A/N: I'd like to thank ChoppedBread for valuable help in getting this story moving again!
We've passed 20,000 views - not bad for my first effort ;)
This is another chapter that I had to split because it was getting too long. Enjoy, and the next one won't have as long of a delay as this one did...
2185
Normandy SR-2
Shepard was doing her best not to sport a shit-eating grin as she looked over the Normandy's morning report. All was well with her ship, and she'd had a great night - and early morning - with Garrus. She tried to act as normal as possible, not wanting to draw anyone's attention to the idea that something had changed with her.
There were no outstanding "personal favors" to attend to, though if the pattern continued, Tali and Samara would be approaching her soon. Shepard decided that meant it was time to check out this derelict Reaper the Illusive Man had mentioned. Just because they were picking up the IFF didn't mean they had to install it right away. It might be better to wait and run tests on it, make sure that it wasn't going to mess with the Normandy's systems.
Shepard looked down at her mug of coffee and realized that she had almost finished it, which meant that it was time to get up to the CIC and set a destination for the Normandy. Today, it felt harder to do so than usual. She was largely alone in the mess area, so no one was there to see her look over her shoulder at the door to the main battery. The unfortunately closed door.
She heard the elevator doors opening, meaning she was about to have company. Time to get to work, then.
Morning was not a concept that the Doctor was particularly familiar with. The TARDIS didn't exactly keep to a night-and-day schedule - he usually slept when his traveling companions did, and sometimes not even then.
Schedules were also something that he tried to avoid whenever possible. There was too much to do to keep to a schedule. You went where the excitement took you, where there was something interesting just around the corner. The Doctor did not stick around when people were just traveling from Point A to Point B.
Yet there he was, exiting the TARDIS in what everyone onboard agreed to term "morning", sticking to something that could be called a routine as he moved up to Deck 3 to get some tea. He was grateful that the Mess Sergeant had some skill in that area. It was one of the signs of civilization, the ability to make a decent cup of tea.
When he exited the elevator, he saw some relatively unfamiliar faces. The Silurian-like alien was the second one they'd picked up on Illium, if he recalled, although the drell - Thane - actually had gills along his neck, and his eyes were absolutely huge on his human-sized face. Almost like Mordin's.
Across from Thane sat the krogan Grunt, still a lumbering mountain of a beast. The krogan's plate was heaped high with what appeared to be many different varieties of meat, and he was using both hands to shovel it in his mouth. The Doctor felt a bit more comfortable around Grunt these days, and showed it by indulging in a bit of teasing. "No vegetables, Grunt? How do you expect to grow big and strong without your vegetables?"
"Already big and strong," Grunt replied, pausing in his shoveling to look at the Doctor with a quizzical expression. "Are you saying vegetables will make me stronger?"
"You should not give him such ideas," the drell said. His voice was resonant and raspy, like he had a perpetually dry throat. "He does not need any more encouragement."
"But we are fighting the Collectors, who are servants of the Reapers," Grunt replied. "I must be as strong as I possibly can, if we are to succeed." He looked over at Sergeant Gardner. "Are there any vegetables?"
The Doctor sighed and reminded himself of how literal-minded the krogan was. Though this had been a comparatively harmless exercise, all things considered.
"Wish it was that easy to get all kids to eat their greens," Gardner said as he fished around for vegetables. "I'd'a had it much better back in the day."
Behind them, the door to the main battery opened, and Garrus walked out. "Morning, everyone," he said, bypassing Gardner and going straight for one of the cabinets. The Doctor got it a second later. Dextro-amino races had different food from the rest of them.
"There ya go, Grunt," Gardner said, handing the krogan a plate of vegetables. Grunt sniffed at them, then dumped the contents of the plate on top of the meat mush and started mixing.
"Are those … vegetables?" Garrus asked as he took his seat.
"The Doctor says they will make me grow big and strong," Grunt replied in between bites. "I can always be stronger."
"Is there some bias against vegetables I'm not aware of?" Garrus asked.
"I don't know about the other races, but human children can be notoriously picky about food," the Doctor replied. "In my experience, it's tricky to get youngsters to eat what's good for them."
"I think everything's good for a krogan," Garrus replied. "Due to the fact that Tuchanka's radioactive and all."
The Doctor was startled to look over at Grunt's plate and see that the krogan had mostly finished the heap of food he'd started with. He revised his estimate of Grunt's metabolism upwards.
"Been meaning to ask you," Grunt said. "Why do you have a thing around your neck? Wouldn't that make it easier to choke you?"
The Doctor tugged on the ends of his bow tie. "It's called a bow tie. I wear it because it's cool."
"I do not understand 'cool'," Grunt commented while Thane and Garrus exchanged glances. "The tank imprints tell me that 'cool' is a temperature. How can your tie be cool?"
"No, no, see, 'cool' also means … hip. Neat. Worth admiring," the Doctor assured him.
"Bow ties are the opposite of cool," Garrus informed Grunt. "I don't know what he's thinking."
"No one appreciates the bow tie," the Doctor said, shaking his head.
"I appreciate that it was a fashionable item in my great-great grandpappy's day," Gardner said.
"I appreciate that it isn't around my neck," Thane added.
"And what is it that you're wearing, exactly?" the Doctor said, feeling put out. "Some sort of weird … bodysuit … thing. Although I do like the coat. The coat is nice. It has some flourish to it."
