I'm so sorry. Please don't hurt me x_x

The couple were all too aware of the curious looks that came their way. Most were simply interested in a human, quarian couple, but with enough attention their true identities could be found out.

Shepard pulled on the hood of his black sweatshirt, doing his best to ignore the heat, and grabbed Tali's hand.

"You sure you're not going to faint?" asked Tali, half joking.

"I'll be fine. And look, we're practically twins now. " Shepard said with a nod at Tali's own black cloth. "No one will be able to tell us apart."

They'd discovered a less populated, though much more interesting park named "The Garden". A long, wide path cut through the center, splitting an almost forest-like setting. Large trees and bushes sprouting bright, colorful leaves surrounded them, with open spots staked out for rows of numerous flowers. Though it was noticeably cooler in this area, Shepard momentarily wondered how such a gorgeous piece of nature could exist in this heat, but decided to leave that to the groundskeeper to worry about.

Tali snorted at Shepard's comment. "You'll have to work a bit on the legs though. You're not built to walk graceful like a quarian."

"Excuse me?" Shepard reined her in to his side by pulling her hand behind and across his back. He peered down at her. "You have a problem with my legs?"

She didn't, but it was too much fun to tease him. She looked down as she leaned against him. "They're just too straight and... stiff." And hard and muscular and oh so wonderful against mine.

"Oh yeah? Well..." Shepard tried to think of a comeback. Coming up with nothing, he took a step back from his wife and studied her legs. Her thighs thick and toned, her calves curved. A lovely curve, at that...

"And you have too many toes," Tali went on.

Shepard forced himself out of his fantasy. "Oh now that's a low blow. At least I can see my toes."

Tali glanced quickly down, confirming what she already knew before snapping her head back up. "I can see my toes!"

Shepard's shoulders shook as he laughed, even more so when he saw Tali get flustered.

"You- You're-... Why are we even arguing about this!" She threw her hands up and walked away.

Shepard chuckled a little bit more. "Aw, honey, I'm sorry. You have beautiful toes."

"Hmph." Tali continued over to a tree. She put her hand on the grayish bark, wondering idly what it felt like. She turned around-

"TARGETING SYSTEMS ONLINE."

Oh no...

A robotic voice combined with whirring mechanics and the familiar crack of a fired missile. Shepard's senses filtered through this as the shell entered the edge of his sight.

Her helmet swiveled to him. The last thing she'll see...

His body moved instinctively. Biotics flared over his body. Every ounce of love, fear, and rage that spiked through him was funneled into the blue storm, rushed through his arm and roared from his hand.

The blue orb. His last hope. His only wish. It seemed to fly so slowly.

Tali...

BOOM!

The explosion rocked Shepard off his feet. He hit the ground on his back and rolled to one knee, instinct setting himself behind a tree. He coughed as he leaned against the trunk. His face burned, his ears rang. His clothing was torn and small scratches and burns littered his arms.

"Tali..." he choked. Through burning, watery eyes he looked over at where she'd stood. The side of the tree and ground were scorched. Little flames licked at the edges of the blast zone and along the tree's bark. He couldn't see her.

A thin tube extended from the ground, automatically detecting the fire, and shot a fountain water from its head like a sprinkler, raining droplets over Shepard.

He peaked around the side of the tree that supported him.

A YMIR Mech. What the fuck is a YMIR Mech doing in a goddamn forest?

Twenty yards away, its red eye whipped around to Shepard's exposed head and raised its right arm.

"ENGAGING."

He ducked back behind the tree and covered his head as gunfire thundered around him. Leaves and branches were battered loose and fell down on his huddled form.

When the gunfire stopped he could hear the telltale stomping as the large mech closed in.

Shepard was filled with a sudden urge to charge out there on a suicidal rampage that would make Jack cower. He knew it would get him killed since his biotics weren't nearly as strong. But she might already be...

"Shepard-Commander."

Shepard's head popped up.

Legion.

The geth crouched only a few yards away, a sniper rifle unfolded in its hand and pointing skyward. It reached behind its back with its free hand and tossed something at Shepard. Medigel.

"We will instigate a diversion. Creator Zorah is estimated to be sixteen meters west of our position."

Shepard nodded while picking up the medigel, barely able to hear over the pounding in his head.

The geth immediately took off, exposing itself and firing several powerful rounds from its rifle. Mass accelerators ripped into the dirt in the AI's wake as it rolled behind a tree. It stepped out, firing two more rounds before ducking back to dodge a missile.

