It was all Joker could do to not start cursing at his former crewmate and occasional co-pilot who now stood before him-
"Major Alenko!" Westmoreland exclaimed as she and Campbell immediately snapped to attention as Kaidan strolled into the cell.
Joker furrowed his brows at Kaidan. "Major, huh?" he scowled, making an effort to communicate every bit of insubordination that he could into each syllable as he continued to glare at the man who'd chosen loyalty to the Alliance over love.
"At ease, ladies" Kaidan replied with his characteristic easygoing laugh and smile. "And yes, Lieutenant," Kaidan continued as he met Joker's contemptuous glare with his own upbeat-yet-professional grin, "I was recently promote to major last month," he finished as he looked around the small room that had, up to now, been devoid of any of his former teammates for the past six months.
"Sir, Mr. Moreau was stripped of his rank for aiding and abetting Cerberus-" Private Campbell began.
The two former Normandy crewmates shared a momentary expression of Did she actually just correct me before Kaidan silenced Sarah with nothing more than a raised and slightly chilled stare. "Forgive me, private," he began, with added emphasis on her rank, "Old habits die hard."
"Unlike your loyalty," Joker muttered just barely loud enough for Alenko to hear. Kaidan shot him a raised eyebrow, but said nothing more.
"You'd three better get going…Specialist Traynor has a list a mile long regarding the Normandy's VI and the admiral," Kaidan finished. "Nice seeing you again, Joker," he finished as he slowly turned around and walked out of Joker's cell, leaving Campbell and Westmoreland motionless with dreamy expressions and Joker still glaring at the ass that, according to Tali, had come up in conversation at least once a day in the engine room.
"-sixteen times, Joker….sixteen times!" Tali had trilled privately to Joker while he had been waiting to use the bathroom one evening. "They even asked me what I thought of him, and I'm not even human!"
Joker had to suppress a chuckle. "And you told them…"
"Well, to be honest, he's fairly knowledge about his omni-tool mods and basic first aid, which any ship would find quite useful-"
Joker grinned to himself. Good ol' Tali, basing the attractiveness of someone on their usefulness to the fleet, he thought as glanced over at the daydreaming pair on either side of him. With a sigh, he cleared his throat loudly as he took a step forward which yanked both Campbell and Westmoreland back down to Earth.
"Uh, it's 0730, and we've still got quite the walk to the docking bay," Joker said quietly with a backwards glance and a pointed finger out the door
Bethany checked her watch, and her eyes widened when she saw the time. "Shit, he's right, Sarah," she replied as Joker continued to limp towards the door. "Let's go, Mr. Moreau."
Way ahead of you, ladies, Joker thought as he passed through the door frame and out into the hallway, eager to leave any place that had held Kaidan's presence for even a minute.
"I worry about the commander, Jeff," Yeomen Chambers confided to Joker during one of their frequent chats at the cockpit. (Kelly had helped him work through of his guilt over the commander's death after he had joined up with Cerberus, and the pair still continued to share their views on other crewmembers, as Kelly had quickly learned that the commander tended to gravitate towards him and Garrus.) "She appears to be under a great deal of stress right now."
Joker raised an eyebrow and gave her a sidelong glance from his chair "Um, aren't we all?" he replied as he checked the team's beacons on the planet below. (Shepard had caught wind of a Blue Suns base, and had taken both Zaeed and Garrus to investigate it.)
"I have occasionally observed the commander sitting in her quarters and staring at the picture of her former crewmate, Kaidan Alenko," EDI offered in, her purple hologram appeared unbidden. "She also frequently rereads an e-mail from him that was sent a few hours after she returned aboard the Normandy after the Collector attack on Horizon."
Joker's eyes widened a bit. "Okay, first of all, not cool with you spying on her," he said with a point of his finger at EDI's hologram, "-and more importantly, she's still has a thing for him after what he said to her after that debacle?"
Kelly nodded. "I tried to talk to her about it-"
Joker sighed. "Yeah…me too." He looks back up at Kelly, hopefully expectant. You get anywhere with her?"
