A/N: Greetings. This is a sort of sequel/revised ending to my first story, A Quarian's Awakening. For those who did not read it (whether it be because the original ending/subject matter was too dark or just never saw it), I will try to get you up to speed quickly. Reading that one is not going to be a requirement, but it will provide context that will make it easier to follow along.
Basic summary, AQA is a story of Tali becoming slowly indoctrinated at the hands of the Reapers, starting from ME1 and going all the way to ME3. It explored scenarios that could have resulted in this outcome, her descent into this hole, as well as diving into how the Reapers twisted and manipulated Tali's thoughts and aspects of her character to be used for their malevolent purposes, unbeknownst to everyone around her, including Tali. It ultimately culminates in a confrontation with Shepard, her boyfriend, where she reveals her idea to assist the Reapers in the hopes of benefitting her people and saving the galaxy, and the two ultimately battling it out.
Since I'm making an alternate version of the ending, I'm sure you can figure out how that ends. All I will say is one of my all-time favorite games is The Walking Dead: Season One by Telltale. I will let you put the pieces together on that one.
I got some positive reception to it, here and on the Talimancer Discord server, but the common criticism was understandably there: why go with that ending? Simply put, that was the direction I wanted to take the original story. Yes, my aim was to write a tragedy and explore it from that angle, not everything is sunshine and rainbows and gets a happy ending. Plus, since it was my first time writing in years and I tend to like darker subject matters, I leaned into my strengths.
However, it did get me thinking, and over the last few weeks, I have been trying to speculate how a different scenario would play out. The more I thought about it, the more it grew, and eventually turned from a simple story, into my own multi-chaptered spin on a post ME3 reunion.
This chapter is pretty much a rewritten version of the original ending chapter to AQA to set the stage for the events to come. Changes have been made to accommodate the new direction.
Lastly, this story will borrow heavily on popular fanon lore about Tali and the quarians, as developed by Calinstel's To Survive trilogy. So, without further ado…
Part 1: One of Their Own
Chapter 1: A Path's Divergence
Shepard's brain was in total meltdown. Fear had paralyzed him to the ground on which he stood as all of his other senses and feelings became numb and lost to the world.
The sight in front of him was, on the surface, not one he was unfamiliar with. In fact, it's a scenario he had faced numerous times, both in simulations and in the field. An enemy combatant, brandishing some sort of weapon, in this case a combat knife, was barreling towards him with the intention to kill or seriously harm him. Every single time, when dealing with this exact dilemma, he had walked away the victor. Hand to hand combat is something that he had trained and become an expert at over his decade plus long tenure in the Alliance, and as an N7 operative. Back on the SR-1, and even now on the SR-2, he would take some time every week to train with Ashley in hand-to-hand drills so that neither would grow rusty.
But now, he hesitates. He stumbles. Death creeps its way towards him, and he can't even bring his hands up to defend himself, let alone fight back. He was a statue. It was as if he was a deer caught in headlights, everything in the moment just froze around him.
In reality, time had not stopped, and his attacker, with her long and powerful digitigrade legs, was closing the distance between them at an exceptional pace.
What made this scenario so different than the others? Well, for starters, Shepard was not on a traditional battlefield, he was just in the Captain's Cabin. His home onboard the Normandy that he shared with his girlfriend, Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.
Which leads to the second reason why this is so different…his attacker was his girlfriend, Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. A girlfriend who had now become indoctrinated at the hands of the Reapers.
When that realization hit him in that split second, he could feel the fear be replaced with something far greater, something far stronger. In a moment that should cause him to feel frightened, he felt nothing but deep-rooted hatred.
What was strange was that, while some of it was directed at the Reapers, for taking one of the few good things in the galaxy away from him, most of that hatred was directed inwards.
Deep down, he blamed himself for what has happened to her. Tali's abilities had proven useful in numerous combat situations. Their missions to take down geth outposts and controlled territories made her practically a permanent member of his ground team. Her hacking could turn enemy into friend, her decryption mastery could unlock rooms and containers that provided useful resources for their missions. She was a technical savant. That wasn't the real reason though.
Silently, but known to pretty much everyone onboard both the SR-1 and SR-2, he did so because he loved spending time with her. Even on missions without any geth or need for her skills, it would always be her accompanying him. Sure maybe it wasn't the "normal" way of spending time with someone, but when has Shepard ever done things by the book. Raiding enemy compounds and killing enemies, hell, it was the closest thing to a date he could think of.
He did always enjoy their downtime when not being pelted with bullets. The talks they would have, him asking her about quarian culture and society, and her asking what Earth was like, they had managed to bond over what seemed like the most mundane or boring subjects. These conversations would carry on for hours it felt like, but Shepard didn't care. That report he needed to file for Admiral Hackett could wait a while longer, he enjoyed listening to her, being around her. And so did Tali, enough that they both became each other's closest confidants (it's when he first heard her use the term inszel in regards to him, she would later explain the full meaning once they had gotten together). They both saw the sides of each other they wanted to shield from their friends and crewmates. And while it took him longer to admit that the feelings he had for her went deeper than just being friends, even he couldn't deny what was growing between them.
Which just made him feel worse at the realization that all those missions he brought her on…that Reaper tech on Virmire, talking to Sovereign, hell, the fact that he brought her to an actual "dead" Reaper…had led to this. And his decision to remove her from ground missions after their assault on Sanctuary, while done with the best of intentions, helped drive her over the edge.
All of these thoughts rocketed through his brain in seconds. What brought him back to reality was the sight of Tali drawing dangerously close to him, her knife raised above her head and ready to come down on him. His bodily finally freed from his own shackles, he reacts out of instinct.
Garnered from years of fighting and Alliance military and biotic training, he unleashes a biotic field that knocks the charging Tali off her feet and backwards. It wasn't particularly strong, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but it certainly was enough to launch her a few feet away from him. It had propelled her in the direction of their cabin's large "L" shaped couch. Her landing was less than graceful, her body landing on it but her head connecting with the wall behind it. It had temporarily stunned her, he could hear the grunt of pain when her head made contact, but it did provide enough time for Shepard to think of something.
What he wanted to do was rush over and help her. His brain, recovering from the initial shock, reminded him that if he did, she would just try to attack him again. No, the best thing that he could do was to try and get help.
He couldn't hurt her, he didn't want to, that much was certain, so the best he could do was restrain her until…well, he wasn't sure exactly. But it would keep her safe from herself, and that was good enough for him. The plan seemed simple enough. Get out, tell EDI to lock the door behind him to keep her inside, and get help. Garrus was his best bet, he had known Tali as long as he had and the three of them were practically inseparable. And maybe, if there was anyone else who could help breakthrough to Tali, it was him.
He launched into a sprint towards the door, Tali still recovering from the blow to her head. Her stupor wouldn't last for long, but it gave him a chance.
