As the Hanar walked up, Anya already felt everyone's eyes on her. After all, she not only just called a renowned Hanar actor, Opan, by his character name, but she also shrieked it like a child. Next to her, Garrus was already doing a shit job at stifling a laugh, and she sincerely wondered if having a boyfriend was worth the added embarrassment. Jabbing him in the gut, Anya straightened, tried to swallow her lobster blush, and smiled like she wasn't an idiot who just made an ass of herself. "I mean- It's an honor to meet you."

Opan tipped his... head? Anya really didn't know Hanar biology as well as she should. "This one sees you are familiar with my existence. This one is flattered. I am not unfamiliar with your work, Commander Shepard."

"Oh my god, you know who I am?" Garrus snorted and Anya realized she needed to rein it in. If not, she was going to make a worse embarrassment out of herself. "I mean, of course you know who I am, Hero of the Citadel, can't really run from a title like that can you? I just can't believe-"

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Garrus interrupted, saying, "I think what my Commander is trying to say is that she's a bit of a fan."

Anya would've appreciated the save if he didn't look so smug about it.

"R-right." Tugging at the only loose lock of hair by her ear, Anya asked, wanting to divert from her embarrassment, "So, how did an actor end up involved in all this?"

With a curt nod, the Hanar didn't seem affected by her tragic fangirling. Granted, it wasn't like she was good at reading Hanar expressions. "Regardless of this one's career, all Hanar are devoted to their planet and the Enkindlers. When the Drell was causing havoc, this one was on Illium and was asked to get involved." Opan bobbed his head to the side before adding, "While military training is among this one's skills, I regret to inform you that yelling "Enkindle this" is not actually in this one's vocabulary."

For what it was worth it was a funny joke, and Anya was fascinated by the concept of a funny Hanar, but the problem was that Anya was in the throes of death by mortification. She gave a real shitty and uneven chuckle. "Fair."

Of all people to save her ass, Anya was surprised it was Miranda. But the Cerberus liaison cut straight through the awkward blabbering with her laser-cutting glare and hot -but terrifying- crossed arms look. "So if I understand this right, you both are in this with conflicting interests?"

While Anya expected it to just be a very professional way to divert the conversation, she was even more surprised to see Anaya looking a little bit uncomfortable after it was asked. She was twirling a bracelet around her wrist over and over. Thank god it wasn't tight or she wouldn't have a hand at this point.

Not being the only awkward fidgeter here was comforting, but not so much when it was a detective talking about her case objectivity.

Anaya coughed and said, "The case has been a bit... difficult since we are trying to protect our own people, but we've found a way to work together. And having some extra firepower doesn't hurt. But your officer is right, we should remain objective. Since you checked out the crime scene first, would you be willing to answer some of our questions?"

Looking at the detective, now showing off the more overwhelmed side of her, Anya was able to ignore the absolute superstar next to her and feel her Commander muscles flex. "I can do you one better. Let us in on the case. We want to help you get both of them out of your hair and off this station," Anya offered, with a smirk.

First, the detective gave a tentative glance to the Hanar next to her. But when he didn't seem to react, she looked back to Anya with far-more-relaxed shoulders and less bracelet-burn. "That... might just be able to work."

"Great." That was a good answer. After her complete fuck up in the beginning, she had to feel proud of getting things back in order. That was more Commander-y of her, right?

Dear lord, between revealing her relationship with Garrus and this, maybe getting resurrected had fucked her up a little bit. She used to be so put together. Nothing like this ever happened. And if it wasn't Cerberus' fault, she really had to start blaming those damned drinks on Noveria.

That's when it all went downhill.

Miranda interrupted her thoughts by coughing, and Anya realized everyone was dead silent, staring at her.

Awesome, back to fucking up, it seemed. Straightening her shoulders, Anya tried to pull together the most composed face she had on hand. If only she was a better actor. "So how'd we end up here with all of... this?" Anya gestured to the bloody door, and Anaya winced.

But the Asari soon put on a more serious face, the kind you'd expect on a seasoned detective. Her brow was all stern and she even tucked her hands behind her back. Commander Shepard remembered that particular pose, during some military tour by Thessia. She must have had time in the Commandos before she became an Illium cop.