Kelly shakes her head. "No…and here I was hoping she'd be more forthcoming with you," she sighed. "Both her and Garrus seem to be highly distracted by other issues as of lately…which is concerning, considering she tends to favor taking him on missions."
Joker tapped a weather report. "Well, despite, being a stick-in-the-mud, his aim is dead-on when it comes to anything that threatens Shepard," Joker replied as he leaned back in his chair and rested his head on his hand.
"Perhaps they might be developing some sort of rapport with each other?"
"Based on the time she spends in the battery talking to him, I'd say that's a safe bet," Kasumi's voice chimed as she briefly re-appeared and disappeared on the other side of his chair with her characteristic laugh, which damn near caused him to almost fall out of his chair while he and Kelly started to swear at her for eavesdropping yet again-
-"Mr. Moreau, watch out!" Campbell shouted as she threw her arm in front of him, which broke Joker out of his own memories and back to his current location, which was just outside of the cellblock wing. The usually quite hallways seemed to abuzz with Alliance officials talking in hushed whispers, one of which who had just barely missed colliding with the trio.
"The hell?" Joker said as Bethany and Sarah wordlessly surrounded him, Bethany in front, Sarah just behind him and slightly to his left, and a wall to his right. They're trying to protect me from being run over, he thought as Campbell quickened her pace, and it was all that Joker could do to keep up with her.
"We need to keep moving, Mr. Moreau," Bethany explained as she quickly peered around the corner before she nodded once at Sarah before they continued to head towards the dry dock. As they did, a rather beefy Latino solider passed by them, his large, muscular shoulders just barely brushing Sarah's.
"'Scuse me, m'am," he apologized as pushed past Private Campbell without so much as a glance at either of them, but Joker's ears immediately perked up at the voice and Latino accent. That sounds like the guy who warned me about the early wake-up time this morning…
Joker looked over at Sarah, whose face currently wore a mixture of scandalized disbelief. "Did he just leave his assignment?" Bethany said aloud, in what he assumed was a question that was directed at Sarah.
"Wouldn't worry about that right now, Beth," Sarah replied without so much as a glance in the marine's direction as they continued down the hall, whose windows now offered a view of the new SR-2, complete with an updated paint job in Alliance colors. "For all we know, he's been reassigned."
"Highly unlike…Latson was originally supposed to have it, but told me that he'd been hand-selected for that assignment by someone high up-"
Good morning, beautiful, Joker said to himself as his mood lifted slightly upon the sight of the Normandy, who now bore a fresh coat of paint with Alliance colors. Five more minutes, and I'll be back aboard you…although at this pace, he guessed their little group would make it in just under two. "She looks good," he said to no one in particular as he allowed his gaze to linger a little bit longer on the Normandy before he turned his attention to the person in front.
"Apparently they spent most of last night finishing the paint job," Bethany said with a brief sideways glance out the window.
"Makes a hell of a difference…it actually looks like it belongs in the Alliance now," Sarah added, and Joker smiled in agreement before he turned his head forward and saw the back of the same muscular marine who had passed them earlier in the hall, this time talking with someone in Alliance dress blues (at least, he assumed to be dress blues, as the marine's sheer size made it, impossible to see who he was speaking with) just outside the terminal entrance.
"Well, now we know why Lieutenant Vega was in such a hurry this morning," Westmoreland said as they closed the distance between them and the other pair. "Looks like he had to meet the Admiral Anderson."
Joker froze mere yards from Vega's back. "Wait, Admiral Anderson? The human councilor on the Citadel?"
As if he was waiting for a cue, Vega turned around and moved to the side. Sure enough, David Anderson stood before the, who had gained a few more lines on both his face and his shoulders since their last meeting. Westmoreland, Campbell and for once, Joker himself, greeted them with a salute, which was returned in kind by both the mysterious Lieutenant Vega and Anderson. "Former counselor, Joker" he corrected with a slight grin. "Felt I needed to resign from my position after I got in a bit of trouble with Cerberus at the Accession Project."
For the second time this morning, Joker found himself rendered speechless at yet another blast from his past turning up unannounced: "Sir…" he stammered, "What are you doing here?"
Anderson's brows furrowed at both Westmoreland and Campbell in turn, and the pair shifted uncomfortably where they stood. "I take it you didn't know I was going to be here today?"
