Chapter 22: Learning Experiences

The Council's private chambers weren't quite as elaborate as Shepard had long suspected, but they were certainly a cut above anything he'd ever seen in the Alliance. Tevos and Valern both sat in padded chairs, while Sparatus remained standing behind his, talons digging into the expensive leather. A large holo-display took up the majority of the west wall.

"I still cannot believe that Udina was so short-sighted," the turian Councilor sighed.

"I had EDI break into any files that were left," Shepard said, ignoring the flinch from Tevos and Velarn at the mention of the AI. "From what little we can piece together, he had some idea that Cerberus gaining control over the Citadel would save Earth. Whether that was an idea the Illusive Man planted in his head or his own delusion, we'll never know."

"Considering the current state of the galaxy, it will be difficult to replace humanity's Councilor," Valern added.

Shepard moved to lean against one of the numerous desks that lined the opposite wall, likely used by any number of assistants or attaches to do whatever work the Council required when they were rarely together.

"Then don't," he said simply.

"Then it would appear as if we were ejecting your species from the Council as retaliation for the Cerberus attack," Tevos cautioned. "The people - "

"The people are worried about being killed by a race of synthetic warships from dark space," the Spectre snapped, then turned to the only other individual in the room. "Is everything set up?"

Legion's glowing optic bobbed once.

"All connections have been established, Shepard-Commander. Quantum entanglement data and all other uplinks are being routed through the Normandy directly to the Council terminal. Should we activate the link?"

"Do it."

With a twitch of its flaps, the geth platform did as requested and tapped quickly at the terminal controls. There was a barely-perceptible delay before the large holo-display blinked to life with four separate images standing side by side: Wrex, Admiral Hackett, Anderson, and Primarch Victus. His old mentor was the first to speak.

"Shepard. A day ago I got the worst message of my life... for the second time. Now here I am looking at you again. I don't know how you do it, son, but I'm glad it didn't take two years this time."

"That makes two of us, sir," he replied with a smile.

"You're starting to get a reputation on Tuchanka, Shepard," Wrex interjected, his characteristic deep chuckle reverberating through the room. "One of our younger warriors said that krogan might have two hearts, but no krogan can ever claim to have had three lives."

Victus nodded.

"I never thought I'd be agreeing with a krogan, but it's good to see you in one piece. The reports we're getting show that Cerberus' forces have also been completely evicted from the Citadel?"

"A small number that were cut off have taken up defensive positions in some of the industrial districts, but C-Sec has them locked down. They can't do much damage there and it's only a matter of time before we can root them out. The rachni are proving to be... brutally efficient at such actions," Sparatus answered in his place.

Crossing his arms and leaning back a little further, Shepard did his best to keep his tone neutral.

"I seem to recall someone questioning my decision to free the rachni on Noveria. Looks like unleashing the rachni on the galaxy didn't turn out so badly after all."

Sparatus gave him a sour look.

"I told you that turians own their mistakes, Shepard, but we don't obsess over them either."

"I've just been waiting a good two years to say that. This seemed like the only chance I was going to get," the human said, shrugging.

"It's good to see that your return to life has also signaled the return of your flippant attitude."

"Only when it comes to the past," Shepard assured the annoyed turian before looking back at the holograms of their small alliance's leaders. "I've arranged this meeting because we need to talk about what comes next."

Hackett raised a hand to stroke his beard thoughtfully.

"The addition of the rachni to our forces will be a welcome boon. From the sound of it, their ground forces could give us an advantage we'd never thought possible: numbers. Not to mention their ships. No one has been able to explain to me how they managed to disable or destroy that many Cerberus cruisers without suffering any casualties of their own."

"Those questions are best addressed to the newest member of this alliance. Legion?"

The geth didn't respond audibly, instead simply setting up a separate holo-projector that had been brought from the Normandy. It hadn't been an easy task, but they'd managed to put something together in short order. A hazy image finally came into view: Hope-Singer's massive head. The visual elicited a few sounds of surprise from his audience, only amplified when the chamber doors opened to admit a familiar pair of brood warriors.

"Councilors, gentlemen. Wrex," Shepard said dryly. "I'd like you to meet Hope-Singer, eldest queen of the rachni. These are her representatives and brood warriors: Sings-Twilight-Among-Broken-Stars and Sings-Fury-of-New-Life."

Each of the brood warriors was carrying a large crystal like those he'd seen aboard the rachni warriors scuttled over and carefully placed them in the makeshift slots that had been installed near the base of the holo-projector. He could only hope their workaround actually served its purpose.