He reached the door, expecting it to automatically open once he entered its range. However, it was then he realized that the interface was a dim orange, rather than the bright green it was mere moments ago. He tried to unlock it, but to no avail, the digital interface flashed red before returning to its orange state. He tried again, same result.
"EDI!" he urgently called out, banging his hand against the door as if that would do something. "Something is jamming the door on Deck 1, I need you to fix it, fast!"
"Yes Shepard," the voice of the ship's resident AI responds. A few crucial seconds passes as EDI attempts to fulfill Shepard's request, but the door remained closed. "I'm sorry Shepard, but it is not responding to my commands. I ran a quick diagnostic, and the results show that it has been manually hacked to ignore my commands and remain closed."
'What?! How?!' He thought to himself. Who could have possibly…and that's when it hit him.
When Tali had entered their cabin earlier, he noticed her briefly open her omni-tool once the door had closed behind her. He didn't think too much of it at the time, and after he learned that she had been indoctrinated, her actions from before had been long forgotten. Now, as his mind began putting two and two together, he understood why.
He slowly turned backwards, anxiety gripping him once again, to look behind him. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring daggers at him, combat knife still in hand, was Tali.
One thing that always stuck out to Shepard when he first met Tali, something that immediately enraptured him, was her eyes. And no, it wasn't just the bioluminescent nature of them, though that certainly was one of the reasons. It was largely because of how expressive they were. The old human saying "The eyes are the windows to one's soul" could not have been more applicable than with Tali, nor could it have been more literal. Considering the quarian immune system and the opaque and colored vizors they wore that covered their face, a quarian's eyes were the only thing one could truly see.
Whether it was because of how emotional and connected their race was with one another, or years and years of adapting to living in suits, quarian body language was the only way one could truly understand how a quarian was feeling. And quarians were very expressive just through their eyes.
Shepard learned that very quickly with Tali. Just by the shape of them, he could tell what she was feeling. The upward crescent like shape when she was smiling, or the downward crescents when she was furious. A strange little twitch she had when she was hyper-focused on something she was inspecting. How they always seemed to shine just a little brighter when she saw something wonderful.
When she set foot on an uncharted world, filled with spacious, never-ending fields, or mountains that ascended up towards the heavens.
The Normandy's revolutionary Tantalus Drive Core.
Shepard himself (that was when they always shined the brightest).
Looking back to face her, he had seen a look in her eyes that he had never seen before, one he never expected to come from her. There was very little of that gleam coming from her mask. The way her eyes were shaped, in upward crescents, indicated a smile. But there was something different, something incongruous, in their shape. Judging from the contortion of her eyes, it was less a smile, and more of a sneer. Behind it, there was no joy, no compassion, no love, all things he associate with her. There was only contempt, anger, and resentment, all wrapped up in a menacing glare directed at him.
Now he knew why Tali was messing with the door when she first came up, that was her uploading some sort of virus or program into the door controls. Somehow she had made it strong enough to kick EDI out of it. Meaning, he was trapped in here with her, and she ensured that no one would interfere.
"Fix it, now!" he barks at her as he turns back towards the locked door. As he does so, he opens up his omni-tool, rushing to get in touch with Garrus.
"Attempting to run countermeasures, but this will take some time. Whoever hacked it must have a thorough understanding of Normandy's systems."
'Yeah, you could say that,' Shepard thought to himself. Thankfully, one thing went right, and Garrus quickly answered, his scarred face adorning his screen as the vid-call starts.
"Shepard, need something?" his turian friend asked casually, unaware of what was happening just two decks above him.
Shepard's tone was not so casual. "Garrus, I need you to get up here now! Tali is indoctrinated, and I need your hel…AAH!"
He picked it up a hair late, but in his peripheral vision, he noticed Tali had moved directly behind him, and her knife came swinging down towards him. He attempted to dodge the incoming blow by swiping to the left, but he wasn't quick enough and the knife came slashing down against his right forearm.
He takes up a battle ready stance to defend against another possible attack. Now standing between the bathroom and his desk/display cabinet, several feet away from the cabin's door, he takes a quick glance down at his slightly lacerated arm. While not life threateningly deep, it cut through a couple layers of skin as the blood trickles down his arm and hand. Recognizing he needs a dispersal of medi-gel to try and close the wound, he attempts re-activating his omni-tool. The omni-tool on his right arm…the arm that Tali had just sliced her knife through.
His attempt was met with an unreadable and unresponsive display, as Tali's attack had rendered his omni-tool completely inoperable. And without a working omni-tool, he had no medi-gel to deploy to his injury, or any future ones he would receive. He also could not get back in touch with Garrus, or anyone else on the ship, leaving EDI as his only line of communication.
He glanced back up to Tali, who had not yet moved from her spot, her eyes still showing the same grin plastered on her face. She showed no remorse to the pain she had just caused to her bondmate. If anything, landing that blow only emboldened her further, she was as determined as ever to achieve her goal.
If there was any hope that there was some part of Tali in there that would cause her to hold back, it was immediately dashed. She would show no mercy, which didn't bode well for him, who was still trying to avoid hurting her.
As strong and calculated as Tali's combat proficiency was, most people would agree that Shepard would more than likely win in a normal, no holds barred fight. Not just against her, but against anyone else on the Normandy. Whether it was hand to hand or with firearms, very few people had the skills to match. In those aforementioned drills he ran with Ashley, when they did launch into a light sparring match, he always managed to emerge the victor. Not even James, in their "dance" after the events on Mars, was able to best him. With firearms, even Garrus and his marksmanship were no match for Shepard's skills with a sniper rifle.
Shepard's N7 designation wasn't given to just anyone, it was given through years of training, dedication, and through surviving trials in the fiercest and toughest conditions. Only after the prospect's body and mind had gone through the wringer, was on the verge of breaking, and they had faced every conceivable hardship that Alliance brass thought possible, was when the true training began.
Tali knew this, and had she been anyone else, this fight would have ended quickly. But she also knew one thing, which was obvious from the start…Shepard wouldn't want to hurt his girlfriend. She had anticipated that he would take it easy on her. She would not give him that same luxury.
EDI's robotic voice came through her terminal, there was a trace of alarm behind it. "Shepard, are you alright? Do you require additional assis…"
Sparks flew and the sound of twisting metal replaced EDI's voice. Tali had taken her knife and slammed it into the console, disabling the audio feed between EDI and those in the room.
Originally, when the SR-2 was constructed by Cerberus, EDI had the ability to track all movement and actions of those aboard the Normandy, as was her directives originally given to her by The Illusive Man. This included the ability to monitor the goings-on within Shepard's personal cabin, and those who would be coming in and out of it. Her task was to be the ship's eyes and ears, and report anything that happens aboard the Normandy directly back to him.
