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Description
Title:  Recovery ch.5
Universe:  Mass Effect (during and post EC)
Characters: Tiberius Shepard, Liara T'Soni, Garrus Vakarian, Talizorah vas Normandy, Miranda Lawson, Kasumi Goto, Wrex, Grunt, Jacob "the prize" *snigger* Taylor, Admiral Steven Hackett
Author: moreeman06

"Liara were you able to get a solid link established?"

"Yes Tali, we should be broadcasting to the fleet," Liara hesitated for a moment as she made one final adjustment on the Normandy's main communications suite, "right now."

Tali pushed herself away from the tangle of wires underneath the communications suite and moved next to Liara checking to make sure everything was green.  "I think we can boost the QEC by five percent if we bypass the safety nodes in the motherboard. "  Tali paused looking at Liara's face, the news that Shepard had survived had lifted everyone's spirits but the most profound change had been in Liara.  She had come out of hiding and had spent the last week working faster and harder than anyone else on the ship.  It seemed to Tali that the news had brought back the old Liara and that she was burying herself in work until there was no more to be done.  There was one more change in Liara that Tali had noticed.  She just kept smiling, it wasn't a sad smile like she had seen before the memorial ceremony, and it wasn't plastered on her face as fake as Vega's tales.  It was a bright happy smile that made her look absolutely radiant.  "I'm just going to take another look under there, can you get Glyph to map the right manifold and notify us if there's any breaks in the lines between the core and the drives?  I already have Chiktikka mapping the left."

"Sure thing Tali."

"Miss Lawson there isn't anything else we can do."

Miranda Lawson looked at the doctor appraisingly, he was exhausted and covered in more blood than you would think a human body contained.  The rest of his team didn't look much better; several of them looked like they would collapse right then and there if their comrades weren't holding them up.  It had been a grueling 56 hours in the private ward at Walter Reed Medical.  Miranda with the others had been determined to watch the proceedings refusing to take their eyes off of Shepard for one minute.  Through the course of the three marathon days of surgery both Wrex and Grunt had been called away to organize and corral some of the more unruly bunches of Krogan left on Earth.  From the one-sided argument they had heard Wrex having through his comm a few of those Krogan would be lucky if he just shot them on the spot.  Jacob had gone to find Brynn his wife amongst all of the chaos leaving Miranda, Jack, and Kasumi rooted in their vigil.

"What do you mean there isn't anything else you can do?"  Miranda pointed her finger at the doctor before using it to guide his eyes down to the operating table.  "He looks almost as bad down there as when we pulled him out of the rubble."

"Miranda calm down, they've regrown and grafted over 80% of his skin onto his body,  They've sewn up or regrown half of his organs,  and they've wasted the last three days trying to fix him up so that he might emerge looking like himself again when they could have been saving countless other people.  They've done more than enough Miranda.  Plus the barrier was strong enough to make full neural and deep body scans impossible they were only able to repair the superficial damage.  All we can do now is wait to see if he wakes up," Kasumi finished before falling back into the silence she had held since they had moved to Walter Reed.

"How do you know all of this Miss…"

"Goto, and I know all of this because you need better security on your terminals."  Kasumi stopped taking in the disdainful looks from the tired doctors.  "What a girl's got to keep occupied while we wait."

"Doctor when will we be able to move him to an actual room?"  Miranda asked.  She was more subdued now looking at the red stained gurney that held the Commander's body.

"He should be ready to move in two weeks barring any complications."

"Joker try the drives on my mark."  Tali's voice came clearly over the cockpit speakers.  Joker sat in the pilot's seat and glanced over at the co-pilots seat expecting and hoping that EDI's body would be there awake telling him that this was all a simulation. That it was a joke she was playing on him.  Instead he was greeted with the site of a lithe blue alien; he shook his head before speaking.  "Are you ready Liara?  When Tali finishes her count you need to flip the first three switches on the nav board and then toggle the fuel lines with the red switch on your upper right.  You have to do it in that order Liara or you can…."

"Joker, don't worry we've gone through this before I'm…" Liara cut herself off when Tali's voice echoed throughout the cockpit "Two, one."  With a flurry Joker's hands moved across his boards hitting buttons and flipping switches in a well practiced start up sequence.  Liara's hands moved slower but she hit the buttons in the right sequence.  "Joker all of my boards are lighting up green."