Legion turned its head to Shepard and nodded.

Tali...

Shepard shoved away from the tree and lunged over the path he and Tali had been peacefully walking across only moments ago. He dashed by the sprinkler, soaking his clothes, and sped into the forest, trusting Legion to do its part.

I'm coming...

Water droplets flew from his clothes as he ran through the forest, the hot sun winking through the leaves. His lungs burned, his legs ached.

There.

At the base of a tree, sprawled face down among a patch of flowers. His biotic push had thrown her harder than he'd intended. He'd just wanted her out of the way, he hadn't had much time for control. Or perhaps the force of the explosion contributed. Either way she must have hit the tree and...

Just unconscious, he thought, trying to ease the painful ache in his chest. Would have been worse if the rocket had...

His feet cut through the flowers and he stumbled to his knees beside her.

"Tali?" His voice croaked, still dry.

At a glance nothing appeared to be broken so he gently rolled her onto her back. A blank mask stared back.

Just unconscious, just unconscious...

He shook her a little, whispering her name, an edge of desperation creeping in. No way to look for a pulse... it didn't look like she was breathing...

He bent over her mask, turning his head so he could listen.

Nothing.

He set his hands over the middle of her chest and pushed in a steady rhythm of chest compressions. The suit restricted the motion.

"Come on, honey... can you hear me?..."

Unable to get a response, he reached into one of her suit's pockets, took out some medicine and administered it quickly. The action helped to keep him calm and focused, his hands shaking only slightly as he detached her mask.

Her eyes were closed, mouth slightly parted.

After checking for injuries and finding none he tilted her head back and gently pinched her nose. He inhaled, set his mouth over hers, and breathed out. He repeated this once more before switching back to push on her chest. He continued silently for a while, focusing solely on the task of trying to get her to breath, pushing away all of his thoughts. His own breath turned ragged, sweat formed on his brow. After a few failed repetitions he started speaking softly to her.

"Come on... open those beautiful eyes, love... "

After exhaling into her he stared anxiously at her face as he continued chest compressions.

"Say something... you know I love your voice, Tali..."

Say anything...

His voice was hoarse. "Only been married a few days... haven't even started a family..."

Don't go...

Inhale, exhale. Push.

"When we go back to Rannoch... we can adopt... would you like that, Tali?..."

Please...

Shepard started shaking his head. "You can't... the Reapers are gone, Tali, you can't... you just can't..."

He set his mouth to hers, tears running down his face, curving to their joined lips.

I love you...

When he exhaled her body jerked and her eyes lit open. He broke away, grunting as though a spear had been removed from his heart. She gasped. Trying to swallow air, she rolled to the side and choked as her lungs started functioning on their own.

When she twisted back she whispered his name and lunged at him. Their arms grappled around each other. Shepard buried his face in her neck and groaned as her thin arms gripped him tightly. She still sat on the ground, him kneeling beside her. Shepard's arms cradled her shoulders. Then their lips met hungrily.

The aching burns and scratches over his body were forgotten. The ringing in his ears quieted and was replaced with her quiet murmurs. Their kiss softened and their lips settled gently together. They held each other.

Shepard pulled back a little, breathing almost under control. "We need to put your mask on." Tali kissed him again.

Shepard searched blindly beside him with one hand, having to lean to the side a little while holding her until his fingers bumped into it. It took several more tries to unseal their lips before he could insert it between them and lock it back into place.

Tali's eyes widened as they took in Shepard's appearance.

"John you're hurt!"

"It's just a scratch," he said, gazing absently into her eyes.

Tali spotted the discarded medigel on the ground and snatched it. She raised up on her knees to hover over Shepard.

"Stupid bosh'tet," she mumbled as though talking to herself while applying it to his face. "Can't even take care of yourself because you're looking after me." She used one of the rags in her suit's pockets to help wipe away the blood and dirt. "Wouldn't be like this if I had been paying attention..."

Shepard let her ramble, listening to her voice as she tended to his injuries, unable to stop her with anything less than a kiss on the mouth. He was already having enough trouble keeping himself from tearing off her mask and doing just that.

A faint explosion startled them. There was a brief struggle as both tried to push the other to the ground until they realized they were not in danger.

Tali put a hand to the 'ear' of her helmet.

