AN: No, I am not planning a harem scenario. That is a bit of a plot point that will come up at a later point, and will be addressed, but there has been some concern, and it isn't really a spoiler to assure you that, no, this is not that kind of wish fulfillment.

Xera'Raan vas Neema, Lazarus Station

She just stood and stared.

"Who the fuck are you?" she asked her reflection. Like most quarians, Xera had very few opportunities to really look at themselves. And, usually, see one's entire self at once, generally meant the next day would end in a very mucous filled demise.

"Is there and issue, mis Raan?" Mordin asked over the intercom.

That was another...odd thing. Not only was she able to actually look at herself, other people had as well. And...before she did. In fact, she felt a little cheated on that.

It wasn't to say that the people involved with saving her fucking life were callous and splashing her image to the stars or anything. In fact, the only ones who had seen her and her body were the Professor and his nurse. That weird, creepy little human.

It also didn't help that Xera was a little star struck by the Salarian. She had read a great many of his papers and felt tremendous respect for him. Hell, he had been on the doctoral committee when she had submitted her third year thesis on humans. When they got to the oral exam she nearly wet her suit, she was so scared.

"Miss Raan?"

"Oh...sorry," Xera shook her head. "Little...distracted? That seems inadequate, but I'll stick with it."

As it stood right now, Xera was in a clean room. The same one that they had done all the medical work on her in. Professor Solus didn't want to risk exposing her to any more external contaminants than she had already had. And there had been a fuck ton of them. On the other hand, she was totally isolated, visually as well. Professor Solus and his nurse were the only ones with the codes required to unfilter the camera feeds in her room.

Not that some irritating old human didn't keep asking to see her.

"That is quite understandable," Morin sounded almost sad. "The facilities here are beyond bleeding edge, but it is geared toward humans. We did not have much time to alter them to address amino acid type, let alone quarian biology."

Xera didn't respond for another long moment. Instead she turned around to look at her back.

"Yeah, well," she said at last. "I'm particularly thrilled to be alive, so I am not going to make any real complaints. Besides, I'll be back in a suit before too long." She paused again then chuckled at herself. "Never thought I would look forward to being in a suit."

The professor chuckled, "Yes, we have informed the Normandy, and they happened to be at the quarian Fleet. The admiralty board is, apparently, expediting repairs and replacements for the damaged sections of you suit."

"They were?" Xera blinked, looking at the sealed window Mordin was behind. "Why were they at the Fleet? That's one of those weird coincidences that you would expect to see in an action vid or something."

Mordin paused for a long moment of his own. "There was a political incident that Commander Shepard and Tali'Zorah were involved in. Unfortunately it involved the death of Admiral Zorah and charges that had been brought against tali'Zorah."

"Fucking what?!" Xera spun to the window fully, almost stomping over to it. "Is there anybody else in there?"

"Just Barbara," Mordin answered. "I assume you want to see us directly?"

""Yes," she said simply.

In answer, the covered window section opened, revealing Professor Solus and, as he had said, his little creepy nurse.

"Okay, so, what do you know?" Xera leaned a hand against the window. "By the Ancestors, that had better not be it."

A small smile tugged at the edges of Mordin's mouth as he shook his head. "No, no, if I had not answers, wouldn't have given you information. Would have been cruel to worry you when there was nothing you could do. All in all, though, Shepard did what he does. He killed things and fixed the issue."

Exhaling a breath she didn't know she had been holding, Xera let her shoulder drop against the window. "Should have figured. Keelah, with his luck he probably had to fight geth on the fleet!" Xera chuckled.

Then she noticed that Mordin did not chuckle with her. And that was a decent joke. The little creepy human never laughed. Xera had given up on her. Why was mordin giving her that look?

"You're shitting me?" Xera stood back, dumbfounded. "Active geth in the Fleet?"

"Indeed," Mordin nodded solemnly. "I am not entirely aware of the details. But Barbara informs me that we have a copy of Commander Shepard's closing arguments."

"Okay…" Xera chuckled. "This should be interesting. Let's see it."

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Quarian Migrant Fleet

"We're sending how many of our people to another galaxy entirely?" Tali tilted her head in confusion. "It seems like a bit of overkill, just to change our image."

"Tali'Zorah!" Shala'Raan leaned back, shocked. "Our people's situation is not a joking matter!"

