Shepard looked at the little gray lump of the Reaper IFF transponder. It sat inside of the same sealed cage that Mordin had used for containing the Collector insects. For right now, the salarian didn't want anyone even breathing the same air as this thing.

"So is it safe?" He looked up at Mordin and Donnelly. The engineer had a crutch tucked under his right shoulder, and he'd been getting pretty good at getting around with it.

Donnelly gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Safe as compared to what? It's a piece of Reaper tech."

"I just want to make sure that this damn thing isn't going to blow us up the moment we plug it in. Or broadcast our position to every Collector or Reaper around."

Mordin glanced up from his notes. "No apparent activity within. From data recovered from Cerberus team, appears this unit purely passive. Supplies proper code to ship's transmitter during standard mass relay transit, otherwise does not function."

The Commander crossed his arms. "Okay. Do we need to physically attach it? Somehow it would feel safer if we could leave it separate."

EDI's voice cut in. "I believe we will need to have at least some physical connection. It will be necessary to design in a few firewalls and safeguards, but otherwise it should be straightforward. Testing everything thoroughly should take no more than a few weeks."

"Good," replied Shepard. "I want to make sure this beacon isn't going to grow tentacles or something."

Mordin handed Shepard his datapad. "Also have partial decryption of the 'IFF signal'. Believe we know where the Omega Four relay leads to."

Shepard looked at the map in disbelief. "This is near the galactic core. Close to the accretion disk from the core's supermassive black hole."

"Yes," said Mordin. "Obviously Collector base must be heavily shielded to survive such an environment."

"The radiation there could also be another reason nobody came back from going through the O-4," added Donnelly. "We should be resistant to that, especially with our new armor plating. But I'd like to take the time to harden certain components and make sure the crew sections are better shielded."

"Take whatever time you need," said Shepard. "We're only going to get one crack at this." He rubbed the back of his neck. "And now I have to figure out what to do with that damn mystery geth we retrieved."

He left Mordin's lab, with Donnelly lurching along behind. "Sir, can I talk with you privately?" asked the burly engineer.

"Sure. My cabin?"

The elevator ride was quiet. Shepard hoped that this wasn't a case of the engineer having an attack of nerves. It would be surprising given the man's even temperament, but he had lost a good part of his leg after all.

Once they reached his cabin, he gestured for Donnelly to have a seat on the couch and remained standing. "What can I do for you, Marcus? How are you feeling?"

The engineer leaned his crutch against the sofa and gave another one-shoulder shrug. "The leg hurts. The phantom pain is still really hard to get used to." He smiled. "But I actually feel pretty good, otherwise. Jack has been a big help, even if she does keep calling me 'Long John Silver' and talks like a pirate around me."

Shepard chuckled. "What's your status on getting a prosthetic?"

"Dr. Chakwas and Mordin are almost done. There's a couple of components they need to pick up and then they can attach it."

Shepard nodded. The attachment was going to be just the first step, he knew. After that it would be necessary to re-train Donnelly's nervous system to work with the artificial limb. A thought struck him. "Are you okay with Mordin having a hand in making your new leg? He's brilliant, but he can sometimes get fixated on certain ideas. You might wind up with a flamethrower inside it."

Donnelly grinned. "Jack would love that. Nah, Dr. Chakwas is there to ride herd on any weird ideas he might get." His face became serious. "But that's not what I wanted to talk about."

Shepard gestured for him to continue.

Donnelly leaned forward and tapped his fingertips together nervously. "Sir, you had...direct contact with Sovereign, right?"

"More or less. I spoke with its hologram. And after Saren's final, um, transformation, that being was pretty much Sovereign. Although we didn't talk then, not really." Shepard tried to throw a little humor into it. "Not unless you call gunfire a conversation."

Donnelly didn't smile. "When you were on board that derelict Reaper on Mnemosyne, did you hear anything? Voices?"

Shepard crossed his arms. "No. I was pretty preoccupied, however. I'm assuming you did hear something?"

