Hey all! As usual thank you so much for the reviews and follows! It inspires and motivates me to keep on writing! I received a very good suggestion that I will try very hard to incorporate in to this chapter or the next! Still in search of a beta to give me a hand! Please continue with the wonderful support! Let there be fluff!

He woke to a small hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. He blinked to adjust to the soft light of the observation port.

"Let's get you to bed sleepy head." Tali said warmly.

He rubbed his eyes while sitting up.

"What time is it?" he asked with a yawn?

"Don't you worry about that, you need to rest." She replied while stretching before standing up.

He looked over and saw Garrus and Kasumi were both fast asleep in each other's arms. With a tired smile he took the hand that was offered to him and rose to his feet. He wrapped and arm around the small woman's waist and pulled her in close as they walked out of the room and made their way down the hall to the elevator.

Her heart still did somersaults whenever he touched her….smiled at her…even looked at her! Keelah! She was very glad for the visor for the moments like these, when her face was burning from an intense blush. When she was near him it felt like her heart was going to explode out of her chest.

She leaned in to his embrace and wrapped an arm around him. Through her suit she could feel the warmth radiating from his body. She thought back to their kiss….her first kiss. She let out a small sigh. She wanted to feel that again, more than anything. She felt bad for being the reason they had to wait. She tried to push the guilt away and think on all the times he had reassured her.

"Tali?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at him. She hadn't even noticed he had untangled himself from their embrace. He was standing outside of the open elevator doors.

"And you call me the sleepy head. Come on my sweet princess." He said while stepping forward and taking both of her hands in his and leading her down the stairs and to the bed. He kicked off his shoes and they both crawled in to the bed.

She turned on her side so she was facing him. He leaned forward until his forehead was touching her face plate. She looked up in to his eyes. She watched his eyes slowly drip until they were half lidded and glazed over.

She slowly moved her stare to the clock on the night stand, and discovered his gaze followed hers, never breaking contact.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

He didn't respond, only continued the glazed stare.

"Shepard?" she asked a little louder, this time more concerned.

"Hm?" He blinked and regained his focus.

"Are you alright? You drifted off there…."she trailed off while bringing a hand to his face.

"I know I can't fully see them, but I am mesmerized by your eyes." He murmured

She felt a blush creep up her cheeks.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. She happily complied and snuggled in closer to him, burying her head in to his shoulder and neck. They both let out sighs of content before drifting off in to a peaceful slumber.

She woke before him the next morning. She carefully untangled herself from and quickly slinked out of the room. On her way out she noticed his terminal flashed with a new message from the Illusive Man. She hesitated before clicking to open the message. She quickly glanced at it and gasped at the contents. It contained information that Liara needed. She was unsure how Shepard would want to handle the situation. She glanced over and saw he was still sound asleep. She then slipped out of the room.

During the elevator ride down, she realized that for the first time in a long time she was truly happy. The doors swished open and she stepped out and made her way to the kitchen to surprise him with breakfast in bed. Kasumi had suggested something along those lines the previous day.

She grabbed a tube of some interesting sounding nutrient paste, and gathered a tray of food for Shepard. By the time she returned to the room he was still asleep. She smiled in relief at the sight. She quietly made her way back over to the bed. She set the tray down on to the nightstand beside the bed and carefully crawled on to the bed. She knelt down and sat on the back of her feet while reaching one hand to gently caress the side of his face. She ran her hand from the top of his face down his cheek.

She felt the human stir.

"Shepard." She gently called, while continuing to gently caress his face.

His eyes opened slowly and a smile crept across his face.

"Good morning my quarian princess." He said while sitting up.

There was that term again; she would have to look it up.

"I brought you breakfast in bed…."she trailed off shyly.

"Really?" he asked while smiling.

She quickly nodded and reached over for the tray of food. She carefully handed the tray of food to her sleepy human.

"Thank you Tali, I really appreciate this." He leaned over and kissed the side of her visor.

Her face was red once again.

"I'm happy you like the surprise." She said while smiling.

She was definitely going to have to thank Kasumi later on.

"So what's next on the agenda?" she asked while opening her tube of nutrient paste.

