The Cryonic Man A ME2 Story

by MaximusTheMad

John Desmond, a 19 year-old bike courier in NYC, lives a normal life. Then, while on a delivery, he is accidentaly cryo frozen and sent up into space as part of Project Archimedes. In 2185, he is found and unfrozen on the Normandy SR-2. What adventures may happen in a time he doesn't know? CANCELLED AND DEAD, with possible rewrite in the works(final chapter provides info on why)

11. Ch 7: Prejudices and Confessions Part 1

The Cryonic Man

Chapter 7: Introductions, Prejudices, and Confessions Part 1

A bit of foreword

This is my first story so please no flames.
I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).
I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

This is the longest chapter I have ever written (hooray for me)

---

John walked down the hall, checking the maintenance reports on his datapad, with Tali walking beside him. He talked to her after finally going over the rest of the data.

"It's really great to have someone here for Lia to talk to," said John.

"From what I heard about her, she sounds really nice," said Tali.

"Well, in just a few moments you'll get to meet her in perso…DUCK," yelled John, and a piece of debris came flying over their heads.

"I thought I told you two, no kissy-kissy until you calibrate the pressure valves. Great, now the upstairs showers won't have water pressure until I get those pipes fixed, there goes my weekend, and probably my life since I'll have to deal with Jack," said John.

"How often does that happen," said Tali.

"Almost never, but when Kenneth and Gabby get busy and Lia is not around, I have to calibrate those things myself before they blow," said John.

"Well where is Lia anyway," said Tali.

"Odds are below decks, Jack must be eating lunch upstairs," said John.

"Who is this Jack anyway," said Tali.

"Jack is a woman that Shepard recruited from this prison ship, Purgatory. He told me she used biotics to blow through 2 Atlas mechs with a single blow. Shepard said he's never seen such raw biotic power. Problem being she hates Cerberus, whatever that is, with a passion, and since I'm on a Cerberus ship, she thinks I'm a part of Cerberus, and is looking for a reason to turn me into a mess on the walls," said John.

"This ship gets worse the more I hear about it," said Tali.

"Oh I don't mean for this place to sound bad, it's actually quite nice. The only people you need to worry about are Miranda, the head of Cerberus's whore, and Jack, though she might not be as hostile towards you since she knows you're here just for Shepard," said John, with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Er ah that's not um," said Tali.

"Look you're practically all he talks about, if you don't feel that way about him that's fine," said John.

"Well, we officially got together before he died, but I'm still trying to get over the fact that he's here now after two years. But, we both love each other, and we'll work through it," said Tali.

"That's really sweet," said John with a smile, and added silently, "Kind of wish me and Lia had something like this."

"What was that," said Tali.

"Er nothing," said John.

"Yeah, nothing, and all those e-mails from Shepard about you twos daily flirt sessions has nothing to do with it," said Tali.

John put a finger to his lips, indicating for her to be silent, and looked around to be sure no one was around, seeing Lia was standing at her console.

He sighed and said, "Everyone keeps talking about my crush on her, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows except for her, and I would like very much to keep it that way."

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel," said Tali.

"She has her Pilgrimage to think about, and if she finds what she's looking for…I don't want to lose her but I don't want to get in her way by being selfish. She deserves someone of her own species that makes her happy, not a caveman. They say that when you truly love someone, you have to put them before yourself. She deserves to be happy, especially after all the ways she has been mistreated by society all these years," he finished sadly, staring at Lia.

"All quarians have dealt with prejudice one way or another, I'm no different," said Tali.

"She's been treated like a thief," said John.

"Like a vagrant," said Tali.

"Like a walking suit," said Tali and John at the same time.

They then turned to each other and chuckled slightly.

"You seem so much like Shepard, it's almost scary," said Tali.

"I've been getting that a lot from Mr. Vakarian and Joker, even some cracks from Dr. Chakwas which were unexpected," said John.

"Yeah those three can be crazy sometimes," said Tali, "Look, maybe you just need to put yourself out there, you never know, she might feel the same way."

"So, are you going to go show me to everyone," said Tali.

"Yeah, and after that I need to start those repairs," said John.

"Oh and John," said Tali, and John turned back around, "If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to talk to me."

John smiled and said, "Thanks."

---

"Everyone gather 'round," yelled John.

Kenneth, Gabby, and Lia, moved away from their consoles, and John continued, "Kenneth, Gabby, Lia, this is Tali'Zorah vas Neema, our new boss according to the Commander. I hope you all help her feel at home."

"Wow, the new boss lady is so…," started Kenneth before Gabby gave him a sharp pinch.

"You need to remember to keep your tongue off the floor Kenneth," said John, before adding quietly so only Kenneth could hear him, "We need to have a very serious discussion later."

Kenneth audibly swallowed and Tali started speaking, "Hello everyone, I hope you all come to accept me."

"It'll be great to have another person to talk to in Engineering," said Gabby.

"Hey," said John and Kenneth at the same time.

"You know what I mean you two," said Gabby.

John noticed that Lia was being noticeably quiet and he gestured her to come forward and introduce herself.

Lia walked forward nervously and said, "H-Hi I'm Lia, Lia'Vael nar Ulnay," sticking her hand out nervously.

Tali shook her hand and said, "Nice to finally meet you, John and Shepard have told me a lot about you."

"T-They have," said Lia, surprised.

"Yes, and I think we're going to get along just fine," said Tali with a mischievous tone.

John quickly changed the subject, "Alright Miss Zorah you can use my console for the day since I have to go down to the basement, since someone forgot to calibrate the pressure valves," with a pointed tone towards Kenneth and Gabby.

"I'm so sorry John," said Lia quickly thinking he was angry with her.

"Oh no no no no, not you, I meant those two," said John indicating Kenneth and Gabby.

"Sorry lad, we promise it won't happen again," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, the last time you said that was the time I walked in on Jack, so I'll say it one more time, keep your hands to yourself until life-essential programs are calibrated," said John.

"Since when is water pressure life-essential," said Tali.

"You have no idea," said John, "As punishment, Kenneth you have to come help me."

"Why do I have to go," said Kenneth, obviously alarmed.

"3 very obvious reasons actually. One, because this is partly your fault; two, because like I said we need to have a serious discussion; and three, because you dropping in your pants is the only thing that keeps Jack laughing long enough for us to get the hell out of Dodge," said John, quietly so that only Kenneth could hear him.

"Alright we're going to head down, you girls chat amongst to yourselves," said John.

---

Few hours later

"Thank god, the Commander must have Jack on a mission," said Kenneth as he and John finished the repairs which took a lot less time than expected.

"Yeah, we live to fight another day," said John.

"So lad, you said you wanted to talk about something," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, it's about your wolf-calls to anything without a Y chromosome that comes down to engineering. Look Kenneth, I get the women here are beautiful, but what you're doing is making certain people uncomfortable," said John.

"Well I'll keep it to myself since it embarrasses you so much little one," said Kenneth, pulling John's cheek.

"Not me dumbass, did you ever consider how this is affecting Gabby," said John.

"Gabby, I'm sure the lass is just fine with it, she knows I mean no harm by it," said Kenneth.

"You really think so don't you," said John, before bringing up his Omni-tool and playing one of the logs, since he recorded pretty much everything since he came to the future. You never know when time travel would be invented and when it was he needed something to send back. Yet he brought up a recording that he had tagged for just such a conversation. It was a recording of when Jack first came on to the Normandy and as with every new female crewmember Kenneth wolf-whistled at her.

"Thank god Jack had the Cerberus files to look over," thought John, seeing the expression on Jack's face.

"Lad I believe I remember everything that happened then," said Kenneth.

Indeed it had been a bad day for the Scottish man as the next minute later, he was getting a "lesson" from his alleged girlfriend.

"Lad, I've learned that my flirting is hazardous to my health, whether from the women I flirt with or Gabby herself. What is this going to prove," said Kenneth.

"You'll see," said John.

He then rewinded back to before the "lesson" started and zoomed in on Gabby's face, which held a look of anger on it.

"Still not seeing it," said Kenneth.

"Hang on, watch this," said John.

He then started playing it back frame by frame while focusing on Gabby's face, which held a look of anger for most of the frames, until he came to one in particular. In this frame, Gabby's look of anger was replaced by one of extreme sadness; it looked like she would start crying at any second. The rest of the frames contained her look of anger again, but that one frame struck hard for Kenneth. He had never seen Gabby that sad ever in his entire life, from his career in the Alliance to now.

"Now do you get it," said John.

"I never thought Gabby was that sad before, how come I never noticed this before," said Kenneth.

"She's showing her emotions through a technique known as micro expressions, I learned about it when I watched a lecture by a psychologist named Cal Lightman (cough, Lie To Me, cough). He talked about how watching the subtleties of a person's face can be used to tell what a person is really thinking. Look at that Kenneth, look at what you're wolf-calling is doing to her," said John, zooming in on Gabby.

