Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect.

Author's Note: Beware if you have not read my Mass Effect story An Unexpected Connection, then you will not fully understand these snippets. I suggest you read the main story first and then this, so that you won't get confused.

Alexandra and Jeanette

"So," Shepard started awkwardly when Dr. Michel was able to spare a moment at the hospital to talk with her, "you…know? Right?"

"If you are referring to what Dr. Chakwas has informed us both of, then yes, Shepard. I know," she replied with a slight French accent. "Or should I call you Alexandra, and you can call me Jeanette?"

Alexandra nodded, "Yeah, that'd be fine. Come on, I know somewhere we can talk."

Shepard led the way down into the wards, deep into the narrow, winding streets to a little, out of the way café and tea shop away from the main tracks of traffic. Once there, they grabbed a table towards the middle of the barely patronized café and waited in an awkward silence before their tea was delivered.

"So," Shepard began after the waiter had left, "I suppose there are…questions you want to ask?"

Dr. Michel laughed, "You sound almost like Chakwas when she first tried to tell."

"First?" Alexandra asked and took a sip of her tea.

Jeanette nodded and explained, "When Major Alenko... he is your boyfriend, yes?" Shepard nodded, and her sister continued, "When he arrived, she was...greatly distressed. No, that is not adequate. She was…terrified. She thought that you might even still be on Earth, so she told me after we had finished our work with the major. She stuttered so much at first but finely calmed down enough to tell me. Needless to say, I was stunned, even more so to discover that the Hero of the Citadel was my sister, although she would not yet tell me who our father is. But it might have been that you had arrived at that point and gone to see Alenko."

Alexandra nodded and ruefully said, "Yeah, she told me soon after…when I finally let her explain."

Jeanette raised an eyebrow. "You did not take it well."

She nodded in response. "Yeah…so do you want to know now?"

"I wasn't going to pressure you into answering."

Alexandra nodded again and drained her cup before saying calmly, "Hackett."

Jeanette nearly choked on her own drink and spewed most of the liquid back into the cup before coughing, "Wha…what?!"

She nodded while her sister regained her normal breathing.

"Admiral Hackett?! She…she…she had us with Hackett?! Our father is one of the Alliance's greatest heroes and now the man in charge of the entire human military operation against the Reapers?!" she exclaimed.

Shepard smiled wryly and replied, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in, but he doesn't know that we know now. Chakwas also said not to tell him that we know or give it away in some way."

"Yes, I can imagine his shock," she commented, "but surely, it must be far harder for you? Having to report to him on the war's progress?"

Alexandra nodded and said, "Yes, but I've learned to hide my emotions throughout my career. How else could I stand all those boring, annoying awards ceremonies and dinners with the brass?"

They both howled with laughter as Jeanette commented, "Yes, how could you have survived without it!"

{}

"You okay?" Shepard asked as they sat at her sister's dining room table with a half empty bottle of cabernet sauvignon. Stupid question to ask, Shep. Of course, she's not.

"No," Jeanette answered. "No, I'm not. Alex, you…you didn't see...you didn't see the physical carnage carved out of those people's bodies. The number of burns covering that one boy even…" She shook her head and sighed before adding, "I just want to forget about it."

Alex nodded and whispered, "I understand. It's hard to take, to see…it's even worse when you knew them."

She looked back at her and bitterly smiled, "Well, why don't you tell me the gossip onboard the Normandy then…Hell, it's bound to at least put the war out of my mind for a while."

Shepard grinned and complied immediately for the rest of the night.

{}

"So…the Savoir of the Galaxy for a sister," Jeanette commented as she sidled up next to her with a glass of champagne in one hand after the awards ceremony. "And you really didn't look uncomfortable up there," she added with a raised brow.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. It is me after all…and just look at our parents," Shepard joked back.

Her sister chuckled before whispering, "Speaking of them, just so you know Hackett talked to me about it before the ceremony. I think he's going to do the same for you soon…though I don't know exactly when tonight, sis."

Shepard nodded as Kaidan weaved his way through the crowd towards her and whispered back, "Thanks. Catch you later."

"Maybe tomorrow," Jeanette whispered back with a wink. "I have a feeling you'll be busy for the rest of the night."