Karin couldn't quite believe they were headed to the far reaches of the galaxy and the fabled homeworld of the quarians. Thinking of quarians had her immediately thinking of Tali'Zorah, hoping she was safe and sound. Everyone had fallen out of contact after what happened after Aratoht, and there had been little news in regards to the quarians and their whereabouts for a number of months. But they had made contact with Shepard, offering assistance in regards to the war against the Reapers.

The situation around Rannoch was as bad as everyone had feared upon their arrival, quarian and geth ships in the process of annihilating one another. When the admirals arrived, Karin was overjoyed to see Tali board as one of them. The embrace shared was long and heartfelt, Tali immediately asking questions about what they'd been up to since they had last seen each other. When Shepard walked in to chat with both of them, Tali giggled.

"What?" Karin had to ask.

"Seeing you two like this now."

She looked at Shepard sat alongside her. "How?"

"I'm an expert in body language, remember? How you two are right this minute is… adorable. Your love for him is obvious, while I think he'd pretty much die for you. He's said as much anyway."

She glanced in his direction, causing him to look away, almost starting to whistle to himself. She gently dug him in the ribs as Tali laughed again. "Despite the situation, we're happy together, Tali."

"Good for you, doc."

"Tali is obviously an admiral, Karin, so she'll be on the ship for the time being as she's going to be the go between," Shepard added.

"And I'll certainly make myself useful down in engineering again."

"Ken and Gabby are back on the ship," he explained.

"Has he admitted his feelings for her yet?"

"I don't think so. Maybe you could give them a prod in the right direction?"

"Not sure I should be a matchmaker considering my own solitude, Shepard."

"You'll find someone, Tali. Just make sure it's the right person."

Sorting out three hundred year old problems wasn't something Shepard likely signed up for when the idea of the grand alliance came together, but if he could resolve a thousand year old plus genophage cure, then he could certainly sort out the lengthy issues that made up the quarrian-geth conflict.

The fact their very first mission was the destruction of a geth dreadnought suggested to Karin that this could be the toughest mission yet. Tuchanka had been lengthy and difficult, but the geth were entrenched on Rannoch, more than capable of matching quarrian firepower, and would certainly not go down without a fight. In a quiet moment before he disappeared to board the dreadnought, she asked about Legion.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," he admitted, "I thought Legion would have just returned to the consensus."

It was another insane battle in a long line of them, as far as Karin was concerned, listening into his small team battle their way through a dreadnought. The geth threw everything including the kitchen sink at them, but Shepard, Tali and Garrus prevailed, though it wasn't without a wound here or there, but they did return to the ship with an old friend.

Legion was exactly as she remembered. She wasn't present when the geth unit presented itself to the quarians but she could imagine their reaction to it. She couldn't help smile when Tali was friendly with it, and she was left thinking if Tali and Legion could co-operate, then there was a chance, even a little hope, that quarians and geth could find a roadmap towards peace.

It wasn't easy though. Shepard was certainly left frustrated more than once, but he remained tireless and steadfast in his efforts to ensure the conflict was resolved peacefully. He assured Tali that he wanted a quarrian return to Rannoch, and while he might not have been overly fond of the geth, he didn't want to be witness nor responsible for their destruction either.

She didn't see much of Shepard as they orbited Rannoch, busy as ever, while she offered her services to the quarians, who were still suffering a rate of casualties they could barely deal with. But he would always return to the cabin at night, though he still barely slept. As he was in a more positive place, their rate of lovemaking increased, at least. His demeanour was generally positive at present, and it was infectious as always, particularly when it came to her, just a glance and a smile in her direction enough to brighten her day. And when he returned at night, he occasionally had this look in his eyes when they met hers, and she couldn't help smile, feeling heat creep into her cheeks, aware of what he wanted in that moment, and her desire for him only increased with each passing day, hour, minute and second.

She sometimes felt like a lovestruck teenager with his first major crush, and longed to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible. What helped is that he made each and every time special, seeming to want it to be as intimate as possible each time they were together. Long that may continue as well.

