A beep on her Omni-tool alerted Commander Shepard of an incoming message. Across the CIC the captain of the SSV London received an alert at the same time, so she knew what the message was before she even opened it: her new orders. The captain opened the message first; his jaw clenched tightly when he read the contents. That only piqued her interest more. She opened the message on her 'tool at her post in the CIC, the orange light illuminating her features. Shepard kept her face as neutral as possible as she read her assignment dossier, conscious of the fact that the captain was now watching her.

She was to report to Earth immediately to join the crew on the newest prototype frigate for a shakedown run under Captain Anderson. She was thrilled to be working with her mentor again, but also suspicious. While she normally would welcome the bit of downtime a shakedown would afford she was not naive: the Alliance would not assign two N7s on a simple run. She tried to shake away the gnawing suspicion in her gut and focused. The Normandy was docked on Earth for 24 hours. She checked their current location on the map: the SSV London was only 2 hours away from Earth. Plenty of time to sneak in a dinner with mom before reporting for duty she thought happily. It had been over a year since they had been able to meet up in person. Too long to be acceptable she reminded herself.

Shepard looked up to excuse herself long enough to send a quick message her mother's way, but the captain was nowhere in sight. That's odd, he usually never leaves his post she thought, but quickly pushed it away. She went back to her duties without a second thought. As with any alliance member worth their salt, her stuff was ready to go at a moment's notice and a message to her mother could wait until after they landed.

Captain Downing returned to his post minutes later, but something seemed off about his demeanor. Shepard couldn't quite put her finger on it. Less than ten minutes later an urgent call came in from Rear Admiral Mikhailovich: they were to proceed directly to the Maroon Sea cluster to protect Chasca, a small planet in the process of being colonized. Intel suggested a large pirate syndicate preparing an attack. Such an attack would undo over a year's worth of groundwork in the colonization effort. Shepard watched the captain's face carefully as the call proceeded, her eyes neutral but suspicious. Based on his lack of reaction, the captain knew this call was coming.

Something about the timing and details of the mission set alarms off in Shepard's head. There were dozens of other Alliance vessels equally equipped and significantly closer to the destination. The Maroon Sea cluster was three jumps from Earth; this detour would make it impossible for her to make her next assignment. The fact that the captain ordered her not to alert Captain Anderson of the detour only solidified her concern.

Shepard kept herself busy while in transit to Chasca, but her eyes kept drifting to the clock on her Omni-tool. She tried to ignore the drop of her stomach as the departure time for the Normandy came and went. She was disappointed she wasn't going to be able to work with Anderson again; she missed having a friendly face around. Younger soldiers were scared of her and the older ones resented the speed she climbed the ranks, which left her isolated most of the time. There was more to her distress, though: It was the first time she missed a deployment in her career.

It took over a day to reach their destination and another six hours planet-side before they found any hostiles at all. They turned out to be nothing more than a small band of human mercs looking for an easy score with the underprepared pioneer teams. Shepard's suspicions about the urgent detour proved accurate: they found no signs of a major offense on Chasca or anywhere else in the Matano System, for that matter. The whole situation smacked of political maneuverings.

It was several days before the SSV London docked at Arcturus Station. The crew was given 24 hour leave while Captain Downing was in meetings with Rear Admiral Mikhailovich and a committee of some sort. Shepard tried to make the best of the situation by spending some time with her father, but she was informed he was in meetings all day. She has suspected that would be the case, but she had to try. She couldn't help being disappointed, though. Shepard chose to spend that time outside the committee room instead, since she had a sneaking suspicion it involved her. She was just glad it wasn't her ass on the line this time.

Shepard leaned against a wall in the sterile waiting room while a committee was busy playing politics in the next room. None of this was new to her; she had been playing diplomat almost as long as she had been a soldier. It became a real problem when the political side directly interfered with her actual job, as was now the case. There were too many coincidences for it to be otherwise. She was usually not in the waiting room, though. This new twist left her feeling surprisingly impotent.

Shepard started banging her head back against the wall rhythmically, desperate for any release of the pent-up boredom and frustration, no matter how small or immature. Besides, she didn't care who stared at this point. Most of the soldiers in the room had already seen the N7 on her armor and had been avoiding eye contact anyway. She could feel their eyes on her when she wasn't looking, but they turned away hastily as soon as she looked back. Chicken-shits. Might as well give them something to see.

Shepard heard the doors to the committee room swish open and her eyes popped open. She had hoped it signaled the end of the meeting, but she only saw another man in dress blues hastily recede into the depths of the room. Great, it is going to take even longer now she thought with a bit of desperation.

She threw her head back into the wall with a dramatic sigh, the force much harder than she had anticipated. Her hand shot up into her choppy chin length red hair to rub the small bump already forming. A sudden hum filled her head. It was faint, but enough to put her on edge. Sure, giving yourself a concussion is a good way to end such a stellar week she groused to herself.

