-Losing Control-

-Four Weeks Ago
Systems Alliance Frigate Normandy SR-2, Cargo Bay

Legion barely set the geth fighter down in the Normandy's cargo bay before Aedan slammed open the access hatch and jumped out, walking at a brisk pace toward the elevator. Tali and Garrus struggled to get out of the cramped cockpit while Legion calmly shut down the engines.

They ran after Shepard, exchanging worried glances as Steve Cortez, the Normandy's dropship pilot, and James Vega, an elite Alliance marine, gave their commander a wide berth as he walked past. Neither wanted to find out what happened when you got in the way of an extremely pissed-off Commander Shepard in full red, white, black and grey N7 armor.

"Shepard, I don't think—" Garrus started.

"Not now, Garrus!" he snapped. His jaw was clenched, murder evident in his usually-calm blue eyes as he brought a gloved finger to the earpiece in his right ear. "EDI, is the Migrant Fleet retreating?"

"The Heavy Fleet has destroyed the dreadnought and is now providing cover fire. The Civilian and Patrol Fleets are retreating as planned."

"Good, make sure we follow them. Keep the stealth system engaged until we're clear, then shut it down so it has a chance to cool off. We don't want to tax the Tantalus Core too much."

"Of course, Shepard."

Tali and Garrus quickly stepped onto the elevator with Aedan before it started moving, heading for Deck 2. The tension radiating from their leader was intense. Neither had ever seen him this furious, not even when the Council locked down the original SSV Normandy to prevent them from going after Saren on Illos.

The mission had nearly been a catastrophe at the end. Boarding the dreadnought hadn't been too difficult thanks the Normandy's stealth system, and Tali's technical genius was invaluable as always. The tone had been nostalgic and even a bit lighthearted sometimes, especially when Tali and Aedan would trade innuendos. Making Garrus uncomfortable became a new favorite pastime of theirs.

They found Legion, trapped and forced to help the Reapers transmit their signal to the rest of the geth. Once it was released, Legion lowered the shields of the dreadnought and disarmed its weaponry "as a gesture of goodwill."

That's when everything went to hell in a hand basket. That's when Han'Gerrel ignored their protests and threw the entire Heavy Fleet at the dreadnought, all while they were still on the damned thing! If Legion hadn't led them to a geth fighter bay, all that would be left of them right now would be dust and echoes.

Aedan knew this, and now he was determined to give Gerrel a piece of his mind.

Sacrificing someone for the greater good is one thing, he thought, thinking back to Virmire and Ashley William's tragic death. He came to terms with it eventually, but it still haunted him to no end.

But sacrificing one of your own people? An admiral who happens to also be your dead best friend's daughter? That's crossing the fucking line!

"Aedan, really, it's okay—"

"No it's not," he growled. "That dreadnought was completely defenseless. What about evacuating the Flotilla? He could have waited until we were safe!"

"Strategically speaking Shepard, Gerrel was right on the mark. If it was a turian operation—"

"I don't care," he seethed as the elevator opened. He was out before Tali or Garrus could grab him. Traynor stepped back in fright as Aedan stormed past, fists clenched and shaking. He strode through the security checkpoint and didn't even pause for a proper scan despite the protests from the guards. Unfortunately, Garrus and Tali weren't so lucky.

"Keelah, we don't have time for this!" Tali nearly yelled as they were both stopped and scanned. "Ae-I mean, Shepard could actually kill someone if we don't stop him!"

When the two friends finally got through security, they ran down the hall toward the war room.

Aedan entered to see the admirals (minus Zaal'Korris, though Aedan didn't pay his absence much heed) gathered around the map, analyzing the battlefield. They all looked in his direction when he entered, but his eyes were only focused on Han'Gerrel.

"Ah, Commander," Gerrel started, "Glad to see you made it out. The Heavy Fleet is taking the brunt of their counterattack, but—"

He didn't get to finish as Aedan rushed forward, grabbing the admiral by the front of his suit and slamming him on the table.

"Wha—"

"Shut up, you self-righteous bastard," Aedan seethed as he gripped the admiral tighter, the others in the room too stunned to do anything other than gawk. "You heard us over the comms; you knew we were still aboard, and yet you still decided to fire. Do you know how close we came to dying because of you?!"

"W-we..." Gerrel gasped, "I had to..."

"Bullshit!" Aedan roared, slamming the admiral against the table again. "One of your fellow admirals was still on that ship, and you still fired!? She's your own friend's daughter, and you still fucking fired on her?! It's incompetence like this and your obvious disregard for life that got your people into this meaningless war!"

