Chapter Seven: To Stand in a Memory

Zane's boots landed hard on the dusty, hard ground after Shepard's. He quickly rose his hood and mask the hood blocking the bright light of Haestrom's sun. Then Zane and the team got their rifles out. Garrus, Miranda, Shepard, and himself were quick to realize just how much the star would be a hindrance.

"Don't stay in the sunlight or your shields are as good as gone." Zane said as he ran through the heat and the beeping of his shields as fast as his legs could carry him. The team was soon stopped by a large gate with a small building beside it. It was a small guard post and inside was a single Quarian. His body was slumped over the console. Blood had pooled down at his feet and he was unmoving. He had bled out some time ago. He wore white and blue armor with the insignia of the Organization on a shoulder pad. He had held off against a lot of Geth. Primes, Troopers, Rocket Troopers, Hunters, all of them dead.

"Damn he was good." Garrus said and Zane gently laid the Quarian male down on the ground.

"May you live up to your ancestors like you were meant to. Rest in peace and keelah se'lai." He said then saw a Geth pulse rifle and picked it up. "Always wanted one of these." He said and placed in on his left shoulder where it magnetized. Shepard pressed a button on the console and the large gate opened with a loud creaking sound.

"Ouch…that's an annoying sound." Garrus commented.

"Someone needs to put some oil on that I think." Zane joked and then a Geth round went past his head. The team ran and dove for cover. And quickly began to dispatch the enemy. Zane quickly noticed there were a lot more Geth then he remembered. Too many for it to be normal. Too many to be like it should've been. And just enough to put fear through him.

"Hold on Tali. Please don't let something change in this reality. Please don't!" Zane begged mentally to anyone who could hear.

…

Tali paced the room for a moment before she continued her work. She could hear a dropship pass over the building she resided in. Attan cursed and got up from his sitting position followed by Illis.

"Stay here LOHL." He said Tali shook her head.

"No, I am coming with you. I can help."

"I know you can. But if you got hurt my boss would have my ass. And I would rather keep it."

"You mean Titan?"

"Yea…sure…Titan." Attan said unconvincingly as he went outside. Illis shook his head and waved him off.

"Ignore him. Look you have a job to do here. You have data to collect, our job is to make sure you do it. If things get too heated, then we will fall back here. Don't worry about us LOHL this isn't going to be our last day or yours." He said as he began to leave the room.

"Wait! What does LOHL mean?" She asked and heard the small laugh Illis and Attan gave off.

"After this, ask us then and we will tell you." He said and the door shut behind him. The room shook after an explosion rocked it. Tali walked to the console and began to get to work. She had to ignore the explosions and the gunfire. And she had to ignore the rage she felt for Zane at that moment.

"I thought he'd never leave me! I thought he would always be there for me! And now that I am surrounded by the Geth and he is somewhere else doing ancestors knows what!" She had to ignore it but saying she had to was much easier than actually doing it.

…

Zane grabbed a Geth and used him as a shield for a moment. He had the body of the Geth facing Garrus who quickly put a bullet through its head. The round missing Zane's own by several inches.

"Watch it, dude!" He said as he kicked the Husk of metal.

"Sorry!" The Turian said while laughing.

"Sorry, my ass." Zane murmured as he got back into cover. He peeked over his cover his rifle ready to destroy the final enemy when Miranda called out the all clear.

The team ran quickly to the next area. There they saw three Geth shooting at something around the bend. They stood on the husks of many other Geth. Miranda overloaded one as did Garrus and Zane. Shepard then killed the weakened Geth with his Vindicator rifle. The team quickly rounded the corner and saw a bleeding white and blue armored Quarian. His blue facemask slumped down. The mask then rose slightly.

"He is still alive!" Zane said and ran to the soldier's side. Shepard quickly came to the soldier's aid medi-gel out.

"Hold on we will help." Shepard said and the soldier rose his hand up to the lit omni-tool shaking his head.

"No time…multiple suit breaches…can't breathe already…contact Titan. Use my comm. Get to Tali'Zorah. Get her out of here…I die for my people... don't let it be in vain." He coughed up blood in his mask. Blood could be seen on the inside of the helmet coating it and blocking the man's face. "Walk…in…defiance." Then the head slumped again and his chest remained still.

Shepard quickly grabbed the comm where a voice could be heard.

"Folo? Scout Folo do you copy?" The voice asked it was deep but unmistakably Quarian.

"I'm sorry Sir but your man is dead. This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy we see you're in a pitch and are willing to lend aid."

