0630 Normandy Deck 1

Shepard woke up quickly, turning his alarm off and getting himself out of bed before he could let himself get back to sleep. The room was empty save for him, Tali leaving a note on her pillow saying that she was needed at the end of Charlie Shift to coordinate with the fleet, a fact he grunted disappointedly at as he stumbled his way to the shower. It was not until about five minutes into the shower that he started to notice the scratch in the back of his throat when he swallowed, followed quickly by how monumentally plugged up his sinuses felt and the unusual frailty in his limbs.

This can't be good. Last time I checked, getting sick was NOT a part of our plan to defeat the Reapers… Well, I can still hide this. No reason for anybody else to know. I'm sure if I just drink lots of fluids, keep it on the down-low, etc., I'll get better with time.

He reluctantly turned off the shower and went about his morning routine, slipping into his N7 PT gear before taking the elevator down to the Cargo Bay, being welcomed by about 30 crew members, in various states of alertness, milling around while Vega appeared to be fiddling with his omnitool.

About a week after they had left Earth, Vega had decided it was time to initiate a regular Physical Training schedule for the crew, the idea beginning with "All this running and I still feel like I'm degrading, eh Esteban? We need some good old fashioned workouts here, something to get the blood pumping. You know, beyond the kill-bots and terrorist groups shooting at us." It had evolved into a three-cycle schedule, workouts at 0700, 1600, and 2500 hours. Despite the groaining and various soreness among the crew, there was no denying that it improved morale, the physical exertion helping not only to keep the crew focused, but to provide an outlet for the frustrations which ran so rampant. The only real oddity was Mr. Vega himself, who was apparently dedicated enough to the cause to attend and supervise all three workouts in a day cycle, going so far as to cut his sleep cycle short for the cause.

Vega looked at Shepard as he entered, waving and walking over to The Commander.

"Hey, Loco, come to get your ass whooped again, eh? Last time not enough for you?"

Shepard spoke through a smile, though his nose sounded rather congestion and voice was less vibrant than normal.

"You know me, James, always willing to show you how it's done."

"Yeah yeah, we'll see about that. I've got some good stuff planned for you today, remembered how much you loved those eight-counts from last time."

Shepard chuckled slightly at the collective groans he heard from the rest of the crew-members as they heard the infamous set mentioned, finding himself a spot in the back of the formation as Vega took his place at the front. He walked around to the armor locker and grabbed his weight vest, running back as they began their warm-up, absorbing the energy of the crewmembers as the whining and ribbing gave way to concentrated effort.

It was no secret on-board The Normandy that Shepard could out-pace almost any crew-man aboard, Cerberus' upgrades had made sure of that, and to make up for it Shepard usually completed the same workouts with a twenty kilogram vest on. But the frailty from earlier, the shakiness in his limbs and protests from his throat did not go away as he had hoped, instead only becoming worse as the workout finished.

Well, maybe some coffee will help. Coffee helps everything, after all. Obviously.

He made his way up with the crew to the Crew deck, joking with the few that talked to him and working to raise their spirits, sharing a few stories of his own from N7 school as they all reached for their breakfast. As they sat and ate, Tali came out of the elevator, smiling and waving at John as she went for the Dextro rations bin. Much to the amusement of the crewmembers around, Shepard stood up to go "fill his coffee cup", though it was already ¾ full.

Alright, she'll flip if she finds out you're sick at all. Just play it cool, short sentences, no M's.

"Hey Tali!"

Tali spun quickly towards John, stopping everything as she brought her omnitool up, scanning Shepard as he stumbled backwards eyes tracking the orange light that was now directly in front of his face.

"Shepard, when did you start getting congested? And the Fever?"

Damn.

"Tali, I'm not sick, I've just got a little…"

John started defensively but drifted off as his mind scrambled for a quelling excuse, catching nothing. Tali cocked her head and he could tell she was raising an eyebrow, crossing her arms in front of her expectantly.