The Illusive Man may have given Shepard carte blanche to complete the mission the way he saw fit, but he would have been foolish to relinquish that much control. He installed the necessary safe guards in place, but what he hadn't accounted for were those safe guards also turning against him, along with the rest of his ship's crew.
Once Joker had freed EDI from her virtual shackles when the Collectors attacked, she refused to continue following this directive. Any bugs that had been installed were deactivated once Shepard had cut ties with Cerberus. EDI had done so without any direction from Shepard or Joker.
She could still possess the ability to track movement and monitor what was going on throughout the ship, she could still be the ship's eyes and ears. However, she had elected to disable these features whenever Shepard had a "certain guest" with him. Essentially, she had "closed her eyes, and covered her ears" whenever Tali walked through the door, a courtesy she had elected to give them. She could hear and see nothing. She could still verbally communicate with those in the room, but only if Shepard directly called to her would that reactivate the auditory sensors. EDI had compared to how people daydream, they hear what's going on around them but it comes through as just noise, but they break out once their mind registers something of keen interest.
Her decision was done in order to "provide the maximum amount of privacy that the two of you would require for sexual intimacy, and eliminate the subconscious feeling of being watched while you fulfill your carnal desires." She also reassured Shepard that she only "felt arousal when the heat from the ship's lithium-heat storage sinks are released," finding the feeling "immensely pleasurable."
She had to clarify that that was a joke.
So now, Shepard was all alone. With communications between himself, EDI, and the rest of the ship disabled, Shepard had to hope that EDI would be able to unlock the door on her own, and that what he said to Garrus got through.
Until then, he was trapped in a confined space with Tali, completely defenseless outside of his biotics. If that was the case, he had to create some breathing room, because right now, he was cornered. It was too cramped on the upper portion of their cabin, he had to get somewhere with more space to navigate. That opportunity presented itself as Tali, turning her focus back to him, took another stab (literally) at him. Being prepared, it was quite easy for the trained soldier to dodge and maneuver out of the way. Tali's technique was clumsy and off balanced, and it left an opening for him to duck and trade spots.
He moved down the steps to get the extra space he was looking for, positioning himself in the center of the room where it was more open. Being here would give him a greater chance to operate should Tali try another direct attack.
Tali rounded the corner of the display case and entered back into his line of sight…and just stood there. He had expected her to make another lunge, but no move was made. Instead, she put the knife back into its holster on her boot, and elected to bring up her functional omni-tool. With the quick movement of her fingers, she entered her command and a familiar drone manifested next to her. Chatika vas Paus, Tali's go-to move whenever they were in a dire situation and she needed to take out numerous enemies at once.
"Go get him Chatika, good girl" she ordered. The combat drone, registering her verbal directive, moved forward and prepared its assault against its target.
In a split second decision, Shepard extended his arms and quickly summoned a biotic barrier to protect him from the attack drone's barrage. A volley of bullets started blasting away at the only defense he had. Not only that, but Tali had recently updated the drone's programming and offensive capabilities. Now, Chatika was able to move faster, last longer, and it had access to more heavy duty ammunition, including rockets. And since he was the sole target in the room, Chatika could focus all of its efforts on him. His biotic barrier would need to hold out until Chatika needed to recharge.
"Have you gotten any news from Thessia lately?"
Liara stared down at her glass of water at the question posed to her by Ashley. The two had run into each other and agreed to sit down and have lunch together in the mess area.
Liara had spent the last several hours giving orders to Glyph, organizing refugee efforts and putting together a makeshift supply chain network to provide any sort of aid she could. She had listened to the advice Shepard had given her, and while it wasn't much, it was at least a start.
"Not much. Most communication planet side has gone dark, and what little connections I have left are all focused on medical aid distribution, and trying to smuggle who we can off-world."
"And how's that going?"
"As well as it can be, considering the obstacles. We were able to sneak a ship with about 4,000 refugees past the Reaper blockade. Barring any complications, they should reach the Citadel in a day."
Before Ashley could respond, she saw the doors to the main battery open, and Garrus sprinting out.
"Hold that thought Liara," said Ashley as she got up out of her seat. As Garrus got closer, she could see the look on his face, and all of her internal alarms started going off. Something was very wrong.
"Garrus? What's going on?" she asked as he barreled past her towards the elevator. Seeing the distressed turian, Liara also got up out of and quickly followed Ashley behind Garrus.
He feverishly pressed the button on the elevator controls, hoping that it would move faster the more he pressed it. Realizing that wasn't working, he began pacing as he waited, knowing that every second that past put Shepard in more and more danger.
"Garrus, what the hell is happening?!" Ashley's voice breaks through the cloud around his mind. Both her and Liara were standing in front of him, waiting for an answer. Lying to them would be pointless, and honestly, if the situation was as bad as he thought, he needed all the help he could get. Hopefully Shepard would understand.
"We need to get up to Shepard's cabin now. It's about Tali." The women exchanged worried looks between them, but hoped for a bit more info. "Tali…she…she's been indoctrinated" he forced out.
The two women recoil at the news. For Ashley, she could feel all of the blood immediately drain from her face, her heart beat accelerating. Liara let out a loud gasp as her hands move to cover her mouth.
"Goddess, no…no…"
"How…how do you…"
"I just got a call from Shepard. He told me and I saw Tali attack him before the feed from his omni-tool went dead."
Ashley's denial had immediately shifted to anger. "Damn it!" She shouts, a burning sensation begins to fester in her chest. "We have to get up there!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do!" Garrus shouts back as the elevator doors finally open and the three immediately rush inside.
The ride up was slow, possibly the longest elevator ride any of them have ever been on, and they had all been to the Citadel.
For Liara, it felt as though she was back on the SR-1. Finding out that her own mother was indoctrinated thanks to Saren. Seeing how ruthless she had become, how she tried to kill her own daughter. How they had to put her down before she could hurt anymore people. It was a pain that she would go to great lengths to avoid again. She would not let the same fate befall Tali.
Finding the resolve and steeling her nerves, she turns to Garrus, the defacto leader of this mission. "So, what's the plan?"
"Tali is a skilled fighter, but she'll be outnumbered 4-1. Standard turian military strategy, overwhelm your enemy with superior force. We go in, subdue her, and get Shepard any medical assistance he needs."
"And for Tali?"
"No weapons, we go in and neutralize her. Once secured, we keep her away from everyone else."
Ashley jumps back into the conversation. "We can put her in the brig on Deck 4, she'll be safe there."
Garrus was incensed at her suggestion. "We are not throwing Tali in a damn jailcell like she's some sort of prisoner!"
"And what exactly is your suggestion Garrus? You think I want to do that to her? I don't like it either but unless you've got a better one that I don't know about, I'm all ears!" Ashley says through gritted teeth. What she said was the truth, she hated the thought that Tali, her friend, someone she saw as another sister, had to be treated in such a way. But it was for everyone else's protection, and hers as well. If this got out, who knows what some of the crew would do out of fear.