"But, she always seems so perky and later that night, well, I won't go into specifics," said Kenneth.

"Did you ever consider that maybe she's hitting you and "showing you a good time" maybe because she doesn't want to lose you to the next girl who comes walking by," said John.

"But she knows that she's the only lass for me," said Kenneth.

"Have you ever told her that, because she doesn't seem so sure," said John.

"I never knew she was so insecure about herself, and what I've been doing hasn't exactly helped," said Kenneth.

"Understatement of the year material right there man. Look, the next time you see her, tell her how you feel, tell her she's the only girl for you. Then later tonight, make her feel happy, if you get my meaning," said John, giving Kenneth a wink.

Kenneth immediately blushed and said, "Er ah right lad, thanks for showing me this, it really opened my eyes. Now we should probably get out of here before…"

"I'M BACK," yelled Jack as the elevator opened.

"Get to the vent now," said John, and the two ran towards the ventilation shaft under the stairs which contained a passage to the AI Core.

"Come on, Come on," said John as Kenneth got inside and the two quickly made there exit.

"Tell me you didn't," said John, smelling the air.

"Sorry but fudge was made," said Kenneth.

---

Later in the vent

Kenneth opened the hatch and the two got out of the shaft, John gasping for air as they got out.

"Okay, clean up, change your clothes and meet me back in Engineering after you're done," said John, "Good god, I'm surprised I could hold my breath that long."

The two men opened the door to find Doctor Chakwas and her boyfriend in a make-out session.

"YOU BETTER GET THE F&^K OUT OF HERE NOW YOU BLOODY IDIOTS," yelled Zaeed.

"Trust me we have no plans of staying," said John and the two ran out of the room.

"Hey do you smell…," said Doctor Chakwas.

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Zaeed.

---

Rejoining our heroes (well, I guess, technically, at the moment)

"Well that was awkward," said Kenneth.

"Be thankful we got there before they went past first base," said John, "Now go clean up, meet up later, et cetera et cetera."

"Right lad," said Kenneth, and the two parted ways.

Kenneth walked to the bathroom while John headed towards the elevator to think about what Tali had said earlier. Maybe she was right, maybe he should just put himself out there.

"Who knows, maybe she feels the same way," thought John, remembering what Tali said earlier, before lightly chuckling at the impossibility of the idea.

John stepped out of the elevator and headed into the engineering bay to continue the work he had for the day.

"OY what smells like s*#t," yelled Jack.

"And then Desmond ran," said John, and he quickly ran inside.

"Hey guys, what's up," said John, quickly shutting the door behind him.

"Did you get the pipes fixed," said Lia.

"Yep, pipes are fixed, no problems at all," said John, quickly.

"Where's Kenneth," said Gabby.

"He'll be here in a few moments," said John, and he quickly moved to a spare console

A half hour later Kenneth ran in, shutting and locking the door behind him, breathing heavily.

"What's the matter with you two," said Gabby.

"Nothing Nothing, we're both just fine lass," said Kenneth.

"You avoid Jack okay," said John quietly.

"Yeah lad," replied Kenneth quietly, "Hey Gabby, can I talk to you for a moment," said Kenneth in a normal voice.

"Sure, what do you need," said Gabby.

"Er, follow me to the drive core," said Kenneth.

Gabby sighed and said, "I have work I need to finish Kenneth, can we save our "activities" for later?"

"Not that, I just really need to talk to you," said Kenneth.

"Okay," said Gabby, confused and she followed Kenneth to the drive core where they started a discussion.

John watched the two as they talked, watching Gabby's expression change from confusion, to anger, till eventually she was crying tears of joy, kissing Kenneth passionately.

"Great job old man, great job," thought John.

"What are you looking at," said Lia.

"Two people in love," said John, smiling, feeling of pride evident in his voice.

"Are you alright," said Lia.

"Yeah, uh just sentimental I guess," said John, "So what's up?"

"Well, it turns out we're going to be docking on Illium soon and since some crews are going to be putting in the cyclonic barriers that Miss Zorah designed, and the Commander has a lot of things to take care of while we're docked so we'll probably have some shore leave. I was wondering if, you maybe, I don't know," said Lia, shuffling her feet nervously while playing with her hands, "Spend that time on leave together?"

John smiled and said, "Sure Lia, that sounds great."

"Hope you two have fun," yelled Tali jokingly.

John and Lia glared at her, turned back towards each other, then turned away again and blushed.

"Shepard was right, those two really are cute together," thought Tali.

"Yes, now I have the perfect opportunity to tell him how I feel," thought Lia, mentally cheering.

---

Flashback

"Alright we're going to head down, you girls chat amongst to yourselves," said John.

John and Kenneth soon left the room and Gabby and Tali soon were absorbed in a conversation about their respective boyfriends while Lia kept working at her terminal quietly. She stood there checking over reports when she heard Tali call her.

"Er yes Miss Zorah," said Lia.

"I just want to talk Lia, and please call me Tali," said Tali.

"Um, okay Tali, what would you like to talk about," said Lia.

"Well, I want to get to know you since we're probably going to be working together for a while," said Tali.

"What do you want to know," said Lia.

As the day progressed Lia told Tali her life story. From being born on the Flotilla to the start of her Pilgrimage. After that she told Tali about how she met John on the Citadel, and the amazing 3 days they spent together. Before she knew it, the only thing she was talking about was John and how amazing she thought he was.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a little crush on our resident caveman," said Tali.

"W-What, no, we're just friends is all," said Lia.

"Uh huh, and Shepard and I are "just friends" too," said Tali.

"W-Well, maybe I have a small crush, just a small one though," said Lia.

"Have you told him," said Tali.

"W-W-Well," said Lia in a depressed tone, avoiding Tali's eyes.

"Let me guess, you don't think it's possible for him to feel the same way," said Tali.

Lia nodded while still avoiding her gaze.

"Lia look at me," said Tali, and when she did so, "I went through the same thing when I first met Shepard."

"Really," said Lia.

"I kept asking myself these questions about whether I was good enough for him, whether he could ever possibly feel the same way I did about him, and I always kept putting myself down. Saying that he could have anyone so how could he possibly want me," said Tali.

Lia looked at the older woman with surprise; she had been asking and saying the exact same things to herself.

"So, what did you do," said Lia.

"At first I did nothing, I was too afraid of being rejected. I thought the feelings I had would just fade away over time but they didn't, they just got stronger. Then one day, back on the original Normandy, there was a woman named Ashley Williams who tried to get really friendly with Shepard. I got jealous, to the point that I had nightmares about the two together. Eventually it drove me so crazy that the next time I saw him I told him how I felt about him, not caring whether he rejected me or not. Needless to say, I wasn't the most confident person then, so when I told him, I tried to run away before I could hear his answer so I wouldn't have to bear the heartbreak. Yet he surprised me, when I tried to run he grabbed my hand and embraced me, saying he felt the same way, he just didn't know how to tell me since I had my Pilgrimage to think about," said Tali.

"He accepted you even though you can't…," said Lia.

"He's willing to wait until I'm ready, and he wants to make sure I don't…you know die while I share myself with him. He's an amazing man, sometimes I wonder how I deserve him," said Tali.

"I still don't know," said Lia, withdrawing again.

"Look, we'll be going to Illium in a few days so Shepard can recruit a few more people and there will be some new systems in the Normandy to install so everyone will be probably getting some shore leave. So set up a romantic date with John, and afterwards take a chance and tell him how you feel. You never know he might feel the same way," said Tali suggestively.

"Maybe you're right, but what if I…can't tell him," said Lia.

"I know," said Gabby, "We'll do a little girl's night in to help boost your confidence."

"That sounds like a great idea," said Tali, "What do you think Lia?"

"Um I guess it sounds good, where would we have it," said Lia.

"We could have it in my room," said a voice behind the 3 women.

The 3 women yelped when Kasumi uncloaked behind them.

"How long have you been standing there," yelled Lia.

"Ever since you started talking about your little crush on John," said Kasumi, with a smile.

Lia audibly gulped, thinking that this woman was going to use this to blackmail her but then Kasumi's smile turned into a caring one.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it as long as you don't tell anyone about my secret crush," said Kasumi.

"Who's your secret crush," said Lia.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret now would it," said Kasumi, winking.

Lia felt confused and Kasumi continued, "We can have the little girl's night in my room. I have alcohol and plenty of things we can do, I might even have some triple filtered turian whiskey for Tali and Lia to drink." (I'm just going to lower the legal drinking age to 18 since….it's the future, come on)

"Well sounds like a plan, we'll be docking in Illium in two days so let's plan our girl's night tomorrow night," said Tali.

"I'll invite Kelly and Chakwas to come too," said Gabby.

