Chapter 21
The Countdown Begins
Shepard let out a grunt as she pulled herself back up to the top of the pull-up bar. Once her chin was above the bar she slid her shoulders left bringing her face in line with her left hand then slid them right to her right hand. From here she slid back to the center of the bar bringing her face closer to it once she was there then pulling back a good distance before lowering herself again.
This was her thirteenth corn cob pull-up after cranking out one hundred and ninety pull-ups, beating her original record of one hundred and eighty-three and James' record of one hundred and eighty-two. Alongside the pull-ups she had done around eighty push-ups and punched the crap out of her punching bag.
Needless to say her body was aching right about now, but she wanted to get to fifteen. There was no specific reason for why she wanted that number. James wasn't punching on the bag goading her into doing more and Jack wasn't in the room telling her she had to complete anything. Shepard was alone at the moment just trying to reach a number for the sake of staying in good shape.
Usually she did try to get a workout in whether it was yoga or a mixture of pull-ups, tormenting her punching bag, push-ups, sit-ups and the like. Today she had chosen the latter option and was almost done with her pull-ups, leaving only sit-ups left to complete her work out.
It was pretty extreme by all standards, and if she didn't stretch afterwards she knew her body was going to hate her tomorrow. Or I'm going to hate myself. Shepard chuckled then pulled herself up again to go through the same motions as before until she was back to hanging normally on the bar.
With the news she received from Hackett, keeping her body in tip top shape was important. If they were all lucky, Priority: Galaxy Repairs would be a go within the next week or two. Kasumi had teased her about the lame name for a mission but she was excited just as Shepard was about what it meant.
The Relay was repaired and if it worked then it was time to start repairs on the galactic level. In two days' time they were going to send a probe through the currently activated Relay. If it didn't get destroyed or wrecked beyond all belief then they were going to start sending repair teams with military escorts to every point the Sol Relay could reach.
All of this meant finally getting back on the Normandy to reconnect the galaxy. Shepard didn't care if it meant the ship simply floated around in space while the repair teams worked. A nice easy job was something she looked forward to after constant suicidal odds against the death harbingers.
They would finally be able to help the colonies and homeworlds of every species ravaged by the war. It was another step forward, and with each step forward Shepard saw two goals coming closer. The first of those two goals was reconnecting the galaxy and getting the people trapped back to their loved ones.
She was consciously aware of how lucky she was to have Kasumi with her at almost every second of the day. There was an entire galaxy full of people who were mourning or hoping their loved ones were somewhere out there still alive waiting for them to find them.
By repairing the Relays and comm buoys those people could reunite or at the least start the healing process.
The second goal each step forward brought her closer to was finally retiring and settling down with her thief. With every Relay repaired they would steadily be less of a need of the first human Spectre out in the field guarding ships.
If all went to plan, she planned to step down as Commander of the Normandy and give it to Kaiden or James depending on the circumstances. Kaiden was already a Spectre and would eventually need his own ship to conduct business, but if he decided to retire at the same time as her then it would probably fall to James.
The redhead had to make sure they were both ready for the day she stepped down. It was going to happen sooner rather than later and they were the two Alliance soldiers on the ship next in line. If it didn't go to an Alliance soldier then she would definitely consider throwing Garrus into the mix, but those worries were further into the future still.
They first had to get through the Sol Relay before the N7 began her retirement plan. First order of business would be protecting the repair teams, going onto colonies to help or waiting around for trouble.
Of course there was always a possibility of a fight with slavers, pirates or what remained of Cerberus, but the hope filling the entirety of the Sol System was louder than the negative possibilities. Home and family awaited beyond the Relay for many of the people in the system.
Still, even though she was hopeful, the redheaded N7 wanted to be ready for whatever they found out there. Right now that meant keeping her body ready to go back into a fight.
She was taking on a bit of philosophy she gained from Garrus, expect the worst that way there's a small chance she could be pleasantly surprised. If expecting the worst meant preparing her body for the constant running, jumping and shooting she had grown accustomed to during the war, then so be it.
The N7 pulled herself up and finished her final corn cob pull-up, dropping from the bar with a grunt once she was done. All that was left was some sit-ups and a stretch then she would be done exercising for the day.
Then came the fun filled adventure of filing and reading reports.
Nothing like some paperwork to really spice up the day. Shepard let out a tired chuckle then took a deep breath, attempting to calm her breathing. Although she did not enjoy the paperwork, it needed to be done now and then even if it wasn't entertaining.
