The day turned out to be a lot more interesting than she expected when she stepped onto the station. First she met Udina and took note of the man. He would be dangerous for her one day, because their ways to do politics were completely different. While she believed in truth and could push pretty hard to get what she needed, Udina was all about sneakiness, secret influence, under the table favours, whispers, false smiles, and generally all the things Jo didn't like. For now she let Anderson deal with him, conveniently taking refuge in the military hierarchy. But if between the three of them they managed to make Jo a Spectre, she would have to deal with the sleazy man personally.

In her search for proof of Saren's treason Jo had several very interesting encounters. First the slutty asari who suffered under the illusion that Jo cared about her prophecies. When Jo caught her hand before she could touch her face and squeezed the blue wrist not so gently, Sha'ira finally got it and stayed all-business. Still, Jo could feel Alenko's hot glance on herself all day. She could bet her favourite rifle that he was imagining hot lesbian sex for hours after the encounter.

She also met a very interesting turian. Garrus Vakarian. He surprised her at first with his passion to bring Saren down. Later, when she found him in Dr. Michel's office, he took down a merc with one single shot, while that guy was holding the good doctor against himself.

"Great shot," Jo whistled, impressed after a closer inspection of the dead guy's head. The shot was uncannily precise. The praise did not go unnoticed by the turian, who offered his help in her investigation and tagged along. As they were walking around the station, Jo did a little meditation technique from her times in basic training ten years ago. Back then an officer from the training facility mentioned one evening on leave that there was nothing stronger than a good team, where everyone felt each other, where minds and bodies worked together in synch, where communication was obsolete because people just got each other. Back then she was privately learning meditation techniques and found many of them useful in situations when she needed to synch with people. Right now, breathing deeply, she felt Garrus' energy at her side like it had always been there, even though they had only met an hour ago. It would be such a shame when they would have to part ways.

She was still thinking about that when they landed at C-Sec and Jo's mind got blown. First thing she thought was that she'd never seen such a huge krogan. Then he turned to her and fixed her with a heavy red stare and the energy of this old, powerful warrior hit her like an avalanche. She had never felt this way before. Everything in her trembled at his power, her breath caught as she stared at him, trying to find her speech. It wasn't fear, though. It was like coming home. This feeling was worth examining but she had no time for that. Their charge, the quarian, needed to be found, and Jo did all she needed to get her.

Tali was the first quarian she ever met. They had a foul reputation for being thieves and scavengers, but Jo felt deep pride and dignity in this young girl.

Things went really fast then. Udina presented her findings to the Council, which stripped Saren of his status and made Jo the first human Spectre. Just like that, with a minimal effort on her part (running around the station was not exactly a challenge for an N7 marine) she got everything she ever wanted.

While Udina and Anderson were figuring out all the specifics, Jo asked all the aliens she met today to join her as her team. She had the authority to do that now and wanted to explore those feelings they evoked in her a little closer. Maybe something good would come out of their cooperation.

Next time Commander Shepard came back to the ship, life had changed as Joker knew it. Through the vid feed he watched them work their way around the Citadel, meet and shoot people, and he was pretty much there with them, when she received the honours from the Council. His head was spinning, when the airlock opened and a whole bunch of people entered. First came Ash and Kaidan, after them the small quarian, and then Joker had to look up. And up. And still up. It was not just a krogan stepping onto the bridge, it wasn't even a tank. It was a juggernaut mated with a dragon, pure menace, battle fury and scars. Joker saw him through Shepard's feed earlier, but he hadn't realised the actual size of the alien. He couldn't imagine anybody being comfortable around that thing. Except, of course…

"Nice to have you on board, Wrex," Shepard friendly clapped the krogan on the shoulder and smiled. "Pressly will show you where you can stow your equipment."

Joker decided this was the one moment in his life to keep his tongue. Just hold it and resist the temptation.

Another alien followed Shepard, a tall turian who went by the name of Garrus. He was just as tall as the krogan, but looked almost delicate and fragile in comparison. After Wrex stomped off the bridge, Jo let Alenko show Garrus around and left Tali in Ashley's care. She dismissed them all and finally turned to him. He turned to face his console and placed his hands idly on the edge. Shepard stopped next to him, took a deep breath and released it. The last day on the Citadel had shifted her world, too, no doubt.

"I heard what happened to Captain Anderson," Joker began, conversationally. "Survives a hundred battles and gets taken down by backroom politics. Just watch your back, Commander. Things go bad on this mission – you're next on their chopping block."

She sighed very seriously:

"Oh, I intend to watch my back every second of every day with them." Then she smirked down on him: "After all, I'm just too young and too pretty to be beheaded."

"You got that right," he smirked back. "Just so you know, everyone on this ship is behind you, one hundred percent. If you wanna say something to the crew, the intercom is open."

She thought for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Funny how he'd seen her professional, tough, heroic, unconscious, wickedly funny, sarcastic, sneaky, foul-mouthed, diplomatic, smiling, screaming, confused, satisfied and flustered all within two days after meeting her.

