Chapter Twenty-One: What May Be

Tali no longer felt the pain and she was happy about that but now she didn't know where she was. It was dark and was like a void except for a small light that was too far for her reach or to see what it was. She began to walk to it and it seemed to be closer then she thought. It was an image. A still image of Zane standing in front of her holding her hands. She looked up at him and he looked down at her.

"What is this? Where am I?"

"A place that surprises me. You have a surprising amount of attachments." She turned and saw the same figure that had been standing over her before she succumbed to the pain.

"Who are you?" She asked and the being put a hand over its face.

"I grow tired of saying my name. I am Vitkin, yes, the same Reaper you were last in, and yes this is what I looked like before I became that…thing. Now that we have the pointless questions out of the way we have matters to discuss." It said and in a flash, it was in front of her.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Your feelings for the tool. Your feelings for Zane."

"He isn't a tool!" She snapped at Vitkin and it laughed.

"I am really starting to see why he likes you. But whatever you think he is, then know that he is so much more. But I wonder why have you grown so attached to him?" Vitkin moved towards the mental image and gestured to it and spoke. "You are so attached you have taken a memory of him. Actually, you have a memory of him everywhere." And then image after image appeared. Some as recent as the day before and there was an image of when she first met Zane in the Citadel's alleyway.

"Why do you care?" She hissed at Vitkin.

"You were to be a treat never given. A reward at the end of an endless road. The carrot at the end of a stick. You were not to reinforce his feelings! You were not to return them! Now you are a distraction and a problem! You may have single handily cost me everything!" Vitkin said and the ground shook violently but she remained standing.

"And how did I do that? How could I do that?" She asked and Vitkin's eyes narrowed.

"My control over him is weakened when he is around you. It is near nonexistent. And even when I can take control, it is pain to him, he resists it! He shouldn't be able to do that!"

"Maybe he is stronger than he you thought?" Tali said and smiled. Vitkin merely growled in response.

"Not only that, but he can take the abilities I have given him and he often takes them when you are in the area! To you, it looks like it is simply him being angry and in a rage-induced frenzy but it is so much more. And it can be so much more than that. But, he shouldn't be able to unlock those abilities or only when I allow him to unlock those abilities. My control has waned to simple objectives he must complete. He simply knows the objective but I cannot control how he completes it. He is a Rogue Program and I know that you are the virus."

"How can you control him? Why are you able to control him?" Tali asked and Vitkin began to chuckle.

…

The images that surrounded her began to disappear and fade away. She felt like she was moving at incredible speed and then they stopped suddenly. Before her was a house. It seemed to be an old human architecture. She looked at Vitkin and it gestured to the house.

She approached the house and saw the red brick and felt it. She could feel the material through her glove, every groove, every engraving, and every imperfection. She then gingerly grabbed the door handle and turned it. She opened the door and stepped through. The smell of the house was that of a stronger version of Zane's own natural scent.

Inside was a still image of several humans. An older man, an older woman, and a teenage woman. After a few moments, the still images began to move around.

"How was your day?" The older woman asked the teenage girl who responded that it was fine. The family began to move about their day and didn't pay Tali any mind. She assumed they couldn't see her. She saw the girl open a door and inside was a room but before Tali could get a good look at it the door was shut.

The older man and woman began to talk to themselves and Tali kept moving forward. She soon exited what was a living room and into a kitchen. Food was begin made but that wasn't what shocked her…it was music and it was a type of music that she only ever heard one person play.

Altogether why! I can't believe my eyes
what I see standing in front of me

Crowd of thousand Men who've come to make a stand
Here we are, under the seven stars

Tali was forced to walk towards the music and she made her way towards the back of the house and into a room. The room was a mediocre mess. Posters lined the walls of something called Star Wars and various other things. A bed was directly in front of her and on it was a boy. His back was turned to her and he was bobbing his head to the beat. The back of the head looked familiar but she didn't assume anything yet.

Ride, side by side
touching the fire in the soul of ours, tonight as we ride
into the moonlight
fear, step aside
run and hide I'm not afraid to risk my life as we ride
into the moonlight

The boy was playing a game. Like the games, Zane would play from time to time on the Normandy. The bed was a mess like Zane's was before she began to sleep in it. And with each bit of more information, the identity of who sat before her began to become clearer.

