Captain's Quarters
Shepard sat up forward and gasped. She was breathing heavy. She looked over at Liara and Patrick, who were still asleep. Shepard wiped her forehead and noticed she was sweating. Shepard looked over at the clock and realized the three of them had slept in.
She felt her forehead and she felt the sweat that had accumulated. She went to the bathroom and washed her face clean. She stared into the mirror. These past two days had been all over the place. The Reapers were here and she was a mom! She still hadn't told her own mother. If Hackett knows however, then she does too. Shepard didn't know if her mom had something on Hackett but she always seemed to know what they talked about, Alliance business and all. Either way, Shepard had a lot to do. She exited to the bathroom to find Liara already awake and changed. She motioned for Shepard to join her outside the door, so they could talk.
"How did you sleep?" Liara asked.
"Just great," Shepard lied. She had a nightmare. It was awful, but Shepard didn't want to burden anyone else over a bad dream.
"Shepard, you woke up in a sweat," Liara replied.
"I thought you were still asleep," Shepard replied.
"It's more than that though. I know you had to save Patrick from where he was, but don't you think you could have given a little more thought before you-" Liara said.
"You don't think I should have adopted him?" Shepard asked bluntly.
"A child is a lot of work Shepard. We are in a struggle for survival in a race against time; it's hardly the time-" Liara tried to interject.
"I woke up in sweat because I had a nightmare. It was about the people I couldn't save," Shepard began.
Liara went silent.
"I could hear them saying my name. Calling out to me. And Patrick was there. He was running around in circles. Every time I got close he would disappear. When I finally reach him, he bursts into flames."
"But you saved him Shepard, we all shared a bed last night," Liara said.
"I'm afraid that if he goes anywhere else, I won't be able to prevent that. And I won't be able to sleep at night knowing that I could have prevented that. I'm aware we can't save everyone, but at least I've saved him. And I'm going to make sure of it," Shepard proclaimed.
There was a silence between the two.
"You know I support you in this Shepard. It might not seem like it, but I truly do. Everything is changing so much now; this just isn't a change that I'm ready for at the moment. Perhaps after a while I will, but for now, I'll sleep in my quarters, where Miss Lawson's office used to be," Liara said.
Shepard frowned. Their conversation was broken by the sound of the elevator door opening. Out walked a woman Shepard had never seen before. She had her eyes closed as she stepped out of the elevator, a sign she was nervous. She wanted to start talking first and sure enough as the first word left her mouth, her eyes opened as she turned.
"Commander Shepard? I'm Specialist- oh!" the woman said. "I beg your pardon, I thought you were alone."
"I should get back to my quarters and update the turian councilor about the Prothean device. Last I checked he won't budge until the primarch is safe," Liara said walking into the elevator.
"Commander Shepard? I'm Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor, with Alliance R&D," Traynor said saluting Shepard. "I was part of the team retrofitting the Normandy after you turned it over to the Alliance. There weren't many of us aboard when the Reapers hit . . ."
"Slow down, Specialist Traynor. You're doing fine. I also understand that you are also the one who helped look after Patrick when I was on Mars," Shepard said smiling.
"Oh, it was my pleasure. He's a sweet boy. I understand that you've actually adopted him," Traynor asked.
"Yes it's true," Shepard said.
"Congratulations," she said. She looked around a bit. "I worked in a lab. I never thought I'd be serving on a ship," Traynor said.
"Why don't you tell me about the retrofits?" Shepard asked leading the way into her quarters.
Upon entering, Shepard was glomped by Patrick, who was awake, had found Shepard's hoodie and was wearing it himself, despite it being oversized.
"It looks good on you," Traynor heard Shepard say.
When Patrick was put on the ground, he looked over at Traynor. He ran over to her and gave her a hug.
"Oh! It's good to see you again too," Traynor said patting him on the head.
Patrick went back to the bed.
"The retrofits?" Shepard asked.
Normandy(Docked at the Citadel), 2 days later
"I have a few things to take care of while we are here. You'll be spending the day with Sam. Be good for her," Shepard said.
