Author's Notes-I have gone back and read my work and I can honestly say I'm disappointed on how many spelling/grammatical errors there have been. There is some sort of "beta reader" system on this site that I don't fully understand or know how to use but if my assumption is correct it would help drastically with the writing of the story so please someone pm me the details. On a side note I'm thinking about condensing the first three chapters into one (and making small writing improvements while I'm at it) so don't be alarmed if two of the chapters suddenly vanish. I'm also gonna start writing thoughts out in italic to make it easier to distinguish between thoughts and actual dialogue. Now onto the story
Garrus was no stranger to pain, his c-sec career had been less than tranquil after all. He had been shot, beaten, and there was always that one experience with the enraged Hanar that still haunted his dreams.
None of those past wounds or mental traumas could compare to how painful it was to watch Tali try her damn hardest to seduce the Commander, or maybe even worse was the commander's reaction to the half-baked plan to get in his pants.
They were currently searching Prothean ruins on Knossos for Dr. Liara T'soni and it took every ounce of willpower that Garrus had to not to scream out "what the hell are you doing".
Sure one could say he brought this upon himself, he had encouraged her to actually make some progress with her relationship with the commander instead of daydreaming and butchering people who got close to him, but he had thought she would do something more...well progressive.
She was currently walking, or rather swaying in front of Shepard, and had done everything in her power to make sure she remained in front of him. He noticed her constant glances back to see if the commander was checking out the goods, and Garrus also noticed the frustrated huff she would do when she realized he wasn't. There was a delicate little pattern to the whole process that Garrus had all figured out- Sway your hips, check for progress, get annoyed, Sway hips more, repeat. Maybe it would have been funny if it wasn't just so pathetic.
Garrus briefly thought about helping her, but quickly remembered the stupid little flirtatious quips she constantly thew at the commander on the Mako ride here. He thought about every single comment about the commanders "skill with firing loads" and "showing a girl a good time" and decided to let her suffer, even if it looked like she was on the verge of snapping her spine if she swayed any harder.
Garrus glanced towards the commander, curious to see if Tali's behavior had truly left him unaffected
His heart slightly broke for Tali
The Commander was walking perfectly normal, completely focused on the objective, not a single glance even slightly downwards.
Garrus wanted to be surprised, but then again Tali's attempt at seduction was more annoying and cheesy than alluring. The commander may be lighthearted and friendly, but he was still a soldier with a heart of stone, no way in hell would she get any reaction from him with this.
Innocent thoughts John, innocent thoughts
These words played a never ending loop in the commander's mind, serving as his only tether to common decency
He was sure there was some reason Tali was walking the way she was, maybe it was because of her oddly shaped legs or maybe it was simply because of the envirosuit she constantly wore. It did seem rather tight after all...tight in all of the right places
A quick little chomp at his tongue got the commander's mind back on track. He was here for critical information that may save the galaxy itself, an answer to the visions he had gotten back on Eden Prime, quite possibly the best set of hips he's ever laid his eyes on, To save a asari scientist, and...okay seriously how does she even fit in something so tight?
He noticed Tali glancing back again and quickly made sure to correct his line of sight. He knew it was wrong to be drooling over her body the way he was, Hell as far as he knew she was still technically a kid in quarian culture. It made him sick to his stomach thinking about how disgusted she would be if she knew how much he was thinking about her body and daggers of fear poked at him everytime she looked back.
Did she catch me?
Did she just huff in disgust?
Did I screw up royally?
The questions were a never ending torrent in his mind. Shepard cared about her, well all of his squad, and never wanted to make any of them feel uncomfortable and nothing would make someone more uncomfortable than knowing your CO was hounding for your body. She deserved better than this, deserved to be viewed as something more than a lump of well shaped flesh. She was too pure to be viewed in that manner, far too pure
Look at me John
I'm putting on such a show just for you John
Please Look at me, Only at me
Shepard sighed and decided to jog to Tali's side, being behind her for much longer would take up any self restraint he could still muster. He needed to take his mind off of the things he wanted to do to Tali, and there was only one tried and true method Shepard knew
Humor(or at least his attempt at it)
"Figured you were getting a little lonesome all the way up here, thought I'd keep you company" He said with smile
Tali sighed "I suppose it wouldn't be that bad, but what about Garrus? I'm sure he has feelings too"
Of course Tali's projected words were the exact opposite of the ones in her head
Yes John I need your presence.
