Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Mass Effect, BioWare, or any of it's subsidiaries. I also do not own the rights to any artists or their music. This story is not for profit of any kind.

A/N: We hit more than a few milestones with the last chapter guys! 150+ followers, well over 25,000 views, over 50,000 words written, almost 100 favorites. I'm glad you guys enjoy.

SR-1 Normandy

February 18th, 2183. 2 P.M.

(Cory)

"Everyone." Shepard stands firm.

"I'm fine, Shepard."

"Everyone. Talks to Chakwas. We just witnessed some pretty gruesome shit. No exceptions." I sigh a bit at this. I don't have the patience to have my brains picked at. "Just do it, okay? Everyone's gonna meet in the mess."

"What about you?"

"Already did it."

"... Fine. But I'm not talking about my deep-seated psychological problems. If they exist, that is."

"We'll save that for next week."

(Tali)

I watch as Liara slowly walks out of the med bay, shaking a little as Doctor Chakwas rubs her back. "Just get some rest." She tells the shaken girl. Liara nods, and makes her way to the elevator. "Cory, if you'd come in." She motions to him, and he stands, heading in. The table is subdued, but picks up a bit as Kaiden takes a seat, frowning. "So, he just gunned them down?" He asks the table at large. It's quiet, but I nod a bit.

"The doctor too." It makes my gut churn a bit as I think about it. "Anger is one thing, but Hart... That was just an execution." Garrus shakes his head at this, speaking up for the first time in an hour.

"No."

"It wasn't an execution?"

"It was justice." He says. "That ship? That was only a part of the horror. Of the madness." He sighs, and the emotion drops from him a bit. "I wanted to kill him."

(Garrus, Hours earlier)

"Saleon!" I growl, storming the room with Cory. The madman looks up at me impassively.

"Officer. Have you come to arrest me?"

"Not quite." Cory says, moving halfway across the room before The man can even react, his gun taken away from him before he can draw it. "Sorry. No chances."

"Hmph." He grunts. I glare at the man a moment before speaking.

"So, no denials? No, pleading your case?"

"And the point of that would be?" He asks me. " I recognize you, but this human.." He looks Cory over. "Not the one you were partnered with before. But I heard he died, huh?" He says, taunting me. "Whatever it is you came here to do, do it." Cory merely looks at me. I can feel the rage, the evil of what this man has done, and I draw my pistol.

But there it stops. I can't bring myself to raise it to the man's head. "I... I can't." He nods, and Saleon speaks up.

"Fine. Bring me in, Officer. You know what'll happen." And I do. They'll find out everything he's done, learn from him. Cory locks eyes with me, and sees the turmoil inside of me.

"Not like I can let you walk away Doc." He addresses Saleon.

"Oh? And what did I ever do to you?" He asks the man forcing him to his knees.

"Not a single thing." The Doctor starts a bit at this. "In face, your name meant absolutely nothing to me before today, and will lose meaning before I fall asleep tonight." Saleon chuckles a bit at this, face dropping to neutral as he's forced to his knees and the pistol is leveled to his head. A moment in that pose, and Cory does what I couldn't.

A small feeling of... something I can't describe courses through me, and I'm about to speak when I notice Cory looking at the doorway. And standing there is Tali, looking right back at him. It only lasts a moment, before he speaks. "Lets get out of here."

"Tali, I saw how you looked at him, how you avoided being near him." Garrus tells me. "Like he's a monster, like you fear him."

"I just... Don't know if I can trust him." I fidget as I digest what he related. "He seems like another person, sometimes."

"I trust him." Garrus says. "He did what I couldn't, and I practically begged him to. He's not a bad person, Tali." I don't reply as- Chakwas comes out of the med bay, without Cory.

"Everything's fine." She assures us when she looks at the table. She walks away without explaining further.

"Well, that's ominous." Garrus mutters. I think a moment, and decide to see for myself.

(Cory)

"You spoke to Shepard before, about your past." Doctor Chakwas speaks as I finish sitting down.

"That I did."

"You care to share some of it?" She asks.

"Not particularly. If you want to know, you can ask him. It's not easy to talk about."

