After much debate, i skipped the mission. We're all here for the same thing, and I'm sure its not to read a fight.

[I was kinda zoning out here and there, so please PM me if some parts look bad or something]

Again, i am sorry if i offend any of the female audience.

"Nicely done, commander." Xen commented as Shepard holstered his weapons. "With these new geth intact and deactivated, we will begin their dismemberment momentarily."

"I'll be monitoring this." Shepard replied. "Your ship may be safe, but I still want to make sure nothing goes wrong, either with you or the crew."

"Your assumptions are placed in the wrong area's, but feel free to monitor the progress of the autopsy. We have nothing to hide, and much to gain from this. Again, thank you for your assistance in this matter."

Nodding to the admiral, Xen walked back to her marines, mostly in good health. She didn't give any verbal command, but they all knew what to do. Grabbing the intact geth, the team heaved them up and prepared to carry them to the nearby transport. Due to the destruction of the comm array on the rather small base, the ship was able to come near without detection.

Shepard gave a sigh and looked around the area, wondering if there was anything left to look over. Finding nothing after a brief search, he moved from his position and began following the departing quarian party, leaving the damaged geth base behind him.

…

"Sounded like on hell of a base to assault." the pilot of the Normandy quipped from the mess table.

"It was, and what is even more wondrous is the fact that there were no casualties." Shepard replied, looking up from his drink.

"It proves you are a great strategist, commander." Samara commented. "After all we've been through, I'd be surprised if anyone suffered any severe wounds at all with you in command."

"And they didn't." Shepard admitted. "I guess I am cut out for small-team fights."

"That you are." Thane commented after finishing his drink.

The gathered team finished their food and drinks before eventually beginning to depart to their situated bunks.

"As interesting as this conversation was, I am afraid I must call it a night. There's no award for the weary." Thane said as he moved to the pods.

"Weary or not, I will not fall to the feet of any creature, from this galaxy or another." Grunt replied in his natural deep voice. The krogan moved from the table and to the elevator. "I'm also calling it a night."

"You'd better hold that damn elevator!" Jack called out, hurriedly finishing her drink and following the krogan. It was better for her to leave now than to wait for everyone else to get to their places.

"I guess I'm lucky enough to have my bed on this floor." Garrus said neutrally as he watched the biotic jog to the elevator. "This way I wont have to share an elevator with a krogan and a biotic psychopath."

"And a mercenary." Zaeed muttered. Garrus managed to turn to the veteran merc before he rose from his seat and began progressing to the elevator. Before he left everyone's view, he muttered, "'night bitches."

Not long after Zaeed left, the elevator began its descent to the fourth deck. Garrus found himself shaking his head. "You have the strangest taste in company, Shepard."

"I have to. If it wasn't for that taste, you wouldn't be here." Shepard replied with a grin.

"Ow. That hurt me right here." Garrus responded, pointing at his supposed heart.

The group, now reduced to nine members, gave a brief laugh. Not long after it died down, another member left.

"I'm tired and a tired thief is the worst kind." Kasumi said as she opened her omni-tool. Looking at Tali, Kasumi says, "Have a good night, Tali." She gave a wink before she turned on her camouflage.

Tali, briefly shocked by the statement, was flabbergasted by the comment, yet she could find the thief who activated her camo. Embarrassment flooded her as the seven members on the table began chuckling, and she had no Kasumi to shout at. Instead, she lowered her gaze and shook her head.

Shepard, not knowing if she felt bad or simply embarrassed to a great extend, neared her and brought a hand to her waist, opposite of where he sat. She turned her head to him slightly and he gently tugged on her hip. Giving in, as well as hearing the chuckling die down, she leaned to the side and rested most of herself on Shepard, causing the Normandy's pilot to raise a brow.

"Not gonna do something in front of us, are you?" Joker asked with a grin.