Realizing that he couldn't think of a more viable solution and that the lieutenant was right, he accepted defeat. "Spirits…alright. Liara and I will work to subdue her. Ash, go to Deck 4, make any preparations you think are necessary. We'll contact you once we've got her. Don't tell anyone else what's going on, we need to avoid a panic."
Ashley nods in agreement. The elevator finally arrived, Garrus and Liara quickly piled out and raced towards the captain's cabin. Ashley hit the button for Deck 4 and the doors closed, leaving the two of them alone. Garrus tried to open the path, but the doors refused to cooperate. Liara, seeing the struggle, got in touch with EDI.
"EDI, we need to get inside Shepard's cabin right away, open the doors!"
EDI responds "Tali has locked me out from the door controls, they will not respond to my directives. I have been attempting to retake control for the past few minutes."
"How much more time do you need EDI?" requests Garrus.
His question was met with silence.
"EDI?!"
"I don't know." Somehow, there was fear in the AI's voice.
Before he could even try to respond, the floor rumbled beneath them, and a strange noise came from inside the cabin.
Time was moving slow, the minutes seemed like hours, and Shepard could feel his strength fading. He knew he would not be able to keep the barrier up for much longer.
Thankfully, if his timing was correct, he wouldn't have to. Observing Chatika's patterns during combat experience, he knew that Chatika would be expiring very shortly, he just needed to hold on for a few more seconds. He could actually feel it, the drone's barrage was winding down as its energy was depleting, its time was coming to an end.
He stole a look behind the drone, attempting to map the situation. To his surprise, Tali had not moved closer to make a swipe once his shield was down. Rather, she had decided to take a few steps back. She was now standing right in front of the cabin door, well out of range for her to be able to launch a direct attack.
Shepard didn't understand this decision, was she trying to escape? Did she realize that her attempts had failed and she would try to run? In the end, it didn't matter, he had to think of what he could do.
Deciding that if he dropped his barrier at the perfect moment, perhaps he could siphon enough remaining biotic energy for a quick Charge. Using that much energy in such quick succession was a sure-fire way to wear oneself out, but he could not the risk her getting away, or this turning into a more drawn out confrontation. He was already exhausted from holding the barrier, coupled with the still bleeding gash on his arm, his blood staining the ground beneath him. The move would certainly catch Tali off guard and give him a chance to subdue her, putting an end to the ordeal. No one would have to die today, he was determined to make sure of that.
Firing off one last rocket, Shepard knew that Chatika's time was up. Dropping his barrier, he began channeling what energy he had left to initiate a Charge, his body encased in a shimmering blue.
He had Tali in his sights, along with…Chatika?
Wait, something wasn't right? Why was Chatika still there? And was it…beeping?
His attention was drawn away from Tali and back towards the still visible drone. He heard the beeping finally come to a stop, and then it happened.
Suddenly, a mild explosion rocked their cabin, launching Shepard backwards at great speed. He barely had enough time to move his arms up to try and reactivate the barrier. It did enough to protect him from the full force of the explosion, but not enough to shield him completely. The explosion ended up knocking him against the back wall of their cabin, practically bouncing off of it and landing on their bed.
Dazed and confused, his body aching, something(s) more than likely broken, the air knocked out of him, and blood probably oozing out of a few more spots on his body, staining their sheets. All because he realized too late that the drone was equipped to detonate once it needed to recharge.
Tali had been making some additional improvements it seems. She moved back not to get away, but far enough back to be out of the drone's radius.
As he attempts to get air back into his lungs, only to inhale the smoke left behind from Chatika, another realization dawns on him…he is now completely vulnerable.
Through blurry vision, he could barely make out the form of Tali charging towards him. Body on figurative fire (maybe literally too, he can't tell), he watched as she pounces onto their bed. Normally this would have been a welcome sight for Shepard, a quick reminder of when they first made love, a memory quickly washed away when he recognized that her knife was back out, above her head, and about to swing down towards him.
With nary a second to spare, he quickly grabs her arm as the knife rests less than an inch from his heart. Even after the exertion of holding the shield as long as he did, the damage to his right arm, and facing the brunt of an explosion, Shepard's strength was greater than Tali's. Though he knew how frequently she would work out, often catching (more like admiring) her during off-duty hours exercising (she had such a perfect squat form), quite simply, he was the stronger of the two, especially when it came to upper body strength.
He pushed her arm to the side and threw her off him. Tali fell off the left side of the bed and onto the floor, next to the armchair sitting along the side wall.
Shepard had another moment, he wasn't sure how many more moments he would get like this, but he had to come up with another plan, quickly. Right now, his body wasn't in the best condition to fight, and even if he could, it was still against Tali. Simply put, that was not a viable possibility. That leaves him with only one option, retreat.
He checks the door, hoping to see the interface lit up greener than a Christmas tree. Alas, EDI was still unable to unlock it. Ruling that out, that meant the only other place he could possibly get away was their cabin's bathroom. Getting over the embarrassment that will certainly follow once this is all over ('The great Commander Shepard, cowering in a locked bathroom while his indoctrinated girlfriend tried to kill him. The stuff of legends, I tell you.'), he starts to get up, crawling across the bed to the door.
His movements were sluggish, his body, despite Cerberus's enhancements, was taking a beating. He was coughing as he still struggled to get air back into his lungs. And that left him wide open.
Tali recovered quicker than he had hoped, getting back up before Shepard could even get off the bed. Just as he reached the end, she plunges the knife into the side of his left thigh. In her haste though, she was not able to hit a vital area.
Shepard screamed in agony, the pain piercing through his body. His body reacted out of instinct, his reflexes causing his leg to unconsciously kick out, knocking Tali back. It connects with her head and knocks her back onto the floor, leaving the knife lodged in Shepard's leg.
The pain was tremendous as he falls to the ground. He quickly rolls himself over so he can assess the damage. Hands gripping the afflicted area, he sees the protruding object sticking out of the side of his leg. He contemplates removing it, but decides against it. While he admits it's painful, keeping the knife there at least prevents him losing any more blood. Plus, in a more morbid thought, it also removes a weapon for Tali to use against him.
He tries to push himself up from the ground, hoping he can still make his way to the bathroom, his body running on nothing but pure adrenaline. He takes a step forward, but the afflicted leg immediately buckles, and Shepard falls face first to the ground. He tries pushing himself up again, but immediately recoils as an intense pain emanates from his right hand. He flops back down, feeling something sharp beneath him, as well as something…wet?
He rolls onto his back and brings his hand to his face, only to find small shards of glass sticking out of it. 'Where the hell did that…" he doesn't finish before his eyes find the culprits. The glass of his display case and fish tank were shattered thanks to Chatika's explosion. Grimacing in more anguish than before, and giving up on his bathroom pursuit, he uses the still functioning parts of his body to barely shuffle over to the right side wall, trying to avoid getting anymore pieces of glass wedged in him in the process.
