Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get Chapter Two out, I was having computer problems. Anyways, on with the show!

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. This is owned by Bioware.

Chapter Two

Cassia groaned as she sat down on her bunk, distressing her sore muscles. While, she did not regret enlisting in the Alliance military, boot camp did take a lot of her energy. There were also some cadets who were wary of having a biotic among them, but she learned to ignore them.

"So what's up Cassie?" chirped her bunkmate Tammy as she plopped down onto Cassia's bunk. While Tammy was at times obnoxiously cheerful and insisted on referring to her as Cassie, she at least wasn't the least bit afraid of Cassia's biotics.

"Nothing much," she replied. "I'm just wondering how you can be so happy after PT."

"Hey, it's not much longer before boot camp is over, and you get to spend some quality time with your boyfriend."

Cassia rolled her eyes. "Jake's not my boyfriend. Besides, isn't it against regulations?"

"Only if you're in the same unit or you're his superior. Odds are you'll serve in different units."

"Besides, I'm too busy with serving the Alliance to have a boyfriend," Cassia concluded, ending the discussion.

….

Cassia sweated heavily in the dark, heavy air of Rio. She spent half the time fending off the many clusters of mosquitoes that seemed determined to feast on her blood. While she performed well during her basic training, the fact she was invited to the coveted N-school for further training was a shock. As she examined the line of other recruits, she did a double take when she recognized two of them.

"Tammy!"

The other woman ignored propriety, and embraced her in a rib cracking hug, her chocolate brown eyes shining with elation. Jake, the blond haired, hazel eyed man whom Cassia was attracted to, stood nervously behind her excitable best friend.

"So are you excited or what?" Tammy asked.

Cassia smiled, noting that the prospect of harsh training that would make boot camp seem like a walk in the park didn't dampen Tammy's enthusiasm at all.

"Well, at least there's no danger of this being boring," she replied. Even Jake smiled a little at Cassia's comment, causing butterflies to swell slightly in her chest. She fought to keep them down, knowing that she needed to focus on training, not moon after Jake.

….

Tammy beamed from her spot next to Cassia as they patiently waited to be called up to the stage for the graduation. In the months since the beginning of N-school, the group of students went from thirty men and women to herself, Tammy, and three other men. It was still hard to believe she'd earned the coveted N-7 designation. Wrex sat among the small audience of friends and family members here to celebrate. He didn't appear bothered that most of the others gathered gave him a wide berth.

"Shepard, Cassia!" Cassia walked up onto the stage and received her paper from a tan woman whose name she couldn't recall, who ran the N-school. David Anderson, the semi-famous veteran of the First Contact War, beamed at her. While she didn't know him too well, he'd acted as mentor of sorts while she was at the N-school, and Cassia started to view him as a second father.

After receiving a surprise, fierce hug from Wrex, Cassia was surprised to see Jake standing there with a bouquet of lilies.

"Hi," he said shyly, glancing at the ground.

"Hi," she replied. "You're not still sour that you didn't make it past N-1 training, are you?"

"It did sting for a time," Jake admitted. "But now, I realize that it's an honor just to be an N-1. I'm surprised Tammy made it." He hesitated before adding, "Actually I was wondering if we could go out sometime, since we're not serving in the same unit it wouldn't break regulations."

"I think I'd like that," Cassia admitted, glancing at Tammy, who was being fussed over by her brother, and mother. She hugged Jake, who gradually returned her embrace; this was the happiest day of her life, not counting the day she met her father, Wrex.

….

"Morning sunshine." Cassia felt a hand poke gently into her side and reluctantly opened her weary eyes. Jake was dressed casually in a Hawaiian t-shirt and shorts and looked excited to do the tourist stuff. He'd always been more of a morning person than she was.

She groaned. "I knew it was a mistake to use our leave to go on vacation together."

Jake winked. "Well, it's better than you throwing yourself into more training. If you work too much you'll end up burning yourself out." When she still didn't move he added. "We could always just stay in bed and go exploring later."

Cassia smiled softly. "I like the sound of that."

She lay under the covers for a little while longer, before sitting up and yawning loudly. Cassia dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, ready to explore Elysium for the first time. They walked along the main concourse, where most of the shops were located. Most of the other beings were either humans or asari, but there were a few turians scattered about, and Cassia thought she glimpsed the blue suit of a quarian.

"Are you ok?" she inquired.

Jake shrugged. "I'm fine. I'm just not used to seeing so many different aliens."

"The sheltered colony kid," Cassia teased. "How will you survive?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'll manage."

When they sat by big fountain along the main concourse and fed the pigeons a portion of their lunch, Cassia can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen. All the hairs on her skin are prickled up, as if sensing some eminent danger. Suddenly, she hears an explosion and the desperate screams of civilians caught in the crosshairs of a batarian attack. Both, Cassia and Jake jumped up to confront this danger. She grabbed the small sidearm she always kept at her side, while Jake cursed that he'd left his at the hotel. Cassia instinctively placed herself between several civilians and the oncoming batarians and launched a singularity them. Two of them fell, screaming, but two more rapidly took their place. She and Jake fought their way to one of the larger shops, noting that several small groups of turians and asari were doing something similar. When Cassia arrived in the shop (tuxedos and evening dresses scattered in piles as if a gigantic toddler threw a temper tantrum) she noted that the human owner was sitting in a chair, frozen, with an expression of disbelief on his brown skinned face. She had no words to comfort this terrified civilian; therapy wasn't really part of her set of skills. The other groups were arguing intently about what course of action to take in response to the batarian invasion.

