Yes I am very late updating and apologize, but my computer broke down. I got this out as quickly as I could.
Sitting in the co-pilot's seat on the Normandy was usually what I did, no big deal right? It wouldn't have been if the Normady wasn't grounded. Being grounded really didn't bother me as much as it should have, but I knew our team. We wouldn't be grounded long. Fiona would figure something out like she always did. Plus sitting with Jeff in the cockpit going over security tapes wasn't too bad.
"Hmm. Commander's not looking so good," Jeff pointed out my sister on a nearby screen.
"Ah, she'll be fine," I brushed it off. She always was fine. Fiona never broke down. Not once in my whole life; not even when Dad died.
"Shepard." I raised my eyebrow and grinned. Alenko could be my sister's shining knright in armor! Someone to lean on if she needed to. I thought she kept too much inside most of the time, but she wasn't going to load it all off on her sister because I was her little sister.
"This'll be good," I giggled and magnified the size of the projection so it covered every monitor showing the Commander and Kaidan.
Jeff meanwhile seemed appalled. "The Commander will have both our asses for spying," he whispered as if she'd hear us all the way up here. I rolled my eyes and patted his back like I felt sorry for him. He just didn't understand being a little sister.
"Moreau," I sighed, "If you had an older sibling you'd understand, but since you don't, I'll explain. The little sibling needs to secretly look out for the older one. So this is a golden opportunity!" I explained this to him as if he were a child, which he acted like sometimes….or a teenage boy. He had a lot of porn and needed to put better blocks up.
"Yeah, not buying it," he shook his head. I shushed him loudly and turned back to the monitor. It was like those alien soap operas! Except…with humans of course. Jason could never understand why I used to watch them back on Earth.
Fiona slid down on the armory cabinets, looking defeated. She acted as if there was no hope for us and Kaidan convinced her to fight for it. He helped her up and they were only inches away, looking deep into each other's eyes. Then! "Commander, Anderson's available on comm."
"Moreau!" I gasped shocked that my own pilot would do this to me! He ruined my real life soap opera! And after I hadn't seen once since I was twelve.
"Were you two spying on us?" Fiona coughed and they stepped away from each other, ruining the moment!
"No ma'am, just saw you were on the ship and thought I'd give you the message," Jeff covered up my mouth forcefully. I pouted for a second but I wasn't going to go easy on this cripple. Superior or not. So I licked his hand. I didn't stop there though, oh no, that'd be too easy. I got my tongue into every crevice of his hand. His disgusted reaction made it worth it, but then he stuck his hand further in my mouth. He really left me no choice; I bit him. Not too hard or anything…just enough to get him to let go. He did and I grinned.
"I told you before Ona," I grinned crookedly, "It's my job." I hadn't used that nickname since we were kids. I saw her smile and shake her head.
"Yeah, well you're fired." With that she walked away as did Kaidan. I shut down the monitors and looked towards Jeff.
"Well looks like Alenko got the Commander on the move. Won't be long until Saren comes crawling to us by his Turian tenticals…They have those right?" I quirked an eyebrow.
He shrugged and looked at his hand in disgust. "Uh, I wouldn't know, but that was disgusting. I'm so getting you back Little-" I stopped him by hitting his hat so it fell over his head. "Angelia!" I laughed and took his hat.
"That's what you get Moreau. Don't mess with a Shepard," I grinned lopsidedly while putting the hat victoriously on my own head. It didn't fit well because of my hair and I probably looked ridiculous, but I didn't really care. I was having fun with Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau. I didn't really feel comfortable calling him Jeff when no one else did, but I wasn't going to call him Joker to his face, his ego's already too big.
"Joker get ready to take off," Fiona rushed in.
"Aye, aye, Commander," Joker grinned and started powering up the ship.
"I'm guessing that you figured something out?" I smirked quietly thinking of the scene Jeff and I caught Alenko and her in.
