She jumped when she was suddenly grabbed and tried to push him off. 'No, no, you are supposed to not be doing this.' she thought as she started kissing him back. Their tongues danced with each other, both trying to win the upper hand and dominate the other. 'Stop… Damn it, why does he have to make this so hard.' He pinned her against the side of the elevator and ground against her. She moaned and sucked on his tongue, her hands running down his chest.

He abruptly broke the kiss and looked down at her. "You are mine," he said firmly and bit her neck, hard.

She let out a cry and gripped his arms. "Thane, shit, that hurts." she winced.

He growled and pressed her harder against the side of the elevator. He wanted her, needed her. He spent the last week watching the woman he loved, his warrior-angel, his siha, be the target of other men. Finally he let out of her neck and looked back into her eyes, her blood on his lips. He licked it off and looked down at her, slightly apologetic.

She glared at him and forced him away. She turned on the elevator and hit the button for the crew deck. Her right hand moved and put pressure on her neck to try and stop the bleeding.

"Siha," he said worried, his mind clearing at the smell of all the blood. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

She didn't say anything, just jabbed the button again.

"Siha," he said and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I… drell bite their mates as a warning to other males to stay away." he tried to explain. She didn't answer again, just kept jabbing the bottom, wanting it to go faster. "Siha, I love you, I want to be with you, for the rest of my life. Please say something, siha."

"Stop calling me that," she finally snapped. "It's Commander."

"Si… Commander… I really didn't mean to hurt you, human skin isn't as thick as a drell's and in my jealousy I forgot to—"

The door opened and she flipped him over her head and stormed off to the med-bay.

Kolyat heard the thud from the life support, his room, and for the moment his father's, and pocked his head out to see what caused it. "Father," he said when he saw the man on the ground, blood on his chin. "Are you okay?"

Thane nodded and stood up with help of his son.

"Dear god, what bit you?" Chakwas asked as she looked at the wound. It was the size of a half dollar, teeth marks in a perfect circle.

"Doesn't matter," Shepard said with a shrug.

"It looks like a husk got ahold of you and it doesn't matter?" Chakwas asked as she applied some med-gel to the wound and stitched at the thicker parts to help it seal.

"Thane… got possessive…" she muttered.

"Oh… well I had heard that drells bite, but I didn't think he would try and take a chunk of flesh out of you." she said as she finished.

"He didn't." she said with a shrug. "I'm softer than a drell."

"You are defending him, and you don't seem upset about him injuring you. Why don't you just stop this silliness and take him back before we run out of medical supplies healing James and Kaiden from the effects of their advances." she asked the commander.

"He needs to focus on getting better and I need to focus on saving the galaxy." Shepard said with a shrug and stood up.

"He is better, has been for a few days."

"Then I just need to focus on saving everyone, it's time consuming, ya know?" she said and left the med-bay.

Thane was waiting for her outside of it. "That's why?" he asked, having heard the conversation, "That's why you left?"

Shepard didn't stop on her way to the elevator.

"Shepard, don't ignore me." he said and followed.

"Joker, how far out are we?" she spoke to the ceiling.

"About an hour." his voice replied.

"Good, tell Tali and Garrus to suit up and meet me at the airlock."

Thane followed her into the elevator. "I thought I was going with you." he said and furrowed the ridge above his eyes.

"No I said I would think about it, but this mission is too important to send someone who hasn't seen battle in a year." she finally spoke to him, her hands behind her back and she stood up straight.

"You don't have to worry about me hindering you, I am well and I know how to shoot." he argued.

She snorted, "Please, I'd rather take Kolyat, at least he has shot a gun recently, and not missed." It was a low blow, but it served its purpose. They both knew that Kolyat had potential, but he was still horrible in hand to hand and his shooting was average, verses his father who could take out a krogan with his bare hands and shoot a penny a mile away.

They made it to the crew deck and Shepard went to the bridge. Tali was already there, having been nervous and prepared an hour before called. Garrus was still just taking his time, probably polishing his sniper.

