John Shepard, SR-2 Normandy, Holo-Tank

John was staring blankly at the holotank display. Mindlessly, he switched between systems, cluster, quadrants, and back to systems. He had been following the routine for the last five minutes while he thought furiously.

There has to be something….some way… he thought. It's right on the tip of my mind….

"Commander?" Yeoman Kelly Chambers spoke up, cracking his mental isolation. "The quarian drop shuttle has docked with the Perugia."

"Hmm?" John blinked as he looked down at the woman before giving his head a quick shake. "Sorry, little distracted. Get Captain Shepard on the line."

With a small sympathetic frown, and a half smile Chambers waved away John's concern. "It's fine Commander. A lot has just happened in a short time. Just remember, part of my job is to listen and help the crew through stressful times like this."

John didn't quite roll his eyes, but it was pretty damned close. He was about to say something, probably something rude, before his station's comm flashed green at him. Saved by the bell….

"Johnny," Jane's voice was subdued. John could hear the anger in it. "The shuttle is docked in and locked. I appreciate your picking up the wounded and the deceased. I'll make sure they all get home for the proper rites."

"I'm just sorry I couldn't get here sooner," John sighed as he let his head drop. His neck was killing him. Along with his nose. Chest. Right arm. Oddly, his left big toe nail….

"Stop it John," Jane admonished him. "I know how your brain works, unless Cerberus messed something up, you're beating yourself up over something you had no way to know, nor control. Besides, it's my turn to beat you up. Mom and Dad already had their shots."

With a small smirk, John shook his head. "You had good people. Kal'Reeger seemed like a pretty damned fine marine. Finding the biotic quarian stuck in a storm drain was pretty funny though."

The ground team was doing a final sweep, rounding up what was salvageable, the bodies of the marines that didn't make it. Then there was this little voice. Grunt heard it first, and it was driving the krogan absolutely mad trying to find the source of it. Eventually he had tracked to to a geth Prime unit that seemed to have its arm trapped up to the shoulder inside of what turned out to be an ancient storm drain. After pulling the thing away, a red visored helmet slowly peeked its head out. The quarian saw Grunt standing over him, then slowly slide back down. It had taken another ten minutes to convince the marine to come out. Eventually Kal'Reeger had to order him.

There had been two other survivors. A human medic by the name of Saverov, that had been trapped behind a stone pillar, unable to do much of anything, and another human, a sniper by the name of Lakes. When Garrus had found her, she had been shot up pretty badly, but seemed to have taken out her attacker, a hopper, with her combat knife before losing consciousness.

"Yeah, well," Jane chuckled for a moment before her voice went serious again. "Look, I don't want to second guess you here, seeing as how you saved my people's collective asses, but, are you sure about-"

"I'm sure," John cut his sister off. His voice hardened to steel. "Tali is a bit shell shocked, I think, but was pretty adamant about not wanting to go back to the Fleet right now. And….I think I have an idea…."

Jane waited for a moment as John trailed off before clearing her throat. "Fine, you're pretty good at pulling the miraculous out your ass, so do what you can. And just remember you can call me whenever you need me."

"Really?" John raised an eyebrow. "You can just toss your orders aside whenever you please now?"

"Pff, Johnny, I'm a quarian pirate now," Jane scoffed. "I have the suit and everything. Besides, I mean, sure, my ship is a bit banged up at the moment…."

"Jane, the only thing holding it together at this point is hopes and dreams."

"You can kiss my ass," Jane laughed quietly. "I gotta get these people home. Thanks again, little bro."

As the comm clicked off, John stood and stared at the holo-tank for another moment before his head snapped up, his eyes wide. With a sudden turn, and a small leap, that scared Chambers more than she would ever admit, John dropped in front of his personal terminal.

His fingers flew over his keyes as he began scanning through his older messages, searching for…"Ha! Found it!" he crowed, as he skimmed over the message. At the time it had been useless babble, with a throw away line. But now, that line might just….

"Edi," John said.

And almost before he had finished the small word, the AI's orb appeared. "Yes, Commander?"

"I need you to find these coordinates," John highlighted the passage in the message he was looking at.

"I'm sorry, Shepard," Edi said, a note of regret in her voice as she flashed red. "I don't seem to be able to access that information.

"Dammit," John cursed as he slammed his fist down on the console. "There has to be a way…."