"Jason decided to be an idiot actually," Fiona pursed her lips together and I knew this wasn't going to be good. Whenever he decided to be stupid without my guidance things turned out twice as shitty.
"What is it?" I urged seriously.
"He's rushing through C-sec to get us the hell out of here. Anderson was going to do it, but Jason decided that we needed to go right now and ran down there the moment Anderson finished speaking," Fiona kept a firm grip on my shoulder so I wouldn't freak out too much. I just practiced my breathing. He just had to be a god damn hero didn't he?
"Fucking idiot," I mumbled and went to work. He could get killed out there. I knew he could fight, but we could really use him here. Especially me, I don't need to be worrying about his ass while on the mission. He'd be fine. They'd just injure him if nothing else and he'd get treated while he awaited a trial for treason against the Alliance military. His dad served alongside my dad for years, which should help. It would have been better if Anderson had gone, but Jason's stupid.
"On course to Ilos Commander," Jeff confirmed to Fiona.
"Go get some sleep Sis," I patted her leg as best I could while still sitting forward. She was exhausted as well as stressed so I didn't worry when she didn't pat my back or ruffle my hair before she left. The past few months have been wild and I think I've gained quite a few new older siblings in the process; Ash, Alenko, Tali, Garrus, and even the crew members. Not Jeff though; I could never see him as an older sibling. He's just too much of an ass sometimes. That and all the porn I've seen on his monitor of course.
"Sure as hell glad I'm not going down there," Jeff muttered while checking the engine drive, which was always in perfect condition thanks to Tali.
"I dunno, getting shot in the face and running through mud and muck seems pretty good," I joked sarcastically. I wouldn't let on that I secretly always wanted to go out with Jason on a mission, but never could because I couldn't fight like him. I guess I got that once in a lifetime chance on Virmire, but getting torn to pieces because of my own actions wasn't how I ever imagined kicking ass with Jason would be like.
"Heh, that bad on Virmire huh?" Jeff nudged me.
"Fuck you," I rolled my eyes and pushed his arm away. "Someone had to be the smart dumbass," I smirked thinking that's exactly what Jason and I were. The only ones smart enough to be dumbasses.
"So what you're saying is…" Jeff paused dramatically while looking at me seriously, "Is that you want me?" he laughed at my dumbfounded face.
"Screw-fuck!" He just laughed harder that I couldn't come up with anything to respond to that.
"Sorry Ange, no fraternizing with crew mates," he tutted me and I crossed my arms, pouting.
"Whatever Moreau, just you wait. As soon as Saren's dealt with, I'm coming to get you back, right in the ass!" I warned then gave my best evil laugh.
"Yeah right," he snorted. I'd just have to ask for a little assistance from Jace and the crew to get Jeff back ten-fold, but I'd get him back alright.
For the next few minutes we just flew in silence, but the sneaking fear started to catch up with me. What if something happened to Shepard? So I started to do what I always did when I was worried or stressed. I took off my shoes, pulled my knees to my chest, removed that annoying strand of curly hair from my face, and bit the living hell out of my thumb nail and the skin around it. When I was done, there wouldn't be anything left to chew, ever.
I heard Jeff stop his constant tapping against the console and slowly turned my head to look at him with my huge, wide green eyes. He raised one dark eyebrow while squinting the opposite eye. It wasn't a very attractive face and looked difficult to even attempt to make. I knew I was giving him what Jason liked to call my "give me whatever I want puppy dog look."
"What with…this?" he finally gave up at guessing and gestured to my fetal position. I let go of a deep breathe I didn't even know that I was holding. I guess I had to tell someone and Jason wasn't there to tell. I don't even think I could get ahold of him if I tried. He's probably arrested or something equally drastic right now with Anderson trying to bail him out as best he can.
All at once I decided I'd have to tell Jeff and put my bare feet on the floor and let my annoying piece of hair back into my face. "Jeff, is everything going to work out?"
