A/N

Hey everyone! been hot as fuckall so been busy with dead air conditioning units. At least I'm not in the fucking desert. Thank you Recon! And a thank you so very much to SpyketheWolf for editing this chapter it means a lot! So enjoy everyone!

Bioware, EA...I own nothing. Just a reminder.

Shepard POV

He was landing on a large asteroid that Dr. Kenson had called The Project. It was of similar mass to the one he stopped from slamming into Terra Nova a few years back but now, he was being told that they had to slam the whole thing into the Viper Nebula's relay all on account of a vision some Reaper artifact gave Kenson. He had rescued her from Aratoht and had been briefed on the way, the story she had given him still had a lot of holes not to mention the vision she spoke of.

She has to be indoctrinated, there's no way she couldn't be. I'll swing a message out to the Normandy to be ready. Shepard opened up his messages and proceeded to message both Joker and Miranda to be on alert. He closed his Omni-tool and looked back up to Kenson who looked like she was glaring at him but she quickly looked away.

"Here we are Shepard." She said in her ever terse tone of voice. The doors opened on the Kodiak to reveal a large timer above the only hallway present.

"Kenson, Is that what I think it is?" he said pointing at the numbers that were slowly counting down. The time displayed 02:03:25:21. Damn it, two days!

"It is Commander. The Reapers will be here when that reaches Zero." Said Kenson.

"How do you know this?" He asked there was no time to waste.

"Object Rho has been giving off a definitive pulse that will be constant once they arrive, but you need proof. This way, it's in our main lab." Dr. Kenson said as she headed off down the hall. Shepard followed. I got that bad vibe again. He followed her while partially listening. He sent out one last message to Miranda about this Object Rho or whatever it was. He hadn't gotten a reply from the first message and was growing concerned. He noticed they were standing before a locked door.

"Give me a second, just need to get this door open." Kenson said. The door opened revealing the lab. In its centre stood a tall grayish purple object glowing with blue pulses of energy along it's oddly shaped flanged. It looked like a sinister piece of corral. He could feel himself grinding his teeth. It was like all the other Reaper artifacts, evil.

"Kenson…you have this thing out in the open? This is some deep shit…"

"Quiet Shepard, you will get the answers you are looking for." She said while standing aside to give him a full view of the object. He looked upon it again and was hit by a wave of energy. Visions began to flicker in his mind, forcing their way into every corner of his being. He saw the Galaxy from just a few light years away. He was floating with an almost bird's eye view of the Milky Way.

He looked around him and saw not just one but thousands of Reapers in formation. Oh…God no. Then the stars flew past him at blinding speeds only to stop him before the Viper Relay. The Reapers were pouring through it sending them where they wanted to destroy. Everything went black and he staggered as he realized he was back to reality. He still was having trouble getting his bearings when a pistol was pointed at him. Kenson was standing over him with its muzzle pointed at him.

"I will not let you stop their arrival Shepard. Our time to be uplifted has come!" He lashed out and caught the Dr. by surprise. He grabbed the pistol and flung it to the side and followed up with a punch to her face. Kenson rolled with the punch and broke free. She bounded to the door and sealed him in.

"Great!" He yelled as he turned back to the lab to try and find a way out. He noticed movement on the floor above and found several guards come running in and start firing at his position. A few rounds glanced off his shields as he ran for cover. He spotted a work bench off to his left and dove as another volley few past him.

"Damn it! Kenson!" he shouted as he pulled out his Mattock. He swung out of cover and took out three guards who were rushing him on his left flank. He got back into cover just as another door opened on the far side of the lab. He felt a deep rumbling that shook his teeth, and then a familiar voice shook the room.

"You cannot resist Shepard, give yourself over." The voice came from the object.

"Harbinger!" He yelled in fury. The Reapers were so close and he was pinned down on an asteroid full of indoctrinated assholes.

"Put down you weapons Shepard, and you will be spared." Dr. Kenson said on the labs comms.

"Kenson, don't let them win for Christ's sake snap out of it!" Shepard knew it was no use though, he could only hope to try and fight his way out.

"Your galaxy is close now; the end of your species is in hand Shepard. Your mind will be mine!" Harbinger was not going to let up.

"Fuck you! I won't stop fighting!" Shepard jumped from cover and took out two engineers with a volley from his M-100 grenade launcher. One was set on fire from the blast while the other merely exploded in a gory mess. He scanned the area and saw that he was once again alone.

