Radar Control Operator Ina'Mae vas Paltino stared passively at her screen while she kept an aimless conversation going with the sensors officer, Sahti'Mel vas Paltino.

"So. You see the human?" Ina asked as she looked up from her monitor.

"Nope." Sahti said with a shrug, "Why?"

"Ah. Just wondering."

"You know what? I did, actually." Sahti mollified as she pressed a few buttons on her terminal, "Right when they were boarding."

"And?"

"And what?" Sahti's brow rose, "Nothing else. I saw him. Big deal."

Ina shrugged. "I just think it's cool."

"No, I think you were checking him out."

"I was not."

"His legs are straight though," Sahti said as she shook her head, "and I, quite frankly, find it weird."

"Why does everyone say that?" Ina argued, sitting back upright in her chair, "What do straight legs have anything to do with it?"

"I don't know. It's just... weird." Sahti Shrugged.

Ina shook her head disbelievingly. "Wow Sahti. Never struck you as the shallow type."

"Shut it, Ina. You bosh'tet."

Mehl'Daykah, the astrogation officer, looked up from his computer and list of solar charts with a crooked brow. "Is there a problem you two?"

"Nothing important, Mehl." Ina said, turning her head to face the officer sitting behind them.

Mehl stared at Ina for a second longer before returning his attention to his maps.

Ina's monitor flashed and she whirled her head back around to face the offending light.

Oh. Shit.

Ina frantically read over the information splashing on her screen to make sure the pinging sensors weren't picking up some reflective silhouette of some passing asteroid or a radiation spike from a solar flare.

Nope.

This was the real deal.

"Captain!" Ina called out with a wide-eyed and partially frantic stare, "Passive radar just pinged a slipspace rupture on our starboard side. Frigate sized vessel running on parallel course bearing grid coordinates one eight seven seven two one niner three three."

Everyone on the bridge within ear shot of Ina turned to their captain.

Exiting out of slipspace and running along a parallel course just outside of weapons range wasn't a coincidence.

That was a mathematical impossibility.

And everyone knew what that meant.

They'd been followed.

"Ina," Captain Leena said, "bring it up on my screens." She turned to her first officer, "Tahl, bring the Paltino up to preparatory combat alert status and standby for further orders."

"Yes ma'am!"

She turned to her RCO and furrowed her brow darkly. "Is it the geth?"

"Unknown," Ina replied, "...but I wouldn't put it outside the realm of possibility."

Sahti spoke up. "Ma'am! We're being hailed!"

Everyone's brows shot up in surprise.

Geth didn't hail quarians.

They engaged them.

So whoever this was wasn't geth.

A huge relief, yes, but the question remained: Who the hell was that flying by them? In geth space no less?

They were about to find out.

"Bring it through then, Sahti." Captain Leena said calmly.

The hail patched through and Leena sat up in her chair to watch her screen.

"This is acting captain Miry Lawson of the Normandy SR2 of the Systems Alliance 72nd Kilo task force delta-six. Genuine IFF confirmed. Stand by for instruction, over."

...Wait. What?

Everyone on the bridge looked amongst themselves with concerned looks on their faces.

What the hell was the Systems Alliance doing here? Or better yet, why the hell were they telling them what to do?

"Stand by for instruction?" Leena said disbelievingly under her breath, "This is Leena'Dohn, Captain of the Paltino? What instruction? Over."

Miranda was quick to reply. "Our sensors indicate you house a high priority Alliance operative gone AWOL in your care. We need him back, over."

Leena was taken aback, including everyone else under her command.

The human in their care was still an Alliance operative?

"Uhm... er..." Leena stuttered completely at a loss for words, "...Acknowledged, Normandy... Uhm... What are you recommending we do? Over."

There was a sizable pause, and for the briefest of moments, Leena swore she could hear a turian, of all things, mumble something over the radio with the Normandy's acting captain.

"Is it possible for us to speak with him?" Came a bi-toned reply.

ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

Everything was fine and dandy until the Paltino's PA told the marines to get out of their seats and load their weapons for possible boarding action.

Just as John filled his chest rig with thermal magazines, a quarian opened the hatch to the cargo room and went straight to John.

"Commander." the quarian said as evenly as possible, "You're needed at the bridge. Now."

Tali's head cocked to the side as she set her shotgun down.

"Why?" John asked, visibly confused, but still starting to follow the quarian, "What's wrong?"

"You'll find out shortly. Now come on!"

Tali said nothing, waved to Juel and Olasie for them to stay here, and followed John out with the other quarian.

"No, I need to find out now." John demanded politely as they jogged down the hallway, "What is it?"

The quarian hadn't bothered even glancing behind him to give a reply, "The Alliance is here. And they want to speak to you."

John's confused expression grew two sizes. "What?"

Tali hadn't seemed any more confused than him. "John?"

"We'll find out when we get there." John said with a shrug as they take another turn before entering the bridge.

"Get him up here. Let's go!" the Paltino's captain yelled, "The longer we stay on this line, our chances of discovery grow! Move!"

John walked right next to the captain, with Tali in tow, and saluted her. "Reporting as requested, captain."

Captain Leena quickly returned the salute and stepped out of her chair. "Go ahead and sit, Commander. The Normandy wants to, ah, speak with you."

John gave the captain a deadpanned look, glanced at Tali for a second, and sat down in the chair.

"Uhm..." John could hardly talk through his frown, "This is Commander Shepard. Go ahead."

"Shepard!" Garrus greeted easily, "Nice to hear from you. How you feeling?"

"Christ, Garrus." Shepard's shoulders sagged slightly, "You really know how to make me worry."

Garrus managed to chuckle slightly before getting straight to the point.

"Don't know if you're already aware, but we're flying right beside you. Obviously."

"I'm aware." John replied, "But... what the hell are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for you. Took us a while. And the brass start asking questions when the quarterlies stop coming in from our captain." Garrus managed to say with an even-looking stare.

Captain Leena cocked her head to the side to stare at the human.

Commander Shepard was a captain too?

"Don't tell me you guys said I was AWOL." John played along when he realized several pairs of quarian eyes were staring at him.

"We might've let that slip." Garrus admitted, staring off screen for a second, "Nah, I'm just joking. But seriously. We need to pick you up."

"Pick us up?" Tali butted in and forced her tone a little louder than necessary, interrupting John's chance to reply.

Tali, clearly, wasn't impressed with the turian's timing.

Nor was she impressed that the Normandy, a Cerberus vessel, NOT an Alliance one, was flying next to them.

That was a smoking heat sink just waiting to get dropped into a tank of fuel.

"Garrus. We're on a mission." Tali said as she buried her wave of anger with a deep breath.

"Ah. Tali. Nice to hear from you!" Garrus said without a hint of disappointment in his voice, "Don't suppose we can make a trade?"

Tali crossed her arms and moved in next to Shepard to see Garrus on the monitor. "There isn't a deal out there that'll change my mind."

"Hmph. That's a problem."

"Uhm. Hate to intervene...? But I'd like to be made aware of what's going on?" Captain Leena said, leaning in too to see the monitor and the turian behind it.

Garrus looked at Captain Leena. "Our captain seems to be working with you. And it looks like you could use our help." Garrus said. There was a squabble behind the turian (no doubt from Miranda voicing her dissent) and he waved it off. "Would you care for some help?"

"No. We're quite capable, thank you." The captain replied as respectfully as possible. As well-mannered as her answer was, Leena wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of a human/turian jointed military vessel interfering with sensitive quarian affairs.

Even if the ship belonged to the man sitting in her chair.

It wasn't exactly a secret the quarians would prod around geth space... but it wasn't exactly common knowledge among the galactic community either. Nor was it ever deemed significant enough for any governing body from council races to investigate any further than necessary.

