Workin in a coal mine
Goin' down down
Workin' in a coal mine
Whoops! About to slip down

Chapter 17

Building a Surprise

May 3rd, 2187

Tali knew that work on her and Markus' new home would be finished soon. He never said what was done, whether he was on schedule with his expectations or any of it. Kasumi had supplied that information when she arrived two days earlier. Unfortunately she had disappeared again just as quickly. They hadn't had enough time to catch up properly.

The two had spoken in her quarters and showed Kasumi her ring. When Kasumi left she only told Tali that she had to "pick up a few things". In all likelihood, she was making a thieving run for a few items to give to her and Shepard. She wanted to ask but knew it was far better to have plausible deniablity.

It was reaching midday so Markus should be coming in for an hour for lunch and to cool off from the sun. She was finishing her own treatments for the day. If Shepard wanted to surprise her with a house then she'd surprise him with something herself.

"Hey Loco!" James called to Shepard from the little bit of the second story that had been built so far. Once the frame for one room had gone up Shepard insisted that it be finished save for the ceiling. The whole thing looked a kinda like a dollhouse from above. "It's almost noon. These guys need to lay down for a few minutes."

"Okay." He took a few steps back looking at the new wall going up on the second floor. It was coming along about as well as he had hoped. His initial estimates were way under what it would have taken if he had done it all himself. "EVERYONE, TAKE AN HOUR OR TWO FOR LUNCH!" He yelled loudly. A few had been using power tools so he wanted to make sure they all heard him.

"YOU ALL KNOW THE DRILL!" It was a safety concern. They take a while to cool off, drink as much as they can stomach. James, Ashley, Liara. Cortez, Isabella and her crew walked up the ramp. Garrus had been called away by the Council the day before. A couple of the crew had expressed wanting to help him after all he had done; listening to their emotional problems during the war. Even now he had to be the last one back on the ship. With the last back inside he started thinking about what would be next. The carport? Or maybe the master bedroom? Trivial decisions like this drove him mad.

'Well, better get some water. I'm as parched as a mummy.' He thought to himself before walking up the ramp.

"Excuse me!" A female voice came from behind him making him stop. He had requested the Quarian government not to reveal the position of his home to anyone outside of Alliance HIGHCOM, though more specifically, only Hackett or member of his family. The voice sounded a little unsure of itself, nervous.

"E-excuse me, sir?" The woman repeated as he turned around. She looked to be about 21 or so. Her black hair was cut fairly short with a natural messy look to it. There were a few red streaks in it similar to how one of Isabella's crew had dyed her hair so it was fairly reasonable to assume civilian further bringing up the question of how she had found him. Add to the supposition she was a civilian was her very fair skin.

It was her eyes though that caught his attention. There was something... familiar about them but he couldn't place it. They were a pale gray with a small handful of pink slivers near her pupil. It looked like looking into a cartoon black hole.

"What's you name? Are you lost?" He asked her.

"No I'm not. I uh, I have a message. I need to tell you something sir. It's from, well, let's just say we both know her very well. It's important. Please."

"Whose it from?"

"I can't tell you that I'm sorry."

"You come to my not-yet built house in the middle of nowhere, tell me you have an important message from a mutual friend but can't tell me who it's from? You gotta give me something here kid-"

"I'm not a kid dammit! Why do," She paused for a moment. Something nearly slipped out of her mouth that she wasn't supposed to say, whatever it was. "Why does everyone think I'm a child?"

"Those streaks in your hair don't help. Mostly teens and early 20's do it."

"They're natural." She certainly didn't back down. She had actually taken a few small subtle steps forward bringing herself to within two feet of him. He hadn't even noticed.

"Please. I- I don't have a lot of time. Will you listen?"

"Okay okay. What is it?"

"Keep an eye on Garrus. It's important. I-I can't say why or how. Just don't forget it."

Shepard took a step bringing his face close to hers, his eyes on fire. "I don't like people threatening my family."

