SSV Normandy, March 15, 2183

Barely an hour had passed since the Normandy had departed from Therum and the crew had rescued Liara T'Soni from the geth. The Commander had ordered everyone from the ground team to head towards the comm room for a debrief. Everyone from the ground team but Jane had gotten there. Jane was instead getting patched up by Chakwas in the med-bay.

Once everyone was seated and listening John tried to begin the debrief but was instead beaten by Joker through the comms "Hey Commander. Just letting you know that maybe it's best if we don't land on exploding volcanoes next time. They tend to melt our hull and fry our sensors you know?"

Liara didn't like Joker's sassy remark and pouted towards the Commander "We nearly died several times and your pilot is making jokes?!"

John simply shrugged "He pulled our asses out of that planet. I'd say he's earned the right for a few bad jokes..."

"A few huh? I'll keep you posted when I have more jokes then!" Joker said before closing the comm causing John to sigh.

"I've learned that making jokes also helps with tension for humans." Tali interrupted them as she leaned closer to John's direction.

"I see. Human cultures are strange." Everyone nodded at her remark causing Ashley to groan.

"Come on! We're not the only ones who have strange cultures!" Ashley frowned.

"Sorry to say that humans do indeed have the strangest ones of all species." Tali smirked behind her helmet "I speak from experience."

"You're one to talk." Ashley muttered in a voice just high enough for everyone to hear.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Tali narrowed her eyes at her.

Ash simply scoffed at her "You wear weird veils, have some weird ass clan things, name your ships weird things..."

Tali crossed her arms at Ash "And humans don't name things in weird ways?"

"Unlike you we don't name our ships things like 'Rayya'"

Her comment had finally been enough to cause Tali to snap and try lunging at her, only being stopped by John grabbing her "Take that back you bosh'tet!"

"And why should I?"

"Ash." John stared daggers at her, telling Ash exactly where he stood in the topic.

Ashley sighed and shook her head "Fine. I'm sorry Tali. You happy?"

Not even remotely you fre'eg eating bosh'tet... She groaned as she stopped trying to struggle against John's grasp and went to sit down when he let go of her "Yeah..." She answered reluctantly.

"Goddess. I'm sorry for starting this drama by my comment." Liara looked down shamefully.

"Not your fault." John reassured her as he used the opportunity to get back on topic "Now, do you know why Saren wanted you?"

"No. I'm simply an archaeologist, I've been studying prothean artifacts for the past 50 years." She responded.

"Wait a second. 50 years? How old are you?"

"I hate to admit it, but I am 106 years old. Barely more than a child in asari standards."

John let out a single quiet laugh "I know a lot of people who wish they could say such a thing." He muttered before getting back on topic "Do you by any chance have any information about a device called the Conduit?"

She stayed silent for a few seconds, almost as if in contemplation before shaking her head "No. I apologize but I have never heard of such a thing."

"Crap." John grumbled "There goes our only lead..."

Liara looked disappointed in herself as he said that "I'm sorry... I simply study artifacts. Rare prothean artifacts that is. All I've managed to infer from them is that this galaxy is based on a cycle of extinction. A galaxy-wide phenomenon that occurs every 50,000 years. A cycle of sorts. It is what killed the protheans according to my studies..."

"The Reapers..." John spoke in a low voice.

"I'm sorry?"

John looked at her with worry in his eyes "You mean the Reapers... They're the ones who hunted the protheans to extinction..."

"Wh-what?! H-how do you know this? What proof do you have?!" Her words were rushed causing her to stumble on them several times.

"I found a beacon on Eden Prime that planted images into my brain. I saw the Reapers killing the protheans..."

"You found a beacon?!" Her tone was amazed at his explanation "How did you even manage to make out what it said?! The visions would have been unclear and garbled. It would have destroyed any lesser mind." Suddenly, her tone became more sensual, more sultry "You must be remarkably strong willed Commander..."

Tali's eyes went wide at Liara's comment. Not only was she having to deal with that bosh'tet Ashley trying to get to John, but now it seemed like Liara was trying to join the competition. An asari. Someone who could touch his mind. She wanted so much to simply lunge at her and tell her to back off, of course, she still knew it was more John's decision that mattered. But she didn't like competing with a human, let alone an asari. But she was surprised at just how fast Liara wanted him.

The again, she was no stranger to developing a crush on someone almost immediately after meeting them. After all, she was practically enthralled by John after meeting on the Einstein. So much so that she had begged her mom to let her see him after he recovered from Mindoir. And apparently so much so that the first chance she got, she had literally masturbated to the thought of him and her becoming intimate. Still embarrassing to think about, but she was a teen - as humans called them - during that time. A very, very horny teen. But she wasn't anymore and yet she had pleased herself to him only a few hours ago... again... She felt guilty about it every time she thought about what she had done, but also felt happy to know that her feeling for John to this day had not wavered in the slightest.

