A/N:
So first off, I would like to address the reviews by Facemelter and kill_phil (the former I explained in a PM).
Basically, Shepard's entire cell structure is infected with the radiation. The 'cure' itself that will kill him (though much slower). Since the body is intertwined, any replacement organs would become infected with the radiation so he'd have to keep taking the medication to avoid dying. Since the meds will kill him, he'd need to upload his mind to a computer then download it into a new clone body. Cloning of whole individuals is illegal by the Citadel Conventions for this very reason: a way to bypass mortality.
I raise my flags, don my clothes
It's a revolution, I suppose
We'll paint it red to fit right in
Chapter 20
Back to Work
May 9th, 2187
"Well you're looking good sunshine." Sonja said to her brother who was beaming when as he strutted through the small messhall.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." He beamed while grabbing a breakfast chow-bar.
"Mmm! Damn is this my lucky day!" He chuckled after a bite. "Bacon and eggs."
"So what ahhh!" Sonja was cut off mid-sentence by a yawn. "So what happened last night?"
"I don't kiss and tell."
"So there was kissing."
"Hrn-hrn-hrn." He mocked as he swallowed the last of the chow-bar. "Shut up you overgrown Gropo."
"Worthless pirate."
"Idiot jarhead."
"Swabbie whore."
"Bitch."
"Jerk."
"Why are you two being so mean? I mean, he just got you out of jail." Tali spoke up after getting off the elevator.
"Oh don't worry about it. Just a little sibling jiving."
"Yeah. She's been like this since she was a little brat." Sonja gave a light jab into his ribs.
"As I recall, you were and are the little one. Shrimpy."
"Gorilla."
"Do you two ever stop?"
"Of course." They said in unison.
"We stop when we're asleep. And when there's something serious."
"When your little brother is a serious troublemaker you tend to learn to communicate on his level since so little else gets through."
"So little got through because of your limited marine vocabulary."
Sonja stuck out her tongue in a non-verbal admit of defeat. "You're looking a lot better Tali. You feeling okay?"
Markus had given Tali his seat and began making her breakfast. "Yes. And I want to thank you and Isabella for defending me."
"No need. Shepards always look out for each other no matter what. I see how Markus looks at you, the way his eyes beam when he talks about you, it's all I need to call you my third little sister."
"Hey we've got a pair of dextro eggs. You want them?" Markus asked from the kitchen. "I think I can cook 'em pretty good."
"Lemme guess, you're just gonna throw a couple of low-level incinerates on it and call it good?" Sonja started up again.
"Please, I'm a professional." He looked at the stove for a few seconds before speaking again. "So how do I turn this thing on? Ježiš, to je neuvěřitelný, já jsem takovej debil! Si bude myslet, že jsem naprostej idiot."
His sister erupted into a laugh that nearly made her fall to the floor. "Mister big-shot, galaxy-saving, tech-genius, all-balls Markus Shepard still can't figure out how to turn on a stove after over twenty years. And for the record, you always have been one."
"Oh ha-ha. Seriously, where is the 'sunny side up' switch?"
"Nǐ yǐ dé shì gēn wǒ kāiwánxiào ba." Sonja said as she stood up to help her brother out.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Tali asked from the narrow table between medbay and the kitchen.
"Doing what?" Markus asked still trying to figure out how to turn on the stove.
"Speaking like that. My translator won't pick it up."
"Oh," He said consciously realizing for the first time that he actually spoke randomly using languages that weren't picked up by the translator.
Since the Alliance needed a common language for the personnel to read and speak, English was chosen as a majority of Earth's populace spoke it when they began to expand into the galaxy. Even so, many still spoke their native language causing many of the officers and enlisted to be fluent in three or even four languages. Most of the knowledge picked up though was curses.
"We kept jumping from base to base through our childhood so we picked up a couple more... colorful phrases from Earth's languages. There are over a thousand languages spoken among our race. We can't fit all of those in a translator and those used by non-humans."
"It's something that just sort of happens. You'll get used to it." Sonja added.
Pushing her brother aside 'politely' she began cooking the dextro eggs. "You know you'll have to cook for her at least some of the time. You can't just stand around and look pretty."
Markus pushed back taking command of the eggs being cooked in the pan. Sonja meanwhile went back to the table with Tali and began talking about what happened the night before.
