All good things must come to an end

Tali slowly came back to consciousness and wished she wasn't. Her entire body ached. She was sure she was purple and blue with bruises and cuts. Both sides of her neck were bleeding and she leaking all over him. If she was going to be honest with herself she hadn't enjoyed last night at all. Tali allowed herself a feeble smile. At least she would never have to endure this again. Hopefully. She had accomplished her task and Garrus with his Turian honor would honor it. Sure it was sneaky and underhanded but she was done waiting. He was a Spectre and they didn't have the best job life expectancy.

It all went back to last night. They had finally made it back to Citadel Space having completed Shepard's year long mission. That had been a week ago. Last night had been the party. Last night she had poured drink after drink down Garrus's throat. A drunk Garrus meant a Garrus with diminished resolve. Combined that with a Tali all over him made Garrus quite willing to accommodate any and all of Tali's suggestions.

Tali got a renewed claiming mark, and the mating mark she had been yearning for. She also got reminded of what Garrus could be like when he didn't hold back. Their first time together had been rough and somewhat Turian. This time Garrus was too drunk to keep in mind that Tali wasn't Turian and therefore not as hardy as a regular Turian female. Tali was sure feeling it this morning.

Underneath her Tali felt Garrus stir a little. Tali just nestled her head against his chest and sighed. She might as well try to get what comfort she could before Garrus woke up completely and took her to see Dr. Michelle.

"Morning."

"I marked you last night." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement.

"Are you mad?"

Garrus started to run his talons through Tali's white hair. It was much longer than he remembered. Then again, it had been almost 15 months since they had last done this. Three months from their "break" and a year for Shepard's road trip. Tali's hair was now all the way down to the middle of her back. She had started growing her hair when she came back to the Citadel. Garrus liked to stroke her hair. It soothed him just as much as it soothed her.

"Just wish you hadn't gotten me quite so drunk last night." Garrus paused. "We'll have to get Dr. Michelle take a look at that bite mark."

"She'll have to look at more than just that."

Garrus's hand froze. "Why? What did I do to you last night?"

****

Garrus had gently as he could moved Tali off of him for bolting out of bed and throwing on some pants. Then he bundle Tali up in the sheets and ran all the way to Dr. Michelle's clinic. After depositing Tali in the doctor's care, Garrus had gone back to their place to get one of Tali's biosuits and get properly dressed. Then the waiting began. That was the worst part.

Garrus's mind gnawed at him. Just what had he done to Tali that was taking Dr. Michelle so long? He wasn't sure. Last night was mostly a haze. The only things he was sure of was that he marked Tali and that he was never going to drink again.

He wasn't mad at her. They were both stubborn. That's all really. And finally Garrus met someone that was willing to be more stubborn than him. And smart. Beautiful. Skilled. He wasn't going to admit it but her stubbornness had been a good thing for their relationship. She was young, early 20s, and he was her first crush, love, kiss, relationship. He was nearing 30. She was his first real serious relationship. He certainly never had anyone live with him before.

The "break" had been good for them. It really helped solidify their relationship without it being hazed over with lots of hormones and sex. And the mission had been a test for them. Tali had gotten to see what Spectre Vakarian was like. Cold, calculating, vicious, remorseless. With work Garrus, the mission always came first, regardless of the costs. That's how Garrus could sleep at night knowing he did things like destroy an entire asteroid base with thousands of people on it.

His role on the mission had been to put his skill as a sniper to work and provide overwatch. In other words he became a shadow to Shepard's squad and tried to keep nasty surprises out of the squad's way. If Shepard sparked off a fight as she was wont to do, Garrus gave fire support from afar, picking off anyone foolish enough to show their head. The work side of Garrus had been a few short steps away from being the next Saren. Tali had kept him from going off into that deep end just like Liara was Shepard's buoy.

That's why he loved her. She knew every part of him and still loved him back. Hell, she knew him well enough to get him to mark her and love her for making him do that.

Two hours after Garrus had brought Tali to Dr. Michelle, the doctor came out to talk to him and she did not look happy at all.

"I've just spent the last half hour with Tali trying to convince me not to file a domestic violence charge against you."

"That bad?" Garrus asked.

"That bad? Garrus, you beat her, bruised her, cut her, bit her." Dr. Michelle said evenly.

Garrus winced. "I didn't realize I had hurt her so badly. I was drunk"

"So she says. Drunkenness is no excuse, Spectre."

Garrus growled low. "It is when she is the one that got me drunk in the first place. She took away my ability to remember that she's not Turian. 'Soft bodies' can't handle Turian mating. They end up like she did. She knows enough about Turian customs to know what she was getting into." Garrus sighed.

"That's what she told me and that's the only reason I haven't filed that charge Garrus. Not that it would do any good since you're a Spectre and all."

"Can I take her home?"

"Not if you're going to bring her back to me like this again."

"I won't. I promise."

"Not a promise, Garrus. On your honor."

"Fine then. On my honor."

"Good. I've patch her up though she will be sore for a few days. I wouldn't recommend anything strenuous for a week or so. Oh and you'll have to carry her home. I gave her a mild sedative so she's dozed off."

"Thank you doctor."

****

They never talked about it. It just became a matter of fact that they were mates and they were both happy about it. Garrus didn't press getting married. Tali had never wanted to get married and Garrus, quite frankly, just gave up. He was smart enough to be content with the bond they had to each other. Never mind that it was a common law marriage, which being mates made them under Citadel law.