"One more remark, Joker." Shepard replied evenly, placing his chin over Tali's head. "One more remark and that collection of 'unmentionable sites' you have stored will be wiped clean."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

Grumbling, Joker sank in his seat and let the commander have his moment. "I, uh… I gotta go, anyways."

"Go do what? Look at you-"

"Gotta go!" Joker cut in, moving from his seat and limping to the elevator.

"Hold that elevator, Joker." Jacob called out. Taking his plate and placing it over a collection of plates, Jacob pushed his seat back in its original position and followed the pilot.

"Must leave too." Mordin said almost as fast as he stood. "Have some things to look over."

A hinting gleam in the salarians eyes told Shepard something, though he didn't catch it all as the professor left in a rather speedy hurry. It must have been important.

"Hate to make the group smaller, but I've got some calibrations to run." Garrus said after a two minute wait.

"As do I." Samara added, rising from her seat. "I will perform my meditation for a further hour before I retire to my pod. Good night to you all."

Everyone gave nods as Samara and Garrus left to their stations. Down to the last three members, Miranda looked around wondrously before turning her eyes to Shepard. "I guess I'll head back to my quarters, commander. Have a pleasant rest."

Shepard didn't know how to respond. Either she meant it, or she suggested something… but he didn't feel like asking her what she meant. As she got up form her seat, he replied, "Good night, Miranda."

The XO gave a nod, then turned to her quarters. The opening and closing of a door ensured the two remaining members that they were roughly alone in the mess, save for Gardner, who was taking his time to clean a few dishes before too calling it a night.

"I'd get some rest, commander." the chef said from his corner. "From what I've heard, and not the suggestive things, you've got quite a day tomorra'. I'll prepare your breakfast as usual, but since you wont be back for a while, I'll make sure to make it a special one with the things you've brought me."

"Thanks Gardner." Shepard replied. The chef nodded back to him, leaving it at that. Taking a few more seconds to acquaint himself with the pleasing silence, he gave a squeeze to Tali's hip.

"I say its time we retire."

"I second that notion." she replied with a hidden smile.

Getting up, but not releasing her hip, nor Tali moving from his shoulder, the two progressed to the elevator and waited briefly before it came to their floor. Once they ascended to his quarters, the two walked easily to their bed and rested upon it once more.

"You're alright?" Shepard asked.

"Still feeling lightheaded and my sinuses are still acting up." she replied. Turning to him, she adds, "But as always, from this point on, it was worth it."

"You're worth it." Shepard replied. Looking at her eyes pleasantly, he adds, "I may not be able to… 'please' you, but I'll get some ideas eventually."

"It should be the other way around." Tali replied. "Quarian women have long been the ones to relax the males, during ancient times as well as present times. We may not show it openly, but we do what we can. Its… uhm…"

"Its what?" Shepard asked, finding the conversation rather intriguing, and not just philosophically.

"Well, due to our weaknesses to bacteria as a whole, it has been… 'taught' that we must do whatever we can for our partners since most of the time our lives will be filled with danger. Males and female quarians are both taught this. There were even classes on such things, but most were too shy and uncertain to take them."

Playfully, Shepard asked, "And did you ever take such classes?"

He found her being incredibly quiet. After a few seconds, he grew worried. Eventually, she spoke.

"Yes."

"… What?"

"I… I did take those classes."

Shepard found himself speechless, though eventually he found his voice, thought it didn't come out the way he figured. "So… what did you learn in them?"

"There were many… categories to, uhm… to choose from."

"And…. What categories did you learn?"

Another pause. Eventually, she answered.

"I only learned the basics. I couldn't get into the in-depth ones; I just couldn't gather the courage to do so at the time."

Letting a silence fill the room for a few seconds, she continued from their original discussion. "Both male and female quarians do what they can to express their affections for each other whenever they can, mostly in private and extremely rarely in… uh, in public."