"Understood Commander. Patch into comm channel thirteen-theta-seven-delta that way you, me, and my Watcher can speak."

The team all entered the channel and could hear another voice speaking. Zane recognized it as Kal'Reegar. He seemed incredibly pissed about something. Zane looked down where the battle was taking place and saw that the Quarian used the terrain to their advantage. Instead of setting up barricades they used the same pillar used to normally kill them as natural cover. They just cut large holes into it to be used as firing points.

"Marine Reegar, I have patched in Commander Shepard." The voice said.

"Understood Titan...damn Geth. Look, Shepard, I don't have time for a full sitrep so I'll tell you the important bits. We are being bombarded from all sides by the Geth my team is split in two and most of them you see there. Titan can fill you in on the rest?"

"What about Tali'Zorah is she safe?!" Zane questioned on the comm. He knew it wasn't his place to order the squad leader but he had to know. Garrus grabbed his shoulder as a comforting gesture.

Silence answered him for a time. "Tell me!" He screamed the dark toneless voice of the Reaper coming out.

"She is split from us. I have my two finest with her and they are fine. Tali'Zorah is safe and sound but she won't be if we keep this waiting game going." Titan said and Zane physically sighed in relief and color returned to his face.

"What do you propose Titan?" Shepard asked.

"We have explosives on our side but with all the Geth we will never be able to destroy this barrier we created without getting lit up. I need you to go to two prime locations where generators are. These generators control the turrets around the kill zone. Get them online and we can blow the obstacle and onwards to Tali you go."

"Why were the turrets not operational yet?" Shepard asked.

"Fucking sun overheated the tech to oblivion. But we came prepared the tech in those generators cools itself after some time. They should be good now."

"Understood we are on it." Shepard said and with a multitude of hand signals the team quickly jumped down into the kill zone. The Geth were caught off guard as their flank became assaulted by the well-trained team. All but one of the team members had fought Geth before and their expertise proved to be the Geth's undoing.

Zane used his rifle and omni-tool programs to their full effectiveness. He took a liking to ammo enhancements and used disruptor ammo on the synthetic enemy. Shepard had noticed that Zane only had overload as an offensive ability. The rest he stuck to ammo enhancements. With the odd cloak every so often. Shepard also noticed just how quickly he cut through the enemy. He figured Zane's urge to make it to Tali as quickly as possible drove him to fight harder and stronger.

Garrus moved from cover to cover scoping down his sniper rifle and with each pull of the trigger another enemy fell. He would see Geth spark from Zane's disruptor ammo and would use a concussive shot to set off the tech explosion. The two of them were a duo of synthetic death dealers. And they were a really good duo.

Miranda and Shepard became a team as well. With Miranda using warp followed by Shepard using his own concussive round to send the weakened atoms into a frenzy. Shepard vaulted over a low barrier of cement and ran at a Geth. The Geth were too slow to process what to do and Shepard rammed into the synthetic, pinning it to a pillar. Shepard grabbed his sidearm and from point-blank range, he shot the Geth until the light dimmed to darkness.

"Keep moving people! We got to hurry. Who knows when those Geth will have reinforcements!" Shepard ordered and the team hurried their pace. Any Geth that remained turned to scrap in no time.

"Got a generator!" Zane yelled and ran for the box filled with tech. Garrus covered him as he opened a panel. Zane didn't take long before he found the "start" button. The generator hummed for a moment and then vibrated until it roared to life. A turret moved and pointed at him and then Garrus. It scanned the whole team and then it did the same to a Geth. It had an alarm that blared loudly and then opened fire at the Geth. In a matter of seconds, the Geth fell – filled with holes- it was a turret Zane had never seen before. But he had heard the Organization had made strides in rail technology. It was railgun that was also a machine gun.

"Fucking beautiful." He said with an evil grin.

"One generator up and running. Time for one more." Shepard said and the team began to move out. Zane saw a recording and transferred the contents to his omni-tool and pressed play and had it play specifically to him. The contents played as he followed Shepard to the last generator. The turrets making short work of any Geth still in the area.

The voice played and he instantly recognized it. The speaker had grown up. Her voice was different in a way he couldn't explain. The accent was also different and not as Quarian but a mix of human and Quarian. He had to stop for a moment when feelings he couldn't describe assaulted him.

"Damn sun keeps messing with our tech and communications. Titan tells me the generators will be fine in a few hours. I worry we won't have that kind of time. The Geth will be patrolling again soon and we may not be so lucky then. We are currently blocked in our path to move forward but I have an idea. I remember Shepard had told me to use a mining laser on Therum to get to Liara from behind. I don't have a mining laser but I do have a crap ton of explosives. They should work just as well."

