I Do Not Own Mass Effect

Chapter Nine: The Morning After

Garrus woke up the next morning on the floor of the lounge with Joker standing over him. There was a foul taste in his mouth and a hammering inside of his head. After Kasumi had left Garrus had polished off the last of the turian whiskey and another bottle for good measure.

"Have a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty." Joker stated with mirth. Garrus twitched and turned to his side. He shook a little and mumbled lowly.

"What happened?" Joker pulled up a seat next to Garrus and offered him a hand. Once on his feet Garrus stretched his arms and cracked his back. He paced around the lounge trying to recall the events of last night while Joker poured himself a glass of milk. As Garrus woke up Joker chewed on his daily vitamin and washed it down with his drink.

"Before you asked to marry me or after?" Joker replied after wiping any milk that had gathered on his mustache and beard.

"Was it that bad?" Joker only nodded his head and finished his milk. Afterward Joker stood and made for the exit. He turned to face Garrus before reaching the door and added.

"Kasumi wanted to see you. She's out in the mess hall."

"Great." Garrus remarked more to himself than to Joker. After waking up a bit Garrus cracked his back and neck a final time before making his way out to the mess hall. As usual everyone was gathered eating breakfast, drinking coffee and some smoking. However, the usual upbeat mood was all but gone. Eventually Garrus spotted Kasumi near the center of the mess hall. Not even the expert thief was cheery… her façade from last night gone.

When she saw Garrus approaching Kasumi threw on a slight smile and motioned for him to take a seat with her. He did. Garrus couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't want to speak was more like it. He just wanted to drink some more of his whiskey.

"Warned you to stop drinking but…" Garrus cut her off with a slight humor in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, culik." Kasumi cocked her head to one side, her over curious nature baited.

"Culik?" She asked inquisitively. Garrus smiled.

"Huntress." He replied. This made Kasumi laugh, her mood lifted a little.

"So I'm Huntress now?" She asked. Garrus clicked his mandibles together approvingly. Kasumi smiled again and sipped on her orange juice. Garrus folded his hands onto the cafeteria table. It was curious… why Kasumi wanted to see him.

"So what did you do with my brandy?"

"That's a secret." Kasumi teased. Garrus rubbed his hands together and stated dully.

"Really?" Kasumi nodded instantly.

"Joker said you wanted to see me." Garrus stated wanting to change the subject. Kasumi poured herself another glass of OJ and looked Garrus in the eye.

"I wanted to talk to you about Tali. She's really shaken up about everything that happened." Garrus felt a knot in his stomach tighten. He let out a low breath and let Kasumi continue.

"I just don't want to see her hurt any more than she is. I was hoping you could talk to her. Not now but when things…aren't so bad." Garrus curled his lips and clutched his hands together. He let out a low growl and grumbled.

"What happened wasn't my fault…Tarak was the one who…" Kasumi cut him off curtly.

"Garrus, Shepard nearly died. You and Tali need to talk this out." Garrus turned his head downward and uttered several curses in turian. He bit his lower lip and offered a small shrug.

"Why is this so important to you?" Garrus asked quietly. Kasumi offered another smile and replied in a near whisper.

"I am a sucker for unrequited love stories….and men with scars." Garrus snapped his head forward with the turian version of a blush written over his face. He was going to protest but Kasumi was gone. All that was left was a lipstick stained note that read

Just joking…about the scars bit.

K.G.

Garrus promptly ripped the note to shreds.

Mordin was up well before Karin. He took the liberty to bring her breakfast, well coffee at least. Mordin was unsure how she took it so he ordered put the creamer and sugar to the side. As he monitored the Commander he poured his second sugar packet into his own coffee. Without a spoon, Mordin resorted to stirring it with his finger. He quickly wiped his hands down with an anti-bacterial wipe before taking a generous gulp from his mug.

That was when he noticed how cold it was in the room. Deathly cold. He took in a sharp breath and rubbed his hands together. He looked to Karin and noticed that she lightly shivered. Mordin sipped his coffee before moving. He wrapped Karin's coat around her frame. The action must have disturbed her rest. Karin's eyes fluttered open and she inhaled deeply.

"Good morning." She yawned.

"Morning." Mordin offered before pacing around the equipment attached to Commander Shepard, making sure that all the readings were in the green. Karin yawned again and blinked away the sleep in her eyes. Then she took notice of the coat and the coffee, a light smile dancing across her face.

"Thank you." Karin stated genuinely. Mordin nodded quickly before checking the readings one final time. He smiled to himself and then to Karin as he took a seat next to her. He sipped his coffee and asked.

"Sleep well?" Karin nodded her head as she put her mug to her lips. She took one swig and looked out of the medical bay window.

