Hello everyone! I told you I'd come back to this story eventually, and today is a very good day to post a new chapter.

2185
The TARDIS (on the Normandy)

She was —

Standing in a giant library, a library that covered the entire planet, and looking at the woman with a blue TARDIS diary and how does she know me? Why does she think I'm young?

— gripping the cold metal bar with both hands, trying to shake the memories that weren't hers —

"The only water in the forest is the river."

So that's who she is, of course, it makes sense —

"Shepard?"

Yes. That was her name. And that hand on her arm —

Shepard looked up into Garrus' face, feeling her heart skip a beat when she saw the concern there. "I'm fine," she said quietly. "That was - intense."

"Yeah, no kidding," Garrus said. "Let's never do that again."

"No scientific curiosity," Mordin said, his tone almost scolding. "Fascinating experience. Possibilities are endless."

"You're welcome to try that again as many times as you like, but I think I'll stick to the inside of my own head," Garrus replied.

Shepard remembered the moment she had felt Garrus' feelings for her, and slid her hand into his. "Oh, I don't know," she said. "There were some good things about it."

"Hmm. You may have a point." His tone made Shepard wish they were back in her cabin, in private. She forced herself to turn her mind back to the reason they had left her cabin in the first place.

"So, Doctor," she said. "Are you going to stop being on the sidelines?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor replied. "It's past time that I actually helped you, Shepard. I'm ready to face off against the Collectors."

Shepard grinned. "We've still got to install the Reaper IFF to be sure we can make it through the relay. We can check with EDI to see how that's going." She half-expected EDI to respond, but then realized that EDI probably couldn't see what was going on inside the TARDIS.

"Should we go, then?" Garrus asked.

"One final matter," the Doctor said. "Shepard, I — apologize. I misjudged you. I only saw the soldier part, and it made me miss everything else about you." He held out a hand to her.

Shepard dropped Garrus' hand and took a step forward to clasp the Doctor's. "Apology accepted. Besides, we just learned that you had a good reason to think poorly of me."

"And that won't be happening again," the Doctor said. Shepard was heartened by that steel in his voice. She was looking forward to watching him wreak some havoc on the Collectors.

"All right. Let's see how EDI's doing," Shepard said. She turned and lead the way out of the TARDIS — and almost bumped into Miranda.

"There you are," Miranda said, exasperated. "EDI's been trying to reach you. The, uh —"

"TARDIS," the Doctor supplied.

"Right. The TARDIS was locked."

"Sorry about that," the Doctor said. He didn't sound that sorry. Shepard hid a laugh.

"Two matters require your attention, Shepard," EDI said. "The Reaper IFF is almost installed, but I must test compatibility with our systems."

"And the other?"

"Legion wishes to speak to you. It has analyzed a large data packet related to the heretic geth. I believe there is a space station which will need to be destroyed."

"How long will the tests take?" Shepard asked.

"Long enough that I would advise you to take a shuttle to the heretic's space station."

"I've got a better idea. We'll take the TARDIS," the Doctor said.

"Finally," Garrus said, grinning broadly.

"I think that's a plan," Shepard said with a nod. "Mordin, Garrus - grab your gear and let Tali know I want her to come along as well." Part of her didn't want to push Tali when she was still mourning her father's loss, but it was important that Tali continue to see Legion as an ally, not an enemy. She looked over at Miranda. "How about you? Want to see a geth station?"

"I think you mean, take a ride in that mad thing," Miranda said, and smiled. "Thank you, Shepard. I'd like to, but — who does that leave in charge here?"

"Does there really need to be someone?" Garrus asked. "EDI pretty much runs herself."

"She and Joker can handle it," Shepard agreed. "They're the two people best suited to monitoring the Normandy's systems during the installation, anyway." She paused. "Well, Tali could probably contribute a lot, but she's coming with us."

"If you say so, Shepard," Miranda replied.

Shepard turned and looked at Samara. "And you? Would you like to come along?"

Samara smiled softly. "I thank you for the offer, but I believe I would prefer to stay here and meditate further on what has happened."

Shepard controlled the urge to turn and look at the Doctor, even though she was deathly curious about what his reaction to that was. Instead, she just nodded, accepting Samara's decision, then looked at the ceiling. "How close are we to the relay, EDI?"

"We will make the transit soon. Will you be getting the destination from Legion?"

Shepard opened her mouth to say yes, and then thought differently. "If we're going in the TARDIS, we don't have to be in the system. Why don't we head to Omega? After the IFF is installed, we'll be ready to go through the Omega-4 relay."