The contents ended and Zane could feel himself shake. To hear her voice again… it was exhilarating. He couldn't wait to see her again he HAD to see her again. Alive and well and if she were to die here he knew it was his fault. If he hadn't been here in the first place, then so much would be different. It might even be better that way.

He shook his head of the morose thoughts as they cleared out a small squad of Geth that stood between them and the generator. Garrus was the one to get the generator operational. Zane looked outside and on one of the larger buildings, a large railgun turret appeared. This one was twice the size of the other turrets. The barrel began to light up electric sparks lining the sides as they grew brighter and larger. In the distance, a Geth dropship could be seen and the turret turned towards it. The turret let go of its payload and a long beam of electrical energy rushed towards the dropship. When it made contact, the dropship's hull gave way and the beam went through to the other side. The dropship then dipped and fell into a cliff face. The ship blew up in a spectacular ray of colors.

"Holy shit!" Zane exclaimed. "I need one of those." He said and Shepard laughed as he moved towards the Quarian soldiers. Zane looked back towards the generator and saw another audio recording. He repeated the same process and listened to the voice he had longed to hear for so long.

"I don't know how the Organization gets their toys but they are efficient. Other than the generators, the turrets can survive Haestrom's sun and operate just fine. Actually, it seems to be operating better than planned according to Attan. I laugh at how Zane would act if he saw these things. He'd beg to have one I'm sure…I wish he was here with me. I wonder what he has been doing lately. Does he miss me? Does he even remember me?" The recording ended and Zane halted in his tracks.

"Do I miss her? Do I remember her? How the hell couldn't I? With all the shit we have been through the things we've seen and experienced? It would be absurd to not miss her let alone forget her!" He thought and hurried to catch up to Shepard.

…

"Oh, you can't blame him for that!" The voice told her. The one that didn't want her to blame Zane for everything.

"And why not? The least he could've done is contact me." She said to herself as she typed away at the console. Data streaming passed her field of view. The echoes of battle behind her not shaking the conversation or her duties.

"You don't know what he has been up to. And besides, how could he contact you? Not like he knows where the Fleet is every day of every week." The voice said.

"Oh please, this is the same man who knew my name, age, what happened to Mother, and so on before I even said a single word to him." Tali reasoned and the voice sighed.

"And what? Do you want him to call you every hour of every day? To cling to you like a leech? Chances are he has been in the shadows watching from afar. That's more his style let's be honest here."

"Yes but…" The voice silenced her.

"Did you want him to follow you everywhere? To follow you here on Haestrom where the Geth roam? You want him to be in that sort of danger?"

"He can take care of himself."

"Yes, he can, but remember Virmire? Or how about the Citadel with Saren? He isn't invincible Tali!" The voice said and Tali agreed with it. Zane wasn't invincible. He was actually quite fragile. He may be able to take a beating for a time. But something will break somewhere. The memories of Virmire came back and how she saw the man that had saved her countless times rise like a dead man from the water. His face bloody and how he looked in the sick-bay laying there motionless. And then came the Citadel, how she held his hand as he seemed to be slowly dying in front of her. The way he looked at her and tears fell from his eyes. How weak his grip was upon her hand and how pale his face was.

"I just miss him…" She relinquished and grabbed the ring that dangled from her neck.

"And we both know he more than likely misses you and one day, you will see each other again. And it will be like standing in a memory. A memory you didn't even know you had."

The console in front of her beeped signaling a transmission was trying to come through. She pressed it and in front of her Titan's mask looked at her.

"Miss Zorah? Oh, thank the ancestors. I was just here with your old Commander he is on his way. He would've stopped to stay and chat but one of his compatriots was rushing him. Are Attan and Illis still alive?" She listened intently outside and heard the two of them cracking jokes and cursing at the enemy.

"Yes, they are alive…" The walls shook for a moment and the door opened.

"Come on Illis!" Attan yelled and the two ran inside Geth pulse rifle fire missing them by mere inches.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Illis cursed as he ran inside.

"Attan, Titan is on the comm." She told him and he ran to the console. He was dirty, tired, and anxious for the battle to end.

"Rook?" He asked the figure.

"Well you're not dead yet, that's a start. How bad is it?"

"Better since the turrets are up and running. Their reinforcements were cut pretty hard. But we were too late to stop the Colossus. So, we have that bastard plus a platoon of Geth coming down on this place like a hammer on a nail." He said panting.

