Author's Note: DOUBLE UPDATE!

Chapter 26

Sean awoke slowly. He felt strong, ready to take on the day. He carefully exited the bed, trying not to wake Tali up. He turned back, taking in Tali's naked form. She was truly beautiful.

Exiting his room, he found his way up to the crew quarters and entered the men's room. Sean turned on the shower and quickly went through his morning routine of shaving and washing as the shower water heated. Stepping into the shower, Sean turned the water on and stood under the steady stream. After his shower, he swung by the galley and grabbed breakfast for both Tali and himself, then headed back to his room.

As the doors whisked open he saw Tali sitting at the side of the bed, slowly clothing herself.

"Morning." Sean said cheerfully as he made his way to the bed.

"You sound awfully happy this morning." Tali said smiling, leaning in and giving Sean a quick kiss.

"Last night was… amazing." Sean said sitting down. "Breakfast?"

"Thanks." Tali said taking it and slurping most of it down, "You were great too. What did Garrus say, something about reach and flexibility…"

"You definitely were flexible." Sean chuckled as he slowly ate his breakfast.

Shepard's voice crackled over the speakers of the Normandy, "All squad members meet in the shuttle bay."

"I guess we should go." Sean said gesturing the door as he stood up.

"In a sec." Tali said, grabbing Sean by his shirt and pulling him back down to the bed, kissing him again. They lingered there, enjoying the moment.

"I think we should go before people begin to suspect that we're up to something." Sean said standing up once again.

"Let them." Tali said draping her arms around Sean's shoulders.

"Listen, you know I'm always up for round two, but this is important." Sean said dragging Tali with him towards the door.

"Fine." Tali said pouting, "But one more."

"Fine." Sean said smiling as he planted another kiss on Tali's lips. Tali smiled as she put her visor on. They both quickly made their way up to the shuttle bay.

"Morning." Sean said as he entered.

"So how was last night?" Garrus asked, smirking. A few of the people in the room began to chuckle.

"Alright guys, calm down." Shepard spoke up, "We're going to try out the IFF. Everyone into the shuttle."

Sean paused as the squad began to file into the shuttle. Something felt off. "Shepard? I think I'll stay back. You know, as a safety measure." Sean said.

"Why is that? We have plenty of capable soldiers onboard incase worst comes to worst." Shepard asked.

"I'm not doubting your actions, I'm just saying what if the worst happens?" Sean said.

"It's your call Sean." Shepard said entering the shuttle.

"What's going on?" Tali said popping her head out.

"I'm staying back, just a safety measure." Sean said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be waiting for you when you come back."

"Just be safe." Tali said giving Sean a quick hug.

Sean exited the shuttle bay and looked in from the windows on the engineering deck. He watched the shuttle slowly rise then fly out of the Normandy.

Sean slowly paced around the CIC deck. Everything felt different, almost empty. Sean quietly sighed as he made his way up to the cockpit.

"How's it going?" He said, trying to strike up a conversation.

"EDI's detecting something in the static." Joker said, not looking up from the instruments.

"That's kinda odd…" Sean said leaning forward.

"We are transmitting the Normandy's location." EDI said.

"Transmitting?" Sean said raising an eyebrow.

"To who?" Joker said, confusion in his voice.

Suddenly the colossal Collector ship appeared, jumping out of FTL speeds right above the Normandy.

Sean looked out of the cockpit window, stunned by the sheer size of the ship, "What the fuck?" was all he could stammer out. Panic set in as Sean's heartbeat began to rapidly increase.

"Oh shit!" Joker whispered, still in shock.

"Joker get us the fuck out of here!" Sean yelled.

"Propulsion systems are disabled. I'm detecting a virus in the ship's computers." EDI responded.

"Just what we fucking need!" Sean said, sprinting off to the armory. Inside he quickly suited up and grabbed his Mattock off the shelf. Checking that he had a fresh clip loaded Sean burst out of the armory. "Get down to the loading bay! We need to get everyone off the ship!" Sean yelled, pulling some of the soldiers with him.

Sean quickly began to round up the crewmembers, leading them to the escape pods. A deafening screech resonated around the halls of the Normandy, stopping them all in their tracks.

"They're already inside!" one of the crewmembers panicked.

"Shit!" Sean growled, snapping his Mattock into place on his shoulder.

Collectors began to file around the corner. Sean fired shot after shot into each of the Collectors, slowing, but not stopping, their advance. Quickly overwhelmed Sean shouted, "Fall back!". The crew quickly scampered in the opposite direction, back towards the elevator. As they rounded the corner they stumbled upon a scion, It's gun loaded up and ready.

"What the fuck is that?" was all Sean could stammer out before the scion opened fire. Sean was knocked off his feet. He fell to the ground, dripping in a gooey blue liquid. Sean tried to scamper backward, but it was all in vain. A Collector approached him. It brought its leg back, connecting it with Sean's head. Everything went black.

"Tali calm down." Shepard said. Trying to stop Tali who was pacing rapidly around the briefing room.

"How can I calm down, Shepard? They took everyone! They took Sean…" Tali panicked, hyperventilating. Sobbing, she slowing then buried her face in her hands.

"Tali, we're not losing another person to the Collectors. We'll get Sean out of there, alive."

"Please Shepard, I care for Sean. I can't watch him die, especially to the Collectors." Tali begged.

"Joker. Set a course to the Omega 4 Relay. We're getting everyone back."

"Aye, aye Commander." Joker replied.

Shepard turned on the comm system, "Everyone, report to the briefing room." She ordered.

Author's Note: Suicide mission time!