"Good same here, Tali everything is a go up here shutting down drives in five, four, three, two, and one."

Tali barreled down the main deck towards the cockpit.  wumph Tali staggered against the impact before feeling two strong hands steadying her.  "What's the rush?"  Tali looked up upon hearing the question her smile widened upon seeing Garrus staring back at her.

"We're going home Garrus, or at least back to Earth."

Liara looked through the cockpit window smiling as Joker's voice boomed through the ship "Everyone this is your pilot speaking, I recommend that you strap in its going to be a bumpy ride. "  She felt the ship rumble from the power of the drives and felt herself being pushed back into the flight couch as the Normandy accelerated into the upper atmosphere, it shuddered once more as it broke through into open space and Joker accelerated the ship to FTL.  "We should be back to Earth in one day's time."  Liara could only smile I'm coming for you Love

"Sir we have a ship entering system, frigate class."

"Bring it up Ensign and hail her across all frequencies"

"Aye aye Admiral, hailing her now."

"Unidentified Frigate this is Admiral Steven Hackett, identify yourself immediately and adjust course towards the following coordinates."

"Admiral this is Dr. Liara T'Soni of the Normandy, I'm sorry but we're heading straight to earth I'd appreciate it if you could order your pickets to stand down."

Admiral Hackett looked towards the ensign, "do we have a visual to confirm yet?"

"Sir, the pickets are reporting a Frigate matching the Normandy's description although the hull is so scored and burnt that it's impossible to get a clean match on the ship's designation."

"Fair enough ensign.  Dr. T'Soni this is Admiral Hackett we can't confirm a visual match come to a full stop and prepare to be boarded."

"I'm Sorry Admiral we can't do that,  it would help us a lot if you could tell us which ward Tiberius is in at Walter Reed."

Admiral Hackett nodded towards the ensign, no one except for him and the recovery team knew that Shepard was at Walter Reed.  "Ensign order the pickets to stand down and order the ships to clear a corridor for the Normandy."

"Dr. T'Soni, he's in the Intensive Care and Cloning Unit level 4 West Wing.  Just so you know he's been comatose since we found him if he does wake up he might not be the same Commander that you remember."

The voices kept on coming

You did good, son.  You did good.  I'm proud of you.  Somebody else would have gotten it wrong.  Kalahira.  Does this unit have a soul?  Commander we'll be fine go back and get Williams.

The barrage intensified the voices coming harder and faster than ever before.  Mixing together to create an impenetrable torrent.  He felt what was left of his resolve crumbling under the force.  It was the closest he had ever been to breaking and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Liara's eyes reverted to their normal sapphire blue and she removed her hand from Tiberius' cheek.  "I can't reach him.  He's blocking me out.  Whatever is going on in there is horrible I can feel the surface emotions the hate, the anger, the sorrow, the grief but I can't pierce it.  I… I can't reach him."  As Liara stuttered to the end of the statement her head collapsed and she started sobbing onto the white sheets that covered Tiberius's chest.   The indigo barrier that had covered his body since they had recovered it shimmered as forks of cerulean energy coursed down it.

Garrus and Tali stood there watching their friend in her grief unsure of what to do.  The doctors had told them all that the chances of Shepard coming out of the coma were slim to none.   Tali turned to walk out and give Liara some privacy, feeling guilty for intruding on what had to have been Liara's realization that he wasn't coming back and feeling like she needed a room to herself to release all of her emotions.

Go.  Get out of here.

I'm all right, Shepard… You're not leaving me behind…

All of the other voices seemed to disappear as these two continued their interplay.  He recognized one as his own and one as…

No matter what happens.  You mean everything to me, Liara.  You always will

He could see the two of them before his eyes, her battered body going into shock determined to stay with him till the end this time.  Him pleading with her to leave, to go, to leave him one last time, hoping that this time didn't break her like the last.

Shepard, I… I

He hadn't heard those last words; he had walked away turning away from the hurt, the broken hope, and the betrayal in her eyes.  Hoping that Garrus would be smart enough to pull her into the ship, to get her bandaged up; that his best friend, his brother, his other half would be able to anticipate his wishes one last time.

It was the hit that finally broke the wall.  He felt himself crumbling, his mind splintering.  He heard himself yelling in grief and madness and a bright white light surrounded him.