"Zane!" The older woman called and the man turned to her. It was like they saw each other for a moment. It was a younger Zane, his face didn't have the shadow of a beard appearing, his eyes looked innocent and unscarred and they looked like a calm ocean of blue. But she knew it was him alright.

"How…how?" Tali asked and the younger Zane ran to her and then before she could move he ran through her. And then the mirage began to disappear until it all went away.

…

"That was Zane…over 170 years ago." Vitkin appeared behind her and she didn't get frightened. Her mind was too focused on trying to figure out what she had just seen.

"But how?"

"Because he isn't from this timeline. He comes from a different timeline where these things were just the imaginations of a game. That is how he knows so much. So, you can understand why he is so…useful."

"How did he get here?" Tali asked Vitkin.

"I had use for him, so I brought him here."

"So, when he said he just appeared on the Citadel he wasn't lying. And it was Vitkin's fault!" She thought and shot a gaze to Vitkin. "You had him abandon his family because he was useful?!" She shouted at Vitkin. Not that Vitkin's demeanor changed as a result but it made her feel better.

"He was a willing subject. He didn't know it at the time, but he wanted the adventure he played day in and day out…I gave it to him. I gave him you, I gave him a lot more than you, Shepard, and even Zane know about. Things he may never use, things he may never know!"

"You didn't give him me! I decided I loved him."

"But it was I who made it possible. I could've made him a husk, a brainless drone meant only to serve. Instead, I allowed him to maintain who he was before he came here. Do not assume my intentions, do not assume my reasonings, and do not assume what I have done for that tool called Zane."

"He is not a tool!"

"So, you say and so he resists, but in the end, he is what he was made to be…a tool for my use."

"If he was a tool then how can he resist you? Unless he is not a pointless tool!" Tali said with a smirk and Vitkin growled again.

"Because of you!" Vitkin approached and wrapped its cold hands around her throat and lifted her up. The chilling feeling of its hands seeped through her suit and it chilled her skin and the inside of her throat. "And if it would help me more than hurt me I would kill you right now. I would end the distraction. I would burn you, cut you, torture you and make him watch to see what happens when he refuses me! Instead, now I have to try and keep you alive… for a time. It is as infuriating as it is insulting." It dropped her and she fell to her knees.

"What…what do you mean?" She asked between gasps of breath. The world seemingly shifted again in response. This time they were on what looked like a Collector Ship again but it was different than the one they had been on. It was bigger and grander than a simple ship. It was a massive base.

"Let me show you what will happen if your mission fails for him. What happens if you die on your mission."

…

Tali was then transported beside Zane. He was firing his weapon with an accuracy that looked hectic but still got the job done. It was the last stand as he blocked way towards the rest of the squad. Collectors fell by the squad to him. She saw his eyes were orbs of pure ice and he held very little emotion in his features. He held off the Collectors until the last moment.

"Get moving Zane!" Miranda yelled through the intercom.

"On it." Zane replied and fired at the door controls to cover his exit as the door shut behind him. "Where are the others?" Zane asked.

"Shepard, Tali, and Garrus are still…" A loud explosion that echoed off the walls sounded and Zane stopped in his tracks. His face was pale and seemingly shook with fear. And then his eyes turned right back to ice and glowed blue. They were not as bright as she had seen previously but they did shine.

Zane ran as fast as he could. Not caring about the gunfire coming behind him, or the bullets that zoomed passed him. He simply kept running. If there was an enemy in his way he cut them down quickly with his omni-blade or shot them with his rifle. He leaped over large crevices and slid under debris and rolled over other obstacles. He was a machine to her. Every action that could be taken was already thought of and how he would use that action to move faster. He always used his rising momentum to help him roll, slide, or jump over another obstacle.

He hardly used his rifle against the Collectors that were in his way and Tali saw the terror in his eyes, in his movements, it stained him and she just wanted to comfort him. She hated to see him afraid, hated to see him hurt, hated to see him unhappy.

Finally, there was a final crevice and he ran at full speed and jumped and landed on a platform. He then began to climb his way down the platform and dropped down onto a crashed platform. Three people lay around him and two began to rise.

"Zane?"

"What are you doing here?" Garrus and Shepard asked but he ignored them. He immediately went to another piece of debris. She then saw who was under it…it was her.