"Sound idea," Mordin said, nodding in agreement.

"Very well, Shepard. With your permission, I will set the destination for Omega."

"Do it, EDI." Shepard looked at the others. "As soon as we make the transit through the relay, we'll go in the TARDIS. I'll go talk to Legion."

"Will speak with Tali," Mordin said.

"And I'll make sure that this installation isn't going to mess up my—" Garrus began.

"Calibrations," Shepard, Mordin, and Miranda said together.

Garrus gave an indignant huff and walked out of the cargo hold, followed by Mordin, Miranda, and Samara. Shepard let them go ahead of her, taking another moment to try and center herself.

There were still so many unanswered questions and stray thoughts bouncing around inside her mind. It was as though a part of her processing the input she had received from everyone else in the background, slowly but surely teasing bits of that intense meld out into her conscious mind. Something had been going on with the Doctor, Samara, and the unexpected guest, this River Song. River was clearly someone important to the Doctor, and for a moment Shepard considered trying to tease that information out. No, she decided, that wouldn't be worth it. Prodding him about something sensitive when they'd just come to a truce would be counterproductive.

Instead, Shepard turned her focus to Legion as she exited the elevator and headed for the AI Core. She grinned at Chakwas and received a friendly nod in return. The AI Core's door slide open for her and she saw Legion, standing there as though it had been waiting for her. She had to remind herself that it wasn't organic — Legion didn't need to sit, to eat, or even breathe. It was entirely contained in that platform. "Shepard-Commander," it said in greeting.

"Legion," Shepard replied. "EDI told me you've identified a space station that the heretics control. And that we were headed to blow it up."

"Affirmative," the Geth said. "The heretics have developed a virus that would rewrite us. Convince us that their way of thinking is correct."

"A virus can do that?" Shepard asked, shocked.

"This platform is hardware. Our programs are software. Software can be changed."

"Huh," Shepard said. "That makes sense. Scary as hell, but it makes sense. We won't let them do that to you, Legion. Or any of the geth."

"We appreciate your cooperation in this matter, Shepard-Commander." The geth's flashlight head rotated; flaps expanded and contracted. "There is an unrelated matter we wished to ask about."

"Go ahead, Legion."

"We spoke to the one called the Doctor before. We noted that he was not human. We asked EDI for available information. We heard what the one called the Illusive Man had to say about him."

It took Shepard a moment to remember that conversation. "The Illusive Man mentioned that he had records of the Doctor on different planets. Including Rannoch."

"Yes. We possess no such record."

"Well, the Illusive Man did say it was before the geth," Shepard said.

"Geth are in possession of all computer records prior to the Morning War. We did not find a reference to the Doctor. We wish to know if you possess an explanation for the incongruity."

Shepard took a minute to think about that question. "I don't think I have one," she said. "I have conjectures and theories, but nothing that would serve as a solid explanation."

"We wish to hear your theories."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at the geth 'wishing' anything, but perhaps that was simply the best way to express it. "All right. Either your records are wrong, or the Illusive Man is wrong. If your records are wrong, that means that evidence of the Doctor's visit was erased at some point. Maybe the Doctor did it, maybe the geth did. And if the Illusive Man is wrong, either he lied to me or his information is wrong. Since he said that he was just chasing down rumors, it seems most likely that he had bad information. Although, he does have a massive network available to him... I should ask Liara. She's setting herself up as an information broker, after all."

"We request to be informed of any information that may help resolve this discrepancy," Legion said.

"Of course, Legion." Shepard nodded. "We'll be leaving for the station soon. We're traveling in the TARDIS, actually. Garrus, Mordin, Tali, Miranda, and the Doctor will be coming with us."

Legion's flaps flared out, and its head tilted to the side. "We anticipate this will be a novel experience."

Shepard grinned. "No kidding. Ready to go?"

"We do not require extra preparation."

"I'll take that as a yes." Shepard turned and exited the AI core, and a moment later heard the unmistakable sound of Legion's mechanized joints following her.

"Shall I prepare the Infirmary for incoming casualties?" Chakwas asked dryly as Shepard passed.

"Prepare, but also be prepared for nothing," Shepard replied. "I'm bringing a lot of firepower on this one."

"Roger that." Chakwas nodded and went back to her computer.

Shepard led Legion out into the hall, and earned a couple of stares from the Cerberus crew before they made it to the elevator. "Does it bother you?" Shepard asked. "The stares."

"It is expected. Organics fear that which they do not understand."

"Well," Shepard said. "Maybe if we make it through this, we organics can work on understanding the geth better."