Liara felt her head crack against a wall and instinctively threw up a barrier.  She looked towards the source of the shockwave to see her loves body pulsing and crackling with forks of indigo and aquamarine waves.  She could see bright rays emanating from his newly healed wounds destroying scars, and freshly healed flesh.   As wave after wave rolled off his body tossing and destroying everything in the room Liara pushed herself off the wall and forward towards Shepard.

Miranda and Jack had felt the shockwave and seen Tali's body being flung from the room's entrance.  They immediately projected barriers trying to contain the powerful pulses coming out of the room from destroying any other part of the hospital.

Liara reached out for Tiberius' limp arm grasping on as another blast this one more powerful than the others almost threw her off him.  She leaned forward and touched her lips on his like she had so many times before.  Her eyes went black and she was enveloped in a torrent of emotions more powerful than any she had ever felt before.

The maelstrom was unbelievable, every fiber of her being told her to break the meld but she didn't, she wouldn't.  She had promised that no matter what he had said she wouldn't leave him again and she dived further in.  The fear, the anger, the grief and anguish began to overwhelm her and she saw everything her bondmate had gone through in those final hours.

The beam hitting her and Garrus, their final exchange, his silent order to Garrus to take her to force her to leave no matter what, the guilt he felt at betraying her like that at missing those final words.  The goodbyes, everyone he'd ever lost, his father, his squad on Akuze, Jenkins, Kaiden, Legion, Thane, Mordin and… Anderson.  She saw how twisted The Illusive Man had become, what the catalyst had really been and the choice.  She saw that he had willfully chosen Genocide as the best of the worst, as the only option to end a winless war.  She saw how heavily it weighed on him, how it had been crushing him.  How he had feared that he had just killed a race and a close friend, that he had just stolen the most important thing in one of his best friends' life away from him.  How guilty he felt about it, how sure he was that everyone who eventually found out what he did would hate him.  How, how Liara would hate him if she ever found out.

I Love You  her mind shouted she tried to force that thought through the maelstrom letting it guide her through the bowels of her love's mind trying to find some semblance of the Tiberius she knew.

I Love You

He felt something, someone reaching out for him from the light and began to cower away.  He was a wretched broken thing, his life, all the good he had tried to do washed away by desperate decisions made in his final hours.  He couldn't bear it; the blood on his hands was with him forever there was no going back.

I Love You

He heard the voice this time as something grabbed onto his arm.  He held his head low refusing to give whatever had come to take him the satisfaction of looking into his broken face.  He tried to remove the grip on his arm to no avail, it was strong but it wasn't rough, he felt another hand on the back of his head and heard again clearer this time.

I'm Yours, I always have been.  I Love You

He felt the hand pushing his head forward and felt a pair of lips touch his own.  He squeezed his eyes shut refusing to look at who it was, determined that this was yet another trick of his broken mind.

Tiberius' chest heaved upwards as the last of the biotic energy dissipated, the smell of burned flesh and fabric saturated the air.  He let his eyes flutter open, the light was still bright but he was able to make out a figure in front of him.  He instantly recognized the blue skin in front of his face.  Heaven or real life, he thought maybe whatever God is up there decided I'd suffered enough.  He closed his eyes again and pushed back against the lips that remained locked on his he tried lifting one of his hands to wrap around her head but the pain was too much and he was forced to break the kiss as he let out an anguished howl.

Liara felt the press against her lips and opened her eyes releasing the meld.  She let out a yelp of joy as she saw Tiberius fall back a wan smile on his lips even as he let out a howl not unlike that of a wounded Iellari.  She fell upon his body wrapping her hands gently around his face kissing him fervently delighted when he returned them.

When Liara released Tiberius there were tears in both of their eyes.  Tiberius couldn't tell whether the tears were happy ones or sad but all he could say was "I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry."

Liara looked at her love, she could still see the hurt and guilt in his eyes but it seemed that momentarily at least it had subsided.  She listened to him ramble off "sorrys" before kissing him again if only to get him to shut up before she enwrapped him in a hug and whispered.  "Tiberius go back to sleep you still need to heal and I promise that this time I'm not leaving; no matter what you say."  She finished it with a smirk and was delighted to see him not only smiling but nodding his head in agreement before his eyes slowly closed.

