Another Naomi Shepard one shot. I do ship her with Zaeed. Thane is more her advisor than anything else.
"Just take care…
-Kaidan"
Naomi slammed her palms on the surface next to her private terminal. Her shoulders shook silently as she took in what she just read. He was apologizing? Why? Didn't he understand that she wasn't attached to him? He knew it was just stress relief before Ilos, right?
"Fuck…" she could feel every muscle in her body tense at the thought of breaking the news to Alenko. This was a moment perfect for sparring; she needed to release this tension before taking on that derelict Reaper. Naomi turned and faced EDI's projection. "EDI! Tell the crew that I'll be in the cargo bay. Let them know that I'll be waiting for someone to finally beat me at hand to hand." She smirked slightly at the thought.
Garrus had noticed her rising level of tension ever since her reconstruction. He was intuitive enough to gather that she didn't have anything really to ease herself. He thought of a fantastic way to help his friend out, and proceeded to teach her Turian hand to hand combat to ease her troubles. She was a quick learner and ever since his lessons ceased, no one was able to beat her.
Naomi pushed through the door and stepped onto the elevator. She pressed the button for the bottom floor and to the cargo hold. She sighed at the pleasing thought of sparring, this had been one of the only things she could do to calm her. Well, besides a couple of hours alone with the mercenary.
The elevator paused on the Crew Deck and Naomi smirked at her Turian friend as he boarded, completely ignoring a few others as they stepped in.
Garrus nodded, "Shepard." He turned to face the door as the elevator lurched downwards.
The elevator stopped once more before going down to the Cargo Hold to pick up Grunt, Jack, and Zaeed. The mercenary took his place at Naomi's side while the other two stood possessively close to their friend.
"What's this about, Buzz?" Zaeed whispered towards Naomi. "I can ease that tension better than a good fight, you know that." He chuckled in her ear.
Naomi shook her head softly. "Not this kind of tension." She paused before taking in a deep breath and continuing. "Alenko apologized."
Zaeed stood straight and kept his mouth shut. A fine move on his part, he could tell this was going to end badly for anyone who decided to test her out today. Naomi had a soft spot for that guy, but she could also hate his guts quickly.
The elevator doors swished open and everyone piled outside and took a right towards the end of the Cargo Hold with the thick mats on the floor.
"I hope you all brought credits. This is going to be good!" Jack chuckled before jumping on top of a storage crate to secure her seat for the show.
"Ha! Who bets against Shepard nowadays? We all know she never loses!" Jacob laughed.
"Who will fight against my battle master?" Grunt took his spot as close to the mats as he could. "Who is brave enough?" he smiled at the thought of no one volunteering.
Murmurs erupted in the area of the Cargo Hold. Mostly 'I'm just going to watch, today' and some 'Someone's going to get hurt.' Were heard.
Naomi stood in the middle of the mats, already dressed in sweats tight enough not to get in her way as she fought. She finished wrapping her fists, bit the tape, and threw the unused tape at Garrus. "Someone has to try at least." She grinned as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "Or at least be nice enough to let me beat the shit out of them so I'll feel better."
Chuckling filled the space and Garrus shook his head. "Shepard that probably won't encourage someone to step up."
"I'll do it." A calm voice echoed behind Naomi.
Shepard spun on her heel and saw the Assassin behind her. She faced him and mentally chastised herself for letting him surprise her. "You want to fight me? I didn't think you'd like hand to hand."
Thane clasped his hands behind his back and slowly made his way onto the mats. Each step was calm and calculated. Even the muscles in his face as they danced around his eyes and lips when he spoke were carefully thought out. "I was trained in every form of disposing a target, Shepard. Hand to hand combat was one of my first lessons."
Naomi shrugged, "That's impressive, I guess. Well, I guess we should get started." She turned to nod at her Turian friend.
Garrus chuckled and stood. "Okay, well, does anyone want to place bets before I tell them to go?"
A few of the crew mates shook their heads no, but Jacob spoke up. "My bet's on Krios. Shepard has my respect, but I've read his dossier."
Kasumi perked up after him. "He's an assassin. I bet for Thane, too."
There were a few others after them to change their bets, and once everyone was done Garrus turned to Naomi and nodded. "Get ready!"
Naomi and Thane took opposite ends of the mats and entered their fighting stances. Naomi's was brutish, fists up and legs apart. She made sure to have her face protected. Thane's stance was calm, just like everything else about him. He stood with his feet close together, with one arm in front of him while the other sat behind him at the ready.
The Turian gave them a few moments to get comfortable in their stances before bellowing "Fight!"
The two stood still for a few moments, both waiting for the other to attack first. Naomi's patience wasn't as successful as the assassin's and she rushed forward with a guttural bellow. She put as much power into her first hit as she could, hoping to bring him down as quick as possible because she knew she could not out last him in combat.
Thane stood his ground until the last possible second and ducked to her right, reaching upwards to wrap his long fingers around her bicep. He jerked her to a stop and swiftly turned her to face him. "You fight with your anger. Let it go and you may be able to defeat me."
Naomi snarled at him, "Shut up! You don't have to talk to fight!" she pulled free of Thane and took a few steps back. They were back to their original fighting stances. Naomi tried to out wait the assassin, but it wasn't possible.
She lunged again at top speed and once the Drell made the move to dodge she anticipated his direction and ducked to her left to catch him off guard. Shepard smirked when her fist connected with his jaw. "Rage can win as many fights as calculation!" She barked as she wrapped her free arm around his neck and tried to hold him still.