Forget about that Turian bastard, forget about everyone else.
Only be close to me.
Shepard huffed "I wouldn't be so sure about that, no one with feelings could be so cold"
Garrus suddenly forced himself into their conversation "I only act so cold because I care so much, be embarrassing if you knew"
Shepard turned his focus towards him, a turn of events very much unwanted by Tali, before speaking in the most dramatic tone he could muster "But I want to know! show me that you care!"
Garrus's face became grim and sullen and he spoke with a pained voice "I-I can't I'm just to afraid" he looked Shepard dead in the eyes "What if you don't feel the same?"
Shepard's eyes softened and he spoke calmly"You'll never know unless you tell me"
Garrus breathed in and braced himself "I think you say I should go far too often"
Shepard glanced down at the ground before whispering "I know"
Garrus still had the same sullen look on his face,Shepard had a defeated look, and Tali had absolutely no idea what just happened
Suddenly she heard a very poor attempt at holding in laughter coming from the two of them, before they finally gave up and their booming laughs echoed in the chasm.
Shepard was the first to manage a sentence "For the record I don't feel the same, I say it just as much as anyone else"
Garrus struggled with calming down for a bit before responding "Except I've never heard anyone say that before in my life, see they tend to say normal things like see you later"
Shepard sighed before turning to Tali "Thoughts? I could really use some backup here"
You're perfect
I don't care what you say as long as I hear your voice
If only you knew about the countless recordings of you that I listen to at night
"I haven't really noticed anything" Tali said reassuringly "I Just figured everyone has their own way of ending a conversation"
Just as Tali had finished her sentence a new voice called out to them, a feminine voice
"Hello? Is someone out there? Please I'm trapped and need assistance!"The voice called out
Shepard whispered to Garrus and Tali "Guess that's one way to end a conversation" before responding to the call for help "Dr. Tsoni? I'm Commander Shepard of the Alli-I'm a council spectre and I require your help in tracking down the rouge spectre Saren and something called the Conduit"
Dr. Tsoni seemed puzzled "Errm that sounds like a very noble goal but well...I'm trapped behind this prothean force field"
Shepard sighed "Yes in hindsight that should have been the first thing I addressed"He looked around for a bit before continuing "Sooooooo...where's the off switch? I mean these things do have an off switch right?"
Dr. Tsoni sighed "Well yes it does but...it's on my side of the forcefield"
Garrus spoke up "Well that's going to complicate things"Then sighed and spoke in a condescending tone "You don't think you could wiggle around or something to get to the switch do you?"
If Dr. Tsoni had picked up on the sarcasm of Garrus's voice she didn't show it "Unfortunately I am in some sort of stasis field and can't move a single muscle, I'm afraid you will have to find some way inside"
Garrus looked at Shepard who just shrugged his shoulders, Then checked if Tali had any bright ideas only to see she was already brimming with anger and hate for this new woman,most likely for something as silly as "looking at her Shepard" or something else deranged
"We could try shooting it" Garrus said "Seems to be our way of solving problems recently"
"I am a fan of shooting our problems but I doubt our weapons would do much against the force field or the surrounding earth" Shepard responded
"Surrounding earth? Isn't that the name of your homeworld"Garrus asked, genuinely confused
"Yes but we also call things like sediment or stone earth sometimes" Shepard responded "Don't ask me why"
"You named your planet after dirt?" Garrus asked "We sure as hell don't call dirt Palaven"
Shepard sighed in annoyance "Another time Garrus, or preferably never bring it up again" He turned his attention back to the asari scientist "Do you know anything that could help us get in there? I'd rather not spend much more time with my Turian friend here"
"Words can hurt too Shepard"Garrus called out while walking away to explore the rest of the chasm for anything useful
"Well for starters there is a elevator behind me that you could use to get to my level,so you wouldn't have to dig straight forward" Dr. Tsoni responded
Shepard didn't quite understand. Wouldn't it make more sense to figure out how to dig through the ground before worrying about the direction?