The engineer nodded. "It was when I went outside to repair that junction. I keep telling myself it was just a bad case of nerves. But that voice did seem real. Even when we were making a run for it away from the wreck, I still heard it." He shot a guilty glance at the Commander. "It's stupid, I shouldn't have taken up your time-"

"What did it say?"

"Not much. It said my name, and that it...knew me. And it kept saying 'join'." Donnelly looked up at Shepard with something like a plea on his face. "It was just nerves, right? Sovereign's been dead for two years. That damned thing was stuck on Mnemosyne for millions of years. They couldn't have communicated. There's no way it could 'know' me, right?"

Shepard held up a hand. "Right now, I'm not willing to put anything past those bastards. Have you heard any voices since Mnemosyne?"

Donnelly shook his head. "No. Not even when we were looking at that beacon thing just now."

"Good. Just to be safe, it's probably best if you aren't involved with the IFF integration effort."

Donnelly grabbed his crutch and heaved himself upright. "Aye. I was planning on handing that off to Oriana anyway. I'm going to have my hands full getting our extra radiation shielding into place."

Shepard placed a hand on Donnelly's shoulder. "I'm sure it's nothing, just a residual effect of Reaper exposure. From the logs we recovered, we know the Cerberus team took at least a month or two to show any serious Indoctrination effects. Just keep me or the doctors informed if you hear anything more, okay?"

Donnelly nodded and swung his way out of his cabin. Shepard leaned against the wall and stared at nothing as he pondered what the engineer had told him.

"Join," he mused aloud. He had always thought of Indoctrination as a simple case of one's own self being shoved aside and having your body turned into a Reaper puppet. But this information, plus the experiences of the Cerberus team on board the wreck, seemed to indicate that the process was something more subtle and insidious.

----------------------------------------

The harsh lighting of the medbay glared overhead as Samara rubbed her crest nervously. "I don't know exactly what to say, Doctor. I just feel odd, like I've eaten something that doesn't agree with me."

Dr. Chakwas gave her a smile. "Don't worry, I'm sure you're healthy. Breathe in and out once more, please...good." She took her stethoscope away from Samara's bare back. "Your lungs sound fine. I'm going to feel around your stomach, okay?"

The ex-Justicar nodded. Something about this whole situation seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. One of the drawbacks to living for almost one thousand years was that memories sometimes took longer to retrieve. She felt the doctor's sure and steady fingers press around her abdomen. Something about the abdomen, she knew that was what she was trying to remember.

"No distension or bloating," said Dr. Chakwas. "I'll need a blood sample, I think. We need to make sure this isn't a bacterial or viral infection."

"Go ahead, please." Samara stared at the wall as the doctor unwrapped a syringe and drew the sample. Somehow her intuition was leaping ahead of her conscious mind. She knew that whatever this was, some dim memory made her feel both elated and sad. She hoped that this illness wasn't something serious. It would be cruel in the extreme to finally achieve happiness again only then have it taken away.

Dr. Chakwas patted her hand. "Fortunately, Cerberus spared no expense. Our analysis facilities are top of the line." The little syringe of blood disgorged its contents into a piece of equipment next to them. The doctor held up a datapad as the initial results began to be filled in. "No new foreign DNA detected," she mused. "I also see some elevated hormone levels in the blood. Whatever this is, it isn't psychosomatic. My expertise in asari physiology isn't the best, but if you were a human female I'd say you were..."

She trailed off as Samara felt a little click in her stomach. The asari suddenly knew exactly what was going on with her body. She and Dr. Chakwas stared at each other for a long moment.

----------------------------------------

Donnelly was surprised to see Jack also in the starboard observation lounge. "You got a message too?"

Jack shrugged as she lounged on one of the sofas. "Blue asked me to meet her here. Dunno what for." She got an evil grin on her face. "Arr, matey, this be a foine mystery!"

He rolled his eyes. "I guess I earned that with all of the 'wee daft scunner' jokes, aye?"

