A/N: I've now got a Beta reader willing to help out on my fic, so here's a thanks to ya, LivingLow. Make sure to read his fics, Hellhound and This Is It, they are epic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect and its characters. They are owned by Bioware. But however, I do own the OC, Dakkben Slade, along with some OC's I might put in.

Chapter 6: Examinations

Dakkben could only sigh as he stood in the Med-bay, standing awkwardly under the stern glare of Doctor Chakwas. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw Tali and Shepard, seemingly amused at his predicament.

Tali was about to leave when instead Doctor Chakwas spoke: "Uhuh, young lady. You aren't going anywhere. Last time I let someone I was going to examine leave, I couldn't find him for nearly 16 hours."

Dakkben chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head before replying: "Uh, sorry, Tali. That's probably me."

Tali only sighed as she sat down on one of the medical beds near the doorway and turned to watch both Dakkben and Doctor Chakwas. Doctor Chakwas, amused by Dakkben's awkward apology turned to one of her examination machines. Shepard continued to stand in the doorway, watching Doctor Chakwas move from machine to machine while Dakkben cautiously kept a cautious eye on the doctor.

"You know you don't have to be here, right?" Slade asked Shepard as he moved slightly away from Doctor Chakwas.

"Yes, but I am curious. I want to know what Cerberus did to you so I can know if you're truly capable of what you say you are." Shepard relied as he moved to lean on the wall next to the doorway, a slight smirk on his face.

"Yes...Shepard" Slade said with annoyance as he sighed deeply.

Doctor Chakwas suddenly approached Dakkben and said "Off! Take your clothes off!"

"Wait, what!" Dakkben gulped as Tali suddenly became very interested in an invisible spot on the floor.

"Oh, don't worry handsome. You can keep your pants on," Doctor Chakwas added with a slightly mischievous smile.

"Thank god!/Keelah be thanked!" Dakkben and Tali said in unison. The both of them glanced at each other and laughed awkwardly.

Dakkben took off his torn leather jacket before tossing it into the waste receptacle, revealing his well-toned, muscular arms. Tali stared at his arms as each tendon seemed to flex and contract at each motion.

Dakkben brought his hands to the edges of his dirtied tank top and peeled it off, showing the glistening skin underneath covered in sweat and dried blood. Tossing the dirty tank top into the waste receptacle as he had the leather jacket, Dakkben could feel the gaze of Tali's eyes on him, searching, taking in the details, and felt the heat rise up in the back of his neck.

Tali was awestruck; the soldier, Dakkben wasn't that muscular, but he was well toned and attractive even by quarian standards. She could see Doctor Chakwas notice the same thing and felt something like a fire burning deep within herself: anger...and jealousy. Jealousy that there was another woman staring at the man that risked his own life to protect her from Saren's men.

"Uhhh...Doctor? Can we continue sometime soon?" Dakkben said as he waved his hands in front of Doctor Chakwas; who seemed to be off in some kind of day dreaming state.

"Wha...? Yes! We'll continue now," Doctor Chakwas said as her cheeks became red, drawing chuckles from both Dakkben and Shepard.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that you were imagining about jumping him!" Shepard teased as Doctor Chakwas' cheeks became even redder. Chakwas gave an exasperated sigh in response.

Tali thought about Dakkben's toned chest, his muscular arms wrapping around her, his skin pressing against her skin and his hands at-

NO! He's human. I'm a quarian, it can't work. But...he did say he was no longer human...what if he feels the same thing? I...like him.

Tali only clenched her fists together to keep herself from pushing Doctor Chakwas away and screaming at the top of her lungs that she liked Dakkben. No, it was something else, something more. Desire?

"Alright, I'll ask you some questions for me to record," Doctor Chakwas said as she picked up a datapad, snapping Tali out of her daze.

"Go on ahead, doc. Make sure to get the nasty ones out first," Dakkben joked as he crossed his arms.

"Name?"

"Dakkben Slade"

Doctor Chakwas typed in the reply on her datapad.

"Age?"

"Uhhh, 23, I think. Never could keep track of my birthdays."

Shepard stiffened as he heard Slade's down he began to ponder to himself.

