A/N

Would have uploaded this earlier, but I had to take a state test at 9 AM, and I get up at 1 PM, so there was a need for some sleep.

Chapter 13: Therum pt 2

Shepard and his squad walked down the entrance pipe of the excavation site. Shepard palmed open the second door at the bottom, and it exposed the first level of the prothean ruins. At the very back wall of the cave, prothean architecture stuck out of the wall. They stepped out onto a balcony that overviewed the entire area, with a path heading out to their right and down to where the prothean structure was. Near the far wall, an elevator was made, no doubt leading down to more prothean ruins.

Shepard, Garrus and Tali all kept their weapons free, and Shepard took point, walking down the ramp way. They hit the bottom floor of the room, and walked across the catwalk, entering the elevator once they got there. Tali and Garrus were filed in first, and Shepard stood in front of them, closest to the elevator door. The elevator slowly slid down, creaking loudly.

Shepard stood with his rifle pointed down, and began whistling a tune. Garrus and Tali both glanced at each other, neither knowing what he was doing.

"Uh Shepard?"

"Yes Tali?"

"What are you doing?"

"Whistling?"

"Yeah. Something a lot of humans do when they're in a good mood, or bored."

"And which one are you?"

Shepard shrugged.

"Well I'm not bored. Does that answer your question?"

Tali scoffed.

"Not really."

Shepard shrugged again.

"I'll tell you later if you tell me what bosh'tet means."

Tali smirked in her helmet.

"I don't really want to know anyways."

"Aw, that wounds me deeply." Shepard teased.

Before Tali could reply, their elevator jerked violently, and they were suspended in the air. Suddenly, the elevator plummeted down to the bottom floor, stopping just meters from the ground, wear an array of broken metal pipes and pillars were strewn. They crashed heavily, and everyone was forced down flat by the sudden stop. A massive dust cloud was spreading around them, born out of their rapid descent.

Garrus groaned and Tali groaned as they felt the bruises forming beneath their suits. Shepard started coughing as some dust got into his lungs. He stood up shakily, and turned to help up Tali and Garrus. Once he checked them over, saw they had no injuries or suit punctures, he surveyed his surroundings.

They were apparently on top of an unfinished scaffolding of sorts, which led down to the very bottom floor. There was a much larger area here than on the other levels, and there was a camp in place, but there was no activity seen in the camp. Shepard glanced down from the elevator and saw they had about a two meter drop until they were on the scaffolding.

Shepard lightly jumped down, grunting slightly as he made impact. Garrus and Tali both had biologically stronger legs than humans, and made the jump with ease. Shepard still had his AR in hand and Tali her shotgun. Garrus had dropped his in the fall, but he picked it back up before joining the two. All three checked their guns to make sure none were too beat up to stop working. As Tali and Shepard finished, they heard Garrus groan.

"What's up Garrus?"

"Ah, nothing, damn thing's sight is off center." Garrus grumbled.

Shepard smiled.

"Could be worse, you know."

"Yeah, yeah."

Shepard took off down the ramp, as it twisted and continued under the top walkway. This continued a few more times before they reached a raised platform, about 5 feet from the bottom of the cave. As they all approached the balcony overlooking the area, no one noticed the blue energy field behind them, or the asari floating in the air behind that.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

Shepard spun around slowly, while Garrus and Tali turned weapons primed. As Shepard saw the asari, he motioned for them to lower their guns. He walked straight up to the field with Garrus and Tali flanking him, and crossed his arms.

"Are you Dr. Liara T'soni?"

The asari was wearing a green and white lab coat of sorts, and she was fairly young, or at least to Shepard. She looks like little more than a teenager, but then again she could be hundreds of years older than me. She was currently trapped in the room, a sheer drop behind her and a force field in front of her. She was currently suspended in a large bubble, no doubt a security mechanism. When, she replied, her voice was surprised.

"Y- Yes, how did you know?"

Shepard waved off the matter dismissively.

"That doesn't matter right now. But my next few questions do matter."

"First, your mother, Matriarch Benezia, is helping the ex-Spectre, Saren Arterius, meaning she herself has become a traitor. Are you helping her?"

The asari's voice was incredulous.

"What? My mother has become a traitor?"

"Yes. It was confirmed by the asari Councilor."

The asari shook her head, tears threatening to spill forth, but she controlled her emotions.

"No, I haven't spoken with my mother in years, and I am most certainly not a traitor!"

Shepard paused, and thought about her response. She doesn't seem like one who would deceive. She's too… innocent for that.

"Fine. Do you know why these geth are after you?"

The asari shook her head tiredly.

