The visit with Anderson was cut short due to an unscheduled meeting he had to attend. As unfortunate as it was to have their get-together end so abruptly, it was best that Shepard and Tali go anyways. No matter how much of a friend and mentor Anderson was to them, he was a political figurehead now. And being that meant it was a great way of bringing about unwanted attention to yourself.
As far as he was concerned, the rumors of his return to the galactic stage had been more-or-less on the backburner now. It probably would have been different had the council confirmed and reported his reappearance to the Alliance. They did him a massive favor by not saying anything because he didn't need that in his life right now. He had enough on his mind combating the collectors and saving people from their homes. He didn't need the Alliance chasing after him for what they would consider to be unwarranted AWOL with a little side of treason given that he was working for Cerberus.
Not that it mattered all that much at this point. Handing over combat footage of Horizon with him and everyone else on the Normandy in it would tell everyone what they needed to know. John Shepard was alive and working on something big again with some of his old crew to back him up. It was going to be a shit show of colossal proportions that John would have the lovely pleasure of having to deal with somewhere down the line.
He let Tali step into the elevator first before getting in himself.
"We weren't out for too long." Tali said, pressing the button to close the lift's doors, "Good we got to see the captain again."
"Yeah. Me too." John said, half paying attention.
She looked up at him. "Something wrong?"
"Just everything these days, Tals. Everything we're putting up with tends to run you down."
"At least we get to do this together."
"Don't know what I'd do if you weren't here with me all the time. You make it bearable."
"Oh come on. You're Commander Shepard."
"Yeah. That might be the case, but it was you who pulled me through it."
She leaned into him.
"God, that sounds so cheesy." He said with an embarrassed grin as he stared at the ground.
"Cheesy, but endearing. I really did that for you?"
"Was there ever a moment where you weren't by my side?"
She could just about count the number of times she hadn't been there for him. Of all of them, there were two that mattered to her the most.
"Virmire," She said at length, "When you and Kaidan decided to make that final stand as we all left. And when you went down that elevator before getting spaced and dying."
John cleared his throat. "You're hurting my narrative."
"Just don't pull anything like that again." She spat with a slight frown, "I love you too much for that shit."
"Just think of it this way, hun. Had you gone down there with me? I would've come back. And you wouldn't have."
"You only get to say that because we know what the future had in store for you now."
The elevator finally arrived at the Normandy.
"It all worked out in the end."
"Yes, it did." She said, looking at him as the doors opened, "But it's a weird way of playing with a girl's heart."
"I'll work on that."
They both walk out to the dock and made their way to the Normandy.
"Think Thane's done doing his thing?" She asked.
"I wish I could answer that. I'm afraid something is going to end up on the news."
"Best if we watch for anything then."
"Worst part is that we can't even contact him."
Tali laughed sarcastically. "What is it with these people? It almost feels like it's intentional, making things harder for us."
"I'm just wondering how long Thane is going to take."
"How long are you willing to wait if he doesn't come back when we need to leave?" Tali wondered, looking at him for all of a second as they walked with their hands still interlocked, "A day? Two?"
"Let's just wait and see."
They finally made it to bay 1102 and crossed the aerobridge to enter the ship. Then they entered the airlock chamber and waited.
"Stand-by shore party. Decontamination in progress."
Anti-septic jets sprayed them down while the floor began vaporizing anything that might've snuck its way to the bottom of their shoes.
"I need to run up to our room and grab some things." John said, "Need anything?"
"I don't think so. Just my laptop and it's at my desk in engineering."
"Okay."
The Normandy was finally available to them and they walked through.
"Hey Joker."
"Hey." He said without looking at them.
They kept walking down the Normandy's neck.
"Almost lunchtime." John said, glancing at his watch, "Meet you at the mess in ten? Heard they got some goodies for the dextros."
Tali's brows shot up in slight surprise. "Really?"
"Something-something berry." John tried to recall with a shrug as they passed by CIC, "Some turian dessert."
"I'd love to. Gives me an excuse to see Juel and Lukh too, I guess. Just let me head down to engineering so I can prep some things real quick. I'll meet you there."