"Sir," Campbell began hesitantly, "the court martial ruling states that Mr. Moreau was to have zero contact with any former crew-"
"I'm VERY familiar with the court martial rulings of my pilot, private," Anderson replied curtly, which silenced any further comment, as Joker make a half-hearted attempt to conceal his glee at Campbell's second dressing-down of the day as Specialist Samantha Traynor's head emerged from the airlock, datapad already in hand as she swung her head her head to left.
"Admiral Anderson?" Traynor's perky British accent called out as she stepped out of the airlock as she approached the group.
Anderson's furrowed brows disappeared at the sound of Traynor's voice as he turned towards her, her right arm already raised in a salute.
"Specialist Traynor," Anderson began genially, "Don't tell me that VI alerted you to my presence again?"
"Yours and Joker, actually," Traynor replied. "Speaking of which, I'll need your help with her again, as there are some last-minute adjustments that Cortez wanted to make to the Thanix's firing algorithms, and EDI keeps telling us that we don't authorization for it-"
Oh, Garrus is gonna have a FIT if he hears about this-" he thought, and his features monetarily fell at the mention of yet another crew mate he hadn't heard from in over six months as the sound of footsteps behind grew louder.
"-it's only a language update, Traynor-" Cortez' muffled voice interjected from behind as Joker turned his head to see a pair of Alliance pants carrying a tower of packages, "-and even Boyd told me that he's never seen a Thanix so pristine," he added as he passed by them. "Morning, admiral," he added as he turned his head and nodded at Anderson.
Westmoreland glanced at the underside of the SR-2. "Cerberus steal those plans from the birds too?" she asked, and Joker involuntarily bristled at the once-commonly used insult aimed at the turians.
In short order, Anderson's eyes from Cortez and briefly stopped and narrowed on a glaring Joker. For months, Joker had quietly endured both privates' racist remarks regarding turians, but in the presence of Anderson (who'd actually fought in the First Contact War and had been present for the original Normandy's test run), he'd decided he'd had enough lip from two women who hadn't spent the past two years of their lives fighting the geth, the Collectors, and everything in between. With Campbell and Westmoreland gazing at the Normandy, Anderson gave Joker the tiniest of nods.
Joker smiled. "From what I understand, Garrus actually called in a special favor to the turian government," Joker answered, his gaze locked on where he knew the Thanix was concealed. "As a favor to Shepard," he added, in hopes that it would elicit some sort of update from Anderson regarding her.
Anderson narrowed his brows at Joker in response before glancing at the time on his omni-tool. "Speaking of which, you'd better get back to her, Mr. Vega. I'll contact you if I hear anything else."
Vega nodded curtly and saluted. "Aye aye, sir," he replied as he strode off with a glance at Joker. "Nice to finally meet you…Joker," he added with a grin.
Where does Anderson find these people? Joker thought as he followed Vega's departure briefly before turning his attention back to Anderson, Traynor, and the semi-overloaded Cortez
Anderson turned his attention his attention back to Westmoreland and Campbell. "You two," he snapped, "I believe Lieutenant Cortez needs assistance below deck with some cargo, and I'd prefer if my top pick for shuttle pilot didn't risk a hand injury."
"Much appreciated, sir," the pile of boxes with Cortez's voice answered.
Here it comes again, Joker thought.
"But sir, the prisoner-"
"I think I can handle a handcuffed pilot with Vrolik's…private," Anderson growled as he pointed towards the airlock door. "Double-time, Lieutenant," he added at Cortez.
"Yes, sir," both women stammered and saluted and Cortez replied sans salute as Sarah and Bethany each took some of the packages before following Cortez through the airlock. As soon as they disappeared, Anderson turned his attention to Traynor, who had been quietly standing by while immersed in something on her datapad.
"What's on the agenda for today, Miss Traynor?" Anderson asked as he started off for the airlock and motioned for Joker to follow them. As he did, he briefly looked behind him at the cell blocks before he shuffled forward into the airlock to join Anderson and Traynor.
