Six woke quickly and roughly, moving with the urgency he had in what seemed only moments ago. Things were so vague to him the he felt as though he still needed to cover the blast. He tried moving more, but found his movement slow and painful.

Waiting a few moments, things cleared up enough that he could begin to see the room around him… the room around him. He was no longer in the damp jungle of Zorya, but lying in a bed in the Normandy's med bay. Blinking heavily, he noticed his armor had been removed, and he was in casual Cerberus attire. Leliana no doubt helped instruct Chakwas on how to remove it, and Grunt likely took the pieces themselves off, as he was probably the only other one capable of doing so.

Not worrying about that, Six cracked his neck and now focused on his wounds. Looking down at his stomach, he lifted the shirt he was wearing and was rewarded with yet another scar, right in the middle of his gut. At this point, the Lieutenant didn't really care anymore; he had taken so much punishment in his life that one more scar didn't bother him. He was glad it didn't hit him anywhere that really mattered. The only part that actually bothered Six was the smell of all the medical chemicals that had been applied to him. He was still relatively new to this galaxy, but he was certain that he had been in bad shape when he was brought aboard. The medley of medical supply scents and his own odor hinted that he had been out cold for days, maybe even weeks.

He merely chuckled at the thought, knowing he was going to be fine if that was the biggest concern for him. He was awake, and that was good enough for the moment.

His vision was still foggy and he felt groggy, but he decided to try and stand up anyways. Sitting up and shifting to the edge of the bed, Six put his feet on the floor and attempted to stand up. He was swiftly rewarded with more lightheadedness, and fell straight onto the floor with a well-deserved thud. While unpleasant, the knock to his head was just what he needed; the Spartan's vision cleared up, and he could see a familiar form startled from the new noise.

"Six!" Tali shouted from one of the other beds, as she stood up and rushed over to him. Apparently, Tali had been sleeping in the med bay, waiting for him to wake up. "What are you doing, trying to walk!? You need to wait until Doctor Chakwas takes a good look at you!" Before he could argue with her, Tali grabbed his arm and helped pull him up off the floor. "Hmph, you aren't so heavy without all that armor on…" she snickered to him as he found his way back onto the bed.

With the hit on his head clearing things up, Six finally noticed how much his stomach actually hurt and let out a slow grunt of pain. "I guess I shouldn't have done that" he said.

"Keelah, Six! Are you ok? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Tali quickly acted as her usual self, overly concerned with the well-being of someone other than herself.

"Maybe you should be the one to tell me that, Tali. What exactly happened to me? I mean, I know what happened with the blast, but what was the damage?" He looked down at his stomach again, wincing a little more at the newly noticed pain. He noticed Tali playing with her hands almost frantically; he had a feeling he would have to assure her everything was fine now, and there was no reason to beat herself up over it.

"After the… well, after the accident, you luckily landed on your side, so I was able to treat your wound right away; I don't think I would have been able to turn you over if you were face-down. You were bleeding a lot, but your armor helped a little in stabilizing it and let me apply some medi-gel. I called Shepard and the others right away, and he got Grunt to come down in the shuttle quickly so he could get you on the ship. He carried you into the med bay, and Doctor Chakwas determined that the blast didn't damage any of your vital organs. But the blood loss and shock from the explosion knocked you out." Tali shrugged a little and then said "Well, until now."

It was comforting to him hearing that all that happened was, basically, a flesh wound. Sure, he felt pretty terrible and had been out cold for a while, but he was fine. "That's actually really good to hear, Tali. What happened to the mission? Did you have to scrub it, or what?"

Tali changed her pose to one of frustration, putting her hand to her visor before she spoke. "No, no we didn't. That land mind you saved me from? It was a trap that Zaeed had planted. Of course, it was meant for the Blue Suns, but it still did what it was supposed to…"

"What was it supposed to do?"

"Zaeed used it as a distraction for him to get into the refinery. Once it set off, the Blue Suns moved towards the side of it closest to the blast, thinking we were trying to break in there. He snuck in through the other side to kill their leader, Santiago. We found out he only took the mission because he had a grudge."

