Hello everyone! Last week I told you all that I planned to post a chapter at the end of the decade and at the start of the next, and I am doing so right now. This chapter is one that I've personally waited to get to for a long, long time now, and now that we are here, you all get to see it for yourselves! There are two more chapters after this one that I'm waiting for, which would be Tulma's and Tyler's loyalty missions, and as with the case for both of them, I'll tell you all this right now: there will be no weapons or armor involved.

This chapter is about Devin's "loyalty" mission, one in which he finally gets the imulsion parasite dealt with once and for all! And at the end, we finally get to see something quite special indeed. I hope that you all like what's waiting for you all down there! But until then, it does get quite emotional, and we get to see the return of Glaz and the lady friend that he said he would reconcile with; you will never guess who she is or what she is, but when you find out... don't burn me at the stake please? I'd rather be hung instead, just like the Salem Witch Trials. All jokes aside, I hope that you all enjoy what happens here!

Review Time:

Mythian: Got to read and find out friend! But trust me, all will be well.

Captain: You are absolutely right about that. Diseases, or parasites for that matter, will adapt and change how they behave and operate when introduced into a new climate/lifestyle, and as a result, it may mutate its base "programming" to better fit with what is going on with its host and/or environment. As for how it became active and this aggressive? Well... I'll explain it tomorrow in the next chapter. And trust me, Justin will be getting a little something extra for his services, but what that will be, you'll have to wait and see... (though that little scene was quite humorous to read... maybe you should write something on here about it? If you do so, then I give you permission lol)

Blaze: It isn't good, no but Jay will definitely have a word with him next chapter.

CrazyTony: Thank you for the review! Here's that chapter you were waiting for!

That's all of the reviews, and as such is always the case, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all tomorrow!

PS: See if you can guess where the chapter title came from.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Spreading the Disease

"Hang in there, sir; we'll have you at Huerta Memorial in a few minutes!" A paramedic told him, hooking up several iv's inside of Devin's arm as the man was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"GET THIS DAMN AMBULANCE TO THE FUCKING HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW!" The other person screamed, banging the back of the wall to get the driver to speed up.

"Heartrate is over a hundred beats a minute, temperature is a hundred and six, and blood pressure is through the roof; we need to get in into surgery now! Call ahead and tell them to set up a surgical room and ensure that everything is sterilized immediately, because if we don't, we're going to lose him."

With the order given, the human doctor contacts the proper channels and authorities, explaining the situation that they have currently going on and that a room needed to be prepped immediately.

Garrus could only sit in the corner and silently watch as one of his closest friends had a breathing tube shoved down his throat and various other medical equipment placed alongside him, or even in his arms and chest.

He didn't realize that only a few days ago, Devin was up and about with a smile on his face and a great attitude to match… only for the man to be reduced to this state, barely clinging on to consciousness and possibly life itself.

He hopes that his healing factor was enough to at least aide in his recovery.

Garrus is brought from his musings as he feels the human medic shaking him, asking him something that he didn't catch.

"Wh- what?"

"Sir, my partner and I are going to need help removing the armor from the patient; the doctors won't be able to operate on him unless we do so. I understand that there are rules and regulations in place that prevents you from interfering with medical professionals and their duty, but in human laws, if you were to do so, you'd be protected by the Good Samaritan Law." He explained, pointing a finger to his partner as the man was in the process of removing Devin's gauntlets and setting one of them down on the floor with an audible thud.

Nodding his head, Garrus stands up and walks over to his friend and gives him a glance, noticing that his eyes were closed and his breathing labored, before shutting his own and gritting his teeth as he flips the man over on his side so that he can unlatch the top latches and seals.

Hearing a distinct click, Garrus went to work on the utility belt, his mind telling him that he shouldn't feel uncomfortable with manhandling his friend and that he needed to get this done if he wanted to save his life.

He just hopes that Shepard was doing better than he was at the moment… especially Tulma.

Shepard had watched as they brought Devin out of the ambulance and into the ICU, various medical staff and other personnel either helping them move Devin onto a gurney or moving everyone else out of the way so that they can get the man to a room immediately.

The perks to being a Spectre was that he could guarantee someone being seen immediately, if he wanted them to.

Finishing his call with Joker, Shepard could only rub his head as he was waiting outside Huerta Memorial for Chakwas and Mordin, seeing as one actually operated on the man before and the other had a doctorate in xeno-biology.