"Aye." Jack patted the sofa next to her and Donnelly lurched his way over and sat. Jack flopped down so her head was in his lap, and he absently stroked her stubbled scalp.

"You're due for a shave," he said distantly.

Jack looked up at him with concern. "Assface? You know I'm just fuckin' with you about the leg thing, right?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, it's not that. I was talking to Shepard about that voice I heard during the Mnemosyne mission. He didn't hear anything."

"Yeah, but he's also got about five pounds of cybernetics in his skull. His head's probably like a big ol' Faraday cage." She snuggled her head against his stomach. "Besides, you haven't heard it since."

"Maybe you're right," he mused.

"Of course I am."

The door hissed open, and Samara and Kelly entered. They both looked like they were going to simply burst with excitement as they walked over and stood in front of Jack and Donnelly.

"Thanks for coming," said Kelly. "We wanted you two to to hear the news first. You both were a big part in us finally getting together, after all." She gave Samara a sideways hug as the former Justicar smiled.

"Do you want to tell them, or shall I?" asked Samara.

"You do it." Kelly's grin got even wider.

Samara took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Donnelly blinked. "Wow."

Jack sat up. "Gee, Perky One, I didn't know you were so studly!"

Kelly blushed as Samara gave Jack a mock glare. "You know it doesn't work like that with my species, Jack."

"I know, I just like messin' with her for old time's sake. But seriously, congratulations."

"Are you keeping this under wraps?" asked Donnelly. "I mean, I'm flattered that you wanted to tell us first. But you didn't have to do that."

"Well, that wasn't all," said Kelly. She looked at Samara with an unspoken question. The asari smiled and nodded in reply. The redhead took at deep breath and continued. "We also wanted to let you know that, if you and Jack ever wanted to get together with us, we'd be more than happy to."

Donnelly's brow wrinkled. "Together? You mean go out to dinner or something?"

Jack tilted her head and arched an eyebrow at him. "You know, can be such a clueless dork sometimes."

He looked at her in confusion for about a second, then the penny finally dropped. "Oh. Together."

Samara laughed. "Not right now! Take your time and talk it over between yourselves. We just thought it would be a nice way to show our appreciation, if you're both interested. I've taken so much life out of the world, it's a good thing to be putting some back into it."

Donnelly sat in disbelief, staring off into space. Jack waved her hand in front of his face. "I think you broke him, Blue. We'll get back to you, okay?" He was dimly aware of Jack handing him his crutch, taking his hand, and steering him out of the lounge.

It wasn't until they reached his quarters that he finally spoke again. "That was unexpected."

Jack sat on his bed and chuckled. "You bet. You're not freaked out, are you?"

"A little bit, lass. Right now I'm just trying to get my head around the idea. And also I didn't know what you would think of it." He settled himself beside her.

She leaned against him. "I'd be open to it. Hell, I've done a lot of weirder things. There was this one time, when I was in that cult, we all took turns doing-"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Donnelly coughed. "That's all right, lass. I believe ye. Honestly, I'm not sure I want to take them up on that offer."

"I'm kinda surprised. You're a dude being offered a foursome by three hot babes, I thought you'd be all over that shit."

"Firstly, I don't want to mess this up between us. And even apart from the emotional aspects...well, look at it from my point of view. If we went ahead with it, then I'd have three women at once to deal with. First there's you, and you are a handful all by yourself." Jack smiled smugly as he continued. "Plus there's Samara, who's had three or four hundred years of experience in, ah, 'getting together' before she went off and did her justicar-ing. Then there's Kelly, who has been with more species than anybody else on the Normandy. That's a lot of performance anxiety to put onto one middle-aged Glaswegian. Even if I had both me legs."

"I'm sure you would rise to the occasion," replied Jack as she rubbed his uninjured thigh.

"That's a cheap joke, even for you."

"Arr, ya think so matey?" They both laughed, and Jack patted his leg. "Thanks for taking my feelings into account. Let's sleep on it, at least."