And besides, who was she, the captain of some small frigate, to decide such a matter? Decisions like that were left up to a body of admirals to decide. Not her.

Though, on the other hand, Shepard had sat down like all the others in the briefing. He knew of every detail and phase of their operation. And if the admirals trusted him enough, would that mean, by extension, they could also place trust in the Commander's team?

Optimistically speaking, yes. Military diplomacy between two 'nations' (The term was used loosely) or more accurately, between two races, or in this case, three races, was always a good thing. Having allies could make the difference between life and death.

An extra soldier to keep your backside company never hurt.

But, realistically speaking, Captain Leena faced the possibility of being reprimanded for accepting help from an outside source because she hadn't asked the higher-ups first.

Everything was a gamble.

When Leena faced the purple-suited one next Shepard, she knew the Tali girl had been thinking through the same thing.

"It's not our decision." Tali said to Garrus.

"Whose is it?" The turian asked.

"Admiral Gerrel's, really." She answered with a tight-lipped frown.

"Then ring him up and ask."

John stood up from the chair and offered it back to the Paltino's captain. "Ma'am," John began, "Using a broadband signal to connect to the Flotilla would be ill-advised. Given the nature of our mission and parameters you're limited to, It's best if we make the decision ourselves here and now as the situation dictates."

Leena sat down and thought over it all before looking at Tali and John. "And what would you recommend, Captain Shepard? It is, after all, your ship."

"Let them help you." John answered flatly, "They'll be invaluable."

Tali immediately disagreed.

But now wasn't really the time to voice an opinion that was going to dispute the issue.

John knew what he was doing. Which meant she would trust his intuition.

Leena took a deep breath. "Two frigates flying in tandem doubles our risk of discovery."

"Negative, Captain." Garrus advised, "Normandy's outfitted with an IES and onboard cyber suite. She's invisible to anything save a window. Stay close enough behind us and you can share some of it."

"Well. That would explain why my radar station didn't seem to be working." Ina the radar operator chimed in with a mumble.

"That sounds rather difficult to pass up… Very well." Captain Leena said with a blank stare and sigh, "Standby for parade formation; Transmitting to your VI. Invitation sent."

"Acknowledged, Paltino," Garrus replied, "We're receiving invitation. Handshake confirmed. Locking in to transit grid eight seven seven two five six eight two one. Stand by for recourse."

"Good to have you with us."

"I'd also like to request permission to see the Commander by use of shuttle, if at all possible, Captain." Garrus asked.

Leena rubbed her thumb and forefinger together. "...Permission granted. You'll be forwarded to my ATO for preparation of transfer. Stand-by." Leena said before cutting the channel and telling her ATO to get it situated.

John closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose to ingest what'd just happened.

The SR2 was here.

Which meant Cerberus was here.

John couldn't really shake the inkling feeling that the story he was forced into selling now would start falling apart pretty fast for anyone with an excessive sense of curiosity.

It wouldn't even be hard.

It was like hiding a murder weapon under a bunch of leaves in the middle of a park. It would only be a matter of time before someone would catch wind of all the holes in his story.

Then Captain Commander Zombie John Shepard still working for the Alliance and running away from Cerberus by seeking refuge on the quarian flotilla to hang out with his girlfriend even though he owned the fastest ship in the galaxy would be in a jail cell.

...Before getting summarily sentenced to dying out in void for a second time for not revealing the whole truth during a vital quarian military operation.

It almost made John laugh.

Almost.

At least he'd told the whole truth to Rael.

And while everyone on the ship was familiar that he was distancing himself from Cerberus, they didn't really know the finer details of what was going on.

He wanted to tell them everything... But that would make things absurdly complicated.

Not to mention it would make Rael look bad, him look bad, and Tali look bad.