"Legion is here? He says he's eliminated the target."

"A YMIR Mech," Shepard filled in, not sure if she'd seen it.

"What is a heavy mech doing in a place like this?"

"Well, it's either Keep-Off-The-Fucking-Grass Security or someone is still trying to ki-. Someone is still after us."

"We must have been followed."

"That is correct."

Both looked up and saw Legion approach.

"What's going on?" Shepard asked. He and Tali stood up. Tali stumbled a bit, a little dizzy, but Shepard supported her easily, checking again to make sure she was okay.

Legion answered, "Miranda requested that this platform follow you should you try to wander alone. In order to maintain discretion and allow privacy appropriate to paired organics, we monitored from a distance. However, our radar was jammed upon entering the Garden and we did not detect the YMIR Mech."

"But who sent in the mech?" Shepard tried to keep focused on the important information, though he really wanted to ask what the geth considered appropriate privacy for "paired organics".

"The mech's internal navigator indicates it was deployed from... Error. Location not found." Legion stopped talking for a moment. "Friendly reinforcements inbound."

Shepard and Tali looked up at the sound of a large car approaching above the trees, staying high enough so the jets didn't burn the tops of the trees. When it was directly overhead, the doors opened and Grunt's head peeked out momentarily.

"Get back!" He shouted before ducking back inside. Then a large chest was pushed to the edge of the car and shoved out.

Grunt followed, landing flat-footed with a loud thump. Garrus fell down too, choosing to roll to reduce the impact.

The krogan nodded in greeting. "Battlemaster." Then he pounded a heavy fist on the chest. A side chamber opened and a tray slid out, on top of which rested Shepard's N7 armor. Trays slid out on opposite ends of the chest carrying two full sets of weapons.

Shepard quirked a brow at Garrus.

Garrus shrugged. "A little while after you snuck out, Liara's agents contacted us. We've discovered the base of this 'Rogue'."

Legion chimed in suddenly. "We observed several hanar watching from a distance. Perhaps one or all were following you and set this trap. At the time, our consensus determined the hanar to be insignificant. We have reached a new consensus."

Shepard lowered his head a little. "I underestimated this Rogue." It was stupid to go wandering off on our own. I guess we just wanted to keep thinking we didn't have to fight anymore.

"Shepard, we all underestimated this guy. Or gal. I mean, combat hanar? Come on. We're not even sure who or what it is. But now we know where to go." Garrus gestured at the armor and weapons. "I thought you might want some payback. Everyone is ready to move in on your command."

Both of them nodded. Tali stepped forward and quickly secured her weapons.

As Shepard set the last of his equipment in place-

"ENGAGING."

Shit.

An explosion sent the group scattering for cover.

"Garrus!"

"Yes, Commander?"

"I thought you said gardens were fun to fight in!"

...

"Are you okay?"

"Of course."

The back of the car allowed Shepard and Tali to sit across from each while the vehicle transported them to the Rogue's base. Garrus sat near the opposite window, pretending to watch the outside and courteously giving the couple as much privacy as possible. Grunt just looked bored. Legion sat in the passenger seat, lost in its own realm. The asari driving wasn't Valeesha this time, but Shepard figured it was another of Liara's people.

The two sat forward with elbows on their knees so they could talk softly.

"You could be getting sick. I don't want you to-"

"I told you I'm okay. And you're not taking me out of this fight. I want to get this Rogue as much as you."

Any other time Shepard wouldn't have questioned her. But after a close call with a missile and having already exposed her to unclean air, he just wanted to lock her in an armored, sterilized bunker and swallow the key.

"You'll tell me if you start to feel sick?"

Tali gave a reluctant nod. Shepard squeezed her hand before looking over at Garrus.

"Where did you say we were headed?"

Garrus crossed his arms and looked briefly between Shepard and Tali before answering. "An old abandoned mall. It's one of the smaller skyscrapers in Nos Astra and hasn't been used in a really long time."

"Do you know why?" Tali asked.

"I think the infrastructure was declared unsafe. It's still standing though, so who knows? Anyway, it's got a wide open landing platform on it. Not really a smart place to set up a base when it's easy to get inside."

"Maybe the Rogue has been waiting for us," Shepard said thoughtfully, glancing at Tali.

She returned his gaze. "Good. I want to show this kedif bosh'tet what happens when you attack what's mine."

Grunt chuckled. "This is gonna be fun!"