"How long will you be gone?" Patrick asked.
"Probably a few hours," Shepard replied.
The primarch approached from behind.
"Ready when you are Commander. I'm still not sure why Sparatus wants to see me before the War Summit but the sooner I see him, the sooner we can get going toward that meeting," he said.
Shepard nodded and the two of them left. Traynor walked up to Patrick.
"Have you ever been on the Citadel before?" she asked.
"No. I never left Earth before," he replied.
"You are in for a treat. I know a great sushi place near the presidium," she said.
"Did someone say sushi?" a voice broke over the loudspeaker.
'Oh boy, Joker and his fish" Sam said.
"I love sushi, count me in!" Joker's voice said.
"I guess there is three of us going to get sushi," Sam said.
Ryuusei's Sushi Bar
Patrick was memorized! The floor beneath them was glass and you could see fish swimming just beneath you! Neat! The three of them had just gotten their food. Joker ate one of his tuna rolls.
"MMM! So good!" he let out before swallowing his food.
"So Joker, what's it like now that EDI has a physical form?" Sam asked picking up a roll of her own.
"I'm still getting used to it. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's weird hearing her anywhere else on the ship now and not seeing her physical form," Joker said.
"Good thing you spend most of your time in the cockpit then," she replied.
"Haha very funny," Joker replied dipping another roll before eating it. "What do you think little man? How's the grub?"
"I like it," Patrick replied swallowing one of his rolls. "Can I ask a question?"
"Sure," Joker replied.
"Is Liara Commander Shepard's girlfriend?" he asked nonchalantly.
The questioned cause Joker to laugh and Samantha to drop the roll she held in her chopsticks.
"I'm guessing she forgot to explain things to him," Joker said looking at Traynor. He turned to Patrick. "Yeah, they are together. They have been for a while."
It didn't surprise Samantha that Commander Shepard was taken. She just wasn't aware that her significant other was on board the ship. She thought back to when she had walk in on them having a conversation. She was suddenly thankful that she didn't walk in on something else.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Patrick asked Joker bluntly. It caused Samantha to chuckle.
"Laugh it up Traynor, I don't see you with a man on your arm," Joker said.
"That's because it wouldn't be a man on my arm," she replied teasingly.
It caused Joker to choke on his water for a moment.
"What does that mean?" Patrick asked.
"Oh, it means that I fancy other women," she said selecting her next roll. "The Commander also gave me a some funding to get you some clothes. Can't have you going around in the same outfit all the time."
Normandy, hours later
While Sam didn't mind watching Patrick; he was a sweet boy, but she didn't expect her first assignment on a ship would be designated babysitter. However, they did arrive back to the Normandy before Shepard had returned; Patrick was in Shepard's quarters. Apparently Lieutenant-Commander Williams was conscious again, which delayed Shepard's return, as a visit was no doubt in order. Sam had only seen her a few times before the Reapers had arrived. While Sam and her team were working on the new retrofits, Ashley Williams was deemed commanding officer of the ship. She never took residence in the captain's quarters though, opting to stay in the Starboard Observation Deck, close to the crew quarters. That was when Traynor could have sworn she got a glimpse of Miss Williams in sleeping shorts.
"Focus Sam!" she whispered to herself, lightly shaking her head, trying to focus on her work and not on the memory of Ashley Williams figure. "Or her beautiful black hair- Samantha! Not now!"
EDI and her were just finishing clearing up what appeared to be a distress call from Grissom Academy. While it had been answered something seemed off.
"The commanding officer is aboard," EDI's voice rang out.
Samantha looked up and saw the Commander enter the ship from the airlock, the primarch on her side. They were going to walk past her, so she thought it wise to bring up what she had found.
"Commander Shepard, I need to have a word with you please," she asked saluting Shepard.
The primarch didn't stop walking; he went towards the CIC.
"I hope Patrick didn't give you any trouble," Shepard replied.