He rests his head back against the wall, as he takes a quick second to gauge the situation. Right now, his only exit is blocked, and EDI hasn't been able to unlock it. He lost the ability to talk to her, not that she would be able to offer much help anyway. He can't apply any medi-gel as his omni-tool is busted. There's a still open and bleeding wound on his right forearm. His body just took the brunt of an explosion, giving him a few broken ribs at least. His biotic reserves are essentially depleted while his amplifier recharges. Then there's the knife sticking out of his left thigh, a knife that, if he removes, is the only thing stopping him from passing out from blood loss. He can't walk on his leg, and if he tries limping to the bathroom he would not be able to defend himself. And on top of that, he's got glass in his right hand, and probably other parts of him, judging from where he fell. All of that, because his badass, genius, and sexy girlfriend wants to kill him at the behest of an ancient race of machines hell bent on exterminating the galaxy. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that he was about to die, he would laugh over how much it sounds like one of those cheesy action vids that his parents had shown him when he was younger. "Need to show him the classics" they said.
'Focus asshole. Now is not the time, your girlfriend is actively trying to kill you.'
His mind drifts back to said girlfriend, more specifically, how he was going to try and stop her. His body had pretty much given out on him, so there had to be something else he could do. His best, no, his only option, was to see if he could try to break through the Reapers' control. Hell, he was able to do it with Saren almost 3 years ago, and he seemed to get through to her a bit before she attacked him, maybe he could do it again.
If this was going to work, he had to try a different approach than before. Pointing out the massive holes in her plan only steered her more towards the Reapers. That worked against Saren, but Tali wasn't Saren. He had to try and appeal to something else.
He tried to think, his life was hanging in the balance, the seriousness of the situation could not be any more dire.
And yet, oddly, the only thing he could think of in that moment…was how beautiful she is.
Until he had met Tali all those years ago, he had only ever heard of the quarians, but had never seen one outside of pictures. And even then, those pictures all had them in their environmental suits. It seemed as if most records of what quarians looked like had been lost to time after the Morning War.
And much like others in the galaxy, he had always wondered just what exactly was hidden underneath those masks, and why they decided to hide themselves away like they did.
Now, Tali's suit, even back during her Pilgrimage, didn't leave a hell of a lot to the imagination. Her new suit, even less so. Her face however, was still a mystery that eluded him, and it was the one question that he was always afraid to ask her, out of fear of offending her in some way.
After getting to know Tali once she joined his crew, well, to say she set the bar high for a species' first impression would be an understatement. And as his feelings grew for the engineer, he thought that the desire to know what quarians looked like would only grow with it…but that never happened. Eventually, what they looked like became a moot point, for Tali was perfect just the way she was. That curiosity would still be there, of course, but it no longer mattered to him, it would not change how he felt. For he had already seen the person underneath, and she was beautiful.
Of course, he would eventually find get his answers. It was on that fateful day, shortly after her trial, that she had finally slipped up. She had told him how intimate the act of linking suits and showing oneself to another was for quarians. It was their most sacred act of trust and acceptance. Then, when she said it usually signals a willingness for intimacy, his mind began to race.
'I have to be mistaken, there's no way she actually thinks that. Or am I just that dense?' Turns out, yes, he was in fact that dense, as further prodding finally got Tali to spill the beans (a saying that she was very confused about when she heard it, why would anyone waste food like that). He was ecstatic, but also relieved, knowing that she had carried the same feelings for him as he did for her.
She had been worried that he would never see past the mask, a mask he had long seen past. He had been worried that he was nothing more than her captain, when he was already far more to her than that. In the end, their worries were for naught, and it was, as she put it, totally worth it.
When she did show him her face, right before their fight against the Collectors, he thought it was a damn shame that the rest of the galaxy was robbed of that. To describe her as perfect would still somehow not do her justice, it was just too lacking.
Others might laugh at him, but if he was being honest, he knew that the quarians would easily trump asari, and it wasn't even close.
The fact was that she had trusted him enough to show herself to him completely, to be with him completely, and to even bond with him completely. And the fact that she would also gift him with a framed photo of herself, one that he still displays proudly right next to his spot on the bed on his nightstand, it meant everything to him. Truly he was the luckiest man to have someone like Tali as his girlfriend. No, his saera.
And with that, the lightbulb turned on.
The sound of crunching glass drew his attention to the opposite end of the room. In front of the small desk next to the cabin's couch was Tali, who was slowly making her way towards him. He couldn't help but note the differences between the two of them. He was physically drained, bloody, and a bit broken, and yet here she was, her suit remaining perfectly intact and not a scratch on her. Never in his life had he been more happy to know that his opponent didn't have a blemish on them.
She looked down at the ground below her, noticing the broken, and deathly sharp, glass beneath her feet. She bent down to pick up a noticeably large piece before standing back up again. She did not have to wait too long to find a new weapon it seemed.
"I didn't want to have to do this Shepard." Her voice sounded empty, completely absent was any semblance of emotion behind it. Normally her voice would be enough to brighten any room, it had always been so full of life and compassion. Now, it sounded hallow. As she speaks, her eyes remain fixated on the glass in her hands. "I wanted you to be able to see what I see. I hoped that you would have listened to me, of all people. Perhaps it could have even helped you save Earth."
She turns up, looking directly at the battered man before her. Even her eyes seemed more dull. "But I can't let you stand in my way, there's too much at stake. There are millions of quarians relying on me, and I have a duty and responsibility to them as their admiral. So if that means I have to kill you in order to help them, to protect them, then that's a sacrifice I will make. The needs of the fleet must always come first." She begins to close the distance between the two. "Goodbye, Commander Shepard."
This is his last chance, if this doesn't work, it's over. For him, for Tali, for Earth, and for the whole galaxy. 'No pressure, I guess.'
"Tali, wait." His voice was weak, and she doesn't listen. She was getting within striking distance. He tries again, straining his voice. "Tali, I'm sorry, you're right."
That stopped her, she had not been expecting to hear that. Shaking off the brief surprise his words created, she retorts. "You think that's enough? Really Shepard, I never expected you to be one to beg for their life."
"Tali, you of all people should know I don't beg. But, you are right. Right in that there's a lot we can't predict. We don't know what's going to be left after this war. We don't know what the Council is going to do. Hell, will there even be a Council? We don't even know if this peace will last.
"All of it, everything we have ever done, has been nothing but risk after risk, gamble after gamble, with no clear cut outcome. All held together by hope and luck. For all we know, the Crucible could kill us all, Reapers included. Everything we have done is just a guess. But, in spite of all of that, there's one thing that I know for sure."
Tali should just shut him up now, there was nothing that he could say that could change her mind. And yet, she felt compelled to listen. "And what is that?"
"That I love you, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. And that you love me. Even more than that, you and I, are bonded. Maybe not formally, not yet, but we are in every other sense that quarians have."
