A/N: I apologize for this one taking longer than usual. Writer's block sucks. Thank you all for your support and feedback!
2185
Citadel/Widow Nebula
The Doctor was grinning like a child with a new toy as they exited the Normandy, moving slowly as he took in the sights of the Citadel. Shepard, Garrus, and Thane had taken off first, presumably going to speak to their C-Sec contact Commander Bailey.
Tali could sympathize with the Doctor. She remembered her first time on the Citadel - a completely foreign environment to a child of the flotilla. The tall, open spaces of the Presidium had almost given her vertigo, and she hadn't believed the diversity of plants that were there - just there because someone thought they would look pretty, not because they served any purpose. The walls were pristine and shining; completely free from graffiti, stains, and overgrown plants. The inner workings of the Citadel were behind those pristine walls, not out where they could be easily accessed when something went wrong (because that happened fairly frequently on a quarian ship). Zakera Ward, where they were right now, was not quite as majestic and put her more in mind of a quarian ship, noisy and cluttered - but it was still far too neat and clean overall. The number of people on the Citadel - all these different races in one place - was just a few million less than the entire quarian race. It made Tali aware of how tenuous her own species' place in the galaxy was.
Then, there were the aliens. She'd only seen other races in vids, in what she recognized now was a highly dramatized fashion. She could still remember, acutely, the fascination at viewing a large, lumbering elcor in person, and then seeing a hanar just floating there, like it was a null gravity environment. She remembered the burning shame and fear she'd felt when the turian at the embassy had turned her away - he wasn't anything like the virtuous turians portrayed in Fleet and Flotilla.
But without that turian turning her away, she might never have met Shepard. And she wouldn't trade her time on the Normandy for anything. So it had all worked out, even if it had been rough flying to get there. Then again - for three hundred years, quarians hadn't known anything but rough flying.
"Where to, first?" Mordin inquired. Tali hadn't been sure about the salarian at first, but once she understood him, she'd grown to like him. He'd given her a few helpful tips for improving her suit and omni-tool, and she'd repaid him by giving him some information about the flotilla. Nothing too sensitive, but information that wasn't widely available.
"Is there a gift shop?" the Doctor asked. "I love gift shops."
"You'll need to go through screening," Tali said. "They've tightened security since Sovereign's attack. I'm not sure what they'll make of you."
The Doctor pulled out a small item from his jacket pocket - it looked like some sort of ID card in a plastic covering - and held it up to Tali. "Tell me," he said, "what you see there."
Tali frowned, but read the text on the ID card. "Keelah!" she said, startled. "It says you're … special adviser to my father. How did you do that?" She paused. "That's still not going to get you very far. The quarians aren't respected here."
"Mordin," the Doctor said, holding up the paper to the salarian, "tell me what you read."
The salarian squinted, then his eyes opened wide. "Special consultant for STG," he said slowly. "Top secret clearance. Full access."
"Psychic paper," the Doctor said, closing the flap. "Says what I want it to say - or need to say - to get what I want. Saves a lot of trouble."
"So, if we get stopped by someone, that will say that you're someone important enough to not be bothered with," Tali said.
"Precisely," the Doctor replied.
"Shepard encountered issue during first visit to Citadel. Had to get it straightened out. Psychic paper may not be enough," Mordin said, tapping his chin.
"Are you always such a downer, Mordin?" the Doctor asked.
"Simply pointing out likely obstacle. No reason obstacle can't be circumvented," Mordin replied, smiling slightly. "Seem to be good at that."
The Doctor just smirked, that self-satisfied all-knowing expression he'd worn a lot since coming onto the Normandy. Tali wondered if that was going to become annoying at some point.
The trio walked forward towards the Zakera Ward entrance, passing through security. Sure enough, the turian guarding the entrance held up a hand as he examined the scanner. "You're not registered," he said to the Doctor. "You'll need to speak with Captain Bailey, just on the other side, and he'll get you in the system."
"Maybe you should mention Shepard," Tali said as they walked forward. "He's been helping her."
"Let's see where the psychic paper gets me," the Doctor said in an undertone as they walked up to Bailey's desk.
"Ah. Doctor Solus," Bailey said with a nod. "Good to see you again. Shepard just walked through here."
"Just sight-seeing today," Mordin said. "Maybe make some purchases."
"Playing tourist, hmm? Well, have fun," Bailey said. "And Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."
"Tali'Zorah vas Neema," Tali corrected, somewhat irritably.
"My apologies," Bailey said. "I'll update that now. And who's the third member of your party? He didn't show up on any databases."
"I wouldn't," the Doctor said, squaring his shoulders in a very Shepard-like gesture. Tali couldn't tell if it was a deliberate imitation or not. He held out the psychic paper for Bailey's inspection.
Tali had learned to read human expressions since coming on the Normandy, so she could tell that Bailey was shocked by what he saw there. "Terribly sorry, sir," he said, the words stuttering out. "No one told me."