If there were anyone more qualified to operate on Devin, it'd be those two.

"Shepard!" He hears someone call out, turning to see Tulma running towards the man, with a human and some alien wearing some type of environmental suit, similar to the quarians, that he's never seen before with the man, all of whom were coming to a stop as they watched Devin being carted through the entrance.

"DEVIN!" Tulma called out, attempting to shove Shepard out of the way so that she can get to the man, but was ultimately stopped by him and the other human holding her back from interfering with medical staff.

"Tulma, you can't be with him right now; it hurts me seeing him in this state, it really does, but we have to let them get him to a room first!" Shepard told her, lifting the woman into air before forcing her to the ground, with the other human helping him hold her down.

"Let go of me! He needs me, please!" She begged, reaching a talon out to the man as he weakly looked over to her and slightly lifted his hand up, seemingly reaching back for her before disappearing through the doors.

"Lady please; Devin needs help and us interfering will not make that happen. It hurts me seeing him like this, trust me, but he needs help first."

"Let go of me, Glaz! I need to be with him!"

Glaz could only shake his head and sigh, looking at Shepard with a frown as the sounds of footsteps came up to them, with them seeing that it belonged to Garrus and Grunt, with both of them carrying Devin's armor in their arms.

"Shepard, these are actually heavier than they seem, but we don't know where to put them; do you have anywhere we could store them or no?" Garrus asked him, his voice low and a far-off look in his eyes as Shepard shook his head, telling them that he didn't know of any place where they could store the armor.

That was until a new voice joined the conversation.

"John what the hell is going on here? Why do you all have a turian pinned to the ground?"

With Shepard looking up and looking at the woman who said his name, he was relieved that it was his sister Jane who was doing the talking, her rifle out and readied in case if anything were to happen.

"Jane, thank god you're here, we need somewhere to store this armor that Garrus and the krogan currently has in their arms, but we don't know where to actually keep them. Mind helping us out?"

"Yeah, you can store it in my patrol car over there," she tells them pointing at a parked C-Sec car that was only a few dozen meters away from them, with Garrus nodding his head in thanks as he motions for Grunt to follow him, "but that still doesn't explain why you're pinning a woman beneath you. You know what mom would say if she were here."

Shepard huffed in response, rolling his eyes as he explained why they were currently restraining Tulma, telling her that she cared for the man that they had brought in and that she would only interrupt the doctors as they were operating on him.

With Jane nodding her head in understanding, she asks him if he wanted her to put her in cuffs but was immediately denied, Shepard explaining to her that it wasn't necessary and that she would have to wait before anything else happened.

With Tulma ceasing her efforts to get loose, she dropped her head to the ground as tears started come from her eyes, Shepard and Glaz letting go as they helped her up and off of the ground where the unknown alien then proceeded to console her, encasing the turian in a hug as she finally couldn't hold back the sobs.

"Sweetheart, if you wouldn't mind, will you and the Commander here go and check up on your friend's condition? I'll stay here and comfort Tulma." She told Glaz, Shepard hearing her voice having a slight high-pitched chirp and slight flanging that was present in turians, but not as significant, watching as he gave a nod to her and beckoned for Shepard and Jane to follow him as they entered the hospital.

Shepard had never seen the species that the woman belonged to and decided that now was the time to ask about them.

"Glaz, I'm sorry if this comes off as rude or offensive, but what the hell was that woman?"

"That my friend is my lady friend, Yelaisa; she's a raloi, a species that was recently discovered last year. She has to wear the suit that you seen her in because of the current climate of the station. That, and she also likes its color." He explained, following Jane as she led them through the corridors to their current destination as Shepard could only shake his head.

"So what do they look like?"

"Think of a giant, anthropomorphic bird, Commander. Like one's from twenty-first century animated films and art. I think the term used for those who were into the stuff were called… animaniacs? No, that was film. PETA? No, they killed animals, not like them. Furry? I forget. But anyways, they're giant anthropomorphic birds, except they have no breasts."

(Since I haven't found any official art on what the raloi actually look like, despite the only descriptions I could find are that they are an avian, bird, species that are bipedal and are from the planet Turvess. They wear environmental suits but can actually take them off; the only reason they do so is because of a type of flu they can get, but other than those facts, I haven't found anything citing or linking any official art or images that Bioware has put out there. As such, I decided to let them be the skirmishers from Halo. I liked the addition of Reach to Halo MCC and the skirmishers are my favorite covenant species. That and they're an avian species as well. So… win-win? Maybe?)