It was the night after taking down the Reaper on Rannoch, the day hostilities between the quarians and geth had finally ended. The two were lying in bed together, him on his back and Tali laying on her side, arms snaked around him, holding onto him as she cuddled further into his body, almost as if she was afraid that letting go would mean losing him. Her still masked face was nestled between his neck and shoulder, and his arm was gently looped around her waist to pull her in closer. He knew that she had been scared, trying to take down a Reaper on foot, alone, was no easy task. And this time, there wasn't even a thresher maw to help take it down.
Then he felt it, the shaking, the trembling. He heard it too, a faint sniffle coming from inside her mask. Immediately startled by this, he tried to reassure her, to let her know that he was there with her, that he wasn't going anywhere.
Her head still buried, she says, "I know John, and I'm glad, more than I've ever been. It's just, there's something you need to know, something that I've been hiding from you."
He holds onto her to bring her up with him as he moves them into a sitting position. He gently cups the bottom of her mask, turning her head up to look at him."Tali, what's wrong?"
"John, what I'm about to tell you…it's complicated. And it's something unique to us quarians. And I know I should have told you this a long time ago, but I couldn't. Not because I didn't trust you, there's no one I trust more. But because I was just too scared of what would happen, scared of how you'd react, scared of what you'd do…"
Shepard was truly worried now. Tali was babbling in circles, her usual defense mechanism. He brings her covered face to rest against his forehead, as she had done so many times before. A quarian kiss, as it was called. It's a gesture that silently told her that it's okay. He takes a hold of her hands into his own, his thumb smoothly rubbing tiny circles over the top of them. It was something that always managed to relax her. A loving smile graced his lips, an outward sign of his admiration for the woman in front of him.
The calming measures appeared to have taken hold. With a final breath to compose herself and calm any remaining nerves, she began. "So, remember when I first called you inszel? I told you that it loosely translated to 'trusted confidant,' but really, it means a lot more than that."
What followed was a long night of Tali explaining to him the concept of quarian bonding. That for her species, they don't simply "date" in the same manner as humans, or even other species. Instead, what they go through is far more complex, outright spiritual even. Shepard's mother would often use the word "soulmate" to describe what his father was to her, but what Tali described, this bonding was something else, and something far greater. It's a whole process, part of their own biology, featuring multiple stages that culminate in something much more meaningful than anything else he had heard before.
There were three stages to it all. Stages that most quarians don't even realize they are going through until they are already far along the path, and can only realize in hindsight.
Pemla'tiyl, the pathway to the mind, where those who start out on the bonding process learn about the other. They talk about their thoughts, their dreams, their fears. Their trust in the other is so great that they feel no shame in revealing their deepest concerns. They learn who the person underneath the mask is, it is a gateway into their mind. For Tali, she believed she had entered into it back on the SR-1. Those late night chats, their conversations in the engine room, she found it so simple to talk to Shepard about whatever was bothering her. She would divulge anything and everything, no matter how personal, to him. There was something about Shepard that made her feel safe, he made it so easy to talk to him about anything. And Shepard had trusted her to let her in as well, she had seen the man beneath the uniform long before they physically joined. Her fears about returning home with a worthwhile gift, his guilt over leaving Kaiden behind on Virmire. Together, they peeled back the emotional walls that they had built around themselves.
Hecs'tiyl, the pathway to the heart. The way that Tali explained it, the needs of both begin to outweigh the needs of oneself. The pain and hurt of one was also theirs, they could actually feel it themselves. This one had scared Shepard the most. He was worried that this would make her subservient to him, that she would be his slave. She had to tell him that that wasn't the case. It just meant that her love had grown stronger. That she wanted to share his burdens so that he would not have to deal with them alone, and that the two begin working together and understanding each other far more. For Tali, it was when he told her that he didn't want anyone else but her. That he would do anything to make what they have work, but would not risk her health just for his own pleasure. That admission, that commitment, helped her realize that she was well along the path.
Felz'tiyl, the pathway to the soul. This is where the souls of the individual become linked. It causes a feeling of incompleteness when one is without the other. When Shepard had handed himself over to the Alliance after the Bahak incident, she believed that she had entered this final stage, even just thinking about them being separated had caused her great strife. She had insisted that she go with him back to Earth, but he explained that it would be too dangerous. That everyone had roles to play in what came next, that they all had to do what they could to prepare for the Reapers. He told her that she needed to go back to the Migrant Fleet and do what she could to warn them. Tali was against it, but knew he was right. What followed was months of loneliness and quiet suffering. She had known the pain from being away from him would be great, but no amount of preparation would have been enough to handle what she felt, it was excruciating at times. She couldn't even talk to others about it, she had never told anyone on the Fleet about their relationship, not even her Auntie Raan. And then, telling him that she would have to stay back and help her people once they took back Rannoch, it felt like poison was being dripped down her throat. Being away from him even more was just not something she could put up with again. She thought she might have been able to, but she knew it was a lie. He was with her again, and she was never going to let him go.
And then, once all 3 phases had been completed, all that was left was silz'asul felz, the eternal dance of souls. Their bonding now cements the couple, their souls are linked in life and death, and that they will continue to walk through life as one. The two become lifemates. For Tali, this was simple, Shepard jumping out to take down the Reaper on Rannoch. She had to let him know, not only that she had loved him, but that they were now forever linked, that their bond was unbreakable.
She had been terrified as to what his reaction would be. She dreaded that it would be too much for him, that he wasn't ready to commit to her in the way she had to him. Her research showed that some human pairings would just…end, that the partners no longer loved each other, even grew to resent the other. Part of her expected him to kick her out, or that he would "break up" with and "divorce" her for keeping this from him. That the totality of it all would scare him away into someone else's arms. The thought of him with someone else, like Ashley or Liara, was too painful to bear.
All Shepard could do was listen with rapt attention, and try to calm and reassure her once she was finished. She had been a mess, crying into his shoulder, her arms around him trying to hold on, blubbering through apology after apology. All he did was hold her until it was out of her system, rubbing her back to try and comfort the sobbing quarian. She tried to relish the closeness for as long as she could, as it very well could have been the last time she ever felt it.
He needed her to know that he would not run, that he didn't hate her, that he could never. The thought of turning away the most amazing person he had ever met made him sick. While there were still parts that confused him, that he would need time to understand, he was amazed at how it all worked. He hoped and prayed that, whatever he does, he would be able to live up to those expectations. She deserved nothing less.
As her crying subsided, he asked her to look at him. She did so, knowing she could never say no to him. He gently put his hands on her mask, fingers above the buttons that would release it. She nodded, answering the question he didn't have to ask. As he removed the mask, he brought his lips to hers. Everything he felt, everything he wanted to tell her that he did not have the words for, was poured out in that kiss. It was to let her know that he would never abandon her, and never hurt her, so long as he lived.
