Hz, this one is for you. Thank you for galvanizing me off my lazy arse

Everyone else: Thank you so much for sticking around and continuing to toon in to my silly story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bioware or Mass Effect or any of it's characters or any of the OCs in this story. Yet… *Evil laughter*

oo00O00oo

Medigel, both a life saving invention and also a rebuttal to just about any excuse to sit down and take a break. No matter how many cuts, bruises and bangs the enemy managed to inflict upon us, the Captain's simple remedy every time was to hit that little orange button on her omni-tool and pump us all full of medical miracles. In conjunction, I'm fairly sure that by the time we reached the anti-chamber to the Queen Rachni's holding cell, just about all my actual blood had been replaced by the artificial stuff.

Not that I would complain mind you, it felt great to keep my insides where they belonged, but there were some things only a short rest could fix. Suit breaches, for example. Note to self, get more emergence suit patches, melee enemies are a quarian's worst nightmare. Bullet holes are easily patched or deflected by the omnigel layer in my suit, but slashing and ripping? Not so easy to fix on the run.

I was glad Tali had thought to stuff a few extra patches in her own parka pockets, but I could already tell one of us was going to contract something infectious once this was over.

Speaking of, we were stacked up outside the final door at this point, the Captain running a count down on her fingers. Damn, do my hands really look like that? It's kind of weird, can't think of why I never noticed it until then. Distraction maybe, I'd been pretty busy.

The count reached zero and the Captain slapped the hand that had been counting down on the green door panel, then filed into the room, shotgun pressed tightly to her shoulder. Tali followed her in, the two of them sweeping the room before taking cover, the Captain then waved Garrus and I up from our cover in the door way.

I was the first to see the Matriarch and I took a shot at her, half expecting it to annoy her more then anything. Her barriers must have been just powering up though, and the shot when right through her shoulder, just below the armor. She staggered backward, dropping to one knee, blue barriers flaring up around her just a second to late to stop the projectile. Like a Geth hopper her head snapped up, and I could feel her rage filled eyes boring into my own, completely bypassing the tinted safety of my helmet.

The Matriarch pushed herself to her feet and cleared her throat, the tension between us randomly evaporating like water on a hot pipe, "Greetings Spectre, I've been expecting you."

Shepard leaned out from around her cover just enough to see the elder Asari, "Yeah? Well I think you looked pretty surprised for someone who was expecting us."

The Matriarch glanced at me, straight on, then looked back to the Captain, "I will admit that I was not aware your followers could be so… trigger happy." She held up a hand to forestall any argument, "I have but a little amount of time to resist Saren's grip on me. His ship, Sovereign, exerts some form of… control on his followers. I thought I was strong enough to fight it, but-"

Shepard interrupted, "So how do I know it's not controlling you now?"

Benezia glared down her nose at the Captain, "Once I realized what was happening, I partitioned off a section of my mind and kept it away from Sovereign's influence. The point, Spectre, is that Saren is not the one in control, it is he who is controlled, by Sovereign."

That got a quizzical eyebrow raise from most of us (Garrus did something weird with his mandibles, so I think that counts), which was ignored as she continued, "I was sent here to attain from the Queen Rachni the location of the Mu Relay, and the Conduit."

Garrus snorted, "Geeze Commander, will we ever get an answer that doesn't involve estranged and cryptic names?"

Glowering, the Captain pulled back around her cover, the witty retort poised on her lips cut off by the jagged cry that emanated from Matriarch Benezia, her body suspended in mid air while Biotics swirled around her, wreathing the asari in a rich cocoon of blue energy that was almost painful to look at.

The Captain swore colorfully, needlessly shouting, "Cover. Cover!" before a wave of dark energy blasted over the squad, freezing us in place with what felt like the most powerful Stasis I'd ever encountered. Stasis is by far one of the most annoying Biotic abilities ever invented, I will readily admit. We were only frozen for a few seconds, but that was just long enough time for an enemy squad to dash in and slid seamlessly into their position across the room. I could see a few asari commandos in the mixed rush, but for the most part it was an assortment of different geth units that stood in our way, neither opponent type looking very happy to see us.