"I talked to the quarrian leaders and got a debriefing on the situation. The civil fleet is in the middle of the fight, pinned down by a dreadnought. They want us to fly in using the Normandy's stealth system and take it out from the inside." she informed the commander who nodded.

"Alright, Joker, take us in and find a place for us to dock." she said before turning to go the armory. "I'll be back in a few minutes." she said. "When Garrus gets up here, keep him here." she ordered them as she walked away.

Thane followed her, and once they were alone he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. "Shepard… please let me come." he softly begged.

"No," she said firmly and tried to get out of his arms.

He tightened his grip. "If you feel nothing for me then you shouldn't be so protective, I will be at no greater risk than Tali or Garrus." He grabbed her pistol from her hip and shot a fly across the room. "And I can shoot."

She clenched her fists, "I said no, you are going to stay on this ship."

"Why," Thane asked, gripping her shirt with his free hand.

She twisted away from him and grabbed her armor. She pulled it on, clicking everything in place and grabbed her guns. Mantis, claymore, avenger, hand cannon, and tempest. She only really used the first three, the other two were a backup. "Just stay on the ship, I'll be back soon." she said and walked back past him towards the air lock.

He grabbed her hand as she passed. "I will… if you promise to stop this foolishness and be mine again." he said and kissed her tenderly.

She let him. "Thane, you're better off without me." she told him with a sigh.

"I am nothing without you." he corrected her and kissed her again, lingering there for a second longer. "You awoke me from my battle sleep, without you I might as well be in it."

She sighed and pulled back, "Thane… let's be serious, after all this is said and done, I'm probably going to be dead. Best you start moving on now."

He grabbed her and held her tight against him. "You can deny my affections, push me away, but you can never stop me from loving you." he told her firmly. "Don't throw away what we have now that we finally have a chance at a future together."

She hugged him back for a moment and then they let each other go. "I'll be back." she assured him and left for the airlock. This time he let her go.

"You two seem to be reaching an understanding." Kolyat said, walking in as Shepard walked out.

Thane nodded, "Yes, let us hope it will stay this way." he said and ran his hands along his face. He left for the bridge, planning on watching over his love from the ship.

"There's the air dock," Joker said as it came into view. "Shit… it's torn all to hell, no way are you getting through that." he said as they came up beside it.

"Maybe not a group, but one person could." Shepard said as she looked over it. "I'll go through, and then when I'm across you two follow." she told Garrus and Tali.

Thane stiffened, "Commander, there has to be a safer way than—"

"This is the only way in, I'm going." she said before he could finish and went into the air lock. She forced her helmet over her head and locked it into place before walking out into space with the gravity boots on, sticking her to the torn up metal tubing.

"Careful, Shepard." Joker said in her ear. "I'm pretty sure if you die your boyfriend is going to kill me."

"He isn't my boyfriend," she said back as she worked her way along, walking up the sides to go around holes in the metal.

"He still will kill me." he said as said drell stood over him, lurking almost.

She didn't respond, just kept walking. "Damn… Tali, you would love this view." she said as she looked down on Rannoch through one of the gaping holes.

"Really?" Tali's voice said in her helmet.

"Yeah…" Shepard assured her and continued on her way. There was a weak spot in the tube, she saw it, but it was the only spot on it left so she had to go over it. Carefully, she stepped on it, but it creaked under her foot and broke off.

"Shepard," Joker's voice called worried.

"I'm fine," she said as she gripped onto the part of the tube that was still connected to the geth ship. "Looks like no one else is coming this way."

"Once you get inside you might be able to unlock another air dock." Tali suggested.

"Wait, so you don't want to take the geth on by yourself?" Joker teased.

"Not if I can help it." came Shepard's snide reply.

Once she made it in the ship she could move faster, having gravity instead of having to use her boots. "I'm in." she told them and looked around. "Where is the nearest air dock from my location?" she asked, and when they answered she headed that way. There weren't any geth to stop her they didn't know she was inside yet, so getting to the air lock was easy. When it opened Tali and Thane stood there.

