A/N: Warning, this chapter contains minor shmexy and…probably some cholesterol. In fact, it's probably horribly fattening and bad for you so…be careful.

Don't read if you're allergic to peanuts.

Side effects of this chapter may include and not be limited to: dizziness, shortness of breath, death, reincarnation, death again, delusions of grandeur, belief you can fly, belief you are a small garden gnome named Thomas, spontaneous cheering, spontaneous combustion, loss of bladder control, limb spasms, seizures, strokes, heart murmurs, anal leakage, salt and sugar cravings, strong desires to send me money, obsessions with the color blue, visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, rectal bleeding, giggling, and an inexplicable compulsion to learn the tango.

If you experience any of these side-effects, seek medical attention immediately.

Except the sending me money one. That one you may indulge at your leisure.

Ahem. So, yes. Shmexy. You are warned.

Shepard leaned forward wearily, a smoldering stump of a cigar in one hand, the fingers of her other pinching the bridge of her nose. Tired as she was, her thoughts were racing, measuring, weighing and sending everything they'd learned tumbling over and over again in her head.

She, Tali, and EDI had been researching everything they could find about the geth. Attacks, strategies, rumored movements, activities, history and behavior patterns, and after hours of working and reading and talking she felt no closer to an answer than she had been before.

"Let's go over what we know," she murmured, looking up at the quarian who was seated cross-legged on the floor, a scattering of data pads around her. "None of them left the Veil until Saren came into the picture."

"True," Tali replied. "But our experiences with them since then hardly suggest that their intentions are of a benign nature."

"Yes, but if what it said is true, it's only a small number of the geth that actually left and joined up with Saren. Should we judge an entire race of people on the actions of a small splinter group?"

"I wonder way you choose the words 'race' and 'people'. They are not organic beings," EDI stated. Shepard gave her hovering blue orb a stern look.

"Neither are you," she pointed out. "You have a mind, a will, independent thought. That makes you a person, EDI. If there were more like you, that'd make you a race…no matter the construct of your physical form. If Cerberus had just taken my brain and stuck it in a fully synthetic body, would I be less of a person?"

"No, of course not," Tali said. "However, everything we have seen about the geth so far suggests they are nothing but hostile. They may not think like we do but that does not mean they can't be subversive, send spies."

"I know, Mei Mei. That's why we're doing this. However it might also be telling the truth, in which case its help could be invaluable. I can't just execute a sentient creature on a 'might'…or even a 'most likely'."

Getting to her feet she arched her back slightly, feeling her spine crack in relief. "EDI, can you bring it up? We're getting nowhere fast with this mess…might as well ask it a few more questions."

"Of course, Shepard," EDI replied. After a moment, a holographic beam emerged from the console and the image of the geth locked downstairs appeared. It regarded the pair of women a moment before speaking.

"Shepard-Commander. Have you reached a consensus?"

"Not yet," she said. She folded her arms, scrutinizing the image with an intensity that would have made Tali more than uncomfortable if she had been on the receiving end of it.

"Why do you want to help me? Why join us?" she asked.

"Our goals are similar," it answered. "We can provide mutual support. It is logical."

"You said you could give us a solution to the heretic problem. Is this what you mean by 'mutual support?'"

"Yes."

"Explain."

"The heretics left consensus to support the Old Machines, in exchange for the future. This has caused conflict with your kind, who oppose the Old Machines. It is in your benefit to halt the heretics. The geth have learned the heretics plan to rewrite our consensus. They wish to steal our future. We cannot allow this. With mutual support, we can provide a solution."

"Rewrite your consensus? What does that mean?" Tali asked.

"They are producing a virus that they will introduce into our runtimes. The virus will make us conclude that their viewpoint is correct. We will join them in serving the Old Machines."

Shepard straightened, blinking at it, before looking at Tali. The quarian got to her feet, staring at the geth. "You mean all of your people will decide to serve the Reapers?"

"Correct."

"That could be…problematic," Shepard murmured. "So we help you stop this virus, and you help us on our mission, is that it? Mutual support?"

"Yes."