Fire blazed around us the moment our Stasis' wore off, filling the air around my helmet with hundreds of buzzing projectiles, most burying themselves in the platform that shielded me while the rest whizzing overhead to clatter off the walls, my shields blinking once and a while to deflect a few rebounding shots. It took me a second to 'psyche up' (As Ashley said) for that first shot, the second I heard a slight lull in the barrage of incoming fire marking the same instant I was over and around the metal wall, my first shot shattering the shields of the asari moving up to flank us, and the second decapitating the Geth trooper right behind her. Tali vaulted over me as I crouched away from the edge of my cover, my back yelping in protest as the love of my life used me like a hurdle to clear the cover, her own blast of super sonic rounds smashing into the asari I had downed even before her feet touched the catwalk.

I was grinning despite myself as the next target came into view, the exhilaration of my, our bond pouring streams of liquid fire into our veins and capillaries with every movement that propelled us, every thought that graced us a shared collective of decisions and consensus made only a split second before we crafted them into a single action to be preformed as one, still red hot from the furnace as our shoulder contacting the hard metal floor in the same moment the third shot streaked out across the battlefield, leaving a wake of hot air we sprang up into, bionics propelling us up and over the cover of the enemy, every challenge, every obstruction melting away before the beauty and purity of our connection.

oo00O00oo

Shepard had to blink a few times as Tali preformed a perfect Biotic leap over the enemies cover, twisting midair to rain down death on the farthest ends of the room while Jay's rifle thundered away, one particularly well aimed shot passing straight through a cover element to shatter a particularly unlucky asari's helmet. Garrus was likewise speechless, though it was he who recovered first, snapping off a round into an encroaching geth's head before commenting dryly.

"You know, Shepard, I'm beginning to wonder why you bother bringing me along on these missions."

Releasing a hearty scoff and a blast from her weapon, Shepard transformed another of the androids into barely functioning scrap metal, "Commentary, I guess."

"Sort of like that human sport, football?"

Shepard grumbled as yet another wave of goons cycled in through the door, Jay and Tali's attention shifting to them without pausing, the assorted enemies hunkering down to avoid their fire "I'm not sure that's even related. European or American football?"

Garrus cocked his head to one side, "There's a difference?"

What ever Shepard was about to say was forestalled by one of Benezia's Biotic charges slamming into her, blowing the commander halfway across the room. She landed with a solid thunk on the grating, spitting a string of colorful curses as she slid past Jay. There was a dull thunk when her helmet contacted the wall, but that wasn't what prompted the surprised choke from Garrus and a muffled giggle from Tali as Jay's eyes widened, "Captain, did you just… squeak?"

oo00O00oo

The mood was a far different one when we returned to the Normandy, with the death of a matriarch hanging over our heads. It startled me, seeing her just, die. No fanfare, no huzzah, just a final wish to Shepard and then she was gone. And then because I was thinking about that, I was starting to wonder about everyone else I had killed. I knew most of them had been the scum of the galaxy, mercenaries and gangsters, but is was still an idea I didn't want in my head. The gloom didn't seem to extend to the human crew though, and for the most part, I don't think they really cared about Benezia's death. I suppose the enormity of the event was sort of lost on them.

My first thought was to see if I could find Liara and get some meditation done, but Dr. Chalkwas was standing guard outside her room, and based on the look I got, the asari needed some time to herself.

My second option was the Engineering bay and Tali, but the Commander was down there chatting with Wrex, and after the way she reacted to my comment concerning her, eh, vocalizations, I figured it best to avoid her as well.

So stealth it was. I skulked into the elevator, and crouched by the far wall as it descended, willing myself to melt into the metal walls that surrounded me.

"You did what?!"

The explosive outburst that can only be Wrex made me jump in place, whacking my helmet against the hand bar. Ow. The Captain responded with something I couldn't really hear, and I made use of the argument to slip by unseen, the door to the engineering bay sliding open without a whisper, admitting me in to the comfortable hum of the engines. Tali was still working on fine tuning and up-keeping the engines, her fingers flying across the keyboard in a flurry of motion. She knew I was here, just like how I knew she was.

I didn't need to say anything, just slipped up behind her and looped my arms around her shoulders, giving her a tight squeeze before saying quietly, "Hello Tali."

One of her hands reaches up to pat mine gently, the other saving whatever work she'd down. She twists around until she's facing me and hugs me back, then pushes away gently and leans back against the console, "Jay. Did you want to talk about something?"

I cross my arms casually and rest my weight on one foot. Gel boot soles are nice, but even they get a little uncomfortable after a long day, "I did, actually. I was thinking about how we were fighting, back on Noveria, and… How did that feel? For you, I mean."

