Hey guys! Sorry for posting later than normal, it has been a crazy week. Someone mentioned that they would like to see longer chapters, so I would like to get your opinions on that. Do you like the chapter length as it is, or would you prefer me to add more details to the scenes? If you want to let me know your thoughts on that matter, a PM would be fine. Thank you so much for your support! I really appreciate all of the feedback I receive, and I love seeing what you think of the story. Enjoy!

"Honestly, Commander, you could try to keep yourself in one piece. Keep this up and you'll be more scars than skin."

"Are you sure we haven't reached that point already, Doc?" Shepard asked wryly. He sat on one of the examination tables while Chakwas tended to the bullet wounds on his arm. His shirtless form revealed a conglomeration of old burns, cuts, and other injuries that hadn't completely healed. The latticework of scars crisscrossed over his rippling muscles, creating a truly formidable sight. Tali thought so at least. She was stuck in one of the infirmary beds for a day or two while the medicine Chakwas had given her worked its magic on her sprained ankle. Thankfully she only had a partially torn ligament, and she should be fit for duty in a couple days instead of a couple weeks. Tali had been surprised with Chakwas' knowledge of quarian anatomy, and she had managed to treat Tali without any suit openings or clean rooms required.

Tali watched the doctor stitch together another hole in Shepard's arm. Her deft movements had it closed in under a minute; Chakwas was truly an artist in the med-bay. Tali's gaze wandered back over Shepard's exposed torso as Chakwas wrapped the last bandage around Shepard's forearm. Her mouth went dry as she took this perfect opportunity to stare, feeling the heat rise up her neck to her cheeks. She was disappointed when Chakwas finished and Shepard pulled his shirt back on. On the bright side, I can breathe normally again.

"Thanks again, Dr. Chakwas. I don't know what I would do without you." Shepard stood up and gave his arm a few experimental swings. He winced as he brought it above his head, and Chakwas chuckled.

"You wouldn't last a week." She firmly placed his arm back down by his side. "Please restrain yourself from undoing everything I just did, Commander." Shepard gave her a sheepish grin, to which Chakwas rolled her eyes. She looked at the clock on her omnitool and walked to the door. "I'm off for lunch. I'll check the progress on your ankle when I return, Tali."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Of course. That is my job, after all." Chakwas disappeared from view as the door closed, leaving Tali and Shepard alone in the med-bay. Tali really liked the doctor: she seemed to give off a motherly vibe for the whole crew, Tali included.

Shepard plopped down on the bed beside Tali's. "How's my favorite quarian feeling?"

"Your favorite, huh? Out of all the quarians you know? Flatterer." Shepard's eyebrow quirked upwards, and Tali gulped at the suggestive tone of her voice. Keelah, why did I say that? Must be the meds. "Er, I mean, you know…" She struggled to think of something to say, but her mind was just throwing useless things at her like 'How's the weather' and 'What color is your underwear?' AH! Stop that! Where did that even come from? She decided to use Shepard's question to move the conversation away from dangerous territory. "My leg is feeling much better, just a slight ache now." Tali didn't look at Shepard, focusing instead on her foot as she waited for his response.

After what felt like an eternity, Shepard broke the silence. "Good. I'm glad." Tali could hear the barely contained mirth in his voice, and her mortification deepened. She wished she could find a hole and bury herself in it.

"So…how about that last mission?" Tali fiddled with her hands as she tried to change the subject.

"Yeah. Things got pretty heated, huh." Shepard's tone shifted from light to serious. His face became hollow looking, as if all the energy had been sapped away. Tali remembered their confrontations with the batarians and immediately forgot her awkwardness. She needed to understand what had hurt this man so much. She longed to help him, but she couldn't even attempt to unless he opened up to her. She sat up and let her feet dangle off the side of her bed, drawing herself up even with the Commander.

"What happened, Shepard?" They both knew what she meant. Shepard looked down at his knees, his jaw locked in place. Tali let the quiet stretch out; she knew this was a sensitive subject, and she wasn't about to push any farther than her initial question already had.

Shepard eventually cleared his throat, messing with one of his thumbs as he spoke. "Have you ever heard of Mindoir?"

"Vaguely. I know it's a human colony."

"That's correct. I grew up there." A small smile formed on Shepard's lips as he continued. "I lived with my parents and my little sister. We had this huge farm on the outskirts of town. Rows and rows of corn." He let out a small chuckle. "I always hated it there as a kid. I wanted to be in a city with people and excitement, not stuck in the middle of nowhere. It was incredibly dull, you know. But…it was peaceful."

Shepard paused and took a breath. "One day, I was out repairing one of our automated tractors. Sometimes they pull too much corn all at once, you see, so every now and then you have to go unjam them. It was supposed to be my sister's turn, but it was her birthday, so Mom made me do it instead. I was so mad.

"That's when the batarians hit. All I saw were these huge flashes of light coming from town. I couldn't hear any gunfire, but the bombs sounded like a constant peal of thunder. It took me a good half hour to run back to our home; I had walked to the tractor instead using the ATV because I had wanted to take a while." Tali felt dread creep its way into her stomach. She was pretty sure she knew where this story was going.