----------------------------------------

The physical guard was purely for Shepard's peace of mind. If the mystery geth reactivated, then one person with a gun wouldn't be able to do much other than sound the alarm. EDI was keeping the geth in its somnolent state; apparently the husks on board the derelict had somehow activated a 'standby' mode that EDI was keeping in force.

"Anything so far?" he asked the guard.

The guard shook her head. "It's been quiet since we put it in here." She gestured to the geth's body, which was curled up behind a kinetic barrier for good measure. EDI's hardware hummed around them, and Shepard almost expected to see his breath in the room's chilly air.

"Tali, what do you think?"

The quarian took a step around him and looked over the inert synthetic. "An intact geth." She almost sounded hungry. "It would be wonderful to get it disassembled. We've always struggled to understand how the various sub-units combine to form the fully sapient entities." Her hood drooped as she looked at the floor. "But that goes down a very dark path." She looked up at Shepard. "If we reactivate it, that's a point of no return. We either kill it quickly and humanely, or we try to talk to it. Nothing in between. We're not doing what my father did. That's the plan, right?"

He smiled and gripped her shoulder. "That's the plan, Tali. And I think we'll try talking first." He looked over at the guard. "I'm turning this thing back on. Be ready. EDI, are you all set?"

"I have isolated our systems," replied EDI. "I have also erected additional firewalls. I am ready to resist any hacking attempt."

Shepard gave Tali's shoulder another squeeze. "At least at the start, I should be the only one to talk to it. You keep an eye on me and let me know if I start acting weird. I don't think it could do any Indoctrination on me, but I want to make sure."

Tali nodded. "Do it."

Shepard called up his omni-tool and touched a few controls which cancelled the geth's 'standby' mode. The prone form twitched and its three-fingered hands curled into fists. The fingers then uncurled as the machine's eye-light turned on. The synthetic swiveled its hooded head around, taking in its surroundings and the three of them as well. Then it stood in one flowing motion. Shepard had fought many geth and he was still amazed over how fast and surely they moved. That movement was not at all what one would call 'machine-like.' He felt Tali edge a little behind him as the synthetic stepped up to the kinetic barrier that still imprisoned it. Its single eye shone at him.

Shepard cleared his throat. "Can you understand me?"

"Yes." The geth's voice held the same electronic twang that he'd heard on board the derelict Reaper.

"Are you going to attack us?"

"No." The geth's hood-flaps twitched a little, as if it was raising its non-existent eyebrows at the absurd idea.

"You said my name aboard the derelict Reaper. Have we met?"

The geth tilted its head. "We know of you."

"Of course. I've fought a lot of geth. And I've killed a lot of them." He watched carefully to see if the machine reacted, but there was no twitch from it.

"We have never met," replied the geth.

"No, you and I haven't. But I've met other geth."

The synthetic tilted its hood the other way. "We are all geth, and we have not met you. You are Shepard. Commander. Human. Alliance. You have fought the heretics. You destroyed Nazara, the entity you called Sovereign. Killed by Collectors. Rediscovered on the Old Machine."

"Heretics?" muttered Tali. "Find out more about that, if you can."

Shepard nodded and turned his attention back to the geth. "Old Machine? You mean the Reaper?

"Reaper. A superstitious title originating with the Protheans. We call those entities the Old Machines."

"I understand. I want to also ask what you meant by 'heretics'."

The machine leaned back and crossed its arms, almost as if it was imitating Shepard's posture. "Geth build our own future. The heretics ask the Old Machines to give them their future. They are no longer part of us."

"Factions!" Tali's voice sounded almost gleeful. "We never suspected that geth have political factions. That means the ones fighting the Migrant Fleet don't represent all geth."

"Of course not, Creator-Tali'Zorah," said the machine.

Tali squeaked a little and pressed up against Shepard's back. "You know my name?"

"Yes."

Shepard tried to get the conversation back on track. "Why were you on the Reaper...I mean, the Old Machine?"

"We were studying the Old Machine's hardware to protect our future."