Besides, as Raan had once told her during the most embarrassing conversation in her entire life after finding out the crush she had on John would not go away "That is simply how love works." Of course, she neglected to remember the part where her aunt had accidentally told her "I did it too" while thinking of her saera many years ago, because that was definitely not an image she needed in her head.

"Commander Shepard was it?" Liara asked at John to which he nodded "May I please join your crew? I don't have much field experience, but I can maybe provide with some biotics and information on my mother. Besides, I think this may be the safest place if Saren is looking for me."

"You want to go to the field with us?!" John asked causing her to nod.

He sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose "Fuck..." he muttered "Fine, but you will be subjected to training if that's the case. Alongside Tali of course."

Outstanding. Between trying to gain John's heart, competing with a human and an asari, both of whom could provide him with children if he ever wanted them, and who could kiss him anytime they wanted to, now she had to train alongside one of them.

"That is acceptable comman- whoa..." She trailed off as she began wobbling and held a hand on her forehead "I apologize, these past few days have not treated me well. I feel extremely lightheaded..."

"Head to the med-bay. It's on the crew deck." John was going to tell Kaidan to lead her there but couldn't as Garrus stood up first.

"I can take her there commander." Garrus said to which John shrugged and nodded at him.

He dismissed the entire crew from the comm room and Joker asked him if he wanted to log a report with the council. He agreed, and as Tali got close to the door, she turned back and saw the figures of the three councilors.

She really didn't like eavesdropping, but she was kind of interested in knowing what was going to happen, and she was hoping to talk to him after he was done.

She waited outside the room for a while until the turian councilor insulted him with his remark, saying that "It's up to you if you're smart enough to listen." After the asari councilor provided advice.

What she didn't expect however, was just how fed up John was with his insults. She saw him head towards the console that projected their forms and heard him grumble "I don't need this..." As he disconnected them!

Tali wasn't able to suppress her laugh at him disconnecting the council as Joker laughed too through the comm informing him the connection was cut.

John looked back at Tali who was having trouble with regaining her composure. He smiled at her and began laughing as well. Oh their faces the next time they talked would be priceless.

He walked over to her and patted her to help her with her uncontrollable laughter "What you doing here?" He asked after she calmed down.

"Sorry. I just- I just wanted to talk to you after you were done. Ummm, you're not mad at me for eavesdropping?" Tali hesitantly asked but relaxed as he smiled at her.

"Please. I know you're capable of keeping things I talk about in this a secret. Not a word about me disconnecting them though, alright?" He asked as he squeezed her shoulders.

Tali moved her fingers to her emulator and moved them in a horizontal motion as she smiled behind her helmet "Lips are sealed."

John nodded "Now," he crossed his arms "What did you want to talk about?"

She began wringing her hands and cleared her throat "Uhh, how did I... do on Therum?"

"Actually. You did much better than I thought you would."

"R-really?!" She practically jumped from excitement at his reassurance before calming down to ask "So... does this mean you will be fine with taking me on missions?"

"Well... we don't have a destination yet. So I'm going to try to get Nihlus down in the cargo hold to train you and Liara. Jenkins too maybe... Can't be too careful."

"Oh... of course. So when will that be?" She asked, trying to hide her anger with Liara.

"Probably tomorrow." He answered to which she nodded.

"Okay." She nodded at him. As she tried turning around, she groaned and jumped a bit while arching her back from what seemed like pain.

"You good?"

"I think I may have hurt my back a bit when we landed the Mako. That and Jane's terrible driving." She said before holding her hands up "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

John chuckled a bit as he crossed his arms "Oh no you don't." He grabbed both of her shoulders and pushed her towards the CIC, then the stairs, and then his cabin.

She blushed as she and John walked into his room. At his command, she lay down on the bed and he began massaging her once more.

The experience was as good as the first time he had done this. Quite honestly, she believed he should have taken massaging as a career, considering just how good he was.

But right now, her thoughts were in between the pleasure, and the hope that the way he treated her meant there indeed was a connection. It was her biggest hope after all, and she hoped his actions meant he did indeed care for her, more than a friend.

And if it didn't? Then at least she would get to spend some time with him.


Garrus sat on the med-bay next to an unconscious Jane. After getting back on the Normandy, she had passed out and he and the Commander had to carry her to Chakwas to patch her up.

He had just gotten out of the comm room, and had used taking Liara to the med-bay as an excuse to visit Jane.

He sighed as he looked at her wounds. She had no reason to push him out of the way and take the hit herself, they barely knew each other, and yet she had risked her own life to save him.

Still, he wondered just how much she sacrificed parts of her body to make sure others were safe. Her body was filled with very faint scars, running down her arm, leg, and he assumed other places too.

But the one that always intrigued him more than others, was the one on her face. The most obvious scar. It was like a crack in a diamond. Something that broke what could have been perfect. But he found himself far more attracted to it, than repelled away. A symbol that she was just like everyone. Flawed. And that to him, made her perfect.

