A/N: And it only gets better...


He sighed. "Yes… I know."

Before she could speak, he brought up an OSD and set it on the table. She looked at him, questioning the device.

"Geth data." he informed her. "Its what we found in the Armstrong Nebula along with some classified Alliance information."

She was shocked by the sudden gift. He only looked at her.

"The perfect Pilgrimage Gift, no?"

He took the risk. He went through to the trouble himself to give her the Geth Data with some classified files added to it. It was so great in value that it couldn't be considered a gift anymore. It was something far greater.

"Th-Thank you." she responded somewhat excitedly. She picked up the OSD with the care of a mother with her newborn. "I wish I could give you something more than words…" she said after a while.

He shook his head. "You don't have to. I couldn't ask for a better engineer." he responded sincerely.

More silence.

"Get some rest, miss Zorah." he spoke, standing up, "Tomorrow is going to be a tough one." With that, he exited the tent.

She looked at the OSD, then at where he left.

Forgetting what she intended to do, she stood and left with the OSD carefully placed into a pouch.

He landed on his feet.

The invasion was starting. The fire team had been dispatched a few minutes ago while he and his team prepared.

Following behind him was Garrus, Tali and Wrex. Liara had gone with Alenko to help prepare the bomb. Williams left with Kirrahe.

"Shadow Team, come in Shadow team."

It was Kirrahe.

"This is Shadow team." Shepard answered, putting a finger on his comm. "Were starting our infiltration of the base."

"Copy that. We'll make our way through the facility. Good luck."

Shepard released the comm and waved his men over.

"Lets move."

Looking at the split in their paths, Shepard gestured for Garrus and Wrex to go left while he and Tali went right. They moved through.

"Tali, behind me." he commanded without turning to her.

She silently followed him. The first signs of hostiles was directly in front of them. They ducked near some cover as he began making out the enemies strength.

"Outpost. 4 Geth regulars and 1 Missile trooper." he informed her, a virtual circle appearing over his eye and zooming into the outpost.

"Shepard," Garrus interrupted. "we've encountered Geth."

"Are you alright?"

"Affirmative. We've handled them easily.. or at least Wrex did. I'm informing you on finding an Outpost with a few Geth here."

'Another one?'

"We've found an outpost here also, Vakarian… New orders. Eliminate that outpost. Destroy anything that stands out from the scenery like a dish or antennae." he commanded.

"Yes, sir."

The comm clicked 'Off'.

He turned to Tali.

"We're assaulting that Outpost. Think you can handle yourself?"

"Yes." she answered rather silently.

"Good. On my command, you follow behind me and get to the closest cover you can find. No heroics, alright?"

She nodded.

"Good."

He peered over the corner, waiting for a chance to catch them off guard. Finally getting his chance he patted her shoulder before quickly sprinting to cover.

The sound of their boots splashing the water alerted the Geth, who began firing on them.

She followed as instructed, staying extremely close to him, but far enough to leave him some space. Shots flew past them and few got close.

Finding her cover, she broke off from him and dove to it.

He continued for a few seconds before finally getting to his own.

He drew out his pistol and took highly accurate shots at the Geth, though it took nearly 10 shots to kill one.

Tali joined in, firing on the Geth when she could. It was going to take a while, even with Shepard.

Garrus nodded, a hand on his one-sided visors comm button.

"Yes, sir."

He let go of the button, hearing the comm click 'Off'.

"So what did he say?" inquired Wrex, a foot over a Geth's mangled body.

"He wants us to go in and destroy anything that stands out, like a dish or antennae."

Wrex huffed. "Kill some Geth, blow stuff up. I like this plan."

Garrus shook his head at the remark and brought out his sniper rifle.

"Lets get moving."

Wrex started walking to the Outpost, making loud splashes with his heavy feet.

He calmly walked up behind a rock layer and looked over the corner. He gave a disappointed sigh.

"Only three Geth. I thought Saren would be more strict on his security."

He ran from his cover to a nearby, smaller rock formation, gunning down an unprepared Geth. By the time he landed in his cover, the other two started firing at him.

One of the Geth were shot by Garrus, who was firing strategically from far away.

The final Geth was 'pulled' to Wrex, who held up his shotgun with one hand and fired when the mechanized being came to 'lethal range'.

Crushing its torso under his foot, he turned his head to Garrus.

"Nice shot, for a Turian." he simply stated aloud.