"Ngh!" Gerrel choked, grabbing in vain at Aedan's armored fists with his hands as the pressure on his suit tightened. "I-it's us, or them, s-Shepard! Y-you're a soldier...you've had to make tough d-decisions b-before! T-that's war..."

"Wrong!" Aedan bellowed. "I've never valued personal prejudices over the lives of my people!"

Before he could go any further, Tali and Garrus burst into the room. Immediately they restrained their commander and pried him off. Gerrel dropped to his knees, hunched over and breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath.

"Shepard," Tali said, laying a hand on his shoulder as he strained against Garrus's vice-like hold under his arms, "let it go. We're safe, that's all that matters."

He struggled for a moment longer before Tali moved her hands to his face, physically turning it to hers.

"Look at me," she commanded. She stared at his rage-induced eyes until they lightened somewhat. "I'm okay, and so is Garrus," she said softly. "We completed the mission. It's okay."

Aedan finally caved, his entire body going limp like a deactivated LOKI bot.

She's right, he thought, He's not worth it. Though I'd still love to take a few swings at him.

"If I may," Shala'Raan said, hesitant but surprisingly calm given the circumstances, "perhaps the commander and his crew could use some rest before we plan our next move. Shall we resume this meeting in say...a few hours?"

"Yes...perhaps you're right," added Gerrel, still gasping for air. Daro'Xen simply nodded, more interested in live data she was receiving from her research ships on her omni-tool.

"Agreed," Aedan said, rubbing his shoulders where Garrus' talons had dug into them slightly. "However," he said, turning to Gerrel, who was slowly rising to his feet.

Aedan took a deep breath as he kept his voice steady, but firm. "I'm going to say this once Gerrel, and only once. As long as you are on my ship, I have the final say on what is and isn't necessary. If you ever, ever," he stressed, jabbing a finger in the admiral's direction "needlessly endanger the lives of my crew again, I won't hesitate to throw you out the nearest airlock and leave you to the geth's mercy. Do I make myself clear?"

The admiral glared daggers at Aedan for a few moments before he looked away. The quietest of grumbles escaped from his audio pickup. "...perfectly."

"Good."

With a nod to the other admirals, Aedan turned around and rushed off alone to the CIC, leaving the entire room in silence. Tali moved to follow him, but stopped when she heard Gerrel's next words.

"Unbelievable," he grumbled to Raan. "I would have thought after Virmire and the Bahak System he would understand the concept of hard decisions...perhaps involving a human like him was a mista—"

SMACK!

Gerrel was stunned as Rael's daughter slapped him with so much ferocity that his head was rocking back and forth inside his helmet like a bobble-head doll.

"Bosh'tet!" she screeched. "That human is a far better captain than you will ever hope to be!"

She stomped off in Aedan's direction just as Legion walked in.

"Creator Tali'Zorah?" it questioned as she moved past without a word. Not understanding the complicated emotions of organics, Legion turned to the others in the room. "Creators, Vakarian-Officer, why did Creator Tali'Zorah ignore this platform's inquiry to exchange data? Where is Shepard-Commander?"

"What, the hell, is this!" Raan demanded as the others stiffened, some of the Normandy crew fingering the Carnifex pistols at their sides.

Legion quirked its head. "Have we offended?"

Garrus groaned. Just like Shepard to leave him behind to play negotiator.

Sometimes I really hate being his goddamn XO, he complained as he tried to defuse a quickly-escalating situation.

-Fifteen Minutes Later
Systems Alliance Frigate Normandy SR-2, Port Observation Room

Aedan sat at the bar in the Normandy's lounge, watching the stars drift by along with an occasional ship from the Migrant Fleet. He didn't turn around when he heard the door slide open.

"I had a feeling you'd be here," a familiar accented voice said. He gave a lazy wave but didn't turn around. Tali slid into the stool next to him as he continued staring out of the window. They simply enjoyed the silence of the lounge for a few moments before she got the courage to ask about the glass bottle in his hand.

"That's...not what I think it is, is it?" she asked with the tiniest hint of fear.

"No," Aedan said immediately, knowing what she was referring to. "It's just root beer."

"Ro-eeet beer?" she repeated.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Non-alcoholic. It's just carbonated water with sugar and other ingredients mixed in to add flavor. We humans call it a soft drink."

"Hmm...got anything dextro like that?"

