Chapter 15: Time together

Good and rested. That was how Shepard felt when she woke up that morning. She hadn’t slept like that in a while.

Not since that movie night.

She suddenly felt her body being constricted and something pushed against her chest. Opening her eyes, she was confronted by a familiar helmet burying itself into her. Moving her head she saw that it was Rick’s arm holding her tightly. She couldn’t believe what was happening and for a moment thought she was still dreaming. Why would she be dreaming about Rick holding her? She didn’t know; that thought didn’t even cross her mind. She was too focused on the situation’s absurdity and feeling good to pay attention to that. On one hand, she wanted to stay like that longer. Forever if it was possible. On the other she dreaded what she knew would be his reaction.

Since he’ll blow up anyway, I can at least enjoy myself.

His arms were circling her torso but let her own arms free. With the one under his body she reached for his ass and got a good feel.

God, that must be the best ass I ever had my hands on. It’s so firm.

With her other hand she let it rest on his stomach and traced his abdominals. She could feel how strong they were with the tip or her fingers. They weren’t for show; they were not the result of effort at the gym but of real martial training, built for fighting not to look pretty. Satisfied with what she felt she let her hand roam lower in search of what has been haunting most of her dreams since their impromptu encounter as he was stepping out of the shower back on the first Normandy. If she ever had any  reservation about doing that, she didn’t anymore.

What did he expect by showing up uninvited during the night?

That was the excuse she kept telling herself as she finally gently grabbed his covered cock. She could feel how hard it was when she tried to squeeze it lightly and was impressed it didn’t pierce a hole in his underwear. She, as slowly as possible, went down his entire length, confirming with her own hand what Ashley and Tali had told her. When she tried to confirm his girth she found out that she could close her hand by a wide margin. She was fascinated by it and the only thing that was in her mind at the moment was how good it would feel inside of her.

Her caresses had been effective as Rick began to stir. Removing her hand immediately so as not to get caught and preparing herself to endure his anger and yelling, she was left dumbfounded, when he simply got up, stretched, cracked his neck and left her quarters without saying a word nor acknowledging her existence.

“What. The. Fuck.”


____________________________________________________________


Entering his own quarter, Rick joined Tali in bed and immediately spooned her. Enjoying the feel of the most perfect ass he ever saw against his crotch, he pondered the results of the previous night. He had been right, Shepard’s presence had helped. It was a bitter pill to swallow after all this time and he wasn’t looking forward to the talk he would have to have with her. His thoughts stopped there as Tali suddenly turned around.

“Good morning.” she greeted.
“Good morning to you too.”
“You sound… alright. I thought you would be dead tired after last night.”
“Phrasing!” Rick said in mock outrage.
“As if you wouldn’t take pride in bagging me.” she stated.
“You’re right, I totally would.” he replied with a chuckle.
“I have to admit, I missed sleeping well and waking up being spooned. You spoiled me.”
“What can I say but that I live to serve my empress?”
“And don’t you dare forget it. Let’s go eat our breakfast my high minion.”

She untangled herself from his embrace and got out of bed in a haughty way, making him shake his head in amusement. They went to the Crew Deck where Shepard and Miranda were already at the table. Greetings were exchanged and it was Tali who opened the conversation.

“When is the next time we make a stop at the Citadel?”
“After we’re done with Tuchanka, why?” answered the redhead.
“Because I’m almost done with my work. I was hoping we could sell our project to the alliance then. You know before going to that suicide mission nobody has ever come back from.”
“I thought you’d be done in a few days.” voiced Shepard.
“The shotgun and assault rifle are more or less of the same dimension so it was easier and faster. Likewise for the SMG and pistol . The sniper rifle is the one that’s taking the most time.”
“What is your work you’re talking about?” a curious Miranda asked.
“An anti-recoil system.” Rick answered.
“An anti… You succeeded in creating one?!”
“I’m a genius.” he replied in a flat tone which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Tali.
“I mean… Of course, I did! I’m a genius!”

This time Tali simply slapped his head.

“I didn’t hit you the first time because of your tone!”
“I know but I like messing with you.” he nonchalantly answered, earning another slap from the quarian.
“You seem in a good mood this morning; I gather you slept well?”

That wasn’t an innocent question from Shepard by a mile. Why did she attack him that way? He didn’t know but had some ideas, nothing that was concrete though.