"No. They came several days ago. I locked myself in this room, placing that energy field, but I accidently hit something I wasn't supposed to, and I've been suspended in the bubble for the past few days. Why are these geth here for me?"

Shepard replied curtly.

"They are here for you. You are a prothean expert, or so I've heard, and Saren is looking for an ancient prothean technology called the Conduit."

The asari shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I know not of this Conduit. But please, release me and I will help you any way I can."

During their conversation, Tali had been hacking into Shepard's omni-tool, and finally got in. She quickly hooked up her personal comm with his, and spoke directly to him.

"Aaron, I don't trust her."

Shepard paused, glancing down to Tali, who was still looking at the trapped asari. He quickly turned to Garrus, and gave him orders.

"Garrus, go scouting down into the camp, make sure no one can sneak up on us."

Garrus hesitated, but complied, and jogged off towards a ramp leading down into the large space. Shepard watched him leave, and returned to Tali. He grabbed her arm and guided her a few feet away, until they were out of earshot.

"Why not?" Shepard murmured quietly.

Tali continued to talk through his personal comm.

"I don't know. Something is off about her, Aaron. I mean, we conveniently show up in time to stop her from being taken away Saren's troops?"

Shepard looked pointedly at her, arching an eyebrow.

"If I remember correctly, that's how I saved a certain quarian girl."

Tali had no response for that. She suddenly became very interested in the ground. Shepard still had his hand on Tali's arm, and he jerked it so she was looking him in the eyes again.

"Tali, look. I am a pretty good judge of character. I knew what each and every one of you who joined my crew was capable of. Except you. I took a big risk in letting you join me on my mission, but I don't regret it one bit. You've been a huge help to everyone on the Normandy, including me. Liara is not in league with her mother, I can tell. I need you to trust me on this."

Shepard looked into her luminous eyes, and Tali lost all arguments she had. Instead, she brought her arm up to his, and lightly brushed his bicep. When she spoke again, it was little more than a whisper.

"I trust you, Aaron."

Shepard smiled, and released his firm grip on Tali.

"Good. Now, come on, let's talk with her more."

They both walked back over to where the asari, Liara, had watched the conversation with interest. Why did he send the turian away? Why did he only speak with the quarian? Shepard asked her another question, and her thoughts refocused on responding.

"What can you tell me about the geth here?"

Liara shook her head.

"You know more about the geth than me. However, A krogan battlemaster was here earlier, and he seems to be in charge of the geth."

Shepard hummed thoughtfully; bringing a hand to his chin. He was quiet for a bit before responding.

"How do I get you out of there?"

Liara inwardly let out a huge sigh of relief. So they are going to release me, thank the goddess. Outwardly though, she began to detail what she knew about it.

"I know you cannot do it from out there. It can only be deactivated from that terminal." She nodded her head towards a terminal a couple inches from where she hovered.

"Well, how do I get into that room?"

The asari shook her head tiredly.

"That, I cannot help you with."

Shepard harrumphed, and turned around to face the cave area. As he began thinking, his eyes were scanning the area in the hopes of seeing something they could use. A flash of blue caught his attention, and he saw Garrus crouched behind a pile of rocks. He motioned for Shepard to come down, but quietly. Shepard got the hint, and turned to Tali.

"Something's up. Go down to Garrus, and do it quietly."

Tali nodded, and readied her shotgun, stepping softly down towards where Garrus was. Shepard turned back towards Dr. T'soni.

"I'll be back as soon as I can free you, Dr. T'soni."

Shepard took off down the ramp before she could reply, and softly ran down to the cover where Garrus and Tali were. He crouched down next to Tali, and asked Garrus what was wrong.

"What is it, Garrus?"

"Geth."

Shepard nodded, and readied himself for the upcoming engagement.

"How many?"

"About seven of them, Shepard."

"Ok, Garrus, pick them off with your SR, Me and Tali can handle any that get too close."

Garrus swapped weapons, and flipped the scope up. He took up position, his rifle secured on top of his cover, while he took position down on one knee. He turned his head towards Shepard and nodded, letting him know he was ready. Shepard checked over his cover, seeing an array of geth troopers, shock troopers, and a few rocket troopers.

Shepard gave Garrus the signal to open fire, and he dropped a geth platform. Every geth reacted simultaneously, and began returning fire almost immediately. Shepard pointed his gun at any geth in range, and Tali hacked a rocket drone in the back, the remaining 5 geth suddenly caught in a crossfire. The hacked geth trooper took out a pack of two, before dying to a return rocket from its companion. Garrus dimmed the flashlight of the other rocket trooper, and Tali sabotaged a shock trooper's systems, and it overloaded into a bright confetti explosion. Shepard peppered the final geth trooper, with a volley of bullets, leaving it as nothing but a pile of scrap metal and white fluid.