"Normandy crew, this is Commander Shepard. We have been given an honour to represent the human race before the whole galaxy. We have a task that comes with a great responsibility. Stop Saren and his geth. They attacked a human colony and they certainly won't stop there. It is not only our job to look out for our own, it's up to us to do the right thing for every species out there. We have to prove that humanity is a worthy part of the galactic community. We will fight this battle for the sake of all races and we will be victorious. Stand strong. Stand fast. Stand together. Shepard out."

She turned off the intercom and Joker shifted in his seat from the shiver of excitement running down his spine.

"Well said, Commander," he noted.

"We will be victorious, Joker."

"Boy, am I glad you're the Captain," he said. "I mean, it's not that Captain Anderson wasn't a good Captain, he was, but you sure know how to motivate a guy."

"I'm glad you think so," she relaxed her heroic stance and leaned her butt against the low divider between his seat and the console to his left. "Since this is my ship now, I'd like to get to know my crew a little better," she said with a polite smile.

"Oh," his mood changed in an instant. "I see. You did a background check on me, didn't you? Well, I'll tell you the same thing I told the Captain: you want me as your pilot. I'm not good, I'm not even great," he worked himself up. "I'm the best damn helmsman in the entire Alliance Fleet. Top of my class in flight school – I earned that. All those commendations in my file – I earned every single one. Those weren't given to me as charity for my disease!"

Jo rocked back a little on her perch. The power he hit her with… The energy of his presence was not any smaller than Wrex's, but it was different. Something pinched painfully in her chest, left her breathless, blood pumping like crazy through her veins. She knew she would always remember this moment, though she wasn't sure yet what for. Something just happened that she couldn't name or place. Just a moment and it was gone, leaving her shivering and more than a little confused. But he didn't need to know that.

When Joker looked up at the Commander, he found a slightly raised, confused blond eyebrow (all the while her lips were curling into a magnificent smile):

"Your disease? What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Wait," his rage deflated like a balloon. "You didn't know? Oh, crap."

"Didn't know what?"

He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, fully aware that he'd put his foot in his mouth. Then he explained his condition to her.

"Put the Normandy in my hands and I'll make her dance for you, Commander. Just don't make me dance, unless you like the sound of snapping shinbones, or something."

As he waited for her verdict, already hating her for whatever she was about to say, she made herself more comfortable where she sat and asked him honestly, without any worry or pity:

"Tell me more about it, about you."

"Right." He told her some more about himself, about being born with fractures and the general survival chances of people with his condition. "Lucky for me, modern science turned me into a productive member of the society."

"You're not going to break a bone trying to fly the ship, are you?" She said and he began speaking about not flying with his feet, when he realised she was teasing him.

"Don't worry, Commander."

"Oh, I'm not worried," she straightened up and turned to leave with a chuckle. "You're the one that's worried."

"And what are you laughing about?" he asked before he checked his mouth for insubordination. To his endless wonder, she turned and said:

"I like men with a lot of spunk. I think we'll get along just fine, me and you. Plot the course for Artemis Tau, we're taking off as soon as the shipment with turian and quarian food arrives."

She left him after once more tapping him on the shoulder. He took his time to digest what just happened. This was his new Captain? This girl? She looked so young when she smiled and relaxed! But then again, she looked ten years older when she delivered headshots to thugs in a bar and received the most important political position for humanity since the discovery of mass effect. He thought again and again about this conversation. She was a mystery.

Jo made a stop to talk to Alenko on her way to her own cabin. She needed time to think, but the guy with those sad, soulful black eyes looked at her so hopefully that she couldn't walk by.

Ten minutes later her head was buzzing from all the information he managed to put into the conversation. She barely asked a question and he poured his heart out. About his father, his mother's exposure, his training at BAaT, his old girlfriend, and a downright love confession to Jo, after comparing her to that aforementioned old girlfriend. Jo's heart was still pounding after everything that happened that day, after the conversation with Joker, and the devil made her smile at Alenko when he asked her if she was as friendly with everyone.

"No, not really," she said. This, at least, was true. "Talk to you later."

He read much more into it than she meant, however, as he blushed:

"I'll… I'll need some time to… process that, Commander, but… yeah, yeah, I'd like that."

Jo turned the corner and went to her cabin. Only this morning this was Captain Anderson's room, but now the world had changed. She was the first human Spectre. She was not under the Alliance command anymore. The Council gave her a task and a few leads, but no orders about how to accomplish the goal. She was free to choose her way. The Normandy was her ship. She had aliens on board. The vision from the beacon still ghosted around in her mind, along with all the little details about the mission that made no sense. Saren, geth, Protheans, the gigantic ship of no known profile… Those were the things she should be thinking about. Instead she thought about Alenko's blush, Joker's outburst, and the way Wrex, Garrus and Tali made her feel.

She started pacing up and down the cabin, increasing speed more and more. Feelings were dangerous. They screwed up her focus, made her care about things she shouldn't care about, and most importantly: feelings created a crack in her cool and professional image. To make them go away she needed to analyse them and store them in carefully labelled boxes in her mind. But walking a line into her cabin's floor wasn't helping. Impulsively, she went out, to the elevator and down to the cargo bay.

"Garrus," she declared, catching the turian's attention. "Spar with me."