"Then you will be the first to witness our arrival." Shepard had to get off the asteroid. He started to run towards the back door when a wave of energy burst from the Reaper object. The force blasted him off his feet and into a nearby support beam and he blacked out. He regained consciousness briefly to see Dr. Kenson. But something was different. He couldn't tell from the fog clouding his mind.

Her eyes glowed with an eerie yellow as she looked down at him. He noticed others were with her.

"Get him to the med bay and patch him up, we want him alive…" Those were the last words he heard before blacking out again.

Tali POV

The Normandy had been on alert for the past six hours since Shepard's last message about a Reaper artifact on the asteroid Shepard had left with Dr. Kenson. Miranda was the next step down and had been making constant rounds of the ship. Tali didn't know what was in the last message but knew it had the ex-Cerberus operative on edge more than usual. She had spent the last twenty six hours making sure the Normandy was ready for anything that could be thrown at her.

She was still proud of the cyclonic shields she had heaved up had kept the Collectors at bay during their little suicide run. She was currently watching the amp draws of the stealth system as they waited just a short distance away from the asteroid when she noticed a slight spike. Stupid little Bosh'tet. Must be a capacitor that gave. She realized she would have to crawl all the way down into the guts of the ship when she traced out the true source of the problem. It was a small short in a junction box that served Jacks workbench power strip. She sighed. She walked over to the tool box and picked out a new pair of lineman's pliers, Kyson had melted the last pair when it slipped out of his hands and onto an exposed heat sink.

She shut the tool box and gathered a few supplies for the repair. She headed down to the sub deck while still thinking about how Kyson melted the pliers. If it wasn't for her sneaking up on him he wouldn't have dropped the tool. But it was fun. She arrived downstairs to find Jack trying to get her terminal back up.

"Piece of shit…" Jack muttered under her breath as she started flicking random electronics on and off but nothing worked still. Tali walked into view and just shook her head.

"Jack, there's a short. That won't help."

"No shit, so how about giving me a hand over here then." Jack said with a sweet smile. Tali noticed Jack didn't have her usual menacing vibe and wondered what the cause was. Jack stood back up and gave Tali some room. It took only a few seconds of scanning until she found the trouble. She looked at the power wire feeding the bench. It had been chewed through causing a cross phase.

"Uh oh…" She said.

"What?" asked Jack frowning.

"I think Shepard's…hamster? Is loose again" she had run across this problem before while checking the inexplicable power loss of the galaxy map. They had opened the service panel to find the little rodent gnawing on a wire.

"Nice…" Jack said as she walked off. Tali went over the access ladder which led to the duct systems to access the junction box. She looked up the ladder and paused. Jack saw her hesitation from her bunk.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked in a friendly manor. Tali didn't know what to make of it and decided to go with it.

"No, just good memories." Tali looked over to Jack who was smiling warmly. This is awkward.

"Good memories huh, like what, if you don't mind me prying?" Jack asked.

"This is where I first met Kyson…ah but you don't want to hear a girl gabbing on about her boyfriend…"

"Actually, it would be a nice change of pace. Everyone is so uptight right now they could use a good mental finger bang." Said Jack as she leaned back against the bulkhead behind her.

"Um, nice choice of words I guess." Tali said trying not to smile at the crude reference.

"Well, I was having a bad day working down here on this very bench actually, when Kyson dropped out of the duct drunk." Tali leaned against the bench and looked back up at the duct.

"It scared the hell outta me and I nearly ran screaming. I was so focused on my work I didn't notice the noise he probably was making. When he landed on his back, I looked over him to make sure he didn't break his neck. He was laughing! He then opened his eyes and saw me…"

"Sounds like him." Jack said.

"When he noticed me, he called me an angel, then passed out." Tali put a hand to her visor. It was so dramatic how he dropped into her life only to end with him falling asleep on her. It was a common thing with him she would find out later. When Kyson wanted sleep, the galaxy was his bed.

"Ha. It's like being just on the verge of climaxing…only to have the batteries die on ya." Tali snorted causing both of them to lose it and start laughing. Tali was almost to tears. Did Jack and I just become friends…interesting.

"He's more than made up for it, trust me."