Shepard could only stare blankly at the man, his eyes not blinking as the smile that Glaz had on his face never faltered for a single second.

Just as Shepard was about to open his mouth to say something, Glaz opened his and then proceeded to tell him something that would haunt the man's dreams for years to come.

"They may not have breasts, which breaks my heart a little bit, but they do have the part that all ladies have. And I enjoy putting the stuffing from my bird into that bird… Don't tell the lady I said that; she'll unleash her wrath on me." He told him, his smile instantly being replaced by hushed whispers and worried glances.

Shepard's mind broke a little bit when he heard that; his mind unprepared for the images that now infested his mind as Jane gagged in the background.

"That's fucked up."

"Please don't tell her I said that." Glaz once again asked them, coming to a stop as they were now outside the room that currently contained their friend.

"Why are we stopping Jane?" Shepard asked her, looking as she tried to swipe her omni-tool over the scanner but with each time she does it, the interface buzzed twice before turning red, signaling that it had denied her access.

"I don't know! I should have clearance to enter this room!"

"It's because a class three biohazard has been placed on that room: anyone who isn't wearing anything that has a class four filter system installed onto their armor or hazmat suit cannot enter the room. Very curious as to what caused them to enact such a protocol." They heard someone explain from behind, with the three of them turning around and finding Mordin standing alongside Chakwas, his hand held to his chin as he began muttering incoherently to himself.

Chakwas came up to Shepard and asked them about what happened to Devin, with the man explaining that when he went to confront Sidonis, a turian that Garrus wanted dead, he had an episode of coughing fits and violent vomiting, with blood and a strange substance that was mixed within it.

That was when Chakwas sighed to herself, holding her hand to head as she shook it in response to what she had been told, which prompted Shepard to ask her what was wrong.

"Commander, when I ran the medical evaluation on Devin when he first came aboard the Normandy, my scanners picked up on a type of unknown parasite that was lying dormant within his system. At the time, it showed zero signs of being active in any way, shape or form, and later on the scans showed that it was seemingly disappearing from his body. That led me to believe that his body was passing it through his system and pushing it out, and even then, it showed no signs of becoming this serious! In a single week, it went from being dormant to becoming an extremely hostile parasite that gave the man flu-like symptoms. I have never seen anything react as violently as this thing has, and whatever had caused it to become this aggressive had certainly worked in causing the man to be hospitalized. From my last scans, it seems as if it had settled inside of his lungs and his stomach, which led me to believe that bronchitis and a strain of stomach flu had incubated within the man, but now I see that my estimations and guesses were farther from the truth than I had imagined." She explained, bringing her omni-tool up and sending the man, and Mordin, all of the necessary files pertaining to the thing that was currently killing their friend.

Shepard, upon this revelation, was not happy in the slightest.

"Why am I being informed of this just NOW!? If it threatened his life, I should've been immediately notified after you were done with the examination! Not when the man is currently dying in room surrounded by people he doesn't know!"

"Commander, I understand that you're angry, and you have every right to be, but at the time of the scans and analysis', it posed no threat to the man; it certainly didn't pose a threat to his life either. Doctor/Patient Confidentiality barred me from telling you in the first place, and secondly, nothing like this has ever been recorded happening to any human either!"

With Chakwas done explaining herself, Shepard's headache increasing tenfold, and Mordin still muttering to himself whilst looking over the data that Chakwas had sent, Jane came up to the small group and cleared her throat, gaining all of their attention as she had explained that they only way that the two doctors could get in was if they had a hazmat suit and Spectre authorization.

"If only we had a Spectre who could do that for the two of them; hint, hint." She told her brother, looking the man straight in the eyes as she motioned down to a small cart that she was pushing that contained a couple of hazmat suits.

"Jane… have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Yeah, yeah, just do what you have to do and save your friend's life."

With that said, she and Shepard handed both Mordin and Chakwas the suits, having to put them on if they were to be allowed access to the surgical room that currently housed Devin.

With Shepard waving his omni-tool and confirming his Spectre status, both doctors enter through a decontamination room, stopping to let said room do its job before entering the actual surgical room.