"What the fuck is he doing here and where is Garrus?" she asked and pointed to the drell.

"Garrus tripped and hit his head," Thane answered. "So I'm filling in for him since I am a sniper too." He almost seemed smug about it.

"Yes, he… tripped." Tali said, giving Shep a look that told her there was more to it than that.

Shepard glared at Thane. "Go back on the ship," she ordered him.

"No, you need a third man and I was the only one ready." he said dryly.

"You tripped Garrus," she stated.

"No I did not." he said and stepped past the commander. "Kolyat did." he added.

"What the shit…" Shepard said and couldn't help but smirk. "What do ya know, I'm rubbing off on the kid. Alright, you can come, just keep your head down." She bumped sides with Thane and he pushed back against her.

Tali giggled, making them both look back at her.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"You two are so in love, just get back together already." she said and pushed the two love bird down the hall.

Shepard was about to answer with a sarcastic remark before a bullet whizzed by her head. By the time she turned to see who it was Thane had shot the geth right in the head. "Boom, head shot." she muttered and looked up at Thane. "Thanks."

"Anytime, siha." he said and kissed her cheek.

"Okay, lovey dovey stuff was cute, but now it's just getting sappy." Tali said, bringing the attention back to the mission.

Shepard backed away from Thane. "Right… Thane, stay behind cover and keep a good view of the area, Tali send out your drones to scout ahead, the geth will know we are here now." she ordered and they moved. Shepard's heart unclenched as she saw the three of them working together. Just like back with the collectors now that Thane was here. She had missed him on missions.

"Come on, dumb ass, step out from behind the crate…" she muttered as she looked into her scope. "Just a little more, can't shoot you in the arm, that won't kill you." she said and her finger laid on the trigger. In her focus she didn't notice the husk coming up on her until its blood splattered on her face. "What the, oh shit." she said in shock when she looked up just as the husk fell over dead, Thane a good forty meters away with his sniper pointed in her direction.

She chuckled as she saw where he had shot it. "Boom, headshot." she called to him and he smirked. The phrase had been strange to him at first, but she had explained that in shooter video games when someone sniped something in the head, a.k.a a headshot they said it as a way to brag. It had become a regular thing for her to say it to him whenever he shot something in the head, and it actually made him aim for the head more often.

They killed all the geth in the room, but more were sure to be coming so they moved swiftly. Thane gripped her arm and paused her in running just long enough to give her a quick kiss to her helmeted forehead. "Head in the mission," she told him and tapped the tip of her mantis against his head.

"Of course, siha." he told her and they speed up to catch up to Tali.

They eventually came across the room that had Legion in it and then freed him. He shut down the ship's defenses and weapons as a kind gesture and they went to leave.

"The dreadnought has stopped firing, its shields are done, now's our chance." Admiral Gerrel's voice said over the coms.

Shep pressed her hand against her ear. "What? We are still on here." she protested.

"This is our only chance." he told the fleet, ignoring her, all ships fire.

The dreadnought shook and nearly knocked her off her feet, but Thane caught her. "Hold fire, we are still on the dreadnought." she shouted over the mic as they all picked up the pace.

Gerrel didn't listen and all ships kept firing.

"Damn it," she cursed and they started sprinting, shooting the geth reinforcements as they went.

A geth prime appeared right in front of Shepard, who was leading the small group of three. She looked up at it and went to pull out her avenger, but before she could the geth knocked her back off her feet. She soared through the air, back past Thane and Tali and her head knocked hard into the wall. She dropped to the ground motionless.

"Shepard," Thane said worried and ran back to her as Tali sent out her drones to distract the prime. He pulled Shepard into a small cover and shook her.

She groaned and looked up at him with hazy eyes.

"Siha, come on," he said and shook her more.

"Th-Thane…" she muttered and leaned into him.

"Shepard, get up, we are in the middle of a fight." he told her and poked his head out of cover to shoot an approaching geth.