Garrus heard as Jane groaned a bit and as her body moved positions. Her hand attempted to go up, but was stopped by the pain. She slowly opened her eyes to look around the room before coming to Garrus.

"Hey." Jane smiled at him groggily.

"Hey. How you doing?" He asked, resisting the urge to take and squeeze her trembling hand.

"Oh you know. Just the usual case of pain from saving someone's ass." She responded as playfully as she could possibly muster at the time.

Garrus's mandibles turned into a frown as he looked away "You didn't have to take that hit for me you know?"

Jane's smirk died down as he said that. He looked in her eyes and could see... pain? But not the physical kind. There was something troubling her...

He wanted to ask what was wrong but couldn't as she sighed and changed the subject "What are you even doing here? I thought you'd be... you know... doing anything else."

"Well... I thought it was only fair if I came to thank you personally, and to make sure you were fine." Garrus smirked as he figured out how to lighten the mood "Besides, the Mako is so totaled that I wanted to see someone before starting my calibrations."

Jane raised a brow at him "And you decided to come to the one who was unconscious?"

"I decided to go to the one responsible." He said as he leaned in closer.

Jane groaned at his comment and chuckled, only stopping because of her body's pleas "Not my fault Therum was so rocky."

"You deliberately continued trying to go up a mountain you knew the Mako wouldn't climb."

"The Mako was designed for steep surfaces!" She defended herself in a low voice.

Garrus chuckled "And yet you managed to find the one way it would stall and hit some rocks by falling."

"What are you implying Vakarian?" She pouted.

"That you," He pointed an accusatory finger at her "Are a terrible driver."

She let out a mock-sigh and hissed from the pain before responding "How dare you? I'll have you know the Mako did not flip!"

"Hmmm. Good point, but did the Mako end up with several dented plates and hull breaches when your brother flipped it?" He regarded with crossed arms and a shit-eating turian grin.

She scoffed and looked at the ceiling "And here I thought we were growing closer together..."

Garrus immediately recoiled as his eyes went wide "Wh-what? Wait, what do you mean?"

She looked at him with confusion adorning her face "Closer together as friends..." She raised a brow at him "What did you think I meant?"

"Uh I, uh, just... I thought... well..." He continued stumbling over his words before saying the first lie that came to his head "Well what you said just didn't translate..." He mentally slapped himself. Hundreds of different possible lies, and he comes up with that?

Jane obviously was not convinced by his horrible lying attempt "Yet you seemed to know exactly what I said..."

"I uh..." He gulped, trying to find another excuse "Oh, I just remembered, I have to do some calibrations," He chuckled nervously as he walked backwards towards the door "I'll umm... I'll see you later!" He said as he opened the door and quickly left the room.

He sighed as he kneeled down to hold his knees "Seriously?" He muttered to himself "What a way with words you have..."

He let out a deep breath as he rose back up with his eyes closed in embarrassment. Just as he began walking to the elevator though, he ended up crashing into someone and causing them to fall to the ground with a thud.

Opening his eyes, Garrus saw once more that same young soldier who the commander had prevented from going to Therum. Jenkins he believed was his name.

"Spirits. You alright?" He asked as he gave a hand for him to take.

Jenkins took it and rose back up "Yup. Don't worry about me, I'm tougher than I look."

Garrus wasn't in the slightest convinced by him saying that as he looked at the slouched, pained posture of the corporal.

"No you aren't." Someone else said from beside them. Looking over they saw Doctor Chakwas frowning at them before walking over "Would you mind not crashing into this man while he's still injured?" She asked towards Garrus.

"I didn't mean to do so..." He replied nervously.

"Yeah I know. I guess it's more the fact that he" She said pointing at Jenkins "Just barely got patched up and he's now walking around like it's nothing."

"Please. I could have gone on the ground mission without a problem!" Jenkins responded almost insulted by her, but only got a scoff in return.

"Between Jane's terrible driving and the geth. I doubt you would have survived more than a few minutes."

Chakwas and Jenkins went on a long tirade about how he would have been perfectly fine, and Chakwas saying the contrary. However, he didn't care much about it for what Chakwas had called the Commander's sister.

Jane.

Nice name... He thought to himself. He didn't actually remember if he had heard her name before from anyone else, and if he had, he had forgotten it. But now he finally knew her real name. And maybe if she was fine with it, he wouldn't have to call one commander, and the other 'the commander's sister'.

"What is going on here?" Kaidan's voice suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere.

Chakwas simply groaned "Maybe you can snap some sense into him about not being ready for ground missions. I need to check on Jane." She said as she walked into the med-bay.

"Come one Lieutenant. I'm ready right?" Jenkins immediately asked.

"No. You are not, in case you've forgotten I was on Eden Prime. You and Nihlus got beat up almost just as badly." He frowned before looking over to Garrus "How'd you end up in this conversation?"

Garrus sighed, he was hoping he wouldn't have to remember the conversation he just had with Jane "I just went to thank her for saving me." He said as he pointed backwards towards the med-bay.

