Okay, so, needless to say, he was pissed.
The question that he was still trying to figure out the answer to was who or what he was mad at. Granted, he was pretty livid about being used as bait, but, mostly, it would've been nice to see where the not date might've gone.
Shepard limped into the apartment with James at her side. However, despite the dress being torn and burned (and, if he was being honest, ruined), her skin marked with angry red gashes and burns, and her hair looking like it'd seen better days, she was no less beautiful than when she had first walked into the sushi place.
"Liara, EDI, I want the two of you to work with Brooks here to track down any leads pertaining to this gun," she waved the gun in her hand to specify which one she was talking about, "or any indicators to who's hiring a bunch of Cat6 mercs.
"Garrus, Wrex, James, and Javik, I need everyone's armor and guns brought back here. Discretion is key.
"Tali and Kaidan, I need access to security feeds- I'm talking the whole damn station," she ordered, barely pausing to look at them.
As the crew bustled into action, she began to make her way to the stairs. "Commander," Joker called out, slowly getting to his feet. "I've got to talk to you."
She barely looked at him. "Come on up, Joker," she suggested.
By the time he made his way into her room, she was cleaning up in the bathroom. "Helluva way to spend a shore leave," he snorted, sitting down- more than a little uncomfortable- on her bed.
"You've known me for how long and you still feel the need to find yourself surprised about things like this?"
"Doesn't it bother you, though? Don't you ever wish that- for one night- you could be Arabelle instead of Commander Shepard?" he asked angrily.
She stepped back into the room and looked at him, truly shocked. "The two aren't mutually exclusive, Joker. I can't be Arabelle without being Commander Shepard."
He knew that she was right, but he was still pissed and she wasn't obliging him in a shared anger. "Who's your father?" he asked suddenly.
Again, she was shocked, "Joker-"
"Stop. Don't you think I have a right to know who set us up- or who you think set us up?"
"You're right, but you need to keep it under wraps- it's a pretty big secret." When he nodded, she took a deep breath. "Admiral Hackett. Hackett is my dad."
It was his turn to be stunned.
Then, "Why would he set up a date between the two of us?"
Her eyes widened a little as her cheeks lit up a bright red. "Well…I…he…."
Again he had struck her speechless. Apparently he was on a roll.
"Shepard, we think we found something!" Liara yelled from downstairs.
To say she looked relieved would be an understatement. She smiled apologetically and began to make her way from the room but paused as Joker promised, "We'll finish this later."