Chapter 36
"Hey James, Grissom sent out a distress call and we're answering it so I need you ready in twenty." Shepard called across the shuttle bay as she approached the weapons bench to install her newest shotgun mod, humming a little as she went.
"No problem, Lola." She frowned at that.
"Lola, huh?" He shrugged.
"Yeah. My best friend growing up had a sister called Lola. Older sister, hot." Shepard smiled, shaking her head.
"Right... Just don't let my 'man' hear you say that." She joked as James approached.
"Uh-huh, how is the Major?" Shepard rolled her eyes at that.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to tell you. Kaidan is nothing more than a friend." James gave her a look.
"Oh, come on. I could see the way he looked at you when he was on board." She sighed, shaking her head.
"That's his problem. I was never interested." James raised an eyebrow at that.
"But you've been so happy since he woke up." Shepard shook her head again, still smiling.
"I think you've got your timings mixed up there." She said, still smiling as Garrus entered the Shuttle Bay and singing under her breath.
"Love's gonna lose my head tonight,
I can't stop it, I can't stop it,
You just hang on and we'll be alright,
You got it, you got it,
I don't know what tomorrow brings,
I don't know much 'bout anything,
Love's gonna lose my head tonight,
I can't stop it, I can't stop it."
"Jack?!" Shepard exclaimed as she pulled her sword from the last Cerberus trooper. Jack jumped down and smacked her right across the face. She put her hand on Garrus' chest as she heard him growl a little.
"Nice to see you too, Jack." She said as she rubbed her jaw.
"How many times did I tell you not to trust Cerberus?" Jack asked and Shepard sighed.
"About as many times as I told you that I didn't trust them." Jack nodded, still upset as James approached and Garrus stood down.
"Nice to see you that you're as pleasant as always, Jack." Garrus quipped and the biotic frowned at him.
"Bite me, Garrus. Or, better yet, bite her. That's probably how she likes it." Jack grinned and Shepard laughed as Garrus looked a little flustered.
"Oh, Jack. I've missed you." She said, smiling and shaking her head.
"You too, I guess. It was nice not being the craziest person around for once. Sorry I snapped, it's just that with Cerberus after my kids..." Shepard nodded.
"I get it Jack. Look at you, you've gone all respectable on me. First Garrus, now you, I get locked up for a few months and you guys all turn into model citizens." She joked, shaking her head.
"I always said you were a bad influence, ani." Garrus joked and she smiled and Jack shook her head.
"God, you two are still sickening." Jack said, pulling a face. Shepard just laughed.
"You realise that you're partially to blame for this? What was it you said again? Something about turians being 'good fucks'?" Jack just shook her head.
"Yeah, I said f- screw 'em, not marry 'em. Even I'm not that crazy." Shepard grinned at that, glad to have found her friend again.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we'd better find a way out, we can catch up later." Jack nodded.
"Yeah, I'm not letting those Cerberus motherf- idiots get my kids. Is your guy going to be alright?" Shepard turned to where Jack was indicating and remembered that James was there, causing her to blush a little and look sheepish.
"Wow, we are the worst at keeping secrets." She said, turning to Garrus who just shrugged.
"I thought we'd figured that out when everyone caught onto us before even we did." He replied and she smiled.
"Yeah, I guess." She turned to James. "Are you going to be okay or have we broke you?" James just shook his head at that.
"Damn Lola, it didn't even occur to me..." She nodded, still smiling.
"That was sort of the point. I'm not a big fan of everyone knowing my business, especially not since all of the hype I got after Elysium." James nodded at that.
"I guess after every tabloid in council and alliance space looked into your life for months on end, you'd have a different idea of privacy." She nodded and Garrus frowned a little.
"Pretty much. I really don't like people knowing stuff about me. So, can you not tell everyone about this?" He nodded.
"Sure. Just one thing?" He asked and she gave him a questioning look but nodded.
"Yeah, sure." She said.
"All those times someone tried to get a hold of you and EDI said you were in the Main Battery..." She blushed a little.
"I was helping calibrate the main gun." She said, her expression completely deadpan and her voice neutral but her slight blush gave her away. Her mouth twitched a little as he narrowed his eyes.
"Okay, shouldn't have asked..." She laughed a little and Garrus laughed with her as they went to investigate ways to open the doors.
"So, do you think James will keep quiet?" Garrus asked her once they were finally alone in their quarters, late into the night cycle. She snorted in response.
"No. I give it a week before everyone on the ship knows." She said, smiling as she removed her bobble.
"So, why did you ask him to keep it a secret in the first place?" He asked and she shrugged.
"Because it bought us a week. Hopefully by that point we'll be too busy with negotiations that no one will really notice." She smiled a little but he pulled her close as he felt her mind wander to the up-coming negotiations and her sub-harmonics trilled in thanks.
"So, what was all that stuff James said about Elysium? You've never mentioned any of it..." She bit her lip, frowning a little.
"I guess I'm just used to everyone already knowing when they meet me." She said shrugging, still biting her lip. He frowned a little.
"So..." She sighed.
"There was a big fuss after Elysium and the Alliance brass decided that I would make a good walking advertisement for them." He gave her a confused look at that.
"Had they met you?" He asked incredulously and she shook her head, sighing.
"Nope. That was the problem. I guess I could have made a bigger deal about it but you know me, I don't like to admit that I can't so something and I hate speaking up for myself so I let them put me in uncomfortable situations like parties and stuff. It didn't last too long before they twigged that I wasn't the best for the part but the media had already noticed me and for whatever reason they got their knickers in a twist about finding out more about the mysterious Lieutenant Shepard. Up until that point no one had ever paid any kind of attention to me so all kinds of crazy made-up shit was said about me. And then some of the crew talked to the tabloids and they picked up on some more accurate things, like my love of old sci-fi. They didn't get much because I didn't interact much with the crew but it was... weird. I preferred it when they got everything wrong. I didn't like strangers knowing things about me, I wasn't even used to people I knew knowing much about me. So now I'm careful to keep the things that mean the most to me away from everyone else." She said, shrugging.
"So, that's why you don't want anyone you don't trust knowing about us?" She nodded a little.
"God, that sounds so awful. Like I'm ashamed of you, but I'm not. I just... Garrus, you are my one weakness. I've always been detached from everything and everyone but not you. I've kept up the idea of 'Commander Shepard' in the eyes of people who don't know me because I see the power in that idea. It's a symbol of hope and has been since Elysium. 'Commander Shepard' can withstand anything and has no weakness. Jane, on the other hand, is shy and awkward and hopelessly in love with a cocky turian." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck as she said the last part and he nodded.
"I guess this cocky turian doesn't fit in with your image, huh?" She shrugged a little.
"Honestly, I have no clue. I don't even know how 'Commander Shepard' became so effective and I just don't really want to mess with it. If it ain't broke..." He frowned a little at that and she smiled, shaking her head a little. "It's a human saying. 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Maybe 'Commander Shepard' would benefit from a bad-ass vigilante ex-cop by her side. I know I do..." He nodded at that.
"You know people are going to find out eventually?" She nodded.
"Yeah, yeah. And then everyone will want to know about the first celebrity human-turian couple. I just want to enjoy the quiet while it lasts." He nodded.
"I completely agree, ani."