube on her right side, the human finally asked the question that had been floating in his mind. "What are these for, anyway? I always thought they were just for show. Or storing things... because you lack pockets."

Turning over one of the black packs, Tali flicked one of the hoses. "They are for storage. Except they're for chemicals or fluids. Each tube runs to a separate reservoir. The upper ones that you are working on are filled with antibiotics, adrenaline... basically the essentials. The lower ones with eleven different pouches I can change in and out and fill with anything."

Shepard nodded, soaking in the information. "You know," he pointed out, "the hardsuits we wear kind of have the same thing. They aren't... ahem... as snug as your suit, of course."

She giggled, before reaching behind her back. "Nice one, Donnelly. Now, are you going to help me, or are you going to stand over there making stupid jokes?"

Chuckling, Shepard walked behind her, where her hands were trying unsuccessfully to unlatch the four clips that held the straps that wrapped her torso in place. It took the seasoned soldier a couple seconds to realize that, despite their elegance, they were simply locking clasps. A grunt slipped from between his lips as he torqued the first one open. "Jesus, Tali. Could these be any tighter?"

"No. Not really. Its..." Her face blushed a bit as she searched for the right words. Within quarian culture it was considered overtly lavish, and thus shameful, to integrate anything into an envirosuit that wasn't utilitarian in nature. That stigma, however, did not stop everyone from engaging in the practice. From tight straps to fancy veils to laser-etched faceplates, it was hard to find a quarian that hadn't overtly garnished their suit it some way. It was just that no one ever talked about it. Tali considered explaining this to Shepard, but she stopped herself. It sounded like a foolish system, even to her. Instead, she told the truth. "...Its kind of in-fashion right now to have them rather tight. Cuts off breathing a bit, but I have gotten used to it."

Shepard's left eye brow rose slightly. "Well, I guess some things are true across species. Kind of like a human corset, then. I remember Ash once mentioning one of her sisters was into that kind of stuff."

"Really?" The quarian mumbled as she glanced at him over her shoulder, which prompted Shepard to nod in concurrence as he fought with the last of the clasps. She had expected him to at least tease her for something so silly. It was a foolish custom even to her own people. But humans did it too? I never really imagined human women would have much in common with myself, she thought, I've always thought they were so... exotic. Alien.

A final click announced that Shepard had finally freed the last of the clasps, and the resultant deep inhalation it afforded turned Tali's thoughts back to the work of desuiting. Her nimble fingers darted to just beneath her neck where she undid the last two fasteners that resided there. Once she succeeded, she allowed the whole ensemble to slid to the floor, where it joined the other parts of her suit. But Shepard picked it back up, and held it to the light.

"I can't imagine wearing this all the time. I've seen you work your way into the interior of cramped engines. This doesn't hinder you?"

Tali shook her head, smiling a bit as fresh air passed by the quarian equivalent of her ears. "Like I said, you get used to it. Plus," She raised her hands to place them upon where the straps had been, their path still marked by small indents in the suit's fabric. "They are up around the rib cage, not around the waist. I-I don't think I would be able to bend over if they were around my waist. Anyway..." Taking the straps from Shepard, she took one of the garnished clasps and held it close to the other. They snapped together with a click. "The four clasps on my back are magnetic, too. So I can put on a magnetic backpack, or whatever else I want. Kind of nice, actually."

The human helped her pull apart the two magnetized clasps, which were stronger than she had remembered, before shrugging. "I'd prefer pockets... but I guess they would be kind of annoying if I had to wear them twenty four-seven." He glanced over to the clock upon his desk. "Whats next?"

Tali had followed his gaze, and the time alarmed her. "Oh, Shepard, I must be boring you! This is taking far longer than it does if I just do it. With the explaining and... maybe I should just hurry up and take it all off my-"

Shepard held up a hand, which succeeded in silencing her mid-sentence. "I told you to stop apologizing, and to stop worrying. We have plenty of time before we hit the Relay. And I want this to be at your pace."

The human that stood in front of her had always seemed capable of quieting her fears, and he proved it again. With a slight nod, Tali slowly grabbed each of his hands, allowing her three fingers to play between his five. "Yes, Commander." She mumbled in a impish manner, as she guided his hands up, towards her head. "And to answer your question, the veil is next. There should be some clips on top of my helmet that secure it there."

