An opening. That's what she was waiting for. That's what she desperately needed right now. Hard as she tried, she was not able to locate her enemy but she knew for certain that she was close. Too close…

Damn, she is good….but I did not survive killing reapers only to be beaten in my own house!

She tightened the grip on her weapon, planning her next few steps.

I'm relatively safe behind this door frame but this is pretty much a dead end…and I'm pretty much dead meat when she manages to break through. Think, Shepard! Outsmart her…you're good at that.

Sadly, that was not true and with a big sigh the commander had to admit that, yeah, she was more of a brute force kind of gal. Under normal circumstances, that worked out much better than any fancy plan she could come up with.

Maybe I should contact EDI…get some logical input on the situation. And some ideas on how to get out of it.

But of course, her communicator was in the bedroom. On the bedside table. Where she left it yesterday evening.

Or maybe, I should just strangle myself for being an idiot! Seriously, Shepard…get a grip... you've been through worse!

And with a shake of her head, she resigned herself to her fate.

Brute force it is….as they say, the best defense is a good offense!

Leaving her position at the door, she took a chance and tried to roll behind the upturned living room couch, hoping that it would give her an advantage in spotting the one who was responsible for her current dilemma.

THUD THUD THUD

Shepard could hear the impact of the projectiles in the wall behind her. She crouched behind the couch and readied her weapon. Adrenalin flooded her system and she welcomed this familiar feeling. Fighting focus is what she labeled this. Everything zeros down on the task at hand. Every little part of her getting ready to fight. In the past it has helped her to barrel through any obstacle and come out winning… and she was planning to do the same today.

The commander took a deep breath. In her mind, she traced the trajectories of her enemy's projectiles back to the source and calculated the most probable location - the hallway! A nice and wide open corridor with no place to hide. This was beginner's stuff! First thing one learned in the first course during N7 training.

"Gotcha", she whispered, a confident smirk appearing on her face.

With her weapon at the ready, Shepard broke her cover and unloaded her gun several times in the direction of where she assumed the enemy was…

…and hit nothing. The hallway was empty.

Well, she managed to hit that picture frame that was now precariously hanging….scratch that…falling to the floor with a big crash. Shepard winced, and the smirk that developed just a few seconds ago slid off her face as she stared foolishly into the hallway. Beginner's stuff! Another thing one learned in that first course during N7 training. Enemies can move and if you don't react fast enough, back tracing the trajectories does jack shit!

This lesson was driven home hard as she felt the impact of enemy rounds on her left arm and side of her face. Desperate, Shepard scrambled to get into cover but it was too late. She was tackled from behind and fell, her face connecting with the floor. Her last thought, besides Ow, that hurt!, summed up the huge disappointment she felt. That's it? The great Commander Shepard losing a battle like this? This is unbelievable and really, really sad!

Her silent musings were interrupted by a high-pitched voice above her head, exclaiming joyfully "I win! I got you good. You lose, Daddy! Now I'm the new commander in the house!"

Shepard sighed and carefully turned around to avoid throwing off the little body sitting on her back. She smiled at the view that greeted her. Her daughter who just a few moments ago displayed an astonishing amount of talent for warfare tactics, excitedly waved a colorful nerf gun around, babbling happily about her well-earned victory. The commander plugged off the arrow that stuck to the side of her face and had to agree with her offspring.

"Yeah, little one, you got me good! That was pretty remarkable, I have to say. Who taught you to be so sneaky? Because it was certainly not me."

"Jack told me! She showed me some tricks, too, when using biotics but Mommy said I'm not allowed to do them at home."

"Jack did, eh?" Shepard said and silently vowed to have a word with the former convict about child education and respect for the elderly. Or maybe just tell her students some embarrassing stories about a certain incident on the Normandy involving alcohol, spark plugs, a pan, and Miranda. There are many ways to get even!

"Well, I am proud of you. I certainly have to step up my game to get my rank back. What you say, Commander? But before I do that, we should clean up this place before your mo-"

"By the Goddess, what happened here?" exclaimed a voice from the door. Shepard flinched. She grabbed her daughter and quickly got up from the floor, mentally bracing herself for what's to come. Her wife was standing at the door, gaping at the – she had to admit – major chaos in the living room.

"Jane Hannah Shepard, what in the world did you do to the room? Why is everything upturned and is this our wedding picture on the floor?"

"Liara, I can explain. I…we…it was a training session…with Benezia…to prepare her…for, you know, stuff…dangerous stuff. Like reapers and smugglers. And she did great, didn't you, Benezia?" Shepard asked her daughter, hoping that she could avoid any dire consequences by partially blaming it on her. I'm a bad parent she thought but it's either that or a night on the couch!

"Yes, mommy! I'm a commander now!" Benezia added proudly, still waving her nerf gun, "I won!"

"Yes, that's right" Shepard cut in "She won. A tactical genius, that one! I bet she got it from her mother. I mean, why stop at the color, right? Ha, ha!" Shepard cringed. Way to go, idiot! she silently scolded herself and cleared her throat "Anyway, we were just cleaning up. And then we'll celebrate Benezia's victory over the great, formerly a commander, Shepard! I hope you join, Liara, because I pay! Food and a movie? Sound good?"

Liara released an exasperated sigh and smiled "Sounds good. But the two of us will have a discussion about proper combat training for under aged members of this household some time in the near future. For now though, let us celebrate the great Commander T'Soni-Shepard!"

A/N: This is the first story I've ever written and I hope you like it. The story is based on an idea that has been bugging me for quite some time but I never found the time or courage to try and put it down on paper.