"Well. Kasumi needs our help with a little side mission, and so did Samara. Zaeed did as well, but…." He trailed off at that.

"We'll head on over to Omega first probably." He said thoughtfully while chewing.

"Uhm….Shepard.."

"Yes?"

"I know I shouldn't have done this but…."

"What's wrong Tali?" he asked concernedly.

"Well when I was walking out, I saw a message from the Illusive Man….he has information that would benefit Liara…" she trailed off.

"Crap." He sighed while leaning back from the food.

"I-I'm sorry I shouldn't have looked." She stammered.

"No, no, I'm not mad at you sweetie." He said reassuringly while reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.

"I'm annoyed at the situation. I have to help her now…and as wrong as it sounds, after our last encounter I don't really want to do her any favors…you know?"

"I understand what you mean…you don't have to do this Shepard…..but she did get you back though…" She returned the squeeze in an attempt to comfort him.

"I do owe her for that…" he paused.

"It doesn't seem like it but she's our friend. She needs our help. She just lost herself somewhere along the way..I can understand how that goes. Besides I have people that keep me from straying too far from who I am." He replied while gently nudging his arm.

She let out a sigh.

"You never cease to amaze me Shepard." She said while snaking one of her arms around his free one.

He let out a small chuckle.

She gentle pinched his side before telling him "You better finish that."

At that he laughed and leaned his head back.

"Yes ma'ma." He joked with a wink and finished his breakfast while listening to the woman beside him talk.

After a long morning of talking and lounging they both agreed they needed to go down and finally start their day.

TalI was the first one that reluctantly slid off of the bed.

"Come on lazy!" she teased while pulling his arm in attempt to get him off the bed.

He simply groaned and rolled over.

She let out an exasperated sigh and tried pulling him over again. He rolled over, and in an instant he had her back on the bed again and pinned down. He plopped down on top of her and buried his face in the space between her neck and the pillow.

"Five more minutes." He muttered in the pillow.

She giggled at his antics.

"Keelah who would have thought the Great Commander Shepard was soooo lazy!" she giggled while slowly wrapping her arms around the muscular human.

Keelah he was so strong, and so much bigger than any quarian. She couldn't deny how strangely attractive that was. He was more muscular now then he was before.

He didn't reply to her, he just groaned again in to her neck. She squirmed and giggled at the feeling on her neck.

"Shepard!" she cried while giggling.

"What?" he asked while lifting his head up to look down at her.

"We have things to do today" she replied while running her hands up his back.

"Fine" he replied with a sigh and then rolled off the women and in to the empty space next to her.

"Stubborn bosh'tet." She mumbled with a smile.

"What's that?" he asked

"Ohhh nothing." She replied nonchalantly.

"Nothing? I think you just called me a stubborn bosh'tet." He chuckled while sitting up.

"What?" She gapped.

"I would never say such a thing!" she said while putting a hand up to her chest in feigned hurt.

"You sly little minx!" he declared before pinning her down and tickling her sides.

She squealed with laughter and squirmed underneath him.

"Admit it!" he mocked ordered while continuing

She managed to get her hands free and attempted to grab his, but due to the difference in strength the effort came to no avail. She was laughing so hard, that her sides began to ache and she could no longer breath.

"Ok!" She gasped while trying to breathe again.

"Ok what Miss Zorah?" he asked with a grin.

"I'm sorry I called you a stubborn bosh'tet…." She paused.

"But you did kind of just prove my point." She giggled.

"Fine…but I'm no bosh'tet…whatever that is." He chuckled.

"Are you ever going to tell me what that is?" he asked while flopping down beside her.

"Mmmmm…..maybe." she mused.

Shepard rolled his eyes and then rolled off of the bed. He made his way to his terminal and browsed through his messages. Tali followed suit and got off the bed and made her way to the terminal to stand beside Shepard. He let out a tired sigh.

"Back to work. We should go suit up and get ready for Omega." He thought out loud.

"Who are you going to take?" she asked.

"It depends on how Samara wants to handle it. I want to make this as comfortable as I can for her. It's going to be a difficult mission for her after all." He replied sadly.

She didn't know what Samara needed help with exactly and she knew better than to push the subject.

