I posted a starter challenge on Tumblr and I got number 14 "It's your fault we're in this mess" for shaynor but with a twist. Add the spacehamster as a important part. :D" from Captain Fishy, and this stretched out to more than a couple of hundred words so here we are. :) That said, if you're reading this and clicked on the linky-link to Tumblr and want a drabble or a fic for the ships specified there, feel free to hit me with an ask. :) Also, yes, this was greatly inspired by my recent decision to play throuh the Mass Effect-trilogy and the fact that I would, literally, get stuck in elevators during ME1 because my game would freeze in the middle of an elevator ride, learned to save before every single one of those the hard way. ;P
Samantha didn't think she'd ever understand why Shepard insisted carrying that annoying little rodent everywhere with her, especially when she was fully aware of the space hamster's penchant for running away. But no, despite that, she always brought it with her, the tiny furball either sitting on Shepard's shoulder or peeking out of her sleeve. How was that even a pet, a dog was pet, a hamster was... well, not something you could throw a frisbee to.
Right now Samantha's dislike toward the hamster was up to the roof, and she couldn't say she felt very fondly about the commander either at the moment. How Shepard could be so impressive one minute and such a huge dork the next was beyond Samantha.
"Meep!"
"Oh, don't you 'meep' at me, its your fault we're in this mess," Samantha scoffed at the hamster that sat on Shepard's shoulder, leaning over toward Samantha, its tiny nose twitching as it smelled her and apparently wished for a bite of her banana.
"Don't be cruel to the hamster, it's not really his fault," Shepard said and Samantha narrowed her eyes at her.
"You're right, commander, now that I think of it, it's your fault for bringing him, and for letting him escape, and then chasing him into an elevator which is now stuck."
"You didn't have to follow me."
"No? I wish you'd told me that before yelling 'Help me catch him!' because that would've saved me a lot of trouble."
"Well, it wasn't like I made it an order, you could've just, you know, not done that."
"I'll remember that the next time, if we ever get out of here," Samantha scoffed. She crossed her arms over her abdomen defiantly and humphed annoyedly as she angrily bit into her snack, namely the banana. They'd been in here for almost four hours now and she was beginning to think they'd been forgotten.
Samantha frowned when Shepard made a noise. She sounded like she was choking, and just as Samantha was about to question if the commander was all right, she realized the redhead wasn't choking; she was making that snorting sound people made when they tried not to laugh, Shepard making an effort to disguise her poorly stifled laughter as coughs.
"What the flipping hell is so funny?" she snapped and Shepard lost it, her shoulders twitching as she doubled over, shaking her head, laughing that silent, uncontrollable laughter until she literally forgot to breathe and almost passed out.
"Nothing really, it's just... the way your lower lip sticks out when you pout is really cute," Shepard snickered and Samantha scoffed, biting on her lip and she rolled her eyes at Shepard and exhaled deeply. She wanted to remain furious at her for getting them into this mess and for having the audacity to laugh at a time like this.
"Well, I'm glad you find this amusing."
"Oh, come on, Specialist Traynor, you act like this is the first time you've gotten stuck in an elevator."
"It is the first time! You make it sound like it happens on a daily basis."
"...it kind of does to me. Maybe I'm jinxed," Shepard commented nonchalantly. Samantha was about to question it when the elevator suddenly lurched downward and Shepard instinctively moved to Samantha and held her steady, pinning her to the wall, her hands firmly gripping the handrail around the inner edges of the elevator. She knew it wouldn't save either of them should the whole thing fall all the way down, but at least she might be able to help Samantha get away with a few less broken bones if she managed to keep them both steady and still. The descend didn't last for more than a second or two before the elevator stopped abruptly again.
"Oh-kay, this is new even to me," Shepard confessed.
"Wonderful, I survive the Reaper war only to die in an elevator," Samantha grumbled.
"Funny, I was gonna say that I didn't survive and save the galaxy only to die in an elevator," Shepard smirked. Samantha didn't comment, instead she sighed deeply and nodded a little.
"Well, no one betting against you ever won, so I guess I should just surrender and go with the flow of your confidence."
"That's the spirit," Shepard chuckled and finally let go of the handrail, taking a step back, becoming oddly aware of the fact that she was actually rather reluctant to do so.
"But, isn't there a trap door or something we could use?" Samantha asked in exasperation, eyeing the ceiling.
"There is, but contrary to what you see in vids, they won't open from the inside, they're there so that rescuers from outside can get in. I mean, the last thing they need is a bunch of civilians crawling out in the shaft," Shepard stated matter-of-factly. Apparently this really wasn't her first time stuck in an elevator.
Shepard activated the omni-blade and jammed it between the elevator doors, forcing them open only to discover that they were still stuck inbetween floors. She then went to call the people tasked with the job of getting them out of there, and as per usual, their response was "we are aware of the situation, we are working to fix it as soon as possible". Shepard was beginning to think she was talking to a VI that was programmed to say nothing more.