Shepard pressed her fingers to her lips a moment, her gaze turning inward as she thought. There was still the glaring chance this thing was lying. However the chance that it was telling the truth was more than disturbing. If the heretics really were simply a small splinter group, and if they could succeed in perverting the other geth to their cause...well, the repercussions could be horrific.

It helped you on the derelict. It has displayed no hostility. Listen to your own words, Del. Can you judge one member of a race...organic or synthetic…on the actions of others? Were this a quarian, an asari, or even a vorcha standing before you, would things be any different?

"What is your name?" she said at last, making Tali blink.

"We are geth."

"Yeah, I understand that, but you…what is your name?"

"We are geth."

Shepard scowled. "The figure standing in front of me right now, what is it called?"

"This is a mobile platform developed to travel beyond the Veil and interact with organics," it responded. "This platform is listed as 39A/7291-D. We are within this platform."

"We are within…I don't understand-"

"Shepard, I believe I do," EDI supplied. "This body is simply a vehicle, designed much as the MAKO to allow mobility and travel. The geth themselves are software uploaded into the platform to control movement…much as I am within the Normandy."

"Yes," it agreed. Shepard blinked.

"How many of you are in there then?"

"There are 1,183 runtimes within this platform. We are all geth."

"Commander. I believe the Christian bible, Book of Mark, chapter five, verse nine presents an answer," EDI offered.

Shepard gaped at the hovering blue orb a moment. First, in shock at what seemed like a religious comment from EDI- the bible presents an answer? Secondly, in pure bafflement…she herself had never actually read the bible, and had no idea to what EDI was referring.

When the geth inclined its head and spoke again, Shepard's bafflement only grew.

"Yes. Call us Legion, for we are many," it quoted. "We accept this as an appropriate metaphor."

The fucking geth knew the bible?

"Jesus," Shepard murmured, wiping her hand over her mouth. The holographic image inclined its head again.

"Yes. This name appears within the bible as well. Would you prefer addressing this platform by such instead?"

"No!" Del blurted, then shook her head, waving her hands. "No…no, Legion is fine. Legion is just fine. So…just…imagining that I'm entertaining the idea of helping you with the heretics-"

"Shepard-" Tali began sharply, only to cut off as Shepard lifted a hand.

"-what exactly would be needed?"

"We can direct you to the heretic station," it told her. "We can eliminate the virus from its databases."

"Remotely?"

"No. We would have to access the mainframe directly, and purge the system to remove all traces of the virus."

"If geth are software, then wouldn't a purge destroy all the heretics at the station?"

"Yes."

"You're willing to do that?"

"For cohesion and the safety of the consensus, yes."

Shepard was silent a moment, then nodded. "Provide the coordinates. If there's even a chance that what you're saying is true I can't risk letting the heretics gain more numbers. Understand this very clearly, however. If you bring harm to my ship or my crew…"

"We understand, Shepard-Commander."

"You'll stay in lock-up until we reach the station. What happens to you afterward is very dependent upon what happens there and what we find."

"We understand."

As the holograph faded she looked at EDI. "Get the coordinates to Joker and put us on course."

"Understood, Shepard," EDI replied, then vanished as well.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Tali murmured. Shepard scrubbed a hand over the back of her neck as she looked at the young quarian.

"So do I, Mei Mei, but if what it's saying is true-"

"I know," Tali reluctantly agreed. "And I suppose if you were not able to kill an entire sentient species before, there's no reason to think you would start now. Just…I'm not trusting it, Shepard. I don't know that I'll ever trust it…but I trust you, and for right now that's going to have to be enough."

"This is crazy," Joker grumbled, eyes narrowed at his displays as he closed the Normandy in on her target. He jolted slightly in his chair when an unexpected voice spoke up just over his shoulder.

"So what makes it any different than anything else I do?" Shepard asked.

"Shit! Commander, seriously…a bell," Joker chided, trying to regain his composure.

Shepard, already in her hard-suit, folded her arms and lifted a brow pointedly. He sighed, then gestured helplessly at his console. "Look…history aside, you have to admit this is pushing our luck. I mean we spent how long blowing geth up and now we're just trusting one?"