"Sounds like a plan."
John entered the lift, pressed a button, and winked at her as the doors closed.
With a heartfelt sigh, she smiled at the man she loved and put her hands on her hips.
"Hi Tali," Chambers waved from her workstation to get her attention, "How was your outing with Shepard?"
Oh, here we go. Fake conversation.
"Good." Tali said simply, "We had coffee and croissants. Well. John had a croissant."
Kelly laughed at what she interpreted to be a joke and nodded to her all the same. "That's so good to hear, Tali. It's important to have fun."
"It's good to feel a little normal sometimes, I think." She agreed.
"That's exactly right. Speaking of feeling normal, I'd like to schedule you some time for a second session if that's alright with you."
The quarian shrugged, but sighed internally. "Okay? When?"
"How about tonight? After dinner. Seven thirty."
She nodded. "Alright. I'll be there. Same place as last time?"
Kelly nodded with a smile. "Yup! I'll be seeing you then."
Tali had then decided, just to put some distance between her and the yeoman, that she go and head to Mordin's lab to access the ducts and crawl her way down to engineering instead. That was how much she didn't want to be around Kelly.
It's not that she didn't like her, it's just that Tali wasn't particularly open to talking about her feelings with people like her because of how impersonal it all was. To put her emotions under Kelly's looking glass with a camera and microphone felt so clinical. Plus, Tali's life had a lot of bitterness to it that she liked to keep buried. Mixing her past with the yeoman's somewhat plastic and overly invested personality was like trying to play football over a minefield. While Tali would admit the analogy she made was bad and didn't make a lot of sense, it didn't need to either. The point Tali was trying to make for herself was that she was so off put by Kelly's tendencies that she was perfectly willing to go crawl through duct work just to avoid having to spend another second around the woman.
And here she thought Garrus was being a baby about his sessions.
"Bye Kelly."
"Where you going?"
"Going the old-fashioned way." Tali said without looking back.
She passed through both the doors without another word and entered the lab without anyone there.
When the doors closed behind her, she paused and took a look around the neat clutter of Mordin's workspace. A litany of cultures from god-knows-what were stacked from floor to ceiling in a careful array of trays. Each one had a penciled caption in something Tali didn't even bother trying to understand. Beakers and other glassware dotted the space as well. Above that was a fine array of instruments Tali couldn't even put a name to.
As she began walking to the latch that would lead her to the crawlspace, she heard a small and light buzz to her right.
"Oh." Tali said, stopping in her tracks and looking to see where the offending noise was coming from, "I almost forgot about you."
The quarian knelt down so she could meet the empty stare of Coco full on. The bug moved its wings a little bit, but did little else.
"Hello there." She murmured with a face barren of any emotion.
The collector drone, with its nasty eyes and chitin skin, kept staring up at the quarian without moving much. She tapped on the glass to get a reaction to little effect. The thing held its ground, paying no mind to the offending finger.
Odd. That usually pissed it off.
She gave it another once over and leered at it.
Her brow furrowed. Ugh. It was disgusting to look at. Fuck this thing.
She kept looking at it though and wondered why she was paying it this much mind all of a sudden. But here she was, suddenly bent over a cage like a little kid at the zoo staring at a shit-throwing monkey.
The staring contest continued until she heard the door to her right open with Mordin stepping through.
"Ah, Tali. Pleasure to see you." Mordin said with a quick smile. The man quickly walked to his computer and knelt down to grab something.
"Oh. Sorry." She rose back up to face Mordin, "I didn't mean to intrude. I was just looking at our little friend here." She said as she pointed at the bug in the case.
"Ah. Coco." Mordin sniffed deeply, "Has become largely inert past few days. Note taking has become less entertaining. Lack of engaging stimulus or sustenance likely culprit."
She leaned in close, back at the cage, and studied the insect-thing. It still stared her down with its little yellow eyes.
"How does it eat?" She asked finally.
"Don't believe it does. Manufactured for singular and disposable purpose. No detectable orifice to eat from and no organs to digest food. Made to work until death."
