A/N: Shenko warning.
Disclaimer: Bioware owns all, and I mean, all.
"Shepard." His surprised gaze set upon her.
"Hey." She stood there, half smiling at him. "Your attitude is starting to scare people. You're lucky Tali's tougher than you are."
She seemed in a good enough mood and completely unaware… maybe he was making a big deal out of nothing. He was careful not to give himself away as he looked down and scratched his neck, thinking of what to say.
"Wow, you didn't say anything. Something must be really wrong!" She teased. "Anyway, I brought you something to help with the problem…" she handed him the glass as his head rose.
After taking a good look at the contents, he raised his eyebrow, then looked at her. "I guess I finally got on your bad side if you're trying to kill me with… whatever this is."
She chuckled. "It's a mixture of natural medicinal compounds, according to Gardner, says he bought the recipe from an asari merchant years ago. It tastes like Hanar crap, but it helps. Just… don't hesitate."
His face turned to a crooked frown. "You're serious?"
She nodded. "Hey I'm not dead yet."
He scoffed and smirked, then downed the drink halfway before putting the glass down as his entire body shuddered. After a few seconds of getting over the foul taste, he finally spoke. "Don't make me do that again." Shepard smiled as he handed back the glass, their fingers touched and their eyes met, but he quickly looked away without an ounce of emotion, prompting her to do the same. "Thanks though, it does help."
"Yeah, you're welcome." Her head lowered.
He laid back as he let the fluid flow down his esophagus. "Ugh… I'm never drinking again."
"Yeah, last night was pretty crazy…" she began nervously. "EDI said you wanted to talk."
His eyes shifted quickly to the blue orb behind Shepard. "She did?" He hadn't said any- …oh. Damn AI. He took a deep breath and looked at her, lifting his arms as if to explain. "Shepard, I-"
"Wait." She put a finger to his lips. "Before you say anything I just want you to know that… it's fine. You know, I think we're both pretty grown up to admit our mistakes… after all, we're adults." His stomach churned at the word 'mistake', he knew it. "And as an adult, I think it's best if we just admit that last night was a mistake and move on. " As she removed her finger, he felt a sharp chest pain, but said nothing. His mouth had a small gape, and his body had frozen. He knew this would happen… all hope had faded from his mind. "That is fine with you, right?" She looked unsure as she examined him for a response.
Breaking away from his trance, he looked at her with a casual expression, shrugging and finally putting down his arms. "Yeah, sure. I mean, we were wasted, so it's no big deal."
She smiled. "Good! Glad that's over… we still friends?" She offered her hand.
"Of course." He accepted. "But that's gonna change if you don't get these morons off my ship soon." He pointed back to the security panel with his thumb. "They're getting on my last nerve, I swear. I'd go down there and do it myself, but then the Normandy wouldn't be the only thing needing repairs."
She laughed. "Oh that reminds me, Mordin's list?"
"Right." He rotated his seat and brought up another panel, working his fingers swiftly. "Alright I uploaded it into your omni-tool."
"Thanks, I'll go suit up." Her steps jogged away quickly.
"See ya." He called after her.
He felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach, but he couldn't lie to himself… he knew this would happen. It still didn't stop it from hurting…
"That did not go as expected…" the AI voice stated.
"EDI?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
"Affirmative."
Shepard went back to her cabin, lost in thought. So her suspicions were right… it had been just a fling to him and he did shrug it off. … she knew this would happen, but for some reason, it still hurt. For some reason, she felt saddened. Her omni-tool flickered to life and she opened a private communication channel, summoning Tali to the CIC and she made her way down after slipping on her armor. When she reached the CIC, Tali was waiting for her in front of the airlock door, talking to Joker. As she approached, she couldn't help but overhear.
"You feeling better yet?" Tali asked him.
"Yeah, I'm good." He answered, still looking at the panel. "Man, Mordin's a slave driver! I'd hate to have him as my boss."
"Well, he has to be if we want the repairs done by tomorrow…" she said in reply, then saw Shepard and opened the airlock.
"Let's go. Watch the ship while we're gone, Joker." Shepard said before stepping out, without looking back at him.
The sound of her voice stung his heart. "Yep…"
Shepard's visor was down, hiding the upper part of her face, but her brows were furrowed and her eyes burned. The pair quickly made their way to the market districts, passing by their teammates at the docks, but Shepard was walking faster than normal, leaving Tali to catch up. Thoughts kept going back and forth… her mind raced around him and again her anger was rising, and she didn't know why…
"Shepard." Tali had a concerned tone in her voice.
"What?" Her pace quickened.
"Is something the matter?" The quarian asked.
She stopped. "I'm fine…" she took a deep breath. "I just… have this weird feeling, like something's not right."
Now that she thought about it… her situation with Joker wasn't the only thing going awry. Something really was out of place… Liara was gone without trace, and there had been no contact yet… she was getting worried.
"Then we should stay alert, just in case." Tali put a hand on her shoulder, as if to assure she had Shepard's back.
Vera's look softened, and she laid her hand on top of Tali's as a thankful gesture. They proceeded walking, looking for possible leads on the parts and materials they needed. EDI was tracking down numerous sources, but the prices were too steep. After two hours, they managed to get most of the items on the list, all on rush delivery, which was unfortunately more costly…
During Shepard's journey, she had managed to collect a small fortune, but with her resources cut off and a stranded ship, she was at a bit of a disadvantage. They would have to make do with what they had for now… the Normandy functioned within normal parameters without the upgrades in any case, but it wouldn't be the same.