"Public?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, but even then there's a type of privacy between the two." she replied quickly. She could describe what she was thinking. Many thoughts went around her mind, but most were centered as to why she was talking about this. Continuing, she adds, "Privacy, such as them being paid no mind to, or a place where no one will notice it is happening."

"The more we talk about this, the more I'm starting to see how 'open' your culture is." Shepard replied unsurely.

"We have to be 'open' when it comes to our partners, Shepard. Living on ships that are as old as when we first left our worlds, drives us to be. We all know we can die at any second with the partially unstable drives most ships have within the fleet as well as many other ship-related incidents, so we do what we can before an unforeseen accident gets to us." Tali finished.

They shared another momentary silence before Shepard brought the sheet in between them. Tali remained unmoving as he moved it over her and laid back again as he finished. Taking time to form a response, Shepard eventually spoke.

"So your people see physical love as the most extreme form they can express it with?" he asked.

"Its not only a representation, but a symbol." Tali said as she moved closer to him. "If the two performing the action are truly infatuated with each other, it serves as a bond. So, when I said I loved you and you said it back to me, and we made love, that served as a meaning. It meant we wished to be bonded, to be married to each other."

"So, unofficially, I am married to you, er, bonded."

"Yes. It is not taken lightly, but has often been announced. Once a quarian consummates their love with another, they often times do not keep it to themselves. Males within the quarian society have taken a habit of 'claiming their women' as well as saying so to anyone they know."

"Ah. So that's what Xen meant." Shepard said.

"Xen? What did she tell you?"

"She found out about… well, us."

"Us? Keelah, she didn't…"

"Shala ended up telling her and she also found some information from some of your friends. I thought you said only the males stated their claims…"

"They do! How could anyone have known!" Tali said in fright. If people knew, it wouldn't have been as much of a private secret than she would have liked. "I only told Shala about this! No one else shoul-…. I only told Shala about this…. Keelah…"

"You told Shala we shared a bed for a night, as well as 'consummated our love' in the same room? Tali, you tease…" Shepard replied with a grin.

"Bosh'tet…" Tali muttered.

Grinning, Shepard pulled the quarian closer to him. "If they know of us, why keep it a secret from the others? Don't worry about things, Tali. If anyone has a problem, you can just tell them who I am. If they still have a problem, I'll show them what I am capable of."

"And you are capable of much…" the quarian said as she pressed against Shepard. "I love you, Shepard."

Tali shivered as she felt something from beneath the sheet. She tensed as she felt something moved between her legs. In an instant, she tensed greatly as she felt something press against her core from outside her suit, pressing on the suit and moving around, unable to enter, but simply teasing her fragile womanhood.

Unpleasingly, it ended as soon as it began, the invader moving away. Looking back at Shepard, who had a loving grin on his face, she didn't know how to react to it.

"I love you to, Tali, and if you express love in only the most physical of ways, I'll be sure to show you just how much I love you."

Relaxing, as well as letting her jump-starting heart calm down, Tali once again pressed herself against Shepard. She wasn't aware if he pull another stunt, but if he did, it would be a welcome one. Whether he did or not, she positioned herself to sleep. She couldn't take the suit off and his recent action made her stop herself from tearing it apart, proof to herself of just how pleasure-hungry she could become, especially with the civilian-issue suit she constantly wore. Controversial to other suit types, theses allowed for more contact between the wearer and anyone.

Both sighing, they fell asleep together in the silence of the room, Tali thinking of ways to accelerate her recovery and Shepard wondering as to how he could help please her while she was still in the suit.

…

"Commander." Xen nodded.

"Admiral." Shepard replied, nodding.

Shepard noticed a quarian beside Xen. She was ordering a few of Xen's science team in a rather similar manner Xen ordered her men around. Noticing his gaze, Xen looked at the quarian behind her and turned back to the commander.

"That is my assistant, commander. Iya'Miya vas Alerai, if you want the specifics, which I am certain you want since she is to be your source of information for the course of your stay."