"Damn Geth. You got a lot of room in your location?" Titan asked and the soldier nodded. "Good, the Commander is on his way there. The Geth will have to take a lot of time to open that door. When or if they do they will be hard pressed to enter the room. Use it as a narrow kill zone."

"Yes, Sir. ETA for the Commander to help us?"

"Unknown, but with the way his companion was acting it shouldn't be that long." Titan said with a laugh. Tali thought about who that might be and hoped it was Zane it seemed like something he would do.

"See I told you." The voice said with a smirk she imagined.

"We don't know for sure." She mentally replied and the voice laughed and she could imagine it was shaking its head.

"Good luck Attan and Illis. We will hold them here but I doubt we will have to be here long. We have our orders. You know how it is." Attan nodded with a chuckle.

"No one never said walking in defiance was easy Sir."

"Damn straight keep up the good work you two." The link was cut and Attan approached her and Illis.

"LOHL, continue your work. Illis and I will wait for them here. If they open that door they will have a surprise waiting for them." Attan said and Illis nodded understanding the plan. He pulled up a satchel pack and pulled out several explosives.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." Attan said as Illis shook his head with a laugh of his own.

"I love my job." He said and began to place the explosives.

"Wait you get paid?" The two laughed as Tali continued her work.

…

The team was quick to move from point A to point B. Zane and Shepard leading the charge for most of the race. Any Geth in their way didn't last long after being spotted. And a Drone Zane had spotted was quickly destroyed with his rifle and another zoomed over his head. In quick thinking, Zane jumped up and grabbed the Drone and brought it down. He threw it on the ground and stomped on it until there were only wires and small shards of metal under his boot.

"Let's keep moving." Shepard ordered and they ran even further. Zane had been quiet since they left and it had been him saying they needed to hurry. He knew they could've checked and made sure she was alive and well. But he figured any time wasted was time she was running out of. And he would be damned if he wasted even a fraction of her time left.

"He seems very…determined." Miranda told Garrus silently nudging to Zane.

"This is Tali'Zorah we are going after. You know that right?"

"Yes and…?" Miranda said raising a brow. Garrus cracked a smile.

"Zane and Tali were inseparable. They looked out for each other, cared for each other. When one was hurt the other watched him or her. There wasn't a closer friendship on the Normandy. And right now, his close friend is surrounded by things that want her dead. And worse yet, he lost other friends from the Normandy to these things." Garrus said and Miranda seemed to understand at least to an extent. Garrus looked forward and saw Zane jump off the side of a rock and cut a hovering Drone with his omni-tool. Then a Prime showed up and began to open fire.

Zane took cover and used disruptor ammo on the Prime. As soon as its shields dissipated he quickly changed to incendiary ammo. He fired a full clip into the Prime and charged at the weakened Geth. As he ran he pulled back on the hammer mechanism and the spent clip came out. Sizzling on the ground with heat. The man jumped into the air and kicked the Prime down and stood on its chest aiming his M4 at the thing's head.

"AH!" He screamed and let loose a torrent of bullets into the large Geth's head until nothing remained. He panted and had his weapon spit out another spent clip. As they moved forward Zane switched back to disruptor ammo and took cover as another Prime began to open fire. The team concentrated fire on the large Geth and in no time, the shields were gone. Drones then flanked the team. Garrus, Miranda, and Shepard shifted their fire onto the smaller nuisances.

Zane kept firing at the Prime. Lowering down the thing's armor even more so. He shifted his fire from the large chest to its left leg and kept up the flow of bullets. The Prime's left leg soon gave way to the amount of fire causing it fall to a knee. Zane rushed the kneeling robot and took out an omni-blade with a flick of his wrist it had electrical currents running its length and he stabbed the synthetic's "face" and drove it into the ground. White synthetic fluid sprayed from the large wound and covered his arm and the ground around him.

Zane placed a boot on the neck of the Prime and pulled out his blade. The Geth's "face" nothing more than a fist-sized hole gushing out white fluid like a volcano. The man known as the Reaper cracked his neck and reloaded his weapon again before nodding to Shepard.

"No time to waste everyone." Zane said his cold eyes warming up with each word and each breath. But still, the determination in them remained.

"You heard him let's keep it moving." Shepard urged and the team moved further and into a room where the shudders were closed. "Zane get these open." Shepard ordered

"On it." Zane pressed the corresponding button quickly then retracted his hand just as quickly. The shudders opened and out there was a mess of Geth. Where squads of Geth laid piled on top of each other yet, a platoon remained and with that platoon was a Colossus…that was looking at them…charging its main cannon.

