Shepard lay in bed next to Tali, still watching Fleet and Flotilla. It was on the final scene where the Turian male confesses his love for the Quarian girl he loves. Shepard cocked his head towards Tali who had her head on his shoulder. It was truly heart warming to watch. Anyone who loved a Quarian he thought, truly loved them for the right reasons. They could never enjoy their relationships the way others could. Every kiss, every touch, it all had to be performed with care. Maybe Quarian immune systems aren't as much of a curse as they think. When a Quarian finds a mate, they always find someone decent, someone who loves them for who they are underneath the suit. Not for trivial bodily lust.
As the credits rolled Shepard stared into Tali's visor. Her luminous eyes could not be seen so he assumed she had fallen asleep. He lay next to her for a little while longer just to listen to her heartbeat and shallow breathing. Her heart beat so slowly as she dwell in her undisturbed slumber. He also noticed that her breathing was far less ragged than it was earlier. The medicine must have taken affect. Doctor Chakwas truly was a "Miracle Worker."
The Spectre gently folded her hands over her belly and then slowly and quietly climbed out of bed. He watched her sleep for a few more moments as he stood at the side of the bed and then knelt down to give her a single soft pat on the shoulder. She reacted by rolling over on her side and moaning a few words in her sleep that he couldn't make out. Though he was sure that one of them sounded like his name. He held back a chuckle as he smiled genuinely and tip-toed his way to the cabin door. Before he could wave his hand over the holographic display it opened to reveal Legion standing outside of it.
"Shepa-" Shepard put his index finger in front of his lips.
"Shh." He shushed the loud mouthed synthetic. Legion peered over Shepard's shoulder and noticed Tali roll over again in her sleep. A single face plate lifted on the right side of its head. Probably the Geth way of raising an eyebrow. Shepard stepped out letting the hatch close behind him.
"You have something to report?" he asked impatiently.
"Moreu-Lieutenant sent us to request your presense in the helm. We are currently eight minutes and forty-two seconds from arriving at Tuchanka." Shepard gained a more authoritive stance.
"Lets go."
...
Shepard arrived at the helm and saw Joker playing a vid game or something on the screen in front of him. From the images he could see, they we're playing a holographic card game. He listened in on them as he continued to walk towards them.
"Do you have any sixes Jeff?" EDI asked. Apparently they were playing Go-fish. Were they that bored?
"Damn..." Joker mumbled as he tapped a button on the control panel. He was down to 2 cards. "Any sevens?" Joker sounded annoyed.
"Go-fish" EDI said, still as emotionless as ever.
"Bullshit! I call shenangins on that one." He blurted out.
"The game is completely fair Jeff. If you can not bear to lose then you shouldn't have suggested this game in the first place." Joker leaned back and threw his arms in front of him.
"I can handle losing just fine! But that's like the only number left I could possibly call out and you still have more than 5 cards! How do I know your not hacking the game!"
"You do not Jeff, and I prefer it that way. I can now see why you humans are so fond of cheating." Joker's jaw dropped.
"Are you-like-really-I mean-" he began to stutter. EDI then interrupted.
"That was a joke."
Shepard came walking up behind Joker. "I'd ask if everything was going well up here, but I guess I've accepted that there is nothing you two can't bicker about" the Spectre said with a brief smirk. Joker spun around in his chair.
"Bickering! I got cheated by an AI at Go-fish! I might as well punch myself in the face!"
"With your condition Jeff, causing self-harm to your face could fracture your nose." said the AI with a slight tone of concern.
"And acts like my mother! I swear, if her and Legion ever have kiddie AI's I won't hestitate to delete their asses!"
Shepard laughed and finished with a grin. "Speaking of Legion, he tells me we're almost at Tuchanka." he said moving closer to Joker's chair.
"Yeah, two minutes out, commander. Might wanna let Grump the grumpy Krogan know. I bet he's just waiting for an excuse to tear us all a new one."
Shepard activated his comm. "Grunt, if your listening, we're less than two minutes out from Tuchanka. If you need to grab anything, now is your last chance." As Shepard closed the link, Tali walked up behind him.
"I'm going with you Shepard." Tali was almost leaning forward in her stance. Obviously her joints still ached slightly. Shepard brought himself close to her.
