Shepard stood in front of the two units that stood in the hold. She touched the one on her left gently. The cold, dead face of her lover slept eternally beneath the frosted glass panel. They were returning his body to his family.

"I'm sorry, Mitch," she muttered, her farewell awkward on her lips, "I should have been more for you. I just…couldn't y'know? You deserved better. I'm sorry you couldn't get it. Rest well, okay?"

She kissed the tip of her fingers and pressed them on the glass. After a moment, she turned to the second unit. It wasn't cold, it was temperature controlled. The woman within had been kept under. With no ID, not information on the database scans from the ship, there was no indication as to who she was.

Shepard tapped her fingertips thoughtfully on the polished metal. She touched her ear piece.

"Nara? Jareq?" she contacted her teammates, "Can I get you down in the hold with weapons? I'm gonna wake up Sleeping Beauty."

"Sleeping…who?" the turian replied through the comm, her confusion apparent.

"Human fairytale…never mind, I will explain it another day," Shepard laughed, "Get your asses down here."

Nara strolled in before Jareq. Her red markings were bright against the grey of her plates.

"You sure you wanna do this, Shep?" Nara asked uneasily, "We don't know why she's under. Could be she's a frickin' mass murderer."

"That's why you're here," Shepard grinned at the turian with bright green eyes.

"Ugh," Nara's mandibles fluttered, "You get me cutest assignments."

"Shit, Shep," Jareq strolled in, his eyes bright against the almost black of his skin, "This sounds crazy."

"You know me," Shepard tapped keys on the control pad on the storage unit.

"Yeah, you are insane," Jareq grinned at the woman, "Batshit crazy."

"Hrmm, true," Shepard agreed easily enough. The seals on the unit hissed with escaped air. The woman's pallor was even more pronounced without the veil of faintly smeared glass. Her tattoos were intricate and a curious contrast of harsh and elegant. The heart rate monitor increased it's pace. The blood pressure spiraled up. Shepard frowned and tapped more keys.

"Okay, be ready. Administering the antidote," she stepped back. The heart rate hit 150. The blood pressure flushed her features with a deep rush of colour. Shepard turned back to the computer, carefully monitoring the dropping blood pressure.

Shepard was slammed into a wall by a rush of power. The woman sat up, holding a palm out. The other hand flicked out and Nara and Jareq dangled uselessly near the ceiling. Shepard scrambled to her feet.

"Hey! WHOA! We aren't who you think we are!"

The woman paused, her slightly blearly brown eyes trying to fuzzily focus on Shepard, "Who the fuck are you?"

"You were caught by slavers right?" Shepard held up her hands in a gesture of peace.

"They put me in a fucking box…" the woman snarled, her biotics flaring into life with a blue haze.

"So why would I let you out?" Shepard took a step forward.

The woman paused, and her eyes narrowed, "Talk fast."

"We took down the slaver ship. You were in the hold. We kept you under for a bit until we could find out who you were - but there is nothing in the system."

The woman curved a wicked smile, "Probably because I don't exist. Not official like."

"I guess the biotics explain the drugging," Shepard glanced up at Nara and Jareq, now loudly protesting their helpless state.

"If they hadn't, I would have torn their heads off," her eyes narrowed.

"I'm Vaea Shepard, first mate of the Valkyrie," Shepard touched her chest, "The turian is Nara, and Jareq is …" she winced as they both hit the ground hard, "…in pain."

"The Valkyrie…I have heard of you lot," the biotic flare dulled and finally went out, "I'm Jack."

"So you know we take captives back wherever they like," Shepard lowered her hands, and tucked them into the pockets of her combat pants, "Anywhere in particular you want to go?"

Jack levered out of the unit and thudded to the floor in thick combat boots. Brown pants tucked into them, and a leather top criss-crossed over the myriad of inked images, "Nowhere to go."

Nara was easing the crick out of her spine and limped over, "Hells, woman," she groaned, "With that shit you can throw around, you need to be on our side."

"What?" Jack crossed her arms, "You lot looking for crew?"

"I am, yeah," Shepard nodded, "The Captain is retiring, and for better or worse, you lot are stuck with me."

Nara stared in surprise, "Hells, Shep, you didn't say anything. That's fucking awesome."

"Shit!" Jareq slapped her on the back with a broad grin creasing his face, "Cap'n Shepard."

Jack watched the reactions to the news with wariness, and it took her a moment, "Tell you what. I will run with you lot for a while, if I like what I see…I'm in."

Shepard held out her hand for the other woman to shake, "Welcome aboard."

Jack grinned wickedly, the smile lighting up her face, "You might live to regret it, Shepard." She slapped her hand into Shepard's and shook firmly.

Shepard curved her own smile, "Probably."

The crew saw off their previous Captain in style. The party would go down in history. They had set the poor bastards they had rescued, all aside from Jack, and headed to Palaven to party.

The Palaven sun was just changing night to dawn, illuminating Shepard and Hathar stretched out side by side on the balcony, drinks in hand, eyeing the harsh landscape. Her eyes was a little critical.

"Hells, Hathar, you sure about this? The place looks like it couldn't grow a tree, let alone be a nice place to kick back and retire," she rose a brow at him.

"It's home, Shepard," Hathar replied with a sigh, "And it's good to be here."

He glanced over, "There is something I need to tell you, now you are Captain."

"Shit," Shepard rested the glass on her belly, and tucked an arm behind her head, "Is this where I get the bad news?"

"Maybe. Depends," Hathar shrugged, "You have a backer."

"A…what?" Shepard glanced over and frowned.

"Someone who watches out for the Valkyrie…and will now watch out for the Monte Cristo."

Shepard frowned, "I just assumed it was the turian military. Mitch mentioned it once. Said it was complicated."

"It is," Hathar nodded.

"Alright, so uncomplicate it for me," Shepard waved a hand, "Who is it?"

Hathar was silent for a while. It took him a moment to reply.

"He is the Primarch of Palaven," he rubbed a hand over his fringe, "To hold up appearances, he can't be connected with us. But he makes sure that no one looks too closely at you. He knows who you are. I made sure of it."

"A Primarch?" Shepard was uneasy, "He was …paying you?"

"At first. Then we just became kind of…self sufficient. Now he just makes sure we can work without the turian military blowing us out of the sky."

"Guess I had better play nice," Shepard was uneasy, "He knows about me?"

"He sure does."

"Shit,"

"He's a good man, Shepard, I promise. I once saved his son from pirates. He was grateful."

"Why should he be grateful to me?"

"He knows what we do is…well he knows it is murky waters, but its the only way to keep our skies safe."

"Not too happy about this, Hathar," Shepard was still uneasy, "Folks just don't do good shit for no reason."

"Sometimes…they do. Someone got you away from the slavers, didn't they?"

Shepard lapsed into silence.

"Maybe," she muttered after a moment.

"Don't let it get to you," Hathar patted her shoulder. Shepard punched him on the arm, and he protested, "OW!"

"Thank you for this," Shepard said softly, "Really. I thought I was just going to end up as some hired gun before I got shot on some back water planet."

"You're welcome. You will do good, Shepard."