Shepard had been pleasantly surprised, though she admitted that it was likely because her standards were so very low. Compared to the personnel nightmare that Vader had been, Luke Skywalker was a golden child. His most annoying trait was understandable confusion about the new world he was in, but that was honestly more endearing than anything else. He was polite. He was gentle. He wasn't likely to kill any other crewmembers on board. He didn't put a feeling of anxiousness into her stomach. Hell, he was even friendly, which was so novel that it completely shocked her. After cobbling together a patchwork crew of mismatched criminals and exiles, it was amazing to have someone who was so cooperative.

Between that and what had now become near-daily dinners with Garrus, usually followed by a few more attempts to understand how french kissing with Turian mandibles worked, Shepard was in fantastically high spirits. She was grinning ear to ear as she strode into the medbay. "Luke?" There was no answer - the medbay was empty. But the door to the AI core was open, and Legion lifted its head.

"Shepard-Commander." Even the geth's attitude seemed much more sunny than usual. Shepard took it as an example of Luke's near-miraculous kindness - he was willing to talk with Legion, doing his best to understand the geth's point of view, polite to a fault.

"Hey, Legion. Seen the kid? I thought Chakwas had told him to stick to the medbay still with that nasty limp."

Legion's eyeflaps shifted quizzically. "Skywalker is on patrol attempting to connect socially with other crewmembers. We were informed his itenerary begins in the cargo bay. Skywalker insisted on 'working his way up' although we informed him this is not the most efficient pathing -"

"Wait, wait. Cargo bay?" Shepard's eyebrows knit in worry. "Who exactly is he going to visit first?"

"Based on given data and current Normandy mapping, 99.08% probability Skywalker is initiating communication with Jack."

Shepard's mouth dropped open. "Oh Lord. Tell me you're kidding. You're - you're not kidding, Legion. Oh Lord." The geth's eyeflap waggled in mild alarm. Shepard let out a string of curses, turning and running out of the medbay as quickly as she could. Her injured leg still meant that at speed she was limping. As soon as she entered the elevator, she immediately started jamming the down button. "Come on, go faster, go faster - I don't want my Normandy exploded to pieces - I mean, exploded to pieces again - Goddamnit, go faster-!" Shepard resorted to jamming the elevator button with her palm, then her entire fist. As soon as the doors opened, she was out, running as hard as she could.

As soon as the first set of doors to Engineering opened, she could hear Jack's voice.

"...And this one? Guy did it for me with a sewing needle and an ink pen. Real old-school."

"That's, uh... very interesting..."

"It's 'cos I killed a guy - his head exploded and -"

"Hey, wow, would you look at that," Shepard interrupted too loudly, stumbling down the last few steps. "There you are, Skywalker, look, kid -"

Luke was standing as perfectly still as he possibly could. Even in the face of Jack he seemed to be trying his damnedest to be polite to the very end.

"What's the rush?" Jack was leering. "C'mon, Shepard. I'm just waiting for him to look down. Most men stare at my tits instead of my eyes all the damn time, and this little fuckin' boyscout won't even glance -" She jumped up and down for emphasis, the strappy excuse for a shirt not doing much in the way to help any sense of modesty.

"That'sgreatJackbutwereallygottago," Shepard blurted out in one long rush, placing a firm hand on Luke's shoulder and all but dragging him up the stairs. Fortunately he only resisted long enough to call out a somewhat quavering "Nice meeting you!" before dashing behind her. A moment more and she pulled him into the Engineering deck proper, the door closing behind them. Immediately Shepard flattened herself against the door as if keeping it closed by sheer force of will. "Okay. Okay, kid. New rule!" Shepard ran her hands through her hair, shaking somewhat. "There are certain people you don't go to see alone. All right? Jack is one of those people. She's crazy."

"I had started to notice that, yes," Luke spluttered.

"It gets worse. Jack - she wanted a showdown with your dad, once we were back from the Omega Relay. She was already looking for a fight with Samara about who got to go toe-to-toe with him first. She's a killer - it's not her fault, but - she loves killing, that is what she lives for, and if she can't fight him, she will fightyou." Shepard turned her head to lock eyes with Luke. "That is why you are not to go see her alone, ever. That is an order, Skywalker. You understand?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered promptly, and in a tone that said he would be all too happy to follow such an order.

"Shepard?" An accented voice came from the bowels of the engine room, and Tali pulled herself up, clinging to the railing, omnitool still glowing. "Is everything all right? I heard yelling..."

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine." Shepard gave a long sigh of relief before putting on a smile. "Tali, meet Luke Skywalker, the new kid. Luke, Tali."

Luke put on a bright and relaxed smile, hand out for a handshake. "It's good to meet you. You're a... quarian, right? Legion was telling me about the Morning War earlier today."

It was an admirable attempt at small talk, but it made Shepard immediately turn around and lightly bonk her head against the closed door before reaching out for Luke's sleeve. "Oh Goddammit. Kid, we're going on here, and forgetting that just happened, and making a brand-new start -"

Fortunately, Tali laughed. "It's all right, Shepard. I read the memos, I think he's allowed to have a few slip-ups. What's that expression you used once? 'Foot in your mouth'?"

Luke was already wincing a little, looking properly chagrined. "I suppose quarians don't call it the Morning War."

"Most quarians don't enjoy talking about it at all," Tali noted wryly. "But no harm done. Shepard's already told me some about you. ...and Legion's not as bad as I think it is." She paused. "Sometimes. Very rarely."

"Glad you clarified there Tali, you were about to give me a heart attack," Shepard teased. "...If you're all right, Luke, I'll get back up to CIC. For the record, Tali's one of the people you can be alone with. If she shotguns you in the face, you probably deserve it, but you're a good kid and I know it won't come to that." She gave Luke a friendly pat on the back. "You two have fun."

She was on her way out when she heard Luke's voice as he nervously cleared his throat. "...Should I try this again?"

"It's fine. Really. If you want me to explain anything, I'd be happy to, I was just doing some repairs..."

"I don't want to be a nuisance. ...I could hand down tools to you and we can talk while you work?"

Tali didn't mention that her omnitool was all she needed - not in the face of his enthusiasm and helpfulness. "All right. So what do you want to know, Luke...?"