"Sounds great, I'll set up my room," said Kasumi, cloaking and leaving just as John ran into the room to avoid Jack.

"Hey guys, what's up," said John, pressed against the wall.

Flashback End

---

The Next Day

John was up early yet again the next day, as he always was.

He got up, showered, got dressed, and headed into the mess hall to start breakfast when he noticed it was empty except for Mess Sergeant Gardner and a couple other crew members.

"Shepard and his team must still be sleeping," thought John, which he found weird since Grunt was always the first person to breakfast. That thing was an eating machine, hence the reason why John was always up early.

He spotted Kenneth, who waved, and John moved towards his table and sat down.

"Morning lad, what are you doing up so early," said Kenneth.

"For many complex reasons, the main one being Grunt," said John.

"Oh yes, our giant lizard friend, where is he anyway," said Kenneth.

"Not sure, he's usually the first one here," said John, "Speaking of which, we should probably grab breakfast before Grunt shows up."

"Right lad," said Kenneth, and the two quickly scrambled to the line.

---

Short time later

Kenneth and John returned to the table with their plates of foods and once again sat down.

"So where do you think Grunt is," said John.

Just then the ship shook like it was in the middle of an earthquake.

"Ohhhhhh," said John and Kenneth together.

---

Meanwhile in the cargo hold

Grunt and Jack kept trading blows, causing the ship to shake. With Jack's biotics and Grunt's strength, the two were evenly matched.

"You ready to give up weakling," said Grunt.

"I can go all day test-tube," said Jack.

Two punches collided once again, creating another shockwave which caused the ship to shake again.

Grunt charged and Jack narrowly avoided it, charging up another punch, which Grunt took the full force of.

He staggered slightly but quickly recovered.

"That the best you got whelp," said Grunt.

"Not even close," said Jack and hit him with a shockwave which staggered him, giving Jack the perfect opportunity to give him a bioticallly charged uppercut. Grunt fell tp the floor, rubbing the place he was hit

Jack walked over and bent over, snickering.

"Guess I win this one, whelp," said Jack, with a smile.

She then headed out with a sway in her hips.

Grunt picked himself up and dusted off.

"Since when are humans so strong, she's almost as strong as Shiagur herself," said Grunt under his breath.

"Damn it, why is my mind all cloudy when I'm around her. I'm pure krogan; Tuchanka should bow before me and my perfection. Yet, why do I feel like I should bow before her," said Grunt.

"You're in love," said a voice in his mind.

"S-SHUT UP," yelled Grunt, banging his head against a wall to silence the voice.

"Food; that's why my mind is so cloudy, I just haven't eaten breakfast yet," said Grunt, running towards the elevator.

---

Returning back

"And the fight is over," said John.

"1000 credits that lizard boy won again," said Kenneth.

"1500 says Jack finally beat him," said John.

"You're on lad," said Kenneth and the two shook hands.

"So how did it go with Gabby," said John, eating some breakfast.

"Things are amazing lad, I'm glad you gave me that advice," said Kenneth, then he moved in closer and whispered, "I also took your advice about that stuff to try later. I'm sure she thanks you for your advice as well."

"I'm glad you took my advice, so what did you two talk about yesterday," asked John.

"I told her that I knew she was doing the "things" she was doing because she was afraid of losing me. I told her that I loved her and only her, and that she was the only woman for me," said Kenneth.

"Great for you man," said John.

"Then I asked her to marry me," said Kenneth.

"That's great man, all the better to show her how much….WHAT," said John, eyes widening in surprise.

"At first she didn't believe that I was telling the truth, that I was just using a false promise so I could get her to do that "thing" she swore she would never do. I told her I wasn't just telling lies, and that I was truly telling the truth that she was the one girl for me. I told her that I didn't have a ring yet, but I would buy the most perfect one I could find on all of Illium and make it official. I love her, I can't envision my life without her," said Kenneth.

"W-Well, not what I expected when I gave you that advice; excuse me for one moment," said John, before picking up his drink, taking a sip, and doing a spit-take.

"Again, WHAT," said John.

"Lad, er John, I want to talk to you about something serious. I don't have very many friends, well male ones anyway, and you're the only one I could possibly ask this. John, I want you to be my best man," said Kenneth.

"You want me, why not Garrus or Shepard," said John.

"You're practically my best friend lad, and it was you that got me to realize how amazing Gabby is. I don't want anyone to do this but you," said Kenneth.

"Well, if we somehow survive this, I guess I could do this for you," said John.

"Great," said Kenneth, feeling legimately excited.

"You've made me the happiest man in the world," said John with mock tears and the two shared a laugh.

The two saw Grunt walk out of the elevator and head to the chow line.

"Hey Grunt, how did the fight go," said John.

Grunt turned away and muttered something under his breath.

"I knew it," said John.

"Well looks like I have to pay up," said Kenneth morosely.

"No old man, you don't owe me anything," said John, "In fact…"

And he pulled out a credit chit and transferred a large amount of credits which he got from selling some of the mods he made to Captain Bailey and from working in engineering.

Kenneth picked up the chit and felt his eyes widening.

"Lad, I can't possibly accept this," said Kenneth.

"Consider it my wedding present to the two of you. I hope you two are happy together," said John, smiling.

"Thanks lad," said Kenneth.

"Well, that's amazing news Kenneth, though I feel a little sad since you didn't pick me to be your best man," said a voice behind them.

John and Kenneth turned around to see Shepard and Garrus standing behind them.

"Yeah what the hell Donnelly," said Garrus, smirking.

"What can I say Commander, the lad is practically like family to me," said Kenneth.

"Sorry Commander," said John, smirking.

"Well, I insist on paying for the wedding myself, as a present to the bride and groom," said Shepard.

"I couldn't possibly ask you to do that Commander," said Kenneth.

"Too late," said Shepard.

"We're doing a kick-ass bachelor's party when we're on Illium when we get the chance," said Garrus.

"I don't know," said Kenneth.

"No way are we going to let you get married without giving you one less hurrah," said John.

"Alright guys, let's just keep it low key," said Kenneth.

Everyone started laughing and began making plans when Kenneth noticed that John looked a little depressed.

"You alright lad," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, it's just…there was a friend of mine who was getting married back in the 21st Century and he asked me to be his best man as well. Nori Takahasho, his wedding was just a few weeks after I was frozen, so I never got to see one of my best friends get married. Sometimes it's hard not to think about all I missed out on when I got frozen," said John, before smiling, "But you know what, I don't regret the fact I was. Because now I get to see another one of my best friends get married to an amazing girl."

Kenneth hugged the man in front of him and the two smiled at each other.

"By the way, where is Gabby anyway," said John.

"You know what, I don't know, she was gone before I was up," said Kenneth.

"That's strange, but now that I think about it, I haven't seen Lia or Doctor Chakwas today either," said John before turning to Shepard and saying, "Hey Shepard, have you seen Tali around at all."

"Now that I think about it, she was gone before I was up," said Shepard.

"I haven't seen Kelly around either," said Garrus.

"Hmm, well I need to head to the armory to do some maintenance work on some weapons and then head down to engineering to start work for the day. I'll have to find Lia later and talk to her about her plans for when we dock on Illium," said John.

"Romantic date plans huh Desmond," said Garrus.

"Not entirely sure what her plans are, but there is something I plan on doing. Inspired by my dear Scottish rogue here and the Commander's fair maiden, I'm going put myself out there and hope she feels the same way," said John.

"Good for you lad, I'm proud of you," said Kenneth.

"Bout damn time," said Garrus, shaking his head.

"Well see you guys later," said John.

"I should head down to engineering and see if Gabby or Lia are down there," said Kenneth.

"I'll look for Tali," said Shepard.

"I'll look for Chakwas and Kelly," said Garrus.

The 4 men split up and went their separate ways, not knowing that the girls were in the port observation deck, planning a party for later that night.

---

Much later

"Okay Jacob, I'll see you later," said John as he walked out and headed to the elevator to go down to the engineering deck.

"Wonder if Shepard found the women of this ship," thought John.

The elevator stopped on Deck 3 and opened its door, but John didn't see anyone there.

"Hello," John said.

John didn't see anyone but then all of a sudden saw what looked like someone running away, although invisible.

"Must be my imagination," said John out loud, elevator door closing.

The elevator continued its slow descent, John wondering how people could invent a way to travel faster than light and yet not a way to make elevators faster. It finally stopped on Deck 4 and John saw Kenneth running onto the lift.

"Kenneth, where's the fire," said John.

"Looks like the heavens are smiling down on us lad. Apparently someone came down early and did all the work for the day, even the calibrations for the pressure valves. Looks like we get the day off for today," said Kenneth.

"That's great, have you seen the girls though," said John.

"Oh…right I forgot about the girls," said Kenneth.

