A/N Bioware's sandbox I just like to play. Dedicated to my best friend, beta, editor and muse Miss Emily H without whom none of the Shenko stories would be possible.

Also to anyone reading this from before, apologies because this is somewhat of a non-update. I had to rehash the first chapter so it fitted after ME3 however, on the more positive side; I now know how it ends and will be finishing the whole thing in the next few weeks. So yay!

Shepard tapped her forefinger against her lips, one arm curled across her stomach, her other elbow rested on it, tapping. One, two. Her gaze was entirely focused on the package in front of her. It was at least as large as Grunt's tank, maybe a little smaller, but somehow infinitely more precious. Her mind, quick as lightning, was attempting to calculate and account for the innumerable risks that surrounded this particular task. Get the box to the apartment, she told herself. That's all you have to do. But it wasn't that simple, nothing ever was.

Miranda stood beside her, hip cocked, one arm dangling by her side, the other on her hip, just as focused on the package as Shepard, clearly mimicking her thought patterns just in case a back up should be needed. On the other side stood Tali, omni-tool active, attempting to plot the most likely course through the Citadel.

"Are you sure this is necessary, Shepard?" Tali said, her three fingers flying across the length of her forearm. Simultaneously, the two human females twisted their heads to stare at the Quarian.

"Absolutely," Shepard said, her voice firm, resolute.

Miranda nodded sharply in agreement. "We can't take any chances."

They both looked back to the box. Tali sighed and returned to her work, more than slightly mystified.

The door to their little cubby hole opened behind them. Liara, Garrus, Kasumi and Jack strolled through. Shepard turned to face them, her back to the box, pleased to see that they came prepared; Kasumi and Liara with their SMGs, Jack with her shotgun and Garrus with his beloved sniper rifle (coincidently the one he'd so say 'beaten' her with but at least that meant he was damn good with it). She herself had only brought her hand cannon since she hadn't anticipated trouble when they'd left that morning. Tali didn't have a single weapon, she would have to rely on her combat drone, but no matter, it could still be done.

As if they were standing in Normandy's briefing room, the group formed a circle in front of her. A team she had carefully selected for this highly crucial mission. She stepped forward, sliding easily into the commander role.

"Ok," she said. "I think you all know what this is about. This." She gestured behind her in the general direction of the box. "This has to make it to my apartment without incident, not a bump, not a scratch. Clear?" Her gaze flicked to each member of her team in turn as they nodded their assent. She nodded with them.

"Ok. First things first. Tali, do we have a route?"

On cue, the Quarian stepped forward, projecting a map of the Citadel into the middle of the empty space. A few quick taps on her omni-tool added a red line to the map.

"From what I can see this is probably our best chance." She indicated the red line. "It's not the quickest way but it takes more of the backstreets so there will be less people. These particular backstreets aren't too small, so we should get through with minimal damage." A few movements with her fingers added a blue line alongside the red. "This is the quickest route."

Shepard tapped her finger twice against her lips.

"We'll take the first option," she said. The blue line instantly vanished, allowing her to clearly see the red line. She took a moment to mentally map the route, lining the holographic map up with her knowledge of the real thing, virtually picturing their progress through the Citadel.

"Let's see…" She examined her team, sizing them up, trying various combinations in her head before settling on the best strategy. "Kasumi? Reconnaissance. I want to know exactly what we're heading into."

Under the hood, Kasumi smiled, and Shepard had a feeling the sweet-romantic-at-heart master thief was probably enjoying this entire situation a little too much. "No problem, Shep."

"This," Shepard activated her own omni-tool, the image of a dark haired man coming into view with a few quick movements of her fingers. "is Subject A. On no account should Subject A come into contact with the package. If possible the entire operation should be kept from him." She tilted her head and examined the picture for a moment before continuing. "Garrus, that's your responsibility. Find him, which shouldn't be too difficult, and make sure he doesn't come within five miles of our route."

"Not a problem," Garrus said. At a gesture from Shepard, he turned and immediately left the room, ready to go about his task.

"The rest of you are escort. I'll take point, Tali, take my six, Miranda, the left flank, Liara the right, and Jack, you take the rear." Her team, obedient as ever, immediately moved into position. She took one more sweeping glance at her team, assessing their mental state, making sure they were ready, prepared.

Kasumi's voice came crackling over the comm.

"In position, Shep."

"All right," she said calmly. "Let's do this."

Before giving the signal to move out, Shepard took one deep breath, bringing her senses to the forefront of her mind, entering that state of hyperawareness that she was capable of donning during a mission. She'd be lying if she said that this time that state wasn't peppered with more than the average amount of nervousness, but no matter. She would succeed at all costs.