That makes him about the same age as...

Shepard shook his head as he glanced back to both Slade and Doctor Chakwas.

"Home planet?"

"I...don't know. Can't remember back any further than 13 years ago. Amnesia."

Dakkben heard the soft gasp from Tali as Doctor Chakwas seemed to be sympathetic. Shepard, even more confused, pondered his thoughts again.

Mindoir was 13 years ago. Maybe he-

"What is the furthest back you can remember?" Shepard asked as he observed Slade.

Slade only sighed as he replied "Hmmm. Woke up strapped on a tray. A bunch of Cerberus scientists were poking and prodding me with needles.

They told me that my entire family was slaughtered by batarian slavers and that I was hurt so bad that they had to put me through the program to save my life.

What a bunch of bullshit. They kept me in that goddamn prison for five years, constantly tearing me apart only to rebuild me with something else.

They only let me out to put me through trials. One time I was pumped full of thresher maw acid and thrown into a pit full of hungry varren.

It wasn't until the factory event that I managed to escape. Then I lied about my age in order to get into the Alliance."

"Wait. You said you don't remember anything; does that mean Dakkben Slade isn't your real name?" Doctor Chakwas asked as she felt compassion for the man.

"No." Dakkben said flatly, his usual friendly demeanor turning cold.

"Keelah..." Tali whispered to herself. She wanted to say something, do something to help the man as he had done for her.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way to make them pay," Shepard offered as he approached Slade.

"I-thanks, Shepard," Slade said, his mood lightening as Shepard gave Slade a pat on the shoulder.

Doctor Chakwas gave a soft smile before returning to her datapad, the datapad which beeped as she typed.

"Alright, Slade. Step on up to the scanner. Let's see what the baddies did to you," the Doctor said as she gestured for Dakkben to step into the scanner.

Slade only gave a slight nod as he acquiesced to her request. He stood still as the scanner whirred around him, giving a wink to Tali, who shyly waved back. The scanner beeped once it's work was completed, and Doctor Chakwas began to read out the results. She gasped in surprise and her eyes widened.

xXx

Dakkben glanced around the communication room as he awkwardly stood at the center of attention. Once what Doctor Chakwas found out about what exactly Cerberus did to him, she wanted to discuss the news to everyone on the ground team along with few others on board the Normandy. He had to take a shower and change into a fresh set of Alliance-issued clothes. His clothes were different from normal Alliance uniforms since he only wore a black set of jeans, dark navy blue tank top and a set of black fingerless gloves.

He noticed Tali, sitting right near to where he was, give him a nod. Nearby, Doctor Chakwas helped Joker make his way to his seat using his crutches.

"Hey, I wasn't aware we had another cripple flying this ship," Dakkben joked. The crowd chuckled softly as Joker proceeded to flip the finger at Dakkben, earning a disapproving glare from Doctor Chakwas.

"Alright, everyone here?" Shepard asked. There were murmurs as everyone gave a signal of confirmation of sort, along with Wrex's loud snort.

"Good. You can start, Doctor," Shepard added as he allowed Doctor Chakwas to step in front of the crowd.

"Some one you may already know, Dakkben Slade. " She said, giving a knowing glance to Slade, who simply nodded in reply. "He was taken by Cerberus at the age of ten and he was put through agonizing experiments and cruel trials," she said. There were murmurs of surprise and anger throughout the room; even Navigator Pressly muttered several words of insult against Cerberus.

Doctor Chakwas shook her head as she continued: "We have noticed that Dakkben's cells divide a hundred times faster than those of a normal human. This allows him to heal from wounds that would be virtually fatal for anyone else, even Wrex."

"At the age of 15, he was sent to capture a mercenary factory, but when he failed-because he refused to sacrifice innocent lives-Cerberus set him on fire. How long was it again? Five, six hours?" Doctor Chakwas continued as she turned to face Dakkben.

Dakkben sighed and glanced downward before replying: "Seven. It was the worst thing I've ever experienced. And trust me, I've experienced pretty much every method of death out there."

Everyone, even Wrex, seemed to be sympathetic in their own way; some of them shed a single tear of sadness, while others simply covered their mouths in shock. Even Ash walked up and gave Dakkben a tight bear hug that would've snap a normal man in half.