Anya's speculating was cut short by Anaya explaining the situation. "Thane is cleaning up jobs where he felt like he spared evil people. He started by killing a powerful Asari faith leader, which attracted the attention of the Justicar. As he keeps ticking people off his list, the closer she's gotten to him. We'd like to catch up to them before they tear Illium apart. They're two experts trying to face each other head on."

"Why is she hunting him if he kills bad people?"

The detective sighed, looking torn. "Justicars have a very black and white moral code. Murder is murder. Unfortunately for trying to get these two to NOT kill each other, so does Thane."

"So this is going to be a hellscape, stopping them?"

"Probably."

"Awesome." Per usual, the mission was out of control before it even started. Granted, this one was a little more sideways than normal, considering their targets were trying to murder one another. But it barely phased her at this point.

Anya should probably be a little more concerned about that.

Looking between Anaya, Opan, and her team, Commander Shepard was all too aware there wasn't anything they could do today. At the same time, though, it felt so... pointless to just abandon them here. Whether it was because of her attachment to the Hanar floating next to his partner or her own disappointment with the situation, Anya wasn't sure.

And she really didn't care to figure it out.

With a quick scan of the area, Commander Shepard said, "Well, none of us can do much else here. At least let us give you two an armed escort home. We have to do something with these bodyguard looks, right?"

Even though she looked a little perplexed, Anaya shrugged. "Why not?" She pulled up her omni-tool and showed Anya the address so that they could put it in their map systems and be led there. It wasn't a long walk, only a few blocks. Not quite comforting. That meant the detective herself lived in a fairly shady part of the station.

Granted, despite her thin, small stature, Anya was pretty sure the Asari could handle herself.

Her interest in Anaya waned in the face of the Hanar next to her, though. Despite her best efforts, she still couldn't think quite straight and was just itching to know why the hell he was even here. Between his occupation and his involvement, it was all so weird that she couldn't resist.

Not to mention, it was pretty fucking cool to hear his voice say normal sentences to her. Fulfilled a lot of childhood nostalgic fantasizing about Blasto being her friend that she would never speak to a single soul about.

Trying to act casual, Anya took a long stride forward to be by his side and asked, "So... were you already on Illium before this or...?"

Opan didn't even react, at least not physically. "If you are trying to ask about this one's whereabouts for filming purposes, I am under contract to not divulge information."

That wasn't what she meant at all. But she was fascinated at his mixed use of "This one" and "I". Normally Hanar swayed one way or the other, depending how much time they spent with other species. Diplomats, vendors, travellers ended up choosing I. Religious figures and members of the homeworld stuck to "this one".

It was bizarre and intriguing that Opan stuck somewhere in between.

Didn't change how startled she was by his answer, though.

Flustered, Anya waved her hands to try to clear things up. Dear god, her childhood hero did not need to think she was as crazy as to be the stalking type of fan. "No! I would never-"

The turian trailing her interrupted, saying, "That's exactly what she was doing." Anya turned and slapped his shoulder, as he deserved. And that dumb man just kept smirking down at her, all proud of himself.

Why she was dating someone so infuriating, she had no damn clue. Maybe she was the sick one for finding it far more charming than he deserved.

"Garrus Vakarian I swear to-"

In the midst of their calm stroll, Kasumi showed up out of nowhere and started giggling. "Wow, Commander, didn't realize you were such a tragic and invasive fangirl. Stick to the forums, don't harass the talent."

The Asari jumped. "What the fuck?" Anaya didn't seem pleased with the sudden Kasumi, not that she could blame her.

Anya just pinched the bridge of her nose. She was trying to seem normal and sane for five seconds and then-

In a hail mary of a response, Anya said, "That's Kasumi, she used to be a master thief and probably didn't feel too comfortable with a detective around until we were confirmed allies."

Kasumi frowned. "Used to be a master thief? If I told you how many things I've swiped in the past week-"

"Oh my god, stop, I was trying not to sound like assholes." Anya grimaced at the now very startled Anaya. Of all things she needed, looking like galactic felons wasn't one of them. "I swear her stealing is just the Robin Hood kind lately, used to fight off the Collectors and protect human colonists. Nothing else. And if it is anything else, she better return it."

In response, the thief stuck her tongue out and put her tactical cloak back on. When Miranda herself dared a snigger, Anya narrowed her eyes and glared at all three of her companions. "You all are the worst and I am firing every one of you."