She drew her hand cannon from her hip and with practiced speed checked the thermal clip, cocking it twice, just to be sure. Raising her forearm, fist formed, she wordlessly flicked two fingers forward. As one the team moved out: Miranda and Liara carefully supporting the box between them.

"All clear so far, Shep," Kasumi said as they exited the room. "Moving on up."

"Copy that," she replied without thinking, her senses aquiver as she tried to anticipate disaster, her eyes completely focused on what was ahead. As they rounded the first corner, she called a halt and raised her hand to her ear.

"Garrus?" she called into the comm.

"I see him, Shepard, we're on the Presidium. You're all clear," Garrus relayed back.

She was only slightly relieved, still faced with the problem of actually getting the precious package back to the apartment.

The streets were clear, but Shepard maintained her state of high alert even as the Tiberius Towers came into view, expecting disaster to strike right up to the very last minute. The elevator ride up to her apartment seemed to take forever and she couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't somehow bugged or broken or something.

Finally, after what felt like the longest elevator ride ever (even longer than the one up to the Council Chambers) they reached the top floor. As the door to the apartment closed safely behind them and the precious package she allowed herself one small sigh of relief.

"EDI," she barked into the comm. "Those extra security measures we talked about?"

"One moment, Shepard," replied EDI's cool crisp voice.

It had taken some time to bring EDI back online after the Reaper war. More precisely, it had taken Tali, Garrus, Liara, Kasumi, Kaidan and Miranda almost three months to achieve it and they were good, real good. The best even, and it had still taken all that time. She'd barely seen Kaidan at all for the duration, he'd stumble in at maybe three, four in the morning, adorably rumpled, his eyes squinting from looking at the screens all day, and he'd literally fall into the bed beside her; staying awake just long enough to plant a soft kiss on her forehead before falling immediately into a deep deep sleep from which he would wake after only a few hours with some new idea burning in his brain.

Worth it though, totally worth it and in their genius her team of tech nerds had managed to link EDI to the apartment so her programming now ran throughout the Normandy, throughout her body and throughout the apartment. It had proved useful on a number of occasions and not just for turning on the heating the moment Shepard disembarked.

The mechanism on the door behind them turned red even as Shepard heard the clunk of the newly reinforced wardrobe door in the guest bedroom opening.

"Move," she said to her team, jerking her head in the direction of the wardrobe and together they manoeuvred the box in.

"Lock it down, EDI," she said into the comm as soon as she was assured that the precious cargo was safely sequestered in its pre-determined hidey-hole. Immediately the door swung shut and Shepard waited to hear the bolts lock into place and the whirr of the climate control system kicking in.

"Mission accomplished," she said into her comm, letting Garrus and Kasumi know that it was safe to abandon their posts.

Now that she could no longer see the precious package, the doubt started to creep in again. As she trailed an absentminded hand across the sealed doorway, she couldn't help but ask softly if the others thought she had made the right choice.

"Yes, Shepard," Miranda said wearily, for the hundredth time. "You did."

"It's not too…" she paused, searching for the correct word. Whatever the right word was, she never found it, because the chorus of No! nearly deafened her.

"Ok," she said, willing to let it go for the moment. "Ok. Thanks for your help, guys, see you tomorrow."

As soon as they left, Shepard stepped into the living room, and slumped on the sofa, exhausted. Granted, no actual fighting had been done, but sometimes the unfulfilled expectation of disaster and the resultant adrenaline fall out could be even more draining.

She breathed deeply, trying to ease her tense muscles. If she was honest, she knew there was no chance of that happening until this entire thing was over. She closed her eyes.

Behind her, she heard the door open, the deliberate military step, and felt strong firm hands on her shoulders, gradually easing the tension away. She threw her head back, looking up at him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said back, smiling down at her, his hands still massaging her shoulders. "What's up?" He could feel the stress in her muscles beneath his fingers and see it in the frown on her forehead.

"Nothing really," she said, unable to resist grinning. "I just picked up my wedding dress."

He raised his eyebrows, a little surprised and grinned back at her.

"You're actually wearing a dress?"

"Har har," she replied sarcastically.

She let his fingers work their magic for a moment. "How did it go for you today?" she asked, pulling him round onto the sofa beside her. He settled next to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close, continuing to rub his thumb soothingly up and down between her shoulder and her elbow.

"Ok, I guess. Joker was being a pain in the ass but we got him measured for his suit in the end."

"Good," she murmured, resting her head against his shoulder.

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