Tali could feel the jealousy screaming inside of her as she watched the human woman hug the man she liked. She would've gone up there and torn her away from him herself had she not seen Dakkben was looking in her direction. He shrugged.

"Ash?" Dakkben asked as he began to feel the circulation in his back slow down.

"Sorry, Slade. You're the closest thing I have to a brother," Ash replied. She finally released Dakkben from the hug and quickly moved back to where she had been, next to Kaiden.

Tali sighed in relief as she now realized that the human, Ash, didn't think of her Dakkben like that. Watching Dakkben receive words of compassion from others, she was surprised at her possessive thoughts about the superhuman.

"Alright, at the age of 15, Dakkben was able to join the Alliance due to his physique being so altered from the experiments, he was able to easily pass himself off as a full-grown adult," Doctor Chakwas continued as she looked back into her datapad.

"According to the results of the scanner, Dakkben's DNA has been extensively modified. I-I'm not even sure where it began and where it end. Technically, he is a whole different person than he was before being taken," She explained as she brought out a large metallic container and a small plastic tube filled with paste.

"Not only has Dakkben's DNA had been radically changed, his metabolism has evolved to a point where he can actually consume both Levo and Dextro based products," Doctor Chakwas said as she handed the plastic tube to Dakkben.

Dakkben's stomach growled, drawing some chuckles from the crowd, and he ripped open the plastic tube. Pouring the paste into his mouth, the disgust was evident on his face; the texture was completely revolting and there was no flavor.

Is this what it's like for Tali? Everyday?

He forced the paste down his throat and emptied the plastic tube. Everyone, even Tali and Shepard, seemed to lean in closer to Dakkben, watching for the telltale signs of an allergic reaction. Dakkben raised an eyebrow in confusion, before he realizing that everyone else wasn't as used to his metabolism as he was.

"No allergic reactions as you can see. Now, as for the Ryncol so generously donated by Wrex. His metabolism allows him to process alcohol before it has a chance to affect him. However, the Ryncol is able to slightly affect him because it is so strong it burns through the tissue as it goes down," Doctor Chakwas continued as she handed Dakkben the large metallic container. He took the container and twisted open the top; instantly the stench of strong alcohol spread throughout the deck as Wrex gave an approving nod.

"Bottoms up," Dakkben muttered as he raised the bottle to his lips and poured it down his throat. The powerful alcohol burned and he could feel the slight buzz. As quickly as it came, the buzz faded and he could feel the alcohol become into fuel for his body.

He crushed the metal bottle and tossed it into a waste receptacle. "Two points, the Mutant wins the game!" Joker commented as he pretended to hold up a microphone to Dakkben who simply glared back. Shepard shook his head in amusement as he watched Dakkben do his best not to let Joker get the better of him.

"Anyways. As we went through the scans, we noticed that the muscle fibers Dakkben had were one-tenth of the normal human size, but they were in fact a hundred times more powerful. This makes him capable of doing superhuman feats. Care to demonstrate for us, Dakkben?" Doctor Chakwas said as she smiled at Dakkben.

Dakkben took a step back as he crossed his arms. He thought about his time during the Alliance and the Cerberus trials he went through "Hmmm. I once fought several angry krogans in hand-to-hand combat, and won," he stated as he rolled his left shoulder.

"You're not just a mutant, you're a goddamn Supermutant, " Joker remarked as he waved his arms around for emphasis.

"Thanks, Joker. No autographs though," Dakkben sarcastically teased as Joker pretended to hand something over to Dakkben to sign, drawing some chuckles of amusements.

"Anyone got questions?" Dakkben asked as he glanced around the crowd. He saw that there was no questions, Dakkben turned to face the doctor. "We finished here?" Dakkben asked Doctor Chakwas. She nodded in reply.

But before anyone could move, Kaiden interrupted, "Wait, Dakkben. What was your worst assignment?"

Dakkben frowned as he spoke one word "Akuze."

"Shit. Sorry, Dakkben," Kaiden replied as he shook his head. Dakkben only nodded in reply as he leaned back, glancing over to meet Ash's concerned eyes. She nodded as she turned to leave alongside Kaidan towards the cargo bay.