Once her breathing was calmed she laid down on the floor to continue her workout.
Normally the reports would have been the usual stuff—general repairs, sectors of Earth and the Citadel being scouted or secured, ship repairs. With the Relay fixed, though, she had to go over the roster of who in the Alliance would be under her command and then who she wished to bring.
Without even taken a glance at it she already knew the Alliance members who had joined the Normandy during the war would already be on it. Steve, Samantha, Joker, Vega, Chakwas, Kaiden, Adams, Ken and Gabby each would be listed on the roster if they hadn't already signed on.
Javik was also another she knew would be on the Normandy for certain. Leaving the sole living Prothean alone on the Citadel was a sure fire way of getting a lot of "primitives" thrown out of an airlock.
Besides those known joining crew members, she was going to ask the rest of her friends if they wanted to join her or not. Some she knew wouldn't, like Wrex and Jacob. Both had their own personal stakes in staying—Wrex politically and Jacob had Brynn and their soon to be born child—and would turn her down, even if it was reluctantly.
Either way she would approach them to at the least wish them luck while she was gone and tell them to stay safe. She knew she could not bring everyone with her, but that did not stop her from feeling a little disappointed about it.
"Hey Shep." Shepard stopped at the top of her sit-up to see the woman she loved standing in the entry to the room wearing her purple hooded tank top and black pants that were similar to her armor. Her hood was up per the usual and around her neck were the redheads N7 tags gleaming proudly. The thief had a smile on her face and her right hand resting on her right hip. "How's the workout?"
"It's good. What's up?" she asked.
"Right now I'm just enjoying the view. Feel free to continue." She winked. Shepard shook her head, happy her cheeks were already a rosy color. Kasumi's face turned mostly serious but her smile remained. "Seriously though, you can continue. I'm here to pass on news then I'll let you finish working out."
The N7 gave a nod then continued where she left off in her sit-up count. "So…what's…going on?"
Kasumi walked in a bit further. "Jack was on her way to talk to you but something important came up so she asked me to pass on the message." Shepard raised an eyebrow at the top of her sit-up. "Kahlee contacted her. It seemed pretty important with how Jack was acting."
"What…did she…want to…tell me?"
"Instead of combat night it is going to be date night in the Armax Arsenal Arena." Kasumi smirked. "Well, she didn't say it like that, but I read between the lines. She's taking Miranda on a date and you're there to keep them from doing anything in public."
The commander gave a laugh at Kasumi's joke. Part of the commander was preparing for Jack or Miranda to appear out of nowhere to threaten the thief or silently roll their eyes and scoff before turning away as a blush appeared on their faces.
Much to her disappointment they did not appear to deny anything or to silently stare at them not denying anything. Instead Kasumi continued but with the truth this time. "Miranda finally decided to take a break from work to set up the match for tomorrow and I took the liberty of setting up a match for just the two of us afterwards."
Shepard came down from a sit-up and stayed down on the ground. "Sounds like a date, even if we are getting shot at by simulations." It would also serve as a nice warm-up after being out of combat for some time. The thief crouched down at her feet and rested her hands on her knees.
With the simple touch the commander remembered the last time she had entered the Combat Arena with Kasumi. She remembered watching the agile thief as they fought against Cerberus with no medi-gel. She could still recall the warm feeling building in her chest as she began to realize how much closer she wanted to be with her best friend.
She could remember watching her lover smile and wishing to be the reason behind that smile. Wishing to be able to pull back the hood and see the beautiful woman under it as she kissed those lips. Wishing they could fall in love. Dreaming of feeling her bare skin on her own as they made love.
And then she got shot.
Maybe it wasn't the best time to get lost in thought. She looked up to Kasumi with a lopsided grin. "Hopefully I don't get distracted again." The simulator was just a simulator, but getting shot still stung like hell.
"Aw, but I was hoping you would that way I could come in and save the day," Kasumi pouted. The redhead did another sit-up, but as she reached the top soft lips pressed against her own for a brief second. She paused for a moment as Kasumi backed off and searched her eyes to see what she wanted to do. "Am I distracting you?" her question was both a tease and an honest question.