"Maybe we shouldn't have named it then." Tali uttered with a sarcastic grin, "Kelly might get sad."
"Still just hypothesis." Mordin said as he focused on something else, "Coco's physiology very elusive. Surprised it has lived this long."
She finally pried herself away from Coco and walked up to the counter just across from the salarian.
"Do you know how Juel and Talukh are? Did you see them at all today?"
"Just came from there. Doctors Wilson and Chakwas tending to them now. Prognosis strong. Confident in quick recovery. Will be discharged tomorrow morning."
"That's really good to hear. Can't be too worried about them, I suppose."
"Worry not needed. Everyone here doing their part. Maybe more. Competency not in short supply aboard Normandy."
Tali leaned back and was almost surprised to hear him say that.
"You really think so?"
"Yes. Best of best here on ship working together. In spite of different backgrounds and species. Inspiring. Very happy to be part of it."
Tali agreed. Mostly.
"What about Subject Zero?"
Mordin skimmed over his array of labeled test tubes and blinked twice.
"Troubled, that one. Identity crisis apparent. Lack of belonging. Lack of parental upbringing. No nurturing or love from mother or father. Unstable."
"No mother or father at all." Tali added with a mutter, "That's bound to create problems growing up."
"Yes." Mordin nodded, still looking over his vials with a finger hovering over each one, "Predatory and aggressive behavior learned by repetition and necessity. Both from Cerberus and the galaxy."
Tali nodded at Mordin's evaluation of Jack. He sounded spot on.
"Hostile—No, violent behavioral tendency make for poor foundation of biotics control. No real grasp of consequences means abuse of biotics. Chronic abuse of biotics means no respect for anything. Not of thoughts, ideas, or property. Not of life. Chiefly, life not her own."
Tali looked down at the table to the dozen or so laboratory instruments strewn about with a distraught look on her face.
"What would you do in this situation then, doctor? What should we do with her?"
Mordin looked up from his work and crossed his arms.
"Back in STG, ran many ops." He said as if he was opening up his library of memories, "Traveled through many parts of galaxy. Seen many things in life. Know enough that service above self is paramount to success of mission. Subject zero has potential to jeopardize mission success."
"Should we kick her off?"
"Circumstance says yes. Risk too great for mission."
Tali felt she was in agreement as well. Jack was almost too paralyzed with hate against Cerberus and her issues with Garrus' team. It was almost suffocating seeing her and them in the same floor at any point.
"That's the opinion of the majority I think. Well. Thanks, Mordin." Tali said with a sigh and nod, "I should head down to engineering. Sorry for bothering you."
"Not bothered at all. Free to stop by anytime. Happy to have company." He said with his kind smile, "Will be here working. Much to do."
She dipped her head, walked over to the duct latch, and lifted the girder.
"Elevator not functional? Used it to get here." Mordin asked with a quizzical look.
"Works just fine. Got to dust off the knees every once in awhile."
"Of course." Mordin said, all smiles, "Will be around if you need me."
She climbed down the ladder and made her way to engineering.
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John stepped through the doors to their room and sighed. Walking past their desk, he went up to Tali's side of the bed and fluffed her pillow a bit before straightening out their sheets. He always liked to do that for her. She didn't know and that was just fine for him. After he was done smoothing out the wrinkles on their bed, he looked up and just had a moment of realization.
He was in love with a quarian. Not a human. A quarian. How weird was that? Funny how fate worked like that for him.
"We live in a fairy tale." John said in a whisper with a bashful smile. Here he was, fluffing up her side of the bed because he loved her. It was apparent to him, at least in this very moment, how undeniably weird their lives were. Weird and extraordinary, he would add. You couldn't forget how important that detail was. They didn't do what normal people did. Normal people didn't have relationships like this.
The fairy tale had caveats to follow though. So it wasn't perfect for them. But what didn't have stipulations these days?
He just hoped they could keep it up and see everything through so they could retire. Nothing would be worse than falling short of what they were trying to do. Hang the reapers over the collector problems and you almost wondered if you were even going to see the next year.
Filing away whatever was left of his aimless thinking, he grabbed his tablet and papers and headed out.
