"People will talk

Saying, 'it's not meant to be'

But I think that we know differently"

- Elizabeth Daily, Mind Over Matter

"Captain, I'm picking up a tachyon surge… I think whoever's in the shuttle is trying to trigger the transwarp conduit," said the crewman, his eyepiece glinting in the warm, even light of the ship's bridge. A bearded officer appeared onscreen, dressed in a red and black uniform. He turned to his right, ordering,

"Can you see who's on board?"

The image filled up with static, duplicating, flipping and becoming distorted before dissolving completely, its audio echoing.

"- have to find him."

"Aw man, get the feed back!" Joker exclaimed, sitting up and tapping a few commands on a glowing orange console, bringing up a diagnostics window. A blue glow appeared off to his left.

"I am attempting to isolate the frequency, Mr Moreau."

"Yeah, you better," he replied, "They mentioned tachyons. Gotta keep my list current."

"Tachyons are mentioned by the same character six times in this episode, Mr Moreau."

"Spoilers, EDI!" He cried. "I need to find out what happens with the transwarp conduit! Normal subspace limitations don't apply to those variables, after all."

The image flared back to life, depicting the same characters as before.

"I've set up a temporary tachyon matrix in the main deflector. I think I can use it to simulate the pulse sent by the shuttle."

"Yessss," Joker said. "Gimme those sweet tachyons." Glancing sidelong at the clock, he settled back into his seat. The stars overhead pulling by at a hypnotic, glacial pace, he thought,

Sleep is for the weak when this is on.

A green light flickered to life on the console to his right. Tapping it by reflex before even consciously registering the idea, the words were already at his lips,

"Yes, Commander?"

"Joker."

Oh. That's not a good tone.

"Cockpit is closed," she said, "You were due for relief hours ago. I've sent Harrison up."

"Sta-"

"Right now," she interrupted, her tone hard. "I'm not going to tell you a second time."

"Yes Ma'am," he replied. There was a couple seconds' pause. "Anything else I can -"

"Look… I know what's on," she interrupted. Detecting in her voice what he could have sworn was a hint of sheepishness, he asked,

"Wait. You do?"

"Yeah. I get it. Stop by the Mess and wait for me. I have something for you," she said, the hard edge evaporating from her voice, something somewhat conciliatory there instead.

"Sure thing, Ma'am."

Stepping into the Mess Hall squinting, Shepard grimaced, her eyes adjusting to the stark lighting, contrasting with the dim ambiance of the cockpit.

"You know, I think it's going to take some time for me to get used to this. The old ship wasn't lit so bright," she said, holding her Omnitool up to a small locker set in the wall. "This feels a little bit more…"

"... Like a hospital?" Joker offered, taking care in placing his weight on just one leg, stretching.

"I would've said austere, but come to think of it, yes." She replied, placing a thin silver can next to his hand. "I think we're both a little too familiar with that kind of environment. Ah well. Looks like we have the place to ourselves."

Joker picked up the can, brushing away the thin layer of condensation with his thumb.

"Doesn't look the same as last time, no label. What is this?"

"It's poison," she replied, green eyes flashing as she took a can in hand herself, cracking it open. "Drink it."

"If it's not beer, then I don't want it." He said, grumbling, making a show of pushing it to the side.

"You must be tired. What do you take me for? Drink it, you ingrate," she said over her shoulder, collecting several more of the cans into the crook of her arm before bumping the locker shut with her elbow. "I don't share my private stores with every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes in here."

The light clink of her first can onto the metal table betrayed its emptiness. Raising an eyebrow, he shot her a sceptical look.

"One down before you're even at the table. It's that kind of night, huh?" He said with a wry smile. Sitting across from him, they both cracked a can at the same time, Shepard's eyes on him with a look he found difficult to place.

"It becomes that kind of night when I have to personally remind my Helmsman to get off his shift," she said, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other. Shifting in his seat, he downed the entire can without saying a word, giving himself time to think. "Listen," she said, gesturing to the ship around them, "I know she's your baby, and you love her. But you already take double shifts on the regular. How's Harrison meant to learn anything when you're up there sixteen, eighteen hours out of every day? I know you too well to expect an apology, but I shouldn't need to remind you that a tired pilot is a dead pilot."

Placing his empty can down, he could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks, the effects of a strong drink on an empty stomach. From a stolen glance, he could just make out a rosy tinge across her cheeks, too. The sharp crack of yet another can being opened breaking the silence between them, she asked,

"Why do you stay up so late?"

"Why do you wanna save the galaxy?" He retorted.

She slid her elbows forward onto the table, cupping her chin in her hands and replying,

"Because… I like… Ex-Existing? Generally."

"Well, I like flying. More than generally," he said, starting to feel the hours weighing on him, his eyelids growing heavy, and a pleasant warmth settling in his belly. "Hey, where'd you get this stuff?"

"Mm, it hits hard and kinda sudden, doesn't it? I got it last time we were on The Citadel. It's beer, but it's also got a bit of ryncol in it I think. Some krogan guy at a shop gave it to me because... of… Uh. There was a reason? But ask me tomorrow." She explained with a lopsided, mischievous grin. At first finding himself returning it, the expression soon faded as he thought,

Wow. A genuine smile? Rare thing to see these days, from her.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, pulling him back into the moment. "Sorry. Hey," she repeated, lowering her voice. "I'm off-duty, inasmuch as that's possible for me… We're not in the Alliance anymore -"

"Hence the beer." He interrupted, holding it up as if to punctuate his point.

"Yes, hence the beer," she agreed, continuing on, "So I'm speaking to you as a friend. I really hate telling you off. Don't make me do it again. You should make sure you get enough sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, well, you should bring less giant krogan babies on board, and way more asari." He replied, lifting the brim of his cap and leaning in on the table himself.

Taking care to catch his gaze and to hold it, with a soft smile, she said, "mhmm. I'm serious."

"Uh, yeah, so am I."

There was something in those eyes looking back at him that made him slow down and linger, keeping him from pulling back even when he could feel her elbow brushing his arm. They were leaning in a little closer than he had realised at first. Maybe this is the beer talking? I never had the chance to see this close up before, but…

"You… Wow, you really do have beautiful eyes."

The way she pulled back, tilting her head and blinking in surprise brought him crashing back to reality, fumbling the can. Fuck. Ah, wait. No, no wait. That was out loud! Think of something. Say something. Anything!

"Uh," he stammered, lacking a rejoinder. "I-"

"Ah, I have to… I still need to disassemble my rifle and clean it. Before I sleep. Before tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow? It doesn't, uh, take much of this stuff to sweep - er, knock me off my feet." She said, pushing up from the table, her brows knitting together in concentration.

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere, Commander. At least, nowhere far, you know," he replied, tapping his leg, wincing as he tried to keep up the appearance of a good-natured grin. "Goodnight."

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.