She wanted to continue with the N7 but she did not want to completely intrude if continuing to exercise was what her lover wanted. As her thief searched her eyes, Shepard found herself getting easily distracted by staring into the eyes that were far more beautiful than any sunset or rise. Her eyes traced down to the lips she had once only dreamt of kissing but now was able to kiss every day, an action that she would never grow tired of doing.
Shepard's eyes followed along those lips to the purple lip paint that she had always found attractive as well as mesmerizing. Her heart was beginning to beat faster and stronger as if it was trying to pound its way out of her chest cavity to finally be literally in the hands of her lover.
Her obvious admiring was all Kasumi needed as approval to continue.
Kasumi's soft lips pressed against her own again, setting her lips on fire as only she could. Without any more persuasion being necessary, Shepard brought her hands up to cup her lover's cheek and deepen the kiss.
The way the hooded woman's eyes stared into her own as they kissed full of love, the taste of her lips, the desire and passion she could feel from the woman in the kiss; all of this was making her yearn for so much more.
She must have sensed it or saw it in her eyes because Kasumi gently parted the redhead's knees, leaning forward as she did. Using her advantage of position, her lover easily lowered them to the ground with their torsos pressed against one another, further deepening the desire to do so much more. Kasumi moved to support her own weight on her hands but was met with resistance when Shepard grabbed her shirt and pulled her back into a kiss.
Her thief's lithe body against her own was something she wanted to feel with no clothes but for the time being did not bother to remove the barrier. Her mind was too preoccupied on wanting to taste those beautiful lips again. The lips she had dreamed of capturing before the end of the war.
The lips that made her entire body quake every time they locked with hers or touched any point on her body.
With her initial plan out the window, Kasumi instead found Shepard's hands with her own and intertwined them. She proceeded to pin them against the ground then began to trail kisses down her neck.
Shepard let out a gasp when teeth nibbled down on her. "You little," she chastised with a laugh.
Kasumi gave a muffled giggle and released her neck a few moments later to then shower the area with tender kisses. She smiled at the redhead. "You like it." Her smile was infectious and left Shepard with a smile that had not left since they began kissing.
Instead of responding with words she chose action. She wrapped her legs around the waist of her lover and squeezed her hands affectionately. She gave Kasumi a quick kiss on the lips then stared deeply into her eyes, waiting for her to make her move.
Her body was demanding her to follow this time around. To let her lover have free reign over her body and control what they did right now.
As Kasumi began to move back in, a familiar British voice made itself known. "Commander, I have an importan— oh!" The duo looked to the entry to see a very bashful looking Samantha Traynor averting her eyes to just about everywhere in the room where they weren't. "Um— I'm so sorry. I did not mean to…" She cleared her throat when she accidently let her eyes fall back on the two who were still in an intimate position.
"Hey Sam. Eyes are over here, and up here," Shepard teased.
Traynor began to blush feverously and continued in averting her eyes to the floor. The N7 had been meaning to get her back with the same comment she had teased her with when she invited her into her apartment after the clone business. The comm specialist had spotted her hot tub then and clearly wanted to use it so the commander had allowed her to.
It hadn't been a big deal and she had waited outside of the room for her to finish without peeking in. Sam was nice and attractive but Shepard did not have any intentions for the comm specialist other than being a friend. Her heart belonged to one person, and that person currently had her hands pinned against the ground.
The tease Samantha had thrown at her had come when she had asked for the scented bath oils that had not been in the bathroom. It was as if some divine force thought it would be funny to put her in a position where she was forced to see her comm specialist soaked with water in just her underwear.
Giving the scented bath oils should have been simple, go in drop them off then take her leave to wait for her to finally be finished. But nooo. Sam had to be a wiseass and insinuate I was staring at her breasts, which I wasn't.
Normally the joke wouldn't have been too bad, but because of the thoughts going through her mind about Kasumi already treading along the line of intimate she had been unprepared. The whole situation became a bit awkward after that for Shepard solely. Sam had had a good laugh about it for some time during their stay on the Citadel.
This was a satisfying payback, if not a bit untimely. "Well her eyes are quite amazing to look at, but there's nothing wrong with ogling over these too." Kasumi brought her hands to the commander's bra covered breasts and fondled them a little. Shepard bit her tongue to keep the noise she wished to make from coming out. Sam blushed further then turned around so her back was facing them but did not move, seemingly frozen in shock.
Then it got worse.