"Thank goodness I went to the bathroom before this happened," Samantha muttered and slowly lowered herself to sit on the floor, careful not to disturb the elevator further, hoping small movements like this wouldn't be enough to cause the whole thing to crash. Then again, for all she knew, they were only one floor up and crashing down would get them out of the situation... but she didn't want to risk it.
She recalled they'd been on the lucky number 13th floor when they'd gotten stuck, she doubted the recent drop had brought them close enough to the ground floor to survive the impact... nor did she know what kind of heights one could survive in a situation like this, and she wasn't interested in finding out.
"Hah, that reminds me of the time my clone almost stole the Normandy."
"Yes, and that reminds me that you still owe me a toothbrush," Samantha realized, but Shepard didn't comment, instead she took a seat next to Samantha and stretched out her arm a little. The space hamster crawled out from her sleeve and settled to sit on her palm, accepting the piece of a banana Shepard offered to him after picking it up from the floor. Apparently Samantha was one of those people who didn't eat the very end piece of a banana.
What waste, but lucky for you, Mister Janeway, Shepard smirked silently. She'd grown up on the streets on Earth, she was the kind of a woman who ate an apple whole, the core and everything... which was something she'd discovered people thought weird. She didn't see why, it was all edible. Hell, she'd eaten leftovers from trash and thought nothing of it. She'd done it to survive. She'd done crazier things for the same reason since. Like, take on the Collectors and then the Reapers... and punched a Yahg.
"So... you were saying?" Samantha inquired.
"Oh, well, you know, Tali, Wrex and I were on our way to the cargo bay... after I'd broken your toothbrush, yes, I remember now, I'm sorry, I'll reimburse it... and in the elevator, Tali says she needs to go to the bathroom. And two seconds later, she's like, 'I'm done', and I was like... ew."
"Well, what were you expecting? That the Quarians just unbutton the backsides of their suits and go to the bathroom like everyone else?" Samantha quirked an eyebrow and Shepard chuckled.
"I don't know what I was expecting, but I do find that mental image hilarious."
"You are such a dork."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, Lord, I didn't mean to say that out loud!"
"It's okay, you're not wrong," Shepard laughed, "and frankly, it's a nice change to what I usually hear being said about myself."
"Oh?"
"I keep forgetting that you weren't around from the very beginning... or before that," Shepard muttered, her tone getting serious and Samantha knew better than to attempt making light of the situation.
"I have done some terrible things in my life. I'm not going to tell you all of it was because I felt the ends justified the means. During the war, maybe... but it doesn't change the fact that I probably would've done them anyway. I'm responsible for countless of deaths and I've personally taken more lives than I can count. Some lives I probably didn't even need to take."
The asari scientist at Saren's base on Virmire. The Salarians kept there. The Eclipse merc she'd pushed through the window. Niket, even, she could've stopped Miranda from shooting him. Not to mention that high Volus she'd practically encouraged to run off and get himself killed. Or the time she'd encouraged Jack to kill Aresh back on Pragia. ...or the time she hadn't stopped Mordin from killing Maelon. The list went on and on. If she hadn't pulled the trigger herself, she hadn't done anything to stop anyone else from pulling either because she'd felt the person standing at the other end of the gun had deserved the bullet in their head.
"I can't tell what the consequences would've been if I hadn't done the things I did. But at times I do wish I could do it all over again and try another path, maybe the end wouldn't be any worse if I'd made different choices... you know?" Shepard said.
"Shepard... you saved the entire galaxy. When the stakes are that high, I'd say the ends really did justify the means. As for what you may have done prior to that... it sounds to me like you regret it all, and that if you'd had any other choices, you would've done something else. Taking the easy route doesn't sound like you," Samantha said and put her hand over Shepard's forearm, offering it a reassuring squeeze.
"Tell me, Specialist Traynor, how much of your interest in me is based on what you've read or seen in the news and how much of it is based on simply interacting with me?"
"I'm here, aren't I? I know the stories, I know what's been made public of your history, and I know you. You're the one who told me I'd do just fine and encouraged me when I doubted myself. You even let me use your shower. I doubt Admiral Anderson would've let me do that had he been in charge at the time," Samantha trailed off, cleared her throat and shook her head a little, "Shepard, you're one of the most selfless and generous people I've ever met, and you were that way even during the war when everyone else seemed to think it was every man for themselves. So, you can throw as many horror stories from your past at me as you like, I'll sill consider you a dear friend and a good woman. And, frankly, if I had to get stuck in an elevator with someone... I'm glad it was you. Had it been anyone else, I would've probably gotten bored, or gotten tasked with being the calm and level-headed one, so you can imagine how that'd go," she added jokingly then.
"Listen, Traynor... about that shower..." Shepard began slowly and somewhat awkwardly, which wasn't like her.