"I do not mind. This one understands the way of Spectres doing what they need to do. And this one is honored to have a real Spectre for a fan."

Anya was surprised about being called a Spectre, after all that had happened. Shaking her head, she said, "I'm not really a spectre anymore."

"You are a Spectre to this one."

Anya didn't expect it, but she felt her heart swell. It was dumb, because it wasn't like he was a real spectre with any real standing, but so many other people she ran into felt all skeeved about her death, her forced Cerberus labor, or all of the above. She could still hear Liara's disgust in her ears.

Opan wasn't her old friend validating her, but he was her childhood hero, someone who made her smile when she felt alone. When she hated the military the most, locked away in her room because her mother was too busy being captain, it was Blasto that reminded her that soldiers weren't just gun-toting weapons of abandonment. It was cheesy, but having his approval...

Well, it meant something, even if it probably shouldn't.

No wonder she turned her into a little girl in his presence.

Before she could respond, try to say something meaningful, Anaya piped up and said, "Here's my place!"

With how much the detective suddenly perked up, Anya couldn't blame her. She agreed to work with an idiot fangirl, a snarky turian, a thief, and a scary Cerberus officer. If Anya had the capacity to regret her decisions in company anymore, she'd feel it, too.

Nodding Anaya's way, she looked to the Hanar, standing right next to the detective.

"Okay! With you settled, then we'll escort Bla- Opan to where he's staying. Just tell us the address and-"

Kasumi popped up next to Anya and put a hand on her shoulder. "Shep. Sweetheart. There isn't another address."

"Oh." When Anaya and Opan moved slightly closer to one another and didn't say a word, Anya felt ready to jump off a cliff. "Oh!" Facepalming, she hoped she wasn't blushing too damn much. Was she really this oblivious all the time? Maybe this is why she and Garrus got away with absolutely nothing.

Almost choking on her own words, Anya admitted, "I guess that's one way to figure out how to get along."

Garrus grabbed both her shoulders and turned her away from their new partners in crime-fighting. "And by that she means good night."

Miranda said a respectful goodbye and traded some information with them, but she could hear Kasumi giggling behind her.

Lucky for her, no one gave a shit about her and Garrus anymore, so the turian put his arm around her while she cradled her face in her hands. He was guiding her, because she absolutely couldn't look up. While she could learn to accept people seeing her dating life on display, that was not the case with her damn lobster face. Anya would never enjoy showing that off.

In the comfort of his arms, she admitted, "I'm a tragic embarrassment."

"You are, but we still respect you." He squeezed her shoulders. "Mostly." When Anya bumped his shoulder a little rougher than normal he laughed. At least someone was enjoying this. But then he offered, "Would you like to put your helmet on for a little while to cover your face?"

"Yeah."

And then she walked all the way back to the Normandy that way, helmet on, trying to not look like an idiot. Hopefully instead she just looked like a mysterious weirdo. That would be better.

At least it gave her time to calm down the blood vessels in her face so that by the time they changed and reconvened in the debriefing room, she was comfortably in sweats and there were no lobster-faces in sight. Now she was capable of being a bit more like the Commander she was supposed to be.

Yes, that included slouching in chairs and messy hair, but her team was used to that by now.

When they were finally gathered, it took a bit longer than expected. Kasumi spent a little too much time forgetting she was lurking in the corner, cloaked, because she came to the room early with the intention to surprise them, but then got distracted by her and Garrus flirting. Typical. The woman had the gall to call Anya a fangirl when she was obsessed with any and all romance on the ship.

But Miranda got them straight to business, the kind of focus they needed on this batshit, wild day of the Commander making a mess of herself. "Anaya and Blasto gave me the info about these two. Thane Krios and Samara. Let's take a look." On the screen, Miranda pulled up a fuller dossier on Samara, including a scan of her face. When a gorgeous, freckled Asari popped up on the screen, Miranda muttered, "She's beautiful."

Anya smirked. So they all were a bit of a mess today. If anything, she preferred it that way. "She is, isn't she Miranda?"

The Cerberus officer threw an icy glare back at her. "Oh shut up."

"At least she doesn't have a celebrity crush on a fake Hanar Spectre, " Garrus said, still chuckling like an asshole. Dear god, would he ever let it go?

Sinking down in her seat, Anya grumbled. "Garrus Vakarian, butt out."

