Tali'Zorah tried her best to keep from staring at Garrus as the elevator ascended to the CIC. The turian's face held an expression of steeled passiveness. It reminded her of how he acted when they met again on the Normandy SR-2, when Shepard was going after the Collectors with Cerberus's help. Something changed in Garrus the two years they were apart. Tali heard some stories of what happened on Omega, but he never told anyone the whole story.

Except perhaps Shepard. The two of them together brought Garrus into a calmer state, to the point where he was talking and joking with the rest of the crew. He was different, but in a good way. Now that there was potential that their commander would not come home, the turian's attitude regressed. Shepard had had a feeling that could happen. Tali finally understood why the woman came to her.

She had approached the quarian down in the engineering room, her favorite place to stay. Tali, Adams, and Donnelly were all in the middle of debates about the Normandy's fuel ejections. Contemplations that they went through too much fuel in too short of a distance had become a regular discussion, especially since the supply chains were shortened as the Reapers took over systems. EDI becoming more involved with field work was a factor as well, though they never really said it out loud. The AI still had ears all over the ship, and they would never mean to offend her. Inefficiencies in the fuel system seemed like something trivial to fuss about, but Tali had a feeling it was something to occupy their time.

The final push to the Cerberus headquarters was about to take place, and every crew member was nervous. She had just wrapped up a radio conversation with Garrus, who was arguing that weapon calibrations were just as complicated as engineering on the ship. She laughed to herself as the conversation ended. Ridiculous turian …

"Could I talk to you, Tali?" Shepard's soft voice came behind her.

"Oh!" Tali started. She didn't even realize the commander had been standing behind her. "Hello, Shepard. Is it very important? Adams and Donnelly wanted to try something with the engines …"

"Just a few minutes, I promise. It won't be long." Her voice was that of a Spectre, her "Yes, it's important, and it's not a request" voice.

Taking a moment to look at Shepard's face, Tali realized she was not doing well. Dark circles under her eyes were more apparent in the simple lighting of the engineering floor. Her cheeks seemed hollow, her skin pale. It was obvious she had not been sleeping or eating properly for some time. Of course, the stress of what she had to handle was almost too much, with even EDI vocalizing her worry about their commander's biometric readings the past couple of months.

"Yes, of course," Tali answered with a nod. "Lead the way."

Shepard smiled weakly before turning and heading to the stairwell between the engineering room and the main hall of the deck. The woman put her arms behind her, leaning on the railing while she looked at the floor in front of her. She just looked so tired, worn out, but she was still pushing so hard, fighting. Tali wondered if it was too far at this point. Genuine worry came over her as she looked at her friend, one of the closest she had made before. A woman who, knowing nothing about quarian culture, came to her defense and represented her in the quarian court, and helped to keep her father's name from being smeared … a woman who she trusted with her life now stood in front of her, already feeling defeated. Shepard was supposed to be invincible, this amazing being who defied odds, a legend. So many had forgotten, even Tali herself, that at the end of the day, she was just a person.

"I just wanted to say thank you, Tali," Shepard finally started.

"For what?" Tali laughed. "I think you've done more for me than most anyone I've known, Shepard."

"Thank you, for being here. For sticking with me all of these years, for believing me when no one else did. If it hadn't been for you, Garrus, and Joker … I never would've gotten past all of this. You three are the ones that have stuck with me through everything. Thank you."

"Well, you're welcome."

Shepard huffed a small laugh, her weak smile focused on the ground. "I suppose I started with the thank you speech so I could ask you something. Well, it'd be considered a bit of a favor … for me."

"Of course, Shepard, anything."

"Tali … you and Garrus …"

The quarian crossed her arms in front of her chest. Because of her helmet, Shepard was not able to see her expression of shock. She and Garrus? What was this crazy human talking about?

"I guess it's—" Shepard broke off, rubbing the back of her neck. "If there's anyone on this ship that knows each other well, it's you and Garrus. We've been close for these years, but you two have inside jokes, all of these stories with each other …"

"Kee'lah, Shepard, I—you don't think I would …?"

The woman looked up in her direction. "Would what?"

