John handed Garrus a fresh canteen of cool water.
"...You good?"
When Garrus accepted, he uncapped the bottle slowly and nodded after a blank moment of aimless thinking.
"Yeah." He said finally.
John sat down next to the turian and sniffed slightly as he rubbed a hand over his face.
The silence between them would have been permeating if not for the distant gunfire from the mechs and collectors. Above that was the howling booms of the city's defense guns firing at the collector ship cloaked in dust and fire. To even be sitting down and resting at a moment like this felt wrong and strange.
"Tali told me what you guys were fighting." Garrus decided to mention finally, "Husks."
John was about to take a sip from his own canteen but didn't feel as thirsty anymore. He let the neck of his canteen hover over his mouth and forced himself to drink anyways.
"That about answers everything about the collectors, don't you think?" Garrus added.
"Yeah it does. No reason to think that the geth made dragon's teeth and gave it to them."
Garrus fiddled with the charging handle on his rifle. "You're right; that wouldn't make much sense."
"Cheer up, Garrus." John said with a slight grin, "It makes our problem simpler."
Garrus actually guffawed. "I'll hazard myself a guess that we shouldn't be too down in the dirt about it."
"I reckon we shouldn't." John said as he put a fist on Garrus' shoulder, "Cheer up, buttercup. It's all downhill from here."
John stood up and decided that three minutes was more than enough time to take a break. He walked into a pre-fabricated home and climbed the stairs until he was standing on the roof with a pair of Cerberus soldiers on the northern lookout.
Acknowledging the two men next to them with a nod, he stepped up to the edge of the roof and squawked EDI.
"This is Hellfire actual to EDI. How copy, over?"
"Full copy, Hellfire actual, I am awaiting orders, over."
"What are we looking at?"
"I am currently tasked to capacity. The collector force is overwhelming the mechs, but are sustaining heavy casualties."
John nodded at the good news. "How long before they're on us, you think?"
"That is hard to determine."
"Give me a conservative estimate."
"Three to five min—" EDI stopped mid-sentence and it caught John off guard. She never did that.
"EDI?"
"…Stand-by, commander."
He put his weight on a single foot and waited.
"...Collector forces are withdrawing. They are preparing to leave."
John looked up at the blanket of explosions that rocked the sky. Soon enough, he began to see several collector gunships rise from the cityscape to make their way back from which they came.
John's heart rate quickened. "Are you serious?" he asked, jittery at the prospect they'd actually hit them where they needed to be, "Are they sustaining damage?"
"Their barriers are holding, but failure appears imminent."
"Then shoot them out of the damned sky. I want their ship gone."
"I am sorry commander. It is likely that they will be able to escape with only minor damage."
He put his hand down in a slow motion and grit his teeth until it hurt. With an aura and a glare full of hate, he watched the collector ship begin its slow ascent.
"God. Damnit."
He hadn't noticed Tali step up from behind him and put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
"John, what's going on?"
He answered with a stricken murmur and didn't face her. "They're retreating."
She stood at his side and gave him a momentary glance. "That's a good thing. It means we won and got everyone out alive."
He faced her with his tired eyes and pointed to the ship with an open hand. "Not everyone."
She had meant everyone on the Normandy. John knew that, but felt compelled to make a point.
The quarian swallowed and decided to stare at the ship ever so slowly rise into the air.
"It could've been another Freedom's Progress." She intoned to remind him of the weight of what they had accomplished, "We probably saved over half the colony."
He turned away from the sight and headed back down the stairs. She followed him.
"Not the only thing I'm pissed about." He says with a pursed lip, "The husks do a lot of explaining for us don't they?"
"I told Garrus about them."
"And he guessed the same thing we did. That the reapers are behind all of this."
They made it to the bottom of the stairs and John scratched his brow with a stressful look on his face.
"Makes our problems simpler though." She said when they walked back outside.
"That's what I said." He said, his smile just barely surfacing as they walked up to Garrus who'd been directing his team.
The turian turned around and nodded to them both.
"I heard the news. Collectors are retreating. We won."
"Damn right we did." John said.
Garrus saw right through the tall talk and rose a brow.