"A little…?"

"Uh… Allergy attack?"

"Uh huh. Sure. Come on."

Before Shepard could protest Tali's arm was on his right elbow and he was being marched to sick bay, planted in front of Chakwas, and watching as she tapped away on her omnitool.

I don't even remember being asked to sit down…

The Doctor walked over calmly despite Tali's obvious rush, sporting a bemused smile as she pulled up her scanning program.

"So, Commander, caught a little cold, have we?"

"Honestly, Doctor, I don't think it's that bad. Tali, however, seems to think I need to come in for a check-up because of it."

"Well, you were slightly over-due. Don't worry, this shan't take five minutes."

The rest of the tests proceeded with professional efficiency, only the mild hum and the occasional beep of the doctor's omni-tool sounding through the sick-bay. Eventually, the doctor retreated to her terminal, inputting the information into The Commander's file, eventually turning to face him.

"Well, Commander, this is certainly no common cold. Your implants help your immune system take care of most common ailments, filtering them out on-site very effectively. However, it would appear that, during your mission on Chalkhos, you managed to contract a virus which your system is unable to filter, likely because it is so small. Now, it's not deadly, and goodness knows your body has seen worse, but I would be remiss if I didn't order you fifty-four hours of light duty and bed-rest."

"Doctor, you're not saying I can't work, are you?"

"No, Commander, but I am saying you have a very well-trained XO who is more than capable of running these scanning operations, and that you should try to get as much bed rest as possible for the next two days."

John hung his head, slightly dejectedly as he stood up, facing the doctor before turning to leave.

"Aye aye, doctor."

Tali followed him to the elevator silently before he turned to her once the door had closed.

"You're not going to let me leave my stateroom, are you?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Tali, honestly, I'll be alright. I'm sure this is something my body can take care of."

"No, you heard the Doctor. Fifty-four hours of bed rest." John started to protest but Tali held up her hand, silencing him. "I know you're going to say that you'll be fine, you're tough, etc. But honestly, John, you need your rest, to give your body time to deal with this, okay?"

The elevator opened and they both stepped into Shepard's cabin, him shaking his head at his prepped service armor.

I didn't even get into my uniform today. What kind of message does that send.

"Fine, you make a good point. I'll try and rest, okay?" Shepard began getting undressed, reluctantly. "But you know how much I hate being sick. It feels so…"

"Weak, I know. You think I don't feel the same way when I get a fever just from breathing normal air? You're not weak for getting sick, you're smart for letting yourself recover."

As she spoke, Tali sat on the edge of John's bed, tucking the covers gently underneath him once he was settled. After she finished, she leaned over to the bed-side terminal, turning down the lights in the cabin. She made for the desk by the bed, turning the terminal they had moved their onto low-light mode.

Despite his protests, John was already fast asleep by the time Tali sat down, his speech groggy and soft, causing Tali to smile beneath her mask.

"How was your meeting with The Admiralty?"

"It was good, mostly we reviewed troop deployments, we've got some operating as far as Palaven now. Nothing too strenuous, just a lot of talking and debating."

"And then more talking and debating?"

"Of course, not only are we Quarian but we're a Quarian Government. What else would we do than talk and debate?"

John chuckled softly through his pillow as his eyelids got even heavier, drifting off to sleep as he did so.

1115 Life Support

"Major, thank-you for joining us."

"It was my pleasure."

Garrus chuckled slightly at the statement as he leaned back in his chair, regarding the Salarian who was sitting across from him. Tali and Liara were sitting on either side of him, both doing the same as the major looked eagerly between the three of them. Tali was the first to speak.

"From what you said, Major, you and your team uncovered some interesting and potentially very useful data on Chalkhos?"

"Indeed, perhaps something that might even help us to understand The Crucible."

Liara's omnitool came up, quickly opening to the notepad she kept ready, her eyes sparkling with interest and intense curiosity.

"Please, do tell."

