A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, favs and follows! I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far.
Chapter Two – Dossier: Tali
Shepard, Star and the tank-bred krogan crewmate, Grunt, were in the Normandy's shuttle, on their way to a landing zone on Haestrom, a planet deep in geth space. According to the briefing, there was a group of quarians in the ruins there, and Shepard was going to recruit one of them, Tali'Zorah, whom she was previously acquainted with. Star felt the Kodiak come to a slow stop as it landed, and the door lifted open. The squad filed out of the vehicle, and EDI's voice came in on their comms as the shuttle took off.
"Shepard, our data indicates that Tali is somewhere in these ruins. There is considerable geth activity, and an environmental hazard. Solar output has overwhelmed Haestrom's protective magnetosphere. Exposure to direct sunlight will damage your shields."
The commander led point and moved out as her squadmates followed. Just as EDI had said, the moment the sunlight hit them, their shields started to fry.
"Sun's roasting my shields!" Star said, following Shepard quickly into the shade.
"Then we fight from the shade. But no hiding!" Grunt responded. Shepard looked back at the krogan. The sun seemed to have no effect on him.
'Probably because of his natural armor' she thought. 'Lucky.'
The team came to a security gate and entered the outpost nearby. There was a quarian log playing on repeat, accompanied by dead quarians. Shepard opened the gate and they moved out to the open field. Star was the first to notice it.
"Dropship, incoming!"
Everyone ran to cover as geth troopers from the dropship started firing at them. Star hit one with a Warp field and Shepard took it out with her assault rifle. She switched to her Disruptor Ammo and took out the geth's shields, and her squadmates finished them off.
"We should find a different path before the sun roasts us alive." The merc suggested. Shepard nodded, then turned to the door on the opposite end on the field. The marine took cover behind a tall column and pulled out her Widow. Star noticed what she was doing and followed suit with her Viper; picking off the advancing geth before they got close enough to start shooting. They took out a few with clean headshots, and the remaining enemies were no match for Grunt's Concussive Shots and Star's Incendiary Ammo. They pushed forward, picking up spare thermal clips along the way. After mowing down more geth, the squad came across a quarian radio that was still broadcasting.
"OP 1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, come in, over!" the voice said. Shepard picked up the radio.
"This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy. I passed a lot of dead quarians on the way in. You're the first survivors I've found."
"Damn. Wait, Shepard? The Spectre Tali worked with? Don't know why you're here, but right now, any organic is a welcome sight. Patch your radio into channel 617 Theta." Shepard connected her Omni-tool's radio to the channel, and the others did the same. "We were on a stealth mission. High risk. We found what we were after, but the geth found us. They've got us pinned down. Can't get to our ship, can't transmit data through the solar radiation."
"How are you holding up? We can be there in a few minutes."
"Take it slow and careful." The quarian responded. "Direct sunlight fries your shields all to hell. We're bunkered down at base camp across the valley. We left Tali'Zorah at a secure shelter, then doubled back to hold the chokepoint." Shepard looked across the field and noticed some quarians holding off geth troopers. "Getting Tali out safely is our top priority. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off you."
"You've got confirmation that the geth haven't reached Tali yet?"
"Affirmative. Left my best men with her. When you get here, you can talk to her on the comm." The quarian commander continued. "Every marine on this rock is sworn to protect Tali'Zorah. Long as one of us is still drawing air, she'll be safe."
"Hold position. We'll hit their back ranks."
"Wait! Watch your ass! We've got a dropship coming in!"
Sure enough, the geth dropship flew over the field, slowing only to blast missiles at the quarians guarding the outpost. The commander signaled the team to move out but before they could reach the door, a huge pillar toppled over, blocking the path.
"Crap. Doorway's blocked! Grab the demo charges in the buildings nearby! Use them to clear a path! They're coming in through the side! I've got to fall back!" Kal'Reegar said before his radio disconnected. The squad moved into cover once more as more geth started pouring out of the nearby buildings.
"Shepard, I have scanned the area and located the demolition charges the quarian commander mentioned." EDI's voice came in over the comms again.
"Put it on my radar." Shepard responded, blasting a geth with her assault rifle.
