What the fuck is going on with me? One kid joins my crew and I'm a mush, that's what everyone is saying. This has got to stop. I have to go put Tali in line, just like I did everyone else.

Victory turns the left side of her face to the mirror, forcing herself to look at the rough expanse of skin where her cheek used to be. I got my face half blown off on Torfan. I'm the baddest soldier the Alliance has, and I'm the first human Spectre. Everyone on this ship fears me, and for good reason. I'm the goddamn Torfan Butcher, and they all know it. They know I won't hesitate to put any one of them down for the sake of the mission.

Out loud, she tells her reflection, "This is getting out of hand. Tali is just a kid on Pilgrimage, and she's already endangered the mission once. Just think about that." Not giving herself time to think, she spins on her heel and marches out the door of her cabin and to the elevator down to the shuttle bay and engine room.

...What am I becoming? she asks herself as the doors close. She shakes her head, forcing it to clear of any thoughts other than how the quarian had jeopardized her mission early on. As the slow elevator drifts down, she works herself into a near blood-frenzy, forcing the anger to come so that she can do what needs to be done.

The elevator opens to Garrus fidgeting with a bunch of flowers he must have picked up on the Citadel when he was there last and pacing. Victory doesn't even blink, though it seems out of place, and instead just bulls her way through him, knocking the blooms from his hand and grinding them under her boots without meaning to.

The turian just shakes his head and thinks to himself, Par for the course so far.

Striding through the door, her boots making the flooring ring, Shepard starts to speak, "Tali, let's get-"

The quarian spins, almost toppling over in her enthusiasm fueled by equal parts embarrassment and excitement. "Vicky! I-I didn't expect to see you so soon! I mean, w-we just... You just.. On Feros... Oh Keelah, I can't speak properly when you're around, I-I..." she trails off in confusion, noting the hard look in the Commander's eyes even as it fades and is replaced with something softer.

I can't yell at her, just... look at her. I can't yell at her. Oh gods, I can't yell at her! What's happening to me?!Vicky's eye's go wide and she covers her face, hiding her shame from everyone there.

"V-vicky? Are you okay?"

"YES! YEAH, I'M FINE, TALI! WHY WOULDN'T I BE?!" Shepard shouts back, startling the young girl with her awkward outburst. She claps her hands over her mouth immediately and stares at Tali for a moment before bolting back the way she came.

"Vicky? Sh-shepard, wait!" the confused quarian cries, "Don't... don't leave me behind..."

Outside the engine room, Victory sees Garrus still standing there, one of his claws scratching the edge of his fringe. Knowing he can take it, knowing that she can't really hurt him, knowing that he's over six feet of scary with a rifle, she runs up and swings her fist into his jaw. They're both surprised when the bone of his mandible cracks, though for her it's surprise that she actually did hurt him, and for him it's surprise that she punched him. She stands there, her hand bleeding from the cuts and torn skin his scaly skin left, and tries to calm herself down. When she can, she whispers shakily, "I'm sorry Garrus, I... I don't know what's wrong with me, and when I saw you still here, I knew that... you had to hear that. I knew you had to hear what just happened, and I thought I couldn't hurt you, and I just don't know what else to do. All I know is violence..." She stares at him for a moment, her steel eyes unreadable, and then just walks into the elevator to head up top.

Garrus shakes his head, every bit as confused as her. What the hell is wrong with that woman? I can't get a read on her at all. Maybe Joker is right, and she really is a psychopath. Tali runs by, jostling him as she chases after the Commander in an attempt to get to the elevator before the doors close. Instead, she can only bang uselessly against them as the lift takes Victory momentarily out of reach.

Garrus grabs her shoulder in an effort to calm her down and ascertain what's going on, murmuring to her, "It's okay kid, don't sweat it. She does this all the time. Now, what happened? I mean what really happened, I only know that Shepard shouted something about being alright."