With how infrequently she took it off, even Tali had some trouble actually locating the clips. But a couple seconds of awkward fumbling succeeded in unhooking them all. Without a sound, her veil fell upon her shoulders. Tali finally noticed that she had been holding her breath throughout the endeavor, and thus released it.

"You okay, Tali?" Shepard asked, looking into her eyes as he slowly worked the veil off of her shoulders, and down her back.

"Its..." Tali let the sentence die, her mind searching for some way to explain it. Quarian culture, despite not knowing exactly why they wore veils, held the garments in high regard. It was considered sacrilegious to remove it in front of anyone, except your mother, who actually gave you your first veil. Some of the oldest generations considered the veils to be signs of purity and chastity, although Tali's views was more inline with her generation, in that it was simply a tradition best left unbroken. But the potent symbolism the veil possessed still made Shepard's slow removal of it... exciting, to the young quarian. I know Father wouldn't approve, she concluded.

"Just thinking..." Was the best she could finally murmur, as Shepard's hands distracted her, and only worked to further what would have been her father's disapproval. He was working his way down her waist, and then down her legs. As her veil ended by wrapping around each of her thighs, he was obliged to follow their path. Tali's eyes rolled back as he undid the fasteners that held each side in place. If his hands roamed a bit more than necessary, Tali wouldn't have been in any sort of condition to notice. No matter the type, any contact with Shepard, even through the suit, was exhilarating to her.

And then it was over, and Shepard was again standing in front of her, the veil draped over one of his arms. It took Tali a couple of seconds to recover, and upon seeing the last vestiges of a smirk upon his face, her face blossomed into a blush as blood rushed to her cheeks. She opened her mouth, trying to explain, to quantify the feelings that seemed to suddenly erupt whenever they touched. But nothing came out.

The chin of her mask prevented Shepard from reaching out and closing her gaping mouth, but his mimicking of the action had the same effect. She searched his eyes, looking for disapproval, for disdain, for anything except the endearing solace their light blue depths usually contained. She found only acceptance. "This is all new for you, Tali. I understand that. How many times do I have to repeat myself?" He asked, "There is no reason to be ashamed of the feelings you have. I have them too. But this is your night. You deserve it."

Her words finally returning, Tali answered. "I need to thank you. I need-"

"You need to get that suit off. I haven't done anything, really, yet." Shepard interrupted her, before once again dropping to one knee. He began pulling slowly upon one of her metallic shin guards, but it wouldn't budge. He returned his gaze to her face, a puzzled look accompanying it.

Tali silently lamented that Shepard had to find out about the bolts that anchored the shin-guards directly to her legs. It was rather common throughout the galaxy to augment physical capabilities by various kinds of surgeries, but the intent was always to improve something without displaying any external change. A ½ inch hole drilled through each ankle was, once noticed, incredibly visible, and as such the quarian people rarely advertised that every quarian had a pair. Except the youngest generations, Tali clarified to herself. Of course Father had to push me to get the holes a bit early, just before they discontinued the process. She hated to think of her Father, especially now that he was no longer alive, for Tali had loved him as much as any daughter could love a man unable to speak a single sentence; a sentence she had so desperately craved. 'I love you, Tali'.

A sudden pull on the bolt that passed through her right ankle ripped the quarian girl back into the present, as the steel piece shifted within her leg. Shepard, seeing that Tali wasn't about to answer his questioning look, had returned his attention to the shin guards. His trained eyes had quickly identified the reason as to why the guards remained so indignantly stuck, and he had taken the quickest action for removing them. Unfortunately, the bolts were meant to be slowly removed, as the rifling within the hole that helped hold the bolt in place also could shift under sudden pressure. The abrupt yank he administered actually didn't hurt Tali, as the carbonic coating that lined the hole was rather tough, but the flesh that surrounded it shifted in a most disconcerting way. "Bosh'tet!" She yelled, pulling her leg away from Shepard's hands. "What are you doing?"

It was now Shepard's turn to be embarrassed. "Oh, god, Tali. I'm sorry! I thought those bolts just held those shin guards to your leg. I didn't know they actually went through them!" The human was standing now, advancing slowly towards her as he spoke. The quarian, seeing this, reached down and slowly pulled one of the bolts from her leg. Dropping it, and soon after the other, into Shepard's outreached hands, she waved his apologies away with a shake of her hand.

