Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or any of its characters. They belong to Bioware and EA.

I stood there staring in disbelief with my mouth hanging open. "How is this possible?" I asked staring at her.

"There are many things that are possible" She said flashing me a smile. She was beautiful just like I remembered.

I closed my mouth as I realized I had been gawking at her "I'm having a hard time believing this" I said finding a chair and sitting down. I glanced around and noticed that while similar to a ship you might find here and there this ship was very alien indeed.

"I see your friends are awake" She said nodding towards Emily and Eve who had gotten to their feet.

"Who are you?" Emily asked reaching for her weapon only then realizing that we didn't have any.

"Come now! Is that really how you treat your rescuer?" She asked flashing a smile.

Emily glared at her.

"My name is Tella and that's all you need to know. Who I am is something else that I will share in time though Will here already knows who I am don't you Will?" Tella asked getting to her feet.

She made her way over to me and leaned down looking me in the eye.

"You were there with your blue friend on my word as the Reapers that you call them descended onto it!" She said.

"I remember" I muttered.

I was vividly recalling the events in my mind. "But how are you here now? When that was millions of years ago?" I asked.

Both Even and Emily looked at Tella for an explanation.

She sighed and leaned back "It's a long and tiresome story..." She said grabbing a chair next to me and sitting down. Her tall frame looking down on me as she began.

"Thanks to Dev I who was reprogrammed by my father I was frozen as soon as the ship got into the atmosphere of my planet. It set a course for the rim gathering resources along the way being wary of any readings that the reapers were near. My father was brilliant when it came to machines... he was also a great leader" she paused as her head bowed in thought "He designed this ship and its stealth capabilities and he was working on a secret project that only a select few of our government knew about. Because they knew the reapers could tap lines easily the secret was passed by hand." She said looking up at me.

"Interesting... but still how did your ship not degrade over time?" I asked.

She smiled "Every so often Dev would take the ship forth and retrieve materials to repair the ship with. It has drones and several dozen bots that take up the repair work constantly maintaining the ship"

I nodded "Well for being old as you are you look good for your age"

She laughed and placed a hand on my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emily visibly tense up.

"That's all fine and dandy but why are you helping us now?" Emily asked with a glare at Tella.

Tella smiled as she looked up at the former operative "Because! It's our destiny!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She smiled and brought her hand off my shoulder and placed it on my face. "I will show you."

She got up and walked over to what looked like a safe on the wall. She pressed a few buttons and placed her hand and eye near a panel and the safe opened.

I gasped in shock as I saw the crystal laying inside.

"This one was given to me by my father the day he died and my new life began." She said taking out the crystal and walking towards me.

I slowly got to me feet and met her halfway.

"I see your familiar with this crystal" She says stopping a mere inches from me.

I nod and start to reach my hand out as Tella holds it out.

"Will are you sure this is a good idea?" Emily asks. I glance at her and see a worried look in both her and Eve's eyes.

"I'll be fine" I said turning back to Tella.

I grasp the crystal and Tella closes her hand.

There's a flash of light and I felt Tella pull my body hard against her as a feel a pulsing sensation flow through us.

The light flowing around us started to get brighter and I heard Emily yell.

Suddenly I felt as if everything had slowed to a standstill. I blinked and stared at Tella as she leaned forward. It felt as if I was in another world... as she leaned in towards me I saw flashes of things. I saw flashes of my past, present, and a glimpse into the future. I saw a child... I gasped in shock as I stared at the child... It seemed so familiar. Suddenly my vision changed and I was on a ship barking orders to a crew as a huge space battle raged on outside. ~the fight against harbinger!~

Suddenly there was a flash and closed my eyes tight as the light blinded me.

I felt something warm and soft touch my lips. I realized it was someone kissing me. I opened my eyes and stared into Tellas. She leaned back and smiled.

"Um... thanks" I said rubbing the back of my neck.

She winked at me.

"Um... What just happened?" Emily asked.