Shepard motioned for Glaz and Jane to follow him, seeing if they can find a room next to the one that Devin was in so that they could wait inside of it, just in case if there was any news that they should be made aware of.

He was sure to have Jane inform the hospital staff to show anyone who was looking for Devin Carmine, and if they were, they were to show them to this room.

Hopefully nothing would go wrong in the operating room.

"HE KEEPS REGENERATING!" One of the surgeons exclaimed, watching as Devin's skin was mending back together as they had cut his torso open for the third time.

Chakwas was quick to come up with an excuse to cover-up Devin's natural healing factor.

"Mr. Carmine here is a result of illegal experiments made by Cerberus, Doctor Carmichael; I and Doctor Solus here has been his personal doctors for a while now. However, the recent turn of events that brings us here are rather unexpected, but we're here under orders by Commander Shepard, the Council Spectre. He should be nearby, but regardless we have a patient to operate on and we shouldn't be wasting any time with senseless chit-chat. Doctor Solus, hand me another scalpel, ensure that it's sterilized. Oh, and while you're at it, bring me 5 cc's of anexorol." She told the man, her left hand held out for a few moments as Mordin went to gather exactly what she had asked for.

Doctor Carmichael, on the other hand, was not amused by her choice of medicine.

"You're giving the man krogan tranquilizers?! Are you out of your mind, doctor? That would kill him!"

"Every time Mr. Carmine has come to me so that I could operate on him, I've used this to suppress his… unique ability. You want to remove the parasite from his lungs and stomach without having to cut him open every few minutes, use it. Now," she told him, grabbing the scalpel and shot that Mordin had ready for her, before narrowing her eyes at the man, "if you have any objections, speak your peace now doctor, or leave the operating room: right now, my patient and friend needs me and you're in the way of me helping him."

With that said and done, Chakwas goes back to working on Devin, making sure to swab the area where she's going to inject the tranquilizer with alcohol before inserting it, injecting the man with its contents as she begins cutting him back open with extreme dexterity and precision.

"Bonesaw; the ribs mended back together… again."

"I will worry about that, Doctor Chakwas. Continue operating on patient. Ensure that his vitals remain strong, will be very displeased if he doesn't receive the care that is owed to him." Mordin tells the two other doctors in the room, either not hearing what they had to say, or simply not caring at all.

As fascinating as it was to see such an aggressive specimen inside of a unique host such as Devin, Mordin knew that it had to be killed when it came out.

A shame too: he'd love to run tests on it.

But not at the cost of a companion… or a friend.

That was when Devin's chest began convulsing, and with the ribcage finally out, they all seen firsthand just what was happening: the parasite, which no one would name yet until after the surgery and operation was done, was seemingly attacking the inside of the stomach and ribs, but was doing so in such a way that promoted the diaphragm to spasm and contract and the stomach to lurch, which were the causes of the vomiting and coughing.

Then the EKG started to ring a dull tone, signifying that the patient is flat-lining.

Devin's heart had stopped.

Tulma wanted to look away, but every time she did, her eyes would wonder back to where Devin was strapped down on the table with Chakwas, Mordin, and the two other doctors operating on him.

That was when everything began frantic for them in the room, with one doctor quickly swapping out the iv drip for a new one, the other grabbing a set of paddles from a machine, while Mordin and Chakwas removed most pieces of equipment from the immediate area.

"What's happening? What are they doing?" She asked them, looking towards everyone else as their mouths either dropped in shock or as they could only stare on with morbid fascination.

"Guys?"

"Tulma…"

"Yes Commander?"

"Turn your head."

"Why-"

She never got to finish her sentence as her brain finally caught up with what was happening: those paddles were defibrillators.

Devin's heart had stopped.

That was when the paddles came down for the first time, with them being pressed against the sides of Devin's chest, causing his body to tense up and lift off the table for a brief moment.

That was when Tulma's heart finally broke, now seeing that the man she loved and cared about was having to be resuscitated while each and every last one of them were powerless to help him.

How do you fight an enemy that lives in and feeds off the man you love with bullets, biotics, explosions, and omni-tool abilities?

After the third strike did the doctors stop paddling him, with them placing the defibrillator back on their stand but within reach should things go awry again.

Sidonis, much to the chagrin of Tulma, was seated in the back as he watched all of this happened.