"Done. You will need both sets of charges to clear the rubble." The AI added before logging off. Star moved back as she fired her shotgun at a cloaked geth hunter moving up towards Shepard, who noticed it and fired at it as well. The team advanced towards the building, taking down geth after geth, Grunt charging into two unlucky troopers trying to flank him. They soon cleared the building, and after listening to a holo-journal entry Tali had left in there, the commander picked up the first demo charge and headed back outside, and was promptly met with gunfire. More geth. Big geth; a goddamn Geth Prime. Shepard brought down its shields with her Disruptor Ammo and Star warped its armor, then she and Grunt took care of the troopers as Shepard finished it off. With the first wave down, Shepard and Star referred to their earlier tactic of sniping geth before they got close enough to shoot at them, then pressed forward, shotguns and rifles blazing. They turned the remaining geth into scrap metal and headed into the next building to pick up the last explosive. As soon as they headed out, they were met with heavy fire. More geth. With missile launchers.
"We're under too much fire! We can flank them if we move left!" Star yelled as she ducked a missile behind some crates. Shepard sniped at the heavy weapon-wielding geth as Star and Grunt went all-out on the mass of troopers headed towards them. A pair of Geth Destroyers were in the mix too, but they were no match for Shepard's Widow. The field finally clear of geth, the team moved up to the pillar and Shepard planted the charges.
"Send it to the sky!" the krogan said enthusiastically.
"We might want to move." Star added, backing away from the pillar. The others did the same, and in 10 seconds, the pillar went boom! They proceeded into the outpost and while Shepard scanned the geth rifle on the nearby table, Star marveled at the ancient architecture. "Never thought I'd see quarian architecture in my lifetime." She mused. The communications console near the door lit up and a female quarian's voice could be heard.
"Tali'Zorah to base camp. Come in, base camp."
Shepard answered it.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" the quarian asked.
"Tali, its Shepard. I'm sorry. Everyone here is dead. Any survivors must have fallen back." She replied as Grunt checked the bodies. Yep. Very dead quarians.
"We knew this mission was high-risk. Damn it." Tali shook her head. "And what are you doing here, Shepard? We're in the middle of geth space!"
"I've got a mission, remember? It's dangerous, but you don't seem averse to high risk missions these days."
"I'll discuss the mission as soon as the gunfire dies down. Kal'Reegar and what's left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. I got the data I needed, and I'm safe for now, but I've got a lot of geth outside."
"It looks like somebody sealed the door against the geth, and the console is damaged. Can you get it open on your end?"
"Let me see… yes, I can do it. Here. Should be unlocked now." The quarian said, working her console from the other end. "Be careful, Shepard. And please, do what you can to keep Reegar alive." Tali added before logging out. The squad pressed on out into the field and met with a face full of drones.
"Machine cowards! The drones can hide!" Grunt barked, firing a pot shot at one before it could cloak. They moved ahead, shooting down the recon drones and the occasional geth that decided it felt lucky. They reached the security console and Shepard lifted the lockdown. Before they could advance, the three caught sight of something huge across the field.
"Colossus!" Star announced, somewhat shocked.
"Get down!" the commander ordered as said colossus fired a blast at them that caused the building to shake. Grunt was the only one who seemed excited.
"This is why I follow you, Shepard! Big things!"
Star rolled her eyes. 'Krogan'. They filed out of the building before the colossal monstrosity could fire at them again, and saw a red-suited quarian with a rocket launcher beckoning to them.
"Over here! Get to cover!" he yelled, launching a rocket. The squad ducked into cover just as another blast from the colossus hit nearby.
"Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines. We talked on the radio before the dropship arrived. Still got no idea why you're here, but this ain't the time to be picky." Reegar said as he ducked a bullet that would've cracked his face mask wide open. "Tali's inside over there. The geth killed the rest of my squad, and they're trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention."
"Are you sure she's still alive?" Shepard asked, ducking the dust from the impact of the colossus' latest blast.
"The observatory is reinforced. Even the geth will need some time to get through it. And it's hard to hack a door when someone's firing rockets at you." Star chuckled lightly so nobody would hear her. Reegar continued. "The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself." The pause in the mega-blasts told Shepard the colossus was doing just that. "I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move in closer, and one of the bastards punched a shot clean through my suit."