"I...think I might have a way," Edi began hesitantly. "It would go against part of the purpose I was placed here for, but I believe that purpose may have been wrong."

Blinking at the orb for a moment, John slowly raised his eyes to Chambers. The woman stood, staring at her own console, her eyes were shockingly wide.

"Kelly," John spoke quietly, but there was a dangerous undertone that made the woman shiver slightly. "I will know."

Kelly's small shiver became a full body one as her finger snapped away from her console, as if burned. "I..yes...sir," she spoke in almost a whisper.

After a moment John looked back down at Edi and nodded slightly. "Please."

Mordin Solus, SR-2 Normandy, Science Lab

It wasn't often that Mordin was given a significant challenge. His work for the STG, yes, challenging. Implementing it, more challenging. Since then however? Not really. Now however? Challenges. Collectors, hard enough. Shepard's request? Very difficult. A large challenge. He looked forward to it.

"Not a lot of time," the salarian blinked at the pair of datapads he held. "Time will be the most critical factor. Work too fast, chances of errors increase dramatically. Not fast enough, work becomes a waste of time. Where to start…. Interface. Yes, connection and interface. Figure out base system, need to find a vector of adoption. Alter how it interacts with the body. Baseline already created, just need to….hmm…"

"Geth," Barbara said, flatly, as she collected used dishes and test tubes to place in the cleaner. "I looked at it a little when I was..." She paused for a moment as pink lightly touched her cheeks. "Anyway, I noticed that it looked a lot like geth."

"Geth?" Mordin tilted his head as he opened his computer and began to bring up models. "Similar structure...yes...interface different. Bio markers….adaptable? Must be how the seeker venom is able to effect so many different species. Same markers in plague on Omega. Signature also….hmmm. Links to Collectors. Also, Sovereign. Interesting."

Turning off his screen, Mordin crossed one arm over his chest while the other came up to tap a finger to his chin, absently. Then, with a slow turn, he looked down at his human assistant and smiled. "Yes! Could work! Glad for your assistance. You do good work here, still think you should accept my offer to send you to Surkesh. You have hallmarks of a good doctor. Understand for now. But will convince you later. Either way, send message to Shepard. Tell him, 'yes'."

Barbara looked at her feet before nodding. "I'll inform the Commander."

"Good, good," Mordin moved to his desk and began pulling small trays from its compartments and powering up his micro scanners. "Also, tell him I am close on the seeker anti venom."

"Yes, Doctor."

Tali'Zorah vas Neema, SR-2 Normandy, Engineering Bay

Garrus hadn't been kidding. This ship's drive was amazing. It was bigger, more powerful and, annoyingly to her, quieter than the first Normandy. Honestly, it was a brilliant piece of human engineering. Which, of course, meant it needed quarian knowledge to get it into peak condition.

Besides, working kept her hands, and more importantly, her mind busy. She needed it. She couldn't think about what happened. She couldn't think about the lives...the losses…

"Dammit," Tali snarled to herself under her breath. You're doing it again! She blinked back the tears as she re centered her mind.

"The balance load looks to be off in the starboard most engine," Tali said eventually. From the corner of her eye she saw the human male jump slightly, only to be elbowed by the female. The pair of humans, and Tali herself, honestly, had been dancing around each other since Shepard had brought the quarian down and introduced her to the pair.

"Donnely, Daniels, this is Tali'Zorah vas Neema. She is from the crew of the original Normandy, he had said, without preamble. "She will be chief engineer, so let her poke around, answer her questions and get her up to speed."

He had then turned to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She had shivered at his touch, and he snatched his hand away, apologizing.

Part of her was ashamed of herself then. It wasn't shock, or fear that had made her shiver. It was him. Her body reacted at his touch, whether she wanted it to or not. And that was not the time. Though she wanted it.

"Tali," his voice rolled around her head as she fought to concentrate. A stressful event often caused a quarian to seek the other half of their soul, but it wasn't like they could truly bond.

"Tali?"

She was happy with what she had. He was important to her, and she was not going to let it go again, if she could help it.

"Tali!" this time a hand came down on her shoulder.

With a small screech, Tali whirled around, one hand reaching to her back for her shotgun, and the other pulled up in front of her. If it wasn't for the suit's gauntlets, and the fact that she kept her claws trimmed, they would have been out and threatening.