With an undignified snort, Tali shook her head. "Shala, I've been out in the wider galaxy longer than you have. And more recently. If there is anything I know, especially after the geth attack on the Citadel, it's how our people are treated. And, something I learned from John...Commander Shepard... it's that laughing at something takes power away from it." Tilting her head again, she chuckled. "Also really pisses off bullys."

Shala gave a sigh as she sat back in her chair and gave Tali the look. The one that had always cowed Tali while growing up. It was less the look of an Admiral, and not quite that of a mother, but was still in the proximity.

And right now, it just irritated her. "Shala, I'm still more than a bit bitter. I get to be a bit of a bosh'tet."

Laughing, Shala relented with a small nod. "That is fair enough Tali. Though I do have to say, your time with Shepard has left a mark on you. You are stronger for it. Stronger than Meru even."

Then, as if a switch was thrown, Shala leaned forward on her desk, her hands flat on its surface. "However, I worry that it might affect you too much. You've seen how Xera'Raan was affected by so much time away from the Fleet. I am afraid you might go down a similar path."

Under her helmet, Tali's eyes narrowed. "What path is that exactly," she demanded. "She went to the most prestigious medical school in Citadel space. She almost bullied her way into marine combat details. She saved countless lives. Personally, I can't think of anybody I would rather be more like."

"Well, except maybe for all the random mating," Tali added with a slightly embarrassed tone.

"That proves part of my point, Tali," Shala tapped her finger on her desk. "Her promiscuity, even if it is only via nerve stimulators, has damaged her ability to find a proper mate. I have reports that people actively avoid her for that reason. I just don't want something like that to happen to you. I want you to be happy. Find a mate. Settle down and have children of your own."

Tali lost her words at that moment. How would she tell Shala that she already had bonded. With a human. Something that was still supposed to be impossible. If Tali hadn't been aware that John was less than a hundred meters away, and the fact that he was bored out of his mind, she would have a hard time believing it herself. But she had denied it for so long. And she had lost it once. She would be damned if she let it go again.

But still. Not need to get into that quite so soon after the trial. Maybe she would wait a bit longer. Let things settle a bit. Maybe change her name and extranet address and go into hiding.

Keelah, now she was thinking like John.

"Why are you grinning like that, Tali'Zorah?" Shala demanded. "This is an important conversation! I have a series of individuals that expressed interest in you, all of who I believe to be good potential mates. This is your future we are talking about!"

How had she missed that change in conversation?!

I'll blame John, she decided. It's probably his fault.

"Wait, wait," Tali held up her hands, her eyes going wide. "You're looking to arrange a ileer?!"

"It seemed prudent, considering your circumstances," Shala nodded. "You are spending a large amount of time away from the Fleet. When you had joined the marine field units I had hope that you would make a connection. I had doubly hoped that it would have been Kal'Reeger. He is a dependable male, and would make a fine mate."

"Shala...just...just stop," Tali closed her eyes for a moment, trying to process all the information. "I don't need help finding a mate."

Pausing for a moment, Shala crossed her arms expectantly.

"I am happy where I am," Tali sighed and ran a hand over her visor, struggling to find the words. "I have a place. I have friends. I have John. You saw how he defended me, Shala. He cares for me."

Shala's eyes went so wide Tali was afraid they would pop out of her visor, as she leaned back in her chair. "Tali'Zorah!," her voice was a mixture of shock and...disgust? "You can't mean to say that you and...I had been wondering why you called him John! I...No, Tali! I can't let you throw yourself away like that! I promised your mother, my massan, that I would make sure you were happy! Your soul would never be complete! You would never know the joys that come with a bonding!"

"Shala, no!" Tali almost growled. "You don't get to say that to me! I was almost exiled from this Fleet so the Admirals could play at politics! I had to find out my father had died in the middle of the damned trial! My ship name was taken from me, and the only person to defend me was John! He is my captain! He loves me, just as I love him! And I am bonded! My soul is complete when I am with him! I can feel him! I know where he is, always! His pains are mine. My pains are his. We are one, Shala!"

There were no words from Shala. She sat in her chair, shaking slightly, whether it was anger, shock or even fear, Tali didn't know. Or care.

Slowly, Tali stood, looking down at her Aunty Shala. "I am done. I will be aboard the Normandy. Please inform me when the suit for Xera is ready. I will send somebody to get it. But I am not setting foot on this ship...I won't say never. Not in anger. But…"

Tali's eyes narrowed. "He is outside the door. He feels my anger and is concerned."