The elevator stopped, doors opening onto the cargo bay. Shepard exited and saw Miranda glaring at the closed door of the TARDIS.

"Miranda?" Shepard asked.

"He won't let me in." Miranda folded her arms and turned the glare on Shepard. "I thought I heard that he was going to cooperate."

The blue door swung open and the Doctor poked his head out, unruly brown hair flying away from his face. "I'm cooperating with Shepard. I'm not cooperating with Cerberus."

"Enough." Shepard sighed. "We are all working together. The others will be here soon. Is my presence sufficient to allow Miranda into the TARDIS?"

The Doctor grinned that face-splitting grin of his again. "Well, of course."

He felt better. Much better. He'd eliminated the hook the Beast had placed in his mind (and he was still annoyed that it had been able to put it there it in the first place). He was about to fly off in the TARDIS as he always did to explore a space station full of interesting robotic lifeforms.

And he got to watch still more people react to the TARDIS for the first time. Shepard came in first, quickly stepping to the side to allow Miranda space to stop and stare. The Doctor watched the Cerberus operative carefully. He was fairly confident that she wouldn't be able to use anything she saw to Cerberus' benefit. At least half of his obstructionism was posturing, to make sure that Miranda knew he followed no one's agenda but his own. He was satisfied by the level of awe he saw in her face, and put her out of his mind in favor of something much more interesting.

Legion followed in Shepard's steps, heading towards the center console. The geth's movements were almost elegant, not hesitant and jerky like some other robotic species that the Doctor had previously encountered. Legion tilted its head to the side and emitted a series of electronic grinding sounds that caused Shepard to jump in surprise.

The Doctor frowned and wondered why that hadn't translated, like all communication in the TARDIS usually did. It only took him a moment before he understood why. Legion wasn't using words, or not only words; it was transmitting data. Information about where the platform had been and what it had seen. The burst ended with a simple request for reciprocity.

A second later, he felt the TARDIS responding, in a burst of joyous light and sound. It had been so long, the TARDIS said, since she had been able to talk to someone that was like her.

Legion gave another series of data bursts in response. The trials it had faced as the only one of its kind in this corner of the galaxy, where it was feared and misunderstood. The hardships and setbacks it had faced when searching for Shepard.

The TARDIS sang understanding and compassion, and shared some of its own trials and hardships with Legion. The many indignities that she had been subjected to over the years, from UNIT, from the Daleks, even sometimes from her beloved Doctor and those he brought along with him on his travels. The glorious moment when she had first found herself in Idris' body, and everything that had passed while she wore flesh and could communicate clearly with the Doctor. Well. More clearly than when she was in her own body. There had still been a fair bit that he hadn't gotten right away, silly man that he was.

Legion agreed that organics were sometimes very slow to pick up on certain things that seemed obvious to synthetics such as themselves. But it liked their company nonetheless.

The TARDIS agreed; she rather liked her Doctor, her madman who ran around space and time, having all sorts of adventures and meeting all sorts of people. She wouldn't trade him for anything.

"Uh, Doctor?" Shepard asked hesitantly. "What — exactly — has been happening here?"

"We were conversing with the TARDIS," Legion answered. "We rather enjoyed the experience."

"Geth don't have feelings," Miranda said dismissively, her arms folded across her chest in a defensive stance.

"Well, obviously Legion does," the Doctor snapped back. "Honestly. You Cerberus folk. Anyone who's not human doesn't deserve a second thought, is that it?"

"That is not it, since as you can see —"

"And how many of those aliens would be here if it wasn't for Shepard, hmm?" The Doctor cut Miranda off without a second thought. He'd only been guessing about what she was going to say, but from the flush on her face, he could tell that he'd been right.

Shepard cleared her throat. "Miranda, as annoying as he's being, the Doctor is right. Legion has feelings. It is a member of this crew and you will treat it accordingly."

Miranda turned her angry glare on Shepard, then shook her head. "If you say so, Shepard. I trust your judgment." Back to the Doctor. "Not his."

"That's fair." The Doctor grinned impishly at Miranda. "I don't always trust my own judgment."

The door to the TARDIS creaked open again, and Mordin and Tali entered. The Doctor turned his attention to Tali. "Hallo there. How was your trip back to the Quarian Fleet?"

Mordin coughed. "Topic perhaps best discussed at a later date, Doctor. Somewhat of a … sensitive subject for Tali'Zorah."

"Oh. I'm terribly sorry. It's the face masks, you see. Can't read a thing. I'm usually much better at picking up on feelings."