"Whoa!" Shepard stepped back quickly, his hands held up in front of him. His eyes were wide, even though a small smirk tugged at his lips. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"You..you didn't…" Tali fought down the pounding of her heart. A pounding that wasn't all fear. "I wasn't scared. I just...whatever, what do you want?"

Shepard took a deep breath as his face went serious. "I need to talk, it's….very important."

For a moment, Tali stared at him before glancing over at the other two engineers. They were pointedly ignoring the pair and staring hard at their consoles.

Which meant they were listening.

"We...can go into the core room?" Tali suggested, turning back to Shepard, and ignoring the pair that was ignoring her.

"I…" Shepard looked down and frowned slightly before lifting his head to look into her eyes. He was the first person to do that. He looked past her visor. He looked past her helmet, and the enviro-suit. He looked directly at her. "Come up to my quarters."

For a moment Tali stared hard at the man. Slowly her eyes widened as she realized the words he had just said. She knew that, for humans, it didn't have same meanings at it did for a quarian but still, her heart began pounding so loud in her chest that she was almost surprised he couldn't hear it.

Slowly, she nodded. "O..okay…."

John, The Loft

At first, Tali's attention had been drawn to the display of models that John had started. It was honestly a bit of an odd hobby, considering the fact he was on a suicide mission, but there was something about building that relaxed him.

Them, her hands twisting together in from of her, Tali stepped down into the main room of the cabin itself. And, of course, her attention was drawn immediately to the giant fish tank.

"Shepard?" she began, looking over at him. "What…"

Holding up a hand, John forestalled her questions. "No idea, Cerberus put it in for some reason. The fish," John waved vaguely at the colorful animals swimming about. "Those Gerald got when we stopped by the Citadel."

A quiet giggle escaped her as Tali took a deep breath and looked around the rest of the room before stopping again at the large bed. Her hands stopped moving.

"Ah," John cleared his throat as he moved to stand behind, and slightly to the side of her. "Yeah...Cerberus felt like I need a huge bed I guess."

Swallowing audibly, Tali turned to look up at him. Her glowing eyes wide. Then...they began to tremble before snapping shut. Her head bowed as her knees seemed to buckle underneath her.

Surprised, John's arms reached out, catching the girl and wrapping her tightly to him. He could feel her body shake with sobs.

"She….she was going to be….she was going to be my Number One," Tali choked out as her arms wrapped around John's torso, her hands grabbing handfuls of his shirt and squeezing like a drowning woman. "I...I...I told her about...about the Evil Overlord thing. She laughed so hard! She...she demanded to be my Number One, so that she...she wanted to betray me at the last minute. She...she said then the Evil Overlord would have to team up with the Ineffectual Prince to defeat her."

"Oh Tali," John murmured. If there was anything he knew, it's that there are no words. There was no half hearted platitudes, nothing could truly stop the pain.

Gently, John reached an arm down and scooped Tali up, one hand under her back, and the other arm under her knees. She made a small, surprised squeaking sound, as John stepped over to the couch and set her down, before sitting next to her.

"Tali, listen to me," John spoke quietly. His hands reached up and he laid them on each side of her helmet, bringing it up to face him. And those eyes nearly broke him.

"Tali," John tried again, still looking deeply into her eyes as his hands grasped hers. "There is a chance Tali. It's...dangerous. And the ethics…." John's eyes closed for a moment before looking into hers again. "There is a chance."

Tali's body went rigid at John's words. Her eyes, that had seemed so large, seemed to get even larger. "Wh...what?" she asked in a whisper.

Now, John did look away as he turned to face forward. But he never let go of her hands.

"Xera was barely alive, when we got there" John sighed as he looked for the right words.

"Yes...I...I know," Tali drew in a shuddering breath. "But...the damage...the infections she would get….That she was..."

"Impossible," John nodded. "Except for the cybernetic somebody had put into her."

"What?" Tali leaned back. "What do you mean?"

"I don't really know," John admitted with a shake of his head. "Something in what was put into her was able to keep her heart moving and staunch the blood loss. So...I put her in a crypod."

"She's here?" Tali's hands jerked out of John's as her head swung about, almost franticly. "Then...if she's alive...maybe...maybe if we get her to the fleet… Maybe somebody…."

Tali's head came around to stare at John again. "My father! Admiral Xen! They supposedly designed the cybernetics! It was supposed to be a prototype! Maybe they can do something!"

