Hi everyone! This is my first attempt at writing something like this, so please read and critique! I hope to continue this with more chapters. Inspired by some of the other lovely stories such as those by SageQueen and Nightodie. Of course, BioWare owns Mass Effect, its characters, and a bunch of this dialogue. This is my take on parts of the story.

Chapter One - Introductions

Well, what about Shepard? She's a Spacer; lived aboard starships most of her life.

Military service runs in the family. Both her parents were in the Navy.

She proved herself during the Blitz – held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived.

She's the only reason Elysium is still standing.

We can't question her courage.

Humanity needs a hero, and Shepard's the best we've got.

I'll make the call.

Jane Shepard grudgingly stepped off the transport, almost leaving her duffle bag behind. Her head was still throbbing from the night before, and she cursed the Alliance brass in her mind. Couldn't they have waited four more days to get in contact with me? Shore leave is short enough as it is. Getting called back in the middle is not my idea of fun.

It didn't take her long to find the SSV Normandy, and as much as she hated having shore leave cut short, Shepard couldn't hide the child-like excitement she felt whenever she was reassigned. All she knew about this assignment was that she would serve as the XO aboard the Normandy, under the command of Captain Anderson.

"Hey doll," someone said in a low voice, "you in the mood for a tour of this fine cruiser?"

Shepard felt her biotics flare in anger, and wheeled around to face a Marine in his dress blues. The coy expression on his face quickly changed to one of shock and fear.

"Private," she spoke steadily, "I believe the proper way to greet a superior officer is with a salute."

The humming sound began suddenly and caught Kaidan Alenko's attention. He recognized it immediately and looked up from his omni-tool. It was a sound he heard it whenever other biotics were around, but it didn't usually start up so suddenly. Then he saw a woman, maybe thirty feet from him, bathed in blue biotics. He chuckled to himself when the Private standing next to her gave a rushed salute, then bolt as soon as she turned away. How typical, Kaidan thought to himself, everything changes when they find out you're a biotic. He watched her with intrigue as she approached the Normandy, and it didn't take him long to realize who she was.

"Joker," he radioed the ship's helmsman, "tell Captain Anderson that our XO is here."

"That makes a full house, Alenko," Joker replied, "I'll let him know we've got the whole crew."

"Commander Shepard?" Kaidan gave her a stiff salute when she approached. "Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Glad to have you on board." The hum of her biotics had changed from an urgent buzz to a calm purr, still strong, but much more controlled. He was surprised at the steadiness of the sound.

Shepard returned the salute. "Thank you, Lieutenant." Is it just me, or is he looking at me like he knows a secret? "I, uh, I hope you didn't see that little incident back there."

Kaidan couldn't help but smile. "Unfortunately, Commander, I did. Privates are no good at spotting officers, so I'm glad you didn't throw him against the side of the ship, ma'am."

Spotting officers? You'd think the uniform would give it… Shepard quickly looked down and realized she was not in uniform. Shit. She must have forgotten to change in all the rush. Her face immediately turned a bright shade of pink.

Kaidan almost blushed when she looked up at him, wide-eyed and flushed. It was then he realized how pretty she was, which immediately made him uncomfortable. "If you'd like, I can show you to the crew's quarters," he offered quickly, "you can change there, Commander."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Shepard smiled, "maybe we can just keep this between us."

"Aye aye, ma'am."