"Disappointed we didn't get the ship?"
John met his stare. "Yeah."
"We won, Shepard. Take this as it goes. The odds were not in our favor today and we still made it out on top."
"For now." John said quietly, "There's going to come a time when we won't be able to keep up. And when that happens, we're going to lose a lot of people."
"While that's true, we pretty much found out we're still fighting the reapers. It's keeping us focused on the bigger picture."
The quarians passed by the three with Talukh on a stretcher.
When they set him down, Talukh coughed and put an arm over his visor to shield his face from the beating sun.
Juel crossed his arms and decided to speak up.
"How do we stop them? Like actually stop them."
The three stare at Juel's naked face and Tali couldn't help but put her hands on her hips.
"Keelah, Juel. We got to get that fixed."
"Not much I can do about it right now can I?"
She shrugged. "Guess not."
"Feels great honestly," He said with a toothy smile as he pat his face and wiped away a little bit of blood above his brow, "The air feels great."
Garrus rose an eyebrow plate. "You guys look a lot like humans."
"No, humans look a lot like quarians." Juel corrected sarcastically.
"The answer to your question is we don't know, Juel." John said, getting them all back on track, "That's up to TIM." There was a moment of silence from him. "Seriously though; you're going to be okay right?"
Juel gave Shepard a clueless look. "I have no idea."
A sonic boom boomed and everyone turned to look at the collector ship as its ascent hastened.
EDI didn't let up. The defense guns maintained their target lock and cloaked the ship with its heavy munitions.
"EDI pulled the most weight out of any of us today." Juel said with a serious look in his eye, "We have a lot to thank her for."
"Didn't think I'd ever hear a quarian thank an AI." Garrus said with a small smile.
"I don't share a very popular stereotype. I'm indifferent about EDI."
Tali knew it was time to agree. At least in this instance. No one could objectively say that EDI wasn't what pulled this mission into their favor. Tali gave credit where credit was due. Did it change her overall opinion of EDI's existence? No. It didn't. What EDI did today could very well have been done with a dedicated team and a VI strategist.
The guns finally stopped firing.
"Commander, the collector ship is outside of calculable range."
John took one last fleeting look of the ever-receding blip in the sky. The remains of the SSV Panaca could be seen overhead and it did nothing but anger John.
"EDI. Call for evac. I've had enough of this planet."
"Affirmative commander. LZ set. ETA ten minutes."
"Tell the squad leaders. Out."
The quarians nodded to them and hoisted Talukh back up to their designated landing zone.
Garrus stowed away his rifle and turned on his heel. "See you at the LZ."
Tali and John were now alone. He pulled up a lawn chair and sat down. Tali did the same.
"Long day." He said after a long breath.
"Yeah."
He looked at her. "So. About Juel."
"He's going to get sick."
"How long you think?"
"Two weeks. Probably. Maybe that tea Mordin gave him will help."
John nodded and there was peaceful silence between them. "…We made it."
"We did."
He leaned back to get himself comfortable and crossed his arms over his chest rig. Oddly, he felt really comfortable sitting like this. Gear or not, he could probably fall asleep.
"I don't know what to think anymore, Tals."
"Let TIM handle the thinking. He's been doing a good enough job. Right now? We're here to shoot shit and save people."
He gave her a genuine look and small smile.
"Instruments of the devil's will. Wonder what Wrex or Ash would think of us right now."
"I think they would understand, given the circumstances. We're still fighting the good fight."
John only half believed that. "Yeah."
"What do you think the chances Ashley was here? On Horizon?" She only asked because she remembered John telling her about how she was part of an Alliance initiative to start protecting the colonies that had been under threat of disappearing in the Traverse. Much like the colony here.
She could tell John was thinking.
His mouth worked as if he was going to give a thoughtful answer, but it never came.
"I don't know."
They both stare on at the faint sky and let the view overtake them.
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Four hours later.
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Their bedroom was quiet. Aside from the occasional soft snore from Tali, was the small and consistent tick of their analog clock and idly running air filter that sat beside their bathroom.
The lights were off as well. The lamp on John's nightstand however, remained on.
He'd received the Illusive Man's email and it had robbed him of any chance to sleep. To make sure he hadn't been mistaken, he read it again.
ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ
sʜᴇᴘᴀʀᴅ,
ɪ ʀᴇɢʀᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀ sᴇʀɢᴇᴀɴᴛ ᴀsʜʟᴇʏ ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍs ᴡᴀs sᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ʜᴏʀɪᴢᴏɴ.
ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ᴀ ꜰᴇᴀsɪʙʟᴇ ʀᴇᴀsᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ɴᴏᴡ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʟʟᴇᴄᴛᴏʀs, ᴀɴᴅ ʙʏ ᴇxᴛᴇɴsɪᴏɴ, ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴘᴇʀs, ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴠᴇsᴛᴇᴅ sᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇsᴛ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏʟᴅ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ. ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ᴀ ʟɪᴋᴇʟɪʜᴏᴏᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴘᴇʀs ʜᴀᴠᴇ sɪɴɢʟᴇᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍs ɪɴ ᴀɴ ᴀᴛᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ.
ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏᴛɪꜰʏ ʏᴏᴜ ɪᴍᴍᴇᴅɪᴀᴛᴇʟʏ ᴏꜰ ᴀɴʏ ᴅᴇᴠᴇʟᴏᴘᴍᴇɴᴛs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀʏ ᴏᴄᴄᴜʀ ᴅᴜʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇsᴜsᴄɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴘᴇʀɪᴏᴅ Hᴏʀɪᴢᴏɴ ᴡɪʟʟ ɴᴏ ᴅᴏᴜʙᴛ ɢᴏ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ.
ʏᴇᴏᴍᴀɴ ᴄʜᴀᴍʙᴇʀs ɪs ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ sᴘᴇᴀᴋ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ɪꜰ ɴᴇᴄᴇssᴀʀʏ.
-Tʜᴇ Iʟʟᴜsɪᴠᴇ Mᴀɴ
ㅤ
He thought about waking Tali and telling her. But all that would do is rob her of sleep as well. He'd have to wait to tell her and Garrus tomorrow in the morning during breakfast.
It didn't mean much, but John hoped she hadn't been kidnapped and brought aboard their ship. Statistically, it was unlikely. But the universe had been a bit cruel as of late, which meant Shepard wasn't going to bother holding his breath. With a sigh, he took a sip of the cup of water on his nightstand and turned off his lamp before letting slumber take him over.
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Sometimes, John would feel as if he'd only been asleep for only a few minutes. When he opened his eyes, he looked to his right and saw that the bed was empty. Tali's side of the bed had already been folded in.
He guessed she wanted to leave a bit early to check on Juel and Talukh. With a tired grumble, he forced himself up and tossed the covers from his legs so he could stand up. Stretching and popping his back, he walked over to the bathroom so he could begin the new day.
When he walked in, he noticed a sticky note on the mirror.
'hi
went to infirmary to check on juel and talukh.
love you'
The handwriting was atrocious. But given that Tali had only written in English barely a handful of times, it was pretty good. Her efforts in learning his native tongue hadn't gone unnoticed. Maybe it was time he start reciprocating the favor.
He brushed his teeth and took a shower. After putting on his fatigues, he made his way to the elevator and decided now would be a good time to tell Garrus the news.
"EDI, where's Garrus?"
"Engineering."
"Mind bringing me there?"
"Of course, Commander."
The lift descended and he waited until the doors opened so he could make his way to the room Garrus and his team were living in. With a second of hesitation, he knocked on their door.
"Who is it?"
"Shepard."
"Come on in."
He entered and saw Greg Foley and Howard Skyles watching the news with coffee. Garrus was at a workbench assembling something he couldn't really make out.
"Hey."
Garrus didn't bother looking up from his work. "Good morning."
Shepard leaned slightly against the table and crossed his arms. "How you holding up?"
"Everyone came out of Horizon with their lives. That never happens. We did good down there."
John didn't nod. "Not everyone."
Garrus immediately looked up with a serious frown. "Did one of the quarians die?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"Ash was there, Garrus. She was on Horizon when it got hit."
Garrus' hands went limp over his tools. "...You don't know for sure if she was taken or not."