"It's not a threat. I swear. Look, you can't tell anyone about this. Don't forget it."

She took a worried step back. "I'm sorry. I wish I could stay but I need to go back."

The young woman ran down the ramp and turned towards the house. "And please promise you'll be careful too."

"Hey kid!" Shepard called following her, but when he reached the bottom there was no one there. "Kid! Where'd you go?!" She hadn't had enough time to get inside the half-built house and the White Raven was locked up tight.

"EDI?"

"Yes Shepard."

"Do you know where that woman went?"

"What woman?"

"What do you mean 'what woman'? The kid I was talking to just a second ago."

"You have not spoken to anyone besides yourself for nearly two minutes Shepard."

"The hell are you talking about? There was a woman here just a moment ago, about Ashley's height. She gave me some cryptic threat about Garrus and disappeared."

"I assure you Shepard, the only person outside the ship right now is yourself."

"Okay EDI never mind. Must be the heat getting to me."

"Would you like me to alert doctor Chakwas?"

"No. I think I'll just take a little more time off today."

"Very well Shepard. I should inform you however, Tali is becoming anxious at your absence."

"Thanks EDI. Tell her I'm on my way."

He hit the button for Deck Three. Maybe it really was just the heat getting to him, causing a hallucination. But why one like that? Even the craziest possibility wouldn't make any sense of it.

After Markus and the others had finished their lunch and returned to working on the house Tali went back to the medical bay. One of them (Isabella) had let slip how much they had done after Tali kept pushing how much was left to do. At the rate they were working, the house would be painted and furnished before she could have her immunity boosted.

"Tali? Are you feeling sick?" Chakwas asked when she entered. Tali didn't even need to say a word for the doctor to know who it was.

"No. Well, I'm feeling a little heavy. And a little dizzy sometimes. I uh, I wanted to know if I could do another session today."

"EDI," The doctor said looking up. It had become a habit the crew had, as if she had a face on the ceiling. It felt more natural then looking straight ahead or at a terminal screen or otherwise occupied. "Do you feel its safe to try again?"

"The risk would be minimal doctor. But as I said when I first began, my physical body would be temporarily deactivated. In simple terms, I would be too spread out if I tried existing in all three locations."

"I remember. If you'd come down we can get started."

Markus and the others had returned to the hot sun, now bristling at a steak cooking 55 degrees centigrade. Every few minutes they would have to stop and hit themselves with a low level cryo blast; enough to cool off but not so strong to cause any notable slowness or injury. Something akin to cooling off with the garden hose on 20th and early 21st century Earth. There was a breeze though that brought the temperature down a round five to seven degrees. It wasn't much but better than nothing.

'The joys of interstellar travel.' Isabella thought. It was late spring on Earth, but Rannoch was in the hot point of summer and with the longer days it got even hotter than most planets. That's why she preferred the artificially cooled air of a starship. On the bright side, by Halloween. Then be askew again by the time Earth's winter holidays rolled around.

"Oi, Boss! You'll get heatstroke you keep standing still in the sun like that." Garret said from the second story. The house was going to be damned luxurious. It already had over 2,500 square feet including five bedrooms and four baths. Evidently he planned in case any crew members wanted to come over and reminisce. Most of what needed to be done was get a real floor and something more permanent for the wall. She guessed he was waiting for the rest of it to be decided by the couple. He really was going all out.

"Thanks Garr." She said moving into the 'shade'. It was almost as bad inside the house as outside. The only things that were actually finished in the house were the windows, all of which were open to let the breeze through.

May 7th, 2187

Markus had ordered the previous day off. With how hard everyone had been working it was past due. As the sun was setting he decided to make it two days. He however had no respite. The garage was done, as was most of the first floor. He had thought of adding on a sauna room. Something to just calm down in. That of course led to a the thought of adding a zen garden room. Both those he of course built, but was starting to run low on materials. Despite calculating for mis-cuts, the new additions took up a lot of room and he hadn't even started on the greenhouse yet.