Calmly, the Major brought up his own omnitool, forwarding the three other three participants, speaking concisely, pausing before each sentence to think it out, resulting in a string of perfectly formed statements.

"During their research on Reaper-hybrid sensory inputs, the Asari teams on Chalkhos uncovered an unusual silicon matrix that appears to be present in the primary processing nodes of all Reaper technology. Unlike other synthetics, which seek to replicate the mechanisms of organic systems through electronic signals, this matrix instead created a bed of bio-mass like matter, taking advantage of the atomic similarities of Silicon to closely mimic carbon structures found within organic matter.

"Among other things, this explains one of the ways Reapers can integrate organic matter into their own structures, or integrate their technology into organic systems, essentially creating silicon-based bio-matter at their integration points which can also be used as semi-conductors for their purely synthetic systems, essentially a bridge between the two. The Asari initially dismissed this discovery as inconsequential, the structure being so inherent to Reaper technology that they did not believe it could be targeted. However, upon further research, we concluded that this could be one of the greatest weaknesses of The Reapers."

At this, Tali cocked her head. Liara and Garrus were both aware of the basic concepts which The Major had been discussing, but were also in over their head when it came to bio-technical integration technology. Tali, however, understood the majority of what was being said, and felt that she could even see where this "weakness" might come from, but was stuck on the answer, feeling as though she was peering through darkness over a cliff, almost seeing the bottom but instead only mirages and imaginations.

The Major continued.

"Our research concluded that a highly precise burst of specific-frequency Dark Energy could be used to disrupt the atomic bonds used by The Reapers to create this silicon matrix, essentially dissolving their organic-synthetic interfaces and rendering them if not dead then incredibly debilitated."

All three other members stared at Kirrahe, all three hesitating to immediately believe what they had just heard. Tali spoke first.

"How could such a wave be generated?"

"It could probably be done via highly specific manipulation of an element zero core. However, as already mentioned, it would have to be an incredibly specific wavelength dark-energy signal, thus control of the core would have to be incredibly precise, likely requiring a massive machine."

Liara spoke next.

"Like the Crucible?"

"Precisely."

Garrus cocked his head downwards, his mandibles kept tight against his face as he considered the concepts and ramifications of this information.

"How would it affect our systems?"

"It is unlikely it would, save for the systems that integrate reaper tech. Anything which has directly integrated reaper-technology would be destroyed at an atomic level just as they are. However, the majority of our traditional synthetic and organic systems would remain unchanged, if not experiencing slight power fluctuations in their element zero cores."

Silence permeated the room again as that last statement ran with the four occupants, even Kirrahe understanding the incredible ramifications of such news.

1426 Normandy Crew Deck

"Traynor, would you mind helping me again, I am having trouble with a signal I've picked up."

"Be right there."

Liara continued to stare at her terminals, struggling to make sense of the garbled transmission that was in front of her. It baffled her that she could not figure it out, this issue appeared no more complex than those she handled on an almost daily basis, but nonetheless Traynor had offered to help should any issues arise, and she seemed incapable fo solving the problem.

Within minutes the door chimed slightly with a request for entry, Liara answering "Come in!" immediately after.

Traynor walked in, smiling at Liara as she locked onto the signal displayed in front of the Asari, quickly diagnosing the problems. She can't be having trouble with this, I've seen her handle things this complex a hundred times over.

"What seems to be the problem, Liara?"

"Despite my best efforts, I seem to be unable to decode this transmission. I realize it is similar to the interference which I have been traditionally able to handle, but I appear to be…"

"Stuck? Stumped?"

Liara laughed slightly as Traynor gently nudged her out of the way, taking over the terminal and tapping it quickly, the signal quickly resolving into a readable transmission.

"There, all solved. Honestly, Liara, what happened?"

"I don't know, like I said: I have traditionally been able to handle problems many times this complexity, but apparently this one was beyond my capabilities."