"I know," He shook his head slowly. "All we can do right now is wait until TIM tells us more."
"Does Tali know?"
"Haven't told her yet." John said disappointedly, "When should I tell her?"
"That's up to you to decide. You know her more than I do now."
John scoffed slightly but realized how true that was.
"Keep her in your thoughts, Garrus. I know it's just a sentiment; but there isn't anything else we can do right now."
Garrus simply nodded and, with a lackluster expression, resumed whatever it was he was doing.
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Tali sat back down next to Olasie and handed her a thermos of hot tea.
Juel had been sleeping now for about twelve straight hours. And for those twelve hours, Olasie had been by his side. There was still an imprint of her helmet on the side of his bed where she'd fallen asleep.
"How'd you sleep?" Tali decided to ask, fully aware of what the answer was going to be.
"My neck hurts."
"That's what happens when you do that."
Olasie carefully took a steady sip from her mug and closed her eyes at the taste.
"Thanks for the tea."
"Of course."
"Try as I might, she refuses to get proper rest," Chakwas said as she performed a cursory check over Juel, "You quarians. So fussy and hard headed."
Tali smiled at Karin. "You know it."
The doctor put a calm hand on the woman's shoulder, "Don't you ever change, dear."
She kept her smile and crinkled her nose. "I promise."
"Now," Chakwas breathed, "I'm afraid my old age has caught up to me. I have to rest, lest I go senile."
"Please, doctor. Rest." Olasie reassured, "We can take care of them both until then."
"Alright. But don't hesitate to wake me even at the slightest sign of problems. Deal?"
Both the quarian women nod. "Deal."
With a stifled yawn, Chakwas logged off her computer and left the infirmary to catch some sleep.
When the doors closed behind Karin, Tali stood up to take a look at Talukh.
She looked over the man's vitals displayed on the screen above him and sighed.
"Chakwas said he'll be back on his feet soon enough." Olasie said, sensing Tali's thoughts.
"How bad were his wounds?"
Olasie swiveled around in her chair and stared at the bedridden man.
"He would've died if it weren't for EDI, Chakwas, and Mordin."
Tali crossed her arms and kept staring. She could see faintly the details of Talukh's face.
"The luck runs thick sometimes on the Normandy," Tali said before sitting back down next to her friend.
"Think it'll run for Juel?"
Tali winced slightly when she had to remind herself that Juel still didn't have a mask on. His head was encapsulated in a bubble thing with a tube jutting out. The filter attached to the whole thing whirred slightly. It was slightly comedic to look at.
"Second time we've seen Juel like this."
Olasie snorted. "Ha. I know. Though I'd say, this is less dire."
"Don't think it could get worse than losing your arm in a poop tank, yeah."
"We laugh now, but I think I cried a lot when that happened." Olasie grumbled.
Tali's voice fell flat. "Yeah."
There was a long moment where neither of them spoke. They both just listened to the calm beeps and whirring motors of Juel's filter. Slowly, Olasie put both her hands on the edge of the bed and smiled sadly at the sleeping man.
"I think... I'm falling in love with him, Tali." Olasie murmured.
Tali stared at them both and honestly didn't know what to say. Juel, in a lot of ways, was a broken man. Functional, yeah, but broken. Much like Tali was after losing John. Then again, Olasie wasn't all that different. She might not have lost someone like Juel or Tali, but she'd killed an innocent quarian thinking she was a white-collar criminal.
And when she really thought about it, there wasn't a person she knew that hadn't gone through a serious tragedy. Juel just got unlucky twice.
Tali finally decided to sip her own hot tea. "Do you think he's falling for you too?"
"I'd like to think so."
"Men are so easy to read, Olasie," Tali said with a smile, "Come on."
Olasie chuckled a little. "Well. He did say he wanted to take me out to dinner."
"See? And plus, he is pretty cute." Tali added, nodding, "I mean, I approve."
Olasie crossed her arms. "I hope he thinks I'm cute."
"Are you?"
"What kind of question is that, Tali?" Olasie said, smacking her arm lightly, "Keelah."
Tali giggled and sighed. "I guess it's not all that fair for him is it? We've seen him twice now but he still has no idea what we look like. Well... everyone knows what he looks like now."