"Oh! No, it was on his best behavior and we managed to get him some new clothes. I believe he is trying some of them on in your quarters now," Traynor replied.
"Ah I see. Listen, I want to thank you for your help with him. I know it's not what you signed up for, and I want you to know you have a right to say no," Shepard said.
Samantha was surprised, but glad that Shepard knew she wasn't just the ship's babysitter. She was here to help with the war effort.
"Now what was it you had to tell me?" Shepard asked.
"Oh right. I picked up a distress call from Grissom Academy," she began.
"I spent some time there while I learned how to master my biotics," Shepard replied.
"Which is why I wanted to tell you about it," Traynor replied. "The signal was answered by a turian ship nearby."
"That's good. So what's the issue?" Shepard asked.
"It was answered two minutes after the call went out. There's no way a turian ship would be that close to the academy for any reason," Sam said.
"If Specialist Traynor's decoding is correct, it shows a similar pattern to the distress call from the disabled Collector ship Shepard," EDI's voice said over the speakers.
"Then it looks like we know why the call went out in the first place: Cerberus," Shepard said. "EDI, set a course for Grissom Academy. But right after we deal with this, we have to head to the war summit," Shepard said.
"Right away Commander," EDI replied.
"Good work Traynor," Shepard said smiling at Samantha.
"Thank you Commander," she replied. "What's in the bag?"
Shepard looked down at the black bag she held in her hand.
"Oh this? It's a gift for Patrick," she replied. "I had to contact an old friend in the N7 program to make sure one was available."
"Well I won't keep Patrick from his gift. Commander," Traynor said nodding and heading back to her console.
Captains Quarters
Patrick was looking at a pad was had previously been on the Commander's desk. He was watching a video that Traynor had placed on for him when it suddenly ended. He swiped the video away and was at the pad's home screen. His eyes were drawn to photos app. He clicked on it. It had not been closed properly after it had been opened before, so the previously viewed photo appeared. His attention was taken when the door opened.
"Hey buddy, did you enjoy your day?" Shepard said walking into the room. "You found my tablet?"
"Samantha put a video on for me but it ended," he replied.
"Ah, I see," she said sitting down next to him on the bed, taking the tablet and looking at the photo.
She sighed and put her one hand on the photo.
"This was taken on Virimie, just before our last mission as a full crew together," she said showing the photo to Patrick.
In the photo, Shepard had her arms hanging off the shoulders of Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko. Also in the photo were Garrus, Tali, Liara, and Wrex. The original Normandy was in the background.
"Why weren't you a full crew anymore?" Patrick asked.
Shepard sighed. She moved her hand over Kaidan.
"Kaidan was killed in action on that mission," Shepard said. She closed her eyes.
"And it was my fault."
Shepard's eyes shot open. Did she say that out loud or in her head? She looked over at Patrick, who was still looking at the photo. Apparently she had caught her.
"Jesus Shepard, don't break down in front of the kid. It's the last thing he needs," she thought to herself.
Shepard swiped the photo to the left and a new photo was in its place. This one was of a larger group of individuals. Shepard, in the middle, with the Normandy SR-2 in the background. Garrus and Tali were the only two from the first photo to be in the second, besides Shepard. They all seem to have their weapons at the ready.
"This one was taken right after we crash landed on the Collector base after passing throwing the Omega 4 relay. Some of them . . well all of them actually tried to tell me that having just crashed landed on the enemy ship in the middle of a supposed suicide mission wasn't the best place to take a group photo but I forgot to take one before we launched the mission so we had this one taken by one of Tali's drones. I actually think it came out pretty good all things considering," Shepard said.
"Is that why you are the only one smiling?" Patrick asked looking at Shepard.
Shepard began to laugh as she looked at herself in the photo again. She was standing there with a big smile on her face, her hand holding up two fingers, her other on her hip.
"Yeah that's probably right. Oh! By the way, before I forget, I got you something," Shepard said tossing the pad onto an open part of the bed. She reached beside her and grabbed the bag that was sitting beside her. She handed it to Patrick who looked inside and pulled out the contents. It was a sweater exactly like Commander Shepard's! Expect it was his size.