"That's all right," the Doctor replied cheerfully, putting the psychic paper away. "It was a test, and you passed, er,"
"Captain," Mordin supplied in an undertone.
"Captain," the Doctor said, nodding. "Carry on."
Bailey saluted them as they walked off. Tali gave the Doctor a sidelong glance. "What did that say, anyways?"
The Doctor pulled the psychic paper back out and examined it. "Says I'm the special undercover agent of Executor Pallin. Who would that be?"
"The head of C-Sec," Tali said. "Citadel Security."
"Paper shows authority that subject respects most?" Mordin asked. At the Doctor's nod, he continued. "Interesting that Councilor Anderson was not that authority."
"He's far more likely to upset the Executor than the Councilor," Tali said thoughtfully.
"Hm. True." Mordin nodded.
"Where to first, Doctor?" Tali asked.
The Doctor cast a glance around, still appearing to be drinking in all the details, then clapped his hands together. "And the gift shop is right by the entrance!"
"Of course," Mordin said, sounding amused. "Makes it easier to part tourists from money."
The Doctor patted his pockets. "Money. What do people use for money? I never seem to have any."
Tali looked over at Mordin. It was in situations like this where she most wished she could use facial expressions, because a lifetime of pinching pennies made her extremely reluctant to voluntarily give up her 'pocket money' - even if Shepard would find some way to pay back Tali.
"My treat," Mordin said brightly. Tali suspected his mind was running along a similar vein. Or maybe that was just quarian values talking.
"Thank you, Mordin," the Doctor said as they moved towards the aforementioned gift shop.
The asari who greeted them directed them towards the purchase terminal. The Doctor's mouth quirked in a smile as his hand hovered over one of the entries. "Space hamster?" he asked.
"Many of our customers spend a long time aboard ships, sometimes with minimal company," the asari said. "The space hamster was bred to thrive on a shipboard environment, and to interact with its owner."
"I'll take one," the Doctor said enthusiastically, before looking over at Mordin.
The salarian paused, shrugged, and then authorized the transaction.
"And to what ship should this be delivered?" the asari asked.
"The Normandy," Tali said.
"Oh! I'll bundle it with the other order for the Normandy," the asari said. "Someone from there bought all our model spaceships."
Tali perked up at that. She'd have to go to Shepard's cabin to see the collection. "Thank you," she said, more enthusiastically than she'd intended.
"Have a pleasant day!" the asari said as they turned to leave.
"Any other shops you want to visit?" Tali asked. "I usually stop at Saronis Applications. They have the best software."
"Sirta Supplies. Biomedical retailer," Mordin said.
"Thank you both for your recommendations," the Doctor said. "But what I'd like to see right now is the Presidium. If I'm allowed to drag you about in such a manner."
"It's rare that Shepard gives us the time to just relax off the Normandy," Tali said. "A lot of the time, even if we're not on missions, we're supposed to be at a state of readiness. In and out in no time, since we never know what to expect. But the Citadel is - as safe as anywhere, these days. Shepard's still a Spectre, even if the Council maintains deniability about her actions. No one on the Citadel would dream of giving a Spectre trouble." She looked over at the Doctor. "So, no, I don't mind wandering about. Especially since Shepard told us to do this with you. So really, we're just following orders from our commander."
"Would never dream of disobeying Shepard's orders," Mordin said. "Consequences -" the sharp inhale, again- "unpleasant."
"So she's a hard woman," the Doctor said slowly.
"Trying to figure the Commander out, Doctor?" Tali asked.
"She's still - contradictory," the Doctor said.
"I can see where you'd think that," Tali said, and decided to open up a little bit. "She's hard because she has to be. She's the only person who even has a hope of doing something about the Reapers. And not enough people believe her, which makes her job even harder. But she was always kind to me. She was the first person to treat me as anything resembling an equal. She offered me a place on her ship and her team. Listened to what I had to say. She's my friend as well as my commander." She was blushing underneath her helmet for having gushed about Shepard that way, but it was all true. The only saving grace she felt was at knowing she wasn't the only one on board the Normandy to think that.
"And you, Mordin?" the Doctor asked, turning to look at the salarian.
"Shepard found me on Omega. Was working in clinic there. Plague unleashed by Collectors." Mordin shook his head. "Nasty business. Killed all species except humans and vorcha. Found cure right before Shepard arrived. Stopping Collectors-" he inhaled sharply - "worthy goal. Cerberus throwing money at project. Latest equipment, weapons. Fully stocked lab. Freedom to pursue projects." Mordin paused and brought a hand up to rest on his chin. "Still working on cure for Joker's condition." He dropped the hand. "Shepard helped with … personal matter. Former student of mine. Engaged in … questionable activities. Found him. Stopped him from hurting anyone else." He nodded. "No question of following Shepard now. Didn't have to help me. Did it anyways."