"I think it's cute." She was going to make him suffer for all this snark and smirking. Cute? If he didn't give her the helmet earlier, she'd sincerely have to contemplate- "In a "tentacle porn kind of way."

Okay, that was it.

Glaring, Anya said, "You know, this is how you get banished. I could drop you off at a random planet and never come back."

"You couldn't and you know it."

"I could. Don't test me, Vakarian."

"But what if I did?"

Miranda was less pleased with their outbursts. "Off your weird flirting and back to the mission, you two."

Then she actually made them pay attention while she basically gave a lecture on Samara and Thane Krios for an hour. While Anya appreciated more information, she also preferred learning it alone on her datapad, or better, in the lap of a certain turian paying penance for being an asshole.

When they were finally free, though, she did get to corner him in the hallway by her room.

"You were such a dick today."

"C'mon, it was priceless. If I acted like that you would've absolutely ribbed me for it." Pressing his forehead against hers, he added, "But if you need me to make it up to you, I can do that."

Anya pressed her mouth to his before saying, "You want to do a double feature, if you know what I mean?"

Even though Garrus' breath was heavy on her lips, his chuckling low and rumbling in his chest, the way it was when he was a little flustered, he pulled away. She really didn't like the stern way he was trying to look at her. "I'd love to, but I've learned a bit more about human physiology lately." Oh no. He traced a talon right above her cheeks. "Those bags under your eyes aren't good, are they?"

Busted. Trying to look cute and innocent, Anya pouted. "Psh, who needs sleep?"

"You do. So go get some. You can see me in the morning." Garrus cocked his head. "And what is wrong with your lower lip? Why are you pushing it out like that? Is that another symptom of sleep deprivation?"

Anya sucked her lips back in and grimaced. Great, she forgot expressions don't always translate right. "Nevermind. Just stay, won't you? I promise I'll sleep."

Garrus groaned. "Anya..."

"Finneee. But just know you're missing out."

"Oh trust me, I do." He placed a soft, barely-there kiss to her forehead and while it was sweet, it wasn't what she wanted. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Garrus."

When the metal doors shut behind her, Anya groaned. After her shitty, embarrassing day of being less than a Commander, she just wanted a win. Hopefully the handsome turian kind. But Garrus was right, no matter how much she hated to admit that.

All it took was one glance in a mirror to see the piling trash bags on her face, like a beacon showing off her lack of sleep. Between Kaidan, Garrus, the dossiers, and trying to keep up with the Collectors, she was beat. But when did she really have the time to sleep? She had to keep up with everything.

Being with Garrus made the lack of sleep bearable, not make it worse.

Buit explaining to him that she'd been sleep deprived for years would only make him push harder for her to take a break. Worse, maybe even make the whole team enforce it.

So all she could do was flop on her bed face first and try to groan her sincere frustrations into the damn pillow. It made it kind of hard to breathe. If she just closed her eyes maybe she could just accidentally pass out and in the morning she could be more refreshed and convince Garrus to-

Like a sick joke, her omni-tool pinged.

Groaning louder, Anya lifted her head off her pillow and opened the message. She expected it to be Jack bitching about Miranda or Tali trying to send her some cute varren videos off the extranet, but it wasn't.

Instead, it was from Opan: Commander Shepard. After we meet tomorrow, this one has to talk to you about something of grave importance.

Anya blinked very slowly, staring at the message. How fucking ominous.

Well, sleep sounded nice, a minute ago. But now she had some things to look up about Hanar and Drell. She didn't need to be blind-sided or distracted during their conversation. She needed to keep focus. A repeat of today would be... bad.

Propping up her pillows and opening the extranet, Anya went back to being the best Commander she could be.

Sleep could wait.

/

Hey guys! Today is finally the day! At 7 PM Eastern US time, I will be streaming my Anya Shepard Mass Effect playthrough! I'll share the link to my page here and also through my Tumblr, so please check it out. I like to tell stories and sing inappropriate songs during firefights so I hope it'll be fun. If you miss this week's, don't worry! I plan to stream Mass Effect every Saturday and Witcher every Wednesday. (Shakarian Saturday and Witcher Wednesday, oh how alliterative of me). Twitch: .tv./thespacebard Tumblr: I am enjoying this mini-arc style a lot for the moment so I hope you guys are too 3.