"All I know is, if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it. Because you're worth it. I love you, Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch. And I don't plan on spending another day away from you, ever again."
"Markus, I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
"Because I didn't want to hurt you any more and I didn't want to face it myself."
"You bosh'tet!" She cried smacking him as hard as she could, but in her current emotional state she couldn't get much force behind it. She was more hurt that he hadn't told her something this important. By the fifth hit she finally gave in. "Don't keep something this big from me again. Promise me."
"I swear sweetie. Never."
She removed her mask and placed it on the far side of the couch. "And I won't leave you either."
She brought her face up close to his, waiting for him to her a sign to proceed. Breathing in deeply, she could almost taste him, the flavor of his skin.
After more time than either would care to admit, he moved forward pushing her onto her back against the couch. It wasn't their first time but she could still feel the goosebumps rolling up her back. Despite the butterflies, there was something about being with him like this that made her feel safe, strong.
"Okay, hold it right there." Sonja set her coffee down. "Much as I'm glad to hear you two are... you know," She said awkwardly. "I don't need to hear of my brother's escapades."
"I'm sorry. He said that you two talk about everything so I thought," She didn't need to continue for the eldest sibling to know what she meant.
"Yes we do, but we don't go that far. Don't worry about it."
"Ta-daaah!" Markus proclaimed as he set down a plate of eggs with various spices, a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of dextro fruit juice of some sort. He gave Tali a kiss on the side of her faceplate before taking a seat.
"I hope everything came out right. Can't exactly test dextro food without going into shock."
"Yeah you can Markus." Sonja said. "Go figure you wouldn't know about a medical science breakthrough. You can taste dextro food and she can taste levo-based food no problem."
Markus' head whipped to look at his sister, a look of disbelief on his face. "No way. Risking a sick stomach on the scale of a level twelve solar storm isn't something to joke about."
"You love mint with chocolate don't you?" Tali meanwhile continued eating, though at a slow pace as she was interested in what Sonja was implying.
"As much of a classic as peanut butter and grape jam."
"Well mint is dextro-based. And aside from the occasional natural allergy, similar to someone being allergic to citrus, you can eat and, for the most part, digest it no problem."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. It's just you won't get any nutrients from it. Combine that with the natural bacteria from being grown off-world. That last part is what will make you sick as a dog."
"Damn." Markus' momentary joy at the possibility of being able to sample the food he made for Tali was instantly crushed into dust. "Can you at least tell me how I did?"
"It's a little... smoky I believe the description is. There's not enough spice for how throughly the eggs were cooked."
Shepard felt dejected that his first attempt to cook for Tali resulted in, what was his mind, a complete failure.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. It's the first time you've tried cooking for me."
Sonja meanwhile just sat across from them with a slight smile on her face as she watched the young couple. "So what's on the docket for today?"
"The most boring part of building the house: choosing the colors."
"Well, when you decide on them let Amanda know. She'll probably be able to get a good discount on some high quality stuff."
"Right, she'd have a few connections what with all the work she does."
"She's the one who's the artist right?"
"Artist, philanthropist, civil rights activist, custom wood carver," Markus rambled on several of his middle sister's previous professions.
"She's a bit of a drifter. I don't think she's really stuck with one thing for two years straight. She doesn't lack for focus, just..." Sonja trailed off not wanting to speak bad about her sister.
"Just kinda impossible for her to find the right place." Markus finished Sonja's train of thought.
His omni-tool started beeping, marked as an incoming comm channel request.
"One of these days, I'm just gonna turn this thing off for a week and enjoy the silence." He said standing up to talk in the lounge more privately.
As the door closed he opened the private channel. A large red krogan appeared on the holographic screen.
"Wrex! Been a while."
"Yeah, sorry Shepard. Couple of the clans were getting a little restless so I had to show 'em whose in charge."
"And you enjoyed the show of force didn't you?"
"What show? Heh-heh. I need a favor from you. There's a- ARRGH! GET DOWN!" The camera shook violently as Wrex struggled with something or someone outside of the camera's field of vision.
"Wrex? Wrex you alright?!"
"Yeah I'm fine. It's just your damned varren."
"What do you mean 'my' varren? I don't have any pets."