"Oh, crap." Garrus said.

"Oh come on!" Zane exclaimed and dove back shoving Miranda down to the ground and the blast hit where they had just been.

"Thanks." She said and Zane nodded. The team quickly got up and ran outside the heat of Haestrom finally catching up to Zane. He noticed the sweat that would enter his eyes from time to time. He tasted it on his lips and how slick the inside his gloves had gotten. Luckily this was the last hurdle before the end.

"Shepard over here!" A Quarian with a rocket launcher exclaimed. The team ran up to the masked alien taking cover around him.

"Sergeant Kal'Reegar Migrant Fleet Marines a pleasure to meet you all…" A Colossus blast shook the cemented area. "Wish it were under better circumstances."

"Agreed, do you have eyes on Tali?" Shepard asked ducking as a stream of Geth fire passed over his head.

"Tali'Zorah is across this killing ground. The Colossus is covering the Geth Troopers trying to get in. She has two Militia members for her protection. They are still alive or at least I haven't seen any bodies." He said and Zane looked around the corner -over Kal's head- and saw the Colossus staring at them. Behind it was at least two squads of Geth. One squad was on cover support while the other was trying to get the door open with a Geth blow torch. Luckily, they had just started.

"Commander, we have to hurry Geth are trying to get the door open with a blow torch. They just started but we don't have much time." Zane said in a low -if worried- tone.

"Understood, Kal, stay down we will take it from here." Shepard said. Kal shook his head and flicked a switch and an opening appeared. Kal put a small rocket-shaped object into the slot and closed it. The rocket launcher hissing after reloading.

"I wasn't looking for permission. I have a job and I aim to do it." He began to get up and Zane just placed a hand on his shoulder and shoved him down.

"You are a friend of Tali's that is reason enough for you to be safe. If you die here and now, then you would've wasted your life for nothing. We don't have enough competent people in this galaxy for you to take one for the team. Stay down Sergeant." Zane commanded and the Quarian looked at Shepard who nodded his head.

"Alright fine I'll stay here and make sure they don't flank you." He said.

"Thank you, Sergeant. Garrus stay here and provide sniper support. Zane, take the left lane, Miranda, the right, I will take the middle. Let's do this people!" Shepard ordered.

The team ran out taking heavy fire from the Geth but nothing fatal. The Colossus tried to keep Shepard down but there was more than enough cover. Zane dove for cover when he started taking heavy fire from the Geth. He peeked up and saw a squad laying down suppressive fire. Zane then shot at one Geth and with his disruptor ammo quickly destroying it. Zane had to get down and rolled out of cover and took out the legs to two more Geth. He quickly got up and ran over his cover. The Colossus was too slow to track him, however. Zane jumped up and smashed a down Geth with his boot and then destroyed the backs to the remaining Geth.

Garrus scoped in with his rifle and saw a Geth getting close to Miranda he quickly took out its head. As she then used warp on a Rocket Trooper, and while it was weakened, she quickly shot its chest to bits with her Carnefix.

Shepard ran hard and fast towards the Colossus. Its gun too busy keeping Garrus down to even try and deal with Shepard. The squad of Geth beside it, however, were doing their best to keep him down but to no avail. He was like wind in speed and difficulty to keep down. He vaulted over cover and slid into other bits of cover. It was all nothing more except a distraction for the Geth to believe they had kept him down before he ran once more.

Zane and Miranda had flanked the Colossus and found their targets. Zane looked towards the door and saw a squad of Geth about to get the door opened. He had to act quickly but in the time it took him to conceive a plan the Geth had infiltrated the door. An explosion followed the Geth. Smoke trailing from the doorway followed by gunfire. Zane didn't care about the Colossus in that moment or the fact he could help take it out right now. All he cared about was the woman he knew was in that room. The woman he thought maybe in trouble. He ran out of cover, the Colossus and Geth seeing him and began firing. He ran fast and primed a very powerful overload ability. He unloaded it on a Geth in the center of the squad and the shock put the whole squad at least on hiatus. Garrus was able to pick them off as Zane ran into the smoke-filled, gunfire sounding, dangerous-as-hell room.

…

Tali ducked under a stream of pulse fire given to her by a Geth. She popped back up and blew its head off with her shotgun. She saw more Geth on both Attan and Illis, the Geth trying to take their weapons away from them. Two looking at her, and one in between the fighting duos. There were many damaged Geth on the ground most already taken care off from the explosion and gunfire. But clearly, some had made it passed the awaiting duo.

