"Doctor Chakwas!"

She immediately felt the grin form as she looked up at the doorway, getting to her feet and striding forward. "Tali'Zorah!" she exclaimed happily as the pair embraced.

"Should have known you would be on the Normandy, though Shepard didn't mention it."

"I'm sure you were far too busy dealing with whatever it was on the ground," she replied, releasing the quarian and gesturing to the empty chair. Resuming her seat, she couldn't quite remove the grin. If Tali is back, it meant nearly the whole old team back together again. Only Liara now to go, depending on where she is. It's a shame Ashley was dead against it, though understandable. "So, how has life been for you these past years, Tali?"

"I'm sorry for not keeping in contact after everything."

"Hush, Tali. We were all split apart so fast after what happened, it's no surprise we all just moved on."

"So, my life? Well, not very interesting, I guess. After the team was disbanded, I hopped on the first available ship I could find heading back to the Migrant Fleet. After handing over my pilgrimage gift, I was assigned to a new ship. The Neema."

"Does that affect your name?"

"You remember?" Chakwas just nodded and smiled. "I am now Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya. It's a mouthful. I prefer Tali."

"I'm Karin, Tali. No more of this 'doctor' that you insist on calling me. So a new ship? Any new death-defying missions?"

"You mean apart from the one that Shepard just rescued me from? I've spent two years battling against geth, though only because I thought they were responsible for killing Shepard. I would have joined him earlier but…"

Chakwas held up a hand. "There is certainly no need to apologise, Tali. Shepard understood at the time. He'd been gone two years. As we all know, we had moved on with our lives."

"But you joined him immediately?"

She heard the tone. Tali knows? Of course she knows. She's young, not dumb. "Of course. It was a mission of vital importance to humanity. I couldn't just sit by and watch."

"Uh-huh," Tali retorted with humour. Chakwas was ready to argue until Tali started to giggle. "I'm sorry, Karin. It's just obvious to me too. It wasn't before, on the old Normandy, but you were one of the first things Shepard mentioned on the shuttle back to the ship."

"And what about you?"

"I will happily admit that I had a girlish crush on him. I'm not going to deny that. I mean, who wouldn't? The dashing, handsome soldier who waltzes in to rescue the damsel in distress." She paused and sighed. "I'll just keep watching those movies I love. But I eventually moved on like everyone else." Crossing her arms on the table, she leaned forward. "I'm dating a soldier at the moment. A marine," she whispered.

"Oh, what's his name?"

"Kal'Reegar. He's a good man. He was one of the marines who escorted me on the mission to Haelstrom. He was ready to die to make sure I got the information I needed."

She couldn't help grin. "Sounds serious, Tali."

Leaning back again, Tali shrugged. "Well, let's just say I'd happily link suits with that man." Chakwas must have looked confused, so Tali explained. "Um, while we can have… you know, sex in a normal way, linking suits for a quarian is the ultimate sign of trust."

"So it's love then?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. Not yet. Let's just say I have a good feeling about it." She noticed the eyes then stared at her from behind the faceplate. "And what about you, Karin?"

She knew the grin broadened for a moment, before she cleared her throat. "There's nothing really to talk about."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm serious, Tali. I am here to support Shepard."

"There are rules against fraternisation in the navy, correct?" She nodded. "Well, you're no longer in the navy now."

She couldn't help it. She burst into laughter at the tone. "So now I have someone else trying to organise my love life?"

Tali reached across the table, laying a hand on hers. "Karin," she said softly, "I remember that escape pod. You didn't say anything, but your face said everything. I've learned a lot about human body language in the past three years. The only question I have is; does he know?"

She opened her mouth once or twice but stayed silent. She would never have imagined having this sort of conversation with Tali, of all people. But it appeared the young woman she had met two to three years before had done a lot of growing up since the day the Normandy was lost. Tali took her silence as a response, as their conversation finally veered away from their love lives. Tali talked about life on the fleet, and how she found it a little dull compared to her adventures alongside Shepard, while she explained her life away from a ship, which she agreed, was also a little dull.

They must have talked for a good couple of hours, as Shepard eventually appeared through the doorway. "There you are!"

Tali turned around as Chakwas met his eyes. "Oh, hi Shepard," Tali replied, "I just have to come and have a good gossip with Karin. It's been so long!"

"That it has. So are you now all filled in as to what's been going on?"

"Well, nearly everything," Tali stated, glancing her way. The tone was obvious, but she just smiled at the quarian.

"Good, good. Well, if you'd like, I really should introduce you to the people you'll be working with engineering. Gabriella is a lovely young woman. Ken is fine but… well, I hope you like innuendo…"

She didn't see Tali again until dinner that night. When Shepard came to collect her as usual, she mentioned that perhaps the whole team should sit together and chat, and if they wanted, move to one of the lounges afterwards. Shepard thought that was a good idea, and watching the dynamics proved interesting that evening.