"You talked about it easily enough then."

"Doctor."

"Chakwas is fine."

"Well," I start, "Let's cut to the chase. You want to know if I'm combat ready."

"No." She responds.

"No?"

"I know you're fine for combat. Everything you've been through, I'm don't think what you saw, or did, particularly traumatized you. But that's the problem." My brow furrows a bit.

"Why?"

"Because you're cold." She says bluntly. "You look at things, see the good and bad, but none of it affects you. I've seen you around the ship." She says, stopping me from arguing it. "You laugh, you joke. But so much of it is a shroud. A deception." I sigh, laying back on the bed. "It's a good performance, but I'm a doctor. I know how to pick out emotions."

"So, what are you saying?" I grumble.

"I'm saying that you're miserable. Which affects you."

"You already said that you know-"

"I mean on a personal level. You don't particularly care for your own life."

"... No, not particularly."

"Then all of this, for what? To get yourself killed?" I take a moment to consider my words.

"No. But when you're given a chance to affect the world, to change it for the better, maybe save some lives, you do it. Because you can. Because your particular line of work will assist it. Because you're good at it. I will go until my body gives out, which doesn't happen often."

"You act like you're immortal."

"No. But I know exactly what I'm capable of. I act without hesitation. It seems insane, foolish. But if you move when people aren't expecting it? Before they consider how to act? You decide who wins."

"You need to be in control."

"Of that situation, sure. The other stuff? I'm comfortable following."

"Hmm." She looks at her data-pad a moment before continuing.

"And what about them?" She points to my chest. Or, my dog tags.

"What about them?" I ask.

"How much of an effect do they have?"

"A lot." I mutter. "Everything I do, is for them."

"And why is that?"

"I owe them that much. I've lost a lot of people who've been close to me."

"You act as though their blood is on your hands."

"Some of it is." I look at the worn bit of metal hanging around my neck. Two, from a long time ago. A third, reading like a data-pad, with more names on it. "Some, I couldn't protect. I tried, God I tried, but to no avail."

"It doesn't mean that their deaths are your fault." She says. I've heard it so many times before.

"You don't know the whole story."

"You won't tell it."

"No, I won't." She looks at me a moment.

"You need to let it go. How long have you been holding onto it? Onto her?" I look up a bit.

"How much did Shepard say?"

"Not a lot. Nothing more than what was required."

"... Six years."

"A long time, to mourn a loved one so much."

"It was more than that." I say, a bit sharp. "It... She was my biggest source of happiness, in a very dark world. I loved her, more than life itself yes, but I needed her. To stay sane."

"So, your biggest source of happiness, or your only?" She asks, and I jump up a bit. "You said that you needed her." I sit up a moment, but sigh, and lay back down.

"I don't know. I've had relationships since then. None of them went anywhere. They wanted something I couldn't give them. Something that hurts to think about."

"You have to let her go, just a bit, if you want to be happy again." She says. "You have to let go of that guilt, or it will consume you."

"It's already consumed me."

"No it hasn't. If it had, your few genuine smiles wouldn't be. You have to forgive yourself, or you won't find happiness."

"... I know." She types a bit more, and stands.

"I have to give my report to Shepard. Naturally, I'll leave out the personal details."

"You do that Doc." I say, covering my face with my arm. I listen as she leaves, only to hear the door open again a moment later. "Forget something?" I ask, Looking up to see Tali instead. "Hey."

"Hey." She responds. She looks.. Uncomfortable, the way she stands. "Umm.."

"Need something?" I ask, covering my eyes again.

"No," she says uneasily. I hear her approach, and sit down on the adjacent bed. "Just... Are you okay?" She asks.

"I don't know." I sigh a bit. "But I will be."

"Did the talk go okay?"

"More or less. Chakwas addressed a couple of things that I should've looked at a long time ago. Are you okay?" I ask her, putting my arm under my head.

"I'm.. I'm okay." She says, seemingly bothered by the simple question." It's just..." She trails off once again, looking down and playing with her hands.

"Speak your mind." I tell her calmly.