"When I reached our yard, the first thing I saw were our two horses lying dead in the pen. The back door had been ripped off its hinges; that's where the dog was. I ran into the house through there into our kitchen. I found Dad there." Shepard's voice had slipped into a monotone, his face expressionless. "He was dead. Something had ripped a huge hole in his chest and belly. Before I could register what I was seeing, a gunshot came from the living room. I took the pistol Dad had in his hand and creeped to the hallway. A batarian was standing over my sister. I don't really recall what happened then, but the next thing I remember I was sitting in a pool of someone's blood. Not mine. I was holding my sister. Her face…most of it was just gone. The bullet had…had come in the back…" Shepard choked up, fighting to continue. "Well, she was dead. So was Mom. I spent the next week hiding and surviving off our food stores until the Alliance finally chased the bastards off the planet." He chewed his lip and shook his head slightly before looking up at Tali. "That's why I hate slavers. It took me a long time to not simply throw in every batarian with them; I still struggle with that sometimes. But slavers: I can never forgive them for what happened. Never."

"Shepard…I'm so sorry." Tali reached over and lightly placed a hand over his. There wasn't any tension behind the gesture; she could almost see the waves of pain emanating from Shepard, and she wanted to support him in any way she could. And right now, he needed to know he wasn't alone. They sat like that for a long time, neither one of them saying a word. Tali watched the sorrow slowly drain from Shepard's face. The tears that had threatened to fall were blinked away, and his jaw resumed its normal, unclenched position. Tali felt the roughness of his hand even through her glove, knuckles calloused from countless fights. Beaten and scarred, but never broken, just like their owner. Hearing about the horror he had lived through had done nothing but deepen her admiration for the Commander.

Shepard patted her hand with his free one, smiling. "I've never told anyone about that before. It feels good, knowing that someone else knows. Thank you."

"Of course. I just sat here and listened."

"Sometimes that's all it takes." Shepard stood up, and Tali's arm fell back to her side. "I'd better get back to my duties. Paperwork waits for no one. You rest up now and get better, okay?"

"I will. You'd better stop by for lunch tomorrow, Commander," Tali said lightly, feeling the mood in the room change.

Shepard gave her a mock salute and a grin. "Yes ma'am." Tali laughed, and Shepard departed to take care of the more mundane tasks that befall a Commander in the Alliance.

Spirits, this thing is trashed. Garrus reached for the ratchet and popped off a fastener, enabling him to remove yet another piece of plating. While most of the Mako had survived unscathed, the underside was a different story. The metal was warped in several places from the heat of the explosion, and the rear thrusters would need to be replaced. If the rocket had hit them at a slightly different angle, the fuel cell would have been critically damaged. Best case scenario, the tank wouldn't have turned back on; worst case, they would all have been charred skeletons.

"Need a hand?" Garrus saw Shepard's head poking around the bottom of the Mako.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you right now; you've done enough damage to her already." Garrus rolled out from under the tank and stood up, stretching as he did. He had been working for over two hours already, and the break was welcome. Plus, he had some things to discuss.

"Alright…what is that human expression? Spill the peas?"

"I think you mean spill the beans."

Garrus rolled his eyes. "Don't know why that makes a difference. Either way, spill them."

Shepard crossed his arms with a slightly bemused appearance. "About what?"

"What's going on between you and Tali?"

Besides shifting his feet slightly, Shepard showed no reaction. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Shepard. I do have eyes. You eat lunch with her every single day."

"She was afraid to eat in front of you guys, and now it's just a thing. I'm not allowed to eat with a crewmember?"

"You don't eat alone with the rest of us." Garrus smirked. "When do I get my date with Shepard?"

"Please. I'm way out of your league, Garrus."

"Keep telling yourself that." Shepard gave Garrus a friendly shove, eliciting a chuckle from the turian. The Commander leaned against the Mako so that they were both facing the rest of the cargo bay.

"It's not like that. I think you're just jealous."

"Hm. Perhaps. Still, that doesn't explain your outing on the Citadel."

Shepard looked surprised. "How did you…" His eyes fell on the krogan standing at the far end of the hangar. "Wrex."

"Candles, soft music, low lighting, you really went all out."

"First of all, Tali picked the place, not me, and she only chose it because it served both quarians and humans. It was an accident; neither of us knew what it would be like before we got there."

"Riiiiight." Garrus' sarcastic tone drew a glare from Shepard.

"Believe me or not, that's the truth."

"Okay, let's say all of that other stuff is just coincidence. What about that last mission?"

Shepard shrugged his shoulders. "What about it?"

"I swear, this is like pulling teeth. Humans have to go through that too, right? Anyway, you couldn't keep your eyes off of her the whole time, and I know she's the reason you let that criminal escape." Which was a mistake. Garrus stopped himself from saying anything, though; that was next on the agenda.

Shepard sighed and brushed a hand over his face, finally dropping his stoic facade. "I really don't know. Tali…she's not like anyone I've ever met. I like being around her. A lot. She's kind, smart, funny, and can shoot a shotgun as good as any krogan I've seen, Wrex included. But it's complicated."

