Blackness enveloped his body with numbness being the only accompanying sensation. He stepped forward looking for an opening in the endless void. He couldn't speak, couldn't smell, couldn't see anything. Where was this place? What was it? Is this what it feels like to not exist? Footsteps echoed from behind him; a deafening pound on his eardrums. He shifted to see a figure clothed in white robes emerging from the void; coming closer with each step.

"Tali?" He did what he could to move closer. He was in arms reach of her. Her face was expressionless with her hands clasped together just below her neck. He gazed into her eyes while they remained emotionless without a single blink. Her hands unlaced and ran slowly down her chest. He followed their movement until they stopped at her belly which had suddenly grown immensely. He stared at it for a moment trying to comprehend the sight. Another sound echoed through the air. This time, what sounded like water droplets. He looked down at her feet to see a pool of blood flowing from underneath her robes around her feet. He re-directed his eyes to her face once again. As he took one last look at her unveiled face, he swore...he could hear the sound of an infant crying.

Shepard shot up in his bed, breathing heavily with a cold sweat running down his forehead and chest. He gathered his surroundings and placed a fist over his heart in hopes of calming himself down. The lights were dimmed with the only real source of illumination being the fish tank. His next instinct was to check on Tali; to know she was safe. He pivoted his torso to the right where she had originally fallen asleep after their intimate love-making a few hours earlier. She wasn't there. His rate climbed as he began to panic. He looked over to the corner of the room and saw that her enviro-suit as well as her helmet and visor still laying in the same pile on the floor, undisturbed. He grew more anxious as his gaze shifted around the room trying to find the familiar shape of a Quarian. Nothing. He tried to reason with himself, logically.

"Calm down, she's probably using the bathroom...yeah...the bathroom..." He slid to the side of the bed, letting his feet touch down on the cold steel floor gently. Throwing on a pair of briefs, he journeyed over to the cabin's bathroom. Coming within a few feet of the door he began to hear the sound of running water. To satisfy his curiosity he turned his head to the side and placed his ear on the hard metal hatch, listening as the sound became muffled through the hard material of the door. He stood there listening for a moment when the sound of flowing water came to a sudden stop. He pressed harder against the door but couldn't make out anything else going on in the small room. Feeling that he was unable to release the fear that still overcame him, he tapped the button on the door, letting it slid open. He had to see her with his own eyes. It was the only way he could be sure. Upon entering he caught a brief glimpse of her sitting with legs folded against her chest in the far right corner of the bathroom. He also noticed a tiny object in her open hand but lost sight of it when she quickly rose to her feet revealing her unsuited body to be wrapped in a towel. She threw her hands behind her back to hide the object.

"Shepard!" she managed to squeak before becoming noticeably nervous. "W-what are you doing up?"

"I just wanted to check on you, are you alright?" Tali stiffened at his response.

"O-of course...w-why wouldn't I be?" Shepard could see that her legs began to tremble.

"What's that in your hand?" he asked pointing at her hands behind her back as he stepped closer.

"What do you mean?" she said peering over her shoulder. "Th-there's nothing in my hand," Her attempt to sound oblivious to his question had failed rather miserably as he raised a single brow.

"Really...then what's that by foot?" he said with a smirk slowly growing on his lips.

"Huh?" As Tali lifted her foot to see what wasn't there, Shepard lunged forward and pulled the towel straight out from around her body leaving her completely exposed. She gasped and instinctively used both arms to cover her exposed body; dropping the object in her hands in the process. Shepard managed to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Shepard! Give it back!" he turned to run but she leapt on his back causing him to fall to the floor on his chest. He struggled to lift himself up as Tali crawled up his back trying to snatch the object from his hands. All the while he had a wide grin on his face.

"Bosh'tet, give it to me!" she exclaimed, desperately trying to grab at his hands. She was clearly not following in his humor. Shepard rolled over on his back laughing while using his free hand to push her away by the shoulder. He finally grabbed the towel on the floor beside him and threw it in her face. With her distracted, he slipped out from under her and ran out of the bathroom.

"Dammit, Shepard, you get back-" he locked the door from outside the bathroom, hearing her muffled screams and pounding against it from the other end. Realizing he was safe for a moment from the angry banshee inside that ready to rip his face off, he turned around and leaned against the door; opening his hand to see what she had tried so hard to hide from him. He took a good look at the tiny cylindrical shaped object and let his mouth fall open. He took a moment to take in what he held then turned around and unlocked the door. Tali stepped out with her finger pointing at his face; her body again wrapped in a towel.