Liara looked slightly embarrassed as she said so, defeated almost. Traynor smiled warmly at her friend, trying to ease whatever she was feeling.

"Well, there were some odd oscillations in the tight-band range. Maybe you're just having a bit of a day."

"Perhaps."

Liara looked lost in thought, staring out the window as she agreed with Traynor, her stare distant and her face as stoic as ever.

"Well, if that's all you need from me…"

"No, wait..."

Liara looked up suddenly, looking at Traynor almost manically. Her face showed an instant of worry, appearing distraught at the thought of Traynor leaving, followed closely by befuddlement before she reigned it back in, as confused over her own reaction as Traynor was, the human woman struggling to hide the perplexed look which sat beneath her well-mannered surface. Liara's mind was racing. There is little more I need her for, and she has duties elsewhere on the ship. Why on earth should I be worried that she would leave? There is not reason I should have a reaction anything close to this. Troubling…

"Liara? You were saying?"

Lost in thought, Liara had apparently fixed her semi-vacant stare through the middle of Traynor's forehead, the specialist waving her hand gently in front of Liara's eyes as she asked for the completion of the statement.

"Oh, yes. Well, I was wondering if you would be willing to run a diagnostic on my decryption systems, they seem to be running a bit slow."

Traynor's mouth moved into a flattered, though confused smile, as she leaned back, crossing her arms and looking at Liara with a raised eyebrow, bemused.

"I think glyph is more than capable of that."

Liara shook her head, again her mind insisting on Traynor's completion of the task.

"Indeed, but I trust your opinion more, specialist. Glyph has yet to find any anomalies."

Traynor cocked her head, raising her eyebrow farther as her eyes searched Liara's, the corner of her smile raising farther as she tried to make sense of the request. Liara's face was as placid as ever, though her eyes appeared to be slightly confused, her mind racing to figure out her statement as fervently as Traynor's, befuddled by her own strange insistence on taking Traynor's time.

Traynor is right, glyph should be more than qualified to identify any problems with the system, perhaps I am making it up. If so, I should tell her! But that seems so… unreasonable. Goddess, why am I acting so strangely?

Traynor raised her hands, shrugging and smiling back, the request odd but, truth be told, she had come to enjoy the time she spent with The Asari, their friendship growing. Plus, how could I say no to a system like hers.

"Fine, Liara, I'll do it. But I can't give you the report during my working hours, want to catch a meal and I can tell you anything I find? Maybe convince you to give me some stories from the First Normandy?"

Liara felt herself flush slightly, despite herself, the heat behind her cheeks increasing, though she convinced herself she didn't know why.

"Ye… yes, that'd be nice."

Traynor smiled largely at Liara, pleased her offer had been taken up. Liara's a legend, but she's also… fun. I can certainly understand why the rest of The Team considers her a good friend. Plenty of secrets, sure, a little frightening, if I'm being honest, but her stories too… and her wit, damn if she isn't one of the smartest people I've ever met.

"Good, I'll see you then."

Traynor walked out and, after the doors had closed, a slight grin slipped onto Liara's face.

Goddess, why am I being so… irrational?

1700 Normandy Deck 1

John's eyes opened slowly as he woke up, though looking around the room he couldn't say why. Tali was sitting at her desk, possibly sleeping, and everything else was as quiet as ever.

Well, I've never one to say no to a good opportunity…

Quietly, he slipped into the PT gear he had sneaked into bed with him the last time he woke up, Tali's watchful eye more imprisoning than comforting, and slid as silently as he could out of the sheets, his feet softly making contact with the cold floor.

I'm not well yet… but I can't just leave Garrus to run everything…

Slowly bringing his omnitool in front of him, he hit the icon for his tactical cloak, his body disappearing in a shimmering flash as he became utterly invisible, giving him leave to move stealthily around the room, making his way straight for the door. Smiling to himself, he reached up for the panel, activating the silent protocols from his omnitool and bringing up the exit command.