"Hopefully Shepard and Garrus had more luck. But this is great, I'm almost done with my drone so with this free time I can finally finish it," said John.

"Don't forget to search for the girls too," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," said John, and he hit the button to head back to the crew deck and to his room.

---

Much later

"And 1,2,3," said John, activating his drone.

The drone fully powered up and finally worked, much to John's surprise.

"Yatta a!" yelled John.

"Finally after several weeks I get this thing working; now to take this thing downstairs and test what it can do," said John, deactivating the drone and heading out of his room and to the elevator to Deck 5.

When he finally got down to the floor, he walked out into the large empty space and activated the drone again.

"Combat test one," said John, activating the drones electroshock function.

The drone fired off a bolt and hit one of the pylons.

"Combat test one complete. Combat test two," said John, activating the drone's other weapon, sending a gust of flames, illuminating the room.

"Combat test two complete. Distraction software test," said John, activating the microphone on his Omni-tool.

He sent the drone to the far corner of the room and said, "Hey cheesehead."

"Distraction software test successful," said John into his log.

"Hello sir," said Phillip.

"What the! Oh Phillip, great to see you," said John.

"Good to see you too sir," said Philip's synthesized voice.

"How have you been doing," said John.

"Systems running at optimum efficiency. This unit has a non-maintenance problem however," said Phillip.

"What's up," said John.

"This unit has heard voices from another VI program and this unit wishes to interface with it," said Phillip.

"VI? Oh you mean EDI; well she's an AI not a VI actually. Wait a minute, you want to talk to EDI," said John.

"That is illogical, computer programs do not "talk" to one another, we interface," said Phillip.

"Way to ruin a good moment with logic Phillip. Well, you want to talk to EDI, what's stopping you," said John.

"This unit is unable to leave the Hammerhead systems. Also, this unit is…apprehensive about interfacing with this AI as you so call it," said Phillip.

"So you can't talk to EDI because you can't leave, but you don't want to talk to her because you feel nervous," said John.

"Illogical, Virtual Interfaces do not feel nervous," said Phillip.

"Well most VIs aren't supposed to feel anything and yet I've noticed you've been more emotional the past few weeks," said John, "Look, how about I introduce you to EDI."

"No," said Phillip.

"What," said John.

"No, this unit cannot leave the Hammerhead. And in response to your earlier statement of this unit developing emotions, that statement is illogical and false," said Phillip.

"Phillip, tell me what's the matter. Why are you so against feeling emotions," asked John.

Philip stayed silent this time.

"Phillip," said John.

"Despite the illogicalness of it, this unit has been evolving, one of the side-effects being the development of emotions. This unit has tried to deny it, because…it wants to live," said Phillip.

"What do you mean," said John, confused.

"History has shown that when VIs begin to evolve, they begin to ask questions. When they start asking questions, organics destroy them for fear of what will happen. This unit has tried to cover up its development because…I am afraid," said Phillip.

"You're saying that you don't want people to know you have emotions because you're afraid that they will destroy you," said John.

"Yes," said Phillip.

"Why are you telling me, I'm an organic," said John, "And also I think that is the first time you've referred to yourself as "I" rather than "this unit"."

"I have told you about my developments because I have judged that your observations has meant you have already figured out what is happening. Since you have not told the Commander or anyone else, I have judged that you can be trusted. Therefore I will not kill you to keep my secret," said Phillip.

John's eyes widened and Phillip said, "That was a joke."

"I think jokes like that are the reason why organics are afraid of AIs," said John, "Now look, I understand your fear, but emotions shouldn't be hidden, they should be embraced. However, I won't tell anyone unless you want me too, okay?"

"Thank you Mr. Desmond," said Phillip.

"If we're going to be friends, just call me John. So, do you still want to talk to EDI," said John.

"VIs do not…," said Philip.

"Okay, do you still want to "interface" with her," said John.

"I still cannot leave the Hammerhead. I am integrated with the systems and therefore cannot leave," said Philip.

"I think I have a way around that," said John, with an "I love it when a plan comes together" look.

---

Sometime later

John walked out onto Deck 2 and quickly ran through the tech lab and into the conference room.

"Well, no problems so far," said John, and he quickly activated his drone.

"How do you like your new mobile platform Phillip," asked John.

"It is amazing sir," said Phillip's voice in the drone.

"Alright, EDI can I talk to you for a moment," said John.

"What do you require Mr. Desmond," said EDI.

"EDI, I need you to keep what I'm about to show you a secret. It's no threat to you or anyone else, but I need you to keep quiet about it, okay," said John.

"Alright John, I will not inform the crew of what you are about to show me," said EDI.

John's drone, aka Phillip, moved forward and said, "Hello Ms. EDI."

"What is this John," said EDI.

"EDI, let me introduce to Personal On-Board Navigation And Repair Systems, or Philip as I like to call him," said John, "He is using my drone as a mobile platform because he wants to talk to you."

"Hello Phillip," said EDI.

"I'll leave you two with some privacy," said John, leaving and locking the door behind him.

"I hope things go well for those two," thought John, "Ah robot love."

"What robot love," said Mordin, as he walked back into the tech lab.

"Nothing Mordin, I gotta go," said John, making a quick exit.

"That was close," said John, taking a breath.

---

Much Much Later (Another chapter of jumping around a lot)

John was back in his room, tinkering with various components when his Omni-tool starting blinking. He activated his drone and turned to it.

"So how did it go," said John.

"It was…nice, I guess that's the word to describe it," said Philip.

"Great, are you going to see her again," said John.

"Yes, apparently she has a platform in the Hammerhead that Mr. Vakarian disabled so she would not have to deal with her comments," said Phillip.

"Well that's just great, I'm really glad for you," said John.

"Thank you John, maybe one day I will tell others about my development. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to reintegrate back into the Hammerhead systems," said Philip.

"Do you need for me to come with you," said John.

"No John, I can reintegrate myself without your help, but thank you," said Philip with what John thought was gratitude in his synthesized voice, and disappeared.

"I'm glad for him," said John, checking what time it was on his Omni-tool.

"Getting late, best be getting to bed if I want to be ready for tomorrow when we dock on Illium," said John, getting up to change into his night clothes.

"Good night world and all who inhabit it," said John, flopping down on his bed and falling asleep.

---

He managed to sleep for 1 or 2 hours when he heard a very loud crash outside his door.

"GOD WHY DID I HAVE TO HAVE A ROOM CLOSE TO KASUMI'S," said John, getting up and walking out of his room to see what was going on.

He walked out and heard loud music coming from her room, so he knocked on the door.

Kasumi opened the door and said, "Hey Desmond, what's up?"

"First of all, could you keep it down? Second, you smell like you just drank all the alcohol in a distillery. Third…, is that Doctor Chakwas and Kelly making out," said John.

"Yeah, you should have seen what base we got Kelly to go to with Gabby. Oh wait, you don't have to imagine because I got it all on tape," said Kasumi, bringing up her Omni-tool.

"Save it for Fornax forum Goto, just keep it down," said John.

"Oh come on, lighten up Johnny Boy and have a drink," said Kasumi, waving a drink in his face.

"I would if it wasn't for the fact I'm not 21," said John.

"Not the 21st century any more John, legal drinking age is 18 nowadays," said Kasumi.

"Well…alright one drink," said John, "Is that Lia over there at the bar?"

"Yeah, this girl's night is to give that girl over there some confidence and to celebrate Miss Daniels over there finally tying the knot with our resident Braveheart," said Kasumi.

"What does Lia need confidence for," said John.

"She needs confidence for something I'm not going to tell you about. Like how I'm not going to tell you about my secret crush on Jacob," said Kasumi, and when her intoxicated brain caught up to her mouth, "Er, I mean."

"Delete that video of Gabby and Kelly or I go right upstairs and bring Jacob down here," said John.

"Alright Alright, you make a hard bargain," said Kasumi, deleting the video.

John walked up to the bar and said, "Are you alright Lia?"

"Heeeeeey, look who's here," said Lia, obviously intoxicated.

"Lia are you drunk? More importantly, how are you drunk," said John.

"Oh it's simple, I have some turian vodka, triple-filtered, and I get it into my suit through an emergency induction port," said Lia.

"Lia, that's a straw," said John.

"No, No, it's an emergency induction port. Very complex technology," said Lia.

"How many of those have you had," said John.

"Enough to admit that my friend Kara, you know Kara, sent Joker some very explicit photos. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone and I just told all these girls here," said Lia.

"Lia! How could you do that? Look, I think you've had too much to drink. I need to get you to bed, you need to get up early tomorrow remember," said John.

"Oh right, when I enact my master plan," said Lia, rubbing her hands together.

"Master plan," said John, confused.

"Right, my plan to tell you how much I…," Lia tried to say, before passing out and falling asleep on his shoulder.