"And secondly there should be a mining drill somewhere out there that was used to excavate the area around these ruins" She continued "I would prefer if you didn't shoot it directly at me however"
Ah guess that makes sense. "Understood we'll have you out of there in no time, thank you for the information Dr. Tsoni" Shepard said in his business mode voice
Dr. Tsoni smiled " You have my thanks commander, and please my name is Liara"
Shepard smiled and nodded before running of to find the mining drill. Liara smiled to herself something about that man made her feel safe, that everything would be fine. She felt comfortable when he was around, felt she could let down her guard and trust him to watch over her.
And then she heard him calling out "Hey Garrus! Big laser! We're going to shoot our problems with a BIG laser"and nervously tensed up a bit
"Don't get too friendly" a previously unheard voice spoke to her, and it spoke in a very dark, menacing tone
Liara turned to see a quarian staring directly at her. She had no idea who this quarian was but she definitely wasn't helping her calm down "B-beg your pardon?" Liara stuttered out
"Don't get too friendly" the quarian simply repeated before turning to leave
Liara knew nothing about that strange quarian woman but she had made her feel extremely uneasy,more than the impending laser that would be shot in her close proximity. Who knew what she would do if she got "too friendly"
Shepard walked into the meeting room and addressed everyone "Well a dead krogan,seismic event, and a fair share of geth later we finally have Dr. Tsoni on our team" He grinned and winked at Liara "Let me be the first to say I think it was worth it"
Liara, who was currently seated right next to Tali, blushed a little before she heard what can only be described as a growl emitting from the quarian next to her
"R-right" she started nervously "It's a pleasure to be here and again I must thank you for getting me out of those ruins"
Suddenly the voice of yet another female filled the room "Okay cut the crap, can you help us or not?"
Shepard glared at the woman "To put what Chief Williams said in a more acceptable manner, Liara do you think your knowledge of the protheans could help with our mission in anyway?"
A very large krogan spoke afterwards before she could respond "Don't worry if you can't, we could always use someone with biotics as a bullet sponge"
Shepard was about to say something before the krogan continued "I mean't with an actual biotic barrier Shepard" He flashed a toothy grin "Everyone knows you only let me soak up bullets with my actual body"
Shepard shrugged "You're a krogan, figured that was your specialty"
The krogan was quite for a bit and Liara worried if the commander had actually upset him before he spoke once again "Pretty much is nowadays"
Shepard spoke with no humor in his voice, rather he spoke with a sincerity Liara had seldom heard in her life "We'll talk about changing that later Wrex"
Liara decided to speak up "While I don't know anything about this conduit you mentioned earlier I'm sure I could help decipher any Prothean ruins we come along on the way which may help lead us"
Decipher Prothean hints? "Actually Liara how much do you know about prothean beacons?" The commander asked
"Beacons?" Liara asked "They are essentially a huge storage of knowledge left behind by the protheans. they are extremely rare and the few we do seem to find are usually damaged beyond repair"
She's going to flip when she hears this. "I've actually come into contact with a prothean beacon and wa-"
"You've found a functioning prothean beacon?!"Liara suddenly exploded with a mix of excitement and disbelieve
Knew it.
