Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim to the Mass Effect universe or the characters contained in this story, all of which are owned by BioWare and Electronic Arts. This is simply my interpretation of some events within the game universe.
Guest Review Segment:
{ Andrew Roberts:
Thanks for your review, you bring up some very valid points.
On the first point, I tried to strike a balance but I am aware it may not have been as successful as I had hoped; I will continue to see if I can make improvements to that segment, but I can't promise anything.
As for the second point, a lot of their friendship is assumed from ME1, but I also want to keep it as a major and grounding aspect of their romantic relationship rather than have it instantly shift to pure romance.
Also, this arc was taken from a much larger story I had planned and I never got around to writing a lot of the character interaction that I had planned, instead I had major events, like the chapters in this story. I tried to minimise this flaw was much as possible, but I understand if that didn't work to well.
I apologise if you found the description to be misleading, it was not my intent, but I am glad you are enjoying the story so far and I hope the remaining chapters continue in that vein. }
Normandy SR-2, Tasale System (December 17, 2185, 0935 hours, Ship Time):
Tali awoke some hours later in what was definitely not her sleeper pod. She quickly blinked away the last of the fog that was receding from her mind as she sat up and looked around.
She was lying on Shepard's bed, the cool blue light of the wall length aquarium illuminating the cabin, sending ripples of soft illumination throughout the room and across the walls. She could also clearly make out some music through her helmet's auditory systems. She had never heard anything like it, full of haunting tones, deep percussion and a human voice that was acting as another instrument, using words that her translator couldn't decipher.
She sat up, crossed legged on the bed, taking in her surroundings.
'Wait', she thought to herself 'if this is Shepard's cabin, then where is he?'
A quick scan revealed him sleeping upright on the lounge. Precisely why he was there was a mystery to her, as was how she had ended up in his bed rather than he himself.
Deciding that it was best not to wake him she rose off the bed and began to walk up the stairs to the door. As she did so however, Shepard began to stir. Taking a seat on the lounge as he stretched and began to open his eyes, she waited for him to fully wake up.
"Hey" she said quietly by way of greeting, hands fidgeting in her lap.
"Hey" Shepard replied, rubbing his eyes to clear them of sleep, "I hope you slept well."
"Yes, your bed is very comfortable, though I'm not quite sure why I was there and you were sleeping here. I don't snore do I?" She asked light-heartedly.
"Well, actually…" he replied, a mischievous, if still tired, smile on his face.
Tali slapped him lightly on the arm with a muttered curse of "Bosh'tet".
"I surrender, I surrender" Shepard pleaded, holding up his hands in mock defeat. "Okay, on a more serious note, you fell asleep, so I carried you over to the bed. I figured you could use the sleep after all that's happened the last couple of days."
"You're right, I think I did need the sleep, but why did you sleep on the couch?" Tali asked slowly, genuinely perplexed.
"Well I, um, wasn't exactly sure if you would mind. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."
"And what part of me coming to your cabin and telling you that I love you, then falling asleep in your arms gave you the impression that I would mind?" Tali replied, her voice practically dripping with irony. She was enjoying him acting like a fool around her rather than the other way around, for a change.
Shepard could only rub his neck sheepishly in response.
"I guess I didn't think about it like that. Still, I didn't want to risk getting on the wrong side of your shotgun, or Chiktikka, that drone has some punch!"
Tali smirked at the comment and even with the mask in the way, she knew he could tell.
"Smart move, though I usually reserve the shotgun for that Turian bosh'tet you insist on keeping down in the main battery."
Shepard couldn't help but laugh at the mental image of Garrus, the Archangel of Omega, running scared as a Quarian mechanic with a shotgun chased him around the Normandy.
Once again they settled into a comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company. Eventually Shepard shifted and began to rise.
"I should probably get back to work, we're docking in Illium soon and I need to review the dossiers for our last two recruits and make sure everyone else is Mission Ready. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want, I'll let EDI know that you can have free access to this place if you ever want to use it. Just tell me when you're ready to return to work and I'll put you back on the duty roster."
"Actually, I think I'm ready now." Tali replied almost immediately, standing up to follow him.
"Are you sure? I mean I'd understand if you wanted more time. Losing your father, the trial… it can't have been easy on you. You deserved better." His voice was loaded with concern and what sounded to Tali like anguish, anguish at the thought of what she had been subjected to; she had no idea it had affected him this much, caught up as she was in her own grief.
With equally as much emotion behind the words she replied.
"I got better, I got you."
As Shepard entered the cockpit he could see Garrus and Joker arguing about something. So animated was their debate that they hadn't even realised Shepard was approaching.
"… we don't know for sure yet and until we do, I'm not paying." Shepard managed to make out the tail end of what Joker was saying before the pair finally realised that he was present.
"Ah, Commander, good to see you." Came Garrus' welcome, as he shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Hey Commander, hope you had a good rest." Joker added in as he spun his chair around.