"I saw you found your way into it mine before, but it's a bit too big for you. So now you have your own!" she said with a smile.
"Wow neat! Thank you!" he said as he feverish tried to put it on before succeeding.
"It looks good on you," Shepard said.
Patrick jumped up and ran over to part of the fish tank where he could see his own reflection. Shepard couldn't help but smile. It looked like he was just getting back to being a kid again and not this helpless little boy she pulled from a vent. She stood up and walked over to him.
'I really like it! Thank you Commander Shepard!" he replied. Shepard smiled and got on one knee.
"I think we should talk about something," she said.
"Like what?" he asked.
"You know why you get to stay on the Normandy right? You know what adopted means?" she asked.
"No," he said.
"Well, it means that you are now my son . . and I'm your mom. You're just as much Shepard as I am," Shepard said.
Just as Patrick's brain was processing what he just head EDI's voice filled the room.
"Commander, Garrus is requesting permission to enter your quarters."
"Send him in EDI," Shepard said standing up.
Patrick watched as a turian entered the room. He was different then the one he had seen before.
"I never thought I'd see the day Commander Shepard could call herself a parent," the turian said walking into the room.
"Laugh it up Vakarian. Patrick, this is Garrus, he's one of my oldest friends," Shepard said.
"How do you do?" Garrus said, waving his one hand.
"Hello," Patrick replied.
"Garrus here started helping me way back when I was trying to stop Saren," Shepard said.
"Well now that just makes me sound old Shepard," Garrus replied.
"Right, cause the scars are doing so much for you," Shepard replied.
"Oh but they are, they drove the women on Palaven crazy," Garrus replied.
Shepard smirked. "Talk it up Garrus."
"I was informed we are taking a detour to Grissom Academy," Garrus said.
"That's right. Something fishy about a distress call" Shepard replied.
"You sure you'll be ok seeing your old school again?" Garrus asked.
"You're going back to school?" Patrick asked.
"In a way. Not to learn though. The people of Grissom Academy helped me master my biotic ability. If I can help out, I will" Shepard said.
"So does that mean your going solo?" Garrus joked.
"Oh no. You and Vega are coming with me," Shepard said.
"I'm sure the Commander has lots of stories about when she was at Grissom Academy that she hasn't told you about," Garrus said to Patrick.
"Really?" Patrick asked turning to Shepard with a smile.
"Yes, I do," Shepard said, speaking through her teeth, looking at Garrus.
"I'll be ready when you need me," Garrus said heading out of the room.
Liara's Quarters, hours later
Liara was reviewing new information on a data-pad before forwarding it to Admiral Hackett's people working on the prothean weapon. Shepard, Garrus, and Lieutenant Vega were on their way back from Grissom Academy, having just stopped Cerberus from abducting several students and some professors. Liara has hypothesized that the students would have been experimented on with regards to Reaper indoctrination. The discovery of indoctrination on that one Cerberus troop on Mars was disturbing. How did one except to study something like that without falling for it? Shepard had found that out the hard way when she tried to rescue Dr. Amanda Kenson only to find out that Dr. Kenson was already indoctrinated. It was a rash decision of Shepard to go that mission alone, even if Hackett had requested it. It was a rash, but necessary decision to allow the system to be destroyed. Making rash decisions seemed to be a habit of her love. Adopting a child at this time. She didn't by any means dislike the boy, and she understood where Shepard was coming from, but this wasn't something she had wanted to be a part of without giving it rational thought. And Shepard had thrust it onto her without giving her a chance to even get a thought in. She didn't want to argue in front of the child, and the Specialist had interrupted what would have been a loud argument. The solar day was winding down and Liara was tired. She figured a quick cup of tea and off the bed. She was thankful the kitchen area of the ship was on the opposite side of the wall of her office. She quickly boiled the water and began to soak her tea when she heard the elevator open and heard was sounded like a group of people. She picked up her mug and quickly made her way back into her office before anyone saw her. To her surprise, she found Shepard sitting in a chair in her office.