"Doesn't sound like a good start to the story…"

"No. He set the entire refinery on fire, and once we got you back to the Normandy, Shepard, Miranda and I spent the rest of the mission trying to save as many people as we could from it. Even with the place crashing around us, the Blue Suns didn't try to help the workers, and just wanted to keep fighting us."

"Where did you catch up to Zaeed and Santiago?"

"Once we finally fought through the entire company of mercs. We made it to the landing pad at the back of the refinery, and found Zaeed and Vido in a standoff. Vido surrendered once we got there, but Zaeed still wanted to kill him. I didn't really get the whole story, but Vido tried to kill him once a long time ago. He has a really bad scar on his face from it."

"Old mercenary grudges, I guess" Six said. "I'm guessing the Commander wasn't going to have anything to do with it?"

Tali chuckled a little in response. "No, he wasn't. Shepard said he wasn't going to let Zaeed follow his own wants, instead of what's best for the mission. Blowing up a refinery didn't help, either. Especially because there were so many people in there when he did. Shepard ended up hitting him right in his face, and knocked him to the ground. He gave one of his speeches and got Zaeed to accept it, and let Vido live. He wasn't very happy, but he seems like he'll go along with it."

"I haven't known Shepard that long, but I get the feeling he has a way with words" Six laughed. "Anyways Tali, how are you-"

"Ah, Lieutenant. It's good to see you awake." Doctor Chakwas had walked into the room before he could finish his sentence, somewhat of a relief to him. Frustrating, but still relieving. He could talk to Tali later. "How do you feel?"

"I'll let you two be. I don't want to be in the way" said Tali. Before either Six or Chakwas could argue with her, Tali walked out of the med-bay, likely towards engineering. She gave the Lieutenant a glance over her shoulder as she went through the door, taking a very slight pause that even he could barely notice. It was nice that he could see her glowing eyes behind the helmet, helping him see what she was looking at. He gave her a weak smile just before the door closed, but the doctor promptly broke his train of thought.

"Lieutenant, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Doctor. Just a little sore is all."

"Hmmm, I'm sure" she said dryly, scanning him with her Omni-tool. "Did Tali tell you what damage you took on the mission?"

"For the most part. It sounds like I just got beat up, and that I'll be fine. To be honest, I'm just feeling sore. I don't notice anything really bad."

"You may be right, but I doubt you'd say anything different even if you knew you were in bad shape. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you and the Commander were brothers, the way you both dismiss concern for yourselves so quickly. Luckily for you, I'm not so easily convinced. Hold still for a moment, Lieutenant." The doctor quickly and firmly stuck an injector to his arm and pulled the trigger, sending an unpleasant shock through his body.

"Hey, what was that for!" Six yelled as he began to rub the sore spot on his arm.

"Because if I told you what I was going to do, you'd just argue with me and say 'I'm fine or 'I don't need that.' It's just an antibiotic, Lieutenant. I'm discharging you from the med-bay, which means you won't be in such a controlled environment. I just want to make sure that you won't get an infection in the next few days."

The Spartan looked down at his stomach, and continued to rub his arm. "Thanks, I guess. Does that mean I can go now?"

"Of course. Just be careful the next couple of days. While you were out, the Commander spoke more with the Illusive Man. It seems that he has nothing new for us, so you have no excuse not to rest" she said with a stern look. "It should be a good time for you to spend with Tali and Garrus. They've both been very worried about you since the mission on Zorya went so poorly."

"That's… actually a pretty good idea, Doctor. Do you know if there was anything else I'm supposed to do right away?"

"Yes, there is one more thing. Jacob has been working on your armor with Leliana ever since you were brought to me. You should go check in with them in the armory."

"Hmmm, I forgot Jacob is one of the people that know about her. I have a bad feeling this is going to get complicated soon…"

"Oh, you'll be just fine, Lieutenant. Now go on up and see him. He has a few things to discuss with you."

.

"Good to see you in one piece, Lieutenant. You had us all worried for a bit." Jacob reached out as he spoke, shaking Six's hand with a smile. "I gotta hand it to you, not many people could survive what you went through. Not to mention the even fewer number of people that would be willing to give their life up for an alien, especially a Quarian. That earned you some respect in my book."