"Garrus and I … we're friends, Shepard. If you ever thought it was more than that …"

"What? Oh. Oh, no, Tali, I'm not trying to imply anything." She shook her head with a smile. "Though, in all honesty, the two of you would make more sense than the two of us ever have. But I know you, both of you, and I trust both of you without a doubt. Jeez, this is turning out to be a lot harder to say than I thought it would."

"Please, tell me what's wrong," Tali said sadly. She had never seen her friend struggle so much before, and it was beginning to upset her.

"Look, as I think you figured out by now … I love Garrus." She laughed again, though there was no real humor behind it. "For whatever reason, I've decided that getting feelings involved in all of this was a good idea."

"You've always had feelings involved, with everything we're doing, Shepard. You wouldn't be you otherwise."

"I guess you have a point. But I never thought I'd have them for … anybody else before." Another shake of her head, as if hoping to clear her thoughts. "I thought being alone was easier than … than the risk of losing someone I cared about again."

Her eyes were focused on the floor again as she continued. "Seeing what happened … losing what I did on Mindoir just made me believe that I had to shut it down. Maybe that's why I was so good for the N7 program. I knew how much everyone else deserved a chance to see the next day, a chance to live. Truth be told, I was never afraid of dying. I would fight with everything I had to save everyone else, except for myself. There was nothing for me. Until I met all of you." She smiled. "I never thought I would meet so many amazing beings through all of this. Human, turian, krogan, quarian, asari, salarian, hell, even geth and Prothean … all of you are so incredible in so many different ways, you've seen and done things I never thought possible. It was because of you—" She sniffed, and Tali noticed the first hints of tears in her eyes. "You made me want to have a life again, with friends, with love. That sounds so corny saying it out loud, doesn't it?"

"Not at all," Tali smiled. "I never thought my pilgrimage would lead me to you, or any of the others. I'm so fortunate to have found this group, and to have all of us become friends. Really."

"It's just that … I've been trying to be prepared for anything that could happen. Three years ago, if someone had told me that I would die, I would've kept going, without second thought. I think Garrus is the same way. I think that's why we came together so well. I also think that's why we found … I don't know, something in each other that made us care … about one another and everyone else. One of the biggest concerns I had about coming back, when Miranda brought me back, was seeing how much all of you changed while I was dead. Something changed in him, but here, with all of us …"

"He seems happy," Tali finished with a nod. "He was so serious about everything when we were after Saren, so focused. Then when he came back to help with the Collectors …"

"It was like we were losing him," Shepard sighed. "I thought I had lost all of you. And, Tali, even if I'm gone, I can't stand the thought of that happening again. To any of you." Her voice cracked as the first tears came down her cheeks, but, as Shepard always did, she fought to continue. "So, what I came to ask you … is, if I don't come back after all of this, I just need you to … I'd like for all of you to keep looking out for each other, okay? I know, that's probably impossible, since you'll need to go back to your home-worlds and take care of your people, but I just hope—I just need to know that you'll be taken care of. Please, don't let him disappear again."

Tali stepped forward and hugged Shepard tightly. It was the first time she had seen Shepard break, to not have her stone face on while she dealt with death, politics, and unknowable circumstances. Shepard was just a woman, a person, who had been thrown into this position. There was so much on her to succeed, and Tali's heart ached for her. Without a word, she held on to the worn commander as she cried into her shoulder, finally letting her first walls break.

"I'm so sorry," she said after a couple of minutes. Her voice still shook with emotion, but she seemed to have control again. "I hate to put this on you, but you're one of my best friends, and I trust you …"

"Please, Shepard, it's all right. I'll do everything I can to help all of them. Especially Garrus, so he doesn't become a bosh'tet."

The woman snorted with a laugh as she squeezed her quarian friend one more time. "That's good to hear. Thank you, Tali."

"Of course," she said. "Just remember, the deal stands if you don't come home. When you do, you'll have to deal with all of the drunken emotions."

"Yours, too, right? Don't think I forgot our shore leave party, Miss 'emergency induction port.'"

"I never said you wouldn't have to take care of me. Of course, with all of the offers for everyone to buy you drinks, I'll make sure to save some of my toxic injections, just so you don't die from all the drinking you'll have to do."

Shepard laughed as she wiped at her eyes. "Your injections help with alcohol poisoning?"

Tali shrugged. "It's a working theory."

The two laughed and hugged once more before Shepard went to go up to her cabin.