He sighed, leaning back in his chair. For a second I didn't think he was going to answer and then he lifted his hat to scratch his head. "We're going to kick Saren's ass Angie, but this is just the beginning of it all."
I nodded, confidence some-what lifted. Sure, I knew we'd beat Saren, but could we really keep doing this? Kicking ass and taking names usually didn't settle well with the Alliance, who still had claim on Fiona even though she was a Specter. "Right, kick Saren's ass, then turn the ship around to the Reaper's. Piece of cake…which sounds really good right now."
"God you eat like a four year old," he shook his head, the mood already light again.
I shrugged, smiling lightly. "After the Commander kicks Saren's ass, you owe me a cake," I said simply while getting back to work, "preferably home-made." Jeff argued, but I had already decided that being his co-pilot, I deserved a cake if I had to deal with him all the time and who better to make it than Jeff himself.
We'd be knocking on Saren's door in less than 30 minutes and I was ready for it. I may not be able to go down there and fight with the rest of them, but I'd get their asses out of that hell hole.
"Commander, we'll be in Ilos in 30," Jeff said through the comm.
"Sorry to disturb your, uh, 'training' session with Lieutenant Alenko," I smirked sure that Kaidan was in my sister's bed blushing like a school girl. Did he really think he could sneak up to the Commander's quarters without me noticing? Rooky mistake, Alenko. Jeff was smiling and shaking his head at me. I could tell he didn't like touching the topic of Fiona's love life. He's just probably afraid of getting fired due to a break up, or bad date.
Garrus, Pressly, and even engineer Adams had come into the cockpit to decide our tactic to get Fiona as close to Saren as possible, and fast.
"There isn't enough room to make the drop-off," Engineer Adams said from behind, scanning the console closest to the pilot seat.
"Them find us somewhere!" Pressly yelled back. I sigh, the men were scared, but this wasn't helping anyone. Fiona stayed silent too! She was supposed to keep everyone calm, what the hell was she doing? I took matters into my own hands and did the math. It may have been impossible to many pilots, but there was one way to get Saren right in the ass. There wasn't any room for error though…
"There is nowhere else!" Adams screamed, clearly getting fired up.
I looked over at Jeff, who had been silent this whole time, like Fiona. "I can do it." I knew he was right, but that didn't mean I wasn't nervous. I was his co-pilot, famous for making mistakes that we couldn't afford.
"Joker?" Fiona looked at him from over one shoulder.
"I can do it."
Fiona eyeballed him as if just looking at him could determine his capability. "There is about a 3% chance of pulling this landing off, Fiona. Jeff and I can handle it," I assured her. Probably didn't make her feel any better though.
"Alright, let's go," she waved to Garrus as Jeff and I prepared for the drop off. It's times like these that I appreciate flying with "the best damn helmsmen in the Alliance military." Following Jeff's lead we dropped them off with not even a scratch on my baby. It was unbelievable. Now we had to sit and wait for Fiona. Jeff and I didn't exchange a word, we didn't need to.
We were able to tell the moment Fiona left Ilos, a light blinded us and we followed her to the Citadel. We were too late; the Citadel was already under heavy fire. Sovereign was on the move, destroying everything in its path for what? To send word to the rest of the Reapers that we were ripe for the picking? The Reapers that the council didn't even believe us about! No, it just didn't make any sense. The Reapers would still come if we stop Sovereign and Saren in time. This Reaper was sent here for something else, it had to be.
"Joker, get ready. I want the Normandy at the head of the fleet!" Fiona yelled, breathing heavily with shots firing at her like crazy.
"Aye, aye Commander," Jeff smiled already communicating with the other ships.