Legion was as co-operative with Shepard as she would expect, but the fact it willingly offered help to the quarians, even at the price of the death for its own kind, certainly gave more than herself pause for though. Perhaps Legion knew the price of peace, the sacrifices that would be required. There had been plenty of death on both sides already. Neither side would go down without a fight. Though the geth heavily outnumbered the quarians, each death would surely have been felt by the consensus. She had little understanding of how geth operated, but she had a feeling that many of their processes reflected organic emotions.

The real test was when it came to the end game. It was only then that she started to worry, as there were so many things that could go wrong, that for the first time she could remember, she confessed her concerns to him as they lay together after making love. All he did was hold her closer and assure her it would be okay. Somehow, just a few simple words of assurance from him were enough.

It was little surprise Shepard didn't take Ashley with him. Her hatred for the geth remained deep and bitter. She didn't exactly blame her having seen her entire squad and numerous civilians slaughtered by them on Eden Prime. So they sat together near the cockpit with Joker, EDI on the ground for this mission, listening into the communication. While she wouldn't say things went smoothly, it was going well enough… until a Reaper made its presence known.

"I'm going to kill him when he gets back here," she muttered, hearing him fight a Reaper on foot.

"Guess he really wants the quarians back on Rannoch," Ashley stated.

"And Tali has changed since you last worked with her. She certainly wants peace. Not at any cost, but we worked alongside Legion. EDI is an AI too and we trust her. Maybe they aren't the soulless killing machines often found in fiction," she stated.

Shepard beat the Reaper. She never doubted him, but hearing his heavy breathing over the comm link, and how close it must have come more than once to ending his life, she was definitely going to kill him when he returned to the ship.

But then came perhaps his greatest moment. Certain quarians wanted to end the war on their terms. Shepard… practically told them that, if they chose that route, he would personally fly towards their ship and kick their collective arses. Tali then added her own voice, stating she would fly with Shepard to watch collective arse kicking commence. But despite the dark humour, the entire situation was on tenterhooks. The geth were vulnerable, and some no doubt wanted to end the geth, but sanity prevailed.

Legion sacrificed himself so the geth might live and thrive.

Events happened quickly after that, with the quarians promising Shepard their best ships for when they returned to Earth. The geth would also assist in the battle, but would focus on returning quarian families to their homeworld. It would take decades for old wounds to heal, but everyone was confident that, although the road ahead was bumpy, quarian and geth could live together in harmony on their homeworld.

Tali joining the ship was no surprise, and Karin had never been oblivious to the affection the young quarian had for Shepard, but though there might have been unrequited feelings of love, Shepard was delighted to have her back as well. The morale of the ship was high, with success after success, despite the fact the Reapers were tearing the galaxy apart. Hopes slowly but surely were raised, left thinking, even believing, that victory was possible.

Then came Thessia and the high turned into a gut-crunching low. It was the first real defeat Shepard had tasted in all their time together. Some might have considered his old ship blowing up and his death was a defeat, but that was a surprise attack. Shepard being almost outwitted by the enemy was something that had never really happened to him before. It took nearly everyone by surprise.

It was the first time she saw him ever so low. Only in private. On the surface, he was positively seething, but Samantha Traynor proved her skills, tracking who they wanted and what they needed to Horizon. While everyone prepared for the next battle, Liara was beside herself with grief. Hers was not the first homeworld to burn, but if the asari could fall, what hope did anyone else have?

Karin proposed they get drunk. Liara… liked the idea, sitting back in the med-bay, listening as her old friend laughed and cried through more than one bottle of asari wine. Shepard didn't join them, Liara understanding.

"He thinks he let us down," she muttered, "Far from it. We've only come this far because of him."

"This is one of the few times I think he needs space. Underneath it all is… rage. I can see it in his eyes. This war has changed us all, but him particularly. I'll head up there later and help calm him down." She noticed the smirk on Liara's face. "Not always that way, Liara. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Though I'm sure that would help put a grin on his face."

She took a sip of her drink. "Oh, it certainly would."

The insinuation in her tone caused the asari to blush. "Karin! I'm shocked…"

"I've never been closer to anyone, Liara. Never been this deeply in love. And it scares me a little."

"Why?"

"I've always known the score when it comes to serving in the Alliance. I've seen and treated many young soldiers who then met their demise. Now that I'm with Shepard… I know what outcome is possible. I know what sacrifice might be required for victory. And there's that part of me that wants to be selfish, that doesn't want him to die for us all."