"Well, you just... You seem to be two different people sometimes. You're on the ship, and you're friendly, calm, and generally good to be around."

"Aww, thanks." She rolls her eyes a bit before continuing.

"But then, out there, in the thick of things. You seem... Like ice. Dangerous, but calm. Too calm. Like you're just... Operating a body. Cold. It's... confusing."

"You're scared of me." I say.

"No.. Not really. But it concerns me. Why would you behave in such a way? So in control, but not even there?" I consider this.

"Part of it's training," I start. "Part of it is necessary, part of it's just who I am. A lot of my emotions are buried, Tali. Better that way." She looks at my chest.

"The tags then?" She asks. "Is that a part of who you are?"

"Why so interested?" I ask.

"I don't like not being unable to understand things." She frowns. I think. "People, machines, it all comes down to the same stripping away the exterior to see the what's there. Be it a problem or not. But you're hard to understand. Even for me."

"I hold on to a lot of guilt." I say, glancing at the tags. "Some of it, maybe I shouldn't. But I do. Reminds me who I am, what I fight for."

"So what do you fight for?"

"That's... Not an easy question." I mutter. "The people I care about, I suppose. My friends, my daughter."

"So, you do have a kid then?" She asks. "I had heard, but... So you have someone you love, to have a child with them?"

"Not exactly." I explain. "An Asari I... Spent time with," God that sounds awkward. "Wanted a child, and used my genetic make-up to have one. I wasn't even aware of this until she was already born."

"So, she... Raped you?" I cough a bit, chuckling.

No, no. Uhh..." I clear my throat a bit. "She explained it to me, but I wanted to stay in her life. Do better for her than my parents did for me, you know?" Tali nods seriously. "Anyways, I'm here because I need to be. Because I can do some good."

"I understand, part of it at least." She says. "I could never walk away from this. There's so much at stake."

"That's true." It's silent for a period before she asks another question.

"So.. You've had a lot of relationships then, for one to give you a child?"

"Hmm. No, actually. That time was.. Rather unique. I could likely count my relationships on my hands over the past few years. None of them went very far, either. A date or two, and it drifted apart. I was rather cold about it, didn't even spend any time at each others homes." I chuckle a bit at my own words.

"Oh. Well, maybe you should just find a way to warm up, huh?" My face is blank a moment before I speak.

"Are you propositioning me, Miss Zorah?". . .

Her face becomes a mask of shock and horror at her own words. "Oh, oh KEELAH that came out SOO wrong!" She says, covering her face with her hand. I laugh a bit at her expense, sitting up and facing her, pulling her hand away from her face.

"I understand what you meant, never worry." I assure her. "Thank you though, I needed to laugh." I let her hand go as she looks down.

"Glad I could help." She mumbles grumpily. I stand, putting my hand on her shoulder a moment before walking out as Doctor Chakwas comes in.

"Tali, good you're taking care of my patient." She says. "Now, I'd like to speak with you for a bit..."

(Tali)

The next few days pass by in peace. Without knowing where to move next, we refuel at an outer Alliance colony, and wander a bit through space. I continue my training, lamenting the lack of a usable shotgun all the while. No word of a replacement so far, I can only hope Cory let's me use his on missions.

I come up to the cargo bay, intent on another day of training, and work in engineering, only to stop dead when the doors open. In the cargo bay, tables are laid out with food, drinks, and colorful boxes. "Happy pilgrimage!" Hangs from the wall on a large banner.

"Tali!" someone in the group shouts, and I'm suddenly assaulted by numerous hands, pulling me out of the elevator and placing in the middle of the table, all speaking at once, the ground team and engineering, sitting down all around.

"Tali, open this one first!" Somebody calls, pushing one of the boxes in front of me. Finally, It quiets down a bit, enough for me to speak.

"W-what is all of this?" I stutter, cursing myself for it.

"Your pilgrimage party." Shepard answers, clear now that I know where everyone is. "I told you we were gonna have one for you."

"Yeah," I start. "But I didn't think it would be anything like this.."

"Well, we wanted it to be rather low-key, but you know." He shrugs a bit. I nod unsteadily, looking around the table.