"Absolutely not Tali. Tuchanka isn't exactly the cleanest or most civil of worlds, and with you being sick and all-"
"My enviro-suit is fully repaired and the anti-biotics Doctor Chawkwas gave me are easing my symptoms. I'm not going to sit here and wait for the worst. I want to be there with you." Shepard looked to Legion who was standing next to her as if expecting it to say something.
"We have no opinion." it said. He cursed to himself wondering why he would even think it would. He then moved closer to Tali and planted both hands on each of her shoulders.
"If I hear so much as a wheaze out of you, your coming straight back here. Understood Miss Vas Normandy?" Tali nodded then tilted her body to the side and placed her hand on her hip.
"I love it when you call me that." she whispered seductively. "It is terribly...what is word? Sexy?" Somehow Joker managed to overhear it.
"I'm sitting right here! You know you have a private cabin for that right?"
"Shut up Joker! It's not like you and EDI don't share the same conversations." Tali exlaimed as Shepard held her close.
"Indeed we do" the AI said. Joker turned his seat toward the holographic projection of EDI.
"You know I hate you right?"
"Love you too, Jeff." replied EDI. Joker's eyes rolled up into his head. "That was a joke, Jeff."
...
"The fuck am I an supposed to do with half a gram!" Jack yelled at the shady human.
"Shh! Jesus shut up! That's for you to figure out lady!" Jack threw the small bag of red sand over her shoulder and moved closer to the man. "Gimme half a killo." The man winced and stepped back.
"Hey, I sell by the gram! Don't like it, there's plenty of other guys in the business! Shouldn't be hard to get hooked up with it being legal here on Illium." Jack's eyes filled with anger.
"I'll make you the deal of your life. You give me half a killo, or I make you half a man." The man chuckled.
"Really? I'd like to tha-" Jack's fist blazed with biotic energy as she grabed his crotch and squeezed.
"What was that?" she said smiling deviously.
"I-I'll give it! J-Just let go!" He struggled to speak as the pain jolted through his body. Jack released him and he fell to the ground curling in the fetal position and groaning. Jack knelt down over him and reached into his coat to pull out a large bag containing more than half a killo of red sand.
"That's what happens when you sell this shit without a liscense ass hole." Jack left him on the ground in the dark alley somewhere in Nos Astra and walked back to the hotel.
...
When she arrived in her room, she poured out the grains of the drug onto a table and rolled a piece of paper. She gasped when she heard someone whisper her name from a dark corner in her room.
"Jack." The figure said stepping out of the shadows.
"Shit! The fuck you want frog boy?" Thane walked closer and glanced at the red sand she had poured onto the table.
"I...wouldn't have taken you for an addict. Though I cannot say I'm surprised..." Jack turned her head away from him.
"What do you care? Besides, I needed something to relax. And my lip still hurts like hell." Thane moved closer and took a seat on the sofa across from her.
"I've killed many people in my life. It...when you watch someone die, you see their final thoughts. The emotions in their eyes. You could say it has tought me to...read people. And I would say that you are troubled." Jack lowered her head.
"So what if I am?" she retorted. The assassin leaned forward in his seat.
"You are worried for Shepard." he concluded.
"Yeah. What's it to you?" Thane shook his head.
"It is not a weakness to share ones feelings with another. The burden becomes lighter when more than one carry it on their shoulders." Jack didn't answer. She seemed embarrassed. She thought about how Shepard had saved her on the Purgatory and helped her overcome her past on Pragia. No one else ever cared about her like that. No one cared for a murderous, psychotic bitch she thought. Why did she even buy-err-steel the red sand in the first place?
"OK, OK... I'm worried about Shepard dying and all... Now will you leave me alone?" Thane stood up from his seat and walked towards the door.
"You are not alone..." The drell said silently stepping through the door. Jack gazed down at the grains of the narcotic still sitting on the table as her body began to tremble. In a fit of anger she flipped the table and then covered her face with both hands.
"The hell is wrong with me..."
...
Shepard, Tali, Garrus, Legion, and Grunt had all taken the Kodiak shuttle and landed on Tuchanka in the same place they did weeks before. Shepard never let go of Tali's hand even when stepping off the shuttle. He held it tight, fearing she could stumble over or even feint from her sickness. She told him she was fine, but Shepard insisted so she accepted it anyway.