Tulma's words still ringing through his mind as she had confronted him herself.

"You damn near got not only myself, Garrus, and Glaz killed, but you almost got Devin killed! The man who saved your ass and dragged it back into cover after a krogan pulled you from the balcony with his biotics while the Blood Pack were attacking those people! He saved your ass and you repay it by nearly killing him?!" Tulma screamed at him, punching the man as hard as she could in the face, causing him to fall to the ground as he held his face but didn't dare to move or get back up.

"You're lucky that Devin wanted you alive, Sidonis; because if it were up to me, I'd have let Garrus put a bullet into your head."

With that being said, she scowls at the man before angrily turning and running into the hospital.

Glaz was a little more civil in his confrontation when he spoke with the man.

"Glaz, I-"

He is interrupted when Glaz raised his hand, signaling for the man to be quiet and to let him say what he has on his mind.

"Sidonis, I heard why you did what you did, but the sting of betrayal still hurts. You were only protecting your little one and that is admirable, but the way you did it was wrong. We could've helped you. But that's all in the past now; if you feel remorse for your actions, then that is all that matters. If Devin forgives you, then who am I to against his wishes? I personally don't forgive you, Sidonis, but I understand and am willing to work with you. After all, Devin is very sick and I'm wanting to follow his 'leads by example' point of view."

If only there was something that he could do.

"We need to perform a partial thoracotomy on both longs, that way we can remove the affected alveolar tissue from the healthy parts without having to remove the entire lung. After the infected tissue is removed, we'll then perform a simple surgery on his stomach, rather than a laparoscopy; the reason for this is to remove the infected tissue and mass from the stomach in its entirety, rather than a little at time. Time is of the essence here and I don't Ms. Sparatus waiting any longer than she has to." Chakwas tells them, watching as Mordin and Carmichael went to gather the necessary equipment to perform both types of procedures, while Doctor Memon stayed with Chakwas so that they could begin the preparations to operate on Devin.

That was until they noticed his heartrate beginning to climb, with both Chakwas and Memon watching as his eyes fluttered open for a brief moment as he wearily looked around, seemingly confused by his current surroundings.

"Carmine, you're going to have to go back to sleep; everything will be fine when you wake up again." She told him, watching as he tried to move his mouth to respond to her words, only for his eyes to flutter once again as he slipped back into unconsciousness as Memon injected him with another sedative.

Chakwas sighed in relief at the sight of the man going back under; he didn't need to be awake and complicate anything by moving and talking. She hopes that they can get this done before tomorrow morning.

That was still eight hours away.

Eight hours of non-stop work.

"Sidonis, what in the spirit's name are you doing?" Garrus called out, noticing that the man had his omni-tool out and was speaking into it in hushed tones.

"I'm trying to save his life, Garrus. He saved mine when he didn't have to. I have a contact back on Palaven, and I just forwarded half of my wages to the man so that he can bring us something that will save Devin's life!" He explained, showing Garrus his omni-tool and all the information on it to prove that he really wanted to help the man make it through the operation.

Garrus, upon seeing the omni-tool, was instantly against the idea.

"NO! We don't know what that thing is capable of yet! Much less the effects it has on humans! The Hierarchy hasn't even released this medicine to the general public, so how in Phaeston's name did you get a contact to give it to you?"

"Your father."

"What?" Garrus asked him, flabbergasted and confused as to how his father was the man's contact and how he was able to get into touch with him in the first place.

Sidonis sighed, shaking his head as he took a seat in the hallway with Garrus standing over him, before stopping and looking up at the man.

"I was looking up some powerful antibiotics that would also help with getting a liquid-like parasite out of someone's body and found that inamox was the perfect medicine for helping the man. I contacted your father because I knew that he would be able to get me some, but when I had contacted him, he wanted to know how I got the number, which was from your omni-tool back at Omega, and why I needed that medicine. After telling him about Devin's condition and how if we were to get this to medical hands so that they can process it for levo use, he explained that with Devin's ability to consume dextro products, it should be able to process accordingly through his system. Please Garrus, it's being sent here as we speak and should arrive in an hour." He explained, looking at a clock and seeing that it was currently two in the morning and that the doctors were only starting to surgery on his lungs.

"Just because it breaks down foreign bacteria and parasites doesn't mean that it will work on him. Besides, why would you instantly decide that inamox was the perfect candidate? You had no idea that Devin was able to ingest dextro products before today."