"I'm surprised you're saying that" said Six with a puzzled look. "I wouldn't expect a Cerberus member to have much sympathy for an alien."

Jacob shrugged "Yea, I've heard that a few times. Still doesn't surprise me. Truth is I joined Cerberus because they get things done, not because they want to put Humanity first. I was actually one of the people in the organization to help convince the Illusive Man we needed help from more than Humans, if we wanted to take down the Collectors."

"Really?"

"Hell yea. You've seen them in action; Garrus, Tali, the Krogan. They all bring something different to the table. And with Shepard leading us all, we don't even need to worry too much about arguments."

"Too much?" Six chuckled.

Jacob laughed "Yea, I still expect some problems. But it'll be worth it. Hell, we wouldn't have even made it through Horizon if Mordin hadn't been part of the team. And we still have a lot of work to do. Who knows what the rest of them will do for us before this is all over."

"True enough, Jacob. But back to the reason I'm here…"

"Of course, let's get down to business. Here, I've got your armor pieced back together. The AI you have sure helped a lot. I'm good with this sort of thing, but not so good that I could've done this flying blind. Your armor took quite a beating back on Zorya, but with help from the AI, I was able to patch it up pretty well. There was only one problem." Jacob walked Six over to the armor stand in the corner of the room, where the Spartan's armor was waiting for them. "This energy dagger you had? It took a bad hit, and we don't have the right materials to fix it; seems the tech in it isn't replicable here."

"Damn, I had just been getting used to it, too. Well, any suggestions on a replacement?"

Jacob smiled at the question. "You could say that." He reached into a drawer by him, pulling out a familiar piece of equipment for the Lieutenant. "Sometimes, the old ways are the best, Six." Jacob handed the knife to Six. "Mass effect treated titanium, serrated edge, reinforced grip for smashing glass and other materials, and strong enough to pierce a Geth Prime's armor. Not many soldiers bother carrying these into combat anymore, but seeing as how you don't mind getting up-close, I figured you would be happy with it."

The Spartan looked it over, and was happy to see that Jacob had good taste in such things. The knife he gave him was surprisingly similar to the old combat knife he and all the other Spartan-IIIs were issued. It wasn't quite as extravagant as Emile's old Kukri, but it was probably much more durable and useful. Six had a feeling it was a good replacement. "Thanks Jacob. Maybe I'll get to test it on some Collectors soon. I've been hearing a lot about them."

"Wouldn't be surprised. It's been a while since we ran into them, and I have a feeling it won't stay that way long. They have a knack for showing up at bad times. Hopefully you'll be ready for action by the time we see them again."

"That all depends on my armor. It looks like you made some upgrades to it." Looking it over, Six could see that Jacob, and more likely Leliana, had changed a few things with it. "I have a feeling you had some inspiration from Leliana."

He laughed when hearing what Six had to say. "Yea, she gave a few recommendations for replacements and upgrades, Lieutenant. She's one Hell of an advanced AI for being stored on that little chip. The torso section of your armor was damaged pretty badly, so we replaced a lot of the pieces. The new chest plates should give you a little more mobility. I was able to extend the power supply out from your back a little and into two separate canisters, so you should be able to move your arms completely free. Your helmet also got banged up, especially the visor. Rather than risk more damage in the future, I reinforced it to be more like standard-issue Alliance; it covers more of your face with armor plating. The design came from Leliana. She said you should've received this upgrade with something called the 'Gen-2 armor,' but you initially refused."

Six laughed silently to himself a bit, remembering when the Spartan-IV armor became available. He had turned it down, simply for nostalgia's sake. It seemed Leliana was going to push him past his own stubbornness.

"Don't worry about visibility: the new visor acts like a camera, and will project the same amount of vision to you when you're wearing it. Other than that, it should be the same. You can put it all on right now, if you want to get used to the differences before the next mission. I've got some work to do anyways."

"Thanks, Jacob. It's good having you here; I doubt many people could do this much with a set of this armor, even with help from Leliana."