Description
Title:  Recovery ch.5
Universe:  Mass Effect (during and post EC)
Characters: Tiberius Shepard, Liara T'Soni, Garrus Vakarian, Talizorah vas Normandy, Miranda Lawson, Kasumi Goto, Wrex, Grunt, Jacob "the prize" *snigger* Taylor, Admiral Steven Hackett
Author: moreeman06

"Liara were you able to get a solid link established?"

"Yes Tali, we should be broadcasting to the fleet," Liara hesitated for a moment as she made one final adjustment on the Normandy's main communications suite, "right now."

Tali pushed herself away from the tangle of wires underneath the communications suite and moved next to Liara checking to make sure everything was green.  "I think we can boost the QEC by five percent if we bypass the safety nodes in the motherboard. "  Tali paused looking at Liara's face, the news that Shepard had survived had lifted everyone's spirits but the most profound change had been in Liara.  She had come out of hiding and had spent the last week working faster and harder than anyone else on the ship.  It seemed to Tali that the news had brought back the old Liara and that she was burying herself in work until there was no more to be done.  There was one more change in Liara that Tali had noticed.  She just kept smiling, it wasn't a sad smile like she had seen before the memorial ceremony, and it wasn't plastered on her face as fake as Vega's tales.  It was a bright happy smile that made her look absolutely radiant.  "I'm just going to take another look under there, can you get Glyph to map the right manifold and notify us if there's any breaks in the lines between the core and the drives?  I already have Chiktikka mapping the left."

"Sure thing Tali."

"Miss Lawson there isn't anything else we can do."

Miranda Lawson looked at the doctor appraisingly, he was exhausted and covered in more blood than you would think a human body contained.  The rest of his team didn't look much better; several of them looked like they would collapse right then and there if their comrades weren't holding them up.  It had been a grueling 56 hours in the private ward at Walter Reed Medical.  Miranda with the others had been determined to watch the proceedings refusing to take their eyes off of Shepard for one minute.  Through the course of the three marathon days of surgery both Wrex and Grunt had been called away to organize and corral some of the more unruly bunches of Krogan left on Earth.  From the one-sided argument they had heard Wrex having through his comm a few of those Krogan would be lucky if he just shot them on the spot.  Jacob had gone to find Brynn his wife amongst all of the chaos leaving Miranda, Jack, and Kasumi rooted in their vigil.

"What do you mean there isn't anything else you can do?"  Miranda pointed her finger at the doctor before using it to guide his eyes down to the operating table.  "He looks almost as bad down there as when we pulled him out of the rubble."

"Miranda calm down, they've regrown and grafted over 80% of his skin onto his body,  They've sewn up or regrown half of his organs,  and they've wasted the last three days trying to fix him up so that he might emerge looking like himself again when they could have been saving countless other people.  They've done more than enough Miranda.  Plus the barrier was strong enough to make full neural and deep body scans impossible they were only able to repair the superficial damage.  All we can do now is wait to see if he wakes up," Kasumi finished before falling back into the silence she had held since they had moved to Walter Reed.

"How do you know all of this Miss…"

"Goto, and I know all of this because you need better security on your terminals."  Kasumi stopped taking in the disdainful looks from the tired doctors.  "What a girl's got to keep occupied while we wait."

"Doctor when will we be able to move him to an actual room?"  Miranda asked.  She was more subdued now looking at the red stained gurney that held the Commander's body.

"He should be ready to move in two weeks barring any complications."

"Joker try the drives on my mark."  Tali's voice came clearly over the cockpit speakers.  Joker sat in the pilot's seat and glanced over at the co-pilots seat expecting and hoping that EDI's body would be there awake telling him that this was all a simulation. That it was a joke she was playing on him.  Instead he was greeted with the site of a lithe blue alien; he shook his head before speaking.  "Are you ready Liara?  When Tali finishes her count you need to flip the first three switches on the nav board and then toggle the fuel lines with the red switch on your upper right.  You have to do it in that order Liara or you can…."

"Joker, don't worry we've gone through this before I'm…" Liara cut herself off when Tali's voice echoed throughout the cockpit "Two, one."  With a flurry Joker's hands moved across his boards hitting buttons and flipping switches in a well practiced start up sequence.  Liara's hands moved slower but she hit the buttons in the right sequence.  "Joker all of my boards are lighting up green."

