A/N: First off I'd like to make a minor correction: The crewmembers in the last chapter whom definitely did not hear or see anything were both Ensigns. I recently learned that the Navy does not in fact have a "Corporal" rank and I apparently underestimated how highly ranked Lieutenants were. Anyway, aside from my misunderstanding of Naval ranks, I hope you are all enjoying the ride. Onward!


John Shepard was not having a good day. He had slept through his alarm. Tali had been ignoring his messages and had always been conspicuously occupied when he visited Engineering. The only way to get her to actually talk to him, he was sure, was to settle things with Liara. Liara, though, was also dodging him. She had even found a way to lock out his security-level access to her room which the techs had told him was supposed to be literally impossible.

At the moment, his coffee was getting cold on his desk beside his computer terminal.

If I have to read one more goddamn "Alliance Officers' Internal Messaging Service" memo about goddamn email formatting I am going to fly this thing into a sun.

"Bloop," an overly happy alert tone came from the terminal. Another message had just winged its way across thousands of light-years and found him in the endless void to tell him...

"Batarian Beauty Secrets of the Arcturus Gamma Cluster"

"That's it, I am kicking Joker out of the cockpit and flying into a star," He griped out loud before deleting the email and switching tabs to his "Vessel Management Console"

Their fuel was hovering around 80%, that wouldn't be an issue until they got to Sentry Omega and had to burn FTL to Virmire, and there was a fuel depot right next to the Relay. Mass Relay travel didn't use any fuel besides the little bit of liquid Thorium to power the fission reactor. They were basically just riding on rails, propelled by an unfathomably powerful Mass-Effect beam.

He considered stocking up at the Sentry Omega fuel depot, just in case they had to make a hard burn away from Virmire, should something go wrong. He shot a message to Joker to get his opinion.

The response was quick, "Give me gas baby, give me reaction mass".

Flippant as it was, it was a good response. The fuel wasn't much of a concern, but sharp maneuvering required reaction mass. The Normandy, and most modern ships used a combination of shaped mass-effect fields and bursts of elemental hydrogen reaction mass to nudge the ship into the fields. It was a bit like making a cliff with the mass field and then using the burst of high-velocity hydrogen to push the ship off the cliff and in the direction one wanted to move.

The hydrogen is typically stored in metallic form by very compact ultra-high mass fields which often double as a source of artificial gravity. The Normandy's tanks were spread in 5 inch thick layers beneath the floors of the bottom decks. This was another reason why a total power failure could be catastrophic. Suddenly venting thousands of pounds of metallic hydrogen into space could cause some violent, uncontrolled motion in a now gravity-less ship.

Shepard checked their metallic hydrogen stores and found them at 22%. He raised an eyebrow. How did that get so low?

He went searching through their maneuvers record and found that a series of high-usage burns near Asgard was the culprit.

What happened in Asgard that could have used so much reaction mass?

It struck him after a moment. The asteroid, the Batarian slavers, the colony world. How could he have forgotten that? For any other Commander, that would be a defining moment in their military career...Shepard had almost forgotten about it. All these high-stakes missions were starting to blur together worryingly.

If I forgot that, could I lose sight of the Reapers' significance? Am I already out of touch with the scale of normal people's lives?

It occurred to him that would really like to talk to Tali about these new, growing doubts. He stood up and was halfway to his cabin door before he realized that, as easy as it would be to autopilot down to Engineering, Tali probably still would not talk to him.

That stung a bit as he thought about it. As much as he tried to understand her reaction, it still didn't quite make sense.

Why was she so upset about it? I would have figured she'd be happy I left Liara guessing, or at least didn't say I reciprocated her feelings...Unless Tali doesn't like me like that and I really am just being a bastard.

That's probably it. It's really the only explanation that makes any sense.

A sick feeling washed over him as he really processed that fact.

I was feeling chemistry that isn't there...I need to back off before I creep her out.

He couldn't shake his instinct to just go talk to her about it though. Lately, when something was bugging him, he would grab some Dextro tea and head down to the engine room to talk it out.

The first time he had done that was just after they had taken the Normandy from the Citadel for the first time with Shepard in command.

The elevator doors slid open and Tali was talking with Engineer Adams. They were poring over some set of holographic schematics and she gestured to something in the display. Shepard had made a habit of welcoming new crewmembers to the Normandy as XO and he saw no reason to stop that tradition just because he had gotten a promotion.