But you know what? It was somewhat of a relief to see Garrus along for the ride with Joker at the helm and Chakwas in the infirmary. That much he could account for. So it wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, it didn't ease, much less stop, any of the worries he'd been nurturing. Nor did it stop any of the questions John was raising. Questions like, what happens if someone really does start asking questions? Or, more importantly, how did the Normandy find him?

John rolled the kink out of his shoulder and sighed. "Need me for anything else, captain?"

"No, Commander." Leena asnwered, "You're dismissed."

"Just one thing, ma'am, if you let me."

Leena tilted her head.

"Did they tell you how they found us?"

"Yes." Leena said as she pressed a few buttons on her terminal, "You left your transponder on and it pinged them right before entering our transit into Geth space..." She explained before giving him a look, "You should probably turn it off before it compromises our position."

He nodded to the woman and followed Tali out of the bridge before forcing a chuckle that wasn't happy.

A 'Transponder.'

Right.

When the door to the bridge closed behind them to make their way back to the bridge, they both sighed.

"You cannot believe how upset I am right now." Tali started with a frown.

"Completely understandable, given the circumstances." John agreed, "You thinking the same thing I'm thinking?"

"Yes." Tali hissed, "Punch that Cerberus bitch right in the face."

John laughed. "You're pretty close. But I'm really thinking we should search for the tracker right now."

Tali nodded and clapped her hands together. "Right. Much more productive idea."

"Where do think they would put something like that?"

"Well... considering they knew exactly where we were; I'd guess it's on you right now." Tali said as she got on her tippy toes to peer right into the insides of his shoulder pauldrons, "Look for something no smaller than my pinky, John."

"Your fingers are huge though." John said with a quirked brow.

Tali took a step back and looked at her fingers, tracking device forgotten. "What? No they're not."

"Your pinky's as big as my pointer, Tali."

She grabbed his hand and compared them.

"Huh. You're right."

Tali held his hand a little longer than necessary and shrugged.

Now that she thought more about it, she'd always paid more attention to the number of fingers he had... not really so much the actual size of them.

That should've surprised her, but it didn't.

"Not that I'm complaining, hun." He interrupted by raising her hand to kiss, "Your hands look just fine. I like them, personally."

"Why thank you." She cooed, "Anyways. Look for something no smaller than the end of my pinky, as I said. If they had to track a device light years away, they used comm buoys to do it. Which means an ample battery to power the thing and a powerful electrical suite. Ergo, something on your suit."

John sat down so she could get a better look out of his shoulder pads while he started checking the pockets in his chest rig.

Other than the stuff he'd loaded into them, they were empty of anything even remotely suspicious.

Omni-tool? No. He'd gotten a new one on Illium.

His radio issued by Cerberus? Of course not. He'd left it next to Jacob back on Freedom's Progress.

John was at a loss.

"Find anything yet, Tals?"

Tali shook her head and kept looking. "No. I'm not finding anything. Maybe it is smaller..."

"Any ideas then?"

She tapped her chin. "Where'd you get this armor?"

John's expression deadpanned.

"In a Cerberus locker… shit… you think—?"

"Here." She said before taking out her multi-tool, "Turn around, I'm checking your suit's onboard battery."

He did as instructed and turned around.

"You, uh, know what you're doing, hun?"

"Vaguely." She teased as she unscrewed the small panel on the left side of his back.

When she removed the plate of armor to get into the wires of his suit, she clicked her tongue. "...And there it is." She murmured before pulling out its wires, separating the device, and handing it to John, "Just as I thought. Hooked right up to your damn battery..."

"Too bad we hadn't known about it earlier..." He said disappointingly before shaking his head and playing with the weight in his hands, "We should've checked."

"We'll remember next time." Tali reassured.

John handed her the device back.

"There won't be a next time Tali." He corrected.

"Even better." She said as she pocketed the little dead tracker.

"Any reason you're keeping it?"

"I want to return it." Tali said with a cheeky smile, "It's only fair they get their stuff back."

ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ

John and Tali stood and watched the Kodiak enter the Paltino's docking bay before engaging its rheostat thrusters for a safe landing.

