Author's Note: Ok, now this is by far the shortest chapter I've written. I needed a bit more exposition before I made a huge leap. I unfortunately ran short on back stories to tell. So I will put up chapter 13 really soon (after I finish proofreading)

Chapter 12

Tali worked silently at her terminal, listening to her coworkers banter back and forth about some human dish called "haggis". The engineering deck felt different. She hadn't seen Sean once since their last conversation. She understood why, he had expressed feelings for her and she pulled away. She just wasn't ready. Everything had been happening so fast. She didn't know how to react. When Sean lost Kate, Tali had been there to help him. It was obvious that Sean had developed feelings for Tali over the days, he had originally come to her for guidance, but it slowly evolved into something more. Tali had to admit, she had developed feelings as well. She liked Sean and she wanted to tell him that, she was just confused and nervous. She turned to see Shepard standing behind her.

"Oh, hello Shepard." She said.

"Got a moment to talk?" Shepard asked.

"Not right now. I need to clean up this engine." Tali lied.

"Alright." Shepard responded walking over to the other side of the engineering deck towards Sean's room.

Tali sighed and lost herself in her own thoughts.

Sean tried to massage his headache away as he turned away from his computer. He heard a quiet tap on the door and turned.

"How are you doing?" Shepard asked stepping inside.

"Oh, hello Commander. I'm doing alright, I guess." Sean replied.

"Have you got a moment?" Shepard asked.

"Actually I'm glad you stopped by." Sean said resting his elbows on the desk. "I just can't seem to get over what happened back at the warehouse. It's eating me up on the inside."

"You didn't have a choice." Shepard replied.

"I know, I keep telling myself that, but it doesn't seem to help." Sean said.

"I understand that losing her was hard for you. No one expects you to get over it quickly."

"It just felt like I lost everything stable that day. I'm grateful that I had you and Tali to help me. Thanks for being here Shepard." Sean said standing up.

"Any time." Shepard replied, "I should go." She said turning. Sean nodded as she left the room.

Sean sighed. It felt good talking to a friend, to let out his inner turmoil to someone willing to listen. Sean then exited his room and headed to the mess hall. He noticed the door to Kasumi's room was open. He looked at it quizzically. Kasumi didn't usually leave her door open; she preferred seclusion from the rest of the ship. Sean entered the room slowly.

"Kasumi?" Sean asked cautiously stepping forth. He scanned the room and spotted Kasumi kneeling by a grey painting, clutching a rose close to her chest. "Oh I'm sorry, you door was open and-" Sean said stumbling on his words. "I'll just leave." He finally stammered out.

"No don't." Kasumi said turning around, "I just needed someone to talk to, and Shepard has been acting distant…"

"That's really different." Sean admitted raising his eyebrow. He then took a seat on one of the stools by the bar on the far side of Kasumi's room. He mixed two drinks together and handed a cup to Kasumi, who accepted it and took a seat by Sean. "So what's wrong?" Sean asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm having trouble letting go." Kasumi said, producing a small greybox, "This is all I have to remember him by." She said weakly, letting her thumb run over its surface.

"So why can't you keep it?" Sean asked quizzically.

"It has incriminating evidence on it." Kasumi said.

"Did he mean a lot to you?" Sean asked nodding towards the greybox.

"Yes, this is all that is left of him." Kasumi said, her hand tightening around the greybox. "I have nothing else." She said, her voice getting choked up.

"No it isn't." Sean responded, "You have your memories of him. I know how hard it is to let go." Sean said, his gaze dropping, "I saw my best friend murdered in front of me. I still think about her. I still relive that moment."

Kasumi sighed and asked, "Does it still hurt you, your loss?"

"Every day. It almost destroyed me, but I'm letting it go. I stopped blaming myself, I stopped imagining what I could have done, and I stopped thinking about it. I want to remember Kate for who she was, not what happened to her." Sean said running his finger up and down his glass. Kasumi's head dropped. Sean laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I can't make you do anything. This decision is all up to you."

Kasumi slowly took the greybox and made her way to the holographic tool on the wall. She plugged the greybox and a holographic screen appeared across her eyes. A distinct look of sorrow spread across her face. Sean sat motionless.

"Goodbye, Kenji." She whispered as the holographic image disappeared from her face. She then walked over to the terminal and wiped the memory from the greybox. Sean made his way over and put a reassuring hand on her arm. He gave a small smile and looked her in the eyes. "Did you make the right choice?" He asked.

Sniffing she said, "It's what he would have wanted."

"I don't question your choice." Sean said.

"Thank you, for your help. I just need some time to think." Kasumi said sitting down on the couch, hugging her knees close to her chest.

"I understand." Sean said exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Shepard's voice crackled over the intercom, "Sean, report to the briefing room." Sean quickly made his way up to the CIC and into the briefing room. Shepard and Tali stood around the table. Sean nodded a 'hello' to both of them and took his place at the table.

"Yes Commander?" He asked.

Shepard leaned in, "We just got a message about a disabled Collector ship. We're going aboard."