"Then why did you go out of it looking all depressed and then crash into me?" Jenkins asked, noting the very obvious anxious expression on the turian's otherwise unreadable face.

"Just said something stupid..." Wait, no... why did he admit that?!

His admission caused Jenkins to chuckle. "You didn't mention the scar on her face right? She gets a bit upset when you do. Trust me." Jenkins raised the shoulder of his shirt, showing him a small red spot there "Got it while heading to Eden Prime. That's how I know."

"Oh. Well that's not what I said..." Shit. He should have just said that it was what he did...

"So what did you say then?" Kaidan asked.

Garrus tried looking very hard for something that wouldn't be seen as embarrassing as the way he left the room. Instead he resorted to checking the time "Oh. Looks like it's time for each of you to eat right? I'm sure we can talk about this later..."

Kaidan shook his head and sighed "You know we all eat in the same place right?" He asked, pointing a finger at the tables next to them "We can easily continue our conversation there..."

Oh spirits... I am so screwed...

"Oh, uh well you see... I have to do some... calibrations..." He mentally sighed. He was on a roll with these dumb excuses that everyone could see were definitely about something else.

"You can't work on an empty stomach." Kaidan responded as he pulled out some food for himself, he looked at Garrus and tossed him some of his dextro provisions that the Commander had acquired before they had left the Citadel.

Garrus reluctantly caught them and sat down in front of Kaidan. Liara and Ashley arrived only a while later. Liara from the med-bay, and Ashley from the elevator.

"So... Garrus. What did you say to her?" Kaidan asked.

Liara and Ashley looked at them with confusion in their eyes.

Garrus simply chuckled nervously "Nothing, seriously. I'm sure there are better things to talk about."

Jenkins simply let out a mischievous grin and joined Kaidan in bullying Garrus "Oh no. You're not getting out of it that easily. What did you say to the Commander's sister?"

"I didn't say anything. Seriously." Garrus said.

"Oh I know that tone," Ashley said from the side "You're hiding something Vakarian. Besides, if it's nothing then why do you not want to answer the question?"

"Wait. What is going on?" Liara asked, being the only one who was still confused by the entire conversation.

"Nothing is hap-" Garrus tried to speak but was interrupted by Kaidan.

"Don't lie Garrus."

Suddenly, Wrex came around the corner grinning "Do I hear everyone going against that pyjak?" He asked pointing at Garrus.

"We're trying to get him to confess what he said to Shepard's sister." Kaidan responded.

Wrex laughed as he sat down "Oh this should be interesting."

"What will it take for each of you to believe me that I didn't say anything?" Garrus asked, now completely annoyed at their insistence for him to come clean.

"For you to stop lying." Ashley responded.

The door to the med-bay the cycled open. From it came Dr. Chakwas with Jane balancing herself on her.

"Shouldn't you still be recovering on the bed?" Garrus asked when he noticed her limp.

Dr. Chakwas sighed as she sat Jane down next to Garrus "Unfortunately, she won't eat anything unless she is with the crew."

Everyone looked at Chakwas "How come she gets to walk around when injured, but you hassled me when I tried it?" Jenkins asked.

"Because, Richard," She emphasized his name by upping her tone "She actually tries to rest when injured, and takes better care of herself than you."

"Aww, she's like a mom to you Corporal." Kaidan grinned at him causing Jenkins to scoff.

"She is not." He responded with a frown.

After a brief laugh, Kaidan looked back at Garrus "Well Vakarian. If you won't say what you told her, then I'll just ask her directly." He said as he nodded towards Jane.

Jane looked between the two confused at what he meant but noted Garrus's scared expression.

"What did he tell you when he left the med-bay?" Kaidan asked.

Jane simply looked at Garrus who, if he was a human, would probably be sweating like a waterfall for a reason she didn't understand yet "I just said we were growing closer together and he asked what I meant by that so I just said closer together as friends."

Everyone groaned and pouted while Wrex simply laughed "This pyjak was actually scared of that?"

"Yeah, honestly Garrus I don't see why you found that so embarrassing." Kaidan said as he went back to his food.

Everyone seemed to be oblivious about it and Garrus briefly relaxed until Kaidan spat out his drink and yelled "Wait a damn second!"

Thankfully, before she could say anything else the door to the captain's cabin opened and out of it came both Tali and the commander. Tali looked over at the table and saw that everyone was now looking at them.

Many years ago, maybe she would have run, even cried from the embarrassment of quite likely being the gossip of the entire ship.

But right now?

Right now though she couldn't care less. Sure, Ashley and Liara were visibly jealous, but she was aware of what had caused their emotions. Ashley for being saved on Eden Prime, and Liara for being saved on Therum.

Tali however, had known him since she was 9, and for 13 years she had tried to be with him. She had always been so selfless - according to John - and if she truly was always selfless, then the only thing she would ever allow herself to try to be selfish about. Was him.