"Hey Samantha. Have you seen Lola anywhe— dios mío!" James brought his hand in front of his face to block his eyes from the sight of his commander's breasts being fondled by the thief. "Lola this is the wrong room for that kind of workout."
"I don't think there is any wrong room actually," Kasumi piped up as the commander below her was blushing and biting her tongue to stay quiet.
"Is Shepard in here? I have impor— by the Goddess!"
That was Liara and she was quick to look away as well. "Well, this is going well," Shepard whispered to Kasumi.
"Could be worse."
Before the duo could separate…
"Yo! Is anyone here?" Footsteps approached. "Hey Liara why is everyone just…covering…their eyes." A sigh. "Okay, seriously you two?"
"Hey Ghost," Kasumi greeted. "It got worse. Sorry," she whispered quickly to Shepard.
Ghost was in the company of two of his crew. The one on his left was his resident crimson-haired hothead Whitney who was shaking her head and smirking at the position they found them in. On his right was his Asari lover Tara who was covering her mouth to hide her laughs at Ghost's expense as he was pinching the bridge of his nose in disbelief.
Talk about bad timing.
"I can't believe almost every time we meet you two are doing something I don't need to see." He turned to his crew. "Do you see this?" he asked to his crew.
His crew was too busy trying to hold in their laughs to answer, but he received an answer from Shepard's.
"Goddess no," Liara answered.
"Absolutely not," James followed.
"Yes, but I didn't mean too," Samantha responded with mortification in her voice.
"Love, and company, how about we go wait in the main room? It will give them time to detangle without an audience," Tara offered. Samantha nearly took off at a sprint to get out of the awkward situation with Liara tugging James out with her. "See you two love birds soon." Tara winked at them then the trio turned around to leave the duo in peace.
Shepard was curious as to why Ghost was here along with how he managed to just get in her apartment without help. She pursed her lips in thought. Then again, he managed to do that last time too. It hadn't occurred to her the first time it happened, but Kasumi had been put in the hospital at the time so that thought was really minor compared to her other thoughts at the time.
The other reason she was curious was because every time he showed up trouble wasn't that far behind. I guess I can't say much when it comes to attracting trouble. They weren't armed so there can't be some kind of hit squad on the way that he came to warn us about or intercept them.
He could have popped in for a friendly visit, but that didn't explain why he had Tara and Whitney with him. Shepard also couldn't help but wonder what Samantha, Liara and James were seeking her out for. Both Sam and Liara had tried to say they had something important to talk abou—
The redhead let out a muffled moan into Kasumi's mouth as she engaged in a kiss and gently started to tease her nipples. The thief smiled victoriously into their kiss at the response she received.
Much to Shepard's dismay the thief ended their kiss not even a moment later and slid her hands down the commander's abs before using them to unhook the strong legs keeping her in place. "I suppose we should go see what they all want. We may have permanently scarred Ghost this time around, and poor Sam may never recover from her embarrassment." Kasumi sat up on her knees, sparing a thoughtful look towards the entry. "Ghost showing up does worry me a little, even if he didn't look like there was trouble."
Her thoughts had been along the same lines before her lovable thief decided to tease her only to leave her wanting more. The redhead wanted to do more and say to hell with whatever the others wanted. Her body was demanding her to hook her legs back around the woman and pull their bodies back together.
It was as all these thoughts were going through her mind that she realized Kasumi had did it all on purpose. "Kasumi Goto, you are going to be in so much trouble later," Shepard warned.
As expected, Kasumi smiled at her and winked. "Oh, I look forward to it." She rested her hands on the N7's knees and pushed herself up, offering the grounded woman a hand once she was sturdy. Shepard took it and got back onto her feet.
Kasumi ran a finger down the center of her torso as she continued to speak. "And I'll make sure to…relieve those sexy tense muscles of yours." She stopped her finger at her waist then turned giving a gentle bump to the redhead's lower half with her hip before leaving her alone in the room.
Shepard began to feel as if the room was a lot hotter than it was as she watched her lover walk away and thought of her parting words. "Well played, Kasumi. Well played," she spoke to herself as she made her way to her towel and tank top. She toweled off her sweat then put her tank top on before her feet guided her into the main room as she adjusted it.
In the main room she found the others waiting patiently for her. Ghost was standing at her big picture window staring out at the view. His body language gave nothing up as to why he was here. He wasn't tense as if there was an attack coming but his body was at the ready in case something did happen.