Everyone stood up from their cover as they made sure they were all down for sure. Shepard scanned the bodies, and turned back to Garrus and Tali behind him.

"Good work you two." Shepard gave them an approving smile.

"Now, let's look for some way to free the good doctor."

"Hey Tali, come check this out."

The voice spoke directly into her suit, and she recognized the voice as Shepard. She stood up from a pile of garbage tech where she had been searching for anything to help them free Dr. T'soni. She looked around for Shepard, and found him standing in front of a large piece of machinery, something that resembled a thermal laser drill. She strode over to him, replying over comm.

"Yes, Aaron?"

Shepard gestured towards the machinery, assuming Tali could see him.

"You think this could work?"

She finally reached Shepard, and stopped to look at the mining equipment. She studied it thoroughly, and shrugged.

"Depends on what you plan to use it for."

"Hmm."

Shepard's thoughtful hmm spread into Tali's helmet, and a warm smile spread across her face.

"Well, take a look at the ground over there."

Shepard pointed off towards a large open space below where the Dr. T'soni was trapped, and she saw a large piece of the ground that was different than the rest. It looked newer, and it looked like it was placed there on purpose.

"There is a section of it that's different than the rest."

"Yes, exactly. I'm 99% sure that it's a path that leads behind Dr. T'soni. So uh… I kind of need you to turn it on."

Shepard smiled his best award-winning smile, and Tali couldn't help but giggle at Shepard asking her to fix some tech.

"Fine, I'll do it."

She stepped up towards the control panel on the drill, and began tinkering with it. Shepard called Garrus over, who was currently rummaging through one of the tents, and he jogged over. He silently asked Shepard a question, but Shepard just shook his head, telling him to just wait.

A few minutes later, the drill hummed with energy, vibrating the ground as it shook with power. Tali clapped her hands together several times, dust flying off her fingers, and rubbed her hands against her legs, staining her suit with light brown dirt streaks. Tali shrugged dismissively as she saw the marks. I can clean my suit later.

Shepard walked up to her left side, and she turned to face him. Shepard smiled at her.

"Thanks, Tali."

"Of course, Shepard. Just hit that button when you're ready." Tali's arm extended until she was pointing at a large red button.

Shepard walked up and palmed the button, the laser drill bursting to life and penetrating the makeshift rock floor. It collapsed under the laser, and Shepard smashed the button again, turning the laser off. As the dust settled, they saw a large opening in the ground, leading to more prothean architecture.

Shepard smiled, a cocky expression on his face.

"I'm so smart."

"And yet, you couldn't turn the drill on by yourself."

Tali's retort was stinging, and Shepard mentally shook his head at her. Jesus this woman always has a a comeback.

"When did you get so clever? What happened to that shy quarian girl I picked up on the Citadel?"

Tali shrugged.

"You took her on your ship and brought her into combat."

Shepard cocked an eyebrow.

"So it's my fault you're suddenly clever?"

Tali scoffed.

"I was always clever; I just didn't show it earlier."

Shepard glanced at Garrus, who was peering intently at the two of them. By the spirits why can't I figure this out? They weren't like this before. What did I miss?

Shepard shook his head.

"Fine I guess you win this one. Let's go before you insult my pride again."

Shepard strode off towards the hole, and Tali had a huge smile on his face. I guess Aaron isn't as clever with words as I thought. She was enjoying the constant grilling she was giving Shepard. She enjoyed spending time with Aaron immensely; even on combat missions, and she wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Tali quickly followed after Shepard and Garrus, who were already down on the next level. She hadn't realized she was just standing there. She jogged to catch up with them, reaching them as they stopped in front of the next room.

They were surrounded by prothean architecture, and the floor was a large disk, with a few support pillars meeting at a point above the center of the disk. At the center, was a terminal, with only 1 defined shape on the screen. All three looked up, and saw they were in a massive tower of sorts, with holes in the walls leading to the other areas of the excavation system. Shepard strode over to the terminal, with Garrus and Tali following somewhat apprehensively.

Shepard studied the terminal for a bit, which was green instead of the orange of their standard interfaces today. Shepard shrugged. People didn't succeed without taking risks. He tapped the interface, and the ground jerked beneath them, and slowly it rose up.

"Huh. It's an elevator."

As they approached the next opening, Shepard hit the interface again, and the elevator slowed until it was level with the opening, and lo and behold, they were now behind Dr. T'soni.