"We need to get to Tali. Got any ideas?"
"Just one. I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. You move in close, I'll keep the colossus busy, maybe even drop its shields. With luck you'll be able to finish it off."
"You've done enough, Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away."
"Wasn't asking your permission. My job is to keep Tali safe. This is our best shot." The quarian said, standing. Before he could pull the trigger, Shepard pushed him to the side.
"We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team! Stand down!" the marine ordered.
"I'm not going to stand there while you run into enemy fire! They killed my whole squad!" Reegar protested.
"And if you want to honor your squad, watch my back! I need you here in case they bring reinforcements!"
"Alright, Shepard. We'll do it your way" Kal said, defeated. "Hit them for me. Keelah se'lai."
With that all said and done, the team focused their full attention on the colossus and geth troopers closing in on them. The colossus kept its aim solely on Shepard for some reason, but Star wasn't about to start complaining. She focused on taking out the troopers taking potshots at her commanding officer between giant energy blasts. Shepard stayed across the field near Reegar, taking out geth that walked into the open with her Widow while simultaneously ducking the giant robot's blasts. Grunt and Star cleared the field, and finding no more geth to shoot, Shepard stormed across the field, stopping only to duck energy blasts as she and her squad moved left to attempt to flank the monstrosity. The troopers near the colossus began to pour out, and the firefight resumed.
'Starting to wish I'd let Reegar keep shooting that damn thing.' The marine thought, firing at the colossus to trigger its repair protocol.
"Watch out! Piece of crap's repairing itself!" Kal'Reegar yelled over her comm helpfully.
With the break in giant blasts, the team pressed forward and began to take out the extra geth troopers bunkered at the observatory doors. The colossus, now online again, had switched to firing like a machine gun at them now that they were so close, and Star had to tuck and roll out of the way, lest her barriers be destroyed. Grunt was laughing like a madman, or mad krogan, or normal krogan in this case. They liked big, dangerous things. Like thresher maws.
Shepard had to switch to her own heavy weapon, a Collector Particle Beam she'd recovered from a previous mission, to combat the colossus. Star threw in some Warp fields and Grunt, some incendiary bullets for good measure. Finally, the damn thing exploded, and the shooting subsided. Star could hear the quarian shout in victory across the field and chuckled. Shepard opened the observatory doors and they filed in.
"Just let me finish this download…" the purple-suited quarian inside was busy at the consoles. Shepard scanned the damaged geth inside with her Omni-tool, then walked up to Tali.
"Thank you, Shepard. If not for you, I would never have made it out of this room." Tali turned to face the squad. "This whole mission has been a disaster. I wish I'd joined you back on Freedom's Progress, but I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."
"Looks like I just saved your mission." The commander replied, a bit smugly. "Maybe now your people will let me steal you for my mission."
"Just let me transmit the data from a secure channel. Then I can leave with you." Tali said, booting up her Omni-tool. "And if the admirals have a problem with it, they can go to hell. I just watched the rest of my team die." She added.
"Maybe not the whole rest of your team, ma'am." A familiar voice piped up behind them. Everyone turned to the source, an injured Kal'Reegar limping towards the group, clutching his side.
"Reegar! You made it!" Tali exclaimed happily.
"Your old captain's as good as you said. Damn colossus never stood a chance." He said with a hint of admiration. Shepard gave him a somewhat stern look.
"Tali's coming with me. I hope that's not a problem."
"Not as long as it's her choice."
"It is. Thank you, Reegar." Tali said, nodding.
"I'll pass the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened." Kal turned to the commander. "She's all yours now, Shepard. Keep her safe."
Shepard met Tali in the Briefing Room with Jacob.
"Cerberus saw footage of you in action, Tali'Zorah. We're looking forward to having you on the team. Your engineering expertise will really benefit the mission." The Cerberus officer said. Tali kept pacing the floor around Shepard.
"I don't know who you are, but Cerberus threatened the security of the Migrant Fleet. Don't make nice." The quarian said in such a cold manner, it rivalled Miranda's.
"That's why you're here, Tali." Shepard turned to her. "I need people who aren't Cerberus – people I can trust."