"A lot of food," I say to have something to say. Garrus looks up a bit, and nods, snapping his fingers.

"That's your first gift." He says.

"Gift?" I ask. He nods, producing a few tubes.

"Tali, your survival food is... terrifying." He chuckles. "So, we, Kaiden and I," he points to the man in question. "Had a large crate of Turian food sterilized and tubed, for your eating pleasure." He hands me one of them, motioning for me to try it. I attach it with practiced ease, and take a bit in.

"Mmm. It's good, thank you, you guys." I say, detaching the tube. "But what's the rest of this?"

"Your other gifts, you goof." Ashley says behind me, bumping me on the shoulder as she picks a large box from the table and puts it in front of me. "Here. This one is from me and Wrex." I pull the wrapping paper apart, looking at a metal crate stamped with the Kassa Fabrications logo. I unlatch it shakily, looking at the red and matte black armor.

"This... is.. C-c-"

"Collossus armor," Wrex rumbles. "Some of the best armor in production. Had to custom order this set; it's not normally in stock at any vendor."

"I.. Thank you.." I mumble. "This.. this is so..." But I'm drowned out by Garrus.

"What?!" He exclaims. "I bought some damn food, you guys went and got top-of-the-line armor?"

"Yeah," Ashley responds. "So?"

"So, I look like a cheap-ass now!"

"Well, soooorrryyy if we wanted to get her something valuable..."

(Cory)

Garrus and Ashley go back and forth arguing about prices, distracting the group from the real subject of the party. Elevator already gone, and the other tables blocking engineering, Tali almost flees to the Mako, elevated by the lift so the chassis can be worked on. A small hop here and there, and she climbs up the lift ladder and atop the APC, out of sight. A moment's hesitation, and I grab something from her locker and climb up after her.

I reach the top after a bit of tricky climbing, gently walking across the roof and sitting down next to her, causing her to jump a bit when she sees me. "Hey." She says, looking down at the ground below.

"Are you alright?" I ask. She doesn't answer. "Tali, you can talk to me." She sighs a bit.

"It's just... I've never been apart of something like that."

"What?" I ask. "A party?" she shifts a bit.

"I've never been the center of attention like that."

"You never celebrated your birthday or anything?"

"Well, usually just with family." She says quietly. "Father, Auntie Raan... But a big group like that, it feels so... weird. Like I'm gonna puke."

'Anxiety. Sound familiar?" I banish the thought quickly. "Tali, we did this because you're an important part of the team. We care about you."

"It just... It feels off. On the Flotilla, we would never organize an event like this for a single person. So much food, the expensive gifts... Even the Admirals have a peaceful celebration with just a few people.."

"Well, you're aboard a Human vessel, with people from all over the Galaxy." I declare. "And Humans are good at focusing on a single person." I chuckle. "Besides, with everything that's been going on, people need to relax a bit. Things have been pretty tense." She nods at this, pulling her legs up to sit criss-cross, facing me.

"So, things like this are fairly normal?" She asks, and I nod.

"Fairly. A families, even a big, dysfunctional one like ours," I gesture towards our shipmates. "Take care of their own. Plus, you're fairly well-liked aboard the Normandy."

"I am?" She seems... Mistrusting, as though she could never be important.

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaim quietly. "You're the toast of Engineering. You're a technical wizard in and out of combat, and you rival Krogan warlords with your shotgun prowess. Which, reminds me." I say, sliding backwards to the turret, motioning for her to do the same. I lean against it, and draw something out from behind it. "These are for you."

I hold two simply wrapped packages. One large, one small. I give her the small one first, and watch as she peels away the plain paper. inside, a silver, flat-chain necklace with a small medallion, an Ouroboros with wings above it, encircling a multi-triangle design, with an purple gem embedded in the center. Tali runs her thumb over it slowly.

"It's beautiful." She murmurs." What material is this?"

"It's a platinum alloy, all the perks of platinum without the possibility of wear or toxins. The gem is Amethyst." I tell her.

"Pricy." She says.