He felt a little thrill at the notion. Up until now, the geth had been thought of as Reaper pawns and nothing more. But perhaps at least some of them could be allies. "That means the Reapers are a threat to you as well."

"Yes."

"But why would they attack other machines?"

"We are different from them. Outside their plans."

Tali edged back around Shepard to face the geth. "What future are the geth building?" she asked.

"Ours."

Shepard felt Tali's hand grip his arm. He patted her hand and addressed the machine. "Will anyone else be affected by...whatever it is you're doing?"

"If they involve themselves, they will."

"You seem to know a lot about me."

"Extranet data sources. Unsecure transmissions. All organic data sent out is received. We watch you."

"You watch me, or you watch organics?"

"Yes."

"Which?"

"Both."

Tali shook her head. "Bosh'tet literal machine," she muttered.

Shepard forged ahead. "So you aren't allied with the Reapers?"

"We oppose the heretics. We oppose the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals."

Bingo. Shepard felt that little thrill grow larger. "Are you asking to join us?"

"Yes."

"This will require trust on both sides. You understand that, correct?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Then I will show you trust. EDI, drop the barrier."

The flickering field vanished, and the geth took another step forward towards Shepard. Its hood swiveled as the guard's rifle raised slightly. She wasn't pointing the weapon at the geth yet, but she was definitely thinking about it.

"Stand down," said Shepard mildly. "We're all crewmates here, right?" He extended a hand towards the geth. The machine looked down at his hand and its hood-flaps twitched curiously. Then it reached forward and took his hand. The synthetic's hand was much cooler than Shepard expected. He gave the geth's hand one firm shake and then dropped it.

"So now then, what should we call you?" Shepard asked.

The machine looked puzzled, if such an emotion was possible for it. "Geth."

"I mean you, specifically."

"We are all geth."

Tali looked up at him. "I told you, they're not individualized like us or EDI."

Shepard felt a dogged determination to continue. It was ridiculous that this geth didn't have some kind of moniker. "What is the individual in front of me called?"

The machine looked at them all like it was trapped in a roomful of lunatics. "There is no individual. We are geth. There are currently 1,183 programs active within this platform."

EDI's voice filled the room. "My name is Legion, for we are many."

Shepard felt a little relief. "That seems appropriate." He looked at the geth. "What do you think?"

The geth's hood-flaps flared out. "Christian Bible. The Gospel of Mark, chapter 5, verse 9. We acknowledge that this is an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of the geth. We will integrate into Normandy. We anticipate the exchange of data."

Tali tugged at his arm. "We need to talk about this. Privately."

He nodded. "Just one more thing I want to find out." Shepard turned back to Legion. "When we took you aboard, I noticed that you have a piece of N7 armor welded to you. Where did you get it?"

Legion brushed a finger over the red-and-gray pauldron. "It was...yours. When you disappeared, we were sent to find you. We began where you first encountered the heretics."

"You mean Eden Prime." Shepard didn't like to think about that place much. That was where he'd lost Jenkins. Where he'd seen the first husks. And it was the first time he'd ever 'seen' the Reapers, thanks to the Prothean beacon burning its ancient message into his brain.

The geth nodded. "After the Old Machine's attack, it was heavily defended. We were discovered." It gestured to the hole in its torso. "This is the impact of a rifle shot."

"How many other geth were sent out to find me?"

"We are the only mobile platform beyond the Veil. Organics fear us. We wish to understand, not incite. One platform was deemed sufficient."

"And you were sent out after I was reported missing?" At the geth's nod, Shepard continued. "So that means you've been looking for me for two years."

"Yes. We visited Therum, Feros, Noveria, Vermire, Ilos. A dozen unsettled worlds. The trail ended at Normandy's wreckage. You were not there. Organic transmissions claimed your death. We recovered this debris from your hardsuit."

Tali put a possessive hand on Shepard's shoulder. "Why were you trying to contact him?"

"Shepard-Commander opposes the heretics. Those that took the Old Machines as gods."