"Maybe I can take a selfie in your room?" Olasie thought aloud after a small laugh, "Think that would work?"
"Don't see why it wouldn't." Tali shrugged, "You'll still get sick."
"Ah. It's worth it for him."
"Aw. That's sweet, Olasie."
The woman smacked her lips and got a little more comfortable in her seat. "How are you and John doing together?"
"Better than anything I can say with words. I've almost wondered lately if I've just been dreaming."
"Nope. You're not dreaming. But I can see what you're saying though. Your fiancé's been dead for two years and someone brought him back to life. A second chance in the truest sense of the word. Saying it was luck isn't enough."
"A lot of science went into putting him back together." Tali said slowly, feeling a bit weird talking about John's life so casually, "Just glad they didn't mess with his brain."
Olasie nodded absently. "Just imagine what we could do with resources like that. We wouldn't have to wear these suits."
"You know wishful thinking is nothing but that. Wishful."
"I know." Olasie grumbled, "It feels good to wander sometimes."
Tali was about to say something, but she noticed Juel's hand, his machine hand, twitch slightly. Olasie had noticed as well and they watched him intently.
"...Is he allowed to wake up?"
Tali just shrugged.
Olasie put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed him affectionately. "...Juel?"
He didn't say anything, but his lips tugged into a frown while his eyes squeezed tightly.
"Juel? Can you hear me?"
His eyes slowly open. The first thing he decided to look at was the ceiling before staring at them both.
"I feel... hot."
"Fever." Tali answered, glancing at the display of vitals hovering over them all.
The man looked quite sluggish. It took him a while to notice the bubble around his face.
"...When did they put this on me?"
"You don't remember? You helped them put it on." Olasie explained, worry apparent on her face.
"No. I don't."
"Must be the concussion?" Tali guessed, sharing a look with Olasie.
Juel gave them both a long and blank stare. "...Who are you people?"
Olasie felt her skin crawl.
"I'm— I'm Olasie..."
"Nah, I'm just messing with you." He grinned.
"You stupid bosh'tet." Olasie chided with a slap to his arm, "You actually scared me."
He gave a weak chuckle and swallowed hard.
Juel struggled to prop himself on his elbows. He felt like a thousand pounds. "How's Lukh?"
"He'll be fine," Olasie said, motioning behind her to show Talukh on the bed, "He's patched up and sleeping right now."
"Oh." Juel lay back down and winced at the throbbing pain in his sinuses. "Any updates on what's going on?"
"No. Nothing."
"I guess we can take that as a good sign."
"Depends," Olasie drawled, "It's just a big game of tag now with the collectors. Until we find out where they're really hiding, this isn't going to stop. And we won't get as lucky as we did with you and Lukh, Juel."
Juel closed his eyes and drew the covers up to his neck.
"You guys mind washing my suit? It's in the box over there."
Tali wanted to stick out her tongue. Suits got disgusting after prolonged use.
"Ew."
"Come on. I'd do it for you guys."
"Trust me, you wouldn't." Olasie said, feeling a slight blush.
Juel touched the bubble around his head.
"This bubble feels weird, guys. It's a little embarrassing."
"Reminds me of a cat with a cone on its head."
"Funny." Juel groaned with the roll of his eyes. He'd almost forgotten about Olasie's obsession with cats. Juel, in spite of his urge to fall back to sleep, decided to talk about something a little more serious.
"Tali." He started, his tone more flat, "So... about the husks you ran across down there. I remember you telling me about them when you fought the geth and Saren. Anything you'd want to enlighten us on?"
Tali stared intently at the floor.
"There's going to be a briefing on it tonight." She murmured quietly, "But since you won't be there, I guess I should tell you."
"What? That the reapers are in on this now? It's not like any of us overheard that." Juel sputtered.
"I know. But there are implications. Things that we have to consider now. Precautions that we'll have to take."
"Like what?" He asked. Olasie just stayed quiet and listened for Tali's answer.
"Something called indoctrination. We don't know a lot about it. But it's why Saren did the things he did. The reapers. They take over your mind if you're around them or their technology. It's like a disease. And it can spread from person to person."