Sidonis sighed yet again, telling him that he only thought of the drug because of its effects and that if they were to get some of it, then they may have been able to formulate a variant for levo usage.

The whole ordeal with Devin being dextro compatible was a surprise to the man, but a welcomed surprise nonetheless.

Garrus could only sigh at the explanation.

He only hopes that this would work.

"CLEAR!"

The sound of a defibrillator is heard, Doctor Carmichael gritting his teeth in frustration at having to use the tool thrice already, noting that even though they had cleared the stomach of all infected tissue, the lungs were by far the biggest issue as they had to completely remove one and operate on it on a separate table.

He looks over and sees that Mordin was expertly and meticulously examining every square millimeter of every alveoli inside of the plagued organ, seemingly humming to himself as he appeared to be enjoying himself as he was bobbing his head back and forth.

He wanted to say something, but since Mordin was an expert in this particular field, he decided to keep his thoughts and opinions to himself.

Chakwas was ensuring that the regenerative factor that their patient had was kept at bay, adding more sedatives when it was needed or even removing the excess flesh that would grow back regardless of her efforts.

He knew that on the outside, the woman was as calm and collected as ever; no doubt within his mind that she's had to do something like this before, just without the whole parasitic organism hellbent on ending their patient's life.

But on the inside, he could tell that she worried for the man and his current state, but not only that, but for something else.

He's seen her take a few peaks at the two-way mirror, no doubt looking for someone, or giving them empathy whenever she could find the time to do so.

He only hopes that the operation will finish within the next three hours, because if they can't contain whatever has infested this patient's body, then they'll have to quarantine this side of the hospital.

Carmichael is brought from his musings when the door leading to the operating room is opened, two individuals with heavy duty combat gear, possibly military grade, runs into the room, one of them panting as they were clearly out of breath.

The human, which he suspected was the Spectre, Commander Shepard, held out a small vial of an orange substance to Chakwas, telling her something that he couldn't quite hear, but had garnered his interest nonetheless.

"Doctor Memon, stay with the patient and make sure that his vitals remain stable; I'm going to speak with the Commander."

"Not to worry, I will ensure his health is in peak condition."

With that issue taken care of, he walks up to the two people, as the turian that came in with the man had elected to take a seat in the corner so that he could catch his breath.

"Are you absolutely certain, Commander? This," Chakwas held up the container, shaking it lightly in her hands, "is a completely unknown medicine that I have not only heard of before, but have never seen its uses in humans. Dear god, it's even for dextro species? Are you mad? We don't know what could happen if we inject this into the man!"

"I understand that, Chakwas, but this is Devin's life that we're gambling with; from what Garrus and Sidonis told me, he is fully capable of ingesting and utilizing dextro food and medicine. I don't even want to know how Sidonis got it, but I honestly don't give a damn: if he says that this will work on him, then I'm not one to complain or ague about where it came from. Besides, after we inject it, you can ask the man yourself." He tells her, pointing at the turian who was now calming down and had gotten his breathing under control.

Carmichael, understandably, had some reservations about that.

"He can WHAT?! What in god's name is going on here and who is that patient?" He demanded, pointing a finger at Devin as he looked to both Shepard and Chakwas for answers.

Shepard turned sharply at the man, his visor piercing into the man's eyes as he nearly growled.

"I don't have to answer a damn question from you, doctor, and I most certainly don't give a damn what you think! You're going to grab this bottle," he shoves said bottle into the man's hands, "grab a syringe," followed by a sterilized syringe, "and use the medicine on him. Am I clear?"

Sighing in defeat, Carmichael only nodded his head, putting the vial and the syringe to good use by filling the container with as much as he can get, before walking over to one of the iv's and inserted it, squeezing the pin until there remained nothing left inside of it.

That was when the EKG immediately erupted into life, Devin's heartrate nearly doubling immediately as they all watched in morbid fascination as the turian medicine immediately began attacking the parasite inside of the man's single lung.

The results were… amazing.

Walking over to a nearby monitor, Chakwas, Carmichael, and Shepard watched as the holographic image that displayed the infected parts of Devin's body became engulfed by the medicine, with the parasite actively fighting back against the hostile invader… and losing.