"Hey Tali, Adams, How's it going?"

Adams moved to speak, but Tali exuberantly steamrollered him, "Your ship is amazing. I've never seen anything like this drive core," She was gesturing wildly with her purple-gloved hands and he could see her eyes glowing brightly beneath her visor, "And the space. It's just like being on the Citadel but in miniature! Everybody has their own little private pod, not like the Rayya...with how crowded it was...and...I'm rambling aren't I?" She asked, her hands coming to rest together in front of her abdomen.

Shepard wondered if all Quarians were this energetic or just Tali. He found himself quietly hoping that it was just a personal quirk of hers. He was probably going to have to deal with more Quarians and he was not sure he had the mental fortitude to deal with an entire race of Tali-level excitement.

A broad smile had grown on his face as she spoke, her glee was infectious.

"I'm glad you like it. It'll be our home until we deal with Saren at least,"

"I might try to drag out the mission then if that's on the line," She teased.

He thought she was teasing at least...hoped, otherwise this might get complicated.

Shepard remembered the tea he had brought, a mug of mint green for himself and a dextro variety that Garrus had gotten delivered. He held out the mug in offering to the strange alien girl.

"Brought you some tea, thought you might like a tour of the rest of the ship".

When she didn't take the mug, he faltered, "It's Dextro, I stole it from Garrus".

She made a weird sort of choking sound and continued looking at him with those bewildering luminescent eyes.

"I'll leave you to it," Said Engineer Adams, turning away and walking to the console on the other side of the room.

Shepard nodded at him, "Let's check in :15 before the briefing tomorrow?"

"Aye aye, sir," Adams affirmed before digging back in to his work.

He turned his attention back to Tali. Her hands were covering her...mouth? And she seemed to be distressed.

Shepard was suddenly worried that he had violated some critical element of Quarian etiquette, "Is everything okay?"

She nodded quickly and seemed to swallow before speaking, "That's...such a thoughtful gesture Commander...thank you". She reached out and took the mug with both hands, carefully.

"I...uh, of course," He tried to get back into his groove, "Would you still like a tour of the ship?"

She nodded again, furiously, "I would love that," her words sounded a bit choked again.

Maybe there's some issue with her translator?

He made a mental note to address it later if it became an issue. If she couldn't talk reliably to the crew in English, that could definitely cause operational problems in a combat situation. It would also cause a rift that might make it hard for her to fit in socially. That was something he was trying to pay particular attention to since he was very aware of the prevailing public opinion on "suit rats".

Shepard gestured to the door and she just looked at him for a moment before sort of jumping toward the door on her interestingly backwards legs and going out into the hallway ahead of him. He followed with a little smile. They got in the elevator and he requested Deck 1 CIC.

"I figure you've seen Engineering, so I can give you a more thorough tour around upstairs".

"If it's anything like the Engineering section, I am already very impressed".

He smiled, but something stuck out to him about her overly-polite manner. She was trying to make sure the commanding officer liked her. It made sense that someone who grew up in a military fleet would place so much importance on letting the Captain know that his ship was impressive. He turned that over in his head and decided it was best to be direct.

While they were still alone in the elevator, he turned to her and in his kindest voice, said, "Tali, I'm not trying to impress you. This is our home for the next few months and I want to make sure you are comfortable here".

When she didn't speak, just looked at him with those wide glowing eyes, he continued, "I also want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. I keep a very relaxed command and trust my people to communicate what is important."

"I cannot drink this tea," she said in a decidedly less performative manner, "I am extremely grateful..and it was so kind, but It's Turian tea...it would probably kill me".

His eyes went wide and he reached out to take the mug back, "Oh god, I'm sorry. I can't believe...geeze, I'll find some Quarian tea next time we're near a market. I promise".

She handed him the mug and seemed to be smiling, it was hard to tell through the mask.

"Why are you doing all this?" She asked carefully, watching him.

He cocked his head to the side and creased his brows, "What do you mean?"

"Why are you going so out of your way for me? Giving me so much consideration? I'm only one crewmember out of dozens. My tea preferences are hardly mission critical".

"I guess, but it is hardly an extra effort and if I can do a little thing to make one of my teammate's lives better...then why shouldn't I?"

It was always something his mother had told him, "It costs so little to make someone happy, so why not do it?" And at some point decidedly after his teen years it had taken root and become a central principle in how he treats people.