"I'm sure he'll do everything possible to ensure you'll live a long and happy life together, Karin."

"Might be the first time I'll ever pray to some sort of father figure in the clouds," she suggested with humour.

"Can't be any worse than a figure you thought was a god but turned out to be a Prothean. I'm sure Javik is still laughing away at me about that."

She was a little drunk heading upstairs that night, finding Shepard by himself on the couch, staring into nothing. He noticed her behaviour, which provoked a smile, and she was incredibly suggestive as she took him by the hand towards the bed. What happened over the next couple of hours both reinvigorated him and left him empty, while she passed out with nothing but a smile on her face, ensuring the same was on his before finally allowing herself to drift off. Sometimes, all you needed was a little bit of love to feel better about life.

Horizon was an atrocity. What they discovered beggared belief, left her feeling cold. She'd studied history, as much as any human, Shepard certainly having a real fascination considering the old books he kept. What they found was a real reminder of events centuries past, of mechanical slaughter and genocide. No-one could even hazard a guess at how many humans had been killed within the machinery of Horizon, the Illusive Man's obsession with controlling the Reapers.

Finding Miranda Lawson within the bowels of the horror show shouldn't have been surprising to anyone. Shepard had kept her informed of their meetings, the fact Miranda now had an axe to grind with the Illusive Man, but in particular her father. Karin was surprised at how relieved she was when Shepard returned to the ship with his team, but also with Miranda and her sister in tow. The two had never been particularly close, but the fact she had left Cerberus because of Shepard spoke volumes of her character.

It also took his ex-Executive Officer all of five minutes to figure out the new reality. They had managed to keep their relationship hidden while with Cerberus and in those brief few weeks afterwards, but there was no missing how close she was with Shepard now, nor the fact he collected her from the med-bay and took her upstairs, only returning for breakfast in the morning.

"I can't believe I missed it," she muttered.

"You're not the only one, Miranda. And we made sure it wasn't broadcast across the ship, at least during and after our time with Cerberus."

"So you've been together the entire time?"

"Pretty much."

The smile that appeared on her face was a surprise. "Good for you, doc. When we met all that time ago, I was left thinking there might have been feelings for him, but I figured it was just one of close friendship, plus a sense of loss that no doubt everyone felt at the time."

"Took a long time to find the courage and admit how I feel about him." Shepard was sat beside her, and he immediately took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. They still stayed professional in front of the crew, most of the time, making do with little gestures of affection to get them through each day. "He admitted his first, of course. Just like him. Take the bull by the horns."

"Worth the wait," he said, waiting until his mouth was empty of food, "Would have kept waiting too. Patience of a saint."

Miranda groaned. "God, I remember our conversation and talking about…"

Karin leaned forward. "Miranda, trust me on this one, you were not the only one." She turned to Shepard. "Anyway, I believe you had a meeting with Admiral Hackett. We're all waiting in suspense. Where are we going?"

"The Citadel. We've been told to take the ship into dock for final repairs. Then we hit Cerberus. Everything we have not being utilised to fight the Reapers. Once we have what we need, we head to Sol and Earth. One climactic battle. It's either us or the Reapers."

"So we've got some shore leave?"

He met her eyes and smiled. "Aye, we do. I'm thinking it's time I took you on a real date."

She couldn't help return the smile. And felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She hadn't been on a date in years. Their entire time together had been spent on the ship, taking advantage of his cabin so they could at least enjoy some private moments. But the idea of being on his arm in public…

"I'll have to buy some things."

"And we can definitely help you with that!" Miranda stated, "Can't we girls?"

Karin looked around to see Samantha, Liara, Ashley and nearly every other female crew member nod their head. She almost had to release a tear or two at how everyone was so… supportive. Even after all this time, she still had those niggling doubts, that maybe his eye would be turned by someone younger. But it seemed that just wouldn't be the case. He was committed as ever.

She finally cleared her throat. "I want everything. Dress. Shoes. Lingerie. Purse."

"Red," Shepard stated.

"What?"

He looked at her and she almost gulped as he was definitely thinking. "Red," he said softly.

"The man likes red," Miranda stated with a chuckle, "So once we arrive, Karin, we'll go shopping. And we definitely know what colour he likes."