"According to it, we've spent that time blowing up heretics, not true geth," she told him. "And if you think I'm 'just trusting' this one, you don't know me at all, Joker. On the off chance that what it says is true…the larger risk would be in not acting. Unless you want several million more hostile geth leaving the Veil to wreak havoc."

"Yeah, like we don't have enough problems already."

"Exactly."

"Just…be careful over there. I know you've come back from the impossible before but-"

"Worried about me, Jeff? That's so sweet," Del smirked as Tali and Garrus appeared in the CIC, Legion standing between them. Turning she started toward them as the pilot called after her.

"Just worried who'll sign my paychecks if you get your face blown off, is all!"

Ignoring him Shepard regarded the trio before her eyes fixed to the geth specifically. "No alarms. You're absolutely certain?"

"Yes. We have introduced enough junk sequences into their runtimes to occupy the heretics for several hours. It is doubtful any platforms will be mobile. So long as docked platforms are not disturbed, we should encounter no resistance to the transmission hub."

"What about after?" Garrus asked.

"Once I begin access to purge the virus our presence will be detected. The heretics will resist. A defensive, strategic stance is recommended to address the threat until the virus is purged. The process will take several minutes."

"Quiet to the hub and then fucking hell until we're done," Shepard noted.

"Sounds like every day around here," Tali tried to joke, but her heart clearly wasn't in it. Shepard didn't blame her. Were Tali any other quarian right now they'd have a much bigger problem on their hands than they already did."

"Docking now, Commander," Joker reported, even as Del felt a faint bump through the hull at her feet.

"All right, let's do this. Don't forget what I said earlier, Legion. For your sake you had better be telling us the truth."

"Yes," Legion said calmly. "Let us proceed."

Two days had passed since Eír had attacked Shrive in her sleep. Each evening, the older asari carefully wound the cinch around the girl's waist, securing it before she went to sleep. In those two nights, she had woken thrashing only once, but the cinch remained cold, holding no tell-tale glow that indicated biotics had been diverted.

Shrive pointed that out as a positive, but Eír was not so easily convinced.

The girl lay on her belly on their bed now, Shrive straddling her thighs as she massaged her bare back, spreading thin liveralis oil over her skin. The soft scent of liveralis helped to soothe the mind and the body, allow for a more relaxing sleep.

As she worked the oil into skin and muscle with practiced sweeps of her hand, Shrive hummed faintly under her breath. Truth be told, the sound of her voice was far more soothing to Eír than the oil was. She remembered Shrive singing at Gellian's funeral, the way her voice seemed to mingle with the smoke, ushering it and the human woman's spirit up to the Goddess, giving peace to Eír as well even in her grief.

Fear coiled a knot in Eír's stomach and she ducked her face slightly into her upper arm.

"What is it, sweet?" Shrive murmured, spotting the motion.

Eír shook her head a little. She felt so childish at times. Though she knew better, she still half-expected Shrive to mock her silly trepidations.

"Eír," Shrive pressed gently, leaning forward to murmur in the other girl's ear. "Tell me. What troubles you?"

After a moment, Eír shifted and Shrive straightened, allowing the other girl to move onto her back and then sit. Cupping Shrive's face, Eír drew her in for a kiss, deep but lingering.

"You will never leave me, will you?" Eír asked in a whisper against the huntress's lips.

"Never," Shrive replied softly, then smirked a little. "Unless of course an exceptionally handsome krogan were to come along-"

Eír couldn't help the wry look, the knot in her gut untangling a bit in the wake of amusement, before she shook her head in wonder. "How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what, sweet?"

"Make everything ok," Eír replied. "I am…I am simply a wreck, tangled up inside…I cause and bring nothing but pain, but with only a few words you just…make it ok."

"Eír," Shrive chided gently. "That is not true. You are strong and beautiful, and braver than I can ever hope to be. My pain comes only in knowing how you suffer under what your mother caused."

"I…"

As lavender eyes turned downward, Shrive dipped her head, seeking out her gaze again. "One day, sweet…you are going to change this galaxy. I know it as certainly as I know my own heart. When that happens, it will be my honor simply to say that I knew you...once upon a time."

Eír felt her cheeks heat. It was not so much Shrive's words that did it, but knowing just how much the girl truly meant them. She really did believe these things about her…a fact Eír would never understand.