She then heard a fury-filled scream…one that sounded very familiar. The Geth in between Attan and Illis lost its head from an omni-blade then a figure in black stood behind the carcass. The figure placed his weapon on his back and then impaled both of the Geths fighting Attan and Illis respectively. The figure quickly pulled out a pistol and shot the heads of the two Geth that had been looking at her. She looked at the dark figure and was instantly reminded of her old friend Zane. The figure's eyes looked back at her. Those blue eyes that had a rage in them only he had. This rage changed them from a dark blue to an icy blue. The hood and jacket plus a mask were something that was unquestionably him.

"Told ya." The voice said in her head and she ignored it.

"Zane?" She asked but the building shook. Rubble falling from the ceiling the sound of a Colossus was able to be heard. The figure ran back outside omni-blades out and ready to rip the enemy apart.

…

It was her…how she had changed, how she had grown. He expected it of course but to see it… to experience it in person. The feelings he had he could never be prepared for. Feelings he didn't have words for.

"Zane?" She asked and he could feel his heart skip a beat. Why? He didn't know. He wanted to approach her, to hug her, to say how much he missed her, to ask if the feeling was mutual. To see what she was up to what had she been doing? To see if she had changed unexpectedly.

That thought scared him the most.

The room shook and he nearly forgot about the Colossus outside. Hell, he forgot there was even a galaxy outside the room. He ran back out, blades out and ready to meet the synthetic blood of his foes. He ran at the Colossus that stared at him. He ran under the legs and belly of the synthetic beast. The clicking language it spoke seemed confused or at least he imagined it did. The Colossus tried to squash him by laying down on him. He had already made it out from under it and climbed a leg and onto its back. He impaled it on the thing's back as it tried to wrestle Zane off but to no avail. He only got closer and closer to its neck and head. When he reached less than a few inches from the Geth's face he got prepared to impale its neck one last time. But before he did so he flicked his wrist, electricity coating the blades.

"Nighty night you bastard." He said and plunged his blades in so far and so deep his wrists passed the metal carapace of the giant Geth. Smoke, sparks, and a fire could be seen through the hole he had made. The fire was growing out of control and he jumped off the death trap before he went down with it.

He got up and saw the explosion that resulted from his not-mutual "integration" with the Geth. Shepard and the team ran to him nodding to him and giving a "good job" and "well done" to him as they got closer to the room.

Garrus stopped Shepard and Miranda for a moment and looked back at Zane.

"Hey Zane, I think you have a friend to say hi to first yes?" He said and Zane looked at Shepard who nodded.

Zane at first walked then nearly ran into the room again. She still stood there assumingly flabbergasted.

"I will ask this one more time…Zane is that you?" She asked and he was nearly speechless. He lowered his mask and hood.

"Who else Madam nar Rayya but the best?" He said and she ran to him. It shocked him when she clutched onto him for what seemed like dear life. He did the same. The momentum causing them to spin. It was probably quite the sight but he didn't care. Right now, all the hell he had gone through the past two years had been worth it.

…

"Well, LOHL has a friend... he won't be happy." She heard Attan whisper and promptly ignored him. So much over the last two years had just been mended by Zane being here and now.

"It's been far too long Madam nar Rayya." He said his voice felt nice to hear after so long. She had nearly forgotten what he sounded like. She, of course, missed her other friends but she missed him the most. She wasn't sure what that meant for her really. Only that it was true.

"You know I am vas Neema now right?" She said and let go of his neck as he did the same to her waist. His warmth leaving immediately causing an unneeded shiver to race up her sides. It was only multiplied when his fingertips pressed deftly on the spot he used to cause her to flinch.

"Yes, but Madam vas Neema just doesn't have the same ring to it…I was thinking Lady Zorah I like that." He said with a smile and looked at her asking for permission it seemed. She placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

"I like it too Zane. Or Tali that works too." He chuckled.

"Yea but where is the fun in that?" He said with a smile. The rest of the team soon entered the stone-walled room.

"Tali you and Geth just can't make nice I guess?" Shepard asked with a smile. Tali shrugged.

"As Zane would say…where would the fun in that be?"

"Oh, spirits you two have been too close for too long already." Garrus said palming his face. And those of the old Normandy laughed as the reason for why the gang was even on Haestrom was brought up and discussed. And now that her mission was done she could now rejoin her home away from home. It was a feeling she had longed for since she entered that escape pod two years ago. It was a feeling that just felt right.