"'Oh admit I'm just as good with a sniper rifle as you."

Wrex huffed and kicked the Geth's body out of his way.

"I've been using sniper rifles since before you were a sparkle in your fathers eye kid."

He stomped his way up the ramp and looked around. He eventually spotted a satellite dish.

"That what we're lookin' for?" he asked, pointing to it with a single finger.

"Yes."

Garrus took aim with his sniper rifle and shot the rod attaching the dish to the building.

The dish fell into a pool of water.

"That should have done it. I'll contact Shepard, let him know what we just did."

Wrex only grunted, leaning on the railings.

"Shepard." Garrus began, holding a finger to his visors comm piece.

"Overload on the Missile Trooper." he commanded calmly through his comm.

Activating her Omni-tool and shooting her hand out towards the assigned Geth, she shot her overload at it, sparks flying from the Geth.

Kneeling beside his cover, he took aim at the Missile Trooper and finished it with a trio of shots to the torso.

As it fell, two Geth came to its sides, shooting from the balcony while the third ran down the ramp and to a formation of rocks.

He went to his cover as the Geth unleashed their plasma rounds at them.

Tali began firing on the one near the rock formation while Shepard pulled out his assault rifle and gave suppressing fire.

He managed to destroy one while Tali managed to damage the other.

He jumped over his cover, determined to destroy the remaining Geth and its wounded counterpart.

Seeing the damaged Geth rise, he biotically 'pushed' it hard onto another rock formation, hearing a crunch as it made contact with the rough surface.

Taking cover at the Geth's cover, he waited for the final Geth to finish its firing. Hearing a break in its fire, he ran once more, Tali giving some suppressing fire with her pistol.

Meeting it, it seemed to have been prepared, managing to fire at him. One shot managed to hit him on the shoulder, making him grunt in pain.

Angered, he shot both hands forward, sending a bright blue wave of biotic energy, pushing the Geth. Overusing his biotic strength, he made the Geth break through the railings and made its 'lifeless' form land beside Tali, who was considerably far.

Ignoring what just happened, she raised her weapon and shot the Geth, making sure it was 'dead'.

He was breathing heavily when Garrus came on the comm.

"Shepard."

Breathing in deeply and trying to control his heart rate, he put a finger to his helmets side.

"I'm here."

"We've done as you asked. There was a dish here, I'm pretty sure it was a satellite uplink."

"Good. Wait there for me and Tali. We're just about done here."

"Acknowledged."

The comm went 'Off'.

Grabbing his shoulder, he assessed the damage. It wasn't too bad, but if unchecked it could be fatal. At least to him and any Quarian it would.

Using Omni-gel as a temporary 'patch', he moved to the terminal of the Outpost and deactivated the Geth's communications.

He walked down the ramps and waved Tali over. She walked to him.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded.

"Not a scratch."

He nodded.

"Garrus and Wrex are waiting for us. Lets move."

They began walking down another canyon to meet their team members.

Garrus was sitting against a railing while Wrex paced back and forth waiting for Shepard and Tali.

"You do know that there's a team of Salarians waiting for us, right?" Wrex asked as soon as they were close enough.

"Well, considering the fact that their channel reports nothing but casualty-free fighting, I doubt their in trouble." Shepard answered, stepping up the ramp.

When he reached the top of the ramp he noticed a few fresh kills.

"Any trouble?" he asked, kneeling over a Juggernaut with a gaping hole on its torso.

"Nothing a Krogan couldn't handle." Wrex huffed, stopping his pacing to kick the Juggernaut in the side.

"Alright lets move." he declared, seeing everyone standing and ready.

They once again split when they reached another split in the road, this time Shepard with Wrex and Tali with Garrus.

He progressed through the simple canyon, not a single Geth in their way. He enjoyed the calm. The water running through his feet, the grains of sand underneath them.

They eventually exited the canyon and found some stairs, climbing up, he stopped as soon as he found a pair of Drones, some type of hose attached to them.

He reached for his comm.

"Vakarian, any sign of hostiles?"

They progressed through the left while Shepard and Wrex went through the right.

Making sure that they were far enough and that their channel was secure, he talked to Tali, eying the path in front of him cautiously.

"So… you tell him yet?"

She quickly turned her head to meet him.

"Tell him what?"

He stopped at a corner and peered around it. Seeing it clear, he continued to walk.