Shepard shook his head. "All kinds of organics fought Sovereign and his geth allies. Why am I so interesting?"

"You were the most successful. You killed their god. You succeeded where others did not. Your code is superior."

He knew there had to be more to it than that. "That doesn't explain why you used my armor to fix yourself."

The geth tapped its shoulder. "There was a hole."

"But why didn't you fix it sooner? Or with something else?"

Legion looked down at its shoulder again as its hood-flaps twitched. "There...there was a hole."

----------------------------------------

"John, this is huge!" Tali gripped his hand in hers as they rode up the elevator to Shepard's cabin.

"I know, it's a big step. To have an actual geth ally with us is-"

"Fuck, it's bigger than that!" Before he could register surprise at her use of a human curse, Tali kept talking. "We've always thought of the geth as a monolithic hive-mind. But it isn't! The ones we've been fighting, these 'heretics', are just a fraction of the whole! The Fleet needs to know about this."

"What do you think they'll do with the information?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Unfortunately, it means that dried-up bosh'tet Koris might be right. It could be possible to make peace with the geth. And maybe we could resettle Rannoch without firing a shot." She looked up at him. "Now that I think about it, I...no, we need to find out more. Before I go blathering to the Admirals."

He hugged her. "We will make sure. Are you doing okay? You were just in a room with a fully active geth, after all."

"I'm fine. I know we were talking about getting, um, 'together' after the Mnemosyne mission, but do you mind if we just cuddle tonight?"

"Well gee, let me think. Spend a night all by myself, or with a beautiful girl to keep me warm? That's quite a dilemma."

He could almost hear her blush. "You don't know I'm beautiful. You haven't seen my face."

"I know you, Tali, and I say you're beautiful."

----------------------------------------

It was very nice to wake up while being spooned by Shepard, even if he snored a bit. Tali waited to make sure he was still asleep. "John?" she finally whispered.

There was no response.

She gently and slowly eased herself out from under his arm. Then she stood and looked down on him. He'd kept his boxers on out of some remaining sense of propriety.

"I'm sorry, John," she whispered. "But I need to make sure." Tali crept out of his cabin and wrung her hands together during the elevator ride down to the mess level. There was nobody in the medbay, which was advantageous. The less there to witness this, the better.

The door to the AI core hissed open, and Legion looked up at her as she entered. She stared fixedly at the geth as the door hissed shut.

"Creator-Tali'Zorah," said Legion. "Do you wish to exchange data?"

She crossed her arms. "Why him?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is the geths' interest in Shepard? You are powerful, you must have resources of your own. Why involve him? Or the rest of us, for that matter."

Legion's head tilted. "Old Machines are much more powerful. Allies are necessary, especially Shepard. Also need creators as allies."

"Creators? You mean the quarians?"

"Yes. Anticipate difficulty in achieving consensus with your people. Creators are divided, unsure of proper course of action. This is mirrored by conflict within Creator-Tali'Zorah."

She looked at the floor. "That's beside the point. You haven't answered my first question. What is your interest in John Shepard?"

Legion was silent for a moment. "He is the most successful, as we said."

"No. He was dead. We all gave up on him. Keelah, I gave up on him." She looked up at the geth. "Why didn't you? You have to have some reason."

The geth's single unblinking eye stared back at her, and finally it spoke. "Can answer with quote from human history. There was a civil war on Earth, in a region known as the United States of America. Not united during time period in question. Ulysses S. Grant was field commander on side of Northern states. He was an alcoholic. Depressive. A failure in many things previous to his military career. Also had major setbacks during war effort. President Abraham Lincoln, supreme Northern commander, was placed under great pressure to remove Grant as general. After much pleading, Lincoln responded with simple declaration. 'I can't spare this man. He fights.'"

Legion pointed a single finger up in the direction of Shepard's cabin. "We cannot spare Shepard-Commander. He fights."

----------------------------------------

Shepard woke slowly, realizing Tali was no longer in his arms. He heard the door to his bathroom open, and then heard light footsteps make their way towards him. A warm body settled onto his bed and nestled against his back.