"Uh, yes?" Samantha cleared her throat unnecessarily, turning to look at the space hamster that was sitting on the knee of Shepard's straightened out leg, still munching on a piece of banana Samantha had left over.
Don't look at me, lady, you're the one who started this way back when, the defiant stare of his round black little eyes seemed to say.
"I really... really... wanted to just walk in there and... do... naughty things to you, but... you know, it was... in the middle of the war and I didn't want to mess anything up, I mean, if I'd done that and it turned out I'd read you wrong the entire time, that would've been embarrassing and at the time I really didn't have the time to deal with a sexual misconduct suit..." Shepard muttered and before Samantha had a chance to answer, Shepard had leaned over to her, resting her weight on her left arm that was now stretched over Samantha's waist as they sat on the floor, Shepard's nose almost touching hers. The space hamster let out a disgruntled little yelp when Shepard moved and forced the hamster to relocate.
"Okay, that kind of came out wrong, I'm not saying I'm intending to do anything that would... require you to... file an official complaint, I'm just saying... that I regret not joining you that time."
"I, uhm... I'd actually hoped that you would... that isn't to say I didn't enjoy beating you at chess afterward..."
"Annnnd just like that, the magic is gone," Shepard smirked, and moved to sit back down next to Samantha. To her surprise, Samantha wasn't put off by her poor joke (one Shepard actually stolen from EDI). Instead of letting her go and the moment pass, Samantha quickly moved to straddle Shepard's lap, put her hands on the commander's cheeks and leaned down to kiss her, pressing her lips against Shepard's passionately before slowly parting them, interlocking them with Shepard's and deepening the kiss hungrily but slowly, wrapping her arms around Shepard's shoulders and carefully settling to sit on her lap, holding onto her as if her life depended on it (like it literally once upon a time had), refusing to break the kiss unless she absolutely had to... and right now, she couldn't see any reason she would have to. Shepard responded in kind, her hands travelling up Samantha's back, then wrapping around her and squeezing her just for the pure joy of feeling Samantha's body pressed against hers.
An ominous creaking sound coming from above and getting louder was enough to break the spell and both of them looked upward. A few moments later, the emergency escape hatch was opened by Commander Bailey and his men proceeded to help Shepard and Samantha (and of course Mister Janeway, the space hamster tucked safely back up in Shepard's sleeve) out from the malfunctioning elevator.
"Bailey, I'm impressed they sent you," Shepard teased.
"Damn, I would've come sooner if I'd known, would've beaten the hell out of having to do the paperwork I was working on when I caught the call. I'm sorry you had to wait to long," he shook his head apologetically.
"It's okay, no harm done," Shepard assured him. She stayed filling out an incident report with him while Samantha quietly tried to make herself disappear into the crowd at the Presidium. She was still standing by the console, waiting for her cab (she sure as hell wouldn't risk another elevator ride right now) when Shepard caught up to her.
"I knew I was out of practice, but I didn't realize I was that bad a kisser."
"Commander Shepard, I am so sorry, I was out of line, I didn't... it just... I mean... you and Liara..."
"...are just very good friends," Shepard interruped softly, "Look... there's no reason to get worked up over what happened, frankly, if you hadn't initiated something, I would've. I would've done it sooner even if... I just didn't want to put you in an awkward position. But... if you ever feel like taking a proper rematch of our chess game... say, four out of seven... I'd be more than happy to surrender my pawns to serve under your regime. I know you'd take good care of them," she added with a grin.
"That... sounds like a brilliant idea... provided you can find a real chess set. You know me, I like the feel of something solid in my hands."
"I promise I'll get one... but in the mean time... feel free to... feel me, I'm pretty solid," Shepard winked.
"That you are, commander, that you are..." Samantha grinned after sticking her hand into Shepard's backpocket with the intention of giving the redhead's firm buttock a gentle squeeze, only to recoil and pull away when she felt something was already occupying the space. Mister Janeway, Shepard's space hamster grabbed a hold of Samantha's fingers and crawled up her arm before parking to sit himself on her shoulder.
"I think he likes you."
"Great, now all I gotta do is convince Grunt to like me too and I'll have your family's approval."
"Oh, that's easy, just headbutt him."
"You're joking, right?" Samantha quirked an eyebrow and Shepard just grinned, sitting down into the backseat of the cab that Samantha had called earlier.
"Please tell me that was joke," Samantha grumbled as she took a seat next to her.
"Shepard..?"
The cab pulled away and Mister Janeway snuggled against Samantha's collarbone, having decided that was the perfect place to take a nap. He was exhausted. Having to trick his human into that elevator had been a hurdle on its own, but all the preparations had taken a toll too, he'd needed to chew on the elevator's wiring too, not to mention the trouble he'd needed to go through to compose the message to Specialist Traynor, inviting her along to go shopping. Running across the keyboard and deleting the excess letters he had kept hitting was a lot harder than it looked.