"Oh! Shepard! How did you find your way in here? I was just over there" Liara asked motioning towards the kitchen.
Shepard had one of her elbows on her thigh and the other was hanging in between her legs. She waved her one hand and a few flare briefly appeared in her. She was in her Alliance Officer Uniform.
"I see. I'm assuming the mission to Grissom Academy went well?" Liara asked.
"Yes, it did. We managed to save the students as well as an administrator and a teacher," Shepard said standing up. "We are heading to the War Summit now, which is why I'm dressed this way."
She motioned to her uniform. Liara nodded, putting her tea on her desk. Shepard approached her.
"You look nice Shepard," Liara said.
Shepard smiled for a moment. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about Shepard," Liara replied.
"No I do. I realize that we still have out separate lives from each other, and I shouldn't have tried to force you into something you aren't ready for," Shepard said taking her hands. "Being a parent with Patrick is my journey, it's part of my story. It just you are just as important to me, I tried to blend them in."
Liara wrapped her arms Shepard and sighed in relief.
"You know all I need is time to adjust," Liara said.
"I know, I know," Shepard said. "I'm sorry."
"All in the past Shepard," Liara replied.
Liara put her hands on Shepard cheeks, her fingers through Shepard's blonde hair, and kissed her forehead, before leaning her own forehead into Shepard's. After a moment. Shepard spoke.
"I see you've already made yourself at home here."
The pair separated.
"A few things were necessary. I'd be a very silent Shadow Broker without datafeeds," Liara said with a smile.
"So you have access to your resources?" Shepard asked.
"What I can get. We'll need it to research this Prothean device," Liara said walking over to her chair, which she sat in. "Until we understand precisely what it does, it's far too dangerous to use."
"It'd be nice to know we're not kids playing around with a loaded gun," Shepard joked.
"Absolutely. The damage it could cause if it backfired is unthinkable," Liara replied. "This will be difficult, even for us. If something happens on a mission, if either one of us are hurt . . . I'll always remember that tour of the Normandy, but let's be honest Shepard. It's been more than half a year. And not that last night was odd, but should we continue where we left off?" Liara asked.
"I'd like that more than anything, Liara," Shepard said rubbing Liara's cheek with her right hand.
"Good. Not that I was worried," Liara said smirking.
"There were a lot of reasons I was happy to see you on Mars," Shepard smirked herself, pulling the two of them together.
"I'd like that list . . but later. There's so much left to do," Liara said separating. "I'm working with EDI. Hopefully we can discover what the Protheans left for us. But's I'm looking forward to talking about something other than business. Maybe later?" Liara said.
Shepard nodded and began to walk out of the room.
"Oh, by the way. The teacher from Grissom Academy; It was Jack," Shepard said.
"Subject Zero? Really? Is she on the ship?" Liara asked.
"Jack is currently on level 4 of the Normandy, asleep in her old quarters," EDI's voice rang out in the room.
"One other person is on that deck."
"Better tell Adams to steer clear," Shepard joked.
"Engineer Adams is currently on break on level 3," EDI said.
"So who is the other person on level 4?" Liara asked.
Normandy, Level 4
Patrick ran back and forth on the deck. He held a model of the Normandy in his hand above his head. He imitated flying sounds as he ran back and forth. He stopped as the door to his left opened. No one was there and he entered the hallway. There was another door in front of him and a pair of stairs that left down to the left. He slowly went down the stairs. He reached the bottom and saw a woman sleeping on a cot. He was covered in tattoos. He started to tiptoe towards her, his own curiosity driving him forward. The woman made a sound and turned in her sleep. He froze. He didn't want her to wake up. He started to walk back towards the stairs. He heard steps overhead on the deck above. All he had to do was not make a sound. He started up the stairs when the model ship fell from his hand and clanked against the floor. As the ship lifted off the metal of the step on its way down the stairs, Patrick was lifted into the air, a blue aura surrounding him.