Everyone but Tali, Garrus and Wrex seemed to understand and they left for their respective posts, leaving only the ground team in the conference room.

Doctor Chakwas gave Dakkben a soft pat on his shoulder before she left to return to the Med-Bay. Tali could only wonder in confusion about Akuze; she didn't understand much about human history. She did know about Elysium because her people studied Shepard's methods to protect themselves from pirate attacks. But, the way the others hadreacted, it was as if Akuze was something important, or terrifying.

Keelah...what is Akuze? What happened? Maybe I'll ask Dakkben, maybe he'll explain it.

Shepard cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "Alright, we'll be going to Therum; I've had the coordinates sent to Joker. We'll be there in about 20 hours. In the meantime try to get as much rest as you can. Tali?" Shepard said as he glanced over to Tali who looked up to meet his glance.

"Y-yes, Commander?" Tali meekly replied, fidgetinh her hands.

"Please, Tali. I like to keep an open-door policy. Just call me Shepard. Anyway, Slade said you are skilled with tech, correct?" Shepard inquired.

Keelah...where is he going with this..?

"Y-yes, Com-I mean, Shepard," Tali replied, still fidgeting with her hands.

"Well, Slade mentioned that Engineer Adams down on the Engineering Deck could use some help. So if you like, I could give you the authorization to work in there," Shepard added as he glanced over to Slade who was giving Tali a slightly sheepish smile.

"Wha-really? Wow! Thanks Dakkben! You too Shepard! I-I'm going to get going now. Thanks again!" Tali exclaimed as she quickly got up to run to the elevator, the excitement literally gushing with every step of hers.

"Wow, you were right. She sure loves tech," Shepard commented as he glanced back over to Slade.

"Yeah..." Dakkben replied as his mouth formed a slight smile at the quarian engineer's excitement. He did like to see her happy and excited. He had always felt something since he first saw her back in Chora's Den. He wasn't too sure of what he felt, but it terrified him and yet, aroused him as well. He did like her bubbly personality and that selfless behavior of hers.

Her skin against mine, my hands around her shoulders, resting on her hips. My lips onto hers-

But before Slade could finish his thoughts, Shepard snapped him out of it. "Hey, Slade. Mind if I have a minute with you?" He asked Slade, who nodded in reply.

"Alright, follow me," Shepard said as he made his way for the elevator with Slade matching his pace to his left. As the both soldiers got into the elevator, Shepard pressed the button for the secondary crew quarters.

"Shepard? Isn't that where the private quarters are?" Slade asked, curious of what Shepard's intentions were.

"Yes..." Shepard said as he gave a smile. The elevator doors hissed open as they both walked out, Shepard leading Slade to a door with a glowing red hologram on the front of it. Shepard entered in a simple pass code,which opened the door, revealing the room.

There was a desk located to the left of the door with various data-pads and even a terminal console. A workbench was located across the desk with various tools and materials. But the most noticeable thing in the room was the bed; it was a queen sized bed, big enough for two people to fit on comfortably.

"I-is this...?" Slade began as he stared at the bed, awestruck.

"Yes, it's yours. I thought about giving you some privacy after what you went through. Just make sure to change the pass code," Shepard replied as he patted Slade on his shoulder before leaving the stunned superhuman alone in his new room.

xXx

Tali could only barely keep herself awake as she tapped away at her console. She glanced over to the empty console of Engineer Adams. The human engineer was thrilled to let her work on the Normandy's drive core, much to her surprise.

She nearly broke out in giggles when Engineer Adams had threatened the other engineers to have them fired and replaced with more, quote, 'Quarians, the goddamn best engineers I've ever seen. Now get off your lazy ass and get to working!'

She had kept working on her console despite Engineer Adam's concern to have her sleep, which she kindly declined. But before she knew it, she felt more and more tired as she began to lean more and more onto the console. Managing to press the button to save and power the console off, she slumped to the floor, leaning onto the hull near the console.

Well, guess one minute can't hurt...can't find any better place to sleep though...everywhere else...too quiet...

xXx

He stands his ground as Miranda marches to meet him face to face.