He took the lift down to the crew deck so he could drop off his paperwork for Miranda to review.
As he stepped out, he saw that the observation lounge was open with Zaeed, Samara, and a quarian conversing.
"-nd that's the tale of my one nasty arse of a face." Zaeed said, finishing his story. Kylie looked boggle eyed while Samara looked a little less impressed about it all.
"The code does not permit the existence of those who gamble with the lives of innocents just by sway of riches. The atrocities committed by the Blue Suns are perverse, abhorrent, and are reflective of the same qualities that I see in you."
He rose his glass of neat bourbon to her. "You can try to kill me after this is all done, darlin'."
"Well, that must've been painful." Kylie said flatly, backtracking their topic to keep it civil.
"To say the least, sweetheart," Zaeed said with his dusty voice as he faced the quarian again, "The rage kept me alive long enough to get it all fixed up. Truthfully, I hardly felt a thing for the first ten or so minutes."
"Well, speaking of disfigurement," Kylie said as she cleared her throat, "Did you ever hear about how Juel'Kaan lost his arm in a septic tank?"
"The quarian with the badass metal arm?" Zaeed said, sitting up slightly, "Hell no I haven't. Sounds embarrassing."
"Yeah." John answered for Kylie with a grin, "I've heard it is."
Kylie bit her tongue. "Mhm. Well. That was bad timing."
"Bad timing?" Zaeed said, incredulous, "The big ol' cheese walks up and you lose your nerve? You candied little arse."
"Hey, I ain't stopping you from telling a good story," John said, "You've known the poor sap longer than I have. I think it's fair we jab him every once in awhile."
"Not meaning to digress on the fun, but I've been meaning to speak to you, Shepard." Zaeed said, relaxing slightly in his chair.
John rose a brow. "Business to discuss?"
"Maybe we can talk later tonight."
John mentally sighed. Tali was right. It was just one thing after another with these people. Fair is fair, he supposed. They did pull their weight around here.
"Will do Massani."
The merc rose his glass as John turned around. He decided to stop by the mess to pick something up real quick to set on the table before stopping by Miranda's office.
"Hey Gardner." John greeted.
"You're five minutes early, Commander. You get to skip the lines."
John looked around to see that the tables were largely empty. "I do, don't I?"
"Whatcha want?" We've got chicken parmesan or grilled turkey paninis. Soup of the day's lentil."
"You've been killing it with these meals lately." John said, impressed with the stacked platters, "Glad to see we're not cut short on the good stuff."
"We've got Mrs. Lawson to thank for that. She managed to procure the right supplies to feed people food food."
"Keep it up, sergeant. Turkey please."
"Right away."
While John watched the man prepare his tray, he noticed Tali coming from the other side of the deck on her way to the infirmary. She waved to him and he acknowledged her with a simple nod and smile.
As soon as the quarian entered, she noticed Olasie at Chakwas' desk with her feet propped up as she played some game on her omni-tool. Juel busied himself with a book while Lukh himself scrolled through a scientific periodical.
"Hey Tali." Juel greeted, all smiles as he set his book down, "How're you?"
She walked over to him and sat on the chair by his bedside. "Fantastic. You?"
"So-so. The docs told me I'll probably be good to go by tomorrow morning though. Can't complain. They left to get some rest though. Just us in here."
"Did your new mask ever come in?"
"We canceled my other order since we're on the Citadel. Having a new one made right now by some fabricator here. Will have it tomorrow around lunch, I think. Maybe sooner."
"Any cool mods?"
"Stronger composite so it doesn't break like my last visor."
"I can't express enough how glad I am you didn't get glass in your eyes." Olasie said, looking up from her video game, "I actually had to remind him to mention that to the people making it."
"Yeah. She did and I agree with her. I'd rather not find out how that feels." Juel grimaced before clearing his throat. Juel urged Tali to come in a little closer so he could whisper without Olasie hearing. It was a little difficult though given that he was still wearing a plastic bubble around his head.
"So... how much longer are we gonna be on the Citadel?"
"Two days. Why?"