"This is what I signed on for," I started setting up the Normandy's defense as well as her guns. I wanted to put on her stealth systems, but Jeff wouldn't go for that. "They could just look out a window and see us!" I don't think he knew what he was talking about. We needed it for protection and I sure as hell am not getting hit while in the Normandy. Besides, I was barely below Flight Lieutenant, whether Jeff wanted to accept that or not. I was Fight (or Flight) Lieutenant; so I was kind of the X.O when it came to flying. All my old pals from Flight school knew I was really recruited on the Normandy for my offensive skill. Captain Anderson was the one who recruited me; Fiona just kept me along for the ride.
We had a few minutes at most until the attack went through I changed my headset to a different channel, searching for my old buddies' checking in on a more private channel.
"Cockro-"I heard while flipping through channels, I quickly turned back to the previous channel, "coming in from The Kennel, anyone there?"
I smiled, "cockroach, or otherwise known Brandon Wallis. He flew a well armored battleship, his own specialty. "Ladybug reporting in from the Normandy."
"Angie," Brandon chuckled. "You get the lead this damn siege. I better get a better pay for this."
"See you at the finish line Brandon," I grinned, we had similar personalities and backgrounds and he was the one who introduced me to the rest of the gang.
"Butterfly here," Amy cut in, "reporting in from-"
"Lemme guess, a pansy of a ship with no real fire power," Kyle Rodgers cut in sarcastically.
"Up yours Moth!" she said sounding hurt. Amy was always girly, but she was the only friend I had that was a girl and I could go shopping and get guy advice from. I think guys gave better advice thanks to their gender though…
"Guys, short on time here," I whispered into the comm.
"Anyways, I'm on S.S Langley," Amy said happily again; she was severely emotional, but I blamed her girly personality for that.
"I'm flying Little Willie," Kyle said, sounding more like a snort. Without his countless tattoos, piercings, and his lack of color in anything he owns Kyle wasn't really himself. He had to take off all the piercings, and leather, but he kept his signature pair of shades on at all times while working. Amy and Kyle's personalities always had a little battle over optimist and pessimist, but Brandon, Jace, and I all knew that they were going to get married one day.
"Don't know about you guys, but I'm getting a little shore leave after today," I turned away from Jeff's curious stare.
"Psh, meet you in Winconsin Angie," Kyle said actually sounding excited.
"Tired of the poor food Kyle?" Amy teased and they started babbling back and forth yet again.
"Stay safe guys. See you after the fight," I inturupted their bickering. I had to go.
"Sure thing," Amy chimed in for the boys.
I switched the comm. back to the main channel and looked over at Joker staring at me like I had an alien stuck to my face. "Do I even want to know what that was?" Jeff asked quickly before an important official ordered the Fleet to attack.
"Friends from way back. I was just making sure they got here okay and that they'll come out the same way," I said in all seriousness.
"You all have silly nicknames? He laughed, but I smiled. The boys made up the nicknames for the four of us, Jace didn't get one because he ditched out on Flight school last minute and decided to become a free lance merc instead. His dad was so pissed.
"You're one to talk Joker," I snorted back at him.
"All forces are go!" Someone important yelled into the main channel nearly blasting out my ear.
"Aye, aye," Jeff turned in with the other ships. "Going in."
"Turning on stealth systems," I said quickly while warming the old girl up.
"What?" Jeff looked over, panicked. By the look of it he gave himself whiplash.
"Enemies can't track us and the Alliance can look out the damn window," I activated the systems.
"Hope your right Ange," he focused on steering while I tracked down the weak parts of Sovereign; doing the complicated math in my head was quicker than punching it into the console.
"Targeting hinges where arms connect to the body and the big ass red eyeball in the middle."
"The geth ships aren't even looking at the Normandy," Jeff said in disbelief.
"You don't trust me or something?" I snickered.
"Yeah, but they can't see us so we're still evading their ships so we don't get-"
"and I can't make a shot," I finished for him. "But either can day." If we shoot down their ship…could they track the shot and take us down is the real question. "Fly straight, I'll shoot any geth ships in the ships. Hopefully Garrus' calibrations are enough."