"Good morning, Admiral," EDI's voice cooed softly in her best imitation of Alliance VI. "Shall I announce your presence aboard the Normandy?"
Anderson chuckled. "Not right now, EDI…I'd rather not call any attention to myself this time."
This time? Sounds like he's already been here… Joker mused as he glanced at the pilot's controls, which remained untouched.
"Very well, sir," EDI replied. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Moreau…Miss Traynor," she said as each of them passed through the door/
Traynor flicked at her datapad a few times. "Let's see, there's some update to the nav systems, a few last-minute personnel issues that require your attention, and we're still working on finding chairs for that conference table-"
"What about those power surges you encountered during the QEC's activation? Adams said it caused a fairly significant spike in the power output-"
"Resolved…but not entirely sure how," Traynor finished with a suspicious glance at Joker, who responded with raised brows, a shrug, and his best attempt at a clueless expression while his heart began to beat a little bit faster. QEC must've had a similar power draw as the Reaper IFF, he thought as he recalled the IFF's activation prior to their entry through the Omega-4 relay.
"Oh?" Anderson said as they passed through the cockpit doors and into the command deck, where a number of techs were already deeply focused on their console displays.
"Yes, it seems that fluctuations managed to…equal out, after a few minutes." Traynor finished before she turned back to her datapad. "Power was rerouted away from noncritical system for the duration of the QEC's activation, then quickly returned to normal."
"Interesting…Cerberus design to prevent a system overload?" Anderson asked as he cast a sideways glance at Joker, his expression curious.
Traynor shot Joker another suspicious look, and it was all Joker could to do to feign ignorance of EDI's automatic fix. "Yeah…you could say that," he replied evasively as he directed his attention to the navigation hologram ahead of them, which currently displayed the Sol system. As Joker passed by, Luna grew briefly brighter as Joker approached. (Since he was unable to communicate directly with EDI, EDI had taken the liberty of acknowledging his presence in minor ways like this.)
"Moon's doing that weird thing again," one of the techs muttered with a frown as he looked back down at the console.
"Probably related to the QEC's power reroute," Traynor answered without looking up from her own datapad, which she continued to type and swipe at as if a celestial body shimmering on the navigation map was a normal occurrence. "Adams already sent me a message from the computer core and told me it's nothing to worry about."
Only because he's in on what EDI really is, Joker thought to himself. (Adams had extracted the truth from him via Morse code while the pair of them had been working under the watchful eyes of the Ice Queens.) While Adams had initially seemed a bit nervous about working around illegal AI tech, his current and past actions appeared to indicate that he trusted Joker's judgement. But what's he doing in the AI core?
"I'm sure he'll have it resolved in record time," Anderson responded casually as they approached the open elevator doors. "We'll only be a few minutes below deck, Miss Traynor," he continued with a nod at her as he stepped onto the elevator while Traynor and Joker remained outside. "You coming, Joker?"
Joker shot a confused glance at Traynor before looking back at Anderson. "Traynor's not coming with us?" For the better part of the past few months, he and Traynor had practically worked side by side as she requested various changes and upgrades to the Normandy's (and to a degree, EDI's) operating systems…and as odd as it sounded, he felt that the three worked extremely well together, almost to the point where Traynor treated him more as a valued crew member than an Alliance prisoner and former Cerberus operative. (Nor did she speak of the numerous articles and vids that depicted him and Shepard being escorted off in irons while wearing Cerberus uniforms.)
"Last time I checked, the VI responds to you, not me…and the admiral wishes to interface with the VI without me present," Traynor replied without looking up from her datapad.
Joker opened his mouth, but Anderson glared back at him and gave him a tiny shake of his head, followed by a jerk of his head towards the crew working behind them. Guess that's my signal to shut up, he reasoned, and stepped onto to the elevator without further protest.
"Let me know if you require any additional assistance, sir," Traynor replied as she saluted the pair them. "See you soon, Joker," she said as she causally turned around began walking towards the navigation system, her attention returning to the contents of her datapad. Anderson pressed the key for the engineering bay.
"Specialist Traynor and Greg Adams gave me a tour this morning," Anderson continued as the doors slowly closed as he adjusted the cuffs of his Alliance dress blues "Told me you've been extremely helpful during the retrofit process."