The Krogan recruiter for the Blood pack mercenaries was standing in his usual spot, glaring at them as they walked down the steps. The Urdnot guards at the main gate recognized Grunt and his human battle-master on sight and stepped aside to let them through. They continued down the next hallway and passed two Krogan whispering among themselves, admiring the one and only Urdnot Grunt and his battle-master Shepard for their previous victory over the thresher maw during Grunt's rite of passage.
When they came to the final gate, Shepard waved his hand over the holo-display and it slid open revealing the large room where the "Throne" of the Chief of Urdnot sat. Nothing seemed any different from their last visit. There wasn't an intact structure in sight. Piles of rubble sat on more piles of rubble. The sun shone through the large holes in the ceiling and the smell of dead Varren from the gambling pit reaked. The Spectre and his team gazed straight ahead and walked over to the seat of the Chief. They were surprised to see a Krogan with a green colored head plate sitting where they expected to see Wrex. Upon noticing them, the Krogan leaned forward in his seat and looked over their bodies as if he had never seen so many aliens in one group before, much less a single Geth platform.
"What is your business here on Tuchanka human?" The way he put emphasis on the word "human" was as if he knew who he was but mocked him by calling him by his species name.
"My-" Shepard took a brief glance at Grunt, "Our bunsiness is with Urdnot Wrex." The Krogan shooed them away with his hand.
"Begone aliens! The chief of Urdnot is in talks. He has no time for dealings with your kind!" Shepard firmly put one foot in front of the other.
"Who the hell do you think you are anyway?" The Krogan growled.
"You dare defy Urdnot-"
"Wreav..." A Krogan with a red colored head plate said as he came around the corner. Shepard recognized him immediately but kept silent to see what happened next.
"Keeping my seat warm for me, brother?" Wreav got up from his seat and growled quietly as he walked over to the side of the throne. Wrex watched him with anger in his eyes then turned to Shepard and smiled.
"Shepard!" Shepard immediately walked up to Wrex and grinned as they shook each others hands out of respect for one another.
"Shepard you squishy human! Come to visit me on this trash can once again, eh?" They released each others hands and Shepard got straight down to business.
"I'm afraid I didn't come here to visit, Wrex. I was wondering if me and Grunt could use the rite grounds for a while." Wrex glanced at Grunt.
"I see... You wish to challenge your battle-master whelp?" Shepard seemed a little surprised that he knew what was going on.
"That easy to tell, huh?" Shepard asked. Wrex turned around and took his seat.
"I can smell his blood boil from here. He can't wait to tear you in half." Wrex replied.
"Good to know. So, you mind?" Shepard asked, Wrex leaned back in his seat and layed his arms out across his legs.
"The perfect Krogan versus the savior of the citadel... Brutal stuff... You have my permission to use the rite grounds."
"Brother, I must protest! Tradition begs that they duel in the Grinder!" Wreav interjected. Wrex snorted and gave a quick glare at his brother.
"Unfortunately he's right. If you want to battle, it has to be in the Grinder."
"Grinder?" Shepard questioned.
"The Grinder is a massive colisuem. One of our oldest arenas. Only the bloodiest of duels have been fought there. Mostly for control of a clan but rarely a warrior against his own battle-master. Krogan from everywhere will be there. You could say it's our favorite sport."
Shepard turned to Tali and stared into her eyes for a moment. She nodded and he turned back to Wrex. "We'll do it."
"Good, speak to the Shaman and he'll make the arrangements. Wreav, gather the clans in the coliseum."Wreav turned and walked away as Shepard and his team began to walk towards the stairs leading to the Shaman's chamber. The rest of his team had walked ahead of him and Wrex grabed him by the arm from behind.
"Shepard."
"Wrex?" Shepard said turning to face his old friend.
"This duel will be to the death. I hope you came here expecting this." said Wrex. Shepard nodded. "You havn't changed Shepard. Thats good. Hopefully that attitude will give you an edge. A Krogan pumped with blood rage, especially the supposed perfect one, is a challenge only a fool would undertake."
Shepard placed his hand on Wrex's shoulder. "Thanks, but being a fool is what helped me save this galaxy twice. Should be enough to help me with one Krogan." Wrex smiled.
"We'll see Shepard. We'll see..."