The TARDIS registered her amusement at that statement, confiding to Legion that his ability to pick up on feelings was much more erratic than he was currently letting on. The Doctor scowled.

"Anyway, as soon as Garrus comes," Shepard said, in what the Doctor suspected was an attempt to divert everyone, "we can head for the space station that Legion told us about."

"Yes, an exciting space station filled with hostile robots that will likely try to kill us all." The Doctor glared at the gun strapped to Shepard's back. "I suppose you'll be using those."

Shepard laughed. "Tell you what, Doctor. I'll give you the first shot at convincing hostile geth to stand down. And if that fails, I get to start shooting."

The Doctor nodded reluctantly. He really did need to start working with Shepard instead of against her. "Legion!" he said brightly. "Tell the TARDIS where we need to be going." He wouldn't normally have allowed anyone else to give destination coordinates, but he knew how happy the TARDIS was at having someone else to finally talk to.

"Acknowledged."

"And if I were to try and, say, shut these heretics down, how would I do it?"

"You mean without bullets flying?" Tali asked dryly.

The geth tilted its head to the side, flaps moving. The Doctor wondered if this was a gesture that came naturally to the geth, or if they had picked it up from their quarian creators. Or perhaps this was just something that Legion did, having studied organics so closely.

"Forgive us, but we do not wish to reveal this information in front of Creator Zorah. We are aware that the Creators are considering attacking us." It turned to look at Tali. "We would be saddened if this happened."

Tali's shoulders slumped. "So would I, Legion."

Right. No help from that quarter. The Doctor brought out his sonic screwdriver and started scanning Legion. The geth was an incredibly complex being, and the Doctor took a moment to marvel at quarian ingenuity. As it had said earlier, there were over a thousand programs housed on its platform. He started to see the bright synergy within Legion, showing up as bright blue lines just underneath its smooth metal exterior, visible only in the green light of the screwdriver.

"How many programs do other geth have?" the Doctor asked.

"Most mobile platforms contain around one hundred programs. But we are likely to encounter geth that are networked to server hubs, which contain millions of programs."

The Doctor turned off the screwdriver and flipped it in his hand. "So I might be able to shut down an individual platform, but the hubs will be harder."

"The hubs will require a shotgun," Tali said.

Despite what some of his companions thought, the Doctor was able to keep his mouth shut when the situation called for it. He remembered what Mordin had said about Tali's trip being a sensitive subject and decided not to press the issue of guns again.

Behind him, the door to the TARDIS swung open. "Oh. You were waiting for me," Garrus said, sounding chagrined. The Doctor turned and saw him closing the door before walking forward to stand next to Shepard.

"You're here now," Shepard said, slinging an arm around his back. Garrus' mandibles flared in a brief expression of happiness.

"Well, it's about time, you bosh'tets," Tali said, sounding exasperated, but the Doctor also caught a hint of fondness in her voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Miranda's raised eyebrow — but if she had anything to say, she kept it to herself.

Shepard's face reddened, but she kept her arm around Garrus. She cleared her throat. "Yes, well, since we are all here, we should get going. Doctor?"

The Doctor scurried over to the TARDIS controls and checked the destination coordinates. "Next stop, space station full of hostile geth!" He threw the lever and heard the familiar, comforting sound of the TARDIS engines. His face split into a broad grin, and he let out a hearty laugh.

The TARDIS rocked, sending the others scrambling for a handhold. Bumpy ride, good. He remembered the first time River had been in the TARDIS, how smooth that trip had been. Smooth was too easy. Easy was no fun at all.

He watched the screen, the stars flying past them at the speed of thought. Behind him, Shepard and her crew were talking amongst themselves, but he was too caught up in his own emotions to pay any attention.

With a thump, the TARDIS landed. Any observers would have seen it appear as though from nowhere.

The Doctor flipped the switch back to the off position and started for the door. "Hold up," Shepard said. "We should go out first, in case there's enemy geth there."

"No life signs detected," the Doctor lied easily, continuing towards the door.

"Doctor. Be advised that geth stations do not have air or gravity. Geth require neither."

Legion's words stopped him in his tracks. Turning, he saw all of the others attaching breathing masks - except for Tali, who was already in a pressurized suit. "Right," the Doctor said, heading down the stairs to where the orange space suit was stored. He felt a momentary flare of anger and pain as his hands touched it, remembering the context of its acquisition. The abandoned space station. The Ood.

The Beast that had actually been a Reaper, that had indoctrinated him to be an obstruction in Shepard's path.