"It's nothing. Really." She insisted, attempting to quell the incredulous look upon his face. "It didn't hurt, I promise. Just surprised me. When... when they're... installed, most of the nerve endings in the area are deactivated. I don't actually feel much around my ankles." Tali knew that wasn't completely true, but she didn't want Shepard to be worrying that he had in some way caused her pain. Because he hadn't. The only time she actually felt any pain around the holes was when she replaced the bolts after being outside of her suit, as she would eventually have to do later tonight. Despite their numerous technological advances, the quarians had been unable to resolve that problem. Doctors believed this was because the quarian nervous system utilized adenosine triphosphate as its primary neurotransmitter, which naturally reacted when it came into contact with steel and thus temporarily reactivated the nerve endings. After about a week, the neurotransmitter integrated the steel into its transmissions, and the feeling of pain receded.

But Shepard wasn't buying it. With a mask usually covering her face, Tali had never needed to learn how to properly conceal a lie, and it showed. But the thoroughly dismissive tone she had taken convinced the human that whatever he had done wasn't a major misstep, and he let the subject drop as Tali moved to slide the shin guards off of her legs.

Succeeding in this, she placed the guards into the pile of clothing that was accumulating at her feet. Shepard mimicked her actions, placing the bolts next to the guards, before asking her the obvious question. "Whats next?"

Tali displayed her largest smile of the evening. "How about the helmet?"

The prospect of seeing Tali's full head for the first time was thrilling to the human, but it was the smile that had caught his eye. Perhaps he hadn't noticed it before, or perhaps he had simply been focusing on something else, but he had to ask. "Are... those fangs?"

The quarian slowly raised a hand to her mouth, where she pricked one of her fingers upon the teeth in question. "No..." She answered coyly.

Shepard watched as her lips again closed, the extended teeth again undetectable. Shifting her jaw slightly, however, caused the leftmost tooth to slide out from beneath her upper lip. Watching the human's face go from puzzled to concerned, Tali finally let out a small laugh. "I'm playing with you. Yes, they are "technically" fangs. The elongated maxillary canines quarians have are nothing more than a legacy of our past. Fossil records, before we lost access of course, showed that they used to be much longer, and we believe they were primarily used for the final killing blow upon prey animals."

Her response temporarily stunned Shepard, as he fought to find the right response. "That's... rather encyclopedic."

The young quarian shrugged. "People are curious. My immune system, my eyes, and my teeth are always topics of discussion. I can't really tell you how many times I have had to explain them, although the mask usually limits the amount of people asking about the fangs."

"So..." Shepard started, a sheepish look covering his face as he slid his hands behind his back. "Now that you brought it up, why do your eyes glow?"

"You really want to know?" Tali asked, before the human nodded his head. "Well, as you can see, my eye color is silver, which is the predominant color in the quarian people. However, quarian irises, the iris being the part that makes your eyes blue for example, is naturally bioluminescent. We aren't really sure why, but they just glow a bit. My mask," She took a moment to locate it, before remembering that it still lay upon the bed, "just so happens to make it appear brighter, so we can make eye contact when we talk to other people."

"Huh." Shepard mumbled, a hand scratching his chin in the quintessential expression of thought. "It still seems a little too encyclopedic to remember off the top of you-"

"Why do you have five fingers?" Tali interrupted, as she wiggled her three in front of him. "Krogan have three. Salarians have three. I have three. Why do you have five?"

And Shepard finally understood the point she was trying to make. Other races did ask that rather frequently! He gave the same answer he had given anyone else that had asked. "The first animals to walk the land on Earth had five fingers. Evolution hasn't changed that." He bowed his head slightly in deference. "And yes, point made, Miss Zorah."

Glad that she had finally broken through his cognitive block, Tali moved her hands up to each side of her head, so that she could continue desuiting. A slight click accompanied her movements on each side, as she disengaged the locks that held the two portions of the helmet together. Shepard had moved his hands up to her chin, and as such he caught the forward portion of her helmet as it fell away from the back, which she caught. For the first time, Shepard could see the portions of her head that the helmet normally concealed. Watching his eyes trace slowly over each feature, Tali searched for any sign of disappointment. She, and thus Shepard, found none. As she smiled at that conclusion, the human opposite her leaned in closer. "Shall we try this again?" He whispered, before bringing his lips to hers.