“You should know, you were there. You stole my shirt by the way. I want it back.” his answer was even more nonchalant than the one from earlier. It brought up two kinds of reactions however.
““WHAT?!””
“I thought you wanted to burn that shirt? Changed your mind?”
“No, I’m still going to burn it.”
“Then no, I’m keeping…”
“Wait a damn minute!” yelled Tali, interrupting their conversation. “You slept together last night?!”
“Like you and I do, what about it?”
“I’m surprised you did after the last time.” Miranda chimed in.
“Well, I wanted some payback.”
“So you slept with Shepard back? What kind of logic is that?” said Tali.
“I don’t understand why you’re making such a fuzz. It was Red I slept with and to my disappointment she didn’t react at all.”
“Meh, you were warm and that’s it.”
“See?” he said to Tali while pointing at Shepard with his hand. “Though I wonder why you were not surprised. You seemed quite used to waking up with an unknown man by your side.”
“I know where you're going with this so I'll stop you right there.” the redhead replied.
“You really decided to ruin my morning and my good mood.”
“That’s what you get for slipping uninvited into a woman’s bed. You should be careful one day one may cry for rape.”
“Said the woman who fondled my dick for minutes, uninvited.”

Everyone at the table but Rick, dropped their jaws low. Shepard went further and as usual when she’s really embarrassed, her face became as red as her hair. She began to stutter, not believing that she had been caught but probably lured into doing what she did.

“You’re a thousand years too early for you to get one over me gingerbread.” 

Rick said as he stood up, went to clean his plate and walked to the starboard observation room, leaving behind three shocked ladies in his wake.

____________________________________________________________


When he saw Samara meditating, he could help but admire her. The biotic aura that she had around her was something that he found beautiful. Not wanting to bring her out of her state he silently went in front of her, and lay down resting his head in her lap. One hour later when she stopped meditating she was surprised at seeing him there.

“Comfortable?”
“Very.”
“The couches were not good enough?”
“No. They’re not as soft and don’t make me feel at peace.”
“...”

“...”
“I’m not moving.” he said in finality, in the manner of a child. That made Samara chuckle.
“Stupid question but… How do you feel?” he asked tentatively.
“Surprisingly at peace too.”
“It’s weird isn’t it? We lived the worst moment of our lives and yet we’re at peace. Perhaps we’re already too broken.”
“Or perhaps we already dealt with our grief long before.”
“... No, I’m too broken, you maybe.”

Samara didn’t know what to say to him, not after what she saw last night. She didn’t have the word to comfort him no matter how much she wished she did. Instead she just stayed silent.

“Any idea what you’re going to do after we’ve dealt with the Collectors?”
“Not really. Keep roaming asari’s space to bring justice to those who deserved it, probably.”
“You should retire. Enjoy life once again.”
“I’ve been a justicar for too long. It’s more than half my life.”
“Some do, you know?”
“That’s rare. Most of us usually die fighting.”
“And that’s why I want you to retire.”
“Oh really? I thought it was because you would be free to try to seduce me into your bed. You tried for years after all and I know you’re not the type to give up.” she said with a teasing smile.
“That’s my second reason.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Will you really turn down a young virile and handsome - your word not mine - man ready to pleasure you whenever you want?”
“Yes.”
“You’re no fun.”
“From where I am, I can say I have plenty of it. Besides, don’t you have Miss Lawson already? And from what I heard, a young maiden waiting on Illum?” she said, upping the tease with a smug smile.

Letting out a long and deep tired sigh, Rick decided to enjoy watching the stars. He finally slept well, got one more over Shepard and felt mostly at peace with himself. He could let Samara have this one.


____________________________________________________________



Assembling the last parts of the shotgun she was working on one last time, Tali felt quite satisfied with her work. Not that aesthetically they were anything to be proud of as she didn’t have the proper tools to make the weapon pretty but she had succeeded in creating what she had in mind with different gun parts from the armory. While the appearance was far from the multiple designs she created, what mattered was that her babies worked. The Alliance will have to be satisfied with that for the demonstration and build the gun as he should be themselves, they had the means to do it after all. Linking up the shotgun’s computer to her terminal she transferred from the latter to the former the code that Rick had written. From the power’s limitations to the force the AR system would use as a counter balance, everything has been calibrated perfectly. For a moment the thought to see who was better at calibration between Garrus and Rick crossed her mind before going away. That was a stupid thought.

