Tali was thoroughly absorbed in monitoring a diagnostic of the Normandy's mass effect core when her omnitool emitted a crisp beep, indicating the arrival of a new message. She felt her heart momentarily speed up; she had wondered if Shepard would respond to the note she'd sent him earlier.

Glancing around to make sure she was alone, she raised her arm - automatically summoning the omnitool's holographic interface - and tapped two panels, opening the message.

Tali,

Don't worry about this morning; I understand, and there's nothing to be concerned about. When the time is right, I'll tell Miranda about us, and I'm sure she'll respect that.

I'm glad I finally told you how I feel, and I'm relieved that you feel the same way. I was actually nervous for a while there. I care about you a lot, and I hope you know it. I've been thinking about you all morning. We'll take this one step at a time, together.

I'll see you at dinner. I miss you too.

John

P.S. That was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time.

Tali closed the message with a deep sigh, smiling behind her visor. She hadn't fully realized that she'd been nervously awaiting his reply, but now she felt reassured once again.

She longed to see him, but there was also something delicious about simply knowing he was elsewhere on the ship, thinking about her. She couldn't help but bounce on her toes.

Gabby had glanced across at Tali upon hearing her sigh, and now her curiosity was piqued. The usually reserved quarian was tapping away at her console as always, but...

Is she... humming? Gabby thought, a small grin forming on her face.

The tune was unknown to her, but it certainly seemed to be a happy one, which fit with the younger woman's body language.

I guess she got some good news, Gabby thought, with a small shrug. Either that, or she's in love.

Kelly Chambers glanced towards the corridor leading to the Main Battery as she carried her lunch tray to a vacant place in the mess area. She hadn't had a chance to speak to Garrus since their brief encounter last night, and she planned to try again once she had eaten.

He's in there at all hours of the day, she thought. I know that he's one of Shepard's closest friends, but he's such a private man.

She sensed that there was another side to the turian, one that he allowed few to see. She had been intrigued by him ever since she'd heard him cracking jokes only hours after very serious surgery to repair the damage done to his face and neck on Omega.

She had heard bits and pieces about the tragic loss of his squad from other crewmembers on the Normandy, and she had noticed a certain sadness in his eyes at times. It was difficult to know what turians were thinking; they didn't show much emotion on their faces, but the signs were there if you knew where to look.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Gabby Daniels wandered past, no doubt on her way to get another take-out lunch for everyone in Engineering. The two women were close friends, and Gabby stopped to chat.

"Another working lunch?" Kelly asked with a smile, earning an answering nod.

"Afraid so," Gabby replied. "So as usual Ken sent me up for 'provisions'."

Both women smiled at the Scottish engineer's habitual over-dramatization.

"Doesn't Tali usually help you?" Kelly asked, glancing around as if to find the quarian. Gabby nodded once more.

"Yeah, but she's busy too," she replied, "not that I think she'd even noticed it's lunchtime. She's down there working away at breakneck speed, as usual, but today she's singing."

"Singing?" Kelly asked, with a small laugh.

"Well, more like humming to herself, I guess," Gabby replied. "I don't know what it's about. Seems like she's in a great mood. I think she got a message earlier, and ever since then she's been on cloud nine. She even laughed at one of Ken's jokes."

She got a message, and now she's all smiles? thought Kelly. Sounds familiar. I wonder...

"What are you thinking?" Gabby asked, noticing that the other woman hadn't replied for several seconds.

Kelly stepped slightly closer, lowering her voice.

"Well, you didn't hear this from me," she began, seeing Gabby's eyes light up with interest, "but I was working up on the CIC when Shepard came out of the Tech Lab to check his messages this morning. He read one, then I heard him sigh, and when I looked up he had this goofy, happy, far-away look on his face."

Gabby clasped her hands together excitedly.

"You don't think...?" she said, "The Commander, and... Tali?"

"I don't know," Kelly said, grinning, "but they're old friends. And I've always thought she had a bit of a thing for him."

"That is so adorable," Gabby said with a small clap of her hands. "Tali is such a sweet person. They both deserve to be happy."

Kelly nodded enthusiastically.

"But we don't know for sure," she said, "so let's keep it to ourselves for now."

Gabby tilted her head in agreement, miming zipping her lips closed.

"Well, I'd better get back down there," she sighed. "Let me know if you learn anything else!" She waved farewell, and headed for the kitchen.

It had been around twenty minutes since Gabby left with a loaded tray when Shepard walked into the mess area. He glanced briefly around, seeing none of his squadmates or senior crewmembers; only the junior Cerberus crew were visible.

He did see Kelly Chambers on her way towards the Main Battery, but she often made her rounds of the ship after lunch, so he proceeded towards the kitchen.