"Well...thank you," she said.

He got the feeling he had just for the first time actually met Tali the girl instead of Tali'Zorah nar Rayya the Quarian Representative and Diplomatic Liason to the Systems Alliance.

"Do you have a favorite flavor?"

"Zhelang...if you can find it," she said in a small voice, like she was afraid to ask for it.

"You might have to write that down for me...but I'll do my best," he smiled at her.

Finally, he punched the button to open the elevator doors and they stepped out into the CIC, orange holographic light illuminating the whole deck.

"Here's the CIC, Combat Information Center. This is the nerve center of the ship," He gestured expansively to the deck at large.

They walked along the rows of work terminals. The Commander would occasionally exchange a few friendly words with someone working and Tali often had technical questions regarding a system's limitations or response time or something.

That had been a nice day, he reflected. It seemed things had gotten so much more complicated in the past three months. The mission certainly had, but so had the personal relationships onboard. His little reverie had cost him almost 20 minutes, meaning he could justify putting off the rest of his busy-work and trying to deal with those exact interpersonal problems. Shepard stood up, pulled on an N7 hoodie and left his cabin, making a left turn across the crew deck.

"Liara,"

He knocked again

"Liara, will you please talk to me?" Shepard sighed and let his forehead fall against the cool metal doorframe, about ready to give up.

"I am quite busy," she said through the door-comm.

That was more than he had gotten from her for the last day and a half. Maybe she would actually relent today?

"I know you are and I don't need long," He said, trying to be as reasonable as humanly possible.

"I know you don't," She replied pointedly

"Whatever it is that you are assuming, it's definitely wrong,"

There was no answer. It occurred to him that being accusatory was probably not going to get him anywhere. One thing he had learned about Liara though, is that the surest way to get a response from her was to make her angry.

He grit his teeth, "You weren't exactly the picture of professional detachment that morning either, were you?"

The comm clicked on but was silent for a moment before turning back off. The door slid open and an enraged Asari grabbed him by the collar and yanked him inside.

"And just what should I have done? Huh? Wait another year for you to decide whether you wanted to spend time together?" She released him and turned around, pacing nervously, "Goddess Shepard, I asked you to spend time with me, not mate with me." She met his gaze finally, wide eyed.

"I..." He tried to speak but found no words forthcoming. He took a breath and Tali's voice echoed in his mind.

She deserves a clear answer

I don't really have a clear answer though...well...I do now. But I didn't two weeks ago.

"Liara, I am sorry I was...difficult. It took a lot for you to tell me what you did before. Thank you for that, "

"I suppose I should say you are welcome, but I'm not sure you are welcome to it anymore".

"I care about you deeply as a friend and still do. I just didn't have an answer for you then. I should have been more up front about that," He spoke in an even tone, making eye contact, doing every little thing he could to make sure she believed him.

"Oh? And how long with Tali? Noveria?" She guessed.

His feelings for Tali were...definitely complicated. He definitely felt some chemistry there and they had an undeniable connection. She had never shown any interest in him like that though.

She spent the night with you ky'rrit

His subconscious was also taking on a particularly Khelish vernacular. That might just be due to the cultural exchange material he had spent the last week going over though. "ky'rrit," he had learned was a sort of endearing equivalent to "dumbass". After playing with the pronunciation a bit yesterday, he had decided he quite liked the word.

Nothing he had done with Tali though was anything past what close friends might do. Certainly not whatever Liara assumed had happened the previous night.

"I'm not with Tali," He said firmly

She raised a disbelieving brow ridge, but a hint of doubt began to creep through her furious facade. Not waiting for her to speak, he ploughed on.

"She came to talk to me about Feros and the colonists. I needed to talk to somebody I trusted about it and she...didn't give me much of a choice," He half-chuckled at the truth of it.

"I suppose she can be...rather assertive when she wants to be," said the scientist, her forehead creased.

"You must understand though...how it looked," She seemed mostly defused and Shepard had to physically stop himself from breathing a relieved sigh.

"Oh, I definitely understand. I've been getting looks from the crew all day yesterday and today. And I heard more than one mention of "cross-species fluid contact" in the mess," He grimaced.

"I'm...sorry for the role I likely played in the crew's awareness of this...situation".

He stepped forward, feeling more certain that she was not about to biotically warp his body apart, "Not your fault".