"I think so. I had Cortez put in a requisition order when we were last on the Citadel. So long as Garrus hasn't raided the place, that is," he trailed off, climbing off his stool after taking another sip. Tali watched him duck behind the bar, opening a few cabinets before he found a twelve-pack of glass bottles with dextro labels on them.

"I think it's a kind of juice drink popular on Palaven or something," he said, giving her a straw as he placed the bottle on the table. "I don't know, there's a few other things down here if you don't like it."

"No, it's fine," Tali said, sticking the straw into a port under her suit's helmet. She took a sample sip before giving a nod of approval. "Mmm...it's tangy!"

Aedan grinned as he returned to his seat, taking another drink of his root beer. The mirth left his eyes as he sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see that up there."

Tali shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Gerrel is a pig-headed bosh'tet. But then again, threatening our admirals ins't exactly how you make allies," she said, a playful smile in her eyes.

He chuckled. "I couldn't help myself. I mean...you almost died!"

"No, we almost died. But we didn't, and that's what counts."

"I know, but still," Aedan continued, his tone growing serious. "If I had lost you back there..."

"But you didn't," she said, entwining one of her hands with his. He looked over at her. "Maybe that wasn't your best moment, but all the same, you have no idea how touched I was that you jumped to my defense." She giggled a bit. "Plus, did I mention how...sexy you are when you're angry?"

This time he genuinely laughed. "Maybe a few times," he whispered as he brought her hand to his lips. He grinned when he felt her shudder.

"Careful Commander," Tali teased, "I might just pounce you right here."

"As much as I'd like that," he whispered huskily, "I don't want to be hit up the side of the head by Chakwas for letting you endanger yourself."

"Ugh, I hate this suit," she groaned. He smiled and kissed her hand again before taking another swig of root beer.

"You know," he started, face dropping, "I had Gerrel pegged as someone we could trust, especially after he defended you at your trial. I thought he was the most reasonable one of the lot."

"He was until he became obsessed with fighting a war against the geth. Remember how much he talked about reclaiming the homeworld? The only way he can see us doing that at all is with force."

"I'm surprised Raan went along with him and Xen."

Well," Tali said, taking another sip of her drink, "Auntie—sorry, Admiral Raan, always tries to do what's best for the quarian people as a whole. She's more of a practical person, tries to stay in the middle. She didn't think peace with the geth was possible no matter how much I pleaded with her. Once Xen's stupid device gave Gerrel and his forces an edge, there wasn't any way that Koris or I could stop them."

"Koris?" he asked. "You actually get along with him now?'"

"He's more reasonable than you might think," she said. "My trial wasn't his finest hour. He apologizes, by the way."

She stared at her drink for a moment before continuing. "I admit my judgment was...clouded by my father's beliefs. I conversed with Legion quite a bit over the extranet after we parted. He convinced me more and more that peace was possible. I told Koris about it, and he was very supportive. He's rather fond of you too, you know."

"Good to know someone's on our side," he said. "Maybe now that Legion's with us again, we can sort this crap out." Aedan said before he shot up, nearly knocking over his drink. "Oh shit, Legion!"

Tali grabbed his arm, forcing him back down to his stool. "Relax, Garrus has it under control. I got an omni-tool update before I came in here. It took some convincing and he was a bit ticked that we weren't around to help, but the admirals will tolerate Legion's presence. Garrus said you owe him one though. Xen was frothing at the mouth until he 'reminded' her how you treated Gerrel."

"Eh, Garrus can beat her off with the stick up his ass if he has to," he shrugged. Tali burst into a fit of laughter while Aedan smirked behind his root beer.

They continued talking, laughing and reminiscing about the past as they enjoyed their drinks. They avoided talking about the war for the most part, minus their new crew members like Cortez and James. Tali nearly fell to the floor laughing when Aedan told her about Javik and how amusing it was to watch Liara ask the Prothean a million questions every time the crew ate dinner.

Long after their drinks were finished, when the couple moved to the couch and Tali rested her head on her boyfriend's shoulder with a contented sigh, Aedan could only think of one thing.

God, I missed this.

I must say, I'm proud with the way this one came out (oh look, I sound like a hanar now!). Anyway, not much to say other than this came out alot faster than I initially planned (not a bad thing). The Rannoch arc is winding down next update (thankfully), and then we'll get into the more fun stuff. Thanks for reading/favoriting/following and reviewing. Hope you enjoyed this short as much as I did, and please review! They make my day, and make me write even faster. I'm looking at releasing the next short next week sometime, possibly early on if I keep going at this pace. Oh and if you're curious, I post periodic status updates on my profile. Go check it out!

-Sheik