She walked over to the table and sat down next to Wrex who gave her a very faint grin. John then sat down next to her, facing Jane "Shouldn't you be in the med-bay? You know... resting?" He asked after noting just how close she looked to blacking out.

"Nah, I'm good. I'll go back there once I'm done eating." She responded which John simply took with a very hesitant nod at her. He already knew she took very good care of herself when injured, and Chakwas was watching her, so he trusted her enough to know her own limits.

"So commander?" Kaidan asked next to him.

"Yeah?" He asked after swallowing his own food. John immediately assumed that he was likely going to try to get it out of him why he had just gone out of his cabin with Tali, but to his surprise, Kaidan nodded towards Garrus causing John to look at the turian and then back at Kaidan confused.

"I think you may find it interesting that Garrus there has a-" He trailed off as a tray flew directly past John and hit Kaidan in the face. Everyone was now looking at Garrus as he stood, his arm in a position to convey he had thrown it.

"What was that for?" Jane asked next to him, trying not to laugh at Kaidan currently rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Nothing... I just-"

"He has a-" Kaidan tried saying quickly but was stopped by Garrus leaping over the table and pinning him onto the furthest wall from everyone. At this point everyone was laughing while Chakwas was simply frustrated at their inability to not try to kill each other. Or maybe it was because of the fact that since Jane couldn't help but laugh that she was in some serious pain.

"Shut your damn mouth Alenko!" Garrus whispered at him, clearly frustrated at Kaidan's incredibly smug expression.

Kaidan simply whispered back "What, you scared that Jane will find out about you having a crush on her? Or scared of what the commander will do?"

Garrus looked almost scared by what Kaidan said before responding "Please. Don't tell her..." Garrus begged at him in a very low voice "I've barely known her a day and... it's just wrong. She's a human... and I'm just a turian..."

Finally Kaidan's expression seemingly relaxed and he sighed "Fine. I'll give you time to figure it out. But don't expect me or the crew to not say something before that if someone figures it out."

Garrus finally got off of him and muttered "I guess that'll have to do then..."

"What was that about?" John asked behind them, amused at the situation but not as much as the others.

"Sorry commander. Just a simple bet we had going on." Kaidan lied.

Of course, the lie was complete bullshit, and he was sure of it "What kind of 'simple' bet ends with a turian tackling you?"

"The kind that tries to figure out what someone will do when you try revealing a secret. Guess I know what he'll do now." Kaidan said as he pointed at Garrus.

"Care to share?" Ashley asked but only got a shake from his head in return.

"Come on chief. I'm not going to tell someone's secret just because you asked nicely." He responded with a grin.

"And yet you were fine with trying to tell the Commander." She grumbled, almost dissapointed.

Not wanting to somehow manage to continue the Kaidan-Garrus kill each other match, John simply shrugged, accepting their reason for why Garrus had tackled Kaidan and went to look at Jane. However, the laughing fit meant that Chakwas at this point had to practically grumble at both Kaidan and Garrus as she helped Jane up from her seat and helped her walk back to the med-bay as she coughed from the pain.

Garrus now looked incredibly guilty over the sight of Jane being in that much pain. He was saved by her on Therum which got her into that predicament, and now he had caused her immeasurable pain by attacking Kaidan in that way. Dammit.

As they all sat down, everyone went back to their food with most glances from everyone being towards both Kaidan and Garrus. At least until Kaidan opened his mouth again "So commander... You and Tali huh?"

Tali immediately felt her face heat up when he asked that. Sure she was fine with them knowing, but not enough for it to be a public conversation. Especially when they weren't actually together.

"Known each other since Mindoir. We're good friends... why?" John asked causing Tali to silently groan. Of course he still wouldn't realize it yet.

"Just good friends?" Kaidan asked with a grin on his face.

Before John could respond however, Joker's voice came through the comms "Hey Commander. Got a priority transmission for you from... uh..."

"Joker?" He asked after a brief silence.

"I have no idea who this is..."

"Who is it?"

"Says it's from someone called... Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh?"

The name made Tali start uncontrollably coughing from choking on her drink. Looking to her, John patted her on the back until she relaxed "You know her?" He asked after Tali stopped coughing.

"Not personally. But I've heard of her." She responded with a slightly raspy voice from her coughing fit.

"So what got you so scared you began nearly choking?" Ashley asked before John could.

"I haven't actually met her. But from what I've heard, she is, what you call, a bitch." Now that got John slightly worried. Tali never used those kinds of words, and for her to call this 'Xen' person that? Well he wasn't sure he wanted to know how this conversation was going to go.

John groaned as he stood up "Patch it through in the comm room Joker. I'll be right there." He nodded towards everyone and patted Tali on her shoulder as he began walking away towards the stairs.

After a small walk, be reached the comm room and opened it sighing. The room was still empty as it had been just a while ago. But the terminal was flashing to indicate an incoming transmission.