"Well," I explain. "Not so much. I've owned this for a time now, but I don't wear it that much. So, I when Liara and I looked around on Elysium for a gift for you, I had an Amethyst put in the center, and the necklace itself cleaned up a bit." I explain. "Here, hand me that." She puts it in my hand and I undo the chain, moving to put in on her. She flinches a bit, but waits as I fasten it, flinching a bit again as my hand brushes against her neck. I finish, leaning back. "There." She looks down at it, before looking up at me, a bit shaky.

"Uhh... Um, What does this mean?" She asks me, And I raise an eyebrow.

"What, the design?" I ask.

"N-no," She stammers. "The necklace."

I'm completely confused at this point. "Well, in Human culture, A necklace is often given as a gift, symbolizing friendship, trust, and the like." I say, and she visibly relaxes. "Why?"

"Nothing, just... Nothing." She says, and I dismiss it after a moment's filing it away mentally.

"And this," I say, pulling the larger package over and placing it on her lap. "Is the important one." She feels it a bit, lighting up when she recognizes the general shape, nearly tearing the paper off. "An M-22 Eviscerator, heavily modified." She runs her finger along the lines on the plating, and the inscription above the trigger. "Your shotgun."

"Yes, but the way you handled it, It couldn't belong to anyone else but you after. As for the added engraving... Tali, the shotgun you normally use... It was your mother's, wasn't it?" She twitches at this.

"How did you know?" She asks.

"I could tell." I say simply. "The design was similar to your suit, but there were differences... I made an educated guess." She nods slowly. "I repaired it, but I figured this one could be my gift to you. A weapon, with meaning, revitalized. And this design is a match for you, like an extension of your arm. So it's truly yours."

"I.. I don't know what to say... Thank you, Cory." I smile a bit.

"That's all you had to say." She smiles a bit, but looks back at the party again and sighs. I take a chance, gently putting an arm around her shoulders. "Hey I wouldn't have done this, none of us would've, if we didn't care about you." She doesn't speak, but leans a bit, putting her head on my shoulder as we relax. Maybe I'm not at the point I should be. But this is good. This is a start.

To: Commander Matthias Shepard

From: Chief Medical Officer Karin Chakwas

Subject: Cory Weston, Physical and psychological condition.

Addendum: "Commander. This is the now complete form, with mental health report as required."

Gender: Male

Age: 21

Ethnicity: Caucasian, genetics show Russian and German typing. Curious, considering that genetic mixing over the past 200 years should've prevented such high percentages. (Note:"Why is it still necessary to display these? I would've thought that by this point it would be redundant.")

Height: 5'11" ("Insists he's 6'1") 180 cm

Weight: 200 lbs, 90.71 Kg ("Bone and muscle density unusually high, looks lighter than his actual weight.)

In excellent physical condition, Liver is mostly clean, lungs are clean, heart's in good condition. No known physical shortcomings. ("The implants in his body regulate all functions, mending any physical damage far faster than natural. Neurological damage is debatable: His brain looks to be in fine condition but certain behaviors suggest chemical imbalance. Unknown whether the implants regulate this. Implants are also causing DNA instability, causing damage to his body unaffected by the implants. Unknown whether this is intentional or a design flaw.)

Mental status: Weston is calm, controlled, and 100 percent within combat situations. Very low chance of combat panic. Outside of combat, however, he experiences severe guilt and stress over people he has lost. He blames himself for a lot of it, or for surviving where they didn't. He holds little regard for his own well-being, and doesn't feel the need to share his problems or speak of them. More guilt attached to that. He interacts with the crew well, but much of it is a facade, masking his emotions. (It won't affect the mission Commander, but see if you can get him to open up more. His emotions have been a bit more genuine around Tali'Zorah, and I'm hoping that she can help his well-being.")

He is dedicated to the mission, and will do his best to help. Combat ready.

Chakwas

A/N: Less than a month between chapters. Yay! Hopefully, I can get back to the pace I was at when I knew exactly what I was going to write. For now, read and enjoy. And as always, I'm open to feedback, reviews, or PMs. Just be courteous. No need for impoliteness.