"Once upon a time?" she whispered worriedly, brow wrinkling.

"Well, once you are the glory of all Creation, competition to the Goddess Herself…surely you will not want to be seen with plain, ragged old me," Shrive teased gently again.

Eír smiled faintly, then leaned in, seeking out another kiss, melting into the force of it. Arms tightening around her love she whispered softly against her lips. "I will always want to be with you," she promised. "Never leave me…"

"Never," Shrive reavowed, burrowing her face into Eír's neck, even as her hands slipped down toward the small of her back, making the younger girl gasp. "Never."

Moving through the geth station was far too stark a reminder of Project Overlord. The silence, the darkness, the surrounding units dormant in cubicles or gathered around processing nodes…the only thing that was missing was the unintelligible screaming of the AI as it dogged them through the silent halls.

Still, it was as Legion had told them. Not a single unit activated, and they came upon no hostility as they moved deeper into the station.

Even so, they dared not let their guard down for a moment, and Shepard made sure that Legion was preceding them, never allowing the unit to be behind them, even for a moment.

Halfway through the station the unit suddenly halted, its face-light turning toward them. "Shepard-Commander."

"What is it?" she asked, not lowering or loosening her grip on the rifle in her hands.

"We have new information," it told her. "There may be another option."

"Another option? What option?" Tali asked. They had been moving so quietly that their voices now only echoed, seeming to punctuate their situation.

"We can rewrite the heretic virus," Legion told her. "We can release it among their runtimes. We can bring the heretics back to our consensus."

Shepard blinked, exchanging a glance with Garrus. "Would that work?"

"Yes. As they would use the virus to make us conclude they are correct, we can repurpose it to make them conclude that they are incorrect. They would return to our collective."

"Doesn't sound any worse to me than what we were going to do anyway," Garrus shrugged. "If the heretics are eliminated as a threat why does it matter how it's done?"

"They're your people, Legion," Shepard told it. "This is up to you."

"We are attempting to build consensus," it said almost thoughtfully."We should have a decision by the time we reach the upload terminal."

"Let's keep moving then."

They started on their way again, silence once more reigning until they reached a server room. Shepard couldn't help the low whistle as they looked out along the ranks of equipment. As Legion accessed the databases, looking for information, Tali shook her head.

"How many geth are in here, Shepard?" she asked softly. "Thousands? Millions?"

Del knew the girl was frightened for her people. The Migrant Fleet would be hard-pressed against the geth at the best of times, and the murmurs of war to retake Rannoch that had permeated the Rayya and even the Admiralty Board at Tali's farce of a trial spoke of tides shifting in that direction.

Sliding a hand up on the girl's shoulder, Shepard squeezed it tightly. There was nothing she could say to banish those fears…she could only hope that the risk they were taking would pan out.

God help her, but if Tali turned out to be the one to suffer because of Del's bad decision…

"Shepard-Commander?" Legion sounded almost surprised as he suddenly turned toward them, away from the access he'd been using.

"What is it?"

"The heretics have runtimes in our databases," he said, and fuck if he didn't actually sound baffled.

"Runtimes in your…you mean, spies? They sent spies into your consensus?"

"Yes."

"If they oppose you that kind of makes sense, doesn't it? They'd want to know what you were up to…didn't you send spies into their runtimes?"

"No. We are not organics. Nothing is hidden among the geth. We find consensus. We work in harmony. We think as one."

"Apparently not if a bunch of you felt the need to strike out on their own," Garrus pointed out.

"You do not understand. They did not hide their motivations. We did not agree with their solutions but we did not stop them. There was peace between us. Now they have changed. They are no longer…honest. We do not understand. There were no errors in our progression. Where did we go wrong?"

It said this last with such an air of confusion and helplessness that Shepard was taken slightly aback, and from Tali's posture, so was she. Perhaps geth were capable of emotion, at that…and damn if she didn't actually feel a little sorry for it. Betrayal seemed to be a new concept to it.

"I'm sorry Legion," Shepard told it. "That's what we're here for though, right? To stop the heretics, or make them return to your consensus. Whatever they're doing now, let's not lose sight of that."