As he was about to reach it, the door to Miranda's office slid open, and she stepped out.

"Oh, hello Commander," she said, with a small smile.

"Miranda," he acknowledged. "Everything under control?"

"Absolutely," she replied. "Going for lunch?"

He nodded, involuntarily glancing over towards the busy dining tables in the middle of the large open area. Miranda's gaze followed his, and she instantly knew what he was thinking.

"I usually don't eat in the mess area," she said, and he looked back around at her. "I think it can make the junior crewmembers feel a little awkward to sit with command officers - particularly if they're not familiar to them."

Shepard frowned. On the first Normandy, he always made an effort to get to know everyone on board, and he believed that it was important to do so. But these were Cerberus personnel. Whilst they were very capable generally, and he'd come to trust several of them - like Jacob, Donnelly and Daniels, Chambers and yes, perhaps even Miranda - he had no idea if the general junior crew were similarly enlightened. He still wondered if they were xenophobic fanatics, and he'd always been taught Cerberus was.

"I know what you mean," Shepard replied.

"I did want to update you on the progress I've made on those shield upgrades, even though I'm not ready for a full meeting yet," Miranda said. "We could talk over lunch, and eat in my office, if you like?"

She knew that he would agree, even if he was uncomfortable with it. It was the lesser of two evils.

Shepard glanced once more up the corridor towards the Main Battery, but the door was closed. Even Chambers was no longer in sight, so she must be inside talking to Garrus. He sighed.

"Alright," he replied, "that sounds fine."

"Good," she replied, gesturing towards the kitchen. "Shall we?"

Shepard and Miranda had chatted of inconsequential things during lunch, and she'd then spent ten minutes bringing him up to date on some shield energy-distribution improvements she'd been working on.

"Seems like it'll be valuable; good work," he said. "I'll be interested to hear the full briefing later."

She nodded, again with a small smile, and Shepard glanced at the holographic clock nearby.

"I should be going," he said. "I need to check in with Garrus soon."

Before he could get up, she raised one hand slightly and spoke.

"Actually, there was one other thing, if you had a moment," she said, some color rising in her cheeks.

I'll be damned, he thought. First time for everything.

"Sure," he replied, "what is it?"

"I... wanted to apologize," she said, hesitantly, "for this morning in the meeting, I mean. I shouldn't have... well, when I requested a second meeting I shouldn't have been so... direct."

"How do you mean?" he said, keeping his face straight but genuinely curious as to what she'd say.

She glanced down at her own hands briefly before meeting his eyes again.

"Well, put simply, Commander, I think I was perhaps a little... forward," she said. "And I think I made you a little uncomfortable. I'm sorry about that."

He looked at her for a long moment before replying.

"I wasn't uncomfortable, but I appreciate the thought," he said, carefully. "Now what's going on, Miranda? Up til just now I thought you were genetically incapable of being hesitant."

She laughed at that, flushing again slightly, then shook her head.

"With most people, perhaps," she replied, then she looked at him carefully, tilting her head to one side. "Do I really have to spell it out?"

Shepard frowned, breaking eye contact to glance down at the surface of the coffee table between them. He cleared his throat and then met her gaze again.

"Miranda, I don't want there to be any misunderstanding between us, because you're my XO and I depend on you," he said.

"Of course," she said in a small voice, the trace of a smile vanishing from her lips as she clasped her hands on top of her thighs.

"Our relationship has improved immeasurably since Lazarus, and I think we work really well together," he continued. "I didn't trust you before, but I've come a long way towards it. You're certainly one of the most valuable members of this team, and we couldn't have gotten this far without you."

She gave a small sideways nod in acknowledgement. Shepard sighed.

"I value our working relationship, very much, and it's important to what we're doing here," he said. "It's important to the mission, to the crew, and to me. I mean that."

She gave him a small smile.

"And for all those reasons," he said, pausing for a moment to find the right words, "I think that above all we have to keep that going. To keep our relationship just as effective, and... professional as it is."

She nodded slowly, glancing down at her hands once more. She understood the message perfectly. It was several seconds before she spoke, without looking up.

"I understand, Commander," she said quietly, "and I... do appreciate your frankness."

Shepard sighed once more, this time inwardly. It was never a particularly enjoyable type of conversation, but it was necessary, for Miranda's sake as much as Tali's.

I guess I misjudged you, he thought. She finally looked back up at him, and smiled brightly, her shoulders once again square.

"Thanks for joining me for lunch, Commander," she said. "I enjoyed our talk."

He nodded, picking up the trays as he stood to leave.

"So did I, Miranda," he said, giving her a small smile in return. "I'll talk to you later."

He turned and walked out of the door, and just before it closed behind him he could hear her console springing back to life, as she resumed her work.