"Oh good. I thought maybe I could take Olasie out."
"Aww. That's really sweet."
"You think?"
She pat his hand. "Oh yeah. You're gonna make her heart melt."
"Well. I'm gonna take her out for some morning brews and then go out to have some fun. Give our brains a break from thinking."
"Good idea," Tali said quietly before standing up, "So, I'm gonna go and eat. John told me they've got something special lined up for us dextros at lunch. Some kind of dessert."
Olasie sat up and closed her game. "Dessert?"
"Something berry apparently." Tali tried to answer, "So it's probably pie."
"I do like pie." Lukh said.
"How's Thane?" Juel asked.
"Bro, the pie's more important," Lukh's joke fell on deaf ears with the exception of Olasie, who laughed a little.
Tali could only shrug. "I don't know. He disappeared and no one's heard him since."
"What if he just never comes back?"
"Then we leave without him, I guess." Tali said, shrugging again.
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Six hours later.
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She gave John another deep and wet kiss and smiled through it all as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
She wasn't keeping count, but she was pretty sure they were bangin', like, at least four times a week. She loved it. It made her feel overwhelmingly close in ways nothing else would.
Well. Of course. He's inside you.
She was about the luckiest girl in the galaxy, she thought to herself. Out of all the smokin' chicks he could've picked up along the way, he chose her. A girl with weird feet and an abnormal heredity aversion to bacteria. Jokes and jabs aside, it was about as wholesome as it got and Tali would be lying if she wasn't a bit smitten about that.
She wrapped her legs around him too and nibbled her lip as she felt her second climax coming.
He put an arm on her back, arched her, and thrust. She couldn't help but gasp.
"You keep that up and I won't last another ten seconds."
"Good."
Reflexively grabbing a fistful of sheets and tightening the vice she had around his waist with her leg, she could hardly suppress her moans.
"Ready?"
"Mhm."
She clenched just about every muscle she could and squeezed her eyes shut as she came. John faltered soon after. He was quick to pull out and finish over her chest with a little landing on her neck and chin. She took in a deep breath and blinked away the fading stars before giving him a big smile.
"That thing's a damn shotgun."
He gave her a grin and kissed her knee since it was so close to his face. "Oops."
"I heard that the more there is; the better it was."
She looked down to see the carnage and nodded approvingly at the mess while he plopped down next to her, a hand reaching up to wipe the sweat dotting his brow.
"Well. Can't argue with that."
She wiped the dribble off her chin and kissed his cheek. "Love you."
"Love you too, hun."
She closed her eyes and soaked in the bliss that flowed. Then she just remembered something.
"Hey. You know what time it is?"
"Seven ten." He answered, glancing at the clock on his nightstand.
She sat up. "Oh. Damnit. I totally forgot."
"What?"
"I have to do a thing with Kelly in twenty minutes."
He pursed his lips and nodded. "Oh. Session time?"
She got up from the bed and leered at him. "Of course."
She hurried to the bathroom to clean up.
"Everyone has to do it, hun." He offered.
"Wait," Tali's head poked out from the bathroom door with a faint smile on her face, "Don't you have to talk to Zaeed?"
John bellowed a long sigh. "Ah, shit."
A laugh at his expense and she disappeared back into the bathroom so she could wipe off his gift. As soon as she turned on the shower, she walked back out to their bed.
"Time to shower, huneey." She said, offering him a hand.
He took it in his. "That's always fun doing it with you."
She helped him up and gave him a tight and warm hug. They stood like that for a good ten seconds.
"I love you, John." She murmured, eyes closed. "I love you a lot."
He kissed her cheek, took in her sweet scent, and ran a hand slowly through her thick hair. "I love you too."
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"Sorry I'm late." Tali said as she crossed the room in a swift stride, "I completely forgot about our meeting."
"Oh, that's fine. I'm still setting up anyways."
Tali noticed that and sat down to wait.
"How was your day?"
"It was fine." The quarian answered, staring at the stuff she was setting up.
"Good."
"Have you done this for everyone?"
"Not everyone, no."
"Who?"