It was possible it was just a precaution after getting caught off guard here or after fighting in the war but Shepard did not plan to make any assumption until they spoke. With how much stuff blew up around both of them, it was never safe to make an assumption.
Tara was sitting next to James talking to him about their squads rather unorthodox induction into the N7's compared to what he should expect if he didn't get trained by Shepard in the field. Which is how it looks like things are turning out.
She had no problem doing it at all; he was a good friend and a great soldier. He could be a real smartass sometimes, but then again so could she and Anderson hadn't had a problem with it.
Liara was standing near the fire place speaking to Kasumi about her knowledge on a specific person who the commander had not caught the name of. By the look on the thief's face she had to guess she didn't know.
Sitting on the couch opposite of James and Tara were Whitney and Samantha who were talking about chess. The former of the two also enjoyed playing the game and had seen the comm specialist win the Kepesh-Yakshi tournament against Polgara T'Suzsa before the war ended.
Sam was already challenging the crimson-haired woman to a game when Shepard approached Ghost at the big picture window. He was smirking and staring in the reflection at the two on the couch. "Whitney doesn't destroy the holographic board if she loses, does she?" the N7 asked quietly.
He chuckled and shook his head. "Nah. She's a hothead, but she enjoys a challenge in chess. If it were Brad then…maybe. He'd probably try to cheat or something." The hooded man nodded backwards in their direction. "Besides, they aren't only interested in chess. They've both been playing some sort of variation of chess through flirting."
"So you're eavesdropping?"
Ghost smirked at her and gave her a knowing look. "Says the queen of eavesdropping." She let her lips quirk up in a small smile as she rolled her eyes. "You can relax. There isn't some sort of attack imminent or in existence at the moment."
His words made the tension in her body not caused by working out to fade away. Not having to worry about another fight coming to ruin the peace that had come after the Saracino incident was nice. Still, she knew there was more he hadn't said yet and it had to do with business of some sort. "But you aren't here for a courtesy visit either," she stated.
The purple eyed man nodded reluctantly. "Wish I was but I decided to play messenger today." He nodded back at his teammates again. "Brought them along to stretch their legs. Probably take them to the Combat Arena later once I'm done here." He looked back at her. "Good news is there isn't some fight or political bullshit you have to deal with. Bad news is I have political news to pass on, although not all of it is bad."
"Don't tell me the Council is doing something really stupid," Shepard groaned. The last thing she wanted to hear was they had pissed of Wrex and now he was refusing to work with them or something of that caliber.
"No, they aren't doing anything bad, I promise." Ghost grinned at her reaction. Once she gave a sigh of relief he continued. "It's about our next assignments."
"Meaning going through the Relays."
"On point as always. Turns out your team needs to be a bit more diverse instead of pure Alliance." He cleared his throat then took on what Shepard assumed to be an imitation of the Asari Councilors voice. "Your mission is meant to be a mirror reflection of how we went to war: Together. If Shepard and her team are just Alliance, it does not show the full galactic support of reaching back through the Relays to find our fellow survivors. She is a figurehead and symbol from the war."
"You've got to be kidding me." Shepard could barely believe the Council was thinking she would take a pure Alliance squad and promote some sort of idea that it was only the Alliance who cared. She had never once pushed a purely human agenda, but she had to remember they were politicians. They were a special brand of stupid.
Ghost recognized her line of thought immediately and chuckled. "Nope. I think they know you better than that so I assume they really meant it in showing approval to what you did. That or they're politicians who don't know how to express themselves without sounding like asses."
At his comment the redhead gave a laugh. "You may be onto something, Ghost. They do at least know I'm going to pick who I'm bringing with me, right?"
He gave another nod and a smirk. "Yeah. I pretty much told them if they thought they could stick you with whomever they thought worked then they were poorly mistaken. Hackett interrupted me after that and said you were already picking your squad from your previous associates." Ghost shrugged. "I guess he didn't trust my mouth would stay censored for much longer."
"Because it wouldn't have," she teased.
"True."
"So what's the rest of the news?"
"Orders from the old man. In short, he wants you to talk to your crew when you can and see who will go and who won't, but wanted me to tell you the official non-Alliance members going from your crew."
So some of the guys have signed up already or were signed up. The hooded man opened his omni-tool and a list appeared. "Primarch Victus already gave Garrus Vakarian leave to join you as the Turian's show of support of the project. Wrex told Grunt to go with you to ensure Tuchanka was not forgotten. Admiral Raan agreed to let Tali join you again when she asked slash told her she was going."