They watched as the areas that had the least amount were surrounded by the medicine and were then promptly encapsulating it, seemingly holding it still and restraining it so that it couldn't move or replicate, before being dissolved entirely.

The whole process lasted thirty minutes, with the areas in the kidneys, liver, and appendix actively processing the trapped parasite and were brought to the surface of the organ, coalescing into small nodes.

Chakwas immediately jumped into action, grabbing a scalpel, some gauze, and placing a stitching set on standby as she began removing the nodes of infection from the organs. After thirty minutes of nonstop removing the infected nodes, Chakwas stepped back and placed the small container containing the parasite into a hazardous waste bag, sealing it tight as she set in the appropriate disposal bin.

In thirty minutes, they had gone from trying to get the main infection out of the man's lungs with slow success and results, to completely removing the foreign material from the least infected areas.

All because of that vial of medicine that Shepard and Sidonis brought in.

Walking up to the man, she coughed and cleared her throat, gaining the turian's attention as he stared up at her in silent questioning.

"Sidonis, was it?"

"Uh yes ma'am."

"I don't know how you got ahold of that medicine, or where it came from, but what it accomplished in thirty minutes was more than what we had done in the past four hours. Sidonis, you may have very well just saved Devin's life; now, I better see you talk with the man after we're done because I'm sure you owe it to him." She tells him, completely catching the man off guard as he began stumbling over his words.

When asked how it did it, Chakwas explained that it had sought out the organs that had little infection first and had surrounded the areas within it and had dug its way through the walls of the organ, coalescing together into small nodes that were filled with the infection so that they could then proceed to remove it.

In essence, it had made their job a hell of a lot easier, all thanks to him.

Sidonis was shocked, staying completely still as the doctor's words had hit him in full force, his mind trying to catch up to the fact that he had done right by Devin.

That he had basically helped save his life.

"I… I- I saved his life?"

"Yes Sidonis, the medicine you brought in has vastly reduced the severity of the infection and made all of our jobs easier. Now go on and get thoroughly decontaminated; we wouldn't want this thing infecting others, or else we'll be setting up beds and other homely items." She tells him, patting the man on the back as she walked over the Mordin and shared her findings with the man.

For the first time in four months, Sidonis had a smile on his face.

Everything was sore, dulled, and numb to him; he didn't know where he was or what had happened, but it felt as if someone had cut him open and rearranged his insides, before jamming them back into his chest and closing him up.

He was cold but he was sweating something fierce, his bedsheets wet from sweat, as his head was currently spinning around. He didn't know why, but he felt… better than he did before: no morning vomiting, no coughing blood, no migraines, and most certainly no bloody diarrhea.

Basically, he didn't feel sick.

Devin's thoughts and musings were interrupted when a door opened up, with the man groggily, painfully, and slowly turning his head to see who had came in. It seemed as if it was some nurse, judging from the clothes that she wore and the word 'nurse' being printed on her uniform.

He had made a wheezing sound which had caught the woman's attention, her head immediately snapping towards the man as she let out a shocked gasp, before immediately coming to him, seeing if there was anything that she could do to aide him.

"Sir, it's alright, everything is going to be okay. You've been out for a while, and no doubt that you're experiencing discomfort, but you're going to have to get some more rest; I'll go ahead and the doctor for you."

With that said, the nurse leaves the man alone, but not before giving him some water for him to drink which Devin was ecstatic about, and went to find whoever the doctor was.

He just hopes that he hasn't been under too long.

"THREE WEEKS?! I'VE BEEN UNDER FOR THREE WEEKS AND NO ONE DECIDED TO WAKE ME UP?!" Devin screamed, his voice hoarse and his throat flaring up in pain from not having been used at all in the last few weeks.

"Yes, Doctor Chakwas had elected to stay with you, as with a couple of other guests, so that she may monitor your condition if there was anything that appeared after your surgery; we wanted to make sure that you were cured of your illness rather than being in remission, after all." Doctor Carmichael had explained, scrolling through a data pad as he had recounted the events over the last three weeks to the man, but was understanding of the man's plight.

Devin was furious, knowing that not only with him being out of the fight and dropping the Normandy's ground team effectiveness in combat, but he had made Tulma, Garrus, and Glaz worried sick.

Still didn't help him with the fact that he really wanted to hit something and that the doctor had a very punchable face.

Before anything else could be said, the doors opened yet again, allowing numerous people into the room as the doctor decided that it was his time to leave, but not before saying something to Chakwas when he left.