"Tell that to Urz here. The guy has been going crazy since people started mentioning your name almost every other day here."
"Who is Ur-" Shepard's voice trailed off remembering the varren he fed before going on Grunt's right of passage.
"So can I bring him with me? Figure you'll need a guard dog of some kind for this mansion of yours you're building."
"Okay okay. Just let me know when you're in-system."
"Yeah yeah." Wrex whispered, something unheard of from a krogan unless they were hiding from the most dangerous of predators.
"Wrex, you okay?" Shepard replied with a slight hushed voice.
"It's Bakara. She's been, well, I don't want to talk about it."
"She pissed at you?"
"That's one way to put it."
"What'd you do this time?"
"She's pregnant. Krogan women get even more aggressive."
"Well I'd give you some of my luck, but I don't think it'll help."
"Yeah. Thanks." He closed the channel.
'That poor, poor bastard.' Shepard thought to himself with a grin on his face.
'Least I won't have to fear a pregnant Tali' He then started feeling bad about that particular thought.
A knock on the door nearly made him jump.
"Markus, I don't know if you're done, but Garrus is calling on the CEQ." Tali said through the door.
"Okay."
Garrus hadn't been able to get a signal off-planet for literally days. First chance he got, he needed to call in backup. The fellow Spectre Sirilia Nazados had been great to work with, but they were still only two turians. He got along with her quite well. The two of them practically thought along the same lines with the exception of her weapons: shotguns and SMGs. She liked getting up close and personal.
Shepard walked into view of the CEQ, glowing blue. "Heard you made Spectre. Sonja couldn't tell me what you guys were up to out there. Care to give me some inside info?"
"Well we moved to another world since Sirilia and I replaced your sister's unit. We're on a rim system, Zintaakra."
"Never heard of it. Newly discovered?"
"Not really. It's been in the Council star maps for a few decades, but due to the extreme range from another relay there's been no rush to colonize it. In either case, we've been trying to track down the last of the Cerberus cells. The Alliance asked the Council for some assistance. Last thing they want is a militia of indoctrinated soldiers running around on the loose.
Shortly after the attempted coup a number of Alliance officers and C-Sec agents went missing. The Council has assigned Spectre teams to help track most of them down."
"So who are you after?"
"Lieutenant Commander Arjen Kirby."
"Wait, wait, theArjen Kirby, the only man who made it out of the 231st on Torfan alive?"
"Yeah. You know him?"
"Served with him for a few weeks on Shanxi. I shouldn't be all that surprised he turned, never had much care for non-humans. Got worse after Torfan where a third of his platoon was wiped out by mines alone. The rest were killed by the slavers. Better watch your footing closely. I mean it. I heard about him defecting, killed two MPs when they opened the door to his quarters. Had an explosive charge placed on it, the terminal he worked at and so on. After Torfan he became obsessed with explosives. Don't be surprised if he's got the inside of whatever bunker lined up with a string of improvised explosives."
"Don't worry I will. I learned my lesson after taking that rocket to the face. Besides, Sirilia is a miracle worker at keeping us clear of them."
"Sirilia?"
"The turian Spectre I'm working with. She's uh... pretty amazing. I mean, she's fast. Wicked fast and we complement each other perfectly."
"Garrus, are you falling in love?"
"What? No. I was talking about her fighting style."
"Uh-huh." He wasn't entirely convinced of Garrus' explanation, which really was the truth. Though he would admit that she was quite attractive. Her lithe frame did seem to draw his attention from time to time when they weren't being shot at. For the most part at least.
"With that information in mind, could I'm sure that making this call is the right decision."
"And that is?"
"He blew out half his compound to cover a retreat two days ago. Since we already blew up the other half it took this whole time to walk to a jamming tower and disable it."
"Need a ride off-world?"
"And to drop us off on Omega and help us hunt this guy down there."
"Well if it was just a pick-up and drop-off I'd say no problem. I'll talk with Tali, but there's another issue: I put in for retirement so the paperwork might come through while I'm with you. Can't have a rouge ex-Alliance officer dispensing his own justice."
"You're not the only one with Spectre authority on the Normandy anymore. Remember?"
"Good point. And I think I know who to name the new Cee-Oh. Thanks buddy."