"How about you?" Mordin shook his head and tapped his fingers against the rim of his cup.

"Don't need much rest. Slept for twenty, forty minutes, possibly slept in with fifty minutes. Not sure…feel better. Sleep felt good, took mind off of Shepard, stopped worrying and rationalized that Commander is stable." Mordin offered before finishing his coffee. His lip twitched. Odd… nervous ticks didn't manifest in Mordin… not like this. At best he would begin to ramble. His only tick… Odd. He passed it off as nothing.

"Would you like me to get some breakfast?" Mordin asked as he began tapping his foot. Karin shook her head.

"I'm okay I'm not much of a morning person." Karin admitted. Mordin nodded vigorously as he slowly started to hum Gilbert and Sullivan.

"Neither am I. Always groggy, hate mornings." Mordin added with pep in his talk, his foot now rapidly tapping out "Scientist Salarian." It took all it had to hold back from bursting out in song. Karin grinned as she watched Mordin continue and replied.

"Hardly seems like it, Mordin." Mordin returned the smile and agreed. Something was very wrong… Karin finished the last of her coffee and added.

"Again, thank you for the coffee. How did you know I took decaf?" Mordin's eyes narrowed. He only ordered a single decaf, for himself. Caffeine did not agree with his hyper metabolism at all. Mordin's mind began to race. Did he mix up the drinks… not possible! He couldn't have… unless, when he bumped into Garrus and nearly dropped the cups…couldn't be.

"Karin, are you sure you had decaf? Positive?" Mordin asked with fear encroaching in his voice. Karin only nodded her head…much to Mordin's distress.

"Caffeine, stimulant…causes alertness to sound, light and various other stimuli. Stimulates brain, wards of fatigue, drowsiness, and increases alertness of surroundings! However, decreases finer motor functions! Krogan have secondary nervous system! Humans have ten fingers and…and…Wheel, bless us all!" Karin watched with a mix of shock and overwhelming laughter as Mordin began to literally jump off the walls. Needless to say, Karin was thoroughly amused as the salarian scientist continued to ramble off random facts and oddities while bouncing around the med bay.

Tali awoke with a mild headache…which gradually turned into a migraine as her senses came back to her. First, she noticed that she was not in her bed but more importantly someone's arm was wrapped around her! It didn't register, not fully until she took a double take. She jumped nearly five feet in the air, letting out a loud yelp.

The person in question was Kenneth Donnelly. Kenneth Donnelly! The moment she screamed, he shot out of his cot hitting his head on a low hanging pipe. He was just as surprised as she was. He cursed and rubbed his forehead and then turned to face a very angry quarian engineer.

"Now listen, Lassie… this is a misunderstanding that I'm still trying to understand myself!" Tali reached for something, anything that she could use as a makeshift weapon. Until her eyes spotted an industrial sized wrench.

"Die." Tali hissed as she marched toward Kenneth, wrench in hand.

"Tali girl, listen, I'm just as surprised as you! I didn't put you there… I don't even know how you got in my bed…please not the face… no, more importantly not my…" Tali was upon Kenneth with fire boiling in her chi. The screams going mostly unheard… mostly. Just as Tali was about to deliver a final bone shattering punch Gabby walked in.

"Wait!" She exclaimed. Tali froze, moments away from rearranging Kenneth's face entirely. Gabby managed to calm Tali down enough and explain what had happened.

Flashback

"You remind of my mother! She was from the moon! I liked the moon, it was pretty! Do you know i love my boyfriend!" Tali slurred as she hugged Gabby. Gabby remained silent as she held Tali. She had come down to her and Ken's shared quarters in engineering. Ken was already asleep. Gabby was just about to crash when Tali stumbled in, mumbling something about Garrus and his calibrations. Gabby couldn't just leave the quarian alone like that and had offered up her bed. However in the course of the night Tali had slept walked over to Ken's bed. Gabby had caught her the first time but had passed out during the second.

End Flashback

Tali took in a deep breath. It was true that as a child she would sleep walk… and when she had a little too much to drink. With her anger slowly ebbing away she placed the wrench down, eying a terrified Kenneth all the way. Gabby escorted out up to the elevator. As she left Tali indicated with her hands that she was watching him. Kenneth could only nod his head in fear as the two ladies left. Once they were gone he smiled to himself and activated his Omni Tool comm.

"Joker, you owe me a scotch and ten credit chits, I confirmed that Tali's bio-suit is snug everywhere."

"Damn you." Was Joker's reply. Shortly after his victory Kenneth received a message on the extra-net from Gabby that simply read.

"You do realize that I have an open channel to your Omni Tool comm. You're dead." Kenneth felt beads of nervous sweat drop from his forehead. Tali being angry at him was one thing but Gabby was another story entirely.