On the Fleet, or in quarian culture as a whole, there was no analogue for a 'kiss'. As out-of-suit activity was obviously restricted, it simply never came up. This is not to say, however, that kissing was a human trait, as the other races of the galaxy also engaged in the practice, and scientists postulated that it was an inherent part of physical relations. But to Tali, as it was something wholly new, Shepard's previous kiss upon her forehead had been wonderful. But this second one, upon her lips, took the experience to a new level. Tali had no word to describe the feelings that suddenly blossomed as his lips met hers. It was just... right. In so many ways.

After a long embrace, they parted, and what followed was an awkward silence. "Usually, we... or I would..." It was Shepard's turn to search for words, as he rubbed his arm nervously. "I think it's about time-"

"-I finish getting this suit off." Tali finished, moving to sit upon the bed. "You take off the shoes, and I'll get off this neck brace." She finished, working her long digits between the highest golden rings that wrapped her neck.

"Yes, Commander." Shepard mumbled in an amused way, as he knelt down to work on her feet. Once again, Tali's knowledge as to how everything worked, combined with her nimble fingers, allowed her to finish before the human had accomplished much of anything.

The "Commander" comment had elicited a smile from Tali, and it only broadened as she watched Shepard look for the seam where her shoes ended. His hands were searching around her ankles, which was far from correct. Taking his hands in hers, she guided him up to her thighs, the long sweep once again igniting her inner passions. But Tali wanted out of the suit, and thus forced the feelings down. The human watched as she demonstrated on one leg how to detach the friction seals that held each shoe to her suit's torso portion, and then aptly mimicked the quarian as she slid the attached leggings down, before finally taking off the shoe completely.

"Almost done." Shepard remarked as the shoe slid off her foot, for only her arms and torso remained covered. "Gloves attach the same way, right?" He asked, grabbing one her wrists.

Tali winced, but couldn't pull her arm away with hurting herself more. "Let go." She mumbled, placing a hand upon his. "Now."

Once again fearing that he had made some incredible mistake, Shepard let go abruptly, various apologies spilling from his mouth. Tali did not immediately respond, instead moving to simply show him the cause of her pain. A couple seconds of fiddling with the friction seals upon her arms allowed her to slowly pull her left glove down. As she pulled it past her wrist, a single drop of blood rolled down her arm, towards her elbow. "That wasn't your doing." She said quickly, attempting to alleviate any regret that the human had in trying to help her. Wiping the blood away, while simultaneously pulling the glove completely off, Tali then turned the garment inside-out, displaying the large needle that resided there. "You couldn't have known that I have these in, Shepard, so don't start apologizing. They just make my wrists sore."

Watching Tali remove the other glove, Shepard again placed his hand upon her arm, although this time up near her elbow. She stopped working on the other glove, to look into his eyes, a questioning look filling her silver gaze. Gently turning over her uncovered arm, Shepard brought into view what had prompted his stopping of her work. Tali's wrist was covered in scars, or track marks, from numerous needle incisions. "That single needle does all of this?"

The young quarian shrugged slowly, taking care not to move the arm he still held tenderly. "I-I mean we, the quarian people I mean, as a whole..." She stopped her embarrassed rambling and attempted to fit together a coherent sentence. "What I mean," She restarted, speaking in a slow, deliberate manner, so as to not alarm Shepard farther, "...is that yes, that single needle does all of that. The needle is fixed to the suit, which can shift considerably during combat or duress. Instead of having the needle break off, or accidentally tear my arm, it is made to fall out. A program on my omnitool automatically reinserts it."

"That's horrible." Shepard murmured, as he moved a finger lightly across her ravaged forearms. "There isn't another way?"

"No." Tali responded, calmly pulling her arm from his grasp. "Maybe if the suits weren't so tight, so flexible, we could make a system like your combat hardsuits has. But static injection points just don't work." With her arm once again freed, she began working off the other glove. "Just like everything else about the suit, you just get used to it, I guess."

"That doesn't make it any easier." Shepard said, shaking his head. "I never really realized, until now, seeing how much work it is to take it off, how much the suit make you miss, Tali. How much I experience that you never can. It's... horrible." He repeated, unable to find a more descriptive word.

