ABLE/NOVEMBER:

Sorry for the delay. My laptop that I write this story on has been having some tech issues as of late.

In either case, I'm back in business!

Cause I am lost without you

I cannot live at all

My whole world surrounds you

I stumble then I crawl

Chapter 16

Breaking Ground

"So," Isabella said from behind the Normandy's landing strut. "what took you so long?"

"Hey there sis." Shepard said turning to face her. "What are you doing up so early?"

"You kidding? You should know better than I how much of a pain in the ass it is trying to tell time in space. My body is running on coffee right now." Her demeanor changed from joking to nervous. "You tell her?"

"Tell who what?"

"So you haven't told her." She said this as a statement, not question. Markus was starting to figure it out what she was asking but couldn't be sure.

"Izzie could you please start making some sense? Otherwise I'd like to get to work."

"Not just yet Markus." She said moving to block him from taking more than three steps away from the Normandy's ramp.

"How can you not tell Tali? For god's sake Markus this is... this isn't something you can keep to yourself!"

"How the hell did you find out?"

She looked down almost like she was ashamed. "Chakwas."

"DAMN IT!" He wanted to hit something. To pound it into dust. "She was supposed to have that file buried!"

"I'm your damned sister! I had a right to know! And so does she! So I'll say again, what the hell is withyou?!"

"This is my burden and I'll bear it."

"Right up until the point where you drop dead!"

"I gotta get to work." He said trying to push her aside.

She grabbed him by the arm and spun the two of them throwing him into an armlock. "I don't think so Markie. You're not slithering out of this."

"Nice try Izz." He grabbed her foot with his artificial hand and started squeezing. It was the only thing he could do against her. When they were teens she'd often end their fights by throwing him into an armlock. He could never wiggle out of it. Until maybe now.

She growled, teeth clenched. "Not. Happening. Markie."

He squeezed a little tighter. He could almost hear the bones creaking through her worn shoes. She slammed her eyes shut as the tears welled up behind her lids. She couldn't let him get out of something this big.

"Give ...it ...up." Her voice was barely holding under the pain. If he went much tighter she'd need surgery.

Inexplicably, he just let go. He laid still for a minute before he saying a word. "I... I'm sorry Isabella. I just..." His eyes were as watery as hers, though for a different reason. "I can't do that to her. Tell her that I've got a three decade ceiling over my head. Not after what she's been through."

"And how is you dropping dead suddenly any better? You're going to have to break both my legs and my arms before I stand aside. And I won't ever keep quiet about it. So you've got two options: break my limbs and tear my tongue out or tell her the truth."

The were both sitting up now. "Izzie... please. She lost her mother when she was a child. Her father was barely there as it was and after that..." He didn't need to continue .

"When our colonies on the fringe were being taken she was accused of treason. It was during her trial that she found out her father had died. And she had to fight through it. She had to wait to mourn him. Now tell me this, in your position, could you tell the person you love that you're going to leave her just like them?"

She was at a loss. On one hand, she understood her brother's way of seeing it. But it also wasn't fair to just sweep something that big under the rug and leave it.

"If the roles were reversed would you want her to tell you?"

He sat there like a child, unsure of how to answer for a moment. Isabella however, stood over him like an authoritative parent.

"Yes." He admitted in a weak voice. "I'd want to know. So I could spend as much time with her as I could."

"But that's just the problem." He continued as she helped him up.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't take her treating me like I'm made of glass. If I tell any of them they will. They'll tiptoe around me, like they're dancing on daggers. I don't want that. I just can't take that kind of worry everyday."

"Well Markie, looks like you're stuck at a crossroad. On one hand, you can tell her and risk it. Or keep it bottled up. Add it to the list of already are, what I'm assuming, are immeasurable number of secrets you already have to keep." She was of course referring to much of the work he had done to date with the Alliance as an N7 demolisher operative. His specialty was doors, walls and anything hooked into an electrical conduit. This of course, made him an invaluable asset to Alliance black ops teams and a busy soldier on constant rotation as a result.

"So what the hell do I do?" He was completely lost on what to do.