He can feel the cold of the poison and the burn of the acid running in his veins as he stumbles to the ground, unable to move anything but his eyes.

His protests are muffled as the Cerberus men pour foul liquid onto his body, the burn of the liquid making him realize what it was.

Miranda smirks as she lights the lighter in her hand as she tosses it towards him.

He can feel the searing burns of the flames, as time progresses, the pain refuses to decrease and only worsens.

The last thing he can remember before passing out is the cold, sadistic blue stare of Miranda Lawson boring its path into his skull.

"The Illusive Man sends his regards."

GOD NO! ITS A DREAM! WAKE UP! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!

Dakkben woke up with a start as he immediately sat upright. Glancing to his bed, he realized he had been thrashing about in his sleep, again. The memories of his past still haunted him despite his best efforts to repress them. He sighed as he got up to put his navy blue tank top on. Dakkben pulled off the covers, taking the effort to make his bed as he smoothed the wrinkles out.

Hmmm. What to do now? I could check in on the Engineering Deck and see if Tali's still awake.

Making his decision, he made a beeline to the door leading out of his room, taking the time to change the pass code as he did so. He got into the elevator, almost immediately pressing the button for the Engineering Deck. The elevator whirred as Dakkben tapped his foot repeatedly onto on the floor as he thought about what to say to Tali.

Can't just go and tell her, 'Sorry, I just came down here because I had bad dreams and couldn't sleep at all.'

Sighing to himself as the elevator whirred to stop, the doors hissing open as Dakkben made his way out. Searching for Tali, he came upon a sight he wasn't expecting to see.

The quarian engineer was slumped against the hull near her console. Dakkben could see her head tilted forward, her chest steadily rising and falling with each breath. And he could hear soft, incomprehensible sounds emanating from the sleeping quarian.

He nearly laughed out loud as he watched the peacefully sleeping engineer. The quarian wasn't only sleeping, but she was softly muttering to herself as she did so. Dakkben crouched down to Tali's height, his face mere inches from her visor. He could make out the faint outlines of her slender, human-like face as he leaned closer.

Suddenly, Tali woke up. She was extremely confused, she didn't know where she was and there was a blurry figure closing in on her visor. Acting on pure instinct, she charged and tackled the figure to the ground. It wasn't until she heard the familiar grunt that she realized who it was.

"D-Dakkben?" Tali said, her voice trembling.

"Yeah. uhh..." Dakkben said as he glanced over to meet Tali's silver orbs behind her visor, his cheeks becoming redder by the moment.

"Why are you..." Tali asked as she cocked her head to the side, until she looked down and realized what Dakkben was trying to say. When Tali had tackled Dakkben to the ground, she inadvertently ended up straddling Dakkben's hips, grinding right onto his-KEELAH!

She scrambled to get off Dakkben before getting to her feet. She could feel the blood rush to her cheeks as she watched Dakkben slowly get onto his feet. Dakkben was more curious than angry, and he was wondering why Tali had so quickly scrambled to get onto her she...blushing?

"Keelah! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" Tali apologized as she looked away from Dakkben.

Shaking his head, he only gave a comforting smile before saying, "Don't worry. I'm not mad. I would rather to get to know you better before we get to that point, yes?"

Tali nodded as she began to slowly make her way to her console, only to have Dakkben gently hold her by her shoulders before turning her around to face him. Tali kept her glance downwards at his chest, still blushing from moments ago.

"Hey, Tali? Why were you sleeping down here?" Dakkben asked, concerned for Tali's health.

"I, uh, couldn't sleep anywhere else and I was busy working so I decided to take a nap," Tali explained as she began to lean back onto her console, welcoming the gentle hold of Dakkben's hands on her shoulders.

"Uh? I guess so, it is pretty quiet anywhere else," Dakkben commented as he shook his head at his thoughts.

I guess I could offer her...no, I don't know what she'll even think of it...

Tali quickly glanced upwards in surprise as she heard his words.

He knows!

"W-wait? You can't sleep in the silence either?" Tali asked.

"Yes...I'm so used to hearing the filters running and whirs of machines in my sleep, I can hardly-" Dakkben began.