"Give it back or I won't be taking my suit off for you any-" She swallowed the rest of her sentence when she saw him staring at her tenderly.

"Tali, is this...a pregnancy tester?" she began to nervously wring her hands together as she stared down at the floor. Unable to answer his question. "Are you?"

"No!" She squeaked anxiously. "T-that's ridiculous! I-I mean, not that I don't want to but i-it's just not possible with, you know, I'm a Quarian and you are-"

"Tali..." He interrupted her nervous rambling. "Are you pregnant?" For a moment there was only silence as she began to wring her hands even more nervously. Shepard took a gentle step toward her and placed his free hand on her hands to ease her anxiety.

"Tali, is there something you want to tell me?" The soft, tender tone of his voice calmed her down to a level at which she was able to respond.

"N-no...I mean no, I'm not pregnant...but..."

"But?"

"I'm...trying..." Shepard's expression became that of utter confusion. Trying?

"What do you mean trying?"

"I...Mordin concocted a genetic therapy drug for me. It's supposed to perform minor alterations to my genetic code. Quarian DNA happens to be very similar to that of humans and with this drug, mine will take on subtle changes to make me more compatible for your own so that...you know...I mean, we can..." she struggled to get the words out. Revealing this to the man she loved was overwhelming. Shepard took her hand and placed it on top of his own.

"Tali," he said softly. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted-"

"Commander," Joker interrupted before he could finish asking her. Shepard sighed angrily and looked up at the ceiling.

"What do you want?"

"Well since you asked so nicely...jerk," Joker mumbled. " We're 7 minutes out from Illium and Liara is hailing us. She wants to talk to you, like, right now. So if you could pretty please with a cherry on top, come down to the helm and-"

"I get, Joker, I'm on my way," Shepard let his gaze fall back onto Tali who averted her guilty eyes from him in embarrassment. He felt disappointed that she didn't trust him enough with her secret but decided to end their discussion on good terms, so he leaned in and slowly wrapped his arms around her thin waist, embracing her for a moment then backing away to say, "I need to go see what all the fuss is about, but you and me are going to continue this talk later OK? His words were more tender toward the end which allowed her to ease up enough to return the affection with a half-hearted smile.

"Oh...alright," she replied before breaking the embrace. Shepard took a small step backward then looked over her with a insidious smile.

"In the mean time..." She gasped as he gripped the edge of the towel around her body then swiftly pulled it off from around her. Her cheeks burned red with embarrassment as she crossed her arms to cover her chest. "You need to get dressed young lady!"

"Shepard!" she squeaked using one hand to lightly punch him in the shoulder.

...

After dressing the two stepped into the elevator which quickly arrived at the CIC with the loving couple stepping out and holding hands. Walking by the galaxy map, Tali could see Ms. Chambers place a hand over her mouth trying to hold back a giggle; remembering that Kelly had seen her 'kidnap' Shepard in the elevator only hours earlier. She blushed under her helmet and turned her head away from the Yeoman; trying to hide her embarrassment. Of course Shepard had already noticed and had a wide smile spread across his lips. He always found Tali's shyness to be quite adorable. The two finally arrived at the helm to see Illium's bright blue sky looming in the void of space outside the front windows of the cockpit. Joker was eagerly awaiting Shepard's arrival, as the message Liara wished to convey sounded quite urgent.

"Took your sweet time, Shepard," Joker said sarcastically. "Emphasis on the 'sweet'." Shepard glared at him with narrowed eyes; clearly annoyed by his comment, but held back any remark he wished to make.

"Patch Liara through Joker," Joker tapped away at the controls and a holographic screen, displaying the distressed face of asari, appeared.

"Shepard! I'm so glad you're here. I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time!" her eyes pleaded the urgency of the call.

"Slow down Liara, what happened?"

"Your friends, the hotel was attacked. The Eclipse, they've captured Zaeed!"

"How did the mercs know my team was at the hotet? Much less, on Illium?"

"I don't know Shepard, but I think it's safe to assume that they have contacts looking for you. But that's not important right now. Listen, I found out where he was being held. Your friends; I haven't heard from them since I gave them the coordinates to the Eclipse base. They may need your help Shepard!"

"Can you relay to coordinates to me?"

"Already done, be careful Shepard." Liara replied before terminating the communication.

"EDI, lock onto the coordinates. Get us over there on the double!" Shepard ordered while activating his com-link. "Garrus, meet us in the hanger bay, we're going planet-side!"