We sing songs of greetings and peace. In the language of your songs, I am Hope-Singer, eldest remaining queen of the rachni. The heart-songs of those on the devices of light and sound cannot be heard, but I offer you greetings as well.

The two brood warriors had gone stock still as the queen's song flooded the senses of everyone in the room. It took him a moment to realize that he had also actually heard the words with his ears, not just in his mind. Such a method of communication confused the queen, but he'd explained that the others would understand even without being able to hear the 'colors' of her song.

"I'll be damned," Hackett muttered and Victus seemed to share the sentiment, nodding his head.

"Goddess... I've never felt anything like this," Tevos whispered. "Even the embrace of a matriarch doesn't carry the same power. I only hope your trust is well placed commander."

Shepard smirked. "And you're getting it second hand, Councilor, since it seems she's speaking through our friends here."

The asari looked nonplussed. Rachni had no sense of conversational norms, however, and the queen continued on unabated.

The rachni honor the promise given to Sings-of-Endings. We will fight the dark-song destroyers.

"Sings-of..." Sparatus began.

"The logical assumption is that the rachni queen refers to Commander Shepard, as he is the one that spared her life," the salarian Councilor answered before his turian counterpart could even complete the question. "Rather melodramatic, don't you think, Commander?

"The rachni give names, not ask for them, Councilor. I didn't exactly pick it out."

We hear the song within, just as these warriors heard the songs of deception and fear within the treachery-singer. All living things have a song within them, and some are louder than others. Sings-of-Endings' is the loudest of all of those we have heard.

"One day you're going to run into a species that doesn't give you a fancy title, Shepard," Wrex added with dark amusement. "I hope I'm still alive to see it. Can't say I was thrilled with sparing you bunch of bugs, but at least you're on our side after all."

"Not to sound ungrateful, but I'm not sure how we're supposed to integrate a species that doesn't use verbal communication into our forces," Victus said, spreading his hands. "The ferocity of the rachni is well documented, but how are we supposed to direct it?"

Our song is not yours to command, predator-singer. We are not under the sway of the sour yellow notes that warped the thoughts of our mothers, vicious and unrestrained. We will not be used as the protheans used us, as thoughtless weapons.

It was the first time Shepard had felt a hint of anger or resentment from the queen since encountering her on Noveria and the caves beneath Utukku. Clearly the 'memory-songs' she spoke of went very far back indeed. Victus couldn't see the flash of colors that washed over the minds of those in attendance, but apparently the audible words just from their kitbashed communications device carried enough of the feeling that the turian raised his hands in apology.

"I didn't mean to imply such, Hope-Singer," the turian added quickly.

Our forces will ultimately answer only to Sings-of-Endings. We have watched the galaxy since we were free of the ice planet. The wander-singers, the predator-singers... you are all fractured hives, warring within yourselves. Sings-of-Endings does not share your conflicts. It is his guidance we will follow.

The Council didn't look extremely thrilled at the statement and even Hackett had arched an eyebrow. Wrex and Anderson both appeared to be the outliers, completely unfazed by the fact that what amounted to the military of an entire species had just thrown in behind a man at least a dozen intelligence reports had described as a 'dangerous loose canon'.

"I believe what matters is that we find a way to win this war. It doesn't matter who gets the biggest hat," Anderson said in the silence that followed.

He gave the older man a slight nod.

"Speaking of the war... what's the status of Earth?"

"Messy, but we're holding on with everything we've got," Anderson replied. "The devastation is... hard to look at and we've been forced out of most of the major cities. Internment camps have been set up within every major population center. Reaper patrols herd more people into them every day. No one ever comes out again."

Every year of his age showed in that moment when Shepard's former CO took off his hat and rubbed some of the dirt from beneath his eyes. Longevity treatments could keep a man nearing fifty in the fighting shape of a soldier a decade or more his junior, but experience wore the same as it always did, like a stone being shaped by the river flowing around it. Victus' hologram sighed and sent the human a look of sympathy.

"Palaven is faring both better and worse. The Reapers seem far less interested in harvesting turians, and have bombarded the surface far more heavily than they have on Earth by all reports. For the first time in this war, however, I have some good news. Just before your dramatic return, Commander, I received word that a daring joint operation by krogan and turian ground forces on Palaven was successful."

"Any victory is welcome, Primarch, but we have been cut off here since Cerberus' assault," Tevos agreed.

"It was glorious," Wrex interjected with a toothy grin. "We taught them that the only thing scarier than a planet full of krogan is a planet full of krogan and turians."