Standing up from her desk chair she turned around to look at the other weapons she’s done making, laying on her bed. That made her think of Rick, or rather of Rick’s proclivities with the women on the ship. She knew he was having sex with Miranda as he told her when she asked when he got back from his night away on Illum. The sexual tension, because to her that was what it was, between him and Shepard went up several notches last night and with Samara walking around with her chest almost spilling out of her armor and a shared past made her mood not at its greatest. She was not even counting Ashley, Liara and her mother. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the last.
It was too much competition for her and she felt inadequate. Miranda was sex on legs, genetically created to be perfect and Shepard was an amazon minus the height. The poor quarian that she was, felt she couldn’t compete. Sure she had the greatest ass in the galaxy and she believed it when he said that, and that was it. That and she was imprisoned in her envirosuit.

Not much going for me. She lamented.

That was Tali's biggest secret to date. She was in love with her best friend. How could she not with the way he treated her? He saved her life more times than she could count, brought her to places all quarian could only dream to go, earned her loads and loads of money, bought her clothes. He treated her like a princess. More than that, he treated her like an equal and could keep up with her genius. Add to that, he was physically really attractive and pleasing to her eyes and it was no wonder for the little quarian to have fallen for the man. Every time they went to bed she wished they could stay like this forever and every morning when she felt all of him lodged between her ass cheeks she wished he would just rip and tear her suit apart and have his way with her. She didn’t care one bit that the exposure to the environment would probably kill her.

At least I’d go out with a bang. She thought to herself, chuckling at her own joke.

Looking at the kiss mark on the edge of her visor, a big smile graced her face. She may have changed her suit when she came back from her pilgrimage but she couldn’t get herself to get rid of that visor. She wouldn’t change it for all the credits in the galaxy.

Breaking out of her thoughts, she grabbed the sheets and made a makeshift back to put the weapons in it. Making her way out of the room she went to the cargo bay to finally do a testing session.

____________________________________________________________


Waiting on the cargo bay were Miranda, Jacob, Garrus and obviously Shepard who as an unwritten rule was the one who tested all the new things that Rick and Tali came up with. Except the sniper rifle, that was reserved for Garrus.

When Tali came into the bay with Rick, who she had met on her way to the elevator, she went to a table they had installed previously on the side for such an occasion and put her bag on it. Opening it she placed the weapons in an organized manner.

“We’ll start with the gun.” was as she said as she handed the said weapon and two thermal clips to Shepard.

Shepard twirled the gun in her hands as she examined it. It was ugly but not as ugly as the last gun they had presented her with. The balance was off a bit which wasn’t surprising as it seems the gun to be made of different guns’ parts. It wasn’t much of a problem however for an experienced soldier like her.

“You got a bit better at making guns.” she said looking at Rick, hoping that complimenting him would bury the small hatchet she had sent him this morning and that he had sent back. Unfortunately it didn’t work.
“Tali made it.”
“Oh!”
“I did my best with what I had.”
“And you did well.” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close for comfort and support.
“The actual design is different by a long shot. The Alliance will have to make them from the blueprints. However, since we needed a demonstration I did what I could.”

Sheppard nodded and took a closer look at the gun. It was bare and she could see its inner workings. It was the first time she saw a gun naked like that.
Meanwhile Rick was preparing the shooting range. The dummy he made for Shepard’s biotic practice was a perfect target so he put a standard shield onto it and many steel plated behind it. Walking back towards the other he had a few words with Shepard who was in position for the test.

“Know anything about the helmet and the dummy?”
“Ask Jack. Though I think it was a good idea she had.” she said in a sweet tone but with a smirk on her face.

Once he was out of her line of fire, she took a stance then shot one single round to get a feel of the gun. She felt the power when she pulled the trigger. It was more than the M6-Carnifex she used on the field but it felt weird. Her hands had not moved much upwards, less than half an inch, perhaps less. She tried again but this time with two consecutive shots. She turned her head to the side to look at Rick and Tali who were watching the results that EDI provided in real time on a terminal. On screen was the dummy and a display of the projectiles’ points of impact. They were really close. When Rick nodded to her, she went back into position and fired at will, not stopping when the shield went down and until the clip needed to be changed. Putting a new one into the gun she handed it to Garrus who wanted to have a turn and went to see the results of the test.