The sun was setting setting the sky ablaze with deep blues, purples and indigos as he thought about what he would do tomorrow when everyone resumed working. It really only needed another two days or so. That is if he didn't get any more add-ons. Then there was furnishing and painting of course.

He sighed with an audible self-frustration. "I really am an idiot."

"Hell I coulda told you that years ago little bro!"

"Sonja!" He exclaimed turning to see his older sister. Her hair was cut back a bit to a shaggy bob cut. It was regulation length (though barely) but could still be styled. The last he had seen her it was kept in a ponytail when on duty.

"Don't tell me you built all this yourself Markie. I haven't been gone that long!"

He chuckled at her joke. Even with them being in separate branches of the military he felt closer to her than either Amanda or Isabella. "No. No I had help."

"Good. Was afraid my little bro was finally learning the value of a hard day's work."

"Hey! I did manage to save the galaxy a few times."

"Yeah, but that was one, spread out over nearly four years. And two, you did that with a team. Whoop de friggin doo." When ever they got close to each other they always regressed to a state of childish jokes.

"So what are you doing back so soon? I thought you were busy on the ass end of the galaxy."

"I was. Cerberus remnant. Can't really get into it. Sorry."

"Oh don't worry. I know what that's like. Would you like to come in for dinner? We don't have much. Just the military-grade food bars."

"Dear god I hate those." She groaned. "They just ruin my figure."

"Sis you're practically a supermodel. Now if you could reel in that rack, you could probably work the runway."

"Nice way to complement your older sister." She joked sticking her tongue out. It was likely they'd be like this till the day they died.

"By the way, good to see you cut that crap off your head." She was referring to the hair that had grown out during his depression on Earth. "You were looking like a hobo."

He ran his mechanical hand through his hair barely rustling it. He had cut it back within regulation, his trademark Ivy League cut. "Had to. Just too damned hot to do so otherwise. You been in the sun? I feel like I'm spending a day on Tuchanka."

"So that explains this farmer's tan you got going on."

"You want to eat dinner or do you want to keep insulting me?"

"Can't I do both?" The immature twins began walking up the Normandy's ramp.

"Hey, before we go say 'hi' to the others I need to ask you something."

"Look as much as I'd love to, the role of best man is, traditionally, a guy. I'm just not cool enough for my sister to organize my bachelor party."

She smacked him upside the head. "That's not what I meant and you know it you idjit. Just tell me, have you told Tali your cells got a timer on them?"

"What're you talking about?" She smacked him again.

"OW! Dammit Sonja!"

"Izzie said you've wiggled out of it. And we both know I'm not as lenient as she is." She had thrown a G7 lockout on the cargo bay door to prevent him from finding another way to avoid having the conversation. "So tell me. Did you tell her? Hell have you even told mom or Mandy?"

He tightened his jaw for a moment, angry at his own response. "No. I haven't told anyone. Izzie had to push Chakwas to tell her."

"DAMMIT! MARKUS CAMDEN SHEPARD," She never used his full name. Not even their parents had done so at their angriest points. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Even the loudest, toughest DI would be impressed with her at that moment.

"BECAUSE I'M TIRED!" He yelled back, collapsing on a crate in the process.

"I'm so damned tired." He repeated in a whisper now. "Do you know what it's like, dying like I did?"

She knelt down to be eye level with him. "What are you talking about? You're still standing. Metaphorically of course."

"Not really. When Cerberus brought me in, I was brain dead, organs all shut down, body pounded to a pulp." As much as he fought he hadn't been able to hold back the tears from forming. He dropped his head to keep Sonja from seeing them build. "I'm little more than a lab experiment. One out of desperation."

"Bullshit." She said with a calm conviction. "You're my little brother. You always have been and always will be. And you know what? That makes it my job to make sure you're okay. Come on," She lifted him up by the shoulder. "let's go for a walk. Somewhere private."

He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Sonja... thank you." He said.

"Of course Markus. Now come on." She said in a motherly tone. "Let's go for that walk. Anything else been on your mind?"