The Primarch actually returned the pleased expression, though he sobered before continuing.

"The price was high, but we were able to smuggle a large number of weapons from the krogan stockpiles directly into major centers of Reaper occupation... even onto some of the capital ships themselves. Not just conventional ordnance, either - fission and fusion devices, even dark energy bombs."

"Turns out Reapers aren't so tough when a big bomb goes off inside those barriers of theirs. Six of their capital ships in space gone faster than you can slap a varren," Wrex chortled. "As many more on the ground when we detonated one in-atmosphere. Not to mention twice as many of the smaller ships, their processing ships... ground troops."

Sparatus' mandibles widened in shock.

"You detonated dark energy and fission bombs on Palaven's surface? The lasting effects... and the civilian casualties..."

"Estallus had fallen weeks before, Councilor. The city was nothing more than a graveyard that was being used to create more of their monsters and stage attacks on our forces. For those that Reapers had already captured... they were dead no matter what we did," Victus said gravely. "It was deemed an acceptable loss. In a breath we destroyed more of their forces than we have since the war began and actually taken back territory for the first time. The troops are already calling it the 'Miracle at Palaven'."

"I can only assume that the weapons were smuggled aboard the Reaper vessels by volunteers that knew it was a mission that they would not return from. A great sacrifice that should be honored," Valern added, bowing his head slightly.

"One of the generals that gave the go order said it best. 'Whatever they were in life, their deaths had no equal. They are worthy of joining the spirit of Palaven itself'. They will never be forgotten," the Primarch agreed.

Wrex grunted and slammed his fists together.

"They died on their feet, spitting in the eye of their enemy. That's a death worthy of any krogan... or turian. No matter what happens after this the Reapers will remember the fight we gave them."

It was Shepard's turn to smile wolfishly. Momentum. It wouldn't defeat the Reapers on its own, but it would give the people still fighting something to cheer for. Every war that had ever been fought was won and lost by the will of the people fighting it. Yesterday he had told millions that he had seen gods die. Now an entire planet had watched it happen.

"It's not over yet, Wrex. There are plenty of battles left to be fought. The rachni are fighting on our side, and they're not the only allies waiting for us. Councilors, gentlemen... let's talk about Rannoch."


"You mean they agreed? To everything?"

"Everything. They've given us access to the half-dozen SR-1 class ships that were assigned to the Citadel Defense fleet," Shepard told the visibly excited quarian. "The quarians will be granted an embassy on the Citadel again, effectively immediately. It doesn't mean much considering the state things are in, but..."

Tali shook her head. "It means everything! I just can't believe you were able to get them to part with ships. Especially with Cerberus just having attacked."

"They were much more agreeable when Hope-Singer went along with the idea to have part of the rachni fleet help guard the Citadel."

They were still on the Presidium. Tali had insisted on waiting for him outside the Council chambers despite his half-joking promise not to disappear when she turned her back. Her response had been to fix him with a sharp look and to make it clear that he'd best never disappear again. The portion of the upper Presidium that they now occupied had only been lightly damaged and already Shepard could see keepers repairing damaged panels and clearing debris. Just a few hours since the massive station had been under siege, things were starting to go back to normal once more.

"I can't believe how easily they were able to destroy the Cerberus cruisers. No wonder the Council didn't complain."

He chuckled.

"Oh, they complained a little. They thought that we had won the war for a few minutes when we reviewed the footage of the rachni dreadnoughts in action. They were less happy when Hope-Singer explained that weapons they used couldn't be replicated by the various 'two-legged singers'."

"Why not?" Tali asked. "The turians developed thanix cannons just a few years after Sovereign was defeated. If they let me take a look I'm sure-"

"It's not a matter of technology," the Spectre replied quickly, holding up a hand to forestall the whirlwind of technical speculation that was likely about to be unleashed upon him. "We're just not rachni. What they used weren't even exactly weapons, not in the way we think of them."

If there was one thing that caused Tali's self-effacing tendencies to lapse, it was when her technical expertise was questioned. The quarian in front of him placed her hands on her hips and fixed him with a gaze that demanded an explanation.

"The rachni queens are all biotics. Not just biotics, but biotics on a level that would make an asari like Samara look like barely trained recruits. Hope-Singer didn't really explain if they'd always been biotic or if they had become that way over time, but she did explain that her people utilize specially crafted crystals in much of their technology. The crystals boost their innate telepathic abilities... and if properly prepared can do the same for biotic energy."