Liara heard the commotion behind her, and desperately prayed it was Commander Shepard. As the sounds ended, footsteps were heard, and a cheery whistle reached her ears. Shepard walked past her and up to the terminal she had pointed out earlier.

"Good evening, Dr. T'soni."

"W-What? How did you…"

"Laser drill." Shepard smiled at her through his teeth.

"Oh, I see, very clever."

"Thank you." Shepard glanced at Tali pointedly, and she rolled her eyes.

He palmed the surface of the terminal, and the blue force field dropped, along with the bubble suspending Dr. T'soni. She fell down, one knee to the floor, and looked up to see a hand offered out to help her help. She placed her hand in Shepard's and he pulled her up, being either forceful or exceedingly gentle. This Commander Shepard is an amazing specimen of the human species. She couldn't help but admire the Commander's air of authority combined with his easy-going manner. His eyes were a soft brown, and were caring eyes, but also ones that could instill loyalty to the people around him, or fear into his enemies.

She stood up with Shepard's help, and her hand lingered longer than normal. Tali narrowed her eyes at Dr. T'soni, already hating the woman. She could see the intrigue in her eyes, and a primal growl was growing inside of her, threatening to pour forth. Fortunately, she controlled her emotions. No, Shepard wouldn't be wooed by her. He's not that shallow and easy.

"Thank you Commander, I fear if you hadn't arrived, I would have been grabbed by the geth…"

Her voice faded off towards the end, and she stood there with her fingers nervously twirling and her gaze downcast. Shepard was about to reply, when the entire cave shook violently, causing Liara to fall down, while Shepard Tali and Garrus managed to stay on their feet. Shepard helped her up again, but this time with more urgency.

"What was that?"

Liara began rattling off her train of thought.

"The thermal drill! I fear it may have triggered a seismic event!"

The cave rumbled deeply around them, chunks of the ceiling breaking off and crashing downwards. Shepard lead the group back towards the elevator, hitting the interface and contacting Joker through his omni-tool.

"Joker!"

"Commander! We're reading a lot of seismic activity. Everything ok down there?"

Shepard gritted his teeth, and spoke curtly.

"No, I need you to get down here fast, before we all die."

"Got it, Commander. I'll be there in 4 minutes."

Tali shook her head.

"He needs to move faster."

Shepard nodded fractionally.

"Agreed."Their elevator slowly rised to the top level, where they saw the mine entrance in the back, and everyone headed off towards the exit. Before they could leave the elevator though, the doorway leading into the cave system was filled with a massive krogan, flanked by several geth units.

The krogan strode forward until he was on the step from the edge of the elevator, and spoke in a bored tone.

"Surrender the asari. Or don't. more fun that way."

Shepard sighed, frustrated. Of all the times to pick for a fight with a krogan battlemaster…

Shepard didn't bother replying. He unlatched his SR, drawing and sighting a geth unit in less than 2 seconds, dropping it.

"Aha! I was hoping you would say that!" The krogan laughed, and drew his shotgun. Liara crouched down paralyzed with fear, but Tali and Garrus went to work. There were two geth remaining after Shepard dropped the first one, and Tali hacked it to attack its counterpart, while Garrus focused on the krogan battlemaster with Shepard.

They poured round after round into him, but his shields were just too strong. The krogan battlemaster was circling around the ring, shotgun in hand, spraying flak. Liara was smart enough to surround herself in a biotic barrier to stop her from being harmed. As the krogan saw he was getting nowhere, he dropped his shotgun, and charged at the nearest person.

Tali.

She turned her gun towards the charging krogan, and fired several shots, but it wasn't enough. He crashed into her, and tossed her aside, smashing her into the wall. She slumped down, her entire body slack, completely unconscious.

To his credit, Shepard didn't cry out in fear for Tali's life. Instead, he was gripped with a fury unimaginable to most species. Shepard dropped his gun angrily, and drew his batarian knife, fully intent of facing the krogan battlemaster in close quarters.

Garrus warned him, but Shepard paid no heed to him. He was going to brutally murder this krogan whelp.

"Shepard wait!"

The krogan turned back Shepard, and laughed a guttural chuckle.

"Not your wisest move, human weakling."

The way Shepard pulsated with fury and rage would have been enough to cow most species into surrendering, even krogan. But this battlemaster was a fool, and all he saw was a human weakling.

They began to circle each other, the krogan unarmed and Shepard blade drawn. Shepard spoke forcefully, attempting to keep his rage from interfering with his duty as Commander.

"Garrus, take Liara and get out of here. I'll follow you out after I've dealt with this scum."