"Fight… the geth… shit the geth." she said, her mind clearing up. She poked her head up too. "Where is my avenger?" she asked when it wasn't on her back like it was supposed to be. She looked around and spotted it near the prime's feet.

Thane saw it too. "No, Shepard, use another gun." he told her, but she was already up and sprinting for it. "Damn it," he muttered and started shooting at the prime, desperately trying to keep its attention.

It shot at him and forced him into cover. He only stayed down for seconds, but in that time he saw a thousand ways Shepard could die right now. Before his shields were all the way back up he got up and started shooting at it again. It had turned to Shepard, but she managed to dodge most of its bullets. By now she was at her gun and slid under the geth's feet as she grabbed it. She turned as she slid and pointed the gun at it on one knee. The cryo rounds sank into the metal and stiffened it, halting it as it was about to shoot Thane. She used the time while it couldn't move to run back to cover by Thane.

"That is why I insisted on coming." he snapped at her and kept shooting at the prime. "You are too reckless."

"Hey, I'm alive, I knew you'd have my back." she said and released clip after clip into the prime. It took five clips, but it went down, exploding. She pulled up her helmet enough to reveal her lips and gave him a kiss. "Thanks, babe." she told him and they took off running again, trying to reach the fighter ships Legion was going on about. There was a blast in the hull, air leaking out into it. "Helmet on," she snapped at Thane, who did as she ordered and pulled his mask on just in time.

They ran and ran, shooting down whatever appeared, running by what they could. They ran through a door, up the ramp, through another door, and then could see Legion in the distance by the ships. "Thank fuck," Shepard said and they sprinted.

Thane heard a creak and grabbed the two girls, stopping them from being killed by a beam that fell and broke the path in front of them. None of them paused, going to the side that had the smallest gap and leapt for it. Shepard went first and it bent under her weight, knocking her down to the lower level.

"Siha," Thane called and was about to jump down to her.

"I'm fine, go, go, I'll find a way back up." she ordered them and they jumped across and ran towards the ship, Shepard running on the level below them. "Found a way up." she told them as she came up to a ramp that spiraled and merged with the upper level. A support gave way with a blast and she shied away from the heat, never stopping her sprint forward.

The upper level blew up behind Thane and Tali, knocking them into the air and gravity disappeared. Shepard activated her gravity boots just in time and managed to grab Thane's boot, pulling him back down to her. Legion went and grabbed Tali and they all piled into the fighter ship.

"Joker, we are coming out in a geth fighter ship, do not shoot us." she told him.

"Um… which one is you?" he asked.

She tapped a few buttons on her omi-tool. "Sent you the location."

"Gottcha, Commander, what would you do without me?" he said as the Normandy came and picked them up.

The crew cheered as they exited the fighter.

Legion held back, knowing that the organics may have a bad reaction to him.

Shep looked back at him. "Everyone, this is Legion, he helped us defeat the collectors. He is a trusted ally and I expect you to treat him with kindness." she told her crew and clamped her hand down on Legion's shoulder.

Everyone looked at him wary, but if the commander trusted him—well if the commander ordered them—they wouldn't harm the geth.

"Thank you, Shepard Commander." he said.

"No problem, now come on, we have some quarrians to shoot in the face, fucking asses, firing at us while we are on the damn ship." she said and dragged the synthetic into the elevator. She paused at the door, spotting Kolyat. "Garrus is going to hurt you." she warned him, making him tense.

When she reached the war room she told Hacket what Garrel did while waiting for them to arrive, and he was just ask pissed as she was about it. "They have the largest fleet, Shepard, we need that fleet." he reminded her.

"I know, kiss ass and lick boots, I got it." she said and turned to leave the room.

She stepped back into the war room to see Garrel and Raan arguing.

"Your unilateral strike endangered us all! I should you charged with treason." Raan lectured him.

Gerrel looked in dead in the eye, well mask. "I was within my authority as admiral of the heavy fleet." he defended.

"And what of Shepard, and Tali'Zorah?"

"They escaped unharmed." He turned to her. Bad move for him to look for her to defend him after he nearly killed her, the girl she saw as a little sister, and the man she loved. "Shepard, the perimeters of the mission changed. You're military, you understand."