Reluctantly, he opened up the comm, hoping it was not some form of waste of time or anything of the sort.

Immediately after opening it, an image of a quarian appeared, crossing her arms and in what could be regarded as an assertive posture.

"Finally. I've been trying to reach you for some time now Commander." Xen spoke before he could. She sounded very annoyed.

"Apologies, but we just got the request." He answered, trying to hopefully de-escalate what could very well have become an argument.

But it certainly did nothing to make her relax "13 years of upgrades and your ships are still so primitive..." She regarded 'helmetpalming'

John simply narrowed his eyes at her and spoke in a slightly aggravated tone "Did you just call to insult us?"

Xen visibly relaxed and assumed a more serious posture "No. I am simply here to make a request." He was about to ask why he should even accept but was beaten by her "And before you ask. Yes, I am under authorization by both the Admiralty Board and your Admiral Hackett."

"Well I'll have to confirm that later on."

Xen shrugged at his comment "Their time you'll be wasting. Not mine."

John groaned "What do you need Admiral?"

Xen opened her omni-tool and began typing as she spoke "Considering the geth are outside the veil, we will need every edge we can get against them."

He nodded and crossed his arms "Yeah. That's reasonable."

"So for that, we will need you to send geth parts to us."

"What?!" He yelled a little louder than he wanted "Sorry. But that's a joke right? Geth parts can reactivate themselves..."

"Only when you are not careful with what you send." Xen closed her omni-tool and his pinged with a new message. Opening it, he found a geth diagram showcasing different parts and ways to make sure a part could not reactivate.

"How would you even use them anyways?"

"Scanning their components and their weapons should tell us how to make sure they can be stopped before they can even look in our direction."

"So you want to make countermeasures?"

"And weapons."

He closed his omni-tool and raised a brow at her "And how do I know you won't use those weapons for anything else? You know like..."

"Attacking your species?" She finished for him and blew him off by scoffing "Please, our species have been cooperating for 13 years now. Despite how I and a few others may sometimes object to this alliance, I can not deny how humanity is likely the only reason we still have a chance at surviving. It would simply be stupid to try to attack your species at this point."

He was hesitant to say the least "This just feels like a terrible idea..." He muttered in a low voice which she heard regardless.

"It might seem like one to someone who can't look at things unless they are on the wrong end of a gun, but I assure you, we are taking every possible precaution."

There was a small silence and before he could answer she spoke "If you feel unsure, maybe you can ask Tali'Zorah to help."

His eyes went wide "Wait... I- what do you mean?" He asked surprised and nearly stumbling over his words.

"It's not hard to recognize a quarian with a realk like hers in the same crowd as you when you became a spectre Shepard."

"Right..." He muttered.

"Any details you may need will be sent to you. Do note that this could be highly beneficial should the geth attack any more colonies, or Earth if they were dumb enough."

John slightly groaned in concern as she moved towards her own terminal and said "Xen out." as she cut the communication.

As it was cut, his omni-tool pinged with several more files relating to the geth that the quarians had obtained from the geth on Eden Prime.

Before walking out, he contacted both Raan and Hackett, who both informed him that they had sanctioned the operation and had it well under control. Not that he didn't trust them, but he knew the geth were dangerous.

But there was only one thing running through his mind at the moment: Should I get Tali to help? No, no. If this goes awry I don't want her to be blamed for it too. But if I don't get her help then I may cause things to go awry... Shit...

He sighed as he began walking to the engineering deck. Maybe it was better to ask her directly.


Working on the drive core was fun to say the least. Everything she ever wanted was practically right in front of her. One of the most advanced warships and she was part of the crew. Well, almost everything she wanted.

She had been one of the first to finish eating and to get to their duties. After Kaidan and Garrus's death match she really didn't want to stay next to those two.

Of course, being the first to finish meant being alone until the others did too. Alone with your thoughts. Only an hour after your best friend massaged you... Ah screw it...

She could probably finish before anyone had to come down here. The only people she really would have to worry about seeing her do this were Adams, the engineering crew, and John if he decided to come down.

But she was praying it wouldn't be him. Otherwise her embarrassment would go up tenfold.

But he was probably still dealing with Xen - and trying not to disconnect her - while Adams and the crew were slow eaters. She had time.

Honestly, she had never been this desperate. Usually there were long periods between her pleasing herself to John and the next time she did it. But it had barely been around 15 hours since she had done this in the sleeper pod.

Maybe it was the fact that she was currently in the exact spot that her fantasy had occurred? Or maybe it was the fact that she was in such close proximity to John, the very same person she loved so much. Even if she didn't know if he loved her back.

She was in between sighs of both pleasure and disappointment. How in the name of the ancestors would she tell him? The last thing she wanted was to possibly break their friendship by telling him how she felt, but if she didn't then Ashley or Liara could very well get to him first.

It was horrible to think about - risk telling him and maybe ruining their friendship, or let Liara or Ashley get him instead.