I'm going to have to find Grunt a new room. Having Javik share a room with him would be a bad idea. He scrolled down a little. "Liara T'Soni's computers are still on the Normandy and locked away from everyone so it was kind of unanimous that she was staying. Justicar Samara has offered her aid but you'll have to confirm it. Something about the code." Ghost shrugged again. "I didn't want to ask and risk getting killed."
"She wouldn't kill you unless you did something unjust." Shepard was glad to hear Samara was looking to rejoin the Normandy, but she needed to confirm it with her. Even though the rankings of the Justicar order were probably thinner than before, the code was of severe importance to her friend. "I know a few Salarian's who can represent their race if it's necessary."
"Jondum Bau and Major Kirrahe, right?" She nodded. "I'm sure they'd let you pick either, but I don't think it's necessary. The scientists fixing the Relays and comm buoys take care of showing Geth, Quarian and Salarian support. Plus…" He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "Well, there's no way to sugar coat this." His eyes softened. "Any Salarian you put on the Normandy is going to remind you of Mordin Solus and it'll hurt. Trust me."
Shepard could not deny his logic because the simple mention of the Salarian Scientists name made her heart begin to ache. "Yeah you're right, it would."
It would be the same if someone made her bring a Geth or a Drell onboard. Sure she would get to know them and they would their own person…but the memories of going to see Thane, Legion and Mordin would come to mind. Those memories were good memories, and that's why they hurt.
"You can bring whoever else you want as long as they aren't going against their will and yada yada yada. You get the point. Talk to your friends and see who is going then report that to Hackett when you have the time," Ghost said, closing his omni-tool.
Shepard gave him a smile. "You really aren't the messenger type."
"I could give you the long debrief if you'd like." He smirked.
"I'm okay without it. Thanks for coming yourself."
"It wasn't a big deal. Thought I'd stop in and see what it was like to be here without getting shot at or worrying about an assassination." The redhead chuckled and slugged him in the arm. "Next time we see each other, can you try not to be in a position like the one I found you in today, for my sake."
"No promises, Ghost."
He let out a sigh. "I was afraid you would say that."
The commander moved to where the others were and questioned James next. He was simply wondering if she was up for going out to get a drink with some of the squad. It sounded nice but she had to remind him that they would be swarmed by unwanted guests thanks to her popularity.
Not wishing to deflate the lieutenant completely, Shepard quickly countered his offer with her own. "As I recall, Kaiden owes us all a quality dinner to surpass your breakfast."
James gave a hearty laugh. "Oh man, I almost forgot about that. Major Alenko trying to beat the Vega Special. Think he is up to the challenge?"
"His meal was pretty good Vega, you may be in trouble of losing."
The muscular soldier chuckled. "I'll have to see it to believe it. When it comes to my Huevos Rancheros, there is no other food that can match it."
Shepard smirked at Vega. "An ego over food. Now I've seen it all."
"Oh come on Lola, show me a little support. You've tasted it before; you know there is no match." He was actually right about that, but she wasn't going to take sides in this argument.
"I'm impartial in this argument, James. You'll just have to wait and see tonight when he cooks it."
James crossed his arms over his chest. "You couldn't just take my side this once, Lola?" The N7 smiled and shook her head at the N7 candidate pouting. When Tara asked what was so special about his meal, Shepard decided to quietly excuse herself from the conversation and let James gloat about his Huevos Rancheros.
He didn't realize it, but she was showing peripheral support this way. She wished she could describe his meal, but it was impossible. The way everything blended together to make her taste buds experience something far better than anything else she ever tasted was not in the realm of explanations. In all honesty, her description of his meal would do it little justice compared to how over the top the lieutenant would describe it.
His ability to bullshit and add sprinkles of self-promotion had its uses. Like explaining something where not creating an extravagant story to explain it ended up lessening the quality of the subject of conversation.
Now the commander moved to her comm specialist who was now sitting alone while Whitney was speaking to Ghost. "Commander…I would like to apologize-"
Her comm specialist was already beginning to blush before she even got to what she wanted to apologize for. Instead of letting her suffer through the apology, Shepard cut her off with a soothing voice. "Sam, it isn't a big deal. Really. You don't need to apologize for walking in on us. It was an accident."