"I wasn't part of what happened on the Migrant Fleet, but I understand your distrust." Jacob piped up again, leaning forward on the table. "I hope we'll get past that as we work together."
Tali turned back to Shepard, ignoring Jacob. "I assumed you were undercover, Shepard. Maybe even planning to blow Cerberus up. If that's the case, I'll loan you a grenade. Otherwise I'm here for you, not for them." The quarian folded her arms.
"If it helps, check out the Normandy while you're here. We've gotten a few upgrades." The commander suggested.
"I'll get Tali'Zorah the necessary security clearance to access our systems." Jacob added. Tali turned to him.
"Please do. I can't be part of your team if I don't know how the ship works." She began to walk to the door, but turned to the commander. "Remember Shepard, these people thought enslaving Thorian creepers and rachni was a good idea. I'll be in engineering."
"Don't forget to introduce yourself to EDI, the ship's new artificial intelligence." The officer called after her. Tali looked at him over her shoulder, then continued on her way without a word.
After Tali and Jacob left, Shepard went into her routine around the ship, first heading up to the bridge.
"It's great to see Tali on board, Commander. Just like old times." Joker said, turning his chair to Shepard. "It is her, right? I mean, because with the mask it's… ah, never mind."
"What do you think about the people we're picking up?"
"Well about the one's you went out with last… Star didn't look like she could hold a gun, let alone shoot one. I guess looks can be deceiving. Grunt is… not a stabilizing element, Commander. It's just my opinion, though. There's really no need to go spreading it around." The pilot replied.
"That's it for now."
"See you, Commander."
Shepard went to Kelly next.
"I had a wonderful chat with your friend Tali. She's not what I expected from her psych report. I like her."
"Tali's a good friend. We've been through a lot together."
"Quarians are so fascinating to me. But they also make me a little sad."
"Why do they make you sad?"
"Their environment suits are so beautiful, but with their immune systems, they're trapped inside. I wonder what they look like under those helmets, or what their skin feels like under those suits."
"That'll be all."
"I'll be here if you need anything."
Shepard then headed up to her cabin to feed her fish, then down to Engineering to talk with Tali.
Star wandered into the Tech Lab. EDI had sent her there, apparently Dr. Solus wanted to speak with her. She entered the room, and saw the salarian doctor busy at his work space, humming to himself. She cleared her throat to get his attention.
Mordin looked up. "Ah, Star! Please, sit." He motioned to the sick bed beside her. The merc sat down sheepishly. She wasn't a big fan of doctors.
"Dr. Chakwas mentioned abnormalities in your medical scans. Asked me to take a look." The salarian went on, gathering some supplies around the room.
"Abnormalities?" Star asked. She'd barely registered what the fast-talking alien had said as she watched him intently.
"Will have to run tests, need blood sample. How are you with needles?"
Star gulped. She was terrified of needles. "I'm a big girl, I can handle them." She replied with mock confidence. The salarian smiled slightly, unnerving her more.
"Excellent! Hold still please." Mordin approached her, syringe in his three-fingered hand. Star looked away and winced slightly as she felt the needle prick her arm. Mordin left as quickly as he came, and Star watched him analyzing her blood. He was muttering to himself as he worked, but she could barely make out what he was saying. After showing a confused look, and repeating a test several times, and staring befuddled at the results, he spoke up.
"Are you sick? Dying? Have terminal condition?"
"No, no, and I don't think so." Star matched his befuddled look. "Do I?"
"Not entirely sure. Concerns based on over-abundance of strange substance present in blood sample." The salarian pondered for a moment. "Require tissue sample for further tests."
Star watched as Mordin used a scalpel to extract the tissue sample he needed, and gave her medi-gel to stop the subsequent bleeding, and also collected a saliva sample. After analyzing those, he stared at her for a good three minutes, perfectly confused.
"Well, what's the damage?" She asked uneasily.
"Were you aware of abnormal constituents in bloodstream?"
"Not until five minutes ago, no."
The salarian took a deep breath. "You have an over-abundance of very potent neuro-toxin, present not just in blood, but perhaps in all bodily fluids. Was confused as to how you were not affected by its presence, until analyzed tissue sample. It seems toxin has integrated into cellular systems fully. Some cells now producing toxin. Others unaffected. Treat toxin as normal constituent."