Tali thought on the last time together. The need that she had for him, all of him, it was more than lust and pleasure; it was an all consuming feeling of emptiness that could never be filled. Kyson had started slowly at first, not sure of his movements. He had been in a trance ever since she did her little striptease. She had been the one to lead at first, the same need driving her onward for more. She had jumped on top of him and had tried to take all of him in at once without thinking of the consequences. That was the jolt that had brought her back to reality. She remembered the pain as she was stretched.

Kyson had gently rolled her off and let her catch her breath. He didn't speak, he just held her. She had been so embarrassed. Kyson had been with others and she had begun to panic. She worried about not pleasing him and a million other fears had started to race through her mind but Kyson just pulled her close and before she knew it, the pressure had returned against her folds. She had let out a slight whimper, afraid of the pain to come but he kept going ever so slowly, until the pain started to subside. Slowly at first but the pain ebbed as he made sure she held his gaze. But she would find out he was extremely talented with his tongue and much more.

"Hey, you there?" Jack said waving a hand right in front of her visor causing her to start.

"Huh?"

"He's that good huh?" Jack asked with a dirty smirk. Tali realized how far she had drifted off and she hadn't even gotten to the good parts yet.

"Oh you have no idea! But I was so embarrassed…I wasn't as good as he was. It…was my first time." She had been so scared that no matter how many dirty vids she had watched in her spare time that she would panic and make Kyson run.

"Ohhhhh…was he at least gentle?"

"He was…oh Keelah this is awkward." She hadn't meant to delve into this topic. Jack laughed.

"Hey, sex is fucking awesome. Wait till you get to the revenge fucks!" Jack just laughed harder as Tali cocked her head to the side.

"Trust me Tali, it's gonna be all sappy lovie dovie stuff right now, but from the music I know he listens to, you're in for a wild ride."

"What?" Tali asked. What the hell is she talking about?

"Think about it, he obviously is in love with you, but he has a lot of pent up hate and rage. It makes for great fucks. Trust me." Jack had an evil grin from ear to ear.

"Tell you what, wait till he has a bad day and be ready for bruises. Then come back to me." Tali was terrified. Nothing in the vids she had watched displayed any violence. Sure she knew about nipping and light biting but not anything Jack was talking about.

"Ummm…I need to get this junction repaired." Tali turned before Jack could say anymore and climbed into the duct. It was a tight fit even for her. She almost got stuck because of her hips. She could hear Jack chuckling below.

"Kyson is missing this? Ha hahahaha!" Tali reached ahead and grabbed one of the conduits and pulled as hard as she could, pulling herself into the tight space. How did Kyson get through here? His shoulders are broader than me! She began wiggling forward with only her feet doing any real work. She was lucky the junction was only about two meters in. She turned on her small light attached to her helmet and saw that the box was charred. The metal was still intact but the resulting electrical arch had blackened the edges around the front plate.

"Bosh'tet…" She muttered under her breath. She hoped enough was intact so they would have to waste time re pulling wire between the sub panels. Her arms had barely enough room to maneuver as she pulled out a small driver and removed the front plate. It had welded its self shut in one corner and she cursed as she struggled to get her Omni-tool into position and break the weld. The cover popped open and a horrible smell came with it.

"What is that smell?" she quickly shut her olfactory filters and looked inside the box, just as something fell onto her chest with a soft thud, it was Shepard's hamster. Tali screamed and jumped at the same time slamming her head into a joint in the duct causing her to see stars.

"Aghrrr! Damn Bosh'tet piece of…" She slew a string of curses as she picked up the dead rodent and tossed it down the duct.

"Tali? Are you alright?" Tali looked down her body towards the ladder and saw Miranda looking at her.

"I'm fine." She looked over to the charred corpse of Shepard's hamster illuminating it with her light.

"I hate rodents…not as much as spiders but they're high on the list." Miranda looked at the dead animal and back to Tali.

"How long till you have this done?" Tali looked back at the box and was relieved to find the wires still mostly intact. Just a few splices and securing welds and re insulation of the conductors would do it.

"I would think about fifteen minutes. Why?" Miranda glanced away. Tali would have shrugged her shoulders if she had room for it, so she just started on her work.

"I think something is going very wrong on that asteroid…" Miranda said with a frown. Tali glanced at her and continued stripping the fried sections of wire.

"Miranda, it's Shepard. He'll be fine."

"You're right, but what if something is wrong?" Tali couldn't believe it. Was that doubt coming from Miranda or queen bitch, as she liked to say to herself. She decided it was best to focus on her work.