As if it was rehearsed, there was the door chime. "Tali?" John's muffled voice carried into the cabin. "Is everything alright?"

"It's fine, John" Tali called back, her eyes not leaving Shala's. "I'm done here."

Officer Cadet Kelly Shepard, Horizon Colony

"I'm biotic, not a god," Kelly groaned as she dropped onto her ass in the mud. "Seriously, I grew up on a farming colony. I've done work in fields. This planet is just terrible."

"Oh stop being a sissy," the old human human laughed. She was certainly old. Her steel grey hair was cut short, much like a marine's standard cut. Her figure was a boxy, almost square, that didn't seem to have lost much of the strength it had probably possed in its youth. And her eyes were a brilliant green.

And at the moment, the old woman was welding down a section of the outer casing for one of the defense turrets that the Alliance was installing for the colony.

The old woman, Margaret, was a former marine. A graduate of the N3 program, she was overly proud to admit to everybody that sat still for more than five minutes. And, though she had passed the mandatory retirement age, she still kept on as marine auxiliary. Meaning she went around doing things like putting guns in random colonies.

She was also not shy about using Kelly's biotics to do a majority of the heavy lifting. Insisting it would 'build character'.

Well, about know Kelly had a whole damned novel.

And mud on her nose.

"I'm not being a sissy," Kelly would have grunted, but she didn't have the energy. "I'm just not a crane, a bulldozer and a tractor in one small, admittedly, sexy, package."

"Ha!" Margaret laughed. "Honey, if I was twenty years younger, I'd be taking you behind the grain silo and teaching you a thing or two about what humans can do."

Despite herself, Kelly laughed along. "So that's your aim? Since you are too old, you are going to wear me out before ravaging me?"

With a wink, Margaret made a crude gesture. "Still can, if you want."

"I have a feeling I couldn't keep up," Kelly held up her hands in surrender. "I can't keep up as it is."

"Oh, you're doing fun hunny bun," Margaret nodded as she finished her weld. "Think we are about done for-"

"Help! Please!" a frantic voice called across the fields. "My boy! Tommy's fallen into the old well!"

Kelly shot Margaret a look and shook her head. "You have got to be fucking kidding me…."

Kal'Reeger vas Neema

"So...Commander," Kal'Reegar approached the human as he stood just outside the airlock that led to the Normandy. Shepard clearly did not miss the fact that he was armed. Nor the fact that he wasn't alone.

Raising an eyebrow, John turned to face him, and giving Reegar's companions a slow, and only mildly threatening, once over, he turned to face him directly.. "Kal, what can I do for you?"

The quarian marine shifted uncomfortably under Shepard's gaze, before sighing. "Look, I don't know what happened, but Admiral Raan went from all but calling you Sella'Kormand, that's a folk hero, by the way, to demanding we board your ship and take Tali'Zorah, by force, if we have to. To 'get her away from that human's manipulative hands'," Kal made little air quotes. "Her words.

Kal knew this confrontation was going to be...difficult. He had seen how Shepard had reacted on Haestrom. And he had seen what Shepard did on Haestrom. However, he did not expect Shepard's actual reaction.

Which was nothing. The man went completely still, like an iaysaz under the gaze of its mother.

And then...he growled. Quietly. In the back of his throat.

It wasn't like a quarian growl. It was clear that humans didn't have the right vocal parts for it, but still, a growl nonetheless.

"Whoa!" Kal held up his hands, to show that he wasn't weilding a weapon. "I have an idea about what is going on. If I hadn't seen you on Haestrom, or your defense of Tali'Zorah here, I would have believed it impossible. However, I have seen both of those things. It is also, I am relieved to say, illegal to separate bonded mates."

Shepard blinked a moment. "I see," was all he said, clearly still suspicious.

With a small laugh, Kal shrugged. "Also, it's usually suicidal to try. As you are probably aware, the binding can make us...aggressive toward threats to our mates."

"Come on, Reegar!" Lalla'Pon snorted from behind him. The marine was always a bit of an overly aggressive moron, but he was a cousin. Bonded into a different clan, but still, Kal was under obligation to at least make an attempt at keeping him from getting himself killed.