Star's brow furrowed. Her body was producing poison? "What?"
"Toxin not harming cells in any way, actually does the opposite. Bolsters metabolic rate. Speeds up cell growth and tissue regeneration." Mordin stared thoughtfully at the samples before him. "If synthesized less harmful version, could lead to great medicinal breakthroughs. Too risky to try integration of base toxin. Subjects may not be as fortunate." He said, mostly to himself. Star thought it over. This poison was giving her regen. It probably saved her life a few times when she'd taken bullets. Well, if it wasn't killing her…
"Just how potent is this neuro-toxin?"
The professor looked up at her. "Enough to render a human unconscious for a short time with small ingested dose, such as exchanging saliva through oral contact."
"Well that just gave 'kiss of death' a whole new meaning."
The salarian ignored her remark and went back to his musings. "Will send report to Med-Bay. For now, have more urgent matters. Collector data to analyze. Samples to collect. Tests to run. Results to record. Seeker swarm counter-measure to adjust. Will need to make more potent, else may not be able to stop them next time." He drew a sharp breath. "Problematic."
Star slid off the sick bed and left the salarian to his work. She headed to the elevator and stepped in as it opened. As she rode to Deck 3, a thought crossed her mind.
'Wait… how many people has my spit killed?'
She was lost in thought, backtracking through years of living on Omega in her mind, and she absently wandered off the elevator when the doors opened. She hadn't realized where she was until she walked right into shiny, damaged blue metal. Shaking the haze out of her head, she looked up at the turian in front of her. His scarred right mandible was held tightly to his face by a cast, the other working one was twitching slightly, and his small blue eyes had a piercing look that could burn a hole through a thresher maw's hide. He looked at her with a hint of wonder and concern, but promptly fell back into military professionalism. Star always disliked the stuck-up nature of turians, and always found herself asking the question 'who pushed a tree up your ass?' mentally after an encounter with them.
The vigilante nodded at her. "Star."
She nodded back. "Vakarian."
She glanced at him as he strode into the waiting elevator. The turian rarely left the Main Battery, so to see him walking around the ship doing anything other than calibrating cannons was a little strange. The smell of food broke her thoughts, and only then did she realize she hadn't eaten in days. Something about being on a ship again made her uneasy, and as much as she preached to herself that she was in no immediate danger unless she managed to piss her roommate off, she couldn't shake off the bad memories associated with frigates. Dismissing the re-emerging memories, she wandered into the mess hall, following the smell of dinner. Sergeant Gardner was bantering with one of the crew members about the quality of his food, and Star picked up what he was cooking; some kind of stew, apparently called "Calamari Gumbo", whatever the hell that was. Something he threw together with the high-quality ingredients Shepard picked up on their supply run to the Citadel. Still, it smelled edible, so she grabbed a tray and the cook gave her a healthy serving. She nodded appreciatively, she hadn't had a decent meal in ages. She could cook, but with all that had happened on Omega, she hadn't the time to cook anything. Taking a seat close to the elevator, she scanned the Mess, and her eyes fell on a figure sitting across from her at the other table. The drell assassin Shepard had recruited before the Justicar; Krios, she believed his name was. Thane Krios. She watched him as he sipped from his mug. Very few drell were on Omega, and she'd never got to see one up close. She could make out the faint lines in between his scales, her eyes tracing the frills on the sides his face down to his neck. The crimson ridges there looked smoother than the rest of him, she guessed those weren't scaled. His middle fingers were joined, and Star held her own fingers together, wondering what it was like. The leathers he wore hugged his body, and she could see the outlines of thick muscle in his arms and his chest through the open vest he wore under his jacket. It was only when his dark eyes flickered in her direction did she notice she had been staring, over-analyzing him. She shifted her gaze down to the food in front of her and felt her face redden in embarrassment.
'Of course he'd notice you. He's an assassin; noticing people is his specialty.' She mentally scolded herself. The drell had risen from his spot and was putting his now empty mug with the rest of the used trays. Star was surprised when he started walking in her direction, instead of straight to Life Support. Her eyes darted around nervously and she blinked.