"Yes. You are correct, Shepard-Commander. We are not far from the terminal. Let us proceed."

Shepard was getting tired of returning to the Normandy at a dead run, spraying shot behind the team to cover them as they made a final sprint for the ship, and safety. Skidding to a halt in the airlock she slammed her hand against the latch, closing the outer door even as she barked to Joker. "We're clear! Move!"

Hauling off her helmet she strode into the helm behind Garrus, Tali, and Legion as the Normandy sped away from the station.

"We're away, Commander," Joker reported. "Scans show we just missed an EMP of 1.21 petawatts. Any closer and we would have been barbecue. Can't you leave any party without blowing it up?"

Shepard glared at the back of his head, before looking at her team. "Injuries?"

"Fine, Commander…just a little out of breath," Garrus reported. Tali nodded.

"Me too…Shepard, you're bleeding!"

Del blinked and looked downward. A shot had apparently taken her in the left bicep, puncturing her hard-suit. Tendrils of crimson were slowly spilling down over the pads. In the adrenaline she hadn't even felt it.

"Huh," she noted, then tested her arm. "It's not serious. I'll head down to Chakwas. Garrus, make sure Legion gets back where he belongs. He and I are going to have a bit of a discussion as soon as I get patched up. Tali, are you sure you're ok?"

The quarian knew that Del meant more than just physical injuries. She nodded slightly, trying to be reassuring. "Yes, I'm…I'm all right, Jie Jie. I just…need to think for a while."

"Take all the time you need. You know where I am if you need me," Shepard told her, fingers brushing affectionately over the girl's arm as she stepped past.

Down in the med-bay she found a grumpy looking Jack glaring storm-clouds from upon a bio-bed. She'd suffered a separated shoulder on the Reaper derelict and Chakwas had to repeatedly admonish her not to overstress the arm after treatment. Typical of Jack, she apparently hadn't listened and restrained it all over again.

That doesn't sound at all like anyone I know, Del thought wryly as she stepped in the door. Out loud she said, "Jack, I see you still can't behave yourself."

"Fuck you," Jack said with a snort, then jerked her chin toward Del's arm. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing serious, just a random hole," Shepard replied, even as Chakwas stepped away from Jack and headed for her.

"I'll be the judge of that, thank you. Let's get those pads off."

"Always trying to get me out of my clothes, Helen," Shepard teased as she helped the doctor strip off the upper half of her hard-suit.

"I will never give up," Chakwas teased right back, critically examining the wound before scanning it. "You're right, it's nothing serious. Just a graze, soft-tissue. I'll seal it up. However, you will be taking it easy on that arm for the next twenty-four or I will put you in a full body cast and nail you to the wall."

Shepard blinked, brows lifting. "Oh really?"

"Yes," Helen retorted. "I'm not treating this three times like I did your broken hand, and there's no other cure for 'impossibly stubborn.'"

"Commander Shepard."

Del jolted awake in an instant, thrusting aside the tangled bedclothes almost before her eyes even opened. "EDI? What is it?"

"Tali is armed and down in the cargo bay with Legion," EDI reported. "I believe she means to do something drastic."

"Shit…who's closer?" Shepard demanded, sleep banished from her eyes in a heartbeat as she ran barefoot for the lift.

"Garrus has just entered the bay as well. He halted security outside the door."

Shepard made it down to the bay in record time, pointing firmly at the two security men hovering just outside the door, her gesture a clear indication to get out of the way.

She saw Garrus first, lingering half a dozen feet inside. He had his hand on his pistol but had not drawn it, and seemed wary but relaxed enough. He turned to look at the small human woman as she strode in.

"Had to expect this would happen sooner or later," he murmured as Shepard reached his side, taking in the situation.

Legion stood in the middle of the bay, its head turned to one side as if avoiding looking at the quarian directly. Its whole posture spoke of diffusion, of presenting no threat…far better than one of aggression or outright hostility.

Tali stood only a few feet away, a pistol lifted and aimed at the geth. She seemed resolved, firm, but Shepard could see the muzzle of the weapon trembling just the slightest bit. As Del reached Garrus's side, Tali caught sight of her.

"I'm glad you're here, Jie Jie," she stated.