Offering an example, Shepard stepped back and extended his hand, focusing his mind until the air around his hand began to shimmer. It took greater concentration now than when he'd confronted Leng; his anger had made it easy to achieve the desired result. After a moment the crackling azure blade formed around his fist once more.

"I knew I'd never seen anything like that before..." the engineer muttered.

"That's because no biotic has the ability to maintain a field this strong. Not even the most powerful asari," he continued. "But they embedded small crystals in the gauntlet of the armor that focus the biotic field and let me do this. It's the same idea with their ships. The big dreadnoughts have the same crystals all through their hulls. When the rachni ships attacked, they didn't really fire a weapon. It was more like Jack throwing out a shockwave... just on a massive scale."

"Which means you need a rachni queen and the focusing crystals to make it work. No rachni queen and no crystals means no shockwave. We can't copy the technology because it isn't just technology, it's also biology."

He couldn't help but smile at the almost petulant disappointment in Tali's voice when she lost the chance to work on the new technological puzzle.

"I'm afraid so. It also means we can't just have the rachni build as many dreadnoughts as possible and defeat the Reapers that way. If they go toe to toe with the rachni, even the Reaper capital ships are in for a nasty surprise - but there are only a dozen of them and while rachni mature quickly, they don't mature that quickly. All the current queens were hatched from Hope-Singer's very first hatching and they're barely considered adults."

"So much for that hope."

Tali's shoulders slumped and she moved to lean back against the railing, gaze dropping to the ground. The sudden change in her attitude surprised him. Shepard moved to stand in front of her and placed his hands on her arms, giving her a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

"What's wrong?"

"I... I just had this stupid idea that the rachni would solve all of our problems. When they appeared and kicked Cerberus out so easily, it felt like maybe this was it, that we'd finally found a way to end it. That we'd... made it."

"The war isn't over, but we're in a better position than we have been since the Reapers first hit Earth. When we retake your homeworld, that will be one more step in the right direction."

She looked up and a sigh filtered through her helmet's speakers. When she spoke, it was with a mixture of exasperation and fatigue, with not a small hint of fear.

"The dream of every quarian for three hundred years. The majority of the geth in existence, under the Reapers' control, are standing against us - but you'd think it was just another mission the way you talk about it."

"Rannoch is more than just another mission."

"I know, but it doesn't even feel real. At this moment I'm afraid I'm going to wake up from this dream and find out everything is gone. You said it yourself - that the Reapers were trying to control you, but now you're back talking about retaking Rannoch and defeating the Reapers like it's easy..."

Some of the pieces began to fall into place. Two hours to second guess and stress over everything that had happened would have been bad for anyone that had seen what most the crew of the Normandy had seen in the last years. No matter what causes it, when you come down from an emotional high it's easy to start wondering if the other shoe is about to drop. For Tali, with nothing less than her entire people hanging in the balance, it must have been far worse.

"It's not easy," Shepard disagreed quietly. "Nothing is going to be easy from here on out. I can still feel them, in the back of my mind. Like when you see something move out of the corner of your eye or a shadow takes on a different shape in the darkness. But I can face them now."

The eyes shimmering behind her visor seemed to study him for an eternity. Tali's hands reached up and grasped his own, squeezing them tightly and removed them from her shoulders to grip them in front of her.

"I... lost you once when the Normandy was destroyed. And when I lost you again it felt like I was drowning, just trying to keep my head above water. For the entire time that you were meeting with the Council, all I could think of was that it feels like it never ends. Ever since we met we've been fighting; Saren, the geth, the Collectors... now the Reapers..."

"And you're afraid it'll never end?" Shepard concluded.

She shook her head, voice a strained whisper.

"I'm afraid that it will. And that I already know how it ends."

The pain in her voice sent a shiver down his spine, calling forth the same guilt that he'd felt at their brief reunion earlier. Even when Shepard had been struggling against the Reaper's twisted grip he hadn't been able to completely push her away. It seemed no matter what he did, it caused her pain. A part of him thought that a better man would have stepped away lest he drag her further down.

He gritted his teeth and shoved the offending thought away almost as quickly as it came, recognizing the insidiousness of it. Those same doubts unchecked were what had plagued him for so many months. Doubts that had been steadily encouraged by the whispers in the back of his mind. Tali had chosen to stay with him despite everything that had happened before and since. If she could believe in him, the least he could do was live up to that faith.

"No one knows the ending," the human stated firmly. "All we can do is write it ourselves."

"But-"

"No. No 'buts'... no 'what ifs'. We just see it through to the end, wherever that takes us. And we enjoy whatever moments we can get before they're gone. We've come this far. Don't let a few hours alone with your thoughts tear you apart. I know how that happens all too well."

