Author's Note: Some people where asking about the romance,so here is a bit of the beginnings of it getting more serious. Sticking to the source material, there is not going to be anything full blown here, that's what sequels are for!

Also: I've clearly decided to do author notes. Let me what yall think

Tali, SSV Normandy, Cargo Bay

Okay...just breathe, walk over and ask him. Simple. Any idiot can do it, Tali mentally goaded herself. She stood just outside of the lift, to the right, behind some cargo crates. She looked across the Bay deck.

Wrex was going through the crate Shepard had picked up for him. Apparently, While she was down in the Med Bay, the team had raided a warehouse owned by a Turian war profiteer. It looked like Krogan armor, but old...really old. But, even so, Wrex seemed to contemplate each piece of it.

Ashley was where she usually was, at the armory bench. She had a rifle disassembled and was cleaning parts of it with oil and some cloths. It looked like she was in a trance. Wonder if that's how I look when I am working on the engines…. Tali wondered.

Garrus was...Tali had to bit down to keep herself from laughing as she saw two Turian, blue armored legs sticking nearly straight out of the turret of the Mako. She could see them wiggling around. He must be working on something in there.

"Serious, Garrus," Shepard laughed. "There has to be an easier way of calibrating that gun." There he is, now go talk to him! Shepard was leaning against the side of the Mako, a tool kit next to him.

"It's fine!" Garrus's voice called back from inside the turret. Tali nearly laughed again as it looked like Garrus's legs seemed to move intime with his speaking. "I can't get to the minigun's targeting module from the outside without taking half the armor off the front of the turret. Now, stop complaining me and get me the circuit scanner!"

Shepard shook his head for a moment before picking up the tool in question. As he picked it up, he turned noticing Tali. "Oh, hey Tali. C'mon over. You can make fun of Garrus with me!" The cheerfulness in his voice sent a warm feeling through her. She just wanted to be next to him. The urge to just be near him was oddly overwhelming at times.

Then she realized she had already walked up to him. She slowly looked up from his chest to his face. He was grinning at her as he tapped the scanner on his palm. "Want to get it to him?" he asked her, with a wink.

Slowly, she took a deep breath, then opened her mouth to finally ask him….

"Hey! Shepard! I don't exactly like hanging upside down like this, you know!" Garrus interrupted her.

Taking the device from Shepard she frowned at it, then at Garrus's legs. She wish she had some sort of laser eye beams or something. With an angry grunt she threw the scanner in a perfect arc that carried it high enough over the turret to let it drop straight down through the hatch.

"GAAH!" the Turian screamed as his legs vanished down into the tank. Sniffing with satisfaction, Tali dusted her hands off and turned back to Shepard. Oh, no...he's angry with me now! Tali could feel tears form in her eyes as Shepard stared at her with wide surprised eyes.

As if in answer to her thoughts, a more childlike grin spread over his face. "That was...AMAZING!" he laughed clapping her on the shoulder, hard enough that she stumbled slightly. "Oh, sorry about that," he said catching her, and setting her back up right. "What did you come down for?"

"Uh...umm.." Tali said, eloquently. Her thoughts scattered by the rapid fire attacks, he was happy for something she did, then touched her, then caught her, now he was talking to her...right! "Oh, yeah, I was kinda wondering if you could...you know maybe…" Keelah girl! This is the chance! Looking down she realized her hands were twisting together again. Consciously she forced her hands to her sides, in fists as she looked back up at Shepard. "I was hoping you could teach me how to fight?"

"Okay, Shepard, throwing things now, huh? I hope you're prepared for the consequen…Oh, hey Tali! Did you just see Shepard abuse me?" Garrus popped up out of the turret, the scanner in his hand.

Grinding her teeth together, Tali grabbed a socket wrench from the tool kit and threw it at Garrus, hitting him right between the eyes. "HOOPFFF," he grunted falling back into the tank.

This time the laughter echoed from the whole bay. Tali's head spun around to see Wrex and Ashley both laughing. Then turning back to Shepard, she saw him almost doubled over with laughter.

"Oh lord, that was a perfect shot!" he exclaimed wiping a tear from his eye. "Now.." he said, still chuckling. "What was that about fighting? You are pretty good already."

"Well…"

"Allright! That's it!" Garrus yelled, coming out of the tank again. "You all are going to get it!"

Tali's helmet snapped around as she growled deep in her throat. Her fists clenched at her sides as she turned back to Shepard. The look he was giving her hit her like a bucket of cold water.

His eyes were wide, and his mouth was open as he stared at her. "Wow, that's a sound I didn't expect!"

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "I..I'm sorry..I just kinda lost my temper a bit. It was kinda.. I know, I'm kinda weird…"

Shepard grinned at her and patted her on the arm. "Nah," he said. "It was nice to see another side of you. Now, you wanted me to…"

Whatever Shepard was going to say was cut off as the wrench from earlier hit him in the back. "Ha HA!" Garrus yelled down. "Feel my vengeance!"

"Garrus…." he began, looking up at the Turian, before being cut off again, this time by the Comm.

"We are coming up on the relay now, Commander," Joker's voice reported.

"Acknowledged, on my way up," Shepard ducked his head at Tali. "I'm sorry, we will need to go over this next time, okay?"

Mutely, Tali nodded, and watched him head to the lift. Once the doors closed, she slowly turned around to look up at Garrus.

"What?" he yelled. "You want some of the same? I still got stuff up here!"

She stood for a moment before leaping halfway up the tank in one large jump. Grasping the sides of the Mako's armored turret she began climbing rapidly up toward the top.