If Garrus' behaviour had seemed suspicious, then Joker's was like a signal flare. Now Shepard knew something was up, Joker never missed an opportunity for a snarky comment; and there was always an opportunity.
Shepard waved away their greetings and got to the heart of the matter.
"Spare me the platitudes, what were you two old women bickering about this time?"
"What, oh, nothing, nothing important, just, ah, sports results. Right, Garrus?"
Garrus was keeping his lips (metaphorically speaking) firmly sealed but nodded his assent.
"Right, then why is it that I just don't believe you?" Shepard folded his arms, staring down at his helmsman.
Before Joker could once again protest his innocence, Kasumi materialised next to the group. Joker nearly snapped an arm, recoiling as he did and Garrus practically fell over the Navigator's chair.
"What, no reaction from you Shep? That's no fun.." She said as her face scrunched up mock displeasure, "Oh well, they were discussing who had won their little bet." Kasumi's sing-songed, now smiling up at Shepard, who had long ago grown accustomed to her uncanny ability to seemingly appear and disappear at will, even when she wasn't using her cloak.
"And which bet would this be?" He asked the resident thief and chief gossip.
Garrus and Joker both looked at her, pleading her not to tell Shepard. She just shot them a malicious grin.
"Sorry boys, Captain's orders." Then turning her attention back to Shepard, "Their bet as to who would realise that they were absolutely perfect for one another first, Ken and Gabby or you and Tali."
With her mischievous deed for the day completed, she flashed the group a smile and disappeared once again.
Under his breath Garrus muttered "I'm really starting to hate that thief."
Shepard turned to face the pair in front of him and raised a questioning eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.
"Garrus, you, ah, want to take this one. Great, thanks." Joker said quickly as he swivelled his chair around, back to staring intently at his interface.
Sighing, Garrus began to explain himself.
"Look Shepard, it was just a bit of fun, Joker and I have known both you and Tali long enough to see that you two had a bond, even if neither of you recognised it. And after seeing how oblivious Ken and Gabby are to their own chemistry, we decided to make a… friendly wager, of sorts."
"Right, so what makes you think that you've won this bet?" Shepard drawled, still fixing the Turian with a penetrating glare.
"Ah, well I bet on you and Tali, so I kind of assumed that since she had gone up to your cabin last night and not returned…"
Much to Garrus' surprise Shepard began laughing.
Unable to keep the rather confused look off his face, Garrus had to ask.
"Uh, what's so funny?"
"I'm just imagining what Tali will do to you when she finds out." Shepard replied, still chuckling to himself as the image from earlier in the morning returned.
Shepard could see the colour draining from Joker's face and though he wasn't sure it was possible, he would have sworn Garrus blanched at the thought.
"Damn, I hadn't considered that…" He said, his voice little more than a whisper.
"I provided both you and Mr Moreau with adequate warning of the potential health hazards this wager may result in when you originally conceived it, considering Miss Zorah's proclivity for Close Quarters Combat and your confinement onboard a ship that she is intimately familiar with." EDI's holographic form sprung into life on the nearby Holo-Pad to add in her two cents.
"I should go check on the new guns." Garrus said hastily, beating a rapid retreat back to his isolated, and mechanically dead-bolted, Main Battery.
"Yeah, maybe they need some more calibrations." Joker shouted after the fleeing Turian. Then turning to Shepard he said "Tali wouldn't hurt me right? I mean, I'm a cripple, she's too nice to hurt a cripple."
"Maybe, though I don't think Chiktikka makes those kinds of distinctions." Shepard said over his shoulder as he too began to walk away.
"Hey Tali!" A bright and enthusiastic voice exploded next to her helmet.
Tali jumped to the side in surprise, even as she worked out who the voice belonged to.
"Kasumi! You have to stop doing that!" She said in exasperation. "Why are you down here? Did you need something?"
"What, can't I come and talk to a friend who's been through a traumatic experience, without having an ulterior motive?" The thief replied, appearing as the picture of innocence (if you ignored the cloak, hood and permanently affixed mischievous grin).
Tali just crossed her arms, waiting for the real answer.
"I'm serious! I know the trial was hard on you and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Tali still didn't trust her hooded friend's altruistic motive, she was definitely up to something, but for the moment she decided to play along.
"I'm feeling better now that I've had time to think about it. It's still a bit of a shock, but I'm okay now. Thanks for asking." She said with a smile, even if the thief couldn't actually see it.
"I bet it was. Still, it looks like at least one good thing came out of it." Kasumi replied, eyes sparkling with mirth under her hood.
'So that's what this is about. How does she already- Wait, master thief, never mind.' She thought to herself as she slumped back against her console with a groan of "Kasumi…".
"What! I'm just talking about your name change!" Kasumi protested.
Tali just fixed the thief with another silent glare.