"After what we've been through... a few hours of silence can feel like forever," Tali said, her voice sounding a little stronger as her fingers toyed with his more numerous digits. "But I understand. It's just... hard. We've lost so many."

He sighed and nodded his head sadly. Images of friends departed flashed across his mind's eye. He remembered Kaidan's final words over a static filled comm line, calm even in the face of death; the oddly peaceful smile on Mordin's face as he entered the elevator on Tuchanka; Thane's shuddering final breaths only a few hours before; even Jenkin's foolish bravado, the first casualty in a war that Shepard couldn't even have imagined when this all had began.

"Too many. But that's why we keep fighting. They gave their lives so we could finally put an end to this all."

"Sometimes I still think about trying to convince you to just take the Normandy to some planet where the Reapers might never find us... every time I do, though, I hear Kaidan's voice telling me 'Tali, there's no problem that you can avoid forever'."

"He was a pretty smart guy," Shepard agreed.

"It took a long time for me to realize just how smart. He told me something else once that I'd almost forgotten. Not long before Virmire... we had been talking and he said that 'Sometimes people hesitate to go after the things they want because either they don't think they deserve them, or, if they do get them, that they'll lose them. But if you do that, then you'll never get what you really deserve.'"

The quarian shook her head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"At the time I didn't really understand what he meant. But I think of everyone on the crew, even Wrex, he was the first one that figured out what I... thought of you."

"If he was still around I'd kick him for not clueing me in sooner," the human said with a tired smile. "Might have saved us a great deal of trouble when you came aboard the Normandy again."

"He was right, though, and so are you... if all I do is let myself worry about what might happen I'll miss what I already have. I've missed too many things in my life to do that."

"Carpe diem."

"What?"

"It's a phrase from a dead language from Earth, one of our oldest ones. It translates as 'seize the day'."

Tali turned her head slightly and he could almost see the smile hidden behind the visor. It was only confirmed when her hands finally released his fingers and slipped around his waist. Her tone became immediately lighter and more playful.

"I like it. You know, I can think of other things that can be... seized too."

His words were careful, but he let his hands glide down the curve of Tali's back as he spoke.

"I didn't want move too fast for you after everything that's happened. If you want to take your time, that's okay."

The quarian pushed herself up on the tips of her toes and tapped her visored face against his forehead. Her voice was breathy even through the synthetic buzz of the helmet speakers.

"Carpe diem."


"I don't suppose appealing to my Spectre authority is going to help?" Shepard asked dryly.

Garrus folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the railing of the war room. The two of them were waiting for the rest of the crew. As soon as he'd returned to the ship, Shepard had ordered a meeting of the entire team. Everyone had seen his speech, but there was a great deal of information to catch up on, not all of it dealing with his return from the grave.

"You're not the only Spectre on this ship anymore."

"If I wasn't here to see it, I wouldn't have believed it... but I think your ego has actually managed to get bigger."

"I think you humans have a saying for this... be careful what you wish for? You're the one that told me to apply for Spectre training, fulfill my potential... the rest of that crap."

"Seems I've created my own spikey-headed monster in this case," Shepard said with a chuckle. "I'll leave the decision up to you. I'm just worried that we're not as good as a full hospital."

The turian snorted.

"Chakwas practically put my face back together with metal and a rough guide to turian physiology. I don't think Kasumi's recovery will be affected, and we both know the safest place in the galaxy right now is this ship. And do you really want to think of the retaliation we both would suffer if we did leave her behind?"

Shepard held up his hands in surrender, flashing his friend a smile; a smile that was genuine, not just a show he put on to keep the crew in better spirits. Despite only having managed an hour or two of sleep since his dramatic return, he felt more alive than he had in months.

"Point taken. I didn't honestly like the idea of leaving anyone behind but I didn't want to drag her further into this if she wanted out," he replied, sobering slightly. "Kasumi isn't a soldier, even if she's been learning to be one ever since she set foot on the Normandy. This doesn't have to be her fight."

"It does. Just like it's my fight. And Tali's. And every other crewmember who's set foot on these deckplates. One way or another we're all here until the end."

He accepted the statement without comment, simply nodding in the direction of his turian friend. There was new conviction in Garrus' voice that brooked no argument. It was an iron that had always been there but clearly had been tempered and forged in just the short time since he'd been left behind on Utukku. That sort of attitude might have worried him three years ago, before the human Spectre had taken command of the Normandy. Now it simply told him that if the time came that he did fall... there would be someone there to see things through without hesitation.