Not that she wanted to let either of those bosh'tets to get him, otherwise she would likely never have someone to love; there certainly weren't any quarians or anyone else she could ever want more than him.

But how?

Her peoples' cultures were certainly something he liked learning about, maybe she could use it to tell him? No, that was just dumb, and if she knew him well enough, it would likely go over her head.

Maybe just tell him? Plain and simple? No, that would just make her seem incredibly desperate; which, she was.

"Oh John... How do I tell you?" She muttered with her voice slightly pitched to match her current sighs and moans of pleasure.

"Tell me what?" She heard from behind her.

Her eyes shot up and she jumped Oh no... Oh no, no, no... Oh Keelah...

Her mind was trying to process what to do right now. She had already moved her hand away from between her thighs, but if he saw her doing it beforehand then he would know regardless. Why didn't I turn off the damn emulator?!

Turning around however, she noticed he was still pretty far away. Oh thank the ancestors...

"You okay?" John asked as he got closer to which she nodded.

"Yeah sorry. I uhhh..." She quickly glanced around to find something to say for his first question, but she was in engineering, and she hadn't actually said much about it yet "Oh, just... I wanted to thank you for giving me the chance on this ship... And uhhh..." Well crap. Bad excuse right there.

John chuckled "Tali, you know I would have always loved to have you on board. Besides, those puppy eyes you gave me on the Citadel were too much for me to ignore."

He always would have loved to have me on board? Could that mean? No... no it just means he wanted someone he knew here. But he did already have Jane...

Wait a second though... PUPPY EYES?!

"Bosh'tet!" She yelled as she slapped his arm. Unfortunately, that's when she felt the slight pain sensation of it. Her nerve-stim was still on.

He assumed a more serious posture and sighed as he leaned on the very railing she used in her fantasy "So, the meeting with Xen went... well."

"What did she say?" She responded, trying not to remember the railing she was having to face.

He briefly looked away before looking back at Tali "She wants me to send geth parts to them."

Her eyes shot up as soon as he said that "Wh-what?!"

"Yeah... I tried telling her it's a bad idea. But it was already sanctioned by the Alliance and the Admiralty Board." He explained, never stumbling over his words.

"And... will you?"

He sighed as he looked down "I have to... but I have to send geth parts that won't reactivate. I wanted to ask you if..." He stopped talking. This wasn't right, he was asking her to help send parts of the machines that killed millions of her people towards the fleet. One wrong part, and hundred of quarians and humans could die.

"If what?" She asked after a longer silence than she was used to hearing from him.

He let out a deep breath and looked back at her "If you would help with making sure I don't send over something that could cause mayhem." He said quickly as to not have second thoughts. She went silent for a while and John pushed himself off the railing as he rubbed the back of his neck "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I'll just find a way to-"

"I'll help." She said, cutting him off and causing his head to shoot up to face her almost instantly.

"Are you sure?" He asked, trying to give her an out "I don't want you to get in trouble because of this."

He saw what he knew was her raising a brow at him "And I won't let you take the fall by yourself. Besides, with me you might end up sending only good parts that won't come back to haunt you."

He studied her eyes and posture for some time, trying to find any kind of way to see if she feared this idea, but to his surprise, he found no tells that would say she was hesitant. He nodded "Alright then." John smiled and he went to pat her shoulder gently "I'll give you the details when we get our next destina-" He trailed off as his hand made contact with her shoulder. She recoiled from his touch. She never recoiled, her suit made it impossible for her to feel a pat as light as the one he had just given her. Could she feel it?

Meanwhile, Tali was absolutely frightened, her nerve-stim made her feel his gentle pat and caused her to recoil. She knew he knew, his face said everything it needed to say. Well, either he would be too dense to figure it out, or she would never hear the end of this.

"Why did you..." He tried asking but really couldn't formulate any kind of feasible question that wouldn't sound awkward. Maybe she just didn't expect him to pat her? No, she had ample time to process what he would do. Maybe his touch caused her to be shot back slightly? No, it was a gentle pat, not a strong one.

"I think I have duties to get back to..." She said nervously, trying to make sure he couldn't figure it out "Is it alright if we talk later?" She asked wringing her hands.

He nodded and quickly went to leave the engineering deck just as Adams and his team entered. He smiled faintly at her one last time as he rounded the corner and she went out of view. Okay, he would have to find out how quarians could feel gentle pats later on. Likely on the extranet.

He began walking through the cargo deck. Looking around, everyone he knew usually went there was there. Wrex was leaning against a wall, not doing much, just being there and looking at him. Garrus was working on the Mako, if he didn't know any better, he would say he was nervous as his trembling hand indicated. Although it could likely be from exhaustion; if it was, then this turian had no stamina the. He had just started. Ashley was checking her weapons, not even facing him. Everything seemed quite normal really.

Still, there was one person missing. He knew they weren't on the CIC or the crew deck; he had just been there. This was the last place he had yet to check thoroughly for them. Otherwise he could only assume they had jumped off the Normandy while they were on Therum.