"That you like him."

"Uh… no."

He looked around himself, raising his rifle when he looked up and lowering it when he looked back down.

"Why not? It's kinda obvious."

She followed him rather slowly, but fast enough to keep up with him.

"I don't know how he'll react. He obviously puts the mission and everyone in the team ahead of himself. I don't want him to worry about me personally." she admitted.

Garrus finally turned to look at her, stopping in his tracks.

"In case you haven't noticed, he does care for you personally."

That took her by surprise.

"How?"

The skin above his left eye shifted, the Krogan equivalent of raising an eyebrow.

"You really didn't know?"

She shook her head.

"You haven't noticed how he keeps you away from the fights? How he's always close to you when we're in a firefight? How he always asks for your status first when the fighting's done?"

"He does that because I'm a Quarian. Our health is at greater risk then that of other species when we fight." she pointed out.

"Maybe. Or maybe he actually feels something for you.", He said it as though he knew it were true.

She thought about it. Aside from the fighting, he does seem to talk to her first socially. He talks to her first when he's done with missions. He goes to her if she has problems. He talks to her and treats her better then most of the crew combined.

There was hope for it.

"Do you thi-"

Garrus raised a finger, a hand on his visors side.

"Vakarian, any sign of hostiles?"

It was Shepard.

"No sir. Nothing yet."

"Copy that. We found some type of staging area for the drones. We're going to take it out while their connected to the fuel station. It should help the fire team."

"Understood." Garrus replied.

"Be careful." Tali said silently.

Garrus looked at Tali. She looked shy and somewhat embarrassed by what she said.

There was a momentary pause on the comm. Did he dislike what she said?

"You too."

Garrus smirked. He responded. That was a good sign. At least it was for Tali.

The comm went silent.

"Be careful?" Garrus asked her. She began wriggling her hands, unsure of how to answer.

"Yes… we all have to be careful." she attempted to recover.

"Some more then others." he replied with a smirk. It only made her blush.

"No sir. Nothing yet."

That was good. If it continued that way, then Tali would be safe.

"Copy that." he responded. He looked over the rock layer and examined the drones. "We found some type of staging area for the drones. Were going to take it out while their connected to the fuel. It should help the fire team."

"Understood." Garrus replied.

"Be careful."

He was surprised. It was Tali.

Why would she tell him that? He was always careful.

Did she… No. She couldn't. She's on Pilgrimage, she wouldn't do that.

He eventually responded.

"You too."

He clicked the comm 'Off' in time to hear Wrex grunt.

"Be careful? 'You too?'. I'm no expert, but I think you two have something going on."

He and Wrex aimed at the fuel tanks.

"I don't have time for crap like that." he responded, taking careful aim at the fuel tanks.

"And if you did?" Wrex asked at they both armed a Carnage.

He didn't respond for a few seconds before giving a completely honest answer.

"I'd accept it." They both fired and the staging area gave off a brilliant explosion.

Wrex took cover while Shepard stayed standing, eyeing the explosion. As soon as the flash of the explosion came, his visor polarized to protect his eyes from its brilliant light.

"Just like that." he finished, brushing fragments of what used to be the staging area off his shoulders.

….

They met up by the entrance to the labs.

Shepard nodded to Garrus and Tali and lead them.

They were well prepared, four Geth Troopers with two Krogan regulars.

Quickly forming a strategy, he made Wrex charge with high shields with him following him while Garrus and Tali gave fire support.

Running into positions, they all enacted their roles in the plan.

Shepard followed Wrex carefully as Wrex charged. Tali and Garrus gave fire support from their distanced positions, Tali firing as accurately as she could while Garrus fired through his Sniper Rifle.

They managed to take two Geth out before Shepard and Wrex made it across the catwalk.

As soon as they made it, Wrex continued charging to the right while Shepard fired at the Geth and Krogan to the left.

The Geth fell easily while the Krogan began charging.

Stepping to the side quickly, he managed to dodge the charge and shoot it in the back with his hastily pulled out shotgun.

Wrex charged at the Krogan. Pushing the inexperienced Krogan to the ground, Wrex shot him with his shotgun. He biotically 'pushed' a Geth over the railings and onto the rocks below while the last Geth was gunned down by Tali.

Making sure the area was clear, Shepard called Tali and Garrus over.

Meeting up outside the base doors, he opened it and walked inside, his team following.