"Oh, shit!" Garrus yelped, ducking back into the vehicle, but Tali was right behind him, her voice yelling swear words faster than the translators could keep up.

As the Quarian disappeared after Garrus, only the echoes of pain and terror were heard through the cargo bay.

John, Noveria, Port Hanshen

"I'm sorry, Commander Shepard, but my hands are tied," Bel Anoleis smiled, a lazy, greasy smile. "With the current blizzards, I can't, in good conscious, send you out there. Besides, this isn't a Council world. This world is controlled by corporate interests, and I, as their representative, am tasked with maintaining their privacy. You understand."

John stood there and stared at the Salarian. He was never good with these kinds of people. Or their webs of bureaucracy. "I see," was all he said.

"Yes, now, if you have nothing else, I do have important work to do," Anoleis nodded towards the door.

Counting to ten, John turned and slowly walked out of the room. His hands were balled into tights fists as he passed the doors and stepped behind one of the grey stone pillars of the main hall. He stared down the stairs and looking out the giant bay windows that showed the snowy world of Noveria.

"Shepard…" Tali said, behind him. He could hear the concern in her voice.

Shaking his head slowly, John let out a long slow breath, and seemed to deflate some. It was a useful technique, something his mother had taught him. "It's fine, Tali," he turned, smiling at her. "We can find another way."

"Excuse me, Commander Shepard?"

Turning again, he turned to see Gianna Parasini, Anoleis's secretary. "What can I do for you Ms. Parasisni?" Please be something useful, he prayed silently.

"I heard Mr. Anoleis denied you a garage pass and access to Peak 15?"

John frowned and nodded. "That's correct. Why do you ask?" What's your game, lady….

"Well then, Commander, I think we just might be able to help each other…."

2 Hours Later

"Oh, Commander," Gianna said, looking at the doorway to Anoleis's office. "You have no idea how long I have been waiting for his."

With an amused look, John shrugged. "I can't imagine. I only talked to him for five minutes and wanted to throw him out the window. You had to actually take orders from the man."

Grunting Gianna turned to John. "Did you know, he likes his lana'gort freshly squeezed and blended with ice?"

"Umm...no?" Shepard took a half step back as he looked the internal affairs agent. Her expression was...unpleasant.

"Oh yes!" her voice had a sickly sweet, mock cheerfulness. "And he liked to throw it at you, if there was too much ice…"

"That sounds...terrible," Shepard nodded. He decided it was safer to just go with it.

"Oh...I am going to enjoy this…." Gianna straightened up and threw open the doors to Anoleis's office.

"What? Commander Shepard? Gianna? What is going on here? This is quite irregular!" the Salarian looked hard at Gianna. "Miss Parasini! I distinctly recall telling you to get me another lana'gort!"

An unhealthy smile creeped across Gianna's face as she walked over to the Administrator and took ahold of his arm. "Bel Anoleis, I am with Internal Affairs. I have sufficient evidence to take you into custody. You will come with me. Now."

"What?!" Anoleis exclaimed, disbelievingly. "Take your hands off me this instant! In fact, you are fired! I want you off Noveria! Do you hear me? Fired!"

Gianna's smile actually turned pleasant, like that of a small child being given a new toy. "Does this mean you are going to resist? Please say you are going to resist!"

Leaping to his feet, Anoleis attempted to pull his arm away from Gianna, turning to look desperately at John. "Commander! I demand you arrest this woman!"

John shrugged and held out his hands helplessly. "Sorry, this isn't a Council world. It's governed by the corporations…"

He tried not to take pleasure in watching Gianna twist the Salarian's arm behind his back and slamming his face into his own desk. But, honestly, he couldn't help it. Behind him he heard a small "Yes!" from a certain Quarian's voice modulator.

"Shepard! I'll give you the garage pass! Please!" Anoleis begged, as Gianna put cuffs onto his wrists. Tightly. And began to drag him to the door. "You can't do this! I am the Administrator here! I demand you release me! Ooof…" his rant was suddenly cut off as he slammed face first into the door jam.

"Oh, pardon me!" Gianna said, her voice, dripping with honey. "Do watch yourself!" Then, over her shoulder, "Thanks again Shepard. Remember, I owe you a drink next time I see you!"

John gave her a small wave. "Looking forward to it!"

As the woman exited the building, pulling along the former administrator, who, incidentally, seemed to be very accident prone. He seemed to keep running into pillars and door jams; John turned to Garrus and Tali.

"Okay guys, I'll head up to the garage and find us a vehicle, you two go back to the Normandy and get the rest of the team.

"Sure thing."

"Will do."

15 Minutes Later

"No way."

"Won't do it…."

"Guys! Look what I found!" John gestured to the Mako, that he was currently sitting on. He have the armor a pat next to him. "I already got him started and warmed up!"

"Goddess…" Liara, said under her breath.

"Dear God, who art in Heaven," Ashley started.

"Shepard…"Tali asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why is the Mako a male? It's a vehicle. It doesn't have a gender. Now that I think about it...you refer to the one on the Normandy as female."

"I dunno," he replied with a shrug. "This guy just feels male. And ours just feels female."

"Huh…."

Salarion Lexicon

Lana'gort: Salarian equivalent of coffee. It is made by squeezing larval Gort flies and blending the resulting fluid with sweetened water. To humans, it smells like fish that had been left in the sun for a week, and tastes like lighter fluid.

Gort Fly: Insect life that is seventeen centimeters long. It feeds on carrion that it stores in small holes in boggy swamps or other places of stagnant water.