I turned towards her before speaking "The crystal transferred knowledge into me just as the others had and it's also increased this power that feel in me. I'm getting stronger by the day now.

"Oh... ok! But was it really necessary that you kiss him!" Emily glared at Tella.

To her credit Tella didn't flinch "Nope! Just wanted to do that... It has been awhile after all since I kissed a man." She said winking at Emily who turned red in response.

I decided to stop this before it got any further. "Listen! I'm hungry and I'm sure we all are. How bout we get something to eat?" I suggested.

"Sounds like a plan!" Tella said turning towards a console "Dev! Have some bots set up the table for us! We've got company for a change" She said casting me a smile before heading off down a hallway.

"Wait!" Emily said throwing her hands up "How do we even know your food is compatible with our DNA?" She exclaimed.

Tella glanced at me and smiled "That's simple... I gathered the knowledge from Will's mind"

"Ok!" I said as we started to follow after her.

"Um... what else did you happen to gather from my head?" I asked.

She turned and smiled at me "Wouldn't you like to know?" She said as we stepped into an elevator.

"Yes I would" I said as the doors closed.

XXX

Elsewhere in the galaxy...

"We've got engines back online mam!" One of the tech's said handing her an OSD.

"Excellent!" Miranda said. She turned to the pilot in front of her "Is there a way to trace them?" She asked.

The pilot as well as a tech check through their consoles and shook their head in response.

"Damnit!" She cursed.

"Mam! The Illusive Man wishes to speak with you" A tech said coming over to her.

She growled in frustration but nodded and proceeded to a terminal. She took a deep breath knowing that she was about to get the talking down to of her life and activated the terminal.

"I was starting to worry about you my dear. I'm glad you survived the attack... do you have any idea as to what ship attacked you?" He asked as he took a swig of his alcohol.

"No sir. The design of the ship didn't match any used by any species that we've encountered so far." She said.

"Interesting..." He let it hang for a moment before he started speaking again "I know your probably expecting me to be extremely upset but I'm not" He said.

Miranda's eyebrows raised in surprise "Are you sure sure?" She asked.

Tim smiled "Very.. I'm not about to toss away one of my top operatives simply because they got out gunned" He paused and she felt the words sting "I'm reassigning you to head up a new project" He said.

"What project would that be?" She asked hesitantly.

He smiled "All in good time. Report to these coordinates... your stay there will be awhile."

She sighed "Yes Sir!"

"I'm sending you an information packet that is for your eyes only." He said.

Her omni-tool beeped as the file was transferred. "Thank you Sir.. I'll do my best" She said.

"You all ways do Miranda" Tim said cutting the line.

She opened up her omni-tool and glanced at the very first word that was displayed to her

"Project Lazarus!"

XXX

Surprisingly the food was extremely good and I made sure to compliment Tella about it as well.

We were sitting there talking when I realized something. "Tella! Do you have an omni-tool that we can use?" I asked.

She looked at me puzzled but shook her head not really sure what we were talking about.

I cursed... I would have to get a new omni-tool. "Is there any way I can send a message to someone?" I asked hopefully.

She nodded and got up and proceeded towards the far wall.

"This is a video transmitter.. It'll allow you to send video messages or just plain messages." She said tapping a few buttons.

"Can Cerberus pick up on this?" I asked.

"Not likely... Their technology isn't as advanced as mine." She said simply.

I nodded and walked up to the device. ~Now what was the address?~

I began typing in the address and hit send and waited a few moments when suddenly the image of a very familiar Quarian girl appeared.

"Will?"... She stated shock clearly evident in her voice. It also sounded like she had been crying.

"Tali are you ok?" I asked feeling a ping in my heart because I couldn't be there to talk to her in person.

"Your alive... they said you were dead!" She said her words chocking in her throat.

I smiled "I'm very much alive Tali... and I've got some new friends." I said gesturing behind me.

Tali looked around and than her gaze settled on Emily who was still digging through what looked like mash potatoes. "That bitch is Cerberus!" She said through clinched teeth.