Looking up, Devin seen that the people who entered was Glaz, Sidonis, Chakwas, and Tulma, all of whom had varying degrees of emotion on their faces.

Before he could open his mouth to say something, Tulma had crossed the ten feet that separated them in mere milliseconds, smacking the man across the face as everyone else called out to her in protest.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?" Devin asked, rubbing his cheek as he looked up at the irate, no doubt emotionally hurt woman.

"That was for not getting that thing out of your system sooner!" She told him, smacking him across the face yet again, making the man raise both of his hands in surrender.

"That was for being hard headed and waiting until said thing damn near killed you!"

Devin was expecting another smack to the face from the woman, with him covering his head to protect it from further harm, but was instead shocked, flabbergasted, confused, but mostly relieved that that she didn't follow through with beating the man anymore.

She had pulled his hands away and gave him a kiss, one filled with emotion and pain as she held onto his head tightly and firmly, almost afraid of losing the man if she were to let go.

"Okay everyone, I say we give them room and privacy; this is something that we should not see." Glaz told the others, extending his arms out and corralling the others out through the door, before closing it behind him.

When Tulma had let go, she started to tear up again as she looked at Devin, her eyes expressing genuine fear and pain over what had happened to him prior to the man waking up.

"That was for making me worry…" She trailed off, her voice barely above a whisper as Devin pulled her into an embrace, kissing the woman that he had feelings for, gently squeezing her so that she knew that he was never going to leave her.

"I'm sorry Tulma, I really am; I had no idea on how the imulsion became active and that aggressive, but that doesn't matter now. All that matters to me is that I have you right here with me. I… I love you Tulma, I've always had, since the day that I thought that I would've lost you. I don't want to think about what would've happened to me if you and Glaz would've died back on Omega, but I'm glad that you're here with me now." He told her, holding her tightly as she climbed into the bed with the man, content with being within his arms.

"I… I love you too, Devin. Does this mean that we're a thing now?" She asked him, causing the two of them to softly laugh as he could only think of one thing to say.

"Yeah, I guess we are a couple now. However, I don't think your uncle will appreciate the thought of someone of your social status and image being with a dumbass human like myself."

"What he thinks doesn't matter to me, though… my mom will have to accept you into the family, name and all if you're serious about this relationship as I am, that way you'll be seen as being a part of the Sparatus family clan." She giggled out, watching as Devin could only shrug at the comment as he put his head over top hers.

"I'm fine with meeting your mom, she sounds like a lovely lady."

"That she is Devin, that she is." She hummed, content with being in the arms of the man she loved.

All was finally right her life, now that she was with him at last.

"So how is he Chakwas?" Shepard asked, walking up to the woman as he noticed that everyone was gathered outside the window, staring into it.

"Well Commander," Chakwas started, waving the man over to the window and she stood there with a soft smile on her face, "I believe that Devin will be just fine, now that he's finally opened up to others. I believe that he is fully committed to your cause now, and to whoever gets in his way, I'd hate to be there to witness what would happen." She tells him, sitting back down as Shepard could only smile at the sight.

It seems as if love is in the air after all, and it seems to have infected both Tulma and Devin.

Oh how he'll have a lot of fun taking them on missions with each other, just to see their reaction's when he begins teasing them about it.

Maybe he should bring Kasumi along with him when it happens?

And that wraps up this chapter! Devin is finally cured of the imulsion parasite once and for all! Not only that, bu there were some harrowing parts in the chapter that sure gave our protagonists quite a scare, though everything turned out just fine in the end there. Especially with Tulma and Devin finally confessing to each other and becoming the love couple that we've always wanted them to be. Maybe, I don't know what you all wanted in the beginning.

So Glaz is with a raloi as his lady friend now, and I stand by my description of them being the skirmishers from Halo Reach. I know what the internet has about them, and I wish I didn't, but that still doesn't change my mind about the raloi looking like them!

As for the imulsion? That topic will be brought up next chapter when Devin asks Shepard about what happened to it while he was under.

One last thing, a few missions has happened since Devin has been under, but those will be shown and explained next chapter; partly because I think it'll make a good plot device and that I'm also a little bit lazy...

I'll see you all tomorrow with the next chapter and I hope that you all have a Happy New Year's Eve and the last day of the decade!