"I understand you wasted your chance to retreat to try and have me killed." she snapped at him, getting in his face.

"The dreadnought was def—" he didn't get a chance to finish his excuse, Shepard punched him hard in the gut. He let out a painful gasp and doubled over.

"You nearly killed me, Thane, Tali, Legion, and that is only those you endangered by pointing your guns at." she growled at him. "Your actions jeopardized the mission and your people, and for what? To take down one ship? Legion disarmed it, it couldn't do anything, you should have retreated your civil fleet, waited for me to get the fuck off of it, and then line up an attack that isn't risking a shot at one of your own ships. I am military, but you are a fool. Get the fuck off my ship."

Raan stepped in as Gerrel limped away. "Shepard, I understand you are angry…"

"Angry? If I didn't need your fleet…" she said, but Tali quickly stepped in before she could say something she would regret.

"He nearly killed us, Raan."

Raan looked down before looking to Shepard. "You have to understand, the geth inflicted heavy casualties before you disabled the reaper signal." she tried to reason.

Shepard turned away and paced for a moment, calming down. Her anger was always so close to the surface these days. "You said they have a planetary defense cannon?" she said, switching topics. If they kept going on this one she was going to put someone through the wall.

"Had. Admiral Koris sacrificed his ship to destroy it. He crash-landed on the home world." Raan updated them.

"We'll help with rescue efforts." she assured Raan. She still had to kiss ass and lick boots, especially after punching one of their admirals.

"Thank you commander, I think the worst is over, the geth no longer have the reaper code." Raan said with a slight bow of her head.

Legion stepped out of the shadows where he had been watching from. "Shepard Commander, we are ready to offer assistance."

"Oh yes, your geth friend." Raan said and looked up at him.

"Yeah… they reapers were using him as a signal booster for the reaper upgrades."

"It," Tali corrected. She saw Legion as a being, something worth calling more than it, but wanted to ease Raan into being allies with a geth. "We freed it."

"This is a fascinating prototype." Raan said as she circled Legion. "With some study I may be able to find a weakness in the geth."

"Legion is my friend and comrade, not a test subject." Shepard said defensively. "He helped me defeat the collectors."

"So did your pistol, should I be worried about their feelings as well?" Raan said with a shrug.

"I don't think you wanna go down that road with me." Shepard threatened. There is was again, her anger. "Legion is my friend, and, what you will find more important, he is our best source of information on the geth."

"The scientific benefits—"

"Are off the table." Shepard finished for her.

Raan looked at Shepard closely for a moment before turning to Legion. "What can you tell us about the geths' next move now they are without the reapers' guidance?"

"This is a false assumption, you merely shut off the long-range signal, but the old machines placed a base on Rannoch for short-range direction.

"They still have reaper upgrades?" Raan said in dismay.

"That is correct." Legion nodded. "They are currently disorganized, but once the short-range signal is in place they will recover."

"Keelah, I need to warn the fleet. Xan, corrdinate with Gerrel. Move!" she told her right hand who nodded and took off after the heavy fleet admiral.

Shepard patted Legion on the shoulder. "We need to take out the reaper base, where is it located?" she asked him.

"Unkown."

"Find it." she ordered.

"Understood. We do know the location of a server from which geth fighter squadrons are controlled." he said and pulled up a digital map of Rannoch on the display screen. "The squadrons are targeting creator liveships. Disabling them will little casualties, we offer assistance."

"Thanks." she said as she looked at the map. She knew this wasn't easy for Legion, he was basically turning on his own people.

She pushed off the map and looked at Raan. "That will be all." she said and left for the exit. "Legion, we still have your room behind the med-bay if you would like to rest and go over everything that has happened." she told him kindly.

"Thank you, Shepard Commander." he told her and bowed his head.

A/N: Really long chapter… not to fond of it, more one of those things you had to put in the story, but you really just wanna get to something else… And 13 pages in word… wow… and to think I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now.