“All shots were into a circle of a two inch radius.” EDI said.
“That’s amazing!” the redhead exclaimed.
“Of course it is, we made it.” Rick replied, pointing his nose in the air.
“Anything unusual to report?” asked Tali.
“Not really. It felt weird to feel how strong the gun was but to not actually feel the recoil. I mean instinctively my hands clamped harder to secure the gun in my hand but it wasn’t necessary.”
“I confirm!” Yelled Garrus from the side as he finished shooting, and handed the gun to Jacob.

“Can I try the assault rifle now?” the redhead asked impatiently, like a child would, with a toothy grin.


____________________________________________________________

“What are we watching tonight?” asked Tali as she made herself comfortable under the sheets while Rick was dressing down himself.

They had a long day. She had worked tirelessly all morning to check if everything was in order with the weapons and Rick was tutoring Shepard on her biotics. The afternoon was spent doing test after test in the cargo bay by varying the parameters of the weapons to find the perfect balance of numbers along with studying the results.

“The Lord of the rings: The Two Towers.” announced EDI’s sensual voice.
“Yeah, no. No offense EDI but I’m too tired, I don’t think I’ll make it to even half of the movie.” replied Rick.
“Is it that long too? I had to keep myself awake for the first one. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was great but loooooong.”
“Another selection then….Robocop.”
“Good choice.”
“What is it about?”
“In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.’ ” quoted EDI
“It’s really hardcore and bloody.”
“Not sure, I’m going to like that.”
“No more brutal than when I usually fight. The music is really great though.”
“Okay then. Go ahead EDI.”


____________________________________________________________


“That was…”
“AWESOME!” exclaimed Rick.
“I was going to say highly violent but yes it was.”
“It was oddly satisfying.” EDI confessed.
“EDI?”
“All the bad guys got what they deserved. After treating life so flimsily.”
“That’s… oddly organic of you.” said Tali.
“Is it?”
“Synthetics are not known for having morals.” explained Rick.
“My experience with the geths confirms that.”

After being in contact with EDI for a few weeks, Tali had mellowed a bit towards the AI. She still didn’t like her but EDI has been nothing but helpful and nice so the quarian had turned down the animosity a lot. She was still wary though.

“I guess I spent too much time with you, Rick.”
“That’s not good, you’ll become an idiot.” joked Tali.
“Hey! I take offense to that!”
“After careful observation of you, Rick, I arrived at the conclusion that the scale of intelligence is actually a circle where each end of the scale meets and people just oscillate between the two extremities. The smarter you are, the dumber your dumb moments are.”
“... EDI… Did you…” Rick began.
“Make a joke?”
“Did I?” the synthetic voice inquired in a questioning tone.
“Great, I’m being sassed by my two best friends. Yay me.”
“Definitely spending too much time with Rick.” Tali muttered, filling up the ‘two best friends’ comment in a corner of her mind.
“I actually learned to sass by observing the commander interact with you.”
“Ugh.”
“You only have yourself to blame.”
“As long as you don’t turn into another Robocop, EDI. We already have Samara on the team, that’s more than enough.”
“Keelah, you’re right!”
“That’s an apt comparison. Robocop follows his directives as Samara does with the Justicar code.”
“Can’t believe we have our own Robocop on the crew.”
“Hmmm. That gives me an idea.” Rick said aloud to himself.
“What idea?” asked EDI
“While the movie is pure fiction the idea of putting an organic into a synthetic has merit but is too limited.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll regret what I’m about to ask but… how is it limited?”
“The brain is the source of everything, mainly thoughts and emotions born from the chemicals in the body, by putting it in a synthetic one you remove any access to those chemicals muting the emotions. Or you could do it by rewiring the brain. In short you remove something. My idea, or rather my thought is: What would happen if it was the other way around? What would happen if you put an AI in an organic body?”


Those questions put both ladies in shock silence for two different reasons. Tali because she was horrified at what an organic geth could do, and EDI because she was clearly considering the idea.

“Yeah, that’s it. When you say stupid things like that I know it’s time to go to sleep.”

Instead of turning around and letting Rick spoon her, she felt, for reasons she’ll never know, bold. Burying herself closer to his side, she draped herself against him and let her head rest against his shoulder. When Rick put his arm around her, Tali secretly smiled and wished him goodnight.

Meanwhile EDI was still stuck on the idea and was thinking about the possibilities and outcomes.