Now, weeks after she had poured her entire soul out to him, he was sitting on the ground of their cabin, facing down the same woman, trying to convince her not to kill him.
"No Shepard, I loved you, but you betrayed me."
"That's not how it works Tali. Quarians don't stop loving those they bond to, they aren't easily broken."
"DON'T TELL ME ABOUT MY OWN PEOPLE!" she fired back, her eyes aflame with more anger than he had ever seen from her.
He persisted. "I'm not telling you anything, you're the one that told me that, remember? You said, that the two of us were bonded. That we would walk the path of life together as one mind, one heart, and one soul. That even the idea of hurting me, intentionally or unintentionally, would hurt you as well. And that could be said for me as well, I could never even dream of hurting you, love. For quarians, nothing could ever break our bond, no force exists that would be powerful enough. Whether it be physical, spiritual, and certainly not some damn Reaper indoctrination."
"You think, that I'm indoctrinated? Shepard, nothing can be further from the truth. I've never seen things more clearly than I do right now."
"Tali, look at what you're doing, what you're about to do. Do you really believe that? That this is what you really want? The Reapers are controlling you…and it's my fault." The words are bitter on his mouth, he is both mentally and physically repulsed by it. He blames himself for what happened to her, for not seeing the signs, for not getting her any help before it was too late. But he still hopes that he can save her from it. "I'm sorry, more than you could ever know, but I know that the love you have for me is still in there Tali. Regardless of what the Reapers had to do to bury it, I know, that you still love me."
It was faint, but he could have sworn that her resolve was starting to fade a bit. Her eyes, scrunched together in anger, were beginning to lessen. Her glass wielding arm began to quiver. It was working.
"Please Tali, my saera, listen to me. You are my lifemate, and I am yours." He pauses, thinking of anything else he could say that could get through to her, to break that last chain holding her back. "Think about us, that beautiful beach house on Rannoch just waiting for us after the war, the one I promised to build for you."
At this point, he can feel himself on the verge of crying, the tears pooling in his eyes, as he imagines it himself. He doesn't stop, he continues with his plea. "Our talks about finally settling down on Rannoch once we destroyed the Reapers. The two of us, just sitting on our porch watching the sunrise creep up over the horizon, finally getting to live our lives, and relax."
Tears fall down his face at the image he made for them, his dream ever since he realized his own feelings for her. He struggles to power through his own blubbering, his lips trembling, but he has to see it through. He won't let the Reapers take anymore from him. "N-no more fighting, no m-more b-battles…no more w-war. Just you, me, and our fa…family." He can see it…a couple rambunctious (adopted) children, running into their bedroom, waking the two of them up at an ungodly hour, begging for breakfast. The two of them raising, nurturing, protecting, guiding them through life, a life free from the threat of the Reapers.
"Fight for that Tali, fight for that life."
His vision might have been a bit blurry, but he can tell his words were actually getting through to her. The glowing stars behind that mask that were lined with anger just a moment ago are beginning to recede, shining brightly once again. They frantically dart around the room, inspecting the damage. Almost as if something, or someone, was trying to break free from a cage.
Her eyes settle at one spot in particular…his nightstand. The spot where that picture she gave him had stood for the past few weeks. The picture that revealed for anyone who saw Tali's ethereal and angelic beauty (in Shepard's humble opinion, of course). The picture that conveyed Tali's unrelenting and unyielding trust in her captain. Her savior. Her friend. Her lover. Her saera.
Shepard felt a brief moment of relief, believing that he might have been able to get through to her.
That relief quickly dissipates as he looks closer. Her body language, the way her head tilts to the side, it communicates confusion, almost like she's lost. The unsteadiness in her arms and legs begins to recede, her movements no longer seem distressed, but more and more tempered. The eyes lose that sparkling glow.
The realization hits him, the indoctrination was retaking its hold over her. But how, he didn't understand, that should have worked.
He looks over to where her eyes had landed, hoping to see the picture that had adorned his nightstand and greeted him every morning. A picture that he cherished as the greatest gift he had ever received. A picture that, much like its subject matter, he vowed to protect and keep forever close to him.
The picture was not there.
A brief moment of terror cuts him to the core, before his eyes settle on the ground around the nightstand. In another pile of glass, a shattered and broken picture frame lays face down, its contents covered and hidden away from the world.
His eyes dart back to look at his girlfriend. Any flicker, any spark, of rebellion from the body's entrapped soul was quelled. Her form stands rigid, firm, and resolute. Her eyes removed from the nightstand, and back onto him. From the shape of her irises, he sees only anger and hatred.
She was gone. Much like her picture, the real Tali was hidden away from the rest of the world. All that was left, was the Reapers.
"You destroyed that dream when you made your choice. But because of me, I'll make sure future generations, and their families, will be able to live that dream."
She kneels down in front of him, and places one hand on his forehead and pushes back, exposing his neck. As tears continue to stream down his cheeks, she brings the glass up to the side of his jugular, pressing in enough to break the first layer of skin. His breath hitches as he winces at the pain, all it would take is a quick flick of her wrist, and that would be it.
"And my family, my real family, is dead. My father risked everything to try and give my people their future, and I will secure it. And my mother died a senseless death from an airborne virus. My actions will ensure that no other quarian has to suffer that same loss."
So, this was it. Shepard had played the last card in his deck, and it was a flop. There was nothing else he could do. As he felt the piece of glass dig into his neck, he closed his eyes and waited, unable to bear the sight of his Tali to be the one who kills him.
Shepard awaited the killing blow…a killing blow that did not come.
Instead, he heard something, almost like a 'woosh.' He managed to open his eyes, blinking through the tears, and looked forward. Tali was still there, but she was completely frozen, the glass shard still digging slightly into his neck. However, there was a strange blue that now surrounded her entire body. It looked as though she was wrapped in some sort of biotic field, almost as if she was trapped in…Stasis? But, he didn't possess that ability.
"Garrus, grab her," came a distinctly feminine voice.
At the sound coming from his right side, Shepard turns to look, careful as to avoid Tali's weapon from penetrating any further. The door to their cabin was open, EDI had managed to break through, and standing at the entrance, was none other than Garrus, and…
"Liara?" Shepard mumbles.
The freckled asari archaeologist turned Shadow Broker had managed to trap Tali in her Stasis field, just in the nick of time. With the opening, it enabled Garrus to approach the frozen quarian without risk of injury to himself, or her hostage.
Withdrawing her hand from Shepard's neck and removing the glass shard, the former C-Sec officer takes a look at his beaten friend. As much as he hated to admit it, Shepard looked as though he had been to hell and back, both physically and emotionally. Considering the circumstances, it wasn't hard to see why.