I'm not an infiltrator for nothing…

The entire panel turned red and Tali sprung up, looking at him. Immediately his shields were dropped and he was left staring dumbfounded at a Quarian who looked an equal mix of amused and displeased. Her voice was slightly aggrivated, but in all honesty it was much more amused that he had attempted to sneak out. And he didn't think I'd rig the door to alarm me when he left...

"John…?"

John raised his hands in defeat, deciding to plea his case.

"Tali, please. I've been in here all day, just let me at least make my rounds? Please?"

"No, you heard the doctor. Bed. Rest."

"I know, but honestly, I just need to connect with a few members of the crew. They need to see me, I'm their captain. Would a Quarian captain stay locked in his stateroom because of a little cold?"

Tali cocked her head, considering the statement, before sighing and gesturing for the door, her voice conciliatory if not slightly defeated.

"Fine, go. But get back here soon."

John smiled slightly, nodding.

"Thank-you. In the mean-time, you need to go to bed."

Tali looked at him, shaking her head as she resumed her seat.

"No, I can't. The admiralty needs more recommendations, more information on Reaper capabilities. And, as it would turn out, not only am I our leading expert on Geth incursions, but Reapers as well."

John walked over, gently putting down the datapad that she had picked up and sitting on the desk, looking her in the eye.

"Tali, please. You've been working non-stop today and you even fell asleep while working. You need sleep too."

"John, you know as well as I do that sleep doesn't beat the Reapers. Besides, I was just resting my eyes."

John angled his head, raising his left eyebrow and fixing Tali with his best "Really?" look, causing her to giggle a little bit.

"Honestly, I'm fine."

John only responded with more glare. Damn him, he knows I can't stand up to that…

When Tali spoke it wasn't angry, or defeated, instead just bemusedly frustrated and extremely fatigued. Truth be told, John was right, Tali had been working since 0400 that day with The Admiralty, and that was after a long day at engineering the previous cycle. She was exhausted. Falling asleep at work was the largest sign, but her judgement and thinking had been off all day, calculations and tactics which should have been second nature were sluggish, dragging through the jam of fatigue which sat heavily in her head. She was just slightly too stubborn to admit it.

"Fine, yes, I need sleep. But only three hours. I frankly can't afford more."

John smiled, taking the victory where he could get it, kissing the top of his visor as he went to grab his service pants and N7 jacket, his typical "off-day" attire.

"That's fine, I just needed you to sleep."

"Only so long as you promise to do everything you can to recover?"

John stopped dressing, tenting his fingers over his chest in feigned indignation.

"And when have you ever known me to be anything but the perfect patient?"

Tali angled her head, raising her eyebrow beneath his mask at his sarcasm as he laughed, resuming fastening his boots as he waved at her.

"Yes, yes, I promise. I'll get to bed soon."

"I just don't like seeing you sick, John."

"And I don't like seeing you exhausted, Tali."

Tali laughed slightly as Shepard made his way to the door, only a little bit of paleness remaining from his slightly more sallow-of-late complexion. She smiled as she saw him. How he can change himself from a sick john into Commander Shepard so quickly will always be a mystery.

"Just, take care of yourself, okay?"

As John walked through the door, he looked back and smiled.

"Only so long as you do the same."

Author's Notes

So that was, admittedly, more than a bit fluffy. I like to try and alternate between heavy and fluffy, so this felt like a nice break after the past chapter. I don't think sick-Shepard turned out quite the way I'd like, but I enjoyed the thought of a slightly over-protective Tali when John does get sick, so there you have it. Also, sorry if Kirrahe's explanations got a little science heavy (and probably inaccurate, I'm no biologist, but last time I checked Silicon can't integrate into carbon chains, so the entire concept could be mistaken but, hey, it's science fiction), but I thought it was necessary, and will definitely be used later... As always, let me know what you think, and if there are any ideas you want to see, please let me know!

SotS