"Good same here, Tali everything is a go up here shutting down drives in five, four, three, two, and one."

Tali barreled down the main deck towards the cockpit.  wumph Tali staggered against the impact before feeling two strong hands steadying her.  "What's the rush?"  Tali looked up upon hearing the question her smile widened upon seeing Garrus staring back at her.

"We're going home Garrus, or at least back to Earth."

Liara looked through the cockpit window smiling as Joker's voice boomed through the ship "Everyone this is your pilot speaking, I recommend that you strap in its going to be a bumpy ride. "  She felt the ship rumble from the power of the drives and felt herself being pushed back into the flight couch as the Normandy accelerated into the upper atmosphere, it shuddered once more as it broke through into open space and Joker accelerated the ship to FTL.  "We should be back to Earth in one day's time."  Liara could only smile I'm coming for you Love

"Sir we have a ship entering system, frigate class."

"Bring it up Ensign and hail her across all frequencies"

"Aye aye Admiral, hailing her now."

"Unidentified Frigate this is Admiral Steven Hackett, identify yourself immediately and adjust course towards the following coordinates."

"Admiral this is Dr. Liara T'Soni of the Normandy, I'm sorry but we're heading straight to earth I'd appreciate it if you could order your pickets to stand down."

Admiral Hackett looked towards the ensign, "do we have a visual to confirm yet?"

"Sir, the pickets are reporting a Frigate matching the Normandy's description although the hull is so scored and burnt that it's impossible to get a clean match on the ship's designation."

"Fair enough ensign.  Dr. T'Soni this is Admiral Hackett we can't confirm a visual match come to a full stop and prepare to be boarded."

"I'm Sorry Admiral we can't do that,  it would help us a lot if you could tell us which ward Tiberius is in at Walter Reed."

Admiral Hackett nodded towards the ensign, no one except for him and the recovery team knew that Shepard was at Walter Reed.  "Ensign order the pickets to stand down and order the ships to clear a corridor for the Normandy."

"Dr. T'Soni, he's in the Intensive Care and Cloning Unit level 4 West Wing.  Just so you know he's been comatose since we found him if he does wake up he might not be the same Commander that you remember."

The voices kept on coming

You did good, son.  You did good.  I'm proud of you.  Somebody else would have gotten it wrong.  Kalahira.  Does this unit have a soul?  Commander we'll be fine go back and get Williams.

The barrage intensified the voices coming harder and faster than ever before.  Mixing together to create an impenetrable torrent.  He felt what was left of his resolve crumbling under the force.  It was the closest he had ever been to breaking and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Liara's eyes reverted to their normal sapphire blue and she removed her hand from Tiberius' cheek.  "I can't reach him.  He's blocking me out.  Whatever is going on in there is horrible I can feel the surface emotions the hate, the anger, the sorrow, the grief but I can't pierce it.  I… I can't reach him."  As Liara stuttered to the end of the statement her head collapsed and she started sobbing onto the white sheets that covered Tiberius's chest.   The indigo barrier that had covered his body since they had recovered it shimmered as forks of cerulean energy coursed down it.

Garrus and Tali stood there watching their friend in her grief unsure of what to do.  The doctors had told them all that the chances of Shepard coming out of the coma were slim to none.   Tali turned to walk out and give Liara some privacy, feeling guilty for intruding on what had to have been Liara's realization that he wasn't coming back and feeling like she needed a room to herself to release all of her emotions.

Go.  Get out of here.

I'm all right, Shepard… You're not leaving me behind…

All of the other voices seemed to disappear as these two continued their interplay.  He recognized one as his own and one as…

No matter what happens.  You mean everything to me, Liara.  You always will

He could see the two of them before his eyes, her battered body going into shock determined to stay with him till the end this time.  Him pleading with her to leave, to go, to leave him one last time, hoping that this time didn't break her like the last.

Shepard, I… I

He hadn't heard those last words; he had walked away turning away from the hurt, the broken hope, and the betrayal in her eyes.  Hoping that Garrus would be smart enough to pull her into the ship, to get her bandaged up; that his best friend, his brother, his other half would be able to anticipate his wishes one last time.

It was the hit that finally broke the wall.  He felt himself crumbling, his mind splintering.  He heard himself yelling in grief and madness and a bright white light surrounded him.