Ironically, if not comically, the sides of the white gleaming Kodiak were bare of any Cerberus markings.

As a matter of fact, it looked like they'd been sanded off and replaced with Alliance markings. John allowed himself a chance to shake his head all the same before looking to Tali, giving her a nod, and approaching the vessel.

"Ready to see Garrus?" John asked with one shallow sigh.

"It's been a long time." Tali admitted, "And I'd be lying if I hadn't missed him a little..."

Olasie, who'd volunteered her squad for Garrus' arrival, sent several of them to flank the ship while the rest had watched from a steady distance away.

They weren't pointing guns at the shuttle... but it never hurt to be too careful.

"Just a second..." Garrus said over the Kodiak's loudspeakers, "I'll be right out."

"Take your time Garrus," John answered, "We're in no rush."

He leaned into Tali. "Nervous?" he whispered to her.

She scoffed slightly before dipping her head and staring at the floor. "Maybe."

"It's Garrus."

"I know." She said before staring at him, "But I don't know if I want to hug the bosh'tet or punch him in the face."

"When in doubt, Tali, It's always both." He grinned.

"Not helping." She mumbled.

The Kodiak's doors hissed open and out stepped a rugged looking turian in blue armor.

"Here I am." Garrus said with a wide grin.

"Damn Garrus." John walked right up to the smug looking turian and gave him a rough pat on the shoulder, "You really look no worse for wear."

"It's only been close to two years." Garrus said as he nodded before looking past Shepard to the quarian behind him.

"Tali."

Tali walked right up to turian, gave him a square look in the eye, and hugged him.

"I forgive you." She said simply.

Shocked, Garrus returned the hug and stared at Shepard giving him a little shrug and tight smile. It was the human's way of saying 'you're lucky she's not pissed at you' look.

So no slap to the face or an onboard EMP to his suit's electrical suite.

Well, that went better than Garrus expected.

According to Liara, there was supposed to be a fallout to pay for what she'd done to Tali.

Apparently not.

"...Thanks, Tali."

"You're still an asshat." She said before separating from the hug and stepping in next to John.

"So, what now?" John asked.

"Well, I guess you can introduce me to whoever needs it. And then we can talk about important things."

John nodded. "And after that?"

"You two come to the Normandy with me."

John took a deep breath. "I'm going to need some major convincing before I step foot on that ship."

Garrus stared at him for a moment.

"How many people were on Freedom's Progress, Shepard?"

John didn't meet his gaze.

"This is a matter of helping millions."

"It's always a matter of helping millions." Tali said, crossing her arms, "It isn't a question of helping them. It's the question of whom you're doing it with, Garrus."

All Garrus could do is shrug. "I don't know what to say, Tali."

"We'll talk more about it later, then." John said.

Tali waved over Olasie and Juel who'd been watching from the other side of the cargo bay.

When they finally came over, Tali introduced them. "Olasie, Juel, this is Garrus. He's an old friend of ours."

"Heard a lot about you, Mr. Vakarian." Juel introduced politely.

"Most of it good, I'm assuming?"

"Most of it, yes." Juel replied with a small smile.

"And this is Olasie." Tali brought Olasie a little closer, "She's under Prazza's platoon. She was with me when we found John."

"Nice to meet you." Olasie said.

"Always a pleasure to meet a flattering lady."

Olasie blushed. "Ehm... t-thanks."

Garrus turned back to John. "I think now's a good time to bring you to the Normandy. At least to see it."

"Is Miranda and Jacob on it?"

Before Garrus answered him, Juel and Olasie both look at each other before staring exasperatedly at both John & Tali.

"Wait." Juel held up a hand, "What in dirty fuck is going on? Miranda and Jacob work for Cerberus."

"Why the hell are they on that ship?" Olasie asked disbelievingly.