"I mean, Shepard's last message said something about a Reaper artifact and thrusting the asteroid into the relay…I think we need to send someone down…" Tali was shocked about the relay part. They couldn't be destroyed. Well, not that anyone wants to really try, the amount of energy that would be unleashed would be like a super nova.

"Miranda, that's crazy…well, with this ship it sounds about right. If Shepard needs us, he'll call." Shepard had earned that faith in her from many battles and missions. He expected them to do their part and be ready. He always was. Miranda just stood there watching her work. She must be going crazy trying not to pull…hehe a Kyson. She had finished with the box and replaced the plate. She looked down at Miranda who nodded and began to climb back down.

"Hey Tali! Still having fun with tight spaces?" Jack yelled from below. Tali turned red her mind registering the reference. Miranda had reached the bottom of the ladder while she struggle to flip back over and use her hands to push herself out. She had reached the small ledge only to get stuck again. It was due to the same conduit that blocked one side of the shaft by an extra two inches.

"Tali? Do you need help?" Miranda asked looking up from below. Her face began to glow red hot and she frowned in frustration.

"No, I'm fine, thank you." She snapped and pushed back on the same pipe she used to get leverage earlier. She was lucky the edges were round so her suit was safe. She felt herself pop free only to come crashing down to the deck. She was dazed and her bruised leg began to throb a little. Jack and Miranda leaned over her and both smiled at each other. They each grabbed one of Tali's hands and hauled her up.

"Now, you know how Kyson felt." Jack said. Tali climbed back up the ladder and retrieved the dead hamster. She brought it down and placed it on the workbench.

"This isn't good." Miranda said shaking her head slowly.

"Shepard had kind of a…Attachment to that thing." Tali looked at Miranda with confusion. Jack looked at it and glanced at Tali.

"It's true. It's kinda disturbing actually. He named it Sgt Squeakums…" Miranda put a hand over her mouth trying not to laugh.

"Really…wow Shepard." Was all Tali could say.

"So what do we do with it?" asked Jack. Tali sighed and picked it back up from one of its tiny legs.

"I'll take care of it." She began to walk back up to the top deck four. Miranda caught up with her.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind getting rid of it. It's just a rat." Miranda said. Tali agreed. There was no use for it now, and she doubted he would mind if she trashed it before it really began to smell. The two came up on Zaeed's room which was also the trash compactor centre.

"Zaeed, you got a minute?" Miranda asked over the comm. It was only a few seconds until the door opened and the old merc appeared. Zaeed's good eye looked the two over and smiled when he spotted the hamster.

"Mmmm, good eating those buggers." Tali shoved past him and to the trash compactor.

"It was Shepards, it got loose and had a thing for electricity." Tali said as she dropped it into the small box that held trash for ejection. Once the box was sealed, she turned her filters back on and fresh air started to filter in. Much better. She reached for the eject button.

"Listen here girlie, I don't know what you dextro's do for burials but ain't ya gonna say a few guddamn words? We Humans love our pets see. I think Shepard would want something said." Zaeed strode over to Tali and got right in her face. She regretted not leaving the filters off. He reeked of cheap vodka. He just stared at her and his off color eyes seemed to be filled with rage. He snorted causing Tali to Jump.

"Fine, I'll do it then." Zaeed said. He looked out through the window and into the vastness of space.

"Dearly beloved and recently departed…uh…what's the little buggers name?" Tali just glanced at Miranda who looked very awkward and completely stranded.

"Sgt. Squeakums…" said Miranda quickly.

"Thank you, dear Sgt Squeakums…we honor you this day…ha..haha…HA! really? That's what Shepard named him? Blimey you would think he would at least have an imagination"

"Zaeed, how drunk are you?" Miranda asked frowning. Zaeed turned back to the window and continued.

"I never knew you Sgt. But I wish I had. I'm sure you had a wonderful life being the first rat to ever help face the reapers and live to squeak about it." Zaeed bowed his head, then hit the eject button. He then stood at attention as the small body floated by the window. Zaeed gave a salute.

"You're in a better place now Sgt. Squeakums. Thank you for serving and know that all the cheese is yours now." Zaeed then bowed his head again leaving everyone in silence. Tali glanced at Miranda who looked deeply disturbed.

"Do gerbils eat cheese?" Zaeed asked quizzically. Tali just walked away not sure what just happened. Miranda followed suit thinking the same.

A/N

He He He...that is all.