Samantha breathed out a shaky breath, her blush disappearing as she did. "Thank you, Commander. You saved me from giving what would have been a mortifying apology."
Shepard heard the sound of a deactivating cloak and suddenly Kasumi appeared next to Sam, sitting almost shoulder to shoulder with her. "No need to be mortified, Samantha. She's a beautiful woman." Kasumi created a frame out of her hands and aimed them at the redhead. "Gorgeous eyes, beautiful hair, amazing face, and a sexy body. She's perfect." Samantha was beginning to blush again when the thief elbowed her side then lowered her hands a little. "And those breasts!"
"Kasumi!" the redhead chastised as a blush began to coat her own cheeks. This was really not how she planned this going. Kasumi gave a grin then disappeared using her cloak. It was classic Kasumi fashion to jump in a conversation and leave after making a comment like that.
The comm specialist brought her hand to her face and let it slide down it. "I am never entering a room with you two in it again," she groaned.
"Err…sorry?"
"That was really heartfelt, Shepard," Liara teased from behind her.
Both women cleared their throats, banishing the red that had crept onto their faces. "So Sam, you had a message for me, or something." Real professional, she chided herself. There weren't many people who could get her flustered like this; Kasumi was just the best at it.
"Right." Samantha cleared her throat again. "The Council and Alliance would like to hold a ceremony in London for the fallen and the victory four days from now. It is also meant to be a sort of going away party for the repair teams and other ships going through the Relay if the probe gets through undamaged."
"Shit, seriously?" Ghost approached the couch a serious look on his shadowed face. "I knew we would mobilize quickly, but I expected more than two days after the initial probe test."
Samantha shook her head as Whitney joined Ghost at his side. "The ships aren't mobilizing the same day. From what I heard, if the launch is successful then it will be soon after. No one wants to waste time when the rest of the galaxy is out there stuck in their systems."
The entire group nodded almost in unison. "Hard to believe we might finally be able to reach and salvage the rest of the galaxy," Whitney said thoughtfully.
"No, not hard to believe." Ghost shook his head in disagreement. "Not with everyone finally working together. We've been squabbling over useless bullshit for years instead of working together. Imminent death got everyone's heads out of their asses. With everyone finally working together, we've gotten a lot of shit done and now it's finally time we fix the entire galaxy instead of just this system."
"This isn't going to be easy, my love."
Ghost smirked at Tara. "When have we ever done anything that was easy?"
She gave him a reminiscent and loving smile in return. "True."
"They also want the Normandy there for the ceremony since it was the spearhead of the war," Samantha stated.
This was definitely news, but not that bad kind. Well, not completely. The good part about it was they would hopefully be able to go through the Relay very soon to start repairing the rest of the Galaxy.
The bad part about it meant they were all going to have get dressed in formal Alliance clothes and sit through speeches and the like, and possibly give one in the commander's case. It wasn't really "bad" when Shepard thought about it, she just didn't want to get dressed up or give a speech in front of a group larger than her squad.
"Will Shep have to wear a dress? Because if she does I am so going," Kasumi piped up, deactivating her cloak to appear next to Ghost.
"She'll probably be in a similar suit to Hackett and Anderson," Ghost replied. When Kasumi frowned, he gave a chuckle. "Sorry to ruin your fantasy, Kasumi."
"Spoilsports." She disappeared again.
"Does she…always just jump into conversations like that and leave afterwards?" Samantha questioned.
Kasumi appeared next to Ghost again, but was bent over so her mouth was near Samantha's ear. "No. Sometimes I sleep." The comm specialist nearly jumped out of her skin as the giggling thief disappeared again.
"You get used to it," Shepard said with a fond smile.
"Or fall in love with it in Shepard's case," Ghost quipped.
Shepard continued to smile instead of responding. The facts were clearly in his corner on his joke and she didn't mind it whatsoever. She loved everything about the thief including her random appearances to give a small quip before disappearing again.
As Sam was left to recover from the thief scaring her, the redhead moved to the Shadow Broker who had been waiting patiently to speak to her. "What have you got for me, Liara?"
"Well I had come across a group of Cerberus loyal men and women attempting to organize, but my agents have reported they've…gone missing." Liara let her eyes fall onto the purple eyed warrior standing behind Sam.