"No...wait, Tali, there's something more," John grabbed her hands again, drawing her attention fully to him. "The designs that they used, it was based on geth architecture. The systems, the basic interface, the whole deal."

"Geth?" Tali murmured quietly as the meanings of what John had said, rolled through her mind. "Geth! They, both...Xen and my father, their work is all about geth, but...they wouldn't…."

"Look, Tali," John brought up a screen on the tabletop projector. The first image was very clearly a quarian. The damage to their body was...horrific. The broken, shattered bones, damaged organs… But the part that John highlighted was the right shoulder and torso. "This is the implant, right? The reinforcements and neural connections."

"Yes," Tali nodded tentatively, her voice was thick as she fought to keep the emotion of just who the image was of.

"When I said geth architecture, I meant it like the way you and I built that shield device. The core itself was based on geth, but it was wiped and repurposed," John nodded at the screen. "From what Mordin tells me, for a quarian, it's a perfect fit. He also made a comment about it being something your people probably did before the war, but with geth assistance in the systems."

"I'm not a doctor, and I don't know much about biomechanics," Tali scowled at the screen. "Xera was the doctor. She was the one that went over your implants before declaring you clean. What you are saying makes sense in my head, but I don't quite understand."

"Right...here's where it gets….weird," John took a deep breath before blowing it out and switching to another scan. This time of a human male. A scan Tali had seen before. "This is what Cerberus put into me. The things they used to put me back together."

Confused, Tali looked from the screen, the to John, and back again. "I don't…." Then her eyes widened.

Pushing John away, Tali switched the view back to Xera, then back to John's. Then Xera, John, again.

"Keelah…" she breathed at last. "It's...so similar….."

"Exactly," John leaned forward again, looking at his own insides. "The basic architecture is almost the same. Including the reverse engineered Reaper tech."

"No," Tali said quietly, before raising her voice. "No. My father wouldn't do that. Xen...the bosh'tet is crazy, but I have a hard time accepting...no."

John watched Tali as her arms crossed under her chest. Her helmet turned away from both the images, as well as John, himself.

"Tali," he said quietly. "Jane sent me the reports of Cerberus's raid on the Fleet. There was the Grayson incident, but there was also the raid on the Alari."

"NO!" Tali exploded, leaping to her feet. Pacing back and forth, she muttered 'No' over and over again as her hands rubbed at her helmet.

After a moment, John stood, stepping in front of her and grabbing her gently, but firmly by the shoulders. "Tali, stop. That isn't what's important right now."

"Not important!?" Tali almost snarled, shrugging off John's hands, a low growling sound coming up from the back of her throat. "My father, Admiral Dero'Xen...they could be some of the greatest war criminals in the history of my people, and it's not important!?"

"Damn it, Tali," John stepped back. Shaking his head. "I don't think it's like that! What Cerberus stole was conceptual research. The information was likely what was in Xera. A way to help injured quarians, in a way that didn't risk rejection the way standard implants do. It even looked like it could help the quarian immune system. Xera was a prototype, a trial to see if it worked. And it did. To a point."

"I don't understand, Shepard," Tali's hands slid over her visor again as she looked back up at him, her eyes clear again. "I'm sorry...tell me."

John nodded as he gathered his thoughts. "The implants probably grew, and adapted themselves to her system. Mordin says that is't a lesser version of what mine are doing. Over time, mine are...improving me. I'm getting stronger, my bones are harder to break. My perceptions are sharpening. I'm even pooping less."

"I…" Tali blinked for a moment before frowning in confusion. "What?"

"Ehm," John coughed slightly. "Sorry was a small joke. I'll tell you about it...well, never. Forget it."

After a moment, Tali nodded. "I...thank you, that did help a bit," Tali chuckled shortly as some of the tension seemed to leave her. "Let's sit, and you can continue."

"Thanks," John waited for Tali to sit, before he sat next to her, and faced the two images, one of himself, and the other of Xera'Raan.

"Remember, this is over my head as well," John warned. "The explanation is from Mordin, but he had to dumb it way down before I understood what he was saying."

"I see," Tali laughed quietly.

John nodded with a small smile. "From what I understand, the systems and concepts were stolen from the quarians, and adapted to fit a human host. It's something of a Cerberus hallmark. They stole from everybody to put me back together. But," John held up a finger. "That also means that it can be converted backwards to fit a quarian system."