Her own anger and frustration and hurt and confusion at what is occurring with the Commander gets the better of her, and Tali rounds on the turian. "Mind your own fucking business and sod off you stupid bosh'tet! What the hell do you know anyway, she's never looked at you once since she met you. She looks at me in a way that no one ever has before, and I don't know why, and I don't care, because all I know is that I like it. So you can take your stupid platitudes and your flowers and your empty words and cram them up your ass alongside the stick you can't seem to shit out."

She punches the button to call the elevator in the moment of silence that follows, the turian stunned that she is capable of such an outburst, then almost as an afterthought adds, "Oh, and if you ever put your hand on me again and I didn't ask you to do so, I'll cut your balls off and sell them to a krogan."

Her eyes still locked on his face, she backs into the elevator when the doors open, savoring every last second of his incredulity. Garrus shakes his head again, the single thought repeating itself simply, 'I'll never understand women.' Ashley and Wrex, having watched and heard most of the last couple minutes, jog up behind him to laugh and joke at his expense. He can't blame them though, now that it isn't happening he himself can look at it from their point of view and see a little humor in it.

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Victory stares into the emptiness a few inches from her nose, quiet and sullen for a different reason than usual. All she can think about is her outburst a little while ago in the engine room and what Tali must think of her now. Almost as if on cue, a knock comes at the door and an uncertain voice echoes into her head.

"Hello? Victory? C-can I come in? I-it's kind of really important..."

"Yeah, sure kid... Door's open, come on in."

Tali steps into the captain's cabin as the panels woosh open, her steps timid and light. Vicky hasn't moved, still staring at a fixed point that seems to be nowhere, but she's not telling Tali to get out or where to sit, so the quarian cautiously takes a seat on the bed right next to her.

"Are... are you okay Commander?"

"I thought I asked you to call me Vicky, Tali'Zorah."

"Y-you did. And I was, but... after that outburst, I w-wasn't sure what you wanted anymore." the young woman mumbles, her hands wringing together.

'Say it. Just say it. Tell her what her place is, what it has to be. C'mon Vicky, just SAY it!' Vicky's body moves, her hips rolling and her torso twisting to land her squarely in Tali's lap, her legs stradling the quarian's waist. "You. I want you. Here. With me. And I want you to want that too. Most of all, I want you to be happy, and safe."

'Not that, you dumbass. The OTHER thing you were supposed to say. You know, about how she'd better not undermine the mission or risk it again, or else you'll sacrifice her for the sake of the galaxy?' "I'm prepared to lay siege at your door until I get what I want, Tali. I always get what I want..." she says nervously, one hand on Tali's shoulder while the other uncertainly strokes the side of her mask. 'Fuck. You just can't stop sabotaging yourself, can you soldier? Fine, eat your heart out. Stupid bitch...'

Vicky forces her inner monologue to shut up so that she can hear Tali's reaction to her admission. The quarian fidgets, her eyes skating away from Vicky's intense stare even though inside her mask she is smiling and blushing. She wants so much to make this woman happy, because she can see that Victory has had very little happiness and almost no one to care about ever. That Victory just said she wants Tali there, by her side and happy, causes her heart to squeeze tight and yet feel like it's going a FTL speeds. Is the Commander...?

"O-of course, Vicky. I want to... to..." she begins, her right hand reaching up to caress the scars on the other woman's face. "I w-want to be here too. With you. I want to be with you. But..."

She forces herself to look up, to look Victory in the face and say, "B-but I don't know what I'm doing, or even what we're doing. I've never had anyone look at me the way you do, and I feel... strange when you do. I like it, but I don't know what it is. I-I think I know what you're t-trying to say, but..."

Victory places her finger over the lower part of the mask symbolically and smiles, making a shushing sound. "Shhhh, it's ok Tali. We've got time to figure it out. " Her heart is dancing a samba and her nerves are on fire, but the grin on her face is brighter than a sun. She wiggles a little bit, her body settling closer to the girl in whose laps she sits, and though she has no idea what Tali will think of it, she places a gentle peck where her finger was just a moment before.