"Come on Grunt just move it to the left." Garrus watched as Zaeed and Grunt kept shifting the position of the tree. "Zaeed you are pushing it too far, just pull back a bit or it won't stay up."

"Oh shut up you Turian bastard and come help us out!" Zaeed shouted at him, barely holding up the massive tree. "Shepard said we had to get this thing up right, and we can't do that if we have no idea which way it's falling or if it's up right." Garrus explained. Zaeed grunted and pulled hard to the right. Grunt pulled left and then they pulled the clasps down. Garrus smiled and opened up his Omni tool. "Shepard, we got the tree up, I think you're going to want to see this."

"I'll be right down." A few moments later Shepard showed up in his leather jacket and approached Garrus with a smile. "Alright Garrus, where's the tree?" He asked looking around. "Right over there." Garrus pointed at the center of the cargo bay. There stood a massive tree, one that reached pretty high up. "I know Shepard, we got the job done." Garrus said with a smug smirk. Shepard just face palmed and sighed. "Garrus….why is there an oak tree in my cargo bay." He groaned. "What are you talking about Shepard; this is a Christmas tree, just like you asked."

"No Garrus this is an Elm tree, a common tree on Earth. Where did you even get it?"

"Well I may have dug it up from the Citadel gardens and snuck it on board…." Shepard really wanted to knock Garrus on his ass. "What the hell Garrus!? Who even told you that was an Oak tree?"

"Joker sent me a pictu-Oh you have got to be kidding me." Shepard glared at him with a deadpan look on his face. "You let Joker trick you into planting an oak tree." Garrus groaned in frustration. "You're never going to let me live this down are you Shepard…"

"Nope." Shepard said, laughing.

"Yeah yeah laugh it up; I'm going to go get a real tree." Garrus called over Grunt and Zaeed. "Here Garrus, to make your job easier here is a picture of a real Christmas tree." Shepard activated his Omni tool and sent a picture of a Christmas tree to him. "Alright there you go, now hurry up and get a tree Garrus, I'm counting on you." Shepard left Garrus, who banged his head on the wall for letting himself get fooled by Joker.

"Fresh Air, Happy people, flowers growing, I hate it." Grunt complained as Garrus dragged them to the flora area of the Citadel. "Alright look you two," He said addressing Grunt and Zaeed. "I need you two to help me find this." Garrus held up a picture of a Christmas tree. "It's located somewhere in this garden and we have to find it and dig it up." Stated Garrus. The Turian hopped off the platform and into the wild gardens of the Citadel. Garrus activated his Omni tool and placed a Vid call to Shepard. "Hey Shepard you there? I wanted to know if it was fine digging in the Citadel Gardens."

Shepard answered the call but he was busy ducking from stuff being thrown at him by a certain Quarian. "Yeah Garrus is its fine, but I don't know if you can tell but I'm a little busy dealing with my own problems right now." Shepard ducked as a pillow flew over his head. "YOU BOSH'TET HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME IN MY MOUTH!?" Garrus could hear barfing into a bucket as Shepard grimaced at what he was witnessing. "Tali I told you I was sorry! How was I supposed to know that's what your reaction would be?"

"JUST GET OVER HERE AND TAKE CARE OF ME IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH!" Shepard grumbled. "Delicate space flower my ass…."

"What was that?" Tali challenged.

"Oh nothing dear!" Shepard said quickly. "I'm going to kill you Shepard!" Tali shouted. "Oh come on Tali admit it, it at least tasted good right?" Tali pouted and crossed her arms. "I'm not admitting anything." Shepard smiled mischievously as she said that. "Oh so it did taste good, at least you'll soon adapt and get as much as you want." Shepard laughed as more stuff was thrown at him.

"Um Shepard I find the comedy act you two funny, but I would like to know if you want us to go digging up Citadel Gardens."

"I said it was okay Garrus, now if you don't mind I got a sick Quarian to take care of." A loud barfing noise was heard from the other side of the room. "Keelah I'm barfing more than when you're driving the Mako!" Garrus hung up after that, unable to contain his laughter anymore. Grunt pushed past him and looked around. "So…where is this Christmas tree?"

Garrus took a pause and wiped the equivalent of Turian tear from his eye. "Well Grunt that's what we're here for, to find it. Now let's get to work and locate it among all this foliage." Zaeed clarified. They started digging around with shovels, hoping they would find it soon.