The Asari had said it loud enough for him to hear to see if he was the one behind it if Shepard had to guess. Ghost had been conversing with Tara when he heard the Broker speaking and simply flashed them a smirk with humor gleaming in his eyes before continuing his conversation.
That does not bode well for those Cerberus agents.
Liara let out a sigh. "I guess we know what happened to them now. I do wish he would tell me how he got the information and acted so quickly. An agent of his caliber would be unstoppable."
That statement would have been equally true as it was scary if it wasn't for one fact: Ghost did not operate alone. There was no doubting his talent at all, but the work put into keeping Cerberus at bay was a collective effort from all of the members of the N7 Talons. It was no different on the Normandy in her eyes. She was a talented soldier, but she had a crew of the best to back her up in all of the tough situations she faced.
"Agents of their caliber. He doesn't do it alone," Shepard corrected.
Liara gave a small nod. "I suppose you are right about that. Having less than a quarter of the agents I once had has made gathering reliable Intel a longer process."
"How bad are the losses to your agents?"
"I can't say. Most of them are beyond the Relay and I have had no contact from them since the Crucible fired." She shrugged helplessly. "For all I know they could all still be alive waiting for the network to be reestablished or have taken matters into their own hands. I hope for the former, but I have a feeling there will be a lot of cleaning up to do within my own ranks."
"Have you tried recruiting anyone to help while we've been stuck in the Sol System?" the N7 asked.
"Yes, but as you know recruiting is a delicate process. I have to be sure they are completely loyal and not some amateur waving a gun around. Not to mention all of their missions will be within the Sol System to help rebuild. I can't send them anywhere else right now."
She had made several fair points that the commander understood. If she were to recruit someone who had stronger loyalties elsewhere, she was risking both the lives of other agents and the possibility of being found. Working in the shadows was risky business because once a light penetrated through and revealed the person hiding in the shadows, no amount of darkness could ever hide them again.
Definitely not when the Sol System was all they had access to.
After a few brief conversations Ghost, Tara, and Whitney took their leave to go to the Combat Arena. James left at the same time to go find Steve and Kaiden to inform them of the new plan for the night, and to also goad the second human Spectre a bit if Shepard had to guess.
Not long after Samantha left with a stuttered excuse about going to check on "something." Kasumi was quick to make a quip about going to see a certain crimson-haired hothead in the Arena.
She denied of course, but the tell-tale blush and quicker exit spoke louder than her denial.
Liara received a message from her father Matriarch Aethyta and by the sound of it the two were working on getting to know one another better. Thankfully this time there was no coercing necessary to get her to go. Shepard was pleased they were still talking and hoped they would continue even after they left the system.
Shepard sat down on the couch in the main room, exhaling a breath as she did. She was excited about the Relay and the mission coming, yet it felt a bit unreal at the same time. The countdown to leaving the Sol System was official beginning after so long of just pure hope keeping the rebuilding of the Relay going.
The closer they got, the more Shepard realized how much work was truly ahead of them. Fixing the galaxy was going to be a huge undertaking, but keeping a stable peace was going to be just as difficult. The galaxy was a different place now that the war was over. Shepard continued to hold onto the hope that it would remain a better place after everything that had happened.
Kasumi sat down next to her then laid herself down on the lap of the redhead so her head was in the center of it. She reached her hand up and when it met the destination of Shepard's cheek her expert fingers began caressing it.
Her fingers set aflame Shepard's cheek in a soothing manner, helping to start pushing those thoughts away. They remained in comfortable silence like this for some time before the thief finally cupped the commander's cheek, bringing Shepard's attention to her lover's face. Kasumi gave her a comforting smile which immediately made all the thoughts clouding her mind go out the window.
Shepard returned her smile with her own then closed her eyes as she leaned further into the thief's hand and into the sea of comfort the tender touch provided. "Don't worry, Ana. Everything will be fine," Kasumi soothed.
"I know," she whispered. She opened her eyes and leaned down to the thief, meeting her halfway in a slow tender kiss. They parted slowly from the kiss and remained almost nose to nose with each.
"I love you," Kasumi said lovingly.
"I love you too." Shepard closed back in and captured Kasumi's lips in another tender kiss. They kissed on and off for some time but eventually the two simply allowed themselves to relax in the position they were in, intertwining one of their hands as they shut their eyes for a little while. The redhead hadn't forgotten about her thief's earlier antics, but for now she was perfectly fine enjoying the bliss she found in this moment.
Everything will be fine.