Sure it made life a little entertaining for filling out forms but his Spectre status helped smooth things over. Though often times he didn't have to step in. More often than not it was him restraining his mate from hurting the poor employee that had been snide enough to try to treat Tali like a second class citizen. Still every time such a situation came up Garrus was reminded why he loved Tali. She knew what she wanted out of life and wasn't afraid to go after it. She really had come a long way from the girl he had met on the Normandy.

****

Tali was happy with her life. She had a loving mate in Garrus and good friends. Dr. Michelle kept tabs on Tali and Wrex always had interesting, different versions of the stories that Garrus would tell her. Liara and Jane were the one couple Garrus and Tali were friends with. Garrus and Jane of course had their work to keep them in common and Liara and Tali were the Spectre's "wives."

Back on the Normandy Tali had felt a kinship with Liara because they were the aliens there. Liara had been crippling shy and Tali had tried too hard to prove herself to the rest of the crew. Now they had a bond based on common experience. They both had many lonely nights while their other half was away, which was often. And Tali was almost never jealous of Liara. Until Liara and Jane decided to have a kid together.

Tali was happy for them of course but it only served as a reminder of she could never give to Garrus, a child to make their family grow. Family was a strong part of Quarian culture as it was in Turian culture. After months of mulling it over to herself Tali finally came up with a solution she could live if. She just didn't know how Garrus would react since the never talked about it.

So Tali set it all up carefully. She cooked his favorite meal and did everything he liked to do in bed. When he was all buttered up, she pounced.

"What do you think about having children?"

Garrus chuckled a little. "I knew something was up. You hate cooking and only cook when you have something up your sleeve. And you know we can't have kids."

"I know we can't have them biologically. What if we adopted?" Tali asked. Adoption existed in Quarian society but it was almost nonexistent. Family was expected to take in orphans so adoption of people who weren't related was extremely rare. Tali had done some research though and found that adoption was fairly common place in Turian culture. Even if ones parents weren't dead. A Turian that showed exceptional ability could be adopted by a family that had higher standing or could offer a better education in a certain field. Turians of any age could be adopted formally into family making for very unusual family trees.

"Does this have something to do with Liara being pregnant?" Garrus asked. He wasn't blind to his mates wants but the one time they had discussed having a family had ended with her in tears when it was confirmed that they just weren't genetically compatible enough to have offspring.

"Partly. Our age is another thing. We're getting older and it will only get harder the older we get. If we adopt I'd want to adopt a baby not a teenager."

"If we adopt?"

"You haven't said if you want a family."

"I have a family."

"You know what I mean. Kids."

"Of course I want children. I want anything you want Tali."

"I'm serious Garrus."

"So am I Tali. If you want to make the family bigger then let's do it."

****

Garrus had been barred by his mate from interfering with the adoption process. Tali was going to do this through the usual slow channels and refused any help from Garrus. She was Quarian trying to adopt a Turian baby. Not the easiest thing to accomplish. And Garrus let Tali do this on her own for a while. She really took to preparing for this baby. She rearranged the apartment, did up a baby room, filled out all the paperwork, met with the social workers and put up with all of the crap that came her way just because she was a Quarian.

Garrus stayed true to his mate. He didn't use his Spectre status to get his hands on a Turian baby. In fact how this kid got adopted would make for one hell of a story. Garrus wasn't sure if he'd ever tell the kid though and he swore Wrex to secrecy. In this case just leaving it at you were adopted might be better. No kid would want to know they were spared from death when they were only months old all because daddy and Uncle Wrex happened to shoot the guy who had shot their mother.

It was a distress call from a Turian transport that had been ambushed by several Batarian raiders. Garrus and Wrex had fought their way through half the transport trying to drive off the Batarians. It was hard going since they were also trying not to shoot the civilians who were panicking. When the initial surprise wore off Garrus and Wrex had to make a fighting retreat as they were outnumbered rather badly. Garrus had made the decision that they couldn't save any more people than they already had.

It was then that Garrus heard a shot and the thud of a body dropping. He turned and killed the raider that had just killed someone. Garrus would have not even bother to remember killing this particular Batarian except for what he heard a second later; the cry of a baby Turian coming from where Garrus had just shot the Batarian.

Garrus and Wrex fought their way to where the crying was coming from. They only stayed long enough for Garrus to scoop up the screaming bundle that was still in arms of their dead mother. They retreated back to their own ship and undocked from the transport and resumed their course for home.

****

When Garrus showed up home with a crying baby in his arms Tali didn't ask questions or get mad. How could she? His face showed that he was at a loss of what to do and after Garrus told Tali how he came into possession of the child that occupied the baby room, Tali came up with a simple solution. They would adopt that baby and Garrus was going to make sure it happened. But that could wait until morning. Tonight, Tali was going to take care of her mate and her baby.

A/N: Done. Finished. No more! That's write I'm done with this and it ended where I think it should. Tali and Garrus get together and start up their family. I've left the gender of the kid up to your thoughts though I did have an idea that would lead to a really odd chapter. I might add it as a bonus. I'll mull it over. Maybe I'll hold it hostage. I write a bonus chapter if I actually get a review. Last chapter not one review and yet there is something like nearly 20 people that placed this on alert. Still, I think Tali and Garrus not being compatible is very realistic. Sure they have the same genetic base but that doesn't mean anything. A lot of things on Earth had the same genetic base but that doesn't mean they had get together and have kids.

Anyone else get Dragon Age: Origins just to get the Blood Dragon Armor for Mass Effect 2?