"So everyone has some degree of personal loyalty towards Shepard?" the Doctor asked.
Tali thought back to the recent trips they'd taken. "Both Miranda and Jacob do, now, I'm pretty sure. It didn't take much for Grunt to decide that Shepard is more krogan than a krogan. Jack stopped swearing quite so much at Shepard after they took that trip to Pragia, or so I'm told-" she looked over at Mordin, who nodded in confirmation. "And she's running errands for Garrus and Thane today. Not that Garrus really needs it. He's like me - been there from the beginning."
"Not quite," Mordin said in a musing tone. Both Tali and the Doctor looked at him, but he offered no other explanation.
"Sorry, who's Jack?" the Doctor asked after a moment. "Don't think I've met him yet."
"Her," Tali corrected. "She's a human biotic. And …" she groped for something reasonably polite to say. Jack was crazy, no doubt about that, but she was also on their side.
"Mental issues," Mordin supplied. "Experimented on to improve biotic potential. Tortured. Cerberus - responsible."
The Doctor's face darkened noticeably. Tali wondered just how long it would take for either him or Shepard to crack and go after the Illusive Man personally.
By this time, they had walked back to the C-Sec outpost. Tali looked over to see Garrus standing there, arms crossed, an amused expression on his face while a human shouted at Captain Bailey. "What's going on?" she asked him.
"Shepard and Thane are questioning some guy who has information on Thane's son," Garrus said in an undertone. "That's his lawyer."
"He doesn't look happy," Tali said.
"Apparently the guy pays Bailey to avoid situations like this," Garrus said. "Things have changed since my days in C-Sec."
One of the doors opened, and Shepard and Thane exited. Tali craned her neck to see a human cowering in a corner, his hands held over his head in a protective gesture. Shepard looked surprised to see the other Normandy group there, but just nodded in an acknowledgment of their presence.
"The guy he's after is Joram Talid," she said to Bailey.
The Doctor was frowning as he, too, craned his neck to look in the interrogation room. "What did you do?" he demanded of Shepard.
"We just talked to him," Shepard said lightly. Tali barely kept herself from laughing. She'd seen that expression on Shepard's face a hundred times before, when she was doing her best to play the dumb soldier. She had no idea if anyone outside of the Normandy crew was buying it.
"C'mon, let's go to the Presidium," she said, nudging the Doctor's elbow to get him to keep moving. She suspected it wouldn't be a good idea to keep him here for too long, given that his face was darkening again. Tali was sure that Shepard hadn't done any permanent damage. Reasonably sure.
"But-" the Doctor said.
"Shepard's got it under control," Tali said. "Don't you want to see the Presidium?"
The Doctor frowned, again, then nodded. "All right."
The Presidium was as spectacular as everyone had promised.
It put the Doctor in mind of many of the places he'd visited recently. Too many of them had a sinister undertone. There were always sinister undertones. This place, so he understood from Liara's memories, was no exception - except that it had been unearthed two years ago, when Saren and Sovereign took control of the Citadel in an attempt to let the bulk of the Reapers in.
"You were here," the Doctor said to Tali as those memories filtered in. "You fought the final battle with Shepard."
"An experience I will never forget," Tali said. "Walking on the outside of the Citadel, seeing all the ships firing on Sovereign - the geth trying to stop us, every step of the way. And then getting to the Council chambers, having to fight Saren after Sovereign - brought him back. Took him over. Made him this inorganic monster that just hopped around everywhere. I wasn't as much use as Wrex was, but I did my best, knocked him off balance a few times. It was the most horrifying thing I'd ever seen." She shook her head.
The Doctor looked around at their surroundings. "They rebuilt this in two years?" he asked.
"Keepers helped," Mordin said. "Facilitated rebuilding. Reapers programmed them to keep Citadel functioning. Their home. Strong incentive to return to normal. "
"And the Council just denied it ever happened," Tali said. "Blamed it all on Saren and refused to accept that the Reapers were real. They're not prepared for the war."
"People never want to believe that there's something dangerous out there," the Doctor said. "Humans are very good at denial."
"Trait not specific to humans," Mordin said, shaking his head. "Councilor Valern won't listen. Dalatrasses won't listen. Salarians prefer to solve problems before they happen. Reapers-" he inhaled sharply- "already a problem. Collectors prove that."
The silence stretched out for a long moment as they all contemplated that, the Doctor leaning on a railing and looking out over the Presidium's ponds. What a contrast. The three of them - and everyone else on the Normandy - were among the few people in the galaxy that knew war was coming. Everyone else was just going about their lives.
Mordin's omni-tool beeped, abruptly, and he lifted it up to examine what it was telling him. His eyes widened in surprise. "Councilor Valern," he said. "Wants to see me. Immediately. Matter of some urgency."
"Well, then," the Doctor said after the silence faded. "I think we'd better go see him."