His smile was genuine this time, the whole situation, although embarrassing, was pretty funny.

"So you are not in a romantic relationship with Tali?" She asked carefully

He paused before answering, "No Liara, I'm not,"

An uncomfortable sensation washed over him when he said that, like oil on his tongue.

Liara smiled, "I'd still like to have tea together. Maybe in the cargo bay at 1400 tomorrow? Everyone else will be busy with Kaidan's security training," She stepped toward him, deep blue eyes boring into his.

He took a breath as he weighed his options. If he said yes enthusiastically, she would probably think he was interested in her. If he said no, their friendship would never recover.

Damnit Liara, why?

"Liara," He began gently, seeing tension in her as soon as her name passed his lips, "I would love to have tea with you. I would love to sit together and talk about your latest research or just life or anything else. But you need to know I can't get romantically involved with anyone right now. The mission has to come first".

He felt vindicated, like he'd just taken the head off a Batarian pirate from three klicks away while dodging artillery.

...Until he saw tears at the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath and wiped them away, not bothering to hide it.

"I understand Shepard".

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"So...tea at two?" He asked.

"Maybe," She said, her voice fragile, "I need time to process this".

Liara turned around and went to her disheveled bed. Shepard got the feeling she needed privacy. He was cautiously hopeful about their friendship though.

"Okay. Take all the time you need. I'll be in the starboard viewing port at 1400 tomorrow with two cups of chamomile tea".

He had extended his olive branch. Now it was up to her to take it.

She nodded silently and he turned to leave. He paused for a moment, half-expecting her to say something, but she remained silent and he walked out into the med-bay. The door shut behind him with a hiss.

Down a hall and through two more doors, Lieutenant Alexei Dubyansky sat up in his bunk. He leant over the edge. His slightly-too-long hair hung comically upward as he saw Lieutenant Helen Lowe in the bunk below. "You still awake?"

She stifled a yawn, "What's it look like Lexi?"

Helen rolled over to face Alexei, her long blonde hair falling over her face. She blew at her unruly fringe half-heartedly.

"It looks like you just did a redeye in the Nav chair and had to recalculate the correction vectors six times,"

"Yeah, because mister 'I'm the best goddamn pilot in the Alliance' doesn't trust a fucking computer to do his math for him," She groaned and flopped back on the mattress, "Why are you so damn chipper? I thought Adams was running you guys ragged down there".

"He was, until the Quarian showed up. I swear she does a whole shift's worth of work in like an hour".

"Huh, gypsies are good for something".

"Hey, Tali is cool. Hate on the rest of them if you want, but she is the reason most of the Engineering crew gets to sleep".

"Must be nice".

He flipped himself down into her bunk, looking quite graceful in the low gravity of the sleep quarters.

"Wouldn't you love it if an alien showed up and did half your job for you?"

"You just like her ass in that suit," Helen scoffed, scooching over so Alexei could have some space to sit cross-legged on her bunk.

"Not as much as the Commander," He said in an undertone.

Helen snorted and across the room Marine Corporal Carlton Tucks could be heard trying very hard not to laugh.

"I can't believe Tyler and Hansen lived through that," Helen said.

"I'm surprised the Commander did"

"I'm surprised Tali did," chimed in Cpl. Tucks, giving up his attempt at sleep in favor of shipboard gossip.

"I've never seen an Asari murder someone in cold blood, but...I have probably never been that close to seeing it," Said Alexei with a shiver.

"It's not pretty," Tucks said, "I went down to do cleanup on that Slaver base we hit last month and Liara was still hanging around going through their records and stuff. We found a Batarian with some kind of rank jewelry on. She said he was an 'enforcer'. I assume that means he kept the prisoners in line...Anyway, he tried to run and she just...Eezo'd his spinal cords in half," He snapped his fingers, "Motherfucker just dropped dead in the garage".

"I always wondered why if Asari live for a thousand years, they don't treat life more sacredly," Helen said thoughtfully.

"How hard do you think about killing an ant?" Alexei asked, "It's probably about the same".

"I'm a spacer...I've literally never seen an ant in my life," She replied, then after pausing, "but I get your point".

"Does Tali count as crew?" Helen asked after a moment, "Like, is the Commander gonna get court martialed over hooking up with her?"

"I think the whole Diplomat thing might mean he's fine...also the whole SPECTRE thing. I think he's invincible," said Tucker

"Maybe the Council will use it as a reason to kick him out and Humanity will be forever cast into the dustbin of history as a failed militant superpower," Alexei declared dramatically.