Shepard grumbled as he brought in the tray of food ranging from Beef paste to Orange juice paste. 'I swear I will never try these things even if they weren't for dextrose. I bet they don't even taste like the real thing.' He walked into his cabin carrying the tray. "Hey Shepard! Thank you for bringing me breakfast in bed." Tali said, giggling as she watched her boyfriend scowl at her. Yeah she was mad at him earlier, but she had to admit it wasn't too bad. She knew she wanted to do this more often with him so that she could become more use to his….well-endowed body. She also secretly enjoyed being pampered like this, breakfast in bed, a foot massage; he was so nice to her. 'How did I get so lucky?' She thought in her head. Shepard laid the tray down on her lap and held his hands behind his back. "Anything else I can do princess?" He said through gritted teeth. She chuckled and then got an idea. "Well you could turn around and pick that data pad up for me." She pointed at a data pad behind Shepard that was lying haphazardly on the floor. "Huh, how did that get there? Oh well." Shepard bent over to grab the data pad. And now was Tali's real reason for asking him to do that. She purred at the view she was getting. Shepard had this unique way of bending over to pick up stuff. Unlike most men, who squat down and bend their knees to pick something up, Shepard just bends over while standing up and grabs it. Now this was something Tali could get used to. Hopefully nobody would pick up on her secret perverted side. "Mhmm." She purred. Shepard glanced back at her confused. "That was nothing Shepard just the meal I'm enjoying." She said with a smile that was hidden behind her visor. Luckily he didn't notice that she was blushing as red as a tomato out of embarrassment. "Okay?" He said, not sure what to think. He grabbed the data pad and plopped next to her on the mattress. Tali damned her shyness and her inability to just ask Shepard to show her what she wanted. She sighed and ate her beef paste.

"Tali, sorry again for making you vomit all over the place." He apologized. "Its fine Shepard, I'll live don't worry." She leaned over and tapped his forehead with her helmet LED/Speaker. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. She gleefully embraced him, smiling up at him. He kissed her visor, than purposefully rubbed in the saliva all over her mask. "SHEPARD!" Tali smacked his hands away and immediately started scrubbing away at her now fogged up visor. "Why did you do that you Bosh 'tet?" She asked while he laughed in hysterics. She pouted at the edge of the bed, still trying to get rid of all the saliva on her mask so she could see clearly. "I'm sorry Tali!" He said in between laughs. "I just thought of that and I couldn't resist doing it." He kept on laughing at her fruitless attempts to clean all of it off. "I hate you." She said glaring at him. "I love you too sweetie." He said kissing the back of her neck. He grabbed a rag and helped her clean all the gunk off her mask. "And there you go, clean and pristine. I even added some shoe polish so that it sparkles." He said with a massive grin. She just sighed and cuddled up against him. "You know I think I'll start calling you Tali'Zorah Vas Sparkles." He said with a mischievous grin. "You better not!" She cried. "What's wrong Miss Vas Sparkles? Don't like your name?" He said rolling around on the bed, breathless from laughter. This time Tali hit his arm and scooted away from him. "Geez Tali you're so easy to tease." He said, still chuckling a bit. "Oh yeah? Says the "expert" mako driver." She said, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Hey you take that back!"

"Make me." She said with a sly grin under her mask. Shepard got on top of her and started messing with her helmet. "Hey, Shepard, what are you doing!?" Immediately a message on her visor appeared saying, Nerve-Stim Pro Deluxe activated. "Shepard, Shepard no!" She cried, but it was too late. The program activated and Shepard got a maniacal look on his face. "So Miss Vas Normandy, are you as ticklish as I think you are?" Tali saw where Shepard was going with this, but was too weak to shove him off. He quickly began tickling all over her suit, making sure he didn't miss an inch of her body. Tali broke out in a loud and energetic laugh. "Shepard HAHAHA please stop! HAHAHA! I take it back, I take it back!" She cried out. Shepard, with a smug smile on his face got off of her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't give me that look; it makes you look like a Vorcha." She said in a scolding tone. "Give me a break you love this look. Well when it's done to other people anyway." He said, refusing to let the smile leave his face. "Yeah yeah." She said while pushing his face away. Shepard reached out his arms and cuddled her again, still smiling. At this point Tali gave in and rested her head in his chest. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, the seconds just ticking by.

Garrus kept searching with his visor with no luck. They had not spotted a single tree for about an hour now. There were no Christmas trees in sight. He sighed and rested on his shovel. "Hey did either of you spot a Christmas tree yet!?" He shouted back at his teammates. "I haven't seen one!" Grunt shouted back.

"Neither have I!" Shouted Zaeed. 'Damn it, where could one be.' Garrus thought to himself. Garrus groaned and gave the area a look around. Where the hell are you supposed to find a Christmas tree? That's when he saw it, low and behold, under the sight of whoever was up there, was a lone Christmas tree. "Guys! Grunt, Zaeed! I found one!" He ran over to it and started digging. Soon the other two joined him and they dug around the base of the tree. It took them around 15 minutes to reach the base of the tree, and start pulling it out. Garrus smiled as their job was almost done. He then felt someone tap on his shoulder as he turned around to see a C-sec officer. "Excuse me sir but what are you doing?" The officer said unamused. "Oh nothing officer, just um redecorating the gardens, no big deal." Garrus lied. The officer looked at him suspiciously and then at Grunt and Zaeed. "Uh huh, so where's your license and permit?"