"Okay, okay. You and Shep, spill it. What happened last night?" Kasumi had hopped up to sit on one of the other nearby consoles.
Tali was now thoroughly glad that no one else was on duty at the moment, one of the benefits of having an AI on board, she admitted to herself.
"We just…talked." She replied with a shrug.
"Oh come on! Yesterday you went into to Engineering still messed up from the trial, then you go to Shep's cabin looking crazy nervous and then come back down the next morning looking happier than I've ever seen you; there is no way you 'just talked'." The petite human said with exaggerated finger quotes.
"It's true! We just talked for most of the night." Tali insisted, embarrassed by her friend's implications.
"Okay then, what did you 'just talk' about? I knew you were crazy about him from the first time I met you and I was pretty sure Shep felt the same way considering how he rushed all the way to Haestrom to get you, not to mention everything else since."
Seeing that the black-clad human wouldn't be deterred, Tali sighed in resignation and recounted a brief version of the conversation. Kasumi practically squealed with joy and enthusiastically hugged the startled Quarian when she had finished.
"I'm so happy for you; you two will make such a cute couple! So when are you going to tell everyone, you know, make it 'official'?"
"Official? I don't know. We didn't really discuss it. What does that even mean?" A slightly bewildered Tali asked in reply.
"You know, a sort of public acknowledgment of your relationship, to let everyone else know that he's off the market." The thief shrugged as though it should be obvious.
Tali immediately stiffened as thoughts ran through her head. Kasumi clearly noticed as well.
"What's wrong, did I just insult your race or something?" Kasumi asked, only half joking.
"No, no. It's nothing, I was just… distracted." Tali said, snapping back to the conversation at hand.
"Tali, you're a terrible liar, now what's up?" Kasumi deadpanned.
Tali sighed in resignation again.
"It's just… he could have any woman in the galaxy, someone he could be with whenever he wanted, someone of a more 'acceptable' race for him, Keelah, even someone he could see the face of! I know he said that he loved me, but I can't help but think that…" Her voice trailed off into uncertainty.
"… that he might want someone else?" Kasumi finished for her.
Tali could only nod her now bowed head in reply.
"I can't speak for Shep, but I've seen how he looks at you, how he cares for you. And I've never known him to go back on his word." Kasumi replied emphatically, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder.
After taking a moment to digest her words, Tali looked back at the human woman sitting next to her. She could understand what she was saying, it even made sense, and she would never doubt Shepard's sincerity. But still, her nagging doubts and concerns ate away at her.
"Thanks for coming by Kasumi. And thanks for the talk, it helps."
The thief flashed a smile and activated her cloak once more, disappearing into the surroundings.
"Anytime."
"If he said that then you either trust him, so you have nothing to worry about, or you don't and you've already decided."
"I-I guess I hadn't thought about it like that, and I do trust him. If he said it then I guess… I'm going to go talk to him, thanks for your help."
The Asari shop attendant walked towards her Krogan boyfriend and embraced him as best she could while Shepard returned to idly browsing the kiosk.
"Damn, Shepard, giving romantic advice about how to deal with a love sick Krogan poet, maybe we really do have a chance against the Collectors after all." Garrus drawled with a trademark smirk once the renewed couple were out of earshot.
"Laugh it up Garrus, I'm sure Tali or I could find some way to mess with your precious calibrations." Shepard shot back without looking up from the item list.
"Two against one? That's hardly fair Shepard, how am I supposed to compete now that you two are a couple?"
"Don't start something you can't finish, Vakarian. Come on, we should get moving before Liara starts to wonder where we are. Are you coming Tali?"
She looked up from the kiosk that she was only vaguely paying attention to as she scrolled through the product list.
Her mind was still working through what Shepard had said to the Asari.
He was right, as usual, and while he hadn't intended it to be relevant to her when he said it, it still answered that doubt that had plagued her since she spoke to Kasumi earlier in the morning. He had said he loved her, that he only wanted to be with her, and she did trust him. He was her best friend and she had always trusted him with her life; and now she trusted him with her heart.
"Yes, just seeing if they had any interesting Omni-tool upgrades." She said as she fell into step next to him, beaming up at him through her visor.
"Anything catch your eye?"
"There was a Medical Suite upgrade, it had a few interesting programs that helped with medigel dispersal and…"
He just smiled as she listed the benefits and the upgrade ideas she already had for it, rambling on until they were nearly at Liara's office.
'Yes' she thought to herself, 'I definitely trust him.'
[AN: And there you go, chapter 4 is done.
I would just like to thank everyone for the remarkable amount of feedback I have received on this story, it's a massive encouragement and I'm very happy to know that you readers are enjoying it as well.
Also, thanks to V-rcingetorix to the suggestion for putting character thoughts in italics, I'll be going back over the other chapters and applying this change soon.
Thanks again, and if you have any feedback or questions, please do ask and I'll reply to you as soon as I am able./AN]