The pair remained in comfortable silence for the remaining few minutes and Shepard let his mind drift for a moment. So many things had changed in just a few short days. He should be tired to his bones, and in truth he could feel fatigue nipping at his heels, but standing there aboard the Normandy he felt a vitality that had escaped him ever since he had returned to Earth. For the first time in what felt like a century, things were going right.

With the rachni as allies they had one more key piece of their fledgling alliance against the Reapers, and now that he was finally free of the unclean influence that had been clinging to his mind, Shepard felt renewed hope. No small part of that renewed feeling had come when Tali had embraced him on the Citadel. Things would likely never be exactly the same as they had been, but maybe it was for the best. All things changed with time.

"I'm going, EDI! Don't you even think of suggesting that you carry me again!"

"This platform possesses more than sufficient physical strength to carry you, Jeff. I see no reason to risk injury to yourself when another option is available."

The door to the war room opened and Joker hobbled in, followed immediately after by the AI's metallic new body.

"There's this thing called dignity, I'd like to keep a shred of it," the pilot complained. "Not sure why I'm here anyways."

"Because you're part of the team, Joker, even if you are its most smart assed part. You get the same information as I'm going to give everyone else," Shepard informed him.

The unshaven man smirked. "Aye aye, sir. Just don't yell at me if I break a leg after I trip over a power conduit or something."

EDI replied with something too low for Shepard to hear and the odd pair of pilot and AI began to whisper in earnest. Most likely another argument, if he had to guess. It didn't take long for the rest of the team to file in one by one, Liara and Tali among the first. The last duo was the most mismatched: Legion opened the door and allowed the bulk of a rachni warrior the scuttle through. Looking at the gathering, he gave a faint smile.

"Some old faces, some new. It's good to see you all," Shepard began. "I've called this meeting because a lot has changed in the past week. Things you need to know..."


"I'm just saying... even as big as the Normandy is, it seems like we're going to start running out of space really fast, loco," Vega stated with a shrug as the team filed out.

Garrus would have expected more shock and awe considering everything they'd just been told. He hadn't been expecting Shepard to actually tell the entire ground team that he had been suffering from indoctrination. Javik's reaction had been the most visceral, of course, and for a moment he had let his hand drift to the gun at his hip. But they had otherwise all taken the revelations well in stride.

And now their team had grown. Miranda had agreed to stay aboard and they had added another unique addition in the form of one of the two rachni brood warriors that had been shadowing Shepard ever since he'd returned. Apparently the rachni queen had decided that the junior of the pair, Fury as Shepard referred to him, should integrate into the 'Normandy hive'. It had been oddly reminiscent of how Shepard had described Legion requesting to join the crew. Maybe there wasn't all that much difference between the geth consensus and the rachni hive mind in the end.

With Ashley agreeing to join up at least temporarily as well, Vega had a point about space becoming an issue. The turian couldn't really complain, though. It felt right to have more of the old crew back on the ship. Neither Ashley nor Lawson had ever been his closest friends but Garrus still saw them as part of the puzzle that was the Normandy.

"I have actually offered Ms. Lawson joint custody of her old office. It has been altered heavily but it seems the most efficient use of space especially considering neither of us sleep a great deal," Liara interjected. "Besides, another set of eyes going over the data I can gain from what's left of the Shadow Broker network won't be unappreciated."

Joker's face showed a war of different expressions.

"I... uh... I'm going to be really quiet with all the comments that just popped into my head. But... if you two ever start braiding each others hair, or head tentacles, and having pillow fights? Totally going to say I called it."

"I thought you were going to be quiet?" Miranda asked.

"As quiet as I get," the pilot shot back.

For his part Shepard merely shook his head and smiled, letting the two women brush past him into the elevator along with a few other members of the team. His destination was the lower deck to finally remove the armor that the rachni had so carefully 'built' for him. Much to his surprise Tali and Garrus were also waiting with Vega for the next elevator down.

"What are you two doing?"

"You have rachni armor on! I want to see what it does... how it's interfaced with your omni-tool. Does it have an independent power source? I've never even heard what rachni technology was capable of!" Tali chattered excitedly.

The turian's mandibles flared.

"Me? I just want to see if they glued it onto you. Watching you jump around the armory trying to pull off bug armor would be the highlight of my year."

"Thanks, glad to see my armor is all you two really care about," the human Spectre replied wryly and hit the door controls on the elevator, stepping inside along with Vega and the pair of dextros.