"Tali?" He asked as he moved more debris. His eyes were gentle again and no longer shined like they had before. They were gentle and kind. He then began to move the last bit of debris.

"Ahh!" She shouted in pain and he stopped immediately. Tali saw that the debris had stabbed her in the gut. A piece of metal had warped just right and gone clean through her.

"No! no, no, no!" Zane began to shout and then he cried. "Come on Tali we can do this okay? We can do this." He said and she simply shook her head. The bar that stabbed her was hooked and would kill her if he moved it too much. Blood pooled around her and she had already lost too much to be able to move. Never mind being carried out of the area.

"Zane…leave." She said and he grabbed her hand.

"I am not leaving you." He said and she cupped his cheek with a hand.

"You have to."

"Death first!" He swore as tears fell from his face. He then tried to move the debris again but she only screamed louder and he gave up. "No! Come on!" He shouted into the air.

"Zane, we…" Shepard began and Zane shot a glare at him.

"Then leave! But I am not leaving her." He said and as Collectors began to come at them Shepard and Garrus had no choice but to make a break for it but they did so reluctantly.

"Leave me, Zane. Go with them." Tali told him.

"I won't." He told her as tears fell from his eyes and she moved her hand to her mask. "Tali? What are you doing?" And then the sound of hissing could be heard. "No!" And then her mask came off. Tali couldn't see her own face from the angle she was at but she saw the tears Zane had fall from his face.

She grabbed Zane's cheek and brought him down and then Tali heard the sound of lips separating as a kiss was heard. It didn't take long before the downed Tali was coughing and sniffing.

"I can die happy now."

"But you didn't have to die." Zane told her.

"I love you Zane…remember that." And then Tali placed her mask in his hands and the hand that she held his face with, fell limp. A bloody print leaving its mark on his cheek. He then cried as he held her limp body in his arms.

"I will...I always will." He said as he cried and sobbed. Then the crying seized like a switch had turned it off. He looked up and his eyes shined blue…brighter than ever before. They were like twin suns in the room. "And those responsible will pay for your death. They will all pay for it!" He screamed and the sound that escaped his lips was more like Vitkin's then Zane's. His skin began to emit the blue of biotics like an Asari Matriarch who had godlike mastery of their biotics. Zane clutched Tali's mask in one hand before placing it on his belt and his rifle in the other hand. And just as Collector's appeared behind him the image began to fade.

The last thing she saw was Zane shooting biotic throws and warps at the Collectors and killing the Collector's by the squad as he screamed in agony, anger, and pain.

…

"What did he do?" Tali asked Vitkin when the image completely faded away.

"He would survive…in a way. At that point, the man you knew would be dead. Whatever was left would be nothing more than an animal of instinct. He would do terrible things to win at that point. I can't control it or him and whatever effect you had over him would be gone. Replaced with insatiable vengeance."

"I don't believe you." Tali told it and Vitkin laughed.

"Then let me show you." And then more images and landscapes appeared.

…

"Sir, these people are refusing to fight the Reapers." An Organization member told the hooded figure.

"Is that so?" The figure said. Tali knew it was Zane but the tone was…dead. There was no emotion. Not sense of caring, nothing that remotely resembled Zane…or even a living person.

"Please Harbinger we are useless to you we would have nothing to offer. Our children are too young and we are too old to fight."

"Then I see no reason to keep you around." Zane said and then the Militia members aimed their rifles at the family and the image stilled. Tali saw her mask clipped to Zane's belt it was in pristine condition and clean. And then the images began to fade as the sound of gunfire could be heard.

…

"He would use the Organization as his personal army. He would see the galaxy righted or it would be burned. And everyone would fight the Reapers or they were discarded."

"That isn't him!"

"Isn't it? You have seen how he is. How he can change from a cool-headed person to a demon that lies within him. And you have seen how protective he gets around you. Imagine what happens when you, his last anchor, falls."

"I…I." Tali fell to her knees.

"We are not done." Vitkin said and she didn't want to see what was next but before she could say no, a space station appeared under her and it was surrounded by the void of space. But space was on fire with a battle raging. Turian, human, Asari, and even Geth and Quarian ships fought the Reapers as one. Shepard was beginning to walk down a corridor of the station. He looked beat up and near death. His armor looked burned off and slightly melted. His face was cut up and bruised and he was nursing a hip and favoring his right leg.