Emily looked up with her mouth still stuffed and mumbled "What?"

"How do you know?" I asked curious.

She disappeared about a week and a half ago and short there after we received a tip that she was Cerberus. Shepard had her quarters searched and they discovered several unused bugs and a transmitter.

"Relax! The reason you received that tip was because she betrayed Cerberus to help me." I said holding up a hand.

Tali seethed for a moment but nodded.

"Speaking of Shepard how is he?" I asked waiting for good news or bad news.

He head slowly drifted downward and I knew the answer "What happened Tali?" I asked .

She was silent for a moment before looking up "Will... Shepard was killed." She said tears clearly evident as her voice became choked up.

"It's ok Tali.. take your time" I said quietly.

"I'm not sure if they ever gave you my message but I left to go back to the flotilla a week ago." She said adverting her gaze.

"I understand Tali... your people come first." I said feeling the pain worsen in my chest.

She gazed at me for a second before looking away. "Shepard died two days ago when the Normandy was attacked and destroyed by an unknown ship." She said.

I nodded sadly but I couldn't tell her that we would be brought back to life.

"There's something else Will" She said breaking me out of my thoughts.

I looked at her "As I said Will they said you were dead. They as in the Counsel and The Alliance."

I nodded "They probably don't want the knowledge of me being able to access the control terminal in the citadel getting around."

"That's not the only part of it Will!" She paused as I raised my eyebrows at her "Officially your declared dead but if your spotted in counsel space your to be studied without knowledge of the outside world finding out about you... Will that means they could do whatever they wanted and you couldn't do a thing about it." She said.

"What why?" I shouted.

She flinched and I quickly apologized for it.

"You should know the answer to that Will.. In a way it was actually a blessing for you to be taken by Cerberus. That way if they find you they won't have to worry about red tape so to speak" She said.

I nodded.

"Will! I'm so glad your alive... but I have to get back to my shift." She said.

I nodded and then as I thought about it "Tali.. so what happened when you arrived on the flotilla... I'm sure they welcomed you as a hero of the citadel" I said smiling.

Immediately her mood turned brighter as she began telling me about her new ship name and how she earned a lot of respect among her people for the battle with Saren.

We talked for awhile longer before she finally stopped and looked me in the eyes.

"Promise me that you'll take care of yourself Will" She said as her voice quivered.

I smiled "Of course... I'll see you again soon I hope" I said.

"I think that will more than likely happen Will... it's as if fate has decided that our lives should be intertwined." She said.

I nodded. "Indeed it does feel like that doesn't it."

"Goodbye Will! I'm free tomorrow for a few hours so I'll give you a call.. can you send me the new address that your using." She asked and I nodded.

She waved to me as the link was closed and I let out a huge sigh.

"Are you ok Will?" Tella asked as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and looked up at her "Tella... I've got a set of coordinates that I need to investigate. I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell you who I'm looking for right" I asked and she nodded.

"Well take care of that in a little while right now I want to show you something." She said grabbing my hand and pulling me after her out the door.

…...

Emily eyed both of them as they left and rolled her eyes.

Eve had also watched them and turned back to Emily. She picked up a data pad and typed "Are you sure it's wise to let her drag him off?"

Emily read it "Of course why?"

Eve sighed and typed again "Because you got awfully jealous when she was kissing him earlier"

Emily growled in frustration "I was not jealous and why would that matter now?" She asked.

Eve chuckled as she typed "So your just going to let her drag him off to do whatever she wants to him?"

Emily glanced at it "What makes you say that?" She said narrowing her eyes.

Eve chuckled again before handing the data pad back to Emily "Well during the whole conversation that he had going with that quarian she was staring at his ass the whole time and kept unconsciously straightening her hair"

Emily jumped to her feet and tore off after them yelling "WILL!"

Eve chucked as she placed the data pad down and continued to eat.

A/N: Thanks everyone for all the support. You guys and girls are the best! Till next time.