"Not like I really had a choice, sir," Joker replied with a shrug of his shoulders as their view of the CIC disappeared and the elevator made it's initial lurch downwards.
A brief moment of silence followed before Anderson let out a long sigh. "Joker…" he began, his tone highly reminiscent of Shepard's scolding, which only angered him more.
Joker turned his head away from the doors and shot an angry at Anderson. "We've saved the galaxy, not once, but twice, and the best you can do is get both of us stripped of our ranks and imprisoned?" He extended his gloved hands and shook them angrily at Anderson. "Seriously, putting anti-hepatic gloves on a guy who can't even fall without breaking at least two bones? What the hell do they think I'm going to do, steal the ship-"
"Well, Lieutenant, you and the commander have quite the history of doing so-" he replied nonchalantly as he crossed his arms across his chest. As he did, Joker caught side of metal glinting between Anderson's fingers.
Joker's brows momentarily furrowed at Anderson, but quickly softened into confusion at the use of both his and Shepard's former Alliance ranks…and at the familiar shape of the metal objects in Anderson's hands. He took a step closer towards Anderson, who uncrossed his arms and held out an open hand to reveal their contents: engraved metal Alliance dog tags bearing Joker's legal name, his former rank. The same dog tags I left behind the day before I joined Cerberus, he realized with a pang.
Joker looked back up at Anderson. "Sir?" he began again, his tone softer.
Anderson smiled. "Told Admiral Hackett that I wasn't going to take command of this ship without putting the best pilot in the Alliance fleet back at her helm," he finished as he revealed the contents of his other hand: an anti-hepatic glove key. "I was given permission to take 'whatever action' I deemed necessary to get you back under my supervision."
Joker broke out into a grin. "Aw, no right hook to Udina's face this time?" he quipped as he held his hands so Anderson could release him.
"If I could get both you and Shepard out of here by doing so, I'd deck that man a thousand times over," Anderson replied as he went to work on the first glove. "However, it's going to take an actual Reaper invasion before they'll even consider releasing her," he finished with a sigh and a click of the glove's lock releasing.
Joker felt the blood drain from his face and settle into a new knot in the pit of his stomach. Deep down, he knew Anderson would only risk disobeying the tribunal's ruling if he felt that a clear and present threat was actually knocking at Earth's doorstep. "Sir?"
Another deep sigh from Anderson as he took Joker's other wrist. "Hackett says we might have a matter of hours now," he answered as he released the second lock with another click. Joker held up his hands and clenched his fist a few times. "We have a meeting with upper-level brass in less than thirty minutes."
"We?" The doors opened to the engineering deck. Anderson stepped off the elevator and immediately made his way towards the engine core.
"Myself, Shepard…hell, Alenko's there right now, recounting his experience with the Collectors on Horizon."
Joker snorted at the mention of Kaidan's name. "Didn't do a damn bit of good six months ago…" he snapped as the elevator began to slow down.
"Major listening posts went dark this morning…trust me, they're listening now," Anderson replied quietly as both the elevator and what felt like Joker's heart came to a momentary standstill. As the elevator doors opened, they revealed a very relaxed Adams examining something on his omnitool. So much for the computer core location.
"Sir, we need her-" Joker began as he reached for the elevator key that would return them both to the CIC so they could...what, storm her cell?
"-and she needs people that she can trust," Anderson finished as he gently blocked Joker from pressing the CIC deck key as the doors continued to open. "She can't fight this war alone, Joker…we both know that."
Joker gave Anderson a sidelong glance. "Something tells me she's gonna need more than a brittle boned pilot to save the galaxy this time…"
"What was the real reason they separated all of us after the attack on the original Normandy?" Adams asked rhetorically as he shut down his omnitool.
Joker briefly closed his eyes as he recalled his own words to Shepard after seeing her alive again. "Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone…" He opened his eyes again and made eye contact with Adams. "We were her crew…"
Adams nodded. "Divide and conquer…an old yet effective strategy when it comes to breaking up unpleasant opinions."