She sat across from Shepard as usual, though they arrived early and took position at the large table that should seat at least a dozen of them. Garrus was the first to make a decision, taking a seat next to his best friend, the two immediately trading a couple of wisecracks. Tali was next to take a seat, unsurprisingly sitting next to her, across from Garrus. Jack took a seat at the far end of the table, not looking up from her plate, and she noticed Miranda sit on the opposite side of the table, at the other end. She met Shepard's eyes and they almost rolled out of his head.

"There's a valid reason," she whispered. Shepard met her eyes and nodded.

"At least they work together on the field," he murmured.

Samara, Kasumi and Thane were the next to take seats, Thane sitting next to Shepard as Kasumi sat on the opposite side of Tali, the two women immediately striking up a conversation. Samara sat opposite Miranda and kept to herself. Grunt turned up and needed two seats due to his size, and needed space for all the food he was going to eat. Kelly was one of the last to arrive, sitting across from Jack, immediately trying to get the young biotic to open up. That led to a glare and a few expletives, somewhere in the middle of them all, explaining she wanted to be left alone.

"So, what next, Shepard?" Garrus asked.

Shepard finished whatever he was chewing as he leaned back in his chair. "Let's see. Jack has something that needs doing. As does Miranda. As do you. Then I'm waiting for word from the Illusive Man about the next mission."

"He's sending word tomorrow, Shepard," Miranda reported.

"Good enough. As I've told everyone at this table, if you have personal issues that need doing, ask before we go through the Omega Four, because once we're through, there's a chance we're not coming back." He met her eyes again. "That includes you, Karin. If there's anything you want to do, let me know."

"Oh, I'm fine, Shepard."

"Well, just give it some thought. You know I'll do it."

She felt a dig in the ribs, glancing to see Tali cock her head in a certain way she recognised from their time together before. She returned a smile as a couple of others spoke up, Shepard listening intently though his glance fell on her once or twice. She just focused on eating dinner.

The good times continued later that evening. Tali was in fine form once she hit the brandy, and if she didn't know the young quarian any better, she was shamelessly flirting with Garrus. Shepard found the whole thing hilarious, particularly as it appeared his turian friend didn't know what the hell was going on. Tali eventually broke into fits of giggles at the reaction of Garrus, having to assure him that it was all in good fun, and that she was in a committed relationship.

That surprised Shepard, who obviously hadn't spoken about that aspect of life with her, so she explained to him what Chakwas had heard a few hours earlier. Shepard figured he'd have a little dig. "So, marine, eh?"

"I may have a thing for men who like to serve, Shepard."

"Well, he gets my thumbs up from me. He wasn't going to let a single geth touch a hair on your head on Haelstrom. I practically had to tie him up so he wouldn't attack that colossus by himself."

"I'm surprised you didn't try and recruit him," Garrus joked.

"One quarian is enough," Shepard retorted, glancing at Tali with a smirk.

She just folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot. "Well, even if you'd offered, he would have returned to the Migrant Fleet. I think it was only because I'd served with you previously that they let me." Then she leaned across. "And I'm still not happy about this whole Cerberus thing, Shepard."

"I know. I know. But remember, it is only temporary."

"What about…" Tali trailed off, but clearly gestured towards those dressed in Cerberus uniforms.

Shepard shrugged. "Miranda is a firm believer. Jacob… could be swayed. The rest?" He shrugged again. "No idea. I could try and work on them all, but my job is to defeat the Collectors. Sometimes actions speak louder than words."

She didn't drink a lot, Shepard nursing one drink most of the evening, and soon only the four of them were left. She'd admit to a little surprise that Jack disappeared so early, wondering if she wouldn't have found alcohol a good excuse to let loose, but she had one drink then left without a word. The last to leave the four of them was Jacob. She still couldn't get a fix on him. He worked for Cerberus, said all the right things about the organisation, but she thought he was a decent young man, so wondered what had pushed him away from the Alliance into their arms.

"So, four of us are here, five if you include Joker. What about Wrex, Liara and Ashley?" Tali wondered. She recognised the change in mood at the mention of Ashley's name. "Did something happen?"

She looked at Shepard, who didn't appear as angry as he been originally, their conversations proving he was more disappointed. "Wrex is on Tuchanka," Shepard replied, "He's got ambitions for the krogan."

"And Liara?"

"I've received a message in the past couple of weeks. Once we're done with the next mission from the Illusive Man, we're heading to Illium. Apparently she is there, though doing what, I'm not entirely sure."

"Do you think she'll join up with us?" Chakwas asked.

Shepard shrugged. "I have no idea. I thought I would have heard from her by now, but I'm not sure if news of my return would have reached the four corners of the galaxy, and like the rest of you, no doubt she's moved on and is doing her own thing. But it'll be nice to see her anyway."

"You're right, Shepard. We're getting the band back together," Garrus stated.

"Maybe, but we have a good ship of recruits right now. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I'm feeling confident about this. I can promise the three of you in this room one thing. I'll do my best to ensure this isn't a suicide mission."

Chakwas knew only one thing. She utterly believed in Shepard and knew he would do anything to keep that promise.