She have a brief laugh at her brother's question. "You made life and death decisions for not only yourself, but for the galaxy, brokered treaties with nearly every race. And you're not sure to what to do about Tali with your life. I'm sorry, I just find it a little ironic."

A small grin appeared on his face. She was right of course. He found a way to balance the lives of billions, perhaps even trillions of lives for months. And an irrefutable fact of his own life sent him into a blind tailspin. Yet the fact itself wouldn't alter his own life.

"Well, let's get to work. It's gonna get damned hot soon."

The twins walked in subconscious unison pace to the White Raven. He considered it a piece of junk held together by nothing more than chewing gum and duct tape. But if he said that to her, she would kick his ass up one trade route and down another. And after that she'd get brutal.

"You get everything to fit right?" He asked her as she lowered the cargo hatch. The ship sat far lower to the ground than the Normandy did. In fact, you could stub your toe if you didn't lift you foot high enough stepping onto the Raven's cargo bay; only three inches from the ground.

"It was a tight fit, but we got everything. You did neglect to get any bedding, sinks, couches, really everything you need to live in a house."

"I figured we'd get it built and decide on furniture later. I want to lay out the floor first. There's also a basement so it'll be a while before we get started on the rest of the flooring."

"Good thing I got extra shovels." She said worming her way between several large crates of building materials.

"Here, they, are." She said from somewhere he couldn't see near the back as she slowly worked her way back to the front.

"So," She climbed back out with four omni-shovels. The tools themselves were little more than a handle. The length width and shape would adjust itself to fit the user and the soil. The prongs on one side kept people from accidentally slicing their head off. "where are you thinking of starting to dig Mark?"

"Off the Normandy's starboard side. Fifty feet off. I'll lay down the outer markers then we can start digging. Give me three minutes."

The Shepard twins had laid out the perimeter of the house and started digging in the center leaving the other two shovels just outside the edge on the ground and dug out a hole ten cubic meters in space before taking a break. For the most part, it only went to their waste. The important thing was to get the area before they got the depth.

Sitting on the edge of the hole they let their legs hang over the edge. "Ya know," Isabella said. "this would go a lot faster if we got some extra help."

"I don't think I can trust any of them to keep quiet about the work."

"Remind me again, why are you doing this? Keeping quiet about how it's going that is."

"She's uh... she's holding out."

She shook her head at his response. "She's a saint to put up with all of your juvenile shit. You do know that right?"

"I know." He had a faint smile on his face. The kind of 'I am one lucky man' kinda smile.

"You are right though." He admitted. "If it's just us-"

"The hell do you mean 'us'? I'm only working today. On commission."

"Suuure you are. Either way though, it'll take months to build. Everyone will go crazy well before then." He paused considering his options. "Can you trust your crew not to say a word about it?"

"You kidding? They feared my wrath more than the Reapers."

"Aw we both know that's not only bullshit, but fake. You don't have any wrath."

"Neither do you."

"You clearly didn't see what happened to my clone."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that."

"Oh, long story. I'll tell you about it later."

"No way. You tell me now, or no crew to help you dig and build. That's my payment."

Markus hopped down, shovel in hand. "Fine. But I tell you while we work." He dove the spade into the light tan ground.

"By the way, Sonja said she should be done with her new assignment in two weeks or so. I'm sure she could bring a couple of GROPOS to help." GROPO was a common term for a Marine, short for 'ground pounder'.

"No way. Bad enough having one in the family. No way I want a dozen jarheads building my house. They'd just use spent thermal clips for insulation saying 'it's free heating'."

"You ever gonna stop razzing her for becoming a marine and not following the family tradition of swabbies?" Swabbie was an equally derogative term used to refer to someone in the navy.

"Let me think about that real quick." He paused only for the briefest of seconds. "Nope."

By midday Isabella had made true on her promise and gotten her four crew members into the hot sun working along side them. Interestingly enough, there was little complaint about the heat.

When they finally stopped at sunset, the basement had been dug out save for a ramp until proper stairs had been put in. The six humans had dug nine feet deep, twenty feet wide and thirty feet long.