Shepard walked over to an empty bank of chairs and plopped in the middle one. The ringing in her ears subsided when she sat, but it came back a minute later. She sat with her eyes closed, willing away the ringing without any success. The hum actually seemed to be getting louder again.

"Mind if I take this seat?" The smoky voice took her by surprise. She just assumed everyone would keep their distance from her like usual. She opened her eyes to find warm whiskey colored eyes staring back. She briefly looked around, noting the plethora of open seats before shrugging.

"If you really want to, I won't stop you." She knew how aloof she sounded and it bothered her for the first time in a long time; that confused her. He didn't appear too bothered by it, though; a warm smile spread across his face.

"You look really familiar. Have we met?"

"Nope." That's it. Keep it short and sweet and hopefully he will move on she thought to herself.

"Are you sure? I feel like I know you from somewhere." Shepard just shook her head in response.

"Well, I'm Lt. Kaidan Alenko. Nice to meet you." He held his hand out toward Shepard expectantly. She inwardly sighed and extended her own hand. A bright arc of electricity sparked between them a fraction of a second before they made contact, sending a painful jolt up her arm.

"I'm so sorry!" they both exclaimed in unison. He held a hand up to stop her apology.

"No, really. It's my fault; I'm a biotic. I should've been a bit more careful. I'm sorry I shocked you."

Shepard saw the earnest look in his eyes and couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly it all made sense: the hum wasn't a concussion; it was just her body reacting to his biotics. The man looked crestfallen at her sudden outburst and moved to stand. Her hand shot out to catch him before he could leave.

"Wait, don't go. I wasn't laughing at you." She saw the doubt clear on his handsome face, so she rushed to continue. "No, really! I was laughing because I should've known you were a biotic. I felt you walk into the room and mistook the signs as me being stupid and giving myself a concussion." Confusion knitted his brows and only made her break into another fit of laughter.

"You don't spend much time around other biotics, do you Alenko?" He looked at her carefully for another moment before it was clear he got it.

"Yeah, ah... I guess it has been awhile." He gave her a sheepish smile, clearly embarrassed. They sat in silence for several minutes after that before he suddenly looked up from his Omni-tool.

"Would you like to go to dinner?"

"I'm sorry, I don't date Alliance. It's nothing personal." This was a rule Shepard gave herself before she even enlisted. She witnessed first-hand how hard it was on her parents to maintain a relationship when they spent so much time apart and had to sneak the few moments they got. She herself broke that self-imposed rule once, and it was the biggest mistake of her life. That only solidified her resolve; it was easier to not let it be an issue to begin with.

He looked at her calmly for a moment, a mischievous grin dancing on the edges of his mouth. Very kissable mouth she thought, immediately chastising herself as soon as she thought it. God, I really need to get a personal life if I am this easily distracted.

"That was mighty presumptuous of you Ms... ah, I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I didn't give it." A wicked grin spread across her face despite herself.

"Very well, then." He nodded briefly before continuing. "I was merely stating that it is dinner time and I figured a fellow biotic would most likely be as starving as I am. I was just offering a little companionship over a meal."

"I guess I should eat something. And it doesn't look like anything will happen here for awhile." Her green eyes searched his face, looking for a possible ulterior motive, but he seemed to be genuine. "Alright, I'm in. Let's go already!"

Their meal was pleasant; the food was passable and the conversation engaging. It had been a long time since she'd shared a meal with anyone, and she suddenly realized how much she missed it. Spending a large amount of time alone was one of the unfortunate side effects of being a big scary special ops war hero. She moved from post to post so often and fast she was little more than a blur to everyone else, but that wasn't the real issue. Most people were too intimidated to even approach her. That was part of the reason she didn't properly introduce herself to the soldier across from her. He probably would've frozen, stammered over himself, and suddenly remember an important meeting he was later for. It had happened more times than she cared to admit. She didn't feel too bad about it though; they would both be going their separate ways in no time.

The food was long gone and the conversation winding down when her Omni-tool pinged. It was a vid call. Not wanting to be rude, or overheard, she apologized and excused herself to answer it. She was surprised when she saw the person on the other side of the call.

"Anderson?"

"Shepard. I was hoping I could get you directly. Good news: the Normandy is on Arcturus waiting for her XO." He looked like he was not in a great mood, but he was all smiles for her.

"Really? I thought you guys were long gone by now." She couldn't keep the shock out of her voice.

"I'll explain when I see you. We'll depart from docking bay B12 at 1800. You better make it this time, soldier." The order had a playful edge, and he laughed slightly as he ended the call.

Shepard closed the 'tool and retraced her path through the room, expertly weaving between the other diners without disturbing them. She came to rest at what she was sure was their table, but the lieutenant was not there. Her heart dropped slightly. She was mildly surprised to discover she was disappointed she couldn't say goodbye.