"I Think My Days Of Saving The Galaxy Are Over When This Is Done..."
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New A/N: Yup, it's my old one-shot. I decided to put all one-shots into one story as not to pester everyone else on this site with all those updates and trust me: there will be more... :) Turned out that those one-shots have something in common... Let's say they're my additional ending-DLC, telling what might happen to all those characters from the trilogy... The first two chapters are the one-shots I've already published (and deleted, in case you wondered) but there are two new ones for all of you who've read the "old" stuff already (wouldn't want to annoy you... :) )
A/N: I was just reading some Liara/Femshep stories about their future after the defeat of the reapers and that made me wonder how Miri/Femshep's future would look like. As much as I'd like for them to have kids but the only possibility (aside from adopting, threesomes and so on...) would be for Shep to be the one giving birth and let's face it: Shep is not a mother (at least I can't see mine as one... :) ).
To the story real quick: I don't really care about which ending Shepard chose and I also don't care how they rebuilt the galaxy/cities, they just have... :) The rest of the story should be pretty clear... If you've still got any questions, feel free to ask...
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Shepard let her eyes wander over the city's skyline outside her window. She was leaning against the window's frame, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand.
To her great satisfaction, she couldn't make out any unusual activities outside their apartment building.
Good, so the reporters haven't found us yet, she thought while taking a sip from the cup in her hand, silently thanking Liara for her help in covering her tracks over the last couple of years. After the defeat of the reapers and Shepard's almost-death, the decision to finally let the galaxy handle its own problems and take a step back hadn't been that hard for her to make. She'd resigned, finally deciding that enough was enough. She wasn't cut out for politics and given her fame, it had been close to impossible for her to get assigned to any mission that didn't hold the word "suicide" in its description. It seemed that the entire galaxy still believed in Shepard's immortality, oblivious to the exhaustion that so-called "fate" had demanded so far...
A clacking sound behind her jolted her out of her thoughts and a smile spread across her face as she turned around and recognised the intruder.
"There you are... Is she awake? Did you wake her up?"
The varren plodded towards her, expectantly raising his head so Shepard could caress the back of his head. She took another sip from her coffee before sighing and pushing herself off the window frame. "If she's mad 'cause you woke her up, I'll hold you responsible for it..." she told the varren who followed her into the next room.
Another warm smile appeared on Shepard's face as she saw the movement under her bed's blanket.
"Jack sends her regards," she announced.
Her smile widened at the groan coming from the bed as a pillow was pulled over dark hair. The pyjak who'd been sleeping on it shot an angry glare at Shepard on behalf of its owner, whose head was currently covered by the pillow stolen from under him, before he curled back into a ball. Shepard winked at the pyjak, amazed at how similar his glare had become by now. Just like her...
"At least I think that's what she tried to say in her message... They actually got a lot nicer since Kelly took it upon herself to read them before sending..."
A hand appeared from under the blanket, dismissively waving at the door.
"That's wonderful. Tell her to stop pestering us with her vid-comm calls in the middle of the night in hopes that she might catch a glimpse... Now, if you could please take that varren out of our bedroom and let me sleep before I fully wake up, that would be much appreciated," came Miranda Lawson's muffled voice. Shepard gave a short laugh.
"You do remember that we've got to look after Liara's girls today, right? They should be here within the next hour..."
Another groan came from under the pillow. "Tell me again why we took on this job..."
"Because I still remember the spark in your eyes when we visited them the first time... I might even be able to imitate your expression, if that would help you remember..." Shepard quickly evaded the pillow thrown at her before continuing, "And I think you even referred to them as 'adorable'... Hm, maybe Liara still has that audio file somewhere in her archives..."
Miranda's head shot up, her hair slightly tousled. "My eyes didn't sparkle." And seeing Shepard's imitation of her expression that fateful day and realising that she didn't have another pillow to throw (and her pyjak had grown on her by now, so that option was out of the question as well...), she simply growled while narrowing her eyes dangerously, the pyjak next to her imitating her expression. Unlike Shepard, the varren got the warning and hurriedly left the room.
"Let me make this perfectly clear: I did NOT make kissy-faces and I did NOT wring my hands like some bloody lunatic!" she exclaimed, trying to reclaim her honor.
"Yes you did, and you know it. It was cute though..."
"I am not-"
"-In an extremely sexy way, may I add..."
Satisfied, Miranda climbed out of the bed and approached Shepard who was still standing in the door frame.
"How long, did you say, before Liara drops them off?"
"Shepard, there's someone at our door," Miranda unnecessarily stated, still smiling at Shepard's arms tightly wrapped around her from behind.
"Yeah, I know," She sighed into Miranda's neck before releasing her and letting her finish her breakfast in the kitchen while she approached the door where an excited varren was already pacing back and forth.
"Commander Shepard, I'm sure you remember me... We-"
"Allers?"
Shepard quickly stepped into the hallway, motioning her varren to wait inside their apartment as the door closed behind her. Shepard crossed her arms in front of her chest, suddenly realising how cold the hallway was as she was standing there dressed only in a N7-shirt and short pants she wore in bed.
"I thought I made myself clear when I said I didn't want to give any more interviews, Allers. How did you find me, anyway?"
Diana Allers provocatively placed a hand on her hip and smiled. "I have my sources, Commander... But don't worry, you weren't exactly easy to find. I'm not sure I had gotten this information if I hadn't worked with you on the Normandy before..."