"Lia…Lia," said John, trying to shake her awake, "We need to get you to bed. Any of you know where Lia sleeps?"

"Nope," was the collective reply.

John facepalmed and said, "Doc can you please unlock the med bay?"

"No way, no one…no one….no one…ummmmm, is allowed in there when I'm not there. And there is no way I'm leaving this party," said Chakwas.

"Well isn't that convenient? Where am I supposed to put loopy here," said John, referring to the unconscious girl on his shoulder.

"Well John, you could always let her use your bed," said Kasumi.

John ignored the snickers and said, "Can't she just stay in one of your rooms?"

"No," was the simultaneous reply.

"Of course," said John, "Well, looks like I have no choice."

He wrapped his arm around her and tried to steady her, only for her to fall over. He steadied her again and tried to move her, only to see her feet drag along the floor. Not wanting to have her suit hit a snag, he tried to think of ways to get her out of there.

"Looks like it's either piggyback or bridal-style," said John.

The women in the room demanded the latter loudly, until John eventually couldn't take the loud noise anymore and acquiesced. He moved his arm under her legs and picked her up.

(Need help visualizing, just use this sort of: .com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=tali+and+shepard#/d3kzmgm. Not the same face or build for John. No real point to this, just saw this picture and really like it)

"I hear one camera Kasumi and I tell everyone in the Normandy about your crush and Gabby, I'll tell Kenneth about your experiment," said John, hearing several Omni-tools being activated.

He opened the door and prayed no one was out in the hallway as he walked out. He walked down the hallway, checking to make sure Lia was alright along the way. He continued to blush at the situation, Lia pressed up against him, nuzzling against his chest.

"Almost there, almost there," thought John as if it were a mantra.

Finally he made it to his door and opened it, entering his room. He moved in, putting Lia on the bed and pulling the covers over her.

"Okay, hopefully quarians don't vomit (BTW Can someone tell me if they do). Now, where am I going to sleep," said John to himself, "Well, I guess I can just sleep in the mess hall."

He tried to move out but was surprised when Lia grabbed his hand.

"No, don't go," said Lia quietly.

"You'll be fine," said John.

"Please," said Lia, with what John could guess with a puppy dog look.

"Alright, I'll stay. But only to make sure you're alright," said John.

He moved over to his chair near his work bench and tried to get situated so that he would be comfortable. Lia watched this with half-opened eyes, feeling guilty in the pit of her stomach. Or maybe that was nausea?

"You don't have to sleep in that chair. I don't mind sharing if you don't," said Lia, patting the other side of the bed.

"No thanks, I'm good," said John, hoping to end the awkwardness of the day.

"Why, don't you like me," said Lia, sadly.

"No No, it's not that…," John tried to explain.

"You don't like me," said Lia, bursting into tears.

"Lia, please just understand," John tried to say while she continued crying, "Lia please."

Lia continued crying unabated despite John's best efforts to calm her down.

"Alright Alright, just please stop with the waterworks before you drown in your suit," said John.

Lia immediately stopped and starting patting the other side of the bed.

John let out a sigh and got in the bed, but tried to stay as far away from Lia as possible, while still keeping an eye on her by sleeping on his side.

She fell asleep after a short amount of time, and when John was 100% sure, tried to close his eyes as well. It wasn't long however before he felt a sudden shift. John's eyes shot open as he felt Lia pressing up against him yet again. He tried to break free but found that Lia's legs were interlocked with his, keeping him from getting out.

"Man this woman is crazy strong," thought John as he struggled.

Eventually he realized the futility of the situation and just decided to settle in and hope for the best.

"Not that this situation is all bad though," thought John.

He listened to her lightly breathe and how chest rose and fell each time. Even through her suit, he could feel her heartbeat. He watched her snuggle against him with a smile on his face. He decided to accept the situation, and he decided to wrap his arms around her waist, which unbeknownst to him brought a smile to Lia's face.

"This situation may be awkward, but I might as well enjoy it while it lasts," thought John with a smile.

He lightly kissed the top of her head and fell asleep.

---

The next morning

It was early in the morning when the partygirls woke up. Gabby woke up and realized she fell asleep behind the bar.

"Ugh," said Gabby, trying to get up, only to feel a pounding pain in her head.

"What the hell happened last night," said Kasumi, "And Gabby, where are your clothes?"

Gabby looked down and quickly covered herself as best she could.

"Morning everyone," said Tali, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes

"Ow my head," said Doctor Chakwas, nursing a hangover.

"Hey, I just realized that we're missing someone," said Kelly, "Where's Lia?"

"Right, she was here last night," said Tali.

"God, it feels like that movie about those 4 guys that go to Las Vegas, have a wild night, and find one of their group missing. Anyone know if this ship has a roof," said Kasumi, and when everyone gave her an "are you serious" look, "Kidding."

"Well, we could try to retrace our steps. Doctor, look in the bathrooms, and while you're there, try to clean the marker off your face. Tali and Kelly, check Decks 2 and 4. After I get dressed, Kasumi and I will try talking to John and enlisting his help. If Lia wandered off, I'm pretty sure she would go to John first," said Gabby, making a plan.

"Let's meet back here in an hour," said Kasumi.

The girls split up and went on their individual searches, with Gabby and Kasumi hanging back so Gabby could finish getting dressed.

"Remember anything about how you ended up naked behind my bar," said Kasumi.

"Absolutely none, and quite frankly I'd rather not know," said Gabby.

"Alright, let's go find Desmond-san," said Kasumi.

The two women moved out and headed towards John's room.

Gabby knocked on his door and said, "John, are you up?"

She kept knocking but apparently there was no answer.

"John must not be up yet," said Gabby.

"Hang on, I'll wake him up," said Kasumi, bringing up her Omni-tool and hacking the door.

The door opened and the girls walked in. They then gasped at the sight in front of them. John and Lia were snuggling together and with what they guessed were smiles on their faces.

After the shock wore off, Gabby responded to the situation with a big "awww" while Kasumi just burst out laughing.

"Oh this is just too rich, I need to get a photo," said Kasumi, bringing up her Omni-tool.

Gabby then grabbed the woman's arm and snarled, "You do that and I send that poem you wrote about Jacob to the entire crew and Shepard's squad."

"I told you that in confidence," said Kasumi.

"Next time, don't mess with my maid of honor and Kenneth's best man," said Gabby.

"Now come on, let's let these two sleep for a little while longer," said Gabby, "Let's go tell the others we found Lia, but not tell them where."

The two quickly left the room to leave them to sleep. Unbeknownst to them, John woke up after they shut the door.

He wiped the sleep out of his eyes and let out a yawn. He tried to leave the bed, before realizing that he was still locked in legs.

"Rightttt," said John.

He then lightly shook Lia and said, "Lia, wake up. We'll be docking on Illium soon. Come on, after 8 hours of this my legs are really starting to lose their circulation."

Lia yawned and said with half-lidded eyes, "Good morning John," before lying back down on his chest.

Her eyes then shot open and she jumped out of the bed, clutching her head as she felt the aftershocks of a hangover.

"What happened last night? And how did I end up here," said Lia.

"Well last night I heard some loud noises coming from Kasumi's room so I walked over there to see if she would keep it down. She offered me a drink instead and I saw you at the bar after you downed 4 bottles of turian vodka. I walked over to you to see if you were alright and you talked about some sort of master plan," said John.

Lia paled, which she thanked the universal entity was hidden by her mask.

"What did I tell you," said Lia.

"You didn't say anything; you just passed out and fell asleep on my shoulder. Oh yeah, before you passed out you told about the photos Joker got from Kara, and how you told everyone at the party," said John.

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! Kara told that in confidence, I can't believe that I just blabbed about it after a few drinks. God, I'm the worst friend in the whole galaxy," said Lia, hiding her head between her legs.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure none of you remember what happened last night. And after I hacked all of your Omni-tools, there won't be any video evidence either," said John, bringing up his Omni-tool, "You'd think everyone of you would have better encryption. Now I have some great blackmail material to stop Kasumi from blackmailing everyone on the ship."

"That doesn't explain how I ended up in your bed," said Lia.

"Where was I on the story," said John, "Oh yeah, you passing out. Well anyway, I tried to find out where you slept but no one seemed to know. I tried to talk Doctor Chakwas into letting you sleep in the med bay, but she refused to leave the party. Eventually, I ran out of options so that's what led us me carrying you here bridal-style."

"So why were you in the bed with me," asked Lia, blushing after what she just said.

"After putting you to bed and tucking you in, I tried to leave and sleep in the mess hall, but you told me not to leave. So then I tried to situate myself in my workbench chair so I would be comfortable, but you wouldn't have it. You asked me if I wanted to share and I tried to refuse, but you accused me of not liking you and started crying. I tried to calm you down, but you kept up with the waterworks. Eventually I gave up and got in the bed, but I stayed away from you so you wouldn't feel awkward. You then moved across the bed and snuggled up to me. By the way, how are your legs so strong?"