"You can take all of that Russian saltiness and put it in your Borscht," Helen shot back with a laugh, referencing the Slavic States' failed attempt at global political conquest via social media influence in the late 2120's.

"Salt is capitalist decadence." Tucker added in the worst Russian accent any of them had ever heard, earning him a side-eye from Dubyansky.

The trio dissolved into laughter.

As each of them stopped laughing, darker thoughts crept in around the edges of the happy moment. Dark thoughts of what would be waiting for them at the end of this jump. What new unearthly horror were they casting into?Alexei tried to shake them off.

He crawled back up into his bunk, "Go to sleep...salty borscht".

He got comfortable, flicking open his omni-tool and scrolling aimlessly through extranet social media.

An item popped up on his crew schedule, "All Hands briefing 0800 CST" He looked at the clock and a collective groan was heard through the crew quarters as his comrades apparently did the same. It was already past midnight, which meant they were not getting a full nights' sleep.

The next morning, Shepard woke feeling energized. He went down to the gym and ran for a while, showered, dressed, and started working down his tasks for the day. First, he went to speak with his section heads. Adams reported no anomalies, Joker was happy if a bit bored, Cpt. Pressley had concerns about the FTL stellar positioning scanners' calibration, Dr. Chakwas wanted to resupply some medications at the earliest opportunity, and Kaidan was overly prepared for his security theory workshop in the afternoon.

Shepard would be among the few not attending since he and Kaidan had actually been in the same Advanced Security training class together a few months ago when they had first been assigned to the Normandy. Also not attending would be Liara, Garrus, Tali, Cpl. Jenkins, Ens. Dubyansky, and a handful of other crewmembers who either already had the training or were needed during that time for other shipboard duties.

After speaking with his officers, he went to his cabin to take care of the few actionable items that had come up. First, he went down the duty roster to assign somebody to calibrate the Nav sensors that Pressley was worried about. It occurred to him though that most of the navigation techs would be at Kaidan's workshop. He ended up assigning Garrus to the task.

He then sent Dr. Chakwas an open requisition order for the medical supplies and checked the time on his Omni-tool.

How the hell is it already 1355?

Almost tripping over his feet, he stumbled down the staircase to the crew deck and fished around the Galley for some tea. He had thrown open almost every cabinet and drawer and was beginning to lose hope when Ens. Caroline Grenado took pity on him, showing him the "Dry Goods Bulk Stowage" behind a bulkhead.

Finally, with two mugs of steaming Chamomile tea in his hands, he skirted the crowded CIC and made his way down a ladder connecting the Crew Deck to Deck 3, taking two trips to bring the drinks down. Shepard arrived in the Cargo Bay at 1403 to find it completely deserted. His footsteps echoed around the cavernous space and his stomach sank in on itself.

"I guess I deserve this," He thought darkly

He used a little Biotic assistance to shift two crates toward the observation port on the Cargo Door. The observation port was a wide, rectangular window into the red-shifted void behind the ship as they blazed through the Mass Relay's conduit at around 300c. The window was of course not intended to be decorative, but was absolutely crucial in performing docking and cargo-loading procedures. It made a nice spot to look out on the stars though.

Shepard sat down on one of the crates and sipped from one of the mugs of tea. It was pleasant. He had grown up with tea as a regular part of his day. His mother, Hannah, had picked up the habit from her time serving at Alliance HQ in London and had brought it home with her.

Liara really was a good friend. I wish I could have done a better job at being what she needed.

She wanted something I couldn't give her….Should I have given it a chance? She probably would have been a pretty good partner.

But Tali

But what? She doesn't like me like that anyway. And what I told Liara is right, we are on the most important mission in the history of humanity and I need to be 100% focused on it

You're not focused on it right now

I'm dealing with a bunch of high school drama right now.

Exactly, if you just settled into a relationship, it would probably help you even.

Neither Tali or Liara have any interest in me like that right now and It's a bad idea for a million other reasons.

"Oh...Shepard," Tali exclaimed as the door from Engineering to Cargo slid shut with a hiss behind her, "I didn't realize you would be here".

"Tali?" He said, turning around to see her.