Cassia walked to the front of the room and yelled, "Quiet!"

Everyone immediately stopped talking and fixed their eyes on her. A part of Cassia wanted to step back, but she knew that someone needed to solve the dilemma of this invasion, and that someone happened to be her. "We need to work together to take down this threat," she asserted, attempting to sound more confident than she felt. "Everyone who has undergone military training, or worked as a mercenary, raise your hand."

All of the turians and two of the asari raised their hands. There were no asari commandoes, but the two asari appeared to be battle hardened and their biotics would be an asset. As Cassia scanned the group, one turian female in particular stood out to her. There was a self assured confidence to her posture, and her blue eyes were alight with determination. "What's your name?" she inquired.

The turian met her gaze and replied, "Solana Vakarian."

For the first time, Cassia smiled. "Solana, I want you to pick a team and work you're way to the garrison stationed here. I'll take anyone else who can fight and do the same."

"And if the garrison is wiped out?" she asked.

Her query increased the respect Cassia felt for her; most turians tended to follow orders blindly, without questioning them. "If the garrison is wiped out, then you'll to recruit more civilians, anyone with weapons training. I know it's a desperate maneuver, but this a desperate situation."

They split between them those who possessed combat experience. Cassia felt slightly guilty for adding one of the asari to her group, considering her own biotics. The small group of asari who lacked any combat experience would stay behind, and barricade themselves in. It was a wrench to leave them behind, but she noted that they all seemed enthusiastic about defending this place from the invading batarians.

When she completed her debriefing, Cassia noted that Jake was speaking gently with the shopkeeper, whose limbs seemed to loosen up slightly. The man was still terrified, but he was no longer a frozen statue.

"That was nice of you to talk to him," she complimented, wishing she could be as astute as he was at interacting with other beings.

Jake smiled as they left the shop. "You just have to show interest in their pasts. Take Maxwell Bellefleur for example, he's planning to marry his long time fiancée in three months and is anxious about picking out the right tuxedo."

The two groups split up, taking different routes, and Cassia focused on the battle. This wasn't anything like other combat she'd participated in. It was haphazard, without any clear battle lines. Fortunately, none of the batarians she faced expected her biotics, which were supplemented by the asari mercenary. Finally, when she turned to face yet another opponent and was met with silence, Cassia sagged in relief. But when she turned to celebrate with Jake, she couldn't find him. It took her hours after she debriefed both her team and the surviving members of the local garrison to find her boyfriend lying motionless in an alleyway, his blue eyes wide with shock.

….

It took all of her courage to go to Jake's funeral. His parents never were fond of her when they'd been dating, and blamed her for his death. To add insult to injury, they'd insisted on only inviting humans to their son's funeral, barring the strike teams of aliens who felt close to Jake in spite of only knowing him for a few hours. Tammy took leave to attend the funeral and put her arm comfortingly around her friend during the service. In addition, Max and his fiancée provided a lovely spread of greenish-white carnations.

When the service was done, and they finally buried Jake in the family plot, Cassia vowed that she would never again allow herself to become inappropriately close to someone she was working with. It simply wasn't worth the pain.

….

Garrus Vakarian escaped into his family backyard from his sister's relentless crowing about some human she'd worked with during the invasion of Elysium. He was proud that his sister handled herself well, and received commendations both from the Hierarchy and the Alliance, but there was only so much he could hear about "Shepherd did this" and "Shepherd was good at that". After all, what so important about his human anyways?

"Garrus?" His sister Solana followed him into the backyard. "Are you all right?"

"Just escaping from you constantly going on about Shepherd," he replied, not caring if he sounded rude. Come to think of it, he was growing tired of pretending that everything was all right. That Mom didn't struggle to recall who they were on her bad days, and that C-Sec did nothing while crime ran rampant in the Citadel.

"She's a talented person," was all Solana said. "I think you two would get along great actually."

"Why exactly would we get along?"

"You both have zero tolerance for idle small talk."

….

"No."

"At least consider the option Shepherd," Anderson said pleadingly. They were sitting in his office and Cassia was out of patience.

"It's not that I don't want this position sir," Cassia admitted. "It's just that I feel I lack experience to be an effective XO."

"Shepherd, you're the only candidate I trust for this position." Translation: I trust you more than the candidate Consular Udina put forward. Udina was known for being a little more human first than Anderson liked.

"Fine, I'll take the position." Cassia had a feeling that her father Wrex wasn't going to let her hear the end of this when they met again. He was currently on a job at the Citadel, and she'd only received sporadic contact from him. So she left Anderson's office to pack a bag and get ready for her new assignment aboard the Alliance frigate SSV Normandy SR-1.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Coming up next, we dive into the events of Mass Effect 1.