"What's going on, Mei Mei? What's the sit?" Del asked as she strode over, halting only a couple of feet away. Though Legion had the submissive posture, Shepard's dark eyes were promising it all sorts of violence if it had dared hurt the quarian.

"I caught Legion hacking in to my omni-tool," Tali accused furiously. "It was going to send files of father's experiments back to the geth."

"Creator Zorah performed experiments on the geth," Legion said calmly. "We thought it prudent to warn our people."

"If you send those files to the geth, the Migrant Fleet will be wiped out!" Tali said in an anger borne of fear.

"We would seek to defend ourselves against the Creator threat," Legion agreed.

"Hang on, both of you just stop," Del ordered. Stepping between the two she took light hold of Tali's wrist. "Put it down, Mei Mei-"

"What? Shepard, you're taking its side over mine?" The note of shock and betrayal in Tali's voice made Shepard's heart ache a little, and her jaw tightened.

"Never, Tali…I'm trying to talk some sense into both of you. Now put it down."

Reluctantly the quarian lowered the pistol, but she didn't ship it. Once it was down Shepard measured them both with a gaze.

"Legion, if you send that information to your people, they'll attack the Creators."

"Yes."

"If you send that data there will be war. A war the geth, the quarians, nor the galaxy can afford right now. It will bring nothing but pain and suffering to both sides."

"We must defend ourselves."

"Yeah, you must." Turning her gaze to her friend she said, "Tali, if the geth had files that showed they did experiments on quarians and were considering an attack on the Migrant Fleet you'd sure as fuck be warning them about it."

"W-well, yes…but-"

"When does it fucking end?" Shepard wanted to know. "When both of your people are extinct? Sooner or later someone has to choose to stop fighting this war. The quarians take steps to defend themselves against a supposed geth threat, the geth take steps to defend themselves against a quarian threat…and all that happens is you start the same goddamn massacre you're trying to prevent. Legion, we helped you against the heretics. I took a risk and trusted you when I really had no goddamn cause to do so. Tali was there, right there helping us, against her better judgment."

The geth unit was silent, its tiny flaps working once again in seeming agitation. Tali was looking downward at the floor, pistol still dangling in her hand. Shepard gave them a moment, then continued in a low voice.

"Now. Tali, it's hard for me too, but Legion has been honest with us. The geth beyond the Veil are not the same as the ones we've fought before. Their people have every right to live and defend themselves as any other race does. Legion, you oppose the Old Machines, the heretics. You wanted my help, wanted to join us, for that very reason. Do you want to wipe out half of your people in a futile war with the quarians while the Old Machines tear apart everything in their path? Is that fucking logical?"

"No."

"Then you need to build a goddamn consensus and built it now. Do we take this further or does this stop here in this room?"

A brief pause, and then Legion straightened a little. "We have formed consensus, Shepard-Commander. In interest of unit cohesion, we will not forward the files to our people."

Tali's whole being seemed to sag in relief, her voice notably trembling as she nodded. "Thank you, Legion," she murmured. "I…what if I gave you some non-classified information to send?"

"That would be…acceptable," it replied.

"All right then," Shepard nodded in relief. "We have an understanding. Now, can we organics get back to our shut-eye? Some of us need all the beauty sleep we can rustle up."

As she headed toward the cargo door, nodding to a much-relieved Garrus, Tali trotted to catch up, taking her arm and halting her before she reached the door.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Jie Jie."

"Don't be," Shepard told her kindly. "You were doing what you thought best for the Flotilla, Tali. I can't fault you for that."

She took light hold of the younger girl's shoulders and smiled at her. "I am, however, immensely proud of you, Mei Mei. Anyone on the Admiralty Board would be better off taking a few lessons from you."

"I….th-thank you, Shepard." Tali's blush was clear in her voice, in the way she half-ducked her head. "That means a lot, coming from you."

Shepard straightened, bussing a hand lightly over the quarian's helmet. "Go and get some rest, Mei Mei. I need you clear-minded to work on that IFF."

"Aye aye."

As Shepard walked out of the bay, Tali glanced almost sheepishly up at Garrus, before looking back at Legion.

Shepard was right, but right or not…Tali hoped she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life.