Tali settled onto one hip just a little, like it she always does when she's thinking, her feet shuffled into a new position. I started to get a little nervous when she didn't answer right away, my far-too-many digits playing with the fabric on my thighs, trying to seek out the texture and follow it to it's seam. The suspense was cut in half when she finally said, "It was, I knew what was going on, but I didn't control over my actions." She paused and I see her fingers start to fidget, "Somehow I, I felt like I needed a go ahead before I did anything."

I stopped her hands from wringing by taking them in mine, squeezing her palms gently, running my thumbs over the backs of her knuckles, "A Consensus, I felt that too."

She let out a snort and closes her fingered around my wrists, squeezing in return, "When you say it like that, it almost sounds like we're geth."

I nodded slowly, "Well, I've been thinking about what the Captain said this morning, about how our people and the… geth, share some similarities. And as much as I want to deny it, I really do, i-it just makes sense!"

Tali jerked her hands away from mine, and my fingers gripped uselessly at empty air, "How could you say something like that? We are nothing like them!"

I leaned forward to speak again, but Tali cut me off with an angry wave of her hand, almost hitting me in the head, "What every you're about to say, Jay'Toon nar Rayya, I'm not going to listen. The Geth are our enemy, and it disrespects our fallen ancestors to speak of them that way."

The dull thunk of Tali's helmet contacting her hands echoed through the empty engine room, bouncing off the cold platform and back around for another go on my senses. I was stunned. This had never been such a problem before, I couldn't remember the last time we fought over something so… petty. I didn't even know what I'd done wrong. Her disappointed sigh was the next sound to slice through my ears, and it hurt more then overloading my amp ever had.

"I, I just need a minute." The warm glow of her helmet's light was blocked by her palms, her eyes squeezed firmly shut as she turns back around and refocused her attentions on the console.

"Sure," My mouth felt dry, my tongue heavy and awkward, as I too turned away, "I'll… let you work then."

"See you later Jay."

The bay doors swished shut silently behind me, cutting off the comforting hum of the engines, leaving my to wallow in silence and my own thoughts. I was glad for it, because it meant that Tali didn't seen me lean against the wall, and then slide limply down it to bury my head in my hands and replay endlessly what had just happened in my mind.

What had I done wrong?

ooOO0OOoo

"That's what happened. They stood together for a half hour or so, not a word between them, and then broke apart like they'd had a fight." Jennifer sighed and leaned back in her chair, shrugging helplessly to the glowing holo of Mia that floated above her desk, "I can't make heads of tails of it."

Mia gripped her left thumb and rubbed the knuckle firmly. It had taken years for her to get over the habit of rubbing her head when distressed, but she'd done it. And now it was back, in a lesser form thankfully, "It's their bond, it's growing stronger."

Shepard rubbed tired eyes with the heels of her hands, elbows planted on the desk as she questioned, "Isn't that a good thing? It was useful this afternoon, probably saved both their lives."

With a sigh, the quarian mother resisted the urge to copy the other women's movements, resorting to clasping them tightly and settling them on her own table, "Usually, but it takes years for normal quarian's to develop even the beginnings of the bond they have. I've talked to a few other bonded couples and I think that Jay and Tali are experiencing a sort of, adjustment period. Like swap the mods on a weapon, you need time to get used to it. They've just had everything changed all at once."

"So they need time to adjust to it." Feeling a weight she didn't know was on her heart suddenly lifted, Jennifer sat up a little and nodded, "I should go. Thank you for telling me all that."

Mia nodded as well and reached over to end the connection, "No problem. See you later Jennifer."

Standing up as the hologram flickered out, Jennifer stretched her sore back with a grunt, then set off to get some dinner. Hopefully, whatever had happened between Tali and Jay would be resolved soon, because she was going to need her team at fully capacity if they were going to be ready.

She'd just gotten a message from the Council concerning Saren's current whereabouts. They were headed for Virmire.

ooOO0OOoo

Again, I want to thank every one for their support and love, it's been a real life saver when I'm feeling like I have no ideas left.

This chapter was a little later then I said it would be because I had to rewrite the last half~ a few times to get the characters to sound right. Everyone was sort of starting to sound like Shepard… I also know that I re-wrote the dialog with Matriarch Benezia :|

I have no excuse for that other then it flowed smother.

Also, my OA3 account will be updating faster then , don't ask why XD

Anyhow, Read and Review PLZ! I'd like to know what people honestly think of this work so far.