"I've gotten around a third of everyone on the ship."
"So I'm assuming all of the newest people then."
"That's about right."
"Have you gotten around to Juel? Or Olasie? Or any of my other fellow kind?"
"I have."
"Would it be alright for you to tell me how Olasie's handling herself then? Mentally, I mean?"
Kelly gave Tali a disarming smile. Olasie had been doing a good job of hiding her problems, but she was an utter mess. Though these past few days, she showed signs of healing. Witnessing whatever had transpired on Horizon put a mark on her. And to deal with that just after shooting and killing one of your own kind over a mistake?
Kelly almost felt at a loss for words. At least the right words to tell Tali without it sounding cryptic.
"She's coping." She said finally.
Apparently that was enough for Tali. "She's been thrown a lot these past three weeks."
"I know." Was all the redhead could say. She looked back down to her papers to steal herself a moment to collect her thoughts in silence.
Sensing that Kelly didn't want to spill any more than what was necessary, Tali decided to just wait by settling her hands in her lap and clearing her throat.
About a minute passed.
"Ready?" Kelly asked softly. Tali sucked in a small breath and nodded.
"Patient is Tali'Zorah vas Neema. Today is Tuesday, March 16th, 2186 at 7:45 PM, day shift."
Kelly set down the recorder. "Do you remember what we talked about last?"
"We talked about my mom and dad." Tali uttered, glancing at the camera staring blankly at her.
"That's right. I remember you telling me about her and how important she was to you. Her favorite songs and food. And about how she didn't like wearing her environment suit."
"She hated it. She had it off as often as possible. She'd spend her time making clothes when she wasn't working. She got really good at it. Made stuff for kids too."
"What kind of clothes did she make?"
"The usual. Shirts. Pants. Made this gown one time from something she saw on the extranet. Some asari website. It was brown though because she didn't have anything else lying around to use." Tali mumbled embarrassingly, wondering why she was even going into such trivial detail. The stack of clothes her mom had made probably still sat where she left them last: under their bed in a small bin in their old shack of a room. Dad had left mostly everything since her death untouched. Almost like he wanted a memento of a better time in their life. Which was odd, because Rael didn't exactly strike you as a man who dithered around with his sentimental side. Tali admitted it was just an assumption though. And as much of an assumption it was, she wanted to believe in it. It was about the only thing she could think of that could explain keeping the things he did. She was removed from her inner thoughts when Kelly asked her another question.
"Did she ever make anything for your dad?"
Tali almost wanted to laugh. Kelly wouldn't have asked that had she known who her dad was.
"No. He never said it, but he thought the hobby was hurting resources. At least when she made stuff for herself."
"How so?"
"That's just how he is. Or was. I never know these days." Tali murmured disappointingly.
"How about your dad? What did he do in his spare time?"
The answer came flat. "There was no spare time for him."
"What do you mean?"
"It means exactly what it means. He would sleep at night and work during the day." There was a long pause from the quarian. "I'm surprised he even had the time to have me." She said with a bitter scoff. "It got worse after my mom died."
Kelly nodded and jotted down a note. "Your father expresses characteristics of someone who'd gone through a traumatic ordeal at some point in their life; even before your mother passed. Whatever it was, it changed him. Your mother's passing helped push him to the man that he is today. It's representative, at least in the way you've explained to me, that he's coping in a fashion that negatively impacts your relationship with him. Coping mechanisms manifest when they happen to reproduce reliable results; even long after the troubling point in their life is long gone."
Tali nodded absently at Kelly's interpretation of her family's dysfunction because she knew it was going to progress the conversation.
God she hated this.
"Are you religious?" Kelly asked.
"No."
"I understand it's not for everyone. But a lot of people do find comfort in the beyond. Gives them hope for a better tomorrow. Makes them feel better knowing that something's watching over them."
Tali couldn't help but lean forward. "Are you religious?"
"I've experimented." Kelly answered.
"And where did that lead you?"
Kelly briefly looked up at the ceiling. "It... opened me up to a lot of different ways to view the world."
"And that's great if you're into that. It seems to get Thane through his day."