"Can't believe I'm hearing a bunch of men discussing clothing," Gardner said, shaking his head. "Things you learn when you get out and see the galaxy a bit."
Garrus snorted. "I think we can agree that anything's better than a Cerberus uniform, Gardner."
"You've got me there," Gardner said, chuckling. "This fabric is the worst. Doesn't breathe well."
The loudspeaker crackled to life overhead. "Shepard just gave me the coordinates for our next mission, guys. Looks like we're heading to that derelict Reaper. Garrus, Doctor, Tali, Mordin, and Grunt - Shepard wants you in the briefing room."
"Oh, good. More things to kill," Grunt said.
"I'm increasing the ground crew for this mission," Shepard said, leaning back against the table and folding her arms. "Everyone in this room is coming. I don't want to take any chances with derelict Reapers. Doctor, Tali, Mordin - you three seem to be working well together these days, so you're our brain trust. Mine the computers for every bit of information we can get. Take note of everything. This was a Cerberus operation. We don't know what they might have found." She paused, significantly. "Dig as deep as you have to."
The Doctor recognized tacit permission when he heard it, and he resisted the urge to smirk. So. He was going to get the chance to unearth some of Cerberus' secrets. This would be very interesting.
"The rest of us are on crowd control, so to speak. The Cerberus team went dark. Assume that there are hostiles," Shepard continued. "Given our luck, possibly a lot of hostiles. Our main goal is to keep them away from the other team, so that they can work uninterrupted. And quickly. Going inside a Reaper - even a dead Reaper - could be dangerous."
"Good thinking," Mordin said, nodding his head approvingly. "Solid plan. Also, challenge. Looking forward to it."
"It'll be a bit crowded in the shuttle this time, but we'll manage," Shepard said. "I assume the TARDIS is staying behind again, Doctor?"
"Seems prudent," the Doctor replied with a nod.
"You know, for a machine that can go anywhere and everywhere, it's mostly stayed on the Normandy," Garrus commented, crossing his arms and giving the Doctor the turian equivalent of the stink-eye.
"You're still not using the TARDIS to set up ambushes," the Doctor replied, exasperated.
"Garrus has a point, though," Shepard said thoughtfully. "I think it might be time to have that blue box do something other than just take up space in the cargo hold."
"It's also my home - but -" the Doctor shook his head. "You may have a point, Shepard. I'll think on it."
Shepard nodded. "Miranda managed to wheedle a little more information out of the Illusive Man on this. Tali, Mordin, you can review it on your terminals. Doctor -" she paused, considering. "Look over Mordin's shoulder, or something. I'll have Joker let you know when we've gotten closer. Anything else?"
The group exchanged glances, but no one said anything. Shepard nodded. "Dismissed," she said.
The Doctor followed Mordin into the tech lab, taking a good look around. The first time he'd come in here, everything had been rather overwhelming. He'd been trying to get his bearings in this universe, figuring out who Shepard was. Now he had a bit more attention to spare, and he took in the details. He was good at details.
Mordin went straight for the terminal, which was on a table next to his primary workspace - a bench with a variety of scientific equipment on it. The Doctor was unsurprised to see it cluttered with notes, vials, and other things that the Doctor couldn't immediately recognize. He peered into one of the dishes.
"Virus used on Omega," Mordin said. "Harmful to turians. Batarians. Krogan. Probably quarians, though suit defenses impressive." He paused, then lifted it up. "No. Wait. Cure. My mistake."
"Much safer than the virus," the Doctor said, deciding it was best not to touch anything in the lab. "So, what did we get from our mysterious friend?"
"Friendly now?" Mordin asked, looking surprised. At the look of confusion on the Doctor's face, he shook his head. "Ah. Joking. Of course. Suspect he has few friends. Possibly none." He flicked a long finger across the surface of the terminal. "Semi-permanent installation connected to derelict Reaper. Prefab unit towed in by large ship. Living quarters. Science area. Dock. Crew has FTL shuttle. Science team headed by Dr. Chandana." Mordin peered at the screen, then gave another flick to bring up the personnel record for Chandana. "Archaeologist. Specialty, pre-Cerberus, was Prothean technology. Spent time at the Mars Archives. Several papers. Made breakthroughs on understanding Prothean technology. Cerberus turned him into Reaper expert." He flicked his finger again. "Rest of team mixed. Some computer experts. Some Prothean experts. One psychologist. Not sure if there for psychological view, or to keep crew from going insane. Latter is just as likely."
The Doctor frowned. Something was tugging at the edge of his consciousness. Something from Liara…
"The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour into you. It is subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist. Instead, I became a willing tool, eager to serve."
"Sovereign," the Doctor said slowly, "was a Reaper."
Mordin looked over at him, a puzzled expression on his face. "Yes. Thinking this reaper is like Sovereign?"
"No, that's not it," the Doctor said. "I have some of Liara's memories. Her mother, Benezia, was indoctrinated. A powerful, thousand-year-old asari fell victim to a Reaper just by being on board." He turned to look at Mordin. "What would one do to a handful of human scientists?"
"Reaper has been dead for millions of years," Mordin said, though he sounded troubled.
"Hey guys, one more thing just popped up that Shepard wanted you to know about," Joker said over the loudspeakers. "There's a geth ship docked at the Reaper."