It was all Garrus could do not to laugh. Tali was practically bouncing on her toes in the same way she had when Shepard had first agreed to let her come along on their mission to stop Saren. New technology always got to the quarian, but he knew part of it was whatever had passed between his two friends after he'd left them together on the Presidium. Shepard looked like a different man than the one he'd seen in the past few months and... well, Tali was bouncing.

"It's not all we care about!" the quarian protested, leaning against the back wall of the elevator between the two Spectres.

"Sure, you say that now. But really you just came back to the Normandy because I find all the weird new technology for you to play with," Shepard teased.

"You also promised to get the quarians back our homeworld. Don't forget that. You certainly make big promises."

"What can I say... I care deeply about the quarian people."

His brow plates raised when he heard the tone in Shepard's voice. They only arched a little higher when a similarly warm and teasing tone came from the quarian next to him.

"I do appreciate what you're doing. I don't know if I said it before but... it's good to be back on the Normandy."

"Well, let me know if it's too quiet to sleep again. I'll try to find you some place... noisier."

Tali's visor quirked to the side and a sound that the turian would have sworn on the spirits of his ancestors was a low purr emerged from the suit's speakers. The turian was caught somewhere between a strangled laugh and a cough.

"I was there last time, you two... you know," Garrus muttered. "Get a room, work it out."

The fourth member of their little elevator ride hadn't been, though. A fact that the newly cheerful duo had clearly forgotten when he cleared his throat. Vega glanced between each of them in bewilderment.

"Uhh... did I miss something?"

Before Garrus could make the biting comment on the tip of his tongue, a new voice came over the intercom that did his work for him. The turian clamped his mandibles to the side of his face and did his best to conceal his mirth.

"Shepard and Tali became physically intimate during our mission to stop the Collectors," EDI supplied helpfully.

"Oooh. Yea, that was... didn't need to know that. Sorry I asked," Vega stammered.

"Thank you... EDI," Shepard replied in a clipped tone.

The elevator arrived just in time and Shepard jabbed the door release, quickly stepping outside and dragging Tali with him, not that she needed much encouragement. Garrus simply chuckled as quietly as he could while Vega stared after them with a look of bewilderment.

"So... they really... the two of them? Is that even like... possible?"

His amusement died immediately at the hint of disapproval in the human's voice, Garrus' head snapping up to focus on Vega with his icy blue eyes.

"You'd be surprised what's possible. Is that a problem, Vega?" he asked, his tone carefully neutral.

"What? Whoa, no. It's cool, Scars. I ain't one of those Earth First or Human Pure types," the young marine replied quickly. "It just never really clicked in my head as an option. Besides, it's fucking Shepard. He can date an elcor for all I care. Loco's earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants with whoever he wants, I'd say."

Vega had raised his hands in that universal human gesture of submission as soon as he'd began speaking and Garrus didn't detect any actual hostility there. His own fatigue had likely just made him over react but it was good to be sure.

"You're right, he's definitely earned that."

"Does explain some shit."

"Like what?" Garrus asked.

"When Shepard turned himself in, Anderson gave me a list of warnings and stuff. Said to memorize every bit of it and make sure the team that was with me followed it to the letter when we boarded the Normandy," Vega explained as he gestured after the retreating Spectre. "Had some of the usual 'don't be a dick' stuff they always give you when dealing with anyone important. Anderson's orders were that we shouldn't try to take him by force if he changed his mind."

"Seems reasonable, trained marines or not Shepard would have taken your team apart if he decided he didn't want to go. What does this have to do with Tali?"

"Because the funny thing was that Anderson told me personally that under no circumstances were any threats to be made against any crew that remained aboard and if we did it would only end badly for all of us. Said that went double if you were still aboard and that 'god help your stupid grunt soul if the quarian on that crew manifest gets caught in the line of fire'."

Garrus barked out a laugh now, his good humor returning.

"Sounds like Anderson was trying to save your life."

"Shit yea," James agreed. "I called him Loco because I watched him do some crazy shit in the middle of a fight. And that was just another mission. Wouldn't want to be the one that messed with his girl."

The turian clapped the large marine on the shoulder as they finally exited the elevator.

"You just learned one of the rules of the universe, Vega. Don't fuck with Aria on Afterlife, don't fuck with a turian with his fringe up, and don't fuck with Commander Shepard when a quarian is involved. Especially if that quarian is named Tali'Zorah."

"Good rule. Not sure about the fringe thing, though. What does that even mean?"

Garrus rolled his eyes and moved on ahead.

"Come on, let's go see if we can embarrass Shepard some more."