Tali immediately faced the two and gave them harsh looks. "We're in a very delicate situation right now. Do not speak of it. Because I won't say anymore. At least not until we're somewhere where we can talk about it more openly. Got it?"

Olasie sighed and shook her head. "…Fine."

"Okay." Juel huffed.

"Yes is the answer to your question, Shepard." Garrus said, lingering his stare for a while longer on Juel and Olasie before looking back to John.

John bit his lip. "Well. That's gonna be awkward."

Tali actually laughed. "Why? Because we ditched them?" Tali slapped his shoulder playfully, "No. It's sending them a message, John. It tells them you can't be manipulated into their bullshit."

"See? That's a good way to look at it." Garrus encouraged.

"Tali?" John crossed his arms and looked at her, "What do you think?"

She looked at the Kodiak and chewed on her lip. "Well. If Joker and Chakwas are there too… then… I guess it's okay…"

"If you have people on the ship you trust…" Juel drifted off.

"Want to tag along?" John asked him.

He shook his head instantly.

"No. I mean—I do, but it's Cerberus. And I don't want to intrude on something like this."

"Intrude?" Garrus laughed, "You know, we've got a salarian biologist there that would absolutely love your company. You and Olasie can get a tour."

"Olasie?" Juel nudged her shoulder, "What do you think?"

"Why not. Live a little, right? Terrorist organization or not."

"Then I guess I'm on board with the idea." Juel said as he clapped his hands together, "So we're leaving now then?"

"Step right in." Garrus said by waving his hand.

Olasie called out to Talukh on the other side of the deck. "Hey. I'm leaving with Tali and will be back in a bit. Tell Prazza please!"

"You got it, Olasie."

When they all stepped inside, Garrus sat at the helm and closed the Kodiak's side doors before grinning widely at his passengers. "Tali? John? You're going to love the new Normandy. Believe me. And I've got surprises for both of you that you can't pass up. Well, two for Tali. Wait. Make that three."

"Three presents?" Tali asked, surprised, "You got me three things?"

"Just wait." Garrus dismissed before picking up the radio and calling for the Paltino's ATO for permission to leave their docking bay.

While Garrus talked, Olasie and Juel conversed quietly while Tali leaned slightly into John.

"Keelah, John. So many problems to deal with... but at least we've got each other."

"Even with the strings attached, I would agree." John said with a smile before putting an arm over her shoulder and leaning back to get more comfortable.

"You set back there, Garrus?" Shepard called out.

"Almost. Just waiting for the captain to give us the green to go."

"She's probably wondering why you want to leave right after you arrived. It's only been four minutes." Juel said aloud.

"Probably." Garrus said with a shrug before noticing he'd just gotten his go ahead, "But she seems okay with it. Ready everyone?"

"Ready." Tali said with a slight smile.

"Then we're away." Garrus pulled the Kodiak around and disembarked from the Paltino back to the Normandy.

The inky blackness of space enveloped every window the Kodiak had.

When the dome lights dimmed, Garrus decided he go straight to business.

"You trust your friends, Tali?" Garrus asked, turning his head slightly to look at them.

Tali didn't even have to think about it. "Of course. With my life."

"How much do they know already?"

"Juel's a bit more in the loop than Olasie, so we're going to have to get her caught up." Tali answered before staring at both of them, "What we're about to tell you can not leave us. Got it?"

Juel and Olasie nod diligently.

Tali leaned in. "The Normandy is not Alliance."

"Oh wow. I never would've thought." Olasie uttered, shifting rather uncomfortably in her seat, "Why are they here, though? What is Cerberus trying to do?"

"Believe it or not, they're here to help. Really." John said with a hoarse sigh, "And the ship's technically mine... and they want me back..." Shepard included.

"Okay, so you weren't lying about being the captain of the ship." Olasie said, partly nonplussed, "But why do you have a turian and salarian as part of the crew?"

"We're picking up people along the way to help us stop the Collectors." Garrus piped up.

"You mean, to stop their abductions?" Juel asked.