"Yeah, yeah, get to the point." Shepard dismissively waved her hand at the reporter. "Which part of 'I'm not going to answer any of your questions' didn't you understand? And by the way, it's not 'Commander' anymore. I'm a civilian now, leading a normal and may I add very dull life."
"But I'm sure you still have connections... The galaxy would love to know what happend to your old team, well, aside from Mr. Moreau who seems to take every chance he gets to shove his face in front of a camera... Our viewers still need time to process the information about his human/robot-relationship with your former ship's AI... Even in these modern times, those things still take time, believe it or not..."
Shepard's expression didn't change.
"What about Mr. Vakarian? Is it true that he's in a relationship with admiral Tali'Zorah vas, whatever ship she's now serving on or coming from? Our audience would love to get an exclusive insight into their everyday life... And what about the former convict who, after temporarily teaching at Grissom Academy, suddenly took off with some of her former students in order to, as I recall from the smearing on the Alliance Building, "Teach those sissies how to live a real life"? Then there's missing technology used to build the Crucible worth millions of credits. And of course, there's still the unsolved mystery of a former Cerberus operative who disappeared as soon as the Alliance wanted her for questioning after the defeat of the reapers, regarding her past with Cerberus..." Diana's hopeful smile soon vanished as Shepard's expression still didn't change, causing Diana to throw her hands up in defeat.
"Alright, I see you're still not willing to talk to an old friend." And not the slightest bit irritated by Shepard's raised eyebrow, she continued, "Anyway, if you change your mind, make sure to contact me. Anytime..."
"You're not going to tell anyone about my location?"
"Please... If I can't have the interview, no one else can!" Diana stated as she turned around. But before she walked away, she turned her head one last time, adding over her shoulder, "It was good to see you again, Commander. You look happy..." And with a wink, she walked down the empty hallway, her camera bot (which hadn't been recording as Shepard had reassured herself the second she'd recognised the reporter) following close behind.
While waiting for the elevator doors to close behind Diana Allers, Shepard quickly scanned the hallway one last time just to make sure there weren't any other surprises, before she entered the apartment again.
"Who was that?" Miranda's voice came out of the kitchen.
"Erm..."
"And don't even try to come up with a lie." Miranda was standing in the door frame, hand on her hip while carefully observing Shepard, who could have sworn it had sounded like Miranda had sat on the kitchen table only a second ago.
Shepard started scratching the nape of her neck, trying to avert Miranda's gaze. "Erm... Diana Allers...?"
"I swear, if that bloody woman has had the nerve to come back again, I will use Liara's threat and flay her al- Well, hello there, little ones!"
Shepard was standing behind Miranda a second later, the sudden change in her lover's voice immediately telling her who was standing in front of the door this time. "Sparkling..." she whispered into Miranda's ears but her former XO decided to simply ignore her.
Liara's cheeks were slightly flushed while she smiled at Shepard and Miranda, who both immediately took a step back to let the asari enter their apartment. "They've been excited about this visit the entire morning," Liara explained while loosening the grip on her older daughter's hand, which the young asari took as a chance to throw her arms around Shepard's legs.
"Shepard."
"Shiala," Shepard greeted in feigned seriousness before raising the young asari who'd been named after her father.
Liara and Miranda both rolled their eyes at Shepard's and Shiala's ongoing joke about "uncle" Wrex's old greeting. Sighing, Miranda lifted Liara's younger daughter out of her mother's arms.
"And you're sure they won't be a bother? I'll make sure to pick them up before bed time! I'm sure the reading won't take that long... Goddess, I only hope Javik comes prepared. I wasn't able to reach him this morning and whenever I tried to tell him how important it was to prepare at least a little, friendly speech, he just hang up on me... You know how he is..."
Miranda nodded while rocking Benezia in her arms. "I'm surprised you managed to complete the book at all..."
Liara sighed heavily and rubbed her temples at the memory of her endless arguments with the Prothean. "Never again!" she declared. That moment, her omni-tool started blinking and she was back to her own, nervous self again. "Goddess, I need to go. Are you sure-"
Miranda interrupted her by nodding and silently pointing at Shepard who was sitting on the living room's carpet, admiring Shiala's flickering singularity (which, to both Miranda's and Liara's great relief wasn't nearly strong enough yet to do any damage to the household).
"We'll be fine. But I guess I better get over there before Shepard decides to show her how a real singularity looks like. Although we can easily live off the Alliance's provided creds, I don't think it's necessary to replace the entire interior furnishings every other week..."
Liara nodded smiling. "Thank you. For everything," she said before she shot another quick glance at her omni-tool and quickly hugged Miranda, squeezed Benezia's small hand, waved to Shepard and Shiala (no response) and then finally turned and left the apartment.
As soon as the door had closed again, Miranda turned towards the living room. "Well, let's see what your sister and our great saviour of the galaxy are up to..." And leaning in close, she whispered into Benezia's ear, "My adorable little niece..."
A/N: I admit it, I was pretty lazy with the babies' names, sorry... also couldn't come up with a better father for them in this short time, but Shiala's nice enough, right? Oh and don't ask me how that whole niece-thing works, but it's sci-fi... :) This was a really quick scrabble, so sorry if there are any mistakes, pot holes and stuff like that, just felt the need to write it down... :)
And don't worry, I'm still working on my ME3 story, might still take a little while though...
Ugh, the sweetness and all this lovey-dovey, I think I need a shower now... ;)