Anderson nodded in agreement. "And right now, I need her crew-" Anderson said confidently, as if he intended to stroll back aboard with the commander in tow, "-to do whatever you need to do to get us ready spaceworthy ASAP."
Joker looked back at Anderson as he stepped off the elevator. "What about the rest of the crew, sir?"
A slight grin crossed Anderson's face. "Believe it or not, Joker, not everyone believes that you and the commander were in the wrong regarding the events of Alpha relay," he answered, and that's when it dawned on him: Westmoreland and Campbell's icy natures towards him had been intended to serve as a both psychological and physical barrier between him and the rest of the crew working about the Normandy, less he gain the same sort of following that Shepard had. Guard duty around here seems to be serious business
"Don't worry, Joker, we've got your back," Adams reassured him as he brought up his omni-tool again. His features twisted into one of concern as he began heading through the doors to the engine core. "Best get moving, sir, this elevator still moves slower than a turian in cold weather," he called over his shoulder as the doors closed behind him.
Anderson gave the interior of the elevator a once-over. "That it does, Adams…that it does." As the sounds of the chief engineer's footsteps grew faint, Anderson reached for the control panel, but paused and sighed before he made his final selection.
"Something wrong, sir?" Joker asked.
Anderson gave a deep sight, and suddenly his face suddenly appeared older and careworn. "It's…nothing, lieutenant," he finished as he reached into the inner breast pocket of his dress blues and pulled out another set of Alliance dog tags, and stared at them for a moment. Upon closer inspection, Joker noticed these were engraved with Shepard's information, and bore the distinct markings of extreme heat damage. "Just a lot on my mind right now..."
Understatement of the year, sir. Joker thought as he instintively began to reach out to touch the tags before he realized what he was doing.
Joker looked up and met Anderson's searching gaze."Vega tells me you woke up saying her name this morning," he began quietly, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him. Anderson curled his fingers around the tags and slid them back into his uniform pocket, and another pang of sadness hit Joker as they disappeared from view. "Says it looked like you were having a nightmare..." he finished as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Joker dropped his gaze to the floor, as it had been the same sort of nightmare that the Alliance had cited as a source of "mental instability" prior to his grounding after the Collector attack. "You think I'm not fit to fly…" he replied, framing his response as more of a statement of fact than a question.
"We wouldn't be standing here having this conversation if that was the case," the admiral replied as he shifted his weight to one side, which momentarily relieved Joker's worry. "But she's going to need someone to take care of her if everything else doesn't."
Joker's eyes widened as his heart began to race. "Sir?" he asked, a note of panic rising in his voice. Please don't ask me to be more than her pilot, please don't ask me to be more than her pilot, for the love of everything sacred do not ask me to be what Kaidan-
"Kaidan no longer trusts her as he did, and while Vega has done an excellent job of protecting her these last six months, I fear she only views him as her guard and not someone she can truly trust," Anderson continued, and if he sensed Joker's implied meaning, he wasn't choosing to acknowledge it. "You, however…well, you two seemed to be of a single mind sometimes," he finished with a grin. "I know for a fact that she valued your opinion throughout the Collector mission, so I'm willing to bet the Normandy herself on the fact that she values your friendship as well."
"You know I'd follow her into hell and back, sir," Joker finally answered after a short pause. Although I never considered myself her friend.
"That's what I'm counting on, Joker," Anderson finished as he reached for the elevator control panel. "Both you…and this ship," he added with a grin as the door slid completely closed, cutting him off completely from any further response.
Joker's mouth dropped open as the elevator lurched backup, which left him alone in the hall. "How did he-" he began to no one in particular.
"Adams informed him this morning of my true nature," EDI answered. "His exact words were, 'If Joker can work with her, so can I.'" EDI paused. "Based on his body language, he was not entirely comfortable with this fact even after his statement, but appears to trust your judgement, Jeff…unlike some individuals who tried to stick their hands in my cognizance processors," she finished, her comment clearly directed at Adams.
Joker sighed and allowed himself a momentary laugh. "Hey, go easy on Adams, he's a good guy," he said as he started making his way towards the engine core to give Adams a hand.
"Takes one to know one," Adams replied, his back still to Joker as Joker peered over his shoulder.