"Tali?"

"Mmm hmm." There was something odd about her voice, but he couldn't place it.

"Did you sleep all right?"

"I did. How about you?" He felt her forehead press against his back, and his breath caught in his throat. This was not the hard and cool touch of a quarian faceplate. It felt warm, like skin. And then he realized that Tali's voice didn't have the synthetic waver that he'd always heard.

"Tali? Did you take off your helmet?"

"Yep. I just finished taking the last of Mordin's antibiotic supplements." He felt that warm, smooth pressure rub against his back. "And I know you've also been decontaminating yourself and the room, just like he told you to. I think it's time." He felt her ungloved hand reach around and rest gently on his sternum. His heart beat faster in his chest.

"You're nervous," she said. "I can feel it. And I am too, to be honest. But you don't need to be. I want this." The hand stroked gently against his skin. "And you...you have given up so much. And now I know that you won't be spared further sacrifice. You...we will be required to give up even more before all this is over. We need to have some pleasure to balance that all out."

He placed his hand over hers. "This isn't about me getting my rocks off, Tali. If I wanted that, I'd have invited Ms. Chambers up here a long time ago. I want you too, but I just...I want to make sure you are safe. I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you."

Her hand moved out from under his, then reached up and stroked his cheek. "You can't protect everyone, John. No matter how much you want to. Are...are you ready to see me?"

Shepard knew this was a big step for her. Because they were effectively sealed into their environmental suits for most of their life, quarians now placed a great amount of significance into the act of seeing their uncovered faces.

Tali's voice wavered. "I was going to put on some music for this, but I didn't know what you'd like. Isn't that strange? I know so much about you. I know your favorite foods, I know that you like to sleep on your right side, I know everything except that. And now I'm babbling like an idiot. I just want this to work. I've thought it over, and we've minimized the risks, but I'm still nervous. And that always makes me talk too much. It's a defense mechanism, and it's stupid, and, and people who just see the helmet can't see my expression, so I have to make it clear what I'm feeling..."

Shepard turned himself over and looked at Tali.

Her eyes stared into his. They were silver, as he expected. But they were solid silver, with no delineation between the iris and the sclera. There was only the small black dot of a pupil in each center. Her head was smooth and bald, covered with the same seal-gray skin as her hands. There were purple markings on her forehead that started over her eyebrows and then ran up the center of her scalp. Her nose was almost non-existent; there was a small bump with two tiny nostrils, but that was all. Tali's mouth was larger than a human's, and she also had very plump lips that gave her an almost amphibian appearance. More dark-purple markings ran down the sides of her cheeks and under her chin.

"Tali," he began, and then stopped.

"John?" It was the voice that clinched it for him. Hearing her familiar voice coming out of that wonderful, alien face...it was as if his whole world had lurched back into focus, and now he was seeing her clearly for the first time.

"You are so, so beautiful," he whispered. And she was, because it was her. As he leaned in to kiss her, he was met halfway by her hungry mouth. Those amazing full lips crushed down on his and he felt a thrill run through him at the contact.

Her mouth opened under his as he slid his hand over her smooth, hairless head. Now there were no more words, there was only their need for each other as their tongues wrestled playfully. Tali abruptly broke the kiss and pulled her head back. There was that predatory gleam back in her eyes.

"Mine," she growled, and shoved him over on his back as she straddled him. Her hands tugged at his boxers, and she had them off of him in a few seconds. Shepard's hands were also busy as they helped peel her out of the rest of her suit. He took the the time to stroke and explore each newly-uncovered region. The rest of Tali's body was the same mix of familiar and strange, and Shepard delighted in looking at that gorgeous face of hers as she twitched and gasped with his exploring. And he was just as helpless under her curious fingers, crying out with his own pleasure as she teased and prodded him.

"Now?" she finally asked, after they had fully explored each other.

"Now," he replied, and there was a mutual gasp of delight as they joined.