…

Shepard was shuffling his feet. He had three paths laid out before him but he didn't know which one to take. "So, close…yet so far." He said as he looked at the battle around him. His coalition of troops and ships needed help and if he didn't hurry the Reapers would win…this was the last chance they had. He took a step and then two, three, and as he stepped for the fourth a gunshot sounded. He looked down and blood began to leak from his already wounded abdomen.

"You didn't think I would forget, did you?" A voice asked him. The voice came from behind him and it sounded familiar but it was toneless.

"Whaa…" He began before another shot sounded. This one piercing his leg making him fall to his knees.

"About how you left her to die." The voice said and then out of the corner of his eye, Shepard saw a purple mask hanging on someone's hip.

"Zane…please, I am sorry but if…" Zane punched him in the jaw and it made Shepard fall over. He was weak and Zane knew it. Shepard was defenseless and Zane knew it. He was useless and Zane knew it.

"Sorry? I don't care about how 'sorry' you are! You left her to die!" Zane screamed.

"We had to leave…ah!" He began and Zane stepped on his leg wound. He dug into the wound with his boot with a wicked smile. A smile one could only get from seeing one they hated in a great deal of pain.

"You chose to leave…you chose to let her die."

"Zane, please. Ahh!" Zane stepped on the wound harder.

"No." Zane said simply. And then he pressed harder. He lifted his leg from the wound and Shepard fell onto all fours. Shepard was about to rise but a boot kicked him to his back. He was forced to see his once good friend and what he saw was a man he didn't recognize. This wasn't the Zane he once knew this was someone else, something else. Zane's eyes glowed a bright blue and his skin gave off a hazy-blue aura.

"Zane, please…I loved her too. She was like a sister to me. If I could, I would do it over and change what I did. I would trade with her in a second if I could. " Zane bent down and his eyes dimmed for a moment. And then Shepard felt a hand clasp around his throat.

"You can tell her that yourself." And then his airways became restricted as he was lifted up to his knees. Shepard tried to open Zane's hand but they didn't budge.

"She…wouldn't want…this." He sputtered.

"I know." Zane replied. And as his vision darkened Shepard saw Zane's eyes clearly.

There was no remorse, no guilt, no emotion other than pure hatred. And then his vision went black and he saw nothing else.

Zane let go of the limp body and pulled out his pistol and fired it at Shepard's head.

"I know she wouldn't want this but you took her from me. The one person I loved you took from me! The last person I loved you stole from me! I cannot allow that to go unpunished. I won't." He said and pulled out his omni-tool. On it was a list of names. Garrus, Liara, Zaeed, Thane, Samara, Kasumi, Miranda, Jacob, Wrex, Grunt. And then as he began to input another name Tali saw what it said… Shepard.

"A kill-list?" She thought and it horrified her. That Zane would do all this because he thought it was vengeance? How did her Zane turn into this? Was he always like this? Did she just refuse to see it?

Zane turned and saw three things. Two pillars, a sword, and a well. But before he could make his choice the images faded away.

…

"What did he do after that?" Tali asked. She had to see Zane after this. Only then could she know if what she saw was real. She knew her Zane. He wasn't a monster, he wouldn't have killed all of his friends because of her death…he wouldn't!

"He could take the Pillars of Control, the Sword of Destruction, or the Well of Change. Each one has a different future. If he took control then he would become a new Harbinger and he would use the Reapers to make sure no one opposed him ever again. If he used the sword to destroy the Reapers then he would lead the Organization to become a menace to everyone. They wouldn't have the threat of the Reapers but everyone would live under his iron fist. And if he entered the well then he would change the galaxy in ways not even I am aware of. He would die but the Organization would remain and would still be as sadistic as ever." Vitkin explained and Tali wasn't sure what to do.

"I need to see him. I want to see Zane!" She begged and Vitkin laughed.

"As you wish." And then she could feel herself wake up.

…

She opened her eyes and was met with a pair of boots in front of her. Boots she had seen before.

"Tali." She heard come from a voice she recognized well. It sounded like a mere murmur, however.

"Zane?" She asked as she began to look up but no answer came and instead she was met with the muzzle of a rifle pointed at her. Being held by Zane…who had bright blue eyes.

A/N: Song: Dream Evil: Into the Moonlight