"Sleep anywhere else," Tali finished, still furiously blushing. She now thought about it more and more, that she and the soldier, Dakkben, were so similar yet different.

Dakkben only gave a soft smile in reply as he gave a soft pat on Tali's shoulder before saying, "Well. Shepard gave me a private room of my own on the secondary crew quarters. You are welcome to use my bed anytime you want. I even have a specialized audio system hooked up that will play various sounds, including filters and drive cores."

"I-thank you, but you are too kind. I don't want to intrude," Tali said as she shook her head.

But Dakkben quickly shushed her before replying, "Don't worry, I insist. I did, after all, promise you that I would help you get through this. Geth or no Geth."

Tali nodded in reply as Dakkben slowly pulled his gentle hold on her shoulders away. Inwardly, she fought to keep herself from pulling his hands back to where they were. She continued to observe Dakkben's face as he did the same to her. She could feel Dakkben's gaze on her face and on her skin. She smiled at him and he smiled in response.

"Alright, Dakkben. I-I'll take that offer," She managed to say as she gestured Dakkben to lead the way.

Keelah, wh-what am I doing? Taking an offer to sleep in the same room with a man I only knew for few days? But... he did risk himself to save me, and...he doesn't treat me like a thief or vagrant, but as an equal, someone to be respected. If it was going to be anyone, it would be him.

Meanwhile Dakkben was pondering himself of his choice to allow Tali to share his room. He did like her; she was selfless, thoughtful and kind. She was someone he could trust. Someone he could feel very much at ease with.

As he led Tali to the entrance of his private room, he typed in the pass code as Tali came up. She was nervously wringing her hands back and forth. The doors opened with a hiss as both of them walked in.

"Hang on, Tali," Dakkben said as he turned to type in the door lock console.

"Y-yes?" Tali replied as she looked around Dakkben to see what he was doing.

"Pick a pass code. Keelah or Bosh'tet," Dakkben said as he motioned for Tali to type in the pass code.

Wait, he wants to have a Kheelish word as his pass code? He is really trying to keep everything simple for me...

She reached in to type in 'Keelah' before leaning back out as the console confirmed the command. She turned around and finally observed the room; she could see a desk with data-pads and a terminal console, a workbench with tools and materials. She stared at the bed at the far end of the room, blushing as she realized there was only one bed.

Does that mean we have to...share?

"I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor, I'm probably more used to it than the bed," Dakkben commented as he walked over to the right side of the bed, picking a pillow off it as he carried an spare blanket.

Tali leaned over to the left side of the bed, noticing the plush pillow, the firm mattress and warm blankets. She nearly jumped as noises of filters and the hum of the drive core resonated throughout the room. She glanced over to face the source of the sounds, finding Dakkben setting up his audio system on a counter near the bed.

"There... Is the resonator too loud for you?" Dakkben asked as he turned to face Tali.

"No...that's perfect...Thank you, Dakkben," Tali replied. She could feel tears come to her eyes as she slid into the bed. She could see Dakkben do the same to his makeshift bed as she pulled the covers over herself; she could smell the faint scent of Dakkben still clinging onto the covers. It was at that point, she realized, she was in love with the superhuman.

A/N: As you can see, the relationship between Dakkben and Tali is starting already. To answer some questions you might have, the reason why they both started to have feelings for eachother was mainly due to Dakkben protecting Tali, even going as far as allowing himself to be captured and tortured to give Tali a chance to escape. As for Dakkben's side, it was mainly Tali's selfless personality that drew him in since he was so used to the cruel treatments from Cerberus and on occasion some people due to his superhuman abilities.

Metabolisom issue with Levo/Dextro, I'm not saying that he would LIKE eating Dextro food, but he can survive on it if neccessary.

And, no. Shepard did not give Slade his own captain quarters. I made it so that the Normandy have two crew quarters, one where the sleep pods are located, and another with a private room which Slade now have. Shepard STILL have his captain quarters.

Also, check out my profile. I've now included a link to my deviant art page with a picture of Dakkben Slade. I'm currently working on a wallpaper cover for this fic, though.

If you got any questions, send me an IM. ALSO, click that review button, its begging for it!