"We can save Xera?" Tali whispered, staring at the monitor. Her eyes flitted from one injury on her friends body to the next before she turned to look at John. "How?"

"We go to the place that has what we need," John looked steadily into Tali's eyes. "I'm not sure what the ethics would be for quarians, but this type of decision would fall to closest living relative, for a human. It's a lot of work, and there is a chance of it failing And we would be putting so much tech in her….Honestly, I'm not sure how much of 'me' is really left."

No," Tali whispered as her hand settled lightly on his. "You're you. I know. But this...

Tali nodded as she looked back to the image. "Do it. I'll take responsibility. If it fails...at least we tried everything to save her. And if it works….I get to keep my massan…."

John looked at her for a long moment, until Tali turned to look back at him. The tilt of her helmet and the look in her glowing eyes smiled at him. They had hope.

"Alright, Edi," John said, not taking his eyes away from hers. "Tell Joker. Set our course for Lazarus Station."

"Confirmed, Commander," Edi'd small orb answered. "And I am pleased to have you as a member of this crew, Miss Zorah."

"Shepard," Tali's quiet voice sounded like it had a razor's edge as she stared at the holo-pad. "Who, the fuck, is Edi?"

Miranda Lawson

"I can't believe we are doing this," Miranda said, matter-of-factly.

"What, saving somebody's life?" John scoffed as he crossed his arms. "That's pretty much what this whole mission is about."

"Shepard…" Miranda placed a hand over her forehead, like she had a headache. Because she did. A big one. "Would we be doing this if she wasn't close to Tali'Zorah?"

Shepard stood for a moment, staring straight ahead. Miranda could almost see the thoughts tumbling through the man's brain. And she had seen, and, to be fair handled, that brain.

"No," he said quietly. "Probably not. But she is important to Tali. And I met her. She is a good soldier. I think she will be worth it."

"How did you even know the station was still operational?" Miranda asked after a moment.

"Two things," John smirked. "The Illusive Man sent a message about some gear that was supposed to go to me that was recovered when they retook the station."

"And the other reason?"

In answer, John simply smirked.

"Well….we will see, I suppose," Miranda nodded, looking ahead as well, her own arms crossing.

"Guys?" Joker cut in as his chair spun around to face the pair. "Look, I appreciate the dramatic flare and everything, but could you have your stoic meeting elsewhere? I'm trying to fly here."

"Ah…" Shepard coughed before turing sheepishly around. "Right, I'll just go talk to Mordin, see what he's going to need to take with him."

"Very good Commander," Miranda half smirked as she nodded. "I was thinking of leaving Jacob and Zaeed with him?"

"Good idea," John nodded. "The Station's extra equipment should help Mordin get that Collector venom antidote done as well."

"Yes, and we can go pick up the next member. Jack," Miranda's nose crinkled slightly in disgust. "The Illusive Man knows what he's doing, but I'm not pleased to be picking up a convict, even if they are supposed to be an incredibly powerful biotic."

"I'd think the biotic bit would make it worse."

"Good point."

"Guys," Joker looked back over his chair. "I'm willing to space you. I can always blame the AI."

"I would not appreciate that, Mister Moreau," Edi answered, popping up. "Nor would I allow such a thing to happen to my crewmates."

"Crewmates?" John's eyebrows raised as he looked to Miranda.

"I…" Miranda looked back at him, just as confused. "I have no idea. Maybe if we look at-"

"Come on, guys! Seriously!"

Quarian Lexicon

Bosh'tet: Animal, native to Rannoch. With no insect life, other species of life had to fill the niche's that on earth fell to the insect. One such niche was the dung beetle. A bosh'tet falls into the category of roller on earth as it moves the dung found to a central location. Though differing in colors, from the green/yellow of the cooler climates to the blue/white in the more tropical areas, they are the same species. Known for apparent inability to distinguish between dung and small rocks, it is considered extremely stupid. Many have been found dead, surrounded by small rocks, as it tried to feed on them.

Massan: Quarian equivalent to a best friend and confidant. As close as one can get without being on a life path. The paths of friendship can share similar paths as those of mating, and at times, they can blur or even switch, before the end.

AN: There ya go. Answer to the cliffhanger. By beta reader had hit me. A lot. Then refused to talk to me until I finished it. Hope it isn't too hamfisted, but I am trying to put a different twist on the cliches that everybody has already played, read or written about, while keeping the core the same.