"Would it be something you'd ever consider?"
Tali didn't even have to think about it. "No."
"Why's that?"
"There's nothing in this universe that would point to a prime mover. At least, not a prime mover that cares. Either way, herding yourself into a group to worship one is... cultish."
"How so?"
"How so about what? The cultish thing or the prime mover not caring?"
"The prime mover not caring."
Tali almost wanted to spit at Kelly's question. "Are you being serious?"
"I've had to tell Garrus this before, but these questions don't represent my personal opinions. I ask questions like this to help facilitate dialogue between us."
Tali kind of smiled. "That means you've asked a question Garrus thought was stupid too."
"Yes. Definitely." Kelly grinned.
"So you think that question really deserves an answer." Tali said without it sounding like a question.
"Yes."
"Then my answer is the Reapers. It might have been something else, but right now it's them. If you wanted me to point to god, I'd show you one of those."
"But gods can't die." Kelly said, thinking momentarily of Sovereign and his fall during the Battle of the Citadel.
"No," Tali murmured, crossing her hands idly over the table. "They die when no one thinks of them anymore."
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Shepard stepped out of the elevator to a dimly lit crew deck. As he turned the corner, he saw Zaeed already sitting with a bottle of bourbon sitting in front of him with two shot glasses.
"Shepard." Zaeed greeted, looking over his shoulder, "Fancy a glass?"
John sat down across from him and opened up a hand to show the mercenary he would be obliged.
"Rentera aged bourbon." Zaeed said, twisting the waxed cap off, "Made on the Ellah estate. Spain. Been around since 2045. Oak. Barrel 9. Aged 80 years."
He poured carefully into a glass and John took it.
"Careful." Zaeed warned, pointing at John, "It's like drinkin' gold. You sip it slow and enjoy the damn thing."
John accepted the glass and took in its scent before taking a neat swig. "...Damn."
"Fine stuff, isn't it?"
John agreed by nodding at the remarkably smooth taste.
"We can finish that damn bottle together when we get on with what I need done."
John looked him in his one good eye, crossed his arms to show he was paying attention, and waited for him to start explaining what it was he needed so badly.
"You wanna know how the Blue suns started? Me an' a pal. Vido Santiago. I'll spare you the shite details and keep it pragmatic. The bastard crossed me. Blew damn near half my face off. Why my mug looks like a goddamn chewed arse."
John remembered how he'd told the story just earlier today to Samara and Kylie.
"You want him dead."
"How'd you guess?" Zaeed said with a cheeky grin.
"Don't know." Shepard replied with mirth, "What have you got?"
"Ismar Frontier. Space boonies. Zorya's the planet. Vido's working on some security contract with rich Eldfell-Ashland eggheads to mine resources caked under the jungles."
"Have you conceptualized anything yet? How are we doing this?"
"We go in quiet, infiltrate, and tag the sumbitch."
"Go in, snuff the guy, and get out." John summarized.
"Snuff 'em slowly. Five minutes. All I need."
The stare on John's face grew cold. "...You're asking me to help you torture the guy."
"Maybe you do need the details then." Zaeed quipped, "When I co-founded the Suns, there was an ethos. A warrior's ethos. Vido changed that. Wanted to hire ex-batarian slavers just to save us the cost of labor. Figured slavers and criminals would be cheaper for keeping things in the black. Told him fuck no and it came to fuck all. Had me held down by six goddamn batarian thugs as he shot me in the head. All of it just to be ironic."
Shepard didn't say anything.
"That man has committed more crimes than Cerberus has fuckin' agents. One hell of a heinous man."
John relented. "Fine. We'll go there. But once we're there, I want no part of what happens next. You got it?"
"Didn't want no one around for that part anyways." Zaeed smiled.
John blinked and downed whatever was left in his glass. The bourbon didn't burn and went down smooth.
This is where John had been reminded that the liberties of working outside of the wing of the Alliance came at a cost. He'd realized it after their stunt on Hock's estate. Stuff like this wasn't even something John had to consider back on the first Normandy. So what was the second one becoming exactly?
He didn't know anymore.