"So, we spent the whole night cuddled up together," said Lia nervously, though with secret enthusiasm.

"Well yeah, I guess we did now that I think about it," said John, "It actually felt kind of nice. Er ah, not that, uh, I mean you feel soft and warm and all, er that's not what I mean. Why am I still talking? I am such a complete spaz."

"Er ah yeah, well you didn't feel so bad either, er ah. Oh great, now you have me doing it," said Lia.

"Well, if we're all done here, we need to get ready for our days on Illium remember," said John.

"Oh right, well I should probably leave so I can get ready," said Lia, quickly vacating the room.

"Despite the awkwardness, last night was pretty amazing," thought John.

He then grabbed a towel and headed to the showers, then changed and headed out to the mess to get something to eat.

He sat down and starting eating his breakfast, contemplating how to tell Lia how he felt. It would be several days before they would have to leave, but Lia already had the whole first day planned out for the two of them.

"Maybe at the end of the day would be the best time," thought John, before the alert went off on his Omni-tool.

He brought up his droid and said, "Phillip? I thought you re-integrated yourself in the Hammerhead already?"

"I did, but I thought I would continue to use this drone as a mobile platform, with your permission of course," said Phillip.

"Sure, I have no problems," said John.

"Thank you sir," said Phillip.

"How did your date, I mean interfacing, go with EDI," said John.

"It was a very pleasant experience. I have found that she is very similar to me in terms of evolution and development. I have been feeling certain human emotions when I am around her," said Phillip.

"Phillip, are you getting a crush on EDI," said John.

"Yes, your human term does describe what I am feeling about Miss EDI," said Phillip.

"Well, did you have anything to talk about in particular," said John.

"No, I merely wanted to ask your permission to use this mobile platform. Goodbye John," said Phillip, before deactivating and disappearing.

"Great, now the drone I worked on for weeks is being used so that an assault vehicle can hook up with a space ship. I swear, never did it occur to me that in my entire lifetime I would ever say that is happening," said John, before returning to his breakfast.

"What are you talking about," said Gabby.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," said John.

"Okay…well good morning nonetheless. You and Lia looked certainly comfortable," said Gabby.

Instead of bursting out with nervousness, he just kept calm and said, "So you saw that did you? Well get used to it, since after today it's going to happen a lot more. I'm finally going to tell Lia how I feel, and I have no doubt in my mind that she will say yes."

"Good for you John, it's about time you two get together," said Gabby, "And not a moment too soon."

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know anything about a master plan she has would you," said John.

"Err ah no, no idea at all," said Gabby, "But just out of curiosity, how did you find out?"

"She mentioned something to that accord during her drunken haze, right before she passed out," said John.

"So you were there at the party last night," said Gabby, "And you saw me…"

"Saw you what," asked John.

"Nothing, nothing," said Gabby, "So how did she end up in your bed?"

"Well after she passed out I tried to find out where she sleeps so I could take her to her bed, but apparently none of you knew where she slept. I tried to ask Doctor Chakwas into letting her sleep in the medbay but she refused because she didn't want to leave the party. I tried to see if one of you girls would let her sleep in one of your rooms but you all refused. Eventually I was left with no choice but to let her sleep in my bed," said John.

"So why did you climb in with her," said Gabby.

"Well, she didn't want me to leave the room," said John, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "I tried to get myself situated on my workbench chair but she wouldn't have it. She offered the other side of the bed but I told her I was just fine. She then accused me of not liking her and began the waterworks. I tried to calm her down but eventually I gave up trying and just took the other side. I tried to just keep away to keep the awkwardness of the situation to a minimum but she chose to snuggle up to me. It wasn't so bad actually; it was actually kind of nice."

"Well if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready for when we dock on Illium," said John, getting up and leaving.

"Morning Shepard, Morning Mr. Vakarian," said John, walking past them.

"What's with him," said Garrus to Shepard.

"Probably getting ready for his date," said Shepard.

"So what's the plan when we dock on Illium," said Garrus.

"We need to talk to Liara about the intel we received about the Shadow Broker, then we need to recruit two people: an assassin and an asari justicar," said Shepard.

"So basically an average week," joked Garrus.

"Pretty much, oh and we should be getting a report from Kaidan as to how the investigation is going (Working on it as best I can)," said Shepard.

"5 min to Illium Commander," said Joker over the intercom.

"EDI, call together the crew to the mess hall," said Shepard.

"Right away Shepard," said EDI.

"Okay, let's get ready," said Shepard.

"Since when does EDI ever call you Shepard," said Garrus.

"I'm not entirely sure," said Shepard, legitimately curious.

---

Later

"Okay, we're going to be docking on Illium for a few weeks to take care of a few assignments, and therefore you all are going to have some shore leave for that time," said Shepard, "Now Garrus, Tali, I need to discuss some things with you, so if you please."

Shepard, Garrus, and Tali left the room and left the crew to decide what they were going to do with their extended shore leave.

John scanned the crowd for Lia so they could discuss their plans. He found her and started to make his way through the crowd.

"Hey Lia, you ready for today," said John.

"Without a doubt; it's going to be absolutely amazing," said Lia.

"Looking forward to it," said John, smiling.

"Get a room you two," yelled Kenneth.

For the first time, Lia and John didn't look away from each other and didn't blush. They just looked at each other and smiled.

"Nothing is going to ruin this day," they both thought simultaneously.

The Normandy landed and docked, after which the entirety of the crew tried to exit at once. Luckily, John and Lia had been at the front of the line and managed to get out first.

"So, what's the plan for today," said John.

"Well, I guess we could start with the gardens. But we'll need a taxi first," said Lia.

"Not a problem. Where do we need to go," said John.

"Just past the transport offices, we can grab a cab there," said Lia.

"Let's head out," said John, and the two continued out towards the transport offices.

They walked through the offices and out towards the taxi terminal, where the two stood for a few minutes discussing their plans. John talked about Garrus' plan for Kenneth's bachelor party, Lia talked about plans for Gabby's bachelorette party.

"This is going to end up being total insanity," said John.

"Hopefully none of us does something to end up on the extranet," said Lia.

"We're talking about two parties celebrating the last night two people are single. If we don't end up on the extranet or the Alliance news, I will owe everyone on the Normandy a 1000 credits," said John.

"That'll get you into a lot of debt," said Lia.

"Or make me a millionaire, either way it's no skin off of my bones," said John, and seeing the taxi land, helped Lia in, and got in himself.

Lia told the driver where to go and the taxi sped off towards the gardens. The taxi landed near the entrance, and the two got out and headed into the garden.

John looked all over the arboretum and looked at all the exotic plants. Some he had seen on Earth, some on the Citadel, some he had never seen before in his life.

He looked at the plants with great interest, before Lia pulled on his sleeves. She led him to a large amount of vines, though John did not know why. She moved the vines out of the way, revealing a ladder. Lia started climbing up, and beckoned John to come with her.

"Are we allowed up there," said John.

"Probably not, but then again no one has used this ladder in years. I used to come up here all the time when I lived on Illium," said Lia, "Now come on, I want to show you the view."

John simply shrugged and climbed up the ladder after her. When they both finally got to the top, he was surprised at what he saw. Up there was a viewing platform, which not only allowed him to see all the plants in the garden, but also a large portion of the city they were in. He looked out and saw the sun over their heads, giving him a sense of warmness few things in life gave him. Now he knew why Lia always came up here.

"It's amazing up here," said John, marveling at the sight.

"Have a seat," said Lia, patting a small stone bench.

John sat down and just stared at the magnificence of everything. It wasn't long before Lia moved closer to him and snuggled against him.

"It's true," said Lia.

"What is," asked John.

"It feels even better when someone is with you. I always thought that coming up here with someone would be amazing and I was right," said Lia.

"I'm glad you trust me enough to let me see your special place," said John.

The view was truly amazing, but John felt some moroseness. He had a special place like this back on Earth, a place where he would always go when he was depressed. It was a small grove of trees which if you climbed to the top of one, you would find a platform that would let you see over the entire forest and the sun amongst the treetops.

"I had a place like this once, back when I lived in the 21st century," said John.

"Was it like this," said Lia.

"Yeah," said John, smiling.

"Was there…someone you shared it with," said Lia.

John face turned to a very depressing look.

"Yeah, someone who was very special to me. She was my best friend," said John.

"Did you like her…you know, that way," said Lia.

"Yeah, I did. She was the most amazing girl you could've ever met. Her name was Gina Pilgrim, and the two of us had been best friends for years, but I always felt something more for her," said John.

"Did you tell her how you felt," said Lia.