Garrus simply nodded. "Yup."

"And it's all backed by Cerberus." Olasie finished as she started piecing together the puzzle.

"Exactly. It's a well-intentioned cause. But..." John drifted off.

"What John's trying to say, is that he's not up for the idea of partnering up with a terrorist organization." Tali finished for him.

"Bingo." Shepard mumbled.

"Like I said. It's a delicate situation." Tali craned her neck and rubbed it stiffly.

"Delicate?" Juel scoffed, "This is razor right over an eye."

"That's quite the analogy." John breathed with a grumble.

"And we're trusting these guys to help us for the next week in the Dohlen system?" Olasie stood up and started pacing.

"Olasie? Sit down. I've done the pacing myself enough already." Tali said with a shrill sigh, "I've thought it over a million times already, and, unfortunately, the bigger picture has to come first. At least for right now."

"Odd, coming from you." Garrus interrupted.

She gave Garrus an acrid looking glare. "I still don't like it. Had we found the funds from an appropriate source, I'd have crammed Cerberus' offer right down their throats."

"I don't either, Tali. I would much rather take it straight to the Alliance." The turian argued, "But the politicking is stalling their ability to act effectively. Something all of us should be expecting by now, if experience says anything."

"Tragic." Olasie grimaced slightly, "If it's as bad as Mr. Vakarian says it is..."

"...Then there won't be any colonies left to save." Juel panned.

"It's the devil's advocate." John said quietly.

Shepard looked at Tali and gave her a distant look. "...You know we have to do this."

Her eyes gazed at the floor while she listened to the hum of the Kodiak's engine.

"I know." She murmured.

"And we all know the reapers could very well be behind this."

Tali closed her eyes harshly. "Keelah, John. That's the worst part."

"What are you guys going to do?" Juel asked, leaning in worriedly, "I mean, after this mission?"

"Stay on the Normandy." Tali answered before John could.

Garrus glanced behind him, completely shocked.

John was doing the same.

"Then I'm coming with." Juel said instantly.

"You don't have to feel obligated, Juel." John cautioned with a sad grin.

"But I do, Shepard." Juel countered.

"Aw, shit." Olasie face-palmed and shook her head, "I'd do the same... but I've still got a job."

"Maybe I can pull some strings." Tali suggested with a small smile, "We'll worry about it later."

"We're coming up to the Normandy now, guys. Now's the time to see her if you want to." Garrus said to his passengers.

They all step in behind the turian and get a view of the SR2.

Tali gasped.

Less than a kilometer away was the Normandy SR2 with its pearly white color contrasting darkly against the blackness of space behind it.

Cerberus or not, the ship looked good. Beautiful even.

"She looks better than the SR1..."

"Everything about her is better." Garrus rasped, "That's your first surprise Tali. You'll love to see what keeps her running."

"Looks like I've just appointed Tali as my Chief Engineer." John said with a crinkled smile.

Tali beamed at him.

"What about me?" Juel asked.

"What're you good at?"

"Well, I got this fancy plaque with my masters in electrical engineering."

"You're so full of shit, Juel." Olasie nudged his shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't have a plaque. But I really am an electrician."

"Don't forget all your permits." Olasie added, "You forgot to mention them."

Juel rolled his eyes, "What're doing?"

"Making you look like a nerd."

The Kodiak's radio squawked. "Jacob to Garrus. You okay?"

Olasie's eyes narrowed. She completely recognized Jacob's voice.

"Doing just fine." Garrus replied, "And I've got visitors."

"Is, uh, Shepard onboard?"

"Indeed. Along with Tali and two other quarians that'll be very happy to see you."

"Bosh'tet." Olasie quipped.

Jacob sounded rather uncomfortable.

"Uh, right. See you shortly."

Garrus cut the channel and brought the Kodiak into Normandy's docking space.

When the Kodiak touched surface, Garrus turned off the shuttle, sighed, and got up from his chair.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, everyone."