"I should go down and talk to her…Joker we are set and heading for Omega right?" he called out to the pilot.

"Roger that Commander. ETA three hours." The pilot replied.

The two made their way to the elevator. Shepard wrapped his arms around the small woman and pulled her in close.

"I'll see you soon." He said while slowly pulling himself away from her.

"Ok." She said with a small nod.

The doors of the elevator opened and he stepped out. He made his way down the hall way to speak with Samara. He knocked on the door and she invited him in the room.

He quietly entered the room and took a sit next to the meditating asari and mimicked her pose.

She was glowing blue and staring straight ahead.

"Shepard." She greeted. Her hands and eyes now no longer glowing.

"If you have the time, I would love to talk." the justicar said while smiling, and relaxing her pose.

"Of course. How much do you know about our mission exactly?" he asked while staring out at the stars.

"I know I have sworn an oath to you. That you seek to destroy the Collectors, and that is enough for me." The woman replied warmly.

She had an oddly calming presence in this setting.

"You don't want to know why we seek to destroy them?" he asked while taking a slow deep breath.

"When you live by a code, you learn that curiosity can be dangerous." She replied while a smile slowly graced her face.

"Samara….how do you want to handle your situation." He asked while turning to face the woman.

"You'll have to go in alone Shepard. Morinth is very dangerous, but she is very smart so she is going to be cautious." She replied in all seriousness.

He could tell she was taking a brief pause.

"You are going to have to pique her interest enough so she will approach you. You are going to have to keep her interested enough so she will take you to her apartment. Shepard, I must warn you, you will be in grave danger until I arrive. She will be planning the horrors which she would like to inflict on you. I can sense you are very strong willed, you must resist her Shepard. That is something she will sense on you, attracting her all the more." The woman was now standing.

Shepard slowly stood up, thinking about the situation at hand. He was a little nervous from the description he had just received, but he could not let that show. He had to help Samara, he could not let her down.

"So I will need to act like I own the place, but not act like a total jerk?" he asked while stretching his back.

"Preciously. I will be there before you enter the club to give further instructions if needed. Do not be too alarmed Shepard, I will be watching the whole time." She assured.

"Alright. We should be there in about two hours. From the way this mission sounds, I think you and I should be the only ones that go down there."

"I did not want to ask that of you, but thank you."

"It's a personal matter. I know how important this is to you, the rest of the crew doesn't need to know about it." He extended a hand out to her.

She ignored the hand and pulled him in to a small hug. He was shocked by the display of affection from the justicar, but reciprocated the gesture.

"Thank you Shepard. This is not a burden I easily share. You are the only soul I can imagine sharing it with." She said with a bow of her head as they pulled away from each other.

"I must admit, you are not quite how I imaged" she added with a small smile.

"Any time you need me." He bowed his head in return to the asari. He quietly turned and walked out of the room. She sat down in front of the window and silently continued on with her meditation.

As he made his way to the galactic war map he saw Garrus was waiting for him.

He chuckled at the sight in front of him.

"What?" the turian asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

This made the human laugh harder.

"What?" Garrus asked.

Shepard tried to catch his breath, but laughed even harder when he looked at the turian again.

"Seriously Shepard, tell me what is so funny." The turian pleaded.

Shepard cleared his throat.

"You uh….got a little something…" Shepard said while wiping at his own face.

"Something on my face? Is that what was so funny? Seriously Shepard grow up." The turian scoffed.

Shepard put his face up in mock defeat. The turian turned on his heels and stormed down the hall to the bathroom. Shepard followed close behind, readying his omnitool to take a picture.

"Oh for the love of…." The turian trailed off staring in to the mirror.

Shepard quickly snapped a picture of the turians face before laughing once again. The turian made a lunge for Shepard, but the human was quicker. He shot out the door and ran down the hall laughing.

He pulled up the picture and sent it to the quarian engineer.

She was interrupted from her work when her omni tool beeped, notifying her of a new message. She pulled up the message, and clicked on the attached image. Written in lipstick on the turians face was "I heart my GurrBear!"

The women then irrupted in to a fit of giggles before laughing uncontrollably.