"Yes however it is no longer functioning" He noticed her mood drop a noticeable bit "However before it...well exploded, it implanted a strange vision in my brain"
"That's amazing commander! I'm surprised your mind could handle the beacon, you must have extraordinary willpower" Liara beamed
Well that's a backhanded complement if I've ever heard one. "Don't think too highly of me now" He said with a chuckle "Even after obtaining the cipher I can still barely comprehend what it's about"
Liara seemed confused "I'm sorry commander what is this cipher you speak of? I've never heard of such a thing in my life"
Oh this is just going to make her day "I guess Shiala just came up with the name on the spot but to summarize it basically gives me the same..."Shepard struggled to find the right word to describe it, he still didn't fully understand it himself "feeling as a prothean"
He saw Liara's eyes widen in astonishment and could tell she was on the verge of squealing like a school girl "That's simply amazing commander! I've been studying protheans all my life and you may have already surpassed me in understanding them!"
Ashley suddenly spoke up again "So no you can't help us"
Wrex suddenly cleared his throat and mumbled "bullet sponge"
Liara wanted to help but she just couldn't think of anything. Just when she was about to accept her fate as bullet sponge she heard the familar voice of the turian that had accompanied the commander on the mission to rescue her
"Shepard her knowledge about the protheans could still be useful. If you were to few everything she knows about the protheans with the viewpoint of a prothean it could help you better understand the vision"Liara noticed that Garrus seemed to look right at the quarian sitting next to her before continuing "If you were to meld minds-"
"NO" the quarian suddenly screamed while shooting up from her seat. Everyone stared at the quarian and she seemed to lose any confidence she had
"I-it's just that the last time the commander melded minds h-he seemed to suffer some mental pain" She stumbled over her words
Don't touch him
He's mine, only I can touch him
Keep away from him you asari whore
The commander looked at her,directly at her for a bit before grinning slightly "It mean's alot to me that you worry about me that much Tali but this needs to be done" he shifted his gaze to Liara "Besides I'm sure Liara is just dying to get a glimpse at this vision she's been hearing so much about"
Any protests that Tali had quickly faded as her thoughts lingered on what he had just said
He cares that I worry about him
My feelings and thoughts mean alot to him
That means I mean alot to him
He cares about me
He...loves me
Tali was far to busy fantasizing in her own little world to notice the mind meld happening right in front of her, just like the previous one it didn't last very long
He loves me,He loves me,He loves me,He loves me,He loves me,He loves me,He loves me,He loves me,He loves me
Her eyes had glassed over as she repeated this thought to herself in a similar fashion to when he had first learned his first name. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice that the meeting had been finished and the rest of the squad had already left the room, everyone except the commander
He walked up to her and began speaking, but she didn't hear the words
He loves me. Her vision focused on the commander standing infront of her and her breathing became ragged and hot.
I love you
Suddenly she remembered a previous conversation she had with Garrus
You need to let him know he's off the market first
She smiled slightly under her helmet
It's time to show him how much I love him
Shepard was still trying to speak to Tali but the conversation was laughably one sided "Tali? is something wrong?"
Suddenly he finally heard her voice but something about it was...different almost haunting "No John everything is fine" He felt her put a hand on his chest
Shepard was a taken aback by the sudden physical contact and the usage of his first name "Tali?" The hand started to move up to his neck
She whispered "Don't worry John everything is fine now" Suddenly the commander felt a slight prick in his neck
Confusion was setting in far faster than whatever Tali had just injected him with "Wh-what did you just" On second thought whatever it was taking effect very quickly and the commander noticed the edges of vision fading. He stumbled forward a bit before being caught by Tali. "It's fine John just rest" Shepard wanted to resist but simply couldn't, his vision quickly faded completely.
He slumped down unconscious, deeper into Tali's embrace. Tali smiled before walking towards the exit of the meeting room with the commander in tow
I love you
She was stopped a few times by the crew and occasional squad mate but quickly explained the mind meld must have put more mental strain on the commander than expected and that he consequently fell unconscious shortly afterwards.
I love you
Just as planned Dr. Chakwas easily believed Tali's story and didn't bother checking his bloodstream for any drugs, and quickly deemed that rest should be all he needs
I love you
She carried the commander eagerly to his cabin, hacked the door's lock to ensure that they wouldn't have to deal with any unwanted interruptions, and set him on his bed.
I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you,I love you
I'll make you see just how much I love you
This will be the start of a long life together
Of course you don't get to say no