Juel gulped. "I'm not—I don't think I understand."
"All you need to know right now is that it's a sick and disgusting thing, Juel." Tali uttered, all cheerfulness gone, "The briefing tonight will explain it. I'll record it so you can watch it yourself later."
Olasie glowered. On the outside, no one would have noticed that the woman had been slowly dying inside. She had barely gotten over killing one of her own back at Donovan Hock's estate. And on Horizon, she, despite her inner protests, had made what she saw personal. The faces of the two children she had saved yesterday would be something she would remember for whatever remained of her life. And now she was just learning about this ominous thing Tali dubbed as indoctrination.
It was all mind melting to think about and it was beginning to make her wonder if winning the fight against the reapers was like trying to grasp at nothing but smoke. For all of that deep reflecting, Olasie still knew where she needed to be. She wasn't second guessing anything. They had to try. They had to fight. The alternative would be the end of everything they knew. Because of that, she would give her all.
She was just convinced that there wasn't a way in hell that she was the first to think these thoughts.
"No problem too hard for a migrant fleet marine, Tali." Olasie said with a small, but pursed, smile.
"You stopped the reapers once," Juel said, hitching onto Olasie's bravado, "And we stopped them today. They have no idea what's in store for them."
She grabbed Juel's hand and wrapped an arm around Olasie. Tali fought back a sad tear.
"I love you guys."
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One hour later.
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Jack was pretending to sleep when she saw Tali and John climb down the flight of stairs to the lower part of engineering. The look on Shepard's face was relatively distraught with Tali looking ready to accept some bad news.
"Two things," John started as he ran a hand through his short hair, "Well. Three things."
"What?"
"One: I love you."
"I love you too."
"Two: Garrus and Samara have been talking for a long time with the doors locked in the observation room."
"And?"
"EDI says they're not fighting. So I don't know."
"Then I would like to think they're making amends about Morinth."
"I just don't know." John said, shrugging.
Jack rolled to her side so she could look at them and to keep up the charade. Tali and John both look at the woman for a brief moment before returning to their conversation while Jack, ever so carefully, opened an eye so she could see a sliver of them both.
"Hey. Those worry lines are going to get deeper if you keep this up."
"I know. I just... We don't know enough about Justicars and how they think. Samara spent centuries hunting down Morinth only for this to happen."
Jack watched Tali cross her arms and look at her feet with a nod. "Not the closure she was looking for? I guess it is a bit anti-climactic after all that time hunting her daughter."
"Her daughter was a sex-addled freak and psychopathic murderer. She should've been ecstatic Garrus took the shot he did."
"Don't let this worry you so much." Tali said in her soothing voice, "You'll know soon enough. Now what was the third thing?"
John grasped her hands and pulled her slightly over to a box so they could sit down. When they did, Jack saw John struggle to speak.
"Ash was on Horizon, Tali."
The quarian's arms went rigid.
"Oh my god."
"Yeah."
"How do you know?"
"Illusive Man told me."
"We don't— we don't know for sure if she was taken by the collectors."
"Insofar, all the Alliance personnel that was on the ground is MIA, Tali."
She started to tremble, so John brought her into a hug.
There was a choked sigh from the quarian and Jack felt something tug at the strings in her heart.
"Remember... remember when we finally got off Ullipses? Ashley said: 'This nightmare needs to end.'" Tali hugged John fiercely and buried her face into his shoulder. "When is this nightmare going to end? When will this all finally stop?"
John stroked her back and didn't say anything.
Jack closed her eye and felt her heart break. The gravity of what the Normandy was facing was beginning to dawn on the pseudo-sleeping woman. Maybe it wasn't the best place to be having a heart-to-heart down here, but Jack was glad she saw it. John and Tali had been fighting stuff like this for years. It was here, she realized, that underneath the experience and almost legendary reputation Shepard and his team had, they were just as scared and just as emotionally broken as anyone else would have been.
It was hard to swallow. And in everyone's best interest, Jack decided that she keep pretending to let them grieve their lost friend in peace. For the first time in Jack's life, she touched what could very well be her foundation of purpose. It was here. On the Normandy.