"Seriously, Scars. What the hell? That sounds like something I need to know. What is it with turians and the damn fringe?"

"Vega, I am not explaining the turian birds and the bees to you. Just take the advice."

"Oh, it's like that."

"It's like that."

The large human shook his head.

"The things you learn on the Normandy."


The scent was unmistakable. A large, fanged muzzle tipped upwards and inhaled deeply, causing every muscle in the beast's body to tense in excitement. Membranes quickly nictated over the varren's eyes as he scanned the cargo bay.

Alpha was here. The alpha's scent was slightly muted and tinged with something else, something that reminded the varren of the burning clicking animals of his old home. But it was definitely the alpha. Urz leapt from behind the pile of crates that he'd been sleeping in and looked around the cavernous space that he called home.

There!

His tense muscles sprang into action, propelling his nearly sixty kilos of mass across the cold floor towards the dark figure that had just emerged from the moving tube. Other scents filled his nostrils. The strange outer skin of the alpha's mate. Urz had learned that the alpha-female's hide was special when she had chastised him for trying to paw at her. But he had learned quickly because if he pleased the alpha's mate she would give him scraps from the place above the tube.

Urz almost forgot to check his run. The cold metal ground still gave him problems and he skidded the last few feet, crashing into the alpha's legs. His entire back end wiggled eagerly even as he ducked his head in an apologetic gesture. But the alpha wasn't mad. He was making the sounds at Urz, scratching him at the base of his spines and making the noises at him. Urz was happy.

"Almost forgot to say hello to you didn't I, boy? Yes, you're a good boy."

The varren made a pleased grunting sound and leaned into the scratching. The alpha's sounds didn't always make sense but he knew when the alpha was pleased. He knew he was 'boy' and that 'good' was something he should do. Everything had been strange since Urz had been brought back to the cold floor place from happy packmate's den. The very happy two-leg had been nice to him and had even let him sleep in her nest, but he had missed the alpha and the rest of the pack.

Before the alpha would occasionally let him go into the tube and go to other parts of the cold floor place, even the place that was the alpha and his mate's den. But since returning the alpha had rarely patted him and the cold tunnels that Urz had used to get around the cold floor place had been sealed off. The large two-legged packmate in the cavern had been nice to him and Urz had not challenged the large one's position in the hierarchy because he had also provided scratches and something called 'jerky'. Most of the other two-legged ones had avoided him.

Urz wasn't one to worry about things. He knew what he was supposed to do. He wasn't supposed to run into the slow two-legs that made lots of noise because that two-legs was weak, but the alpha kept him around for some reason. And if predators came to the cold floor place he was supposed to kill them. They had only come once and their blood had tasted foul, but Urz had driven them away and the alpha had been happy. But even the simple varren could feel that something had been wrong. None of the two-legs had made as many of the happy sounds as they had before. They always had fear scents.

Then the alpha's mate had come down to the cavern during the dim time when most of the two-legs were asleep. She had went to the place in cavern that had smelled like the alpha and had been going through the alpha's strange skin coverings. He didn't understand why but she had begun to make distress sounds, so Urz had come to protect her. There were no predators, though, and Urz hadn't smelled blood. Instead the alpha-female had clutched at him like she was a pup in the nest. He hadn't understood but he had stayed because she was the alpha's mate and he knew he was supposed to. He was a good boy.

All of the two-leg packmates had been quiet after that and none of them wanted to play. But now they all sounded different. They didn't have fear scents and they were scratching him. Urz's spines flexed when he smelled another packmate and looked over to find the beta-male had emerged from the tube with the large two-leg. He liked the beta-male too. His paws were rougher than those of the alpha and his mate and while he only ever gave scratches when the other packmates weren't around they were always very good.

"I think he's happy to see you. You'd think the way he acts that you'd been gone for years."

The alpha-female had crouched down next to him. Urz immediately rolled onto his back and showed his belly in submission. It was proper. And it usually got him more scratches. The varren's tongue lolled out of his head when the tactic was successful and fingers rubbed against his ribs.

"I think I was gone longer than I realized... but I'm back now. And I don't plan on going anywhere."

Two-leg noises were so complex, but he could tell they were happy sounds. All Urz knew was a simple fact. Things were as they were supposed to be again. The pack was whole.


One of those pesky transitional chapters ;) I have been a bit behind in updating, hopefully I can update more regularly in the future but a number of things in life have unfortunately interfered. Thanks for the reviews and comments over the last few chapters both on the story and for AMX's amazing artwork! Shepard is indeed back in action... and now the real war starts.

Hope you enjoy the ride!