Garrus hesitated, but knew better than to question Shepard in his current mood. I've never seen him like this before. He ran over to Liara, and helped her up, leading the way out of the room, while the room shook violently again, causing more rocks to fall. Garrus dodged and weaved in between them with Liara behind, and made it out with no injuries. Garrus turned back to face the mine, anxiously waiting for Shepard to keep to his promise.

Back in the elevator, Shepard and the krogan were still, waiting for the other one to make the first move. The krogan let out a massive battle roar, and charged Shepard. Shepard held his ground, knife poised for a thrust, while he waited for the krogan to reach him, the rage in his eyes burning intensely. The krogan was mere meters from Shepard as he suddenly rolled sideways, just enough to get out of the way.

The krogan missed his rush, as he had his eyes pointed down in a fatal mistake. When he hit nothing, he slid to a stop, and glanced up, confused about the lack of contact. He heard a shuffle slightly behind him, and spun to face his adversary, only to get a knife buried into his eye, the 8 inch long blade reaching all the way into his brain. Several systems of his body shut down, including his respiratory system.

The krogan screamed in pain, only to collapse to his knees, his breath becoming ragged. He stared up at his killer, the human weakling, and saw the pure rage in his eyes.

For the first time in his life, he felt fear and helplessness. As his body began to seize up, he choked out a final plead.

"Please… give me… the honor of… death."

Shepard stared with fire in his eyes, and spoke with a voice laced with venom and hate.

"No. You can suffer and die like a coward."

The krogan choked back tears at his fate, and fell face down onto the floor, his chest heaving a few last times before his lungs stopped pumping air, and he died with shame in his eyes.

Shepard strode over to the still body of Tali, and crouched down to carefully pick her up. The fear that Tali could be dead reached his mind, and tears slid down his face, landing on Tali's visor. Those luminous eyes he loved to look into were gone, extinguished. He cradled her body against his own, and the earth shook once again, and he remembered where he was.

He began to jog out of the elevator room, dodging falling rocks and debris. He reached the entrance of the mine, and slowed down as his world seemed to collapse around him. He reached the preliminary door of the entrance, and palmed it open, to be met face to face with Garrus, relief at seeing Shepard alive.

"Shepard! Thank the Spirits your alive!"

His relief disappeared at the sight of Tali in his arms, Shepard spoke curtly.

"Where's the Normandy?"

Garrus didn't have time to reply as the ship itself touched down by the sheer cliff, just enough room for them to enter through the cargo bay. Shepard strolled off, completely ignoring Liara and Garrus. I need to get her to Chakwas. He paced quickly on board the Normandy, Where Kaidan, Wrex, and Ashley were standing guard to make sure no surprise attacks could be launched.

They each saw Shepard carrying the limp body of Tali, and not one person said anything.

He distanced himself from them until he entered the elevator. He glanced down at Tali's limp form, his eyes filled with determination. She will live, I know it. Chakwas can save her.

The elevator opened, and he strode quickly into the medbay, where Chakwas was sitting at her desk. She looked up at Shepard and saw Tali's limp form, and immediately strode across the room to choose a medical bed for him to place her on.

"What happened?" Chakwas wasted no time in performing a scan of her, to see her injuries. Shepard explained what happened.

"A krogan battlemaster tackled her, and she was thrown into a wall, hard."

His voice was filled with helplessness as he pictured the scene in his head.

Chakwas completed her scan, and checked the results, her face becoming grim as she read it through. Shepard watched anxiously as she read it over, and his eyes were flicking back and forth between Tali and Chakwas. Shepard could take it no more, and blurted out, somewhat irritated.

"Can you help her?"

Chakwas sighed, and closed her omni-tool. She walked over to one of the medical stations, opening it and pulling out several applications of medigel. She responded to Shepard while doing so.

"Most of her bones are broken or fractured, severe internal bleeding, and a heavy concussion."

Shepard blanched in fear as she spoke, but something clicked in his head. She didn't answer you.

"But you can save her?" His voice was strained, the ever so slight hint of hope tinged with his fear and concern.

Chakwas strolled over to medical cabinet, and began pulling out a decontamination unit, along with antibiotics and herbal supplements. Finally, once she gathered them up, she turned back to Shepard, staring him in the eye. She saw the fear in his eyes, and she couldn't find it in her heart to tell him it wasn't as easy as that. Instead, she gave him hope, and silently prayed she could fulfill it.

"Yes, I can save her."

A/N

BOOM! MOTHERFUCKIN PLOT TWIST! MWAHAHAHAHAHA DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMIN!

Unlucky Number 13, man! i had to write at least one bad thing.

Review, and pray Tali makes a full recovery.

Keelah Se'lai!