This would do. He was one of those people she needed to think about anyway, so she could do that while picking him apart.

"Sure, Shepard," he said, meeting her in the middle of the room. Ash, Wrex and some techies gathered around to watch.

He gave her no quarter. She had expected to wipe the floor with him, but he was quite good. The thing was… she was having fun. His presence seemed to fit right in with her back on the Citadel, and the sparring session only intensified it. He was not as good as she was, of course, because she knew all the dirty, ruthless way to fight for her life. But there was no need to use all that knowledge on him. Garrus was not her enemy. So, his presence felt right. Fighting by his side felt safer than with anyone else. Sparring with him was real fun. So what if he made her feel something? Was it a crime? Sweaty and panting after a while, Jo found herself showing him best spots to harm humans. Humans were such a new species in the galactic community that most people out there still knew little more than that a head shot killed them. Jo carefully avoided teaching Garrus any fighting techniques right away, just pointed out a few vulnerable spots on her body, but he did the math all by himself. Next thing she knew, she was on her back, gasping for air, with his foot pressing into her throat.

In return he told her some things about turians that were not in the educational books she had read during her military training. People were cheering and placing bets, but everyone knew that things would look a lot different in a real fight to the death.

When they finally stopped, both tired and happy, Garrus rubbed his sore spots:

"I think we have a lot to learn from each other, Shepard. I'm looking forward to that."

"So do I, big guy, so do I," she patted him on the shoulder. There were some crates by Ashley's bench and Jo took a moment to catch her breath there.

"Are you sure it's wise to teach a turian how to kill humans, Commander?" Ashley asked quietly.

"Yes," Jo replied simply. Ash hadn't expected that definite kind of reply. She shook her head.

"It's an alien. Not our friend."

"What does 'alien' mean, Ash?" Jo asked her. "A stranger. Someone different from you, someone you don't know. Turians and all the other races will be alien to us as long as we refuse to get to know them, as long as we separate ourselves from them and won't let them get to know us."

Ash remained unconvinced, but Jo let it go for the time being. She couldn't order someone to dismiss their believes over night. Jo looked behind Ash towards Wrex, who polished his rifle in calm, silent solitude. Right now there was not a being on this ship that dared to approach him. Even Garrus seemed like a puppy next to him. Well, if there was a mystery to this krogan, Jo needed to find out what it was.

"Wrex," she approached him.

"Shepard," he nodded. She asked him about his story and he refused, grunting at her that she shouldn't compare human history to the krogan, but Jo noticed that she didn't have to look up at him so far anymore. He bent a little down to talk to her, making himself more approachable. There was still that coiled energy behind his voice, carefully contained fury at the whole world, and he was not about to do her any favours, but Jo could feel her insides sing in his presence. It felt like the two of them were the same kind of animal. She felt a sudden urge to touch him, lean her forehead against his and growl deeply in her lungs. Seemed like the best way to get to know him.

Jo carefully contained that urge. First of all, she didn't know how this krogan would react to such a gesture. Second, when she left him she was more confused than before, with even more questions. What was going on here? Twenty nine years of self-preservation, plans, goals, career and control – and in one single day she had been forced through an emotional rollercoaster she had never been through before. Everything she had worked so hard on to protect herself from the outside world was crumbling down around her and she was helpless to stop it. What was happening to her?

Jo knew that talking to Tali would break another part of her protective walls, but she needed to welcome the young quarian on board. She picked her brain about her people, the pilgrimage, personal things. Tali turned out to be easier to deal with than Garrus and Wrex. Maybe there was no male-female tension here, or maybe Tali was just that kind of person. Proud, dignified, curious, nice, smart. Despite Jo's expectations she felt a lot better after that talk.

In the night, when they were on their way to pick up Benezia's daughter, Jo lay sleepless in darkness. After everything that happened that day there was one thing more important than any others. The Prothean vision. Jo couldn't tell exactly what it meant, but after hearing Saren and Benezia speak of the Reapers Jo thought she could imagine well enough. The Protheans disappeared so quickly and left almost no trace at all. They had been to Earth before, though, and left the Mars archives like a message for the humans to find. Maybe they left such caches of information for all the races. Maybe they knew they were going to die quickly very soon. If Saren wanted the Reapers to return, it stood to reason that the people living now would face the same kind of fate the Protheans did.

Will there be our beacons and archives guiding peoples fifty thousand years from now? – Jo thought. Will they wonder what happened to us? Will they find the Citadel and thank us for its construction? The relays, too?

That thought bothered her. What if Protheans didn't build those things, like everyone thought they did? Something happened to them, wiped out their people, cities, their entire civilisation – except for the Citadel and the Relays? Why would someone wipe them out so thoroughly only to leave such prominent devices intact? It made no sense. Jo knew that she had to solve that puzzle. Whatever she uncovered, it would be bigger than anyone could imagine. This vision, this knowledge, had been given to her as a warning and as an encouragement to act. A dying race's last warning could be her own world's only salvation. Or it could all be a bogus idea of a turian lunatic. Either way, Saren was a threat. She would have to find him and ask him about the rest of it. And she was not planning to ask nicely.