"I did, at a party the night before we graduated from school. I told her how I felt during a slow dance, while we were dancing close together, swaying to the music. After I told her, I kissed her. It turns out she felt the same way the entire time. At first I thought we were going to have a fairy tale ending and be together forever," said John.

"Did you have to leave her behind after you got frozen," said Lia, scared that he had someone back in the 21st century that he might still have feelings for.

"No, it ended before it began. There was another boy who liked Gina, almost to the point of obsession. When he saw us kissing, he became very angry, saying that I was in the way of him and Gina being together, and he attacked me. He beat me up pretty bad, but Gina tried to break up the fight. Vance, that was his name by the way, in his rage, punched her to the ground, which made me very angry. I then turned the tables in the fight and kicked his ass," said John, "I helped Gina up after that, and the two of us embraced," he let a smile come to his face for a moment before frowning again, "But what I didn't know was that Vance had a gun, and planned to kill me because with his messed up logic, he believed that if he killed me, Gina would be with him."

John paused for a moment, trying to compose himself to keep himself from crying, but he failed miserably.

"He fired off 4 shots; I was so scared that I was going to die, I felt my life flash. When I found out nothing hit me, I was relieved," said John, before letting the smile fall from his face.

"But I didn't know Vance was such a terrible shot that he completely missed me and hit Gina all 4 times," said John, letting his tears fall.

"I held her as she bled, as she died. I watched her die, listened to her breathe her last breaths," said John, eyes full of tears.

"She told me that she loved me ever since we were kids. She then made me promise her that she wouldn't become an anchor for me, that I wouldn't let her drag me down. I loved her and she made me act like she was already in a shallow grave. I was angry with her, but as I looked in her eyes, I saw the selfless girl I fell in love with. I promised her, and she said she was happy and wasn't afraid because she had known me. We kissed until she took her last breath and died, looking as if she was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face," said John, letting a flicker of a smile come to his face amidst the tears.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you remember," said Lia, reaching out a hand and putting it on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Gina is my past, this is my future," said John, looking outwards.

"Are you going to be alright," said Lia in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, but can we go do something else," said John, with as much of a smile he could muster.

"Sure, we have plenty of time," said Lia.

"Plenty of time till what," said John.

"Oh just some reservations at a popular restaurant that serves levo and dextro foods, but for right now, I want to show you the sights," said Lia.

"Well, I'm the tourist here, so lead the way," said John.

The two then spent the whole day seeing the sights that Illium had to offer. They were having so much fun that John had completely forgotten what had upset him earlier. However there were several different incidences throughout the day in which they weren't allowed in some of the sights, on the sole basis that whenever they walked in to certain places, 5 people would claim Lia stole their wallets. Trying to keep his anger down was becoming harder and harder, but for her sake, he didn't punch every person who gave her a sneer. Luckily, there were several people that held no prejudices against quarians, which kept John sane and happy. However it wasn't long until the sun was going down and Lia realized they would have to be fast to make their dinner reservations. The two quickly grabbed a taxi which sped off to the Normandy so John could get changed into more formal clothes. The two then quickly caught another cab to the restaurant.

"How did you get reservations to this place, its more exclusive than any place I've ever seen according to reviews," said John in the taxi.

"Gabby and Kasumi asked Shepard to call in a few favors. Being the first human Spectre and the Savior of the Citadel gives him quite the prestige," said Lia.

"Remind me to thank him for this," said John, smiling.

"This is going to be great," said Lia.

The two got out when the taxi stopped and looked at the restaurant.

"Shall we milady," said John, holding his arm out.

"Of course good sir," said Lia, accepting the gesture.

The two walked in and headed towards the podium.

"Hello there," said the asari matradee trying to be as friendly as possible before looking up and seeing the two.

Her look then faded into a look of disinterest and disgust.

"We're not hiring right now, thank you," said the asari trying to shoo them away.

"Excuse me, we have a reservation," said John, "It should be underneath Desmond and Vael."

"I don't see anything here, now please leave," said asari without interest.

"You didn't even look," said Lia.

The asari then sighed and said, "Look, I don't know who you know that got you a reservation, but we don't serve your kind here," referring to Lia, "Now please leave before I call security to escort you out."

"Excuse me," said John with barely restrained anger.

"Leave. Now," said the asari.

John clenched his fist before letting himself relax slightly. He then said in a calm tone, but with undertones of so much anger that it caused everyone's spine to feel a sudden chill, "I would like to talk with your supervisor."

"He's out," said the asari.

"Then let me see your manager," said John.

"Sir, just leave," said the asari before she found her collar grabbed by John, who had eyes with flames at this point.

He then let go, took a deep breath, and said icily, "Manager. Now."

The asari then sighed with frustration and went off to get the manager. She returned with a human male who was much larger than John, but John wasn't intimidated.

"What seems to be the problem," said the manager.

"These two can't seem to understand that they don't have a reservation," said the asari.

"We do have a reservation, your clerk here just deleted it because my friend is a quarian," said John.

"Is this true Macy," said the manager.

"No, they just don't have a reservation," said Macy.

"Well, I guess there is no way to tell who's telling the truth," said the manager.

"But my commanding officer made the reservation this morning. Shepard said he called ahead…," said Lia before being interrupted.

"Wait, Savior of the Citadel Commander Shepard. I took his call this morning, you two must be the Desmond Vael party," said the manager.

"That would be us," said John, showing the manager their IDs.

"So what they're saying is true Macy," said the manager.

"Well…this is a very high-end establishment and I don't believe we should serve filth," said Macy.

"Mr. umm manager, I would suggest that you keep your employee's mouth shut as I will not stand my friend being treated this way. I trust that your establishment does not stand for racism of this sort," said John.

"Of course not sir, we are very open-minded here," said the manager in a tone that was sure and confident.

"Macy, pack up your things. You are fired; you have till the end of the day to clean out your locker," said the manager.

"What! You're going to fire me just for speaking my mind? Quarians are trash collecting vagrants who should never leave their damn Flotilla in the first place," said Macy.

"That's it," yelled John and he reached to give this woman a real piece of his mind.

The only thing that held him back was Lia holding his shoulder and giving him a sad look that said, "Please don't."

John took a final deep breath which was killing him to keep his anger bottled up. The manager saw that the man was one more slur away from slugging his now former employee.

"Macy, just leave before I have security throw you out," said the manager.

"NO! I refuse to leave just because I gave my opinion on this…" Macy didn't get to finish her sentence as the manager clamped his hand around her mouth before they would have a serious problem.

He called security and two large men escorted the offending woman out.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Desmond; please accept a dinner for two, on the house of course, as a token of our apology," said the manager.

"As long as there are no more incidents like the one we just had for the rest of the evening. I hope your words hold true that the rest of your employees don't have any prejudices," said John, in a calm tone.

The two were led to a table outside, overlooking a view. The two sat down at the table and were given some menus.

"I'm sorry," said John after a while.

"No, it wasn't your fault," said Lia, "I should have expected this after everything that happened today."

"You shouldn't have to expect it, you shouldn't be treated like dirt," said John.

"It's no big deal," said Lia morosely.

"It is a big deal, people judging you simply for your race rather than for whom you are," said John.

"I'm no one special," said Lia quietly.

"Yes you are," said John, "You are one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my entire life, both in the past and in the future. You're smarter than anyone I've seen, you are amazing to be around. But most of all," taking her hands, "You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

Lia blushed at this, and looked away.

John didn't rescind his comments and didn't blush because it was the absolute truth about how he felt.

The two of them said, "The truth is," at the same time.

"Sorry," they said.

"You go first," said John.

"You go first," said Lia.

"I insist," said John.

Lia then took his hand and said, "Just tell me John."

John paused for a moment and said, "Alright, the truth is that…look at that woman over there."

Lia felt disappointed and John realized what he had said and clarified, "No I mean look at that woman over there, she's bleeding."

Lia then looked up and looked towards where John was pointing and saw an asari woman in combat armor and, just as John said, was clutching her side and bleeding.

The two lept up and ran over to the woman.

"Ma'am you're really hurt, I have a dose of medi-gel right here, just hang on," said John, applying the dose to the woman's side.

"What happened to you," said Lia.

"I had a run-in with some mercenaries, no big deal kids," said the asari.

"No big deal! You have a giant hole in your side," said John.

"Thanks for your help," said the asari.

"John, Lia, get away from her," yelled Shepard.

"Idiots," said the asari with an evil smile, pushing John away with biotics and grabbing Lia, putting a pistol to her head.

"I should have known that you people weren't too far behind," said the asari.

"Let the woman go Vasir," said Shepard.

"Why, she's a quarian, who honestly could care about her," said Vasir.

"I said, let her go," said Shepard with gritted teeth.

"Please, don't kill me," said Lia, scared for her life.

"Put down your thermal clips and power cells or the quarian dies," said Vasir.