Her realk was a bit disheveled and had a few black streaks on one side of it. Shepard watched her walk towards him, unable to stop the bright smile that spread across his face.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Liara told me there was something wrong with the door's pressure seal…" she paused and took in the scene in more detail, "The door is fine...isn't it?"

He nodded, "As far as I know anyway-" He did a double take, "Wait, Liara sent you?"

"You talked to her?" She asked, skipping ahead of his logic a few steps.

Shepard nodded again.

"How did it go?" She asked cautiously, eyes flicking to the crate beside him.

He shifted a bit and smiled uncomfortably. "Apparently better than I thought," He said with a hint of sarcasm. That earned him a sharp look from Tali.

"Once she finally agreed to talk, she asked me if you and I were in a romantic relationship," Suddenly the cavernous and slightly chilly cargo bay felt too small and too warm.

After a too-long pause, Tali urged him on, "What did you tell her?"

"I said that we were not in a romantic relationship," He couldn't help the unpleasant taste in his mouth once more as he was reminded that Tali had no such interest in him, even aside from the obvious biological difficulties.

Tali looked down and did that little thing she always did with her hands when she was nervous or processing something.

John plowed on, "Liara seemed relieved and suggested she and I have tea…"

Tali's eyes flicked to the teacups and went wide, "Oh...she...oh"

He could see the gears turning behind her eyes before she spoke, "Why would Liara tell me to come down here then?" She seemed slightly miffed.

The best answer Shepard could come up with was that maybe Liara was trying to apologize for the chaos of the other morning without having to actually speak with him.

"I really don't know," He paused and considered it before blurting out, "I'm glad you're here though".

She stepped closer and spoke softly, meeting his gaze, "I'm sorry I was so...well...you know".

He stood and moved closer to her as well, they were barely a foot apart, "You don't have to apologize," grinning, he continued, "Sometimes I need your particular brand of persuasion".

She chuckled then spoke again, "You didn't deserve to be ignored though. You were doing your best and I mean, I'm not exactly great with this sort of thing either. Liara deserved an answer but you're caught in the middle of all this and that cannot be fun and-...sorry," She caught her rambling and put the brakes on.

His grin had only grown during her speech and he gestured with a nod toward the crates, "I didn't bring any of your tea...but you wanna stay a while?"

She nodded, "I'd love to,"

John sat down in his previous spot and Tali joined him on the same oblong crate. Their thighs were touching and he was quietly pleased she had assumed the other box was intended to be a table rather than another seat.

"I do not understand the Alliance's allergy to windows," She wondered aloud. "They're hardly a structural weakness and there's some decent tactical advantage to having visual contact with the outside".

"I think it's more the Turian obsession with making a spacecraft aerodynamic," He responded, earning a modulated guffaw from his companion.

"Everything they build is so pointy," She continued, dissolving into giggles and leaning heavily on him.

"Remember those ridiculous coalition Recon helmets that didn't have eyeholes?"

She barely regained enough composure to reply, "Why do they hate seeing so much?" before falling apart again.

The soft weight of her against his side filled him with a pleasant warmth. Her head was now leaning against his shoulder, the hardness of the helmet slightly uncomfortable but he couldn't possibly have been happier in that moment. Until the comm crackled to life.

"Commander," It was Joker, "We are approaching Virmire. Also, the Council is on the line in the Comms room".

The peace and contentment that had surrounded Tali and John fractured and, like a hull breach in a life-pod, sucked all the air from his lungs.

Eyes wide, he and Tali locked eyes and she nodded minutely, "If anyone can do this...can end this now...it's you...it's us".

Her gaze was unwavering and at some point John realized her hands were in his. She gave his hands a reassuring squeeze and he felt a little of the weight lift off of his shoulders.

"I'll be by your side," She said firmly.

He had a momentary instinct to protest. They were just starting to explore their...whatever it was...whatever it could be. Either way, he cared deeply about her and could not handle the thought of her being hurt on his account.

Equally present though was the knowledge that she was a strong, capable, and irreplaceable member of his combat team. This is war, winning means taking risks. Realistically, there was no more chance of her dying on this mission than there was for him.

He took a deep breath and nodded, "I wouldn't have it any other way".

They turned and together walked toward the forward exit from the Cargo Bay. As the door hissed open, John released her hand. She gave him a little smile as they separated to ready their loadouts.

His Omni-tool buzzed a few moments later as he was standing in the elevator.

"Tali'Zorah:

We've got this.

Keelah Selai"