He thought about asking anyone there of they had seen them, but it was unlikely considering just how isolated and private the turian was. So the Normandy had a turian who couldn't help but try to kill their own teammates, and a turian that never spoke to anyone. Great.

He walked around for some time before checking behind some cargo crates, he really didn't think anyone would be behind them, but how wrong he was.

"Commander." He spoke without ever averting his gaze from the window in front of them.

"Nihlus. What are you doing?" John asked as he squeezed through the gap; he was impressed by the fact that the turian had even gotten through it.

"I've just been here. Waiting."

He finally managed to squeeze through and be next to him "Waiting for what?"

"For when we find Saren."

John sighed as he leaned against the crates himself "You know it's going to be a long while until we find him. Besides, even if we find him we'll need your help to beat him."

"I am aware of that. I came aboard to make sure you could be ready for when we found him."

"Yes, but so far you've done nothing."

The turian's gaze was finally broken from the window to look at John. There were no words exchanged between either of them for a while until the turian turned back towards the window.

John groaned and pushed himself off the crates "The least you could do is maybe just hang out or help train the crew."

"You mean your band of dysfunctional misfits?" He asked "I'm not here to make friends Shepard. And I will only help your crew train when they get their act together."

"Oh that's complete bullshit." He shot back immediately "We need the help and you're just grieving alone back here because of what Saren did to you on Eden Prime."

"And how would you feel if someone you knew for years and who you called your best friend suddenly betrayed you? Suddenly tried to kill you without warning?" He hissed, now his voice was growing more aggravated.

He hesitated to answer that. Nihlus had a point there, if Tali ended up betraying him at some point? He didn't ever want to think about it.

"Well, if you won't help, we'll just take our chances against Saren when we find him."

"Chances are you will die."

"Better than waiting for your sorry ass to move and help us." He retorted as he began walking away.

However, just as he began trying to squeeze through the gap, he felt someone kick him from behind and got pushed forwards to be in front of the Mako. Everyone was now watching as their commander was trying to stand up. He looked back to see Nihlus standing there with crossed arms "Very well then Shepard. Let's see what you have."

John stood up and readied his biotics. Nihlus had already assumed a fighting position. The turian was still wounded though, this should be an easy fight. Launching forwards, he tried punching him directly, but was surprisingly sidestepped and hit in his bottom-right abdomen.

Looking back he saw the turian hadn't even been affected by their wounds. Okay, this might be harder than he thought it would be.

He stood up and tried rushing the turian, he readied for his sidestep, but was once more surprised as Nihlus didn't do so, knowing he would look for it and instead hit John head on.

"You need to be much faster than that Shepard." Nihlus stated with such calmness. The turian was wounded, yet still could pack quite a punch.

John stood once more, almost out of breath. The krogan on Therum had been bad, but Nihlus was kicking his ass and not even trying. It also didn't help that the turian spectre was wounded.

He tried circling the turian, looking for a weakness. He found only one, the legs would be hard for him to defend. He used it to quickly rush and crouch. Even though the turian tried sidestepping John easily hit his right leg hard enough to throw the turian to the ground.

John didn't wait until the turian stood and quickly charged, but he was met with a punch in his ribs that knocked all the air out of him and another one that sent him against the crates.

He was too dazed to stand up anymore. Okay, this was embarrassing. He had just gotten his ass kicked by someone with wounds that would have killed a human and who had some severe depression. And they hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Saren will not be as gentle as I was against you." Nihlus spoke, kneeling in front of John "You will need to try much harder to have a chance against Saren. We will continue this when you recover. Perhaps I will consider your crew too if you bring them next time."

Nihlus then stood up and walked back to where he had been previously. Everyone except Wrex seemed quite scared of just how easily the wounded spectre had beaten their commander.

"John!" He heard a familiar voice call out to him. Looking to his left he saw Tali run towards him, having been drawn over by the sounds of the fight "Keelah. Are you alright?"

He nodded as she helped him up and walked him to the elevator. Once up there, she quickly headed towards his cabin and sat him down on the bed. He lay down with a grunt from what he assumed was cracked ribs and looked at Tali "Thanks." He croaked.

No other words were exchanged between them; he gave her a smile and in return she gave him what he assumed was a smile too and went to leave his room to get back to her duties.

Besides, she was going to be here later on in the night. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to sleep, and he wouldn't either. That's when something hit him Why do I feel more calm when she is with me?

Once she had left the room, he stayed there looking at the ceiling. He wasn't sure what to do right now. They still didn't have a destination, and he was having trouble breathing from the fight.

Is it possible that... No John. Besides, she's a quarian. She couldn't ever think of you that way too... right?

He sighed as he opened a terminal and went to the extranet. Maybe he could at the very least sate his curiosity about one thing. And after a while of searching, another question came to his head.

"What the hell is Nerve-Stim?"