'Oh goddess, he's gonna confront me, isn't he?'
Instead, the drell walked past her, and Star found her eyes glued to his face in confusion as he did so. His eyes unblinking, facial features completely neutral, upper lip stiff. But there was something else there, a slight lingering look. A look of distress, sadness. Anyone else wouldn't notice it, but Star had spent a good deal of time with that same look on her face. She could pick it up a mile away. Deep inside her, something stirred. A strange desire. She wanted to talk to him, to hear his troubles. Possibly a result of her own griefs, or perhaps just a random stroke of kindness. She wasn't entirely sure.
'Nah, he probably doesn't want to be disturbed. Or to talk about whatever's bothering him. I should leave him alone.' She shook her head and turned her attention to her dinner. Taking a bite, her face fell with disappointment. Her food had gone cold. She gulped it down anyways and put the dirty tray with the rest, then headed for the elevator. Her gaze cast over to the doors of Life Support, and she shook her head.
'Leave the man who could kill you with a finger alone, Star.'
Still staring at Life Support, she walked into the elevator doors before they opened.
'Goddammit.'
Thane slipped out of his meditations at the hiss of the door opening behind him. He focused on the sound of the footsteps coming towards him. Light, irregular, signs of nervousness. They were human, he could tell from the scent that they had just come from Engineering. His lips twitched ever so slightly upwards.
"Do you need something?" he said in his usual stoic manner as the footsteps stopped. A sharp breath from his guest.
"Do you have a minute to talk?" her voice came. It was a slightly higher pitch than normal, and hints of strain at the very end. She was very nervous, but masked it quite well.
"Of course. Please, sit." He gestured to the chair across the table from him. The mercenary sat slowly. "I believed you would have attempted to avoid me after our encounter earlier."
Star shifted a bit. "Yeah, about that, um, sorry about staring at you, I've never seen a drell up close before."
Thane nodded. "I understand. I felt the same way meeting other species for the first time." He gave her a questioning look. "What is it you wished to discuss?"
The girl shuffled again, this time making it blatantly clear she was uneasy. She took another deep breath. "I wanted to talk about you. I, um, noticed something about you earlier…" her voice trailed off, as with her train of thought. The drell leaned forward and remained silent. When Star's eyes met his, he noticed the softness in them, the look of genuine concern.
"Sere Krios, why do you look so sad?"
Thane's eye ridges raised.
"Sad?"
"A-anyone else wouldn't notice it, but it's there." She sputtered quickly. "The lingering look of distress is not completely lost in your stoic expression."
Thane was surprised, to say the least.
"You have sharp eyes. Only a very experienced person could ever hope to notice details like that."
Star smiled slightly. "Thank you." Her expression softened again, waiting for his reply. The assassin considered his options. He had no intention of spilling his troubles onto someone he was barely acquainted with, but he didn't want to drive the girl away either. Suffice to say, he found her intriguing already.
"Are you aware of a disease called Kepral's Syndrome?" he finally said.
"No, can't say I've heard of it."
"It is non-communicable, and exclusive to drell. It develops from overexposure to moisture and causes degradation of our lungs. Eventually it spreads to other organs."
"You have Kepral's Syndrome?"
"Yes." Star almost looked… worried? No, he must be mistaken. "I've had it for a long time. My time is short now because of it, I may only have no longer than a year to live."
The mercenary remained silent. She kept her gaze squarely at her hands as they fidgeted with uncertainty. Thane was sure that she was going to get up and leave, and he leaned back in his chair. Then, she looked up at him again. The look she gave him made him feel as if he was going to melt into a puddle. His features almost instantly softened, as if reflexively, but quickly returned to normal. That was strange.
"My mother had a terminal illness. She never let it bother her though, she was always smiling and she acted so sweetly." She said softly. "We could all see she was getting worse, but she did so gracefully, like a wilting rose."
"How old were you when her last petal fell?" Star's eyes fell again, but this time her right eye welled up with a single tear. She blinked it away.
"It never did. Let's just say her tree got cut down. I was seven."
Thane understood, and nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thanks." She smiled, then got up. "Thanks for talking to me, too."
The drell nodded again. "I will be here if you need anything."
He watched her as she walked out of the room.
'Interesting…'