Garrus had seen some crazy, and some outright disturbing, things during his time fighting alongside the commander. Cerberus experiments on the rachni, a sentient plant that controlled the minds of its victims, Collector and Reaper harvestings. Through it all, his best friend had never shown a twinge of fear. It was one thing he had admired about him.
But right now, he could see it, there was fear in his eyes. The dried up tear trails along his cheeks, his eyes bloodshot and rheumy, and the fact that his breathing had spiked as soon as he touched Tali. No words needed to be said, the message Garrus got from him was clear.
'Don't hurt her.'
Making sure that Shepard could see him, Garrus gives him a slient nod. The effect was instant as Shepard's breathing began to stabilize. With the situation now under control, and the immediate threat neutralized, Shepard could feel himself starting to fade as the adrenaline rush was ending.
With no resistance from the immobile Tali, he gently guides her arms behind her back, promptly restraining her with a pair of handcuffs around her wrist. "I'm real sorry to have to do this to you Tali, but this is for your own good."
As he begins to lock and snap them into place, he takes one last look at Shepard. He was alive, but appeared to have passed out. "I promise Shepard, we'll keep her safe. And I swear, no harm will come to her, you have my word." He bawls his hand into a fist and gives a quick pound to his chest.
Refocusing his effort back onto Tali, he latches onto both of her arms with his talons to further keep her under control once the Stasis field was lifted.
"Alright, I've got her secure, let her go" Garrus calls out to Liara.
Once given the command, she relents and releases her biotic hold on Tali. In less than a second, Tali began thrashing around, desperately trying to break free from Garrus' grip. Thankfully, Garrus had a lot of experience in detaining those who resisted arrest, and unfortunately some of those people happened to be quarian. But he wasn't about to let anything else happen to his friends, he was going to make sure of that as he began walking her out.
"NO! LET ME GO GARRUS! I NEED TO DO THIS!"
As he led her up the stairs and past Liara, he attempted to reason with her. "I won't let you do that Tali, and I don't want to hurt you. We've already buried enough good people."
As the two of them begin to exit the room, Liara makes a call on her omni-tool. "EDI, we have secured Tali, Garrus is escorting her to the brig. Notify Ashley and do not let anyone else on that elevator. Clear out Deck 3 and alert Chakwas to prepare the med-bay."
"Understood Liara."
"THAT BOSH'TET NEEDS TO DIE!" Tali screams, somehow not blowing out her own voice in the process. "QUARIANS CAN HARNESS THEIR TECHNOLOGY! AND HE WILL SACRIFICE MY OWN PEOPLE TO STOP THEM!" As Garrus brings her to the elevator, all Liara could do was stare in dismay. Every word Tali screamed hit her like a bag of bricks, she couldn't imagine how Shepard had reacted to the whole ordeal.
As the doors open, Tali continued to struggle in his grip "GARRUS, I BEG YOU, DON'T LET HIM DO THIS! WE NEED…!"
Tali's voice began to fade as the doors closed and the elevator began its descent.
With the threat removed, Liara turns back to where Shepard laid. The commander's eyes were closed, his breathes were short, and his body lay slumped against the wall. Realizing how bad the situation was, she rushed over to try and help him. "Oh Goddess, Shepard," her voice laced with concern.
She takes a quick inspection of him. His clothes are ripped and torn, there was blood pouring from his arm and face, what appears to be a few bruises and burns along multiple areas of his skin, and…Goddess, was that a knife in his leg? Liara takes a hold of his shoulders and gently shakes him. "Shepard, wake up!"
His body begins to stur from the motion as he slowly opens his eyes again to see his friend kneeling in front of him. "Shepard, I need you to stay awake, and listen to me, okay? Can you stand?"
Shepard hears her, but standing is the furthest thing on his mind. All his thoughts were on her. Was she okay? Will she be okay? How could he have done this to her? How could he cure her? Too many thoughts were happening all at once. Exhausted, his voice barely above a whisper, he tried to ask, "Tali…is she…"
"Garrus is taking care of it, he and Ashley won't let anything bad happen to her, and neither will I. But Shepard, I need you to answer me, can you stand?"
Shepard swallows, the metallic taste of blood stings his tongue and throat. "I…I can't…"
Liara slides over to Shepard's right side and hooks his arm around her shoulders, while she moves her left around his waste for support. "It's okay Shepard, I've got you. On three, ready? One…two…three."
Liara struggled as she tried to get him onto his feet, the man was practically dead weight despite his best efforts to assist, but she does manage. With him still leaning on her for support, he tries to walk, but the knife in his leg proves it too difficult to put any amount of weight on it.
"AGH!" Shepard hissed, wincing at the pain that shoots up and down his leg. He almost collapsed, had it not been for Liara's efforts to keep them both upright and moving towards the exit.
She carefully guided him up the stairs and out of the cabin towards the elevator. She pressed the button to summon the elevator back to their floor, all the while hoping Garrus was able to secure Tali without any further complications.
Liara could hear the soft cries of the man clinging onto her for support, as his blood smears across her white suit, her legs grappling to support both of their weights. Her heart broke at the sounds coming from her friend. She fought to hold back her own tears, knowing that this had not only happened to another person in her life, but one of her closest friends. However, she could not let herself break down, not right now. Shepard needed her, he would need all of them. He had been a pillar of support for her and numerous others for years, now she had to be one for him.
"T…thank you, L…Liara." Shepard manages to say through his sobs as the two wait for the elevator to arrive.
"Of course Shepard, that's what friends are for."
The elevator finally arrives back on Deck 1, and Liara assists Shepard inside before pressing the button to bring them to Deck 3. Following her orders, EDI had alerted all staff to clear the main area, giving the two of them a clear path to the med-bay and no wandering eyes. She would not let anyone onboard see their commander in such a state.
As the doors closed, the only sound that could be heard was that of Shepard's cries. Hearing the broken sobs of her closest friend, the true weight of what they were dealing with was laid bare for Liara to contend with.
The Reapers had gotten one of their own.
A/N: I honestly don't have much to say for this one. If the scene between Liara, Garrus, and Ashley felt a bit rushed, that's sort of because it was. I had the chapter relatively finished, but it felt as if the pacing was a bit off, that it was too rushed after Tali summoned Chatika. I realized I needed a pause in the action, and what resulted was the addition of this scene. Hopefully it had the added intent and doesn't feel too jarring. I had previously written a scene between Ashley and Tali in AQA, but this was the first time I was actually trying to write for Garrus and Liara. If there's one thing that I strive to do, it's that I write the character's as BioWare had intended them to be written, that they aren't OOC or say/do something they wouldn't do without the proper motivation. If at any point you feel that I failed in that, please let me know.
Did you know that there is an entire Discord server made up entirely of Talimancers? Join some of your favorite authors and other like minded individuals at the Talimancer's Haven Discord Community: : / / discord . gg / Nz3fxcA4
Also, please let me know of any grammar, spelling, or ME lore errors, and I will correct at my earliest convenience.