"License….?"

"Surely if you really were commissioned to do this, the council would have given you a permit and an official license." He said looking at Garrus with an uncaring look. Garrus had nothing to say. What could he say? "Well you see….umm…the council forgot to give us our permit and so we have to dig without one."

"Yeah right, come on you three are coming with me." The officer began arresting the 3. "No! In honor of my battle master I will not go down for this, he demands a Christmas tree and he will get one!" Grunt shouted, ready to rip apart the officer. "Grunt calm down! Let's just go with the officer WITHOUT causing an incident." Garrus said. Grunt grumbled to himself as the trio was dragged away to the station.

Captain Bailey was not in a good mood. A simple thief had managed to elude his officers, he had coffee dripping down from his head, whip cream spewing from the fridge, and why? Because they had arrested a Quarian for violating C-sec protocols of making sure his suit wasn't emitting any hazardous gases. You can never be too sure with enviro-suits, with all the old models that used to emit radiation; they just had to be sure. Now he had to deal with a Turian, a Krogan, and a human, all three digging up the Citadel gardens AND where members of Shepard's crew. "Look, right now, all I want to know is why. Why were you digging up the gardens? Why were you stealing a tree?" He asked with a deadpan expression on his face. The Turian smiled nervously and looked up at the Captain. "Well you see….we were umm-"

"We were trying to retrieve a Christmas tree for Shepard." Grunt interrupted. Captain Bailey sat down and just stared in awe of their idiocy. "If you wanted a Christmas tree why didn't you just go buy a plastic one? They have some for a limited time right now at the presidium commons. Or why not get a holo of one? There were so many other options, but instead you decided to come here and dig up a tree instead." Bailey held his face in his hands, knowing their jaws were practically on the floor at this point. "Look, I'll give you the cash to go get a tree, just go get it and not bother me right now." Bailey transferred the credits to Garrus' account. The trio immediately left. "You know Garrus, I always thought I wasn't that smart, but today you proved that you're even dumber than I am." Grunt said with a teasing smile. "Shut up Grunt…" Garrus grumbled. "Let's just go get that tree and get out." They left for the warehouse.

Garrus led the tree through the cargo opening and into the bay itself. They pushed the tree up and up, until it stood completely up and reached the roof. It cost them a lot of credits to get a tree this big, but it was worth it. Garrus smiled and put his arms around Grunt and Zaeed. "Well we did it, it took all day but it got done." Garrus put the clamps down and smiled. "Grunt go get Shepard. He'll want to see this." Grunt walked off as Garrus sat down on a pile of crates. Ten minutes later Grunt came back, wide eyed and shaking. "Grunt you okay?"

"Quarians….sickness….Shepard….sticky….goo everywhere…my eyes…." Grunt ran off when he finished. "Grunt wait! What did you mean by that!?" Garrus chased after him, unknowing of what he saw. He followed him into Grunts room and saw Grunt hiding in his tank. "Grunt? You okay?" Garrus asked with genuine concern. "Go away….I'm going to take a nap." Garrus shook his head and walked back. "Okay? I guess I'll just call him." Garrus activated his Omni tool, opening to the Vid Call program. He waited while the dial tone played. He tapped his foot impatiently. Shepard finally answered, but he was a mess. His hair was all over the place instead of his normal spiked bangs, he looked tired and disheveled. He yawned and glared at Garrus. "What the hell do you want Garrus?"

"Sorry to wake you up sweetie," Garrus said sarcastically. "But I need you to come down and see this, we got the tree." Shepard had a deadpan expression on his face. "Garrus can't it wait? I'm a little busy." He said crankily. "Shepard? Who is it?" A very tired Tali asked off screen. "It's nothing Tali, just Garrus."

"Oh that Bosh'tet, I'm going back to sleep." She rolled over and snored once more. "Look Garrus I'll come down and look, but I better be impressed."

"Don't worry Shepard; I think you're going to love this." Shepard groaned and ended the call. 6 minutes later, Shepard came out of the elevator in his shirt and jeans, looking like he just got out of bed. "Alright Garrus what is it?"

"See for yourself." Garrus stepped out of the way and revealed the tree. Shepard stared up in awe of the tree. It was huge! Shepard placed his hand on the trunk and smiled. "You really out did yourself Garrus." He said smiling. "Well I try my best." He said with the Turian equivalent of a smile. "Thanks Garrus, I hope it was worth the trouble."

"I don't know about that." Garrus said with fake modesty. "Come on Garrus, how would you like me to treat you to Purgatory?"

Garrus laughed. "I thought you would you never ask." They locked arms and walked out of the Normandy, practically skipping to the Purgatory bar.