Thane grasped her arm tightly and struggled to free himself. He brought his heel down hard on Naomi's instep and she growled in pain. "Incorrect. Rage tricks you into believing you will win. Rage is blinding you. What was in Kaidan's apology that has you so infuriated, Shepard?" the assassin spoke while dodging each of Naomi's fists as they flurried towards him.
He grabbed her fist and bent it backwards, bringing her to her knees. "What about that situation has you so tense?" his gaze was intense as he looked down into her eyes. To Naomi, it felt like he would learn all of her dark secrets if she allowed him to look into her eyes much longer.
Shepard turned her head to the side and tried to free her fist from his grasp before he snapped her wrist. "Shut your fucking mouth, Drell!" She pulled back when he released her fist and took her fighting stance once more.
"Can I change my bet?" Jack chuckled in the background. "He's kind of kicking her ass."
Garrus kept his eyes on the fight, "He's shaking her up by talking about what's bothering her. She went into a blind rage after Kaidan's apology and didn't even think about why she was so mad. Now she's thinking about it and it's making her even angrier. He's playing word games on her." He shook his head slightly.
"Could it be what he did on Horizon that has you acting this way?" Thane was back in his calm stance, ready to take on what Naomi threw at him. "Or is it that you love him, and do not wish to face that fact?"
Naomi's eyebrows knit together and she scowled. Shepard roared before lurching forward and tackling the Drell. "Stop talking, god dammit!" she growled as she pinned him to the ground with her knees. She took the opportunity to punch him in the jaw quickly. "You know nothing about me!" she screeched while taking a few more shots to his face and torso.
Thane saw a pause in her assault and took the chance to reverse their position. He pinned Naomi down with his own knees and held her wrists to the mats with his cold hands. "Curious." He started. "You do love him." He adjusted himself to stop her squirming underneath him. "Then why are you so furious at his apology?"
"You're wrong! I can't love him! I love no one!" Naomi snarled up at the assassin.
Thane read her expression easily, she was torn. Of course, it made sense to him now. "I see! You do love him. You just cannot confess it to yourself." He continued.
Naomi threw her head forward and connected foreheads with the Drell hard. "Shut the fuck up!"
The Drell shook the blurring out of his eyes; he was impressed that she had as much free room to move as she did. He held both of her wrists in one hand while he rubbed the bruising spot on his forehead. His hand came away with sticky blood. Red blood, her blood. He looked down at Shepard and frowned softly before wiping a thumb across her own forehead to remove the blood that was seeping from a wide gash.
Shepard watched as the Drell's expression turned soft, a change that she couldn't bear to see on his face. She averted her eyes quickly, and turned her head to the side. "Just, leave me alone. You win." Her voice was small, broken.
Thane leaned forward and grasped her chin in his left hand and made her look back up at him. "You are still yourself, Shepard. No matter what you think Cerberus has done to you. You can still love someone." He smiled down at her warmly. "You are still human, and that angers you, does it not?"
The crewmates exchanged their credits swiftly, some grinning and some grumbling. Jack stood, "Well, he won. We should probably leave." She tried to urge the audience to move towards the elevator, but some of them wouldn't budge.
Tears filled Naomi's eyes as she gazed into the warm expression of the assassin above her. She tried to fight them, but they wouldn't stop. Soon she had tears streaming from her eyes uncontrollably and her body began to shake with her quiet sobbing.
Jack surrounded herself with her biotics, "If you don't clear the room now, I will fucking kill every one of you!" She pointed towards the elevator and grabbed Zaeed's arm. "You, too! Out! Now!"
The crew quietly made their way to the elevator, none of them wanting to see what Shepard was about to do. Zaeed stood his ground against Jack's hand. "I'm not leaving her."
Jack jerked him forward, "You have to. She needs this, asshole." Zaeed sighed and obeyed reluctantly. He kept his eyes on Naomi until the elevator doors closed and they left her alone with the Drell.
Naomi's sobs became quite verbal when she heard the elevator doors close. "What's wrong with me, Thane?" she cried in between body wracking sobs.
Thane released her and sat with his legs crossed. He pulled Naomi into his lap and cradled her against his chest. "There is nothing wrong with you, Shepard."
His chest rumbled when he spoke, the vibrations were comforting to Naomi. The two sat still while Shepard sobbed into the assassin's coat.
Neither of them knew how much time passed before Naomi took a deep, cleansing breath but Thane was ready to hear anything she had to say.
"How could anyone stand to be near me knowing that I've died? Knowing that I'm more machine than human now? Even Kaidan knew I wasn't myself. I'm a Cerberus dog, Thane. I owe them my life and I can't stand it."
Thane pushed her back so he could make eye contact with her. "Siha, you are yourself. You owe Cerberus nothing. You are here to protect the galaxy from an evil no one but you can defeat. You are strong; do not let anyone tell you different."
Naomi smiled weakly and wiped the moisture from her face. Her eyes were already red and swollen, but she felt a little better. "Thank you, Thane. I guess I didn't need a fight to calm myself down." She chuckled before pulling herself out of his lap to stand.
"No, you did not. And do not worry. You can still love Kaidan and not be with him. He was not meant for you. That is obvious. Never be afraid to love someone regardless. You are only cheating yourself when you are, Siha."
"I think my translator is glitching. What does Siha mean?"
"One of the warrior-angels of the goddess Arashu. Fierce in wrath. A tenacious protector. Never doubt yourself, Siha; you are the galaxy's protector. You will see us through this."