"I guess this is it for now… I'm sure we can work miracles with what we have so far. Well, we'll have to… right?" Shepard turned to Tali.
The quarian gave off an aura of delight as she was browsing a catalog console, but after a few seconds, her head turned to Shepard.
"What? Oh, of course!" She replied, making Shepard chuckle. "I'm sorry. I've just been wanting a new omni-tool for a while now. They don't make them like they used to anymore… everything is so focused on being 'user friendly', and hacking them is a pain-" her glowing eyes suddenly shifted behind Shepard and narrowed. "Speaking of pains… here comes that bosh'tet." She stepped past Shepard, facing her objective.
"What bosh… shit." Shepard said as she turned around.
A man was walking toward them, his full lips were shut in a stoic trance. His uniform was familiar, and so was his authoritative stance… but what gave this man away to her, were his eyes. She could have recognized those eyes anywhere, those dark, whiskey-colored irises, the puppy dog slant… eyes that were once entrancing to her…
"Commander Shepard, Tali." He greeted.
"That's Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya to you, Alenko." Tali retorted.
"I apologize." He said with a small nod, then turned to Shepard. "Can I talk to you?"
Her hands shook with rage at the sight of this man, but Shepard considered herself a diplomatic person. Plus it would have been unbecoming of her to yell at this man… as much as she wanted to.
"You go on ahead Tali. I'll catch up in a minute." Shepard urged Tali, placing a hand on her shoulder.
The angered quarian looked from Kaidan, to Shepard and nodded, despite the urge to kill the bastard. She left the store without a word, stomping her feet heavily as he watched.
"You know, she used to be so nice." Kaidan observed as he turned back to the commander.
Shepard scoffed and crossed her arms. "Can you blame her? Honestly?"
"Heh, no I guess not…" He smirked.
"What do you want Kaidan?"
"I just want to talk."
"You've been doing that."
"In private… if you don't mind."
"I do mind, so talk."
He hesitated. "Right… you're stubborn." Sighing, he continued. "Look, I wanted to apologize for what happened on Horizon. It wasn't right… but I was confused! Seeing you alive and working with Cerberus after what they did… it made me question which side you were really on. I sent a letter… "
Shepard rolled her eyes with an exasperating sigh. "Kaidan, this really isn't the time…"
"I know… that's why I wanted to ask you if you were free later tonight." He ventured shyly, interrupting her.
She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're asking me out?"
"Technically, I'm asking if I could talk to you when you do have time."
"Forget it." Shepard waved him away and started her walk toward the front of the store.
His eyes followed her with a pained expression, but he kept his hope alive after studying her reactions. "I understand. I'll be in Eternity tonight if you change your mind." He said after her.
Her footsteps froze as her hands fisted… her whole body was trembling. She thought about going back, she thought she was making a mistake… she hesitated, but continued her stride, leaving the man she once loved behind.
Meanwhile, an angry quarian had just walked through the airlock door, followed by diverse but terrified delivery men from different corporations. When Joker heard the commotion, he rotated his seat and saw Tali standing in the corridor.
"You three, take the elevator down to Engineering and deliver those parts to the crew below!" She pointed to the first three, then the elevator. "You, take those boxes to the Research Lab!" She pointed to another quarian, who almost ran into the lab. "And you, OUT! Leave those crates outside! I'll take care of it!" The human and salarian delivery men obeyed quickly and scrammed away. "And YOU!" She pointed to a shaking Volus carrying a small box. "Give me that!" Snatching the small package from his hands, she pointed the way out and he wobbled away.
Joker was surprised but amused at the sudden display of liveliness in the CIC. Had she had a bad shopping experience? Unlikely, knowing her…
"Hey, Vader, is fall to Dark Side now complete? Terrified, that guy was. See, did you not?" He quipped.
"What are you talking about and why are you talking like that!" Her mask made a wheezing sound as she breathed heavily.
He contained the sudden burst of laughter and shook his head. "Never mind. What's got you so wound up all of a sudden?"
"Oh, it's that idiot, Alenko. He's here in Ilium, and Shepard, she stayed behind to talk to him. Keelah, that coward has nothing to say to her!"
His look darkened at the mention of his name. Great, just when things couldn't get any worse in this emotional turmoil, Kaidan Alenko appears and made things seem awfully bleak. But… that night.
"Bye Kaidan!"
She had to have another reason to stay and talk to him. Maybe he had information she wants? Maybe the Alliance had a message for her? If so, they sure as hell sent the wrong messenger…
"Calm down Tali. It's probably nothing… why do you get so mad anyway?"
"Because, after I came on this ship, I went to her… I went to her for help with the Flotilla and she was in her room, crying with his picture on her hands. She told me everything… she was heartbroken. After that, I decided it best to tell Kelly to give her a message, for when she was ready… but I am never going to forget. Not what she did for me, and not what he did to her…" her words faded into silence and she walked away.
He knew exactly how Tali felt… he knew, better than anyone.
A crash came from the lab, provoking a scream from Tali. "GAH! GET OUT!"