Hello again my friends. I know it's been a while but I hope you can forgive me, this is the longest one yet after all... Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

About six months after the former commander returned from Parnack, development on Rannoch was going better than anyone could have predicted. The former Capitol was being restored and the Capitol building was nearly completed.

Tali was looking forward to the meeting today. After months and months of meeting on the mostly dismantled Rayya, she was glad to finally be meeting inside the new Capitol building.

The day of the meeting Tali got up particularly early. After a brief shower she kissed Shepard's cheek and left a note on the nightstand. With a smile on her face she exited the house and drove away.

Tali accomplished her goal of being the first to arrive. She wandered thought the empty stone halls, admiring the ancient stone tiles on the floor and the more recent artwork that hung on the walls. When she reached the center of the building she found the meeting room. Upon entering she couldn't help but marvel at the extremely high, circular walls capped by a large glass dome.

Walking into the center she orbited the circular, wooden table. This piece had been her idea. While poking around in a few old earth novels, which she borrowed from Shepard's at home office, she found a lot of references to the knights of the round table. After doing some further research on the extranet she thought it would be a nice concept to adopt for their meetings.

Tali circled the table a couple more times before deciding which seat she would claim. Just as she sat down across from the door she entered through Raan walked in, with Korris right on her heels. "Tali, I'm surprised you're here so early." she said as she took the seat to the right of Tali.

"I'm not, I didn't think she would want to miss out on taking in the new building while it was still quiet." Korris commented as he sat to Tali's left. Tali smiled guiltily and gazed up at the glass dome. Raan followed her gaze and sighed, "it is quite the view isn't it?" Tali just nodded in response before turning her attention to the door as it opened yet again, this time allowing entrance to Tali's two least favorite people, Xen and Gerrel.

Tali was a generally kind person but she simply would never be able to tolerate those two. With what they did to endanger the fleet, her life, and Shepard's... They would never be people whose company she would enjoy.

The final seats being filled, the meeting began. It wasn't anything of great importance, mostly just details on reconstruction efforts and farming progress. All in all things were going pretty well.

When the board was about to close the meeting there was a sudden, loud crash from the hallway. "What the hell was that?" Xen exclaimed as she jumped behind Gerrel's chair and grabbed his arm.

Just then the door burst open and three Batarians entered, all carrying assault rifles. Two of them aimed their rifles at the admirals while the other closed the door behind them.

"If you don't make any fuss then nobody has to get hurt." said the Batarian near the door. Xen raised her hand and began to speak but the leader pulled out his pistol and fired so close to her face the she felt the heat off the bullet. Xen immediately hid behind Gerrel and gripped his arm tighter.

Shepard had woken up about an hour after Tali left and found her note asking him to meet her for lunch at the new dextrized humanity restaurant. When he arrived he saw several military vehicles parked outside the Capitol building. Shepard walked over to a marine to ask what was going on.

"Sir I need you to... Oh Commander Shepard. What can I do for you sir?" the marine said with a nervous salute. Shepard chuckled a bit and returned the salute "at ease marine. What's your name?"

"Seera'Lay vas Tombay sir" she replied, still nervous. Shepard chuckled again "you can drop the sir too Seera. What's going on?" Shepard asked with a gesture toward the Capitol building.

Seera almost froze when she remembered where she was. "Batarian assailants are holding the admiralty board hostage. We are currently..." Shepard was gone before hearing the rest of what she said.

Shepard ran as fast as possible to his and Tali's car and pulled his phalanx out of the glove compartment. As he popped in a fresh thermal clip he activated his cloak and slipped inside.

The Batarians had gathered all the admirals into a tight circle in one corner of the room. There was a noise from the hallway and the leader looked at the door and barked at his men "if they move, shoot them." He then flung the door open and stepped outside.

Shepard slipped inside while the door was open and quickly dispatched the two batarians guarding the admirals. When the leader heard the shots he spun around only to find a pistol pointed directly at his face.

"Balak... I told you that if I ever saw you again I'd end you... Now you decide to threaten my wife? Not smart..." Shepard took a bit of pride in the mortified expression on Balak's face just before he pulled the trigger.

Tali jumped up and ran to her husband. "John! Thank goodness you came. If you hadn't come we would have-" Shepard cut her off with a kiss as he embraced her. The couple parted when the doors were once again flung open. Shepard aimed his pistol at the doorway but lowered it when he saw Seera along with two other marines.

"What's happened? We heard..." she began but trailed off when she saw the three dead Batarians on the floor and the pistol in Shepard's hand. "When did... How did you... Where..." she stuttered, scratching the side of her head.

"Seera don't worry about it." Shepard replied, halting her ramblings. "Now we can all relax. Right?" Tali giggled at Shepard's calm disposition and hugged him tighter. Seera smiled and was turning to leave when her omnitool bleeped. She brought two fingers to her ear "yes? What!? Please tell me you didn't just say bom-"

The ground shook and she could hear screaming from the person on the other end of the line. Shepard turned to Seera concerned. She was shaking. "I don't know what to do... Bomb... Batarians set a bomb in..." she trailed off as panic set in. Shepard released his wife and gently grabbed Seera's shoulders. "Seera, I need you to focus. Where was the bomb?"

Seera stuttered out the beginning of the word hospital and Shepard took off through the doors. Tali right on his heels. When they got outside they saw that about half of the new hospital was on the ground in shambles. What was left wouldn't last long. Shepard turned to Tali "Tali, I need to go help. Please stay outside. I don't want you to get hurt." After a moment Tali nodded hesitantly and Shepard kissed the top of her head before running inside.

Shepard made his way through the halls. Thankfully the hospital was relatively empty. Only four patients were checked in and the whole staff was not present yet. Three of the patients were near the entrance on the ground floor of the six story building, all of whom were accounted for. Shepard saw one patient checked in on the third floor. An elderly male in for a severe allergic reaction.

Shepard quickly bolted up the nearest staircase and arrived on the third floor within a minute. He didn't believe he would find the man alive. The bomb had appeared to be on the third floor. When Shepard reached the room he found a truly sad sight. The patient, the doctor, and someone who could only have been his wife were laying dead. Shepard was about to give up hope when he heard a cough from the other side of the bed.

Shepard vaulted over the bed and found a young Quarian girl, around nine or ten by Shepard's guess, sprawled out on the floor, her leg bent at an awkward angle. When she saw Shepard she reached for him desperately, tears staining her eyes. "You're safe now. Shhh... It's alright." Shepard said as calmly and softly as possible as he lifted her into his arms. She was covered in dust and her dark red hair was dotted with pieces of debris.

As Shepard carried her out of the room and toward the stairs she wrapped her arms tightly around Shepard's neck, almost cutting off his airflow. When they reached the relief workers outside she refused wouldn't let go of Shepard until he promised to stay with her.

Shepard called out for Tali and she came running to his side. The couple stayed with the girl until they knew she was safe. They promised to come back to see her the next day and went home.

When the pair arrived at home they both were tired and both in desperate need of a shower. Shepard kissed Tali on the cheek "you can shower first if you want sweetheart." he said with a weak smile. Tali grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the bathroom. "the shower is big enough for two John. Besides, you deserve a nice reward for what you did today."

Exciting times huh? Please remember to review. I do read all reviews and I greatly appreciate the feedback.