"So, you taught her everything?" Shepard asked. Seeing a more 'clear' view of her, he noticed many… 'appealing' aspects of Xen's student. Physically, she was more… 'developed' than the admiral on many areas, some more so than others.

"Her parents decided it would be best. She's been with me for quite some time and she is by far one of the more enlightened members of my science team. She knows as much as I do, which is something I rarely say, so feel free to ask her anything you may need to know."

Nodding off to the admiral, Xen turned back and called out, "Iya."

The white-suited quarian turned almost immediately to the admiral and gave one last command to the team before walking over to the two.

"Commander Shepard." the young quarian said as soon as she came close enough. "Nice to finally meet you in person. Quite a speech you gave those many weeks ago."

"Is there anyone who wont comment on that?" Shepard asked rhetorically.

"I doubt it." Iya replied. Turning to Xen, she asks, "Is there something you needed, ma'am?"

"You are to assist the commander in anything he may wish to know during his stay. Do mind the more detailed information."

"But I thought I was to aid in the geth autopsy." she objected.

Crossing her arms and stating in a matter-of-factly tone, Xen said, "Are you denying an order, Iya?"

Looking at Xen, then back to Shepard, Iya eventually shook her head. "No ma'am. I'll be happy to assist the commander in any needs he may have during his stay."

"Good." Xen nodded. "I would not want him seeking my personal assistance in anything for the time being until I finish disassembling the geth and extracting all known information from its systems."

"Understood, ma'am." the quarian nodded.

"I'll leave you to it." Xen said evenly, and walked into the room she designated as the 'autopsy' room.

Leaving the two alone in the hall, Shepard couldn't help but look over Iya as he did most quarians. Usually, it was to look at the many designs a quarian would have on their suit as well as any other accessories they would or could wear on it, but he found her captivating. From what he originally saw through her red visor, she too was giving him an examination of her own.

He couldn't deny it; she was certainly a rather large breasted quarian. In fact, it was probably one of the more captivating things she had on her than anything aside from her well curved body. Aside from the great hips she had, there were also the tightly pressed thighs she had. He didn't know what it was about quarians and tightly-pressed suits, but he was certain it would serve more than just to make a person look good.

Eventually, he heard Iya speak in uncertainty. Sure she was trained by Xen, but she had little contact with someone outside of her race other than during her pilgrimage travels.

"Uh, commander?"

"Yes?" Shepard managed to reply, snapping back to her visor.

"Is there anything I could help you with? Anything you may wish to know?"

"Um, yes. How will this procedure go? What parts of the geth are disassembled first?"

"It is a tricky procedure to begin with, commander. There are many places that can serve as proper disassembling points, but each geth gas its own specific slot. There are precisely five spots. The legs, the arms and the head. One serves as the proper spot while the others serve as triggers of self-destruct, so playing a guessing game is not only the worst choice, but also the fastest way to get yourself killed."

"Is this the hardest of the procedures?"

"Hardly. This is actually the easiest."

Shepard began walking through the ship, the quarian following him easily as she continued answering him question as he walked around the ship, asking her what he could think of until he could get the procedure well in mind.

Walking to a new region of the ship, as well as letting her continue to spew facts, he looked around while he listened. Eventually, he noticed the quarian looking at him many times while removing his gaze whenever he turned to look at her. He began assuming things once he found her looking at him for the fourth time. It wouldn't have been suspicious, but turning her gaze from him instantly always made it clear something was up.

Eventually, he decided to go through the living quarters of the majority of the quarians. A place, he figured, that would have been just like any other choice he had made. Boring, and naturally occurring. He was wrong.

Thanks to ScrambledEggz for the Iya'Miya character. ScrambledEggz, the next chapter's for you, man.

Android328i, your character's still waiting for her scene, so don't worry, she'll be here.

Still doing requests. Make up some characters, people, as well as some things you may wish to see. there certainly will be some 'exploration' involved.