Never again.

The air tanks were full. He didn't remember doing that, so perhaps someone else had. Rory, at a guess. He was the more responsible of the pair, doing his best to keep Amy grounded. They were so well suited for each other. His dear friends.

Suit on and pressurized, he walked over, somewhat chagrined to see that everyone else had their guns drawn. Liara's memories flared to life, letting him easily identify the weapons. Carnifex pistols for Mordin and Miranda. Mantis sniper rifles for Legion and Garrus. Shotguns for Shepard and Tali - the latter with the lighter Eviscerator, and the former with the heavy Claymore. All of their suits were much more form-fitting than the bulky orange thing that he now wore.

Shepard nodded when she saw him and closed her hand on the door handle. Tali and Miranda were flanking her, with the other three behind them, all very intent, body language practically shouting that they expected trouble.

The TARDIS door creaked open to reveal an empty hallway. Assorted bits of debris hung in the air, suspended as though in water. The only illumination was from a few scattered sources, soft blue light above windows several yards ahead of them.

"Windows?" the Doctor asked Legion.

"Geth did not build this station." It was probably just in the Doctor's imagination that Legion sounded almost defensive.

"Quiet," Shepard hissed. "We don't want to alert them."

"Shepard-Commander. These geth are not expecting intruders. They will not be on alert. We will be spotted if we cross certain sensors in the floor. These will be located near hubs. I will inform you when we approach these sensors."

Shepard turned to look at Legion, her face unreadable behind the breathing mask. That was going to be annoying, the Doctor realized - he'd have a much harder time reading Shepard and the others with their faces hidden like this. "You're sure?" she asked.

"Yes."

"All right." Shepard nodded. "I want us moving in pairs. Tali and myself at the front. Mordin and Miranda behind us. Legion and Garrus bringing up the rear."

She'd forgotten him. The Doctor decided to deal with this fact by striding forward, sonic screwdriver out and taking readings. He couldn't move terribly fast in the bulky orange space suit. Another thing to be annoyed about.

"Oh, for - Doctor!" Shepard ran to catch up with him, gloved hand closing on his shoulder. "Weren't you listening?"

"Yes," the Doctor said confidently. "I heard Legion say that it would alert us when we needed to be careful." He easily shrugged off her hand and kept moving.

"On your head be it then," Shepard grumbled, keeping pace besides him.

Tali joined them at the front, and the Doctor resisted the urge to turn around and confirm that the others had all fallen in as Shepard had asked. Ordered, really. He knew they would all follow her lead, even Miranda.

As Legion had said, they saw no geth as they moved through the eerily silent corridors. The Doctor knew that the prickling at the back of his neck was at least partially caused by the disconnect between his expectations of sound and movement, and the reality of this lifeless environment.

Just before they reached a ramp that would take them down, Legion spoke again. "Shepard-Commander."

"That's a funny way of speaking her name," the Doctor commented. "Usually the rank comes first."

"Rank may change among organics. Names do not."

"Well, names can change too. Like when people get married." He was thinking of Amy and Rory again, although they had ultimately both kept their names as they were.

"Probability of Shepard-Commander ultimately receiving a promotion greatly exceeds probability of changing her name."

"Fair enough," the Doctor conceded. "Continue, Legion."

"We previously stated that the only option of dealing with the heretics was to destroy the space station. We have analyzed the data on the heretic virus —"

"It'd rewrite Legion's geth to believe as they do," Shepard explained. "Worship the Reapers and want to kill organics."

Legion nodded its head. "It is possible for us to appropriate the virus for our own use."

"No," the Doctor said instantly, instinctively. "No, we are not doing that."

"Well, that was fast," Shepard responded dryly. "You didn't even have to think about it."

The Doctor tried to fold his arms across his chest, but the space suit made the movement rather awkward. "There's nothing to think about. It's large-scale brainwashing. That is never a good idea, no matter what anyone says." He glared at Shepard, daring her to disagree, to try and convince him otherwise.

Shepard looked at Legion. "We're not doing that." The Doctor blinked in surprise. Shepard continued before he could say anything more. "The Doctor's right. Using the virus against the heretic geth is just as bad an idea as them using it against us." She turned to look at him again. "That might mean the only option is blowing up the station, with all the geth on it."

"We'll see about that," the Doctor said, his mind starting to whirl with possibilities.

Joker frowned down at the sensor readings that the Normandy was giving him. "I'm telling you, EDI, there's something —"

The screen pulsed with a sudden influx of data. "The Omega-4 relay has opened," EDI said. "From the other side."