"Anytime, Six. Hope to see you back in action soon." With that, Jacob offered a crisp salute, and turned and walked back to his workbench.

Admiring his new armor for a few long moments, Six quickly started to put it back on. It wasn't as easy to do without technicians and all the equipment usually reserved for a Spartan, but it would be foolish to design the armor unable to be removed and replaced without it. After a few minutes, he was dressed and finished it off by sealing his helmet on. He was warmly greeted by an old friend.

"I'm happy to see you again, Lieutenant" said Leliana. "You had me worried for a bit back on Zorya."

"Well, I'm happy to be back, Lel. I see you decided to add some upgrades while I was out."

"It was for your own good, Six. ONI should've forced you to take these upgrades when they were new. They'll help you a lot from now on."

"Mmhhmm, I'm sure" he said sarcastically with a smirk. "What else did I miss while I was out?"

"Just some personal missions. We did assignments for Jacob, Jack, Samara, and Thane while you were resting."

"Personal assignments? Like what?"

"Mostly tying up loose ends, before the team throws itself at the Collectors. It was really just Shepard's doing. He took Miranda with on the missions for Jacob and Jack, but went alone with the other two. They all went surprisingly very well, from what I hear. He actually already did one for Kasumi; he said it was in her contract with Cerberus, but I think he really wanted to help. But come on, let's head down to the main battery, and I'll tell you more about all of them on the way there."

"Fair enough. I was hoping to see how Garrus was doing, anyways."

.

"Good to see you up again, Six. How's the stomach feeling?" asked Garrus. It also seemed he was doing well again, out of the infirmary and back his usual job in the gun battery.

"A little sore, but it seems like I'm going to be fine. As long as I don't complain about wearing my gear, I should be ready for work next time we get a call. I see you're back to normal" he said with a chuckle.

"No thanks to you, Six. That's the last time I get into a bet with you!" the Turian cracked. "Did you already see Tali in the med bay? She's been spending all her free time in there, waiting for you to wake up."

"Yea, she was there when I woke up; she told me about what happened. I'm glad I made it out of there, and I'm glad the rest of the mission still went relatively well. What has happened on the Normandy since I've been out? Come to think of it, how long have I been out?"

"It's been a week since the mission on Zorya. If you saw Tali and the doctor, I'm sure you know what we've been doing sincethen. Right now, we're all just relaxing, trying to take a break from Collectors, mercs, and all the other crap we've had to deal with. We should be docking with…"

Garrus was cut short by the Normandy making a quick course correction, stumbling both he and Noble Six. Shepard's voice came in over the comm system before either could offer an opinion.

"Attention crew. We've just received word that the Collectors have attacked a Turian patrol, but were damaged in the process. Cerberus has located the Collector ship adrift in space, and we're en route to investigate. We'll be arriving within the hour. All hands to battle stations. Garrus, Tali, and Noble Six will report to the shuttle bay. Good luck, everyone." Shepard cut the mic and left the two standing, in silence.

"It sounds like we better get our asses moving, Garrus" Six said with a shrug. "So much for some rest."

.

Author's Note:

I realize this chapter was cut a bit short; I did this to get it updated. I just want to remind everyone that reads this that I do in fact intend on finishing. I'm hoping to have Mass Effect 2 finished up this summer.

The first person to find the Skyfall reference gets five Internet points. And just in case anyone wonder, no I don't intend to have anything from James Bond in this story. I just think it was a fun line for the moment.

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Revision Notes:

Thanks to an observant reader, I was able to catch myself regarding a mistake in dialogue with Jacob and Six. Originally, I had Jacob unaware of Leliana, and he treated her as a VI. I had mixed up my notes on which crew members know about her, and have since revised the discussion to fit the rest of the story. If anyone notices mistakes like this, please don't hesitate to point them out to me.

I also fixed a few grammatical errors, if anyone else is as much a nitpicker as I can be.

Thanks for reading, as always. This may be my story, but I love being able to write something that others can enjoy as much as I do. I never promise to add any suggestions, but I'm always willing to hear them. Several of the more important parts of this story were taken directly from readers.