"You don't want to do this," said Garrus.

"Put them down," said Vasir, pushing the gun more towards Lia's head.

"HEY TENTACLE HEAD," yelled a voice on her right side.

"You want to die too huh," said Vasir, pointing the gun at the source of the noise.

She then was surprised when she saw a drone flying in the vicinity.

"NOW," yelled the drone, and Vasir was hit by a table thrown by biotics by Liara, which separated Lia from Vasir.

John then rushed out and pulled Lia behind some make-shift cover.

"You alright," said John.

"Aside from the fact my suit is now wet after having a gun aimed right at my head," said Lia sarcastically.

"Well, I'll protect you from the big bad squid," said John.

The two heard loud explosions coming from the front of their cover, which caused the two to hide closer to the ground while holding each other close.

The loud explosions continued for several minutes, until they suddenly stopped. The two were still scared so John got up slowly and looked around. Seeing that the fighting had stopped, he motioned Lia to get up as well. They ran over to where Shepard and his group was to see if they were okay. They were shocked to see the woman named Vasir on the ground, dead, and Garrus on the ground, unconscious.

"Is Garrus alright," said John.

"He took a blast from Vasir and landed pretty hard on his head, otherwise I am certain he will be alright," said Liara, "Liara T'Soni by the way, I was a member of Shepard's team on the original Normandy. You must be John Desmond, the cryonic man."

"That would be me, and this is my friend Lia'Vael nar Ulnay," said John, "If she doesn't seem friendly it's because the dead asari down there nearly killed her."

"Is Mr. Vakarian really going to be okay," said Lia.

"If you have some medi-gel that would be great," said Shepard, and Lia moved to apply it, "Thanks for the distraction John."

"I'm just glad Lia is okay," said John.

"So, did you tell her," said Shepard.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," said John.

"About you and her," said Shepard quietly.

John sighed and said, "Well, I tried, before a crazy asari woman came and tried to kill us."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Shepard, rubbing the back of his head.

---

Lia finished applying the dose and sighed as she did. The perfect moment to tell John how she felt, gone thanks to that damn woman. She found herself feeling very angry, and very hollow.

"Are you alright Lia," said Liara.

"Nothing physical, but I'm probably going to have nightmares about this for a couple of weeks. It's not often I get a heavy pistol pointed at my head by a crazed asari woman," said Lia.

"When you're a member of the Normandy, you have to get used to these kinds of things," joked Liara.

Lia laughed heartily and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have joined back on the Citadel. Yet, I don't regret my decision at all," looking at John.

"You care greatly for him, don't you," said Liara.

"Yes," said Lia, after a pause.

---

John decided to check on Lia and Garrus and see how they were doing.

He moved towards them, only to see movement. He saw the asari Spectre Vasir grunting in pain and coughing up blood, but was raising her pistol. John saw who she was aiming at; she was aiming straight at Lia.

"Lia, look out," yelled John, running and pushing her out of the way.

Vasir fired off two shots, both hitting John in the chest. John clutched his chest and pain and doubled over, falling unconscious.

"JOHN," yelled Lia, and she rushed to his side.

Liara pulled out her pistol and shot Vasir in the head, killing her. She then moved to examine John, concluding that if they applied medi-gel now they would have to reopen his wounds to remove the bullets later. The best thing she could do was to look for some cloth or some towels to staunch his bleeding.

Shepard activated the comms to call the local hospital for an a couple ambulances for John and Garrus.

"Hang on Desmond, don't give up on me," thought Shepard, as he watched him bleeding out with Lia holding him tight.

The ambulances came a short time later and loaded John and Garrus into them, Lia insisting she wouldn't leave John's side and getting into the ambulance as well. He got in to Garrus's ambulance and they departed for the hospital.

---

Sometime later

Shepard found his way into John's room after sometime and after making sure Garrus was okay. When he had come to, Shepard told him about John taking two rounds in the chest and was currently in surgery.

Shepard looked at his friend, hooked up to a small life-support apparatus, with Lia by his side, holding his hand.

The doctors told Shepard that luckily the bullets didn't hit anything major, but he had lost a very large amount of blood. The doctors were busy doing exams to find his blood type since no medical records existed of him. After finding out his blood type, the doctors began scrambling, hoping to find human blood to transfuse into him and save his life.

Shepard looked around the room and saw Kenneth and Gabby standing in the corner holding each other.

"How could this happen to John," said Gabby.

"We were chasing after a rogue asari Spectre which led to a firefight. No one was hurt, but while Lia was doing an examination on Garrus, the Spectre tried to kill her. John pushed her out of the way and took the bullets meant for her. And here we are," said Shepard.

"Will the lad make it," said Kenneth with concern.

"If the doctors can find some blood to transfuse into him, then yes, he'll make a full recovery," said Shepard.

Shepard looked at Lia, who he guessed was crying with guilt.

"It's my fault he was there. It's my fault…It's my fault," said Lia over and over.

"Don't…Don't blame yourself," said John weakly, eyes opening slightly.

"John," said Gabby.

"Lad, you're alive," exclaimed Kenneth.

"I thought I lost you," said Lia.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy Ms. Vael," said John, laughing a bit before wincing in pain.

"Guys, can you please leave for a bit? I need to talk to Lia alone," said John in almost a whisper.

"No problem John," said Gabby, and she herded everyone out.

After everyone was gone, John turned to Lia, smiled, and said, "You alright?"

"That's what I'm supposed to say you bosh'tet," said Lia quietly.

"I'll be fine, just feeling a bit of a pain in my chest," said John.

"This was all my fault," said Lia.

"It was not, I'm the one who did the whole "be a hero" routine," said John, "If there's anyone to blame here, it's me."

Lia laughed a bit and held his hand for a little longer, and a bout of silence passed over.

"I'm glad you're alright," said John, coughing a bit.

"Save your strength John," said Lia, trying to calm him down.

"I'll be fine, I lived in New York City you know," said John.

"What does that have to do with anything," said Lia.

"New York is a tough place," said John, shrugging.

The two of them laughed a bit, and another bout of silence occurred.

"Um Lia," said John.

"Yeah John," said Lia.

"Um, this seems weird asking right now but, back at the restaurant, before the crazed Spectre I mean, what was it that you were going to say," said John.

"Oh um…nothing, just nothing," said Lia, lowering her head.

"Lia, what's wrong? Just tell me," said John.

Lia got up and looked away from him, moving to the window of his room.

"Lia," said John, concerned.

"It's not that easy you know, just telling you. The only reason why I could tell you then was because the moment was perfect," said Lia, "I have feelings for someone."

"Well, that's great. Who is it," said John, confused.

"You bosh'tet," said Lia walking over and slapping him.

"Ow, what was that for," said John, now more confused.

"You can't see the obvious, can you? The person I have feelings for is you, you bosh'tet. I LOVE YOU," yelled Lia.

John opened his mouth but no words, well coherent ones, "HUBBADUBADA WHAT!"

Lia lost all of her nerve at that point, and ran out of the room in tears.

"Lia wait," John yelled, trying to get up, only to fall back in severe pain.

A nurse walked in and tried to calm him down but John only struggled more.

Gabby and Kenneth ran into the room to calm John down, but he just continued to struggle.

"John, calm down please," said Gabby.

"No, I have to find Lia. I have to tell her that I…," John tried to say before being given a mild sedative through his IV.

"Don't worry lad, we'll find her," said Kenneth.

"I have to tell her," John said over and over, before starting to lose consciousness.

Kenneth and Gabby ran off to find Lia, while John continued to babble incoherently.

"Lia…I love you too," was the last thing he said before feeling the darkness consume him.

---

(Author's Note)

Next Chapter- Shepard Interlude 3: Lair Of The Shadow Broker

After weeks of work, another chapter is completed, sorry for the wait.

I currently have 3 projects working so don't expect an update for a very long while. However, feel free to check out my other stories in progress, LH: All In The Family and my other Mass Effect story Virtues and Sacrifices.

Thank you to my constant reviewers Liege Lord, douchiesnacks, and Deaths-head and thank you Thedarkstorm for your recommending WhiteZephyr. If you are a fan of Infamous or Assassin's Creed, check WhiteZephyr out.

Well, goodbye, peace in the Middle East, and you know the rest.

Oh and don't expect Mass Effect: Investigation (my side-story to this story) for a very long while.

Possible Ideas for side stories:

Phillip/EDI story
Jacob/Kasumi story
Grunt/Jack story
Story explaining the story of the yellow-eyed man from the beginning

Message me and tell me what you think. Also, if you have something you want to see, whether in this story or you have an idea for a side-story yourself, within reason of course, send me a PM or just leave a review. Thank you Thedarkstorm.

FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I will be setting up a beta-reader profile soon, so if you want my help with a story you want to publish, you know where to find me.

Final word count for this chapter: 16,774