"Shut it Lalla," Kal snapped. "You don't want to test either me, or Shepard on this. I promise you. Ancestor's forbid Tali herself gets involved."

"Gets involved with what," Tali's voice was nearly a dry monotone as she stepped out of the airlock to stand beside Shepard.

"Tali'Zorah vas Neema!" Lalla stepped forward, holding out a hand to her. Kal could hear the undercurrent in his voice. The idiot was probably thinking that he could take Tali away from here, then Admiral Raan would allow him into the ileer. And the moron already had a primary mate. "We have been sent to remove you from this...human's possession!"

Really, Kal didn't feel any sympathy at all when Tali's fist struck the marine square in his indicator light.

Daro'Xen vas Moreh

This was not really her thing. She did not like getting involved with petty matters like this. She had work to do. She was close on a breakthru, and distractions like 'who is bonding to whom', was not needed, nor welcome.

However, it was Daro's task to handle inter-ship disputes this cycle. So, here she was.

"Shala….I don't care," Daro sighed. "Tali may have struck the man, but you also sent him to take Tali, by force, from the ship she serves on."

"But Daro!" Shala was pacing back and forth in front of her vid screen. And it was giving Daro a headache. Well, making it worse, anyway. She had been having a problem with headaches recently. She would have to talk to somebody in medical when she had time. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Not really, no," Daro shrugged. "Tali'Zorah claims that she is bonded with the human. Which we all know is impossible…."

"Exactly!" Shala stopped and leaned into her screen. "That's what-"

"Or so we think," Daro continued, louder. "We have not had a lot of time to really encounter humans. We had been on the Flotilla since before they had been to their moon, let alone long enough to know what is, or is not possible. I'm a scientist. I dislike making judgments without proof."

"He's manipulating her, Daro!" Shala insisted as she went back to pacing. Keelah...there went her headache again…. "He has to be!"

"Seriously, Shala, you are beginning to get irritating," Daro put a hand over her visor, so she didn't have to watch the woman pace. "The girl claims to be bonded. Kal'Reegar seems to agree with her. I also saw Shepard's defense of Tali'Zorah. If anything, that makes me more inclined to believe that Tali knows what she's doing."

"She struck a marine that was under orders from an Admiral!" Shala growled out. "That should be an arrestable offense by itself!"

Daro wanted to drop her helmet on the table and bang her head a few times. "Shala, this is it. Open Log: My final judgment as Arbiter for this cycle. Tali'Zorah vas Normandy defended herself from an illegal attempt to separate her from her mate, John'Shepard vas Normandy. No charges shall be filed and a formal apology shall be issued. Close log."

"Daro-" Shala began before Daro held up a hand.

"Done, Shala. And let me enlighten you about other issues," Daro drummed her fingers. "The vid of Shepard yelling the Admiralty board down in defense of Tali, right after he took her aboard the Alerai, saving the Fleet, is probably the most downloaded file in the entire Fleet at the moment. I hear there is already talk of a Second Fleet and Flotilla movie. Though I think they would have to change the name. Not sure what would work for a human version. Alliance and Flotilla? Maybe something to do with him being a Spectre? Bah, not good at that kind of thing anyway." Daro paused for a moment. "What was I saying?"

"The vid," Shala said dryly.

"Right," Daro nodded. "Do you really think it would be a good idea to try to seperate them after that? Especially when, not if, word gets out about quarians bonding with humans?"

"Fine," Shala almost spat. "I'll let this run its course. He will have to get tired of the nerve stimulators eventually, and move on. I just hope that there is enough of Tali left to help."

"Keelah, praise the Ancestors," Daro nodded. "I have real work to do. Also, I received word from the Suit Makers Guild that Xera'Raan's suit is ready. I'll take charge of having it delivered to the Normandy. We don't want you trying some clandestine tailor attack."

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

Ileer: At times, if a quarian seems to be having an issue finding a proper mate, an elder arranges for a series of potential mates to share time. Usually a bond begins with one of these couples. It is an old fashioned custom that has fallen out of favor as quarians spend more time in greater galactic society.

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.

Iaysaz: Small horned predatory lizard, native of Rannoch. If hungry they will eat their own young.

AN: I'm not particularly digging my take on the quarians, so I will be trying to tighten it up a bit. It seemed better in my head than how it does on 'paper'. So, if you have ideas, feel free to PM me. I'll go back and fix the last chapter once I have it ironed out better.