Shepard threw his feet up on the mess hall table when he sat down, two resequenced nutrition bars in each hand. They had run out of real food and were back on military rations which, while extremely nutritious and filling, tasted at best, like five day old leftovers. What was worse, was he hadn't even bothered to change. He was still in the same dirt encrusted outfit that made him look more like an MMA fighter or a grease monkey than anything else. The collar on the brown jacket had since eared a worn tear all along the base of the neck. He had been smart enough however to wear colors that would work in the hot sun without showing too much dirt. The boots were another story.

For a few minutes he sat there, eating the nutrient bars, drinking nearly a gallon of water in a single gulp and muttering to himself in-between regarding his plans on how to build the house. When he finished he walked over to the old XO's office/quarters.

"Liara?" He said knocking on the door. The holographic light was green but it had been drilled into him to always knock. Especially when the room belonged to a woman.

The door opened to show the tired asari not wearing her usual while getup, but what he could only guess was a pair of pajamas. "Oh, Shepard. What can I do for you?" Her eyes blinked rapidly trying to focus on him.

"Sorry." He immediately apologized. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"I was just going to sleep actually."

"Well then, I've got a favor I'd like you to sleep on. Feel free to say no though. I won't be offended."

April 24th, 2187

The rest that Markus and the crew of the Raven had gotten was quite good, though after hard work like that most people usually passed out for twelve hours or so.

When he awoke he dawned the same clothes he had worn the day before. They were a little stiff from the hardened dirt and dried sweat, but he didn't have any other clothes that would work as well in the hot Tikkun sun. If there was one bad thing about Rannoch, it was that it was far closer to the sun Tikkun than Earth was to Sol.

Sitting down at the mess table he was surprised to see Liara in her usual attire.

"You do know this is gonna be intensive work. Work using your hands and in the dirt."

"I don't mind." She said calmly. "If you recall, I was an archaeologist for several decades."

"Right. Just got so used to you being the Broker that I think I forgot." He said as he pulled a nutrition bar out of the cabinet. "Banana beef? What jackass is making these combinations?"

"I tried a grape and shrimp. It was... interesting."

"Yeah that's one way of putting it." He said as he chewed down on the military grade ration. "Personally, I'd almost rather suck down food through a plastic tube than keep eating this for the rest of my life."

"Well then, I believe you may wish to come by my quarters during the lunch hour. I received a message you may want to see."

He finished the last morsel of the triple-processed food. "Well then, let's get started."

The old friends rode the elevator down to Deck Five. They walked down and saw his sister's crew and made introductions.

"Good morning everyone. For those who haven't read up on the crew, this is Liara T'Soni." He said introducing Liara first. It seemed fair as he had only one to do. Make it quick so everyone could start working. "She's been wonderful enough to volunteer her help. With her, it'll take a few days off."

It was Isabella's turn to introduce her crew members.

"This is-"

"Garret Harcourt." Liara said to the Raven's. It was a bad habit she had: fill in the information about to be provided to her. Her vast information network was the reason for it. Over the course of the war it had diminished severely, but was still better than the salarian STG.

"You and captain Shepard began dating a few weeks ago." The man shrunk down as much as he could. Garret was already small, standing only 4'11. Against a Shepard he was very short; and now he was trying to disappear entirely.

"Rachael Cole, communications officer." She continued.

"Sacre bleu." Markus whispered as quiet as a pin drop.

Cole had since died her short hair from its natural black hair, adding several cobalt streaks in it turning half of her hair blue.

Liara continued this with the other two members of Isabella's crew, Jerry Wallace and Jonathan Hildebrand, the White Raven's engineer.

After Liara introduced Isabella's crew to herself Markus explained, in part, her work as a member of the Shadow Broker's intelligence gatherers. It was close enough to the truth, but Isabella was a little disturbed by the level of information the asari had on her crew.

"Is she always like that?" Isabella asked her brother as the others walked towards the Raven to get the support beams and began screwing them together. "So..." She didn't need to finish her sentence for her brother to know what she was talking about.

"Yeah. Started a few months after I went MIA after the Battle of the Citadel."

"She is very well informed."

"You have no idea."