The conversational turn from her track marks to the quintessential quarian tragedy was not something that Tali had been expecting, and as such she had no response to his statement. Everything Shepard said was true. Because of the deeds of their ancestors three hundred years past, every quarian was forced into a life of servitude to a ship, to the Fleet, to their very immune systems. Purely intellectual pursuits such as philosophy had mostly stagnated following the quarian exile, but there had been several famous (by quarian standards) philosophers that had attempted to document and explore the duel feelings of community and solitude that quarian culture and their ever-present envirosuits invited. None had really succeeded.

"And that is why this is so amazing to me, Shepard." Tali found herself saying, the words seemingly unbidden. "Sealed behind a layer of fabric, a layer of glass, I have watched the world undergo things I will probably never experience myself. I have watched people eating food, solid food, picked straight from the plant that grew it. I have watched the rain fall upon people's heads, amazed that they would hate it. How I wish I could feel that rain, just once! I have watched for so long... And then I met you, the first person I have ever met that took the time to watch me. You saw the fabric, the glass, but you understood that there was something beneath it. And you pursued it! It's hard being with any quarian, much less while your protecting the galaxy, but you did it. Keelah, Shepard, you did it." As her short, unexpected monologue ended, Tali began pushing him back towards the bed.

When his legs hit the bed, the human allowed himself to be pushed into a sitting position. Tali stood in front of him, her silver eyes gleaming with excitement. Arching her back in the same way she had been taught as a child, in a few seconds of perfectly choreographed movement the quarian had managed to slink her way out of the torso portion of her suit, which slid to the ground. A quick knowing glance passed between the two as she slowed to allow the attached catheter to slid out, as human hardsuits featured the same unfortunate response to waste disposal. But that moment passed quickly, and for the first time in two years, Tali stood bare to the universe.

"Your beautif-" Shepard started, before she was upon him. The latent lust, the building desire that she had endured burst from her at that instant, taking the form of her three fingered hands working Shepard's shirt off of his body. After that, as Shepard pulled her into his embrace, he lost the lower section of his work fatigues. The next step was natural, as Tali and Shepard joined together physically for the first time. With the young quarian guiding the encounter, Shepard found himself surprised as her inwardly curved legs provided a level of flexibility that he had never encountered from another woman.

But this was not just a physical endeavor. For this was the conclusion of a relationship that had started over two years before, in a dark alley within the bowels of the citadel. This was the end of a quarian crush that had died along with the first Normandy, only to reawaken on a human colony far from the Fleet. This was the end of an human infatuation that had started as purely scholaric in nature, until a simple conversation within the new Normandy's engine room had exposed its true purpose.

But with all ends comes the birth of something new. Here, in this joining, Tali and Shepard were for the first time linked as lovers, as a couple. The passion that had fueled this meeting would only grow brighter as time went on, as their relationship continued to build.

In a galaxy full of dying stars, a new one was born.

Checking the clock alongside the bed, Shepard groaned silently to himself. The Omega 4 relay was fast approaching, and Tali needed time to get back into her suit. Thinking of the young quarian caused his eyes to slowly work their way down her silhouetted form, which lay beneath the blankets beside him. She was asleep. The gentle rise and fall of her breath gave no hint to the explosive crescendo they had experienced together, hours earlier. A short conversation had followed, until she had fallen asleep, for apparently drowsiness was a side effect of the antibiotics she had taken, and Shepard had determined that the night was hers to do as she pleased. But now she would have to be awoken, so that she would have enough time to put her suit back on. He hated having to wake her for such a depressing task, especially now that he had seen all that it took to remove it. But it had to be done.

Slowly slipping his arm out from beneath her head, the human searched upon the ground for the discarded clothes he had left earlier that night. Sliding the shirt back over his head, Shepard couldn't help but look over to the pile of glass and fabric that made up Tali's suit. He had saved her from Fist, from Sovereign, from a possible life as an exile. But he couldn't save her from that fate, from the dreadful task of returning to the suit she saw as prison. He sighed.

"Damn that suit..."

Continues in Chapter Three: Homecoming

Author's Note: Until I am blue in the face: Please Review! The amount of reviews I get directly impacts the speed in which I write (or so I tell myself! :D) As I said on top, sorry for the long wait on this installment. The descriptive heavy nature of this story can occasionally throw deadlines out of the window. Also, as you can see, this series continues. I shall not give too much away, but I shall give you a teaser: Part Three takes place on Rannoch. Now, remember to review!