Liara felt her head crack against a wall and instinctively threw up a barrier.  She looked towards the source of the shockwave to see her loves body pulsing and crackling with forks of indigo and aquamarine waves.  She could see bright rays emanating from his newly healed wounds destroying scars, and freshly healed flesh.   As wave after wave rolled off his body tossing and destroying everything in the room Liara pushed herself off the wall and forward towards Shepard.

Miranda and Jack had felt the shockwave and seen Tali's body being flung from the room's entrance.  They immediately projected barriers trying to contain the powerful pulses coming out of the room from destroying any other part of the hospital.

Liara reached out for Tiberius' limp arm grasping on as another blast this one more powerful than the others almost threw her off him.  She leaned forward and touched her lips on his like she had so many times before.  Her eyes went black and she was enveloped in a torrent of emotions more powerful than any she had ever felt before.

The maelstrom was unbelievable, every fiber of her being told her to break the meld but she didn't, she wouldn't.  She had promised that no matter what he had said she wouldn't leave him again and she dived further in.  The fear, the anger, the grief and anguish began to overwhelm her and she saw everything her bondmate had gone through in those final hours.

The beam hitting her and Garrus, their final exchange, his silent order to Garrus to take her to force her to leave no matter what, the guilt he felt at betraying her like that at missing those final words.  The goodbyes, everyone he'd ever lost, his father, his squad on Akuze, Jenkins, Kaiden, Legion, Thane, Mordin and… Anderson.  She saw how twisted The Illusive Man had become, what the catalyst had really been and the choice.  She saw that he had willfully chosen Genocide as the best of the worst, as the only option to end a winless war.  She saw how heavily it weighed on him, how it had been crushing him.  How he had feared that he had just killed a race and a close friend, that he had just stolen the most important thing in one of his best friends' life away from him.  How guilty he felt about it, how sure he was that everyone who eventually found out what he did would hate him.  How, how Liara would hate him if she ever found out.

I Love You  her mind shouted she tried to force that thought through the maelstrom letting it guide her through the bowels of her love's mind trying to find some semblance of the Tiberius she knew.

I Love You

He felt something, someone reaching out for him from the light and began to cower away.  He was a wretched broken thing, his life, all the good he had tried to do washed away by desperate decisions made in his final hours.  He couldn't bear it; the blood on his hands was with him forever there was no going back.

I Love You

He heard the voice this time as something grabbed onto his arm.  He held his head low refusing to give whatever had come to take him the satisfaction of looking into his broken face.  He tried to remove the grip on his arm to no avail, it was strong but it wasn't rough, he felt another hand on the back of his head and heard again clearer this time.

I'm Yours, I always have been.  I Love You

He felt the hand pushing his head forward and felt a pair of lips touch his own.  He squeezed his eyes shut refusing to look at who it was, determined that this was yet another trick of his broken mind.

Tiberius' chest heaved upwards as the last of the biotic energy dissipated, the smell of burned flesh and fabric saturated the air.  He let his eyes flutter open, the light was still bright but he was able to make out a figure in front of him.  He instantly recognized the blue skin in front of his face.  Heaven or real life, he thought maybe whatever God is up there decided I'd suffered enough.  He closed his eyes again and pushed back against the lips that remained locked on his he tried lifting one of his hands to wrap around her head but the pain was too much and he was forced to break the kiss as he let out an anguished howl.

Liara felt the press against her lips and opened her eyes releasing the meld.  She let out a yelp of joy as she saw Tiberius fall back a wan smile on his lips even as he let out a howl not unlike that of a wounded Iellari.  She fell upon his body wrapping her hands gently around his face kissing him fervently delighted when he returned them.

When Liara released Tiberius there were tears in both of their eyes.  Tiberius couldn't tell whether the tears were happy ones or sad but all he could say was "I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry."

Liara looked at her love, she could still see the hurt and guilt in his eyes but it seemed that momentarily at least it had subsided.  She listened to him ramble off "sorrys" before kissing him again if only to get him to shut up before she enwrapped him in a hug and whispered.  "Tiberius go back to sleep you still need to heal and I promise that this time I'm not leaving; no matter what you say."  She finished it with a smirk and was delighted to see him not only smiling but nodding his head in agreement before his eyes slowly closed.