Garrus folded his arms. "Sounds pretty straightforward to me."

"She's a quarian. She can't even be outside her suit without risking death. Then there's the Pilgrimage. After Saren has been stopped, she'll be on her way back to her people. Speaking of Saren, there's also the fact that we're in the middle of a manhunt trying to stop the destruction of an entire galaxy." Shepard blew out his cheeks in exasperation.

"Sounds like you've given this some thought."

"Some."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

Shepard shook his head. "I should. But not yet. I still need to sort through everything myself." He smiled at Garrus. "Thanks for the talk. I came down here to see if you needed to get anything off your chest, but I guess you helped me instead."

Garrus scratched the side of his face. "Actually, I do have something else we need to talk about."

"Shoot."

"Who? Where?" Garrus instinctively reached for his rifle.

"No no, it's just an expression. Sorry. Go ahead."

Garrus relaxed again. "Oh. Humans and their idioms." How do I start this? Garrus considered his words carefully; it was ingrained in his bones not to question his superiors, but he had always thought of himself as a bad turian anyway.

"I don't think we should have let Balak get away."

Shepard nodded. "I thought you might say that."

"I hope I'm not out of line bringing this up."

"You can talk to me about any concerns you have, Garrus. I don't want a crew of mindless automatons; if I did, I could just have a hold full of mechs. Much cheaper to maintain."

Garrus knew Shepard was different from his previous bosses, but this type of attitude was still new to him. "Thank you, Commander. You remember our talk about my time in C-Sec, how I didn't like being bogged down with the bureaucracy?"

"I remember."

"There was this one case in particular, a real nasty piece of work. I was tracking black market trade on the Citadel; most of the stuff is harmless, not worth the resources to pursue. Then, the sale of body parts started to rapidly increase. Organs, mostly. The numbers were way above average, so we figured there must be a new player in town. Or a psychopathic murderer. Either one needed to be dealt with before word got out and the citizens started to panic. Long story short, some of the organs we found belonged to people who were still alive and had no recollection of losing, say, a liver. The evidence pointed to a Dr. Saleon, a salarian geneticist. After interrogating some of his employees, we discovered he was using them as test tubes to grow the organs in. If they were viable, he would cut the organs out of them and sell them on the black market. If they weren't, he'd leave the samples in the patients. Most of the victims were a mess, but only on the inside."

Shepard made a face. "That's horrible. Did you catch him?"

Garrus grimaced. "No. That's the worst part. He blew up his lab, grabbed some of his employees, and ran to the nearest space dock. By the time I found him, he was already leaving. He threatened to kill his hostages if we tried to stop him."

It looked like a lightbulb went off over Shepard's head. "I see where this is going."

"Yeah. I ordered Citadel defense to shoot him down, but I was countermanded by my own department. They were worried about casualties from the debris since the ship was so close to the station." Garrus made a chopping motion with his hand. "Those hostages were dead either way; as soon as that monster got free, he would harvest their organs like the rest and leave them to rot. But no one listened. Now, who knows how many people Dr. Saleon has killed with his experiments."

He turned to face Shepard. "Balak was insane. He was willing to destroy an entire colony to get back at the humans. Millions of people. And we let him walk away. What if he does it again? A dozen or so scientists are not worth the risk of losing whole planets to a terrorist."

Shepard stroked his chin while he picked his words. "I understand your point, Garrus. However, that kind of reasoning can lead you down a dark path. We don't know what Balak will do now. The Alliance will keep a sharp eye out for him, so it's unlikely he'll be able to pull off a stunt like that again. But we do know that those people would have died if we had killed him today. Letting Balak blow up that bomb would be the same as lining up those civilians and gunning them down yourself. I'm not saying it wasn't a hard call, or that you don't have sound reasoning, but I believe I made the right decision."

Garrus' mandibles flared a bit as he let Shepard's words sink in. "Hm. Maybe you're right. It doesn't make it any easier, but I see your point."

Shepard gave him a smile. "I appreciate your honesty, Garrus. We don't have to agree on everything, but as long as you can understand where I'm coming from and we don't have a problem in the field, that's fine with me. Now, about this Dr. Saleon. Did you ever find out what happened to him?"

It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from Garrus' shoulders. Even though they still didn't see eye to eye, it was good to know they both accepted where they stood on the matter. If only C-Sec had worked like this, I might have stayed. "I kept my ear to the ground. He changed his name to Dr. Heart at one point – his idea of a joke, I suppose – but the military didn't believe it was worth checking out. I still have the transponder frequency for his ship, but no one wants to investigate."

Shepard eyes lit up. "Well then, I guess we'll have to do it. Send me the coordinates, and we'll go by when we have the chance."

"I appreciate that, Commander."

"No problem." Shepard made a fist and stuck out his arm towards Garrus. Garrus stared at it blankly.

"What? You don't know what a fist-bump is?"

"A…fist-bump?" Garrus could surmise what he was supposed to do from the name, and gingerly touched his fist to Shepard's.

"There you go. We'll make a human out of you yet." Shepard waved as he went back to the elevator. Garrus just shrugged and looked back at his assortment of tools strewn about the floor. Ah well, guess it's back to work.