The fish Nicci Shepard purchased the last time she was on the Citadel floated lifelessly at the top of the tank in her cabin.

Ugh. What was I thinking? Now I have to clean that up.

She shook her head. Nope, she wasn't going to do it. She was a commander, by God, and if she couldn't order somebody to clean out her fish tank, what the hell was she doing running her own ship? She knew this would be the end result when she bought the fish, but she held out a small glimmer of hope that she could keep the damned things alive. No such luck.

A quiet squeak called to her from the small cage above her desk. At least the hamster was still alive. She tapped the glass with a smile.

"Hey Speedy."

He was pretty cute and a lot easier to take care of than those damned fish. While making kissy faces at her pink-nosed pet, her intercom beeped, nearly giving her a heart attack.

"Shepard? I need to speak to you. Can I come in?"

"Sure Garrus," she replied.

Maybe she could to talk the Turian into getting the dead fish out of the tank. They'd been getting along pretty well as of late. Now that he'd removed that rather large chip on his shoulder, he'd become a lot more accommodating to some of her more unusual requests.

Unfortunately, when the door opened to reveal the most pissed off expression she'd seen on her friend's face in weeks, she was certain her request would be met with a negative response. With a small sigh at her shitty luck, she settled onto her desk and crossed her arms.

"What's up?"

The Turian stared at the tank for a long moment before meeting Nicci's gaze again. He blinked several times then gave a gentle shake of his head, but, even as he began to speak, his eyes kept wandering to the lighted aquarium behind the commander.

I wanted to talk to you about...What the hell happened to your fish?"

"They're dead."

"Well I can see that. The question is, why?"

She met his question with a grimace. "How the hell should I know? Do I look like a marine biologist to you?"

It was a lie, of course. She knew exactly why her unfortunate former pets floated at the top of the tank. It had been just over a week since she purchased them on the Citadel, and the only time she fed them was that evening before bed. It wasn't an intentional homicide, she just kind of forgot they were there. She would be damned if she was going to reveal that tidbit of information to Garrus, however.

"I just don't understand how every single one of them could have died in less than two weeks. Did you feed them?"

She balked, her grimace deepening. "Of course I fed them. What kind of monster do you think I am?"\p

It's not a lie. Not exactly. I did feed them. It may have only been that one time, but they were fed. Stupid fish.

"Maybe it was the wrong kind of food," the Turian suggested.

"It was the stuff the clerk recommended."

Garrus folded his arms across his chest and began tapping his foot, his brow creased in consideration. "Maybe they were sick when you bought them. The next time we're on the Citadel you should see if you can get your money back."

"Not even worth my time," Nicci countered with a dismissive wave.

"You should at least let the store know that they sold you sick fish."

She cocked a brow. Why was he getting so worked up over this? "I'm sure someone else will tell them if it's a problem."

A hush fell between them as Garrus's eyes darted from the commander to the tank and back again. "Aren't you going to at least get them out of there?"

"I'll do it later," she answered with a casual shrug. "Now what did you want to talk to me about?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but his gaze was drawn back to the fish floating on top of the water. "Seriously, Shepard, you should really clean that up."

"Later, Garrus," she told him, her voice colored with impatience. "Just tell me why you're here."

He sighed. "Yes, I need to talk to you about…" The space between his brows disappeared. "You know. I completely forgot."

A horribly, evil idea began to form in Nicci' brain. Garrus obviously suffered from some sort of OCD, a fact she could exploit to her own advantage. As much as she cared for him, more than she was willing to admit even to herself most days, her current situation was an every man for himself scenario.

"What about the fish?" he insisted.

She began to walk toward the door. "I'll take care of them before I go to bed tonight."

Before she could exit the room, the Turian stepped in front of her. "Shepard, this really needs to be dealt with now."

With her most winning smile, she gave a quick peck to his mandible before retrieving the small net from her desk. "That's so thoughtful, Garrus," she said as she presented him with the instrument. "Thank you for volunteering."

His face was set in a baffled expression. Nicci swore he was blushing. You know, if a Turian was capable of such a thing. "Y...You're welcome?"

Before Garrus was afforded the chance to regain his senses, the commander spun on her heels and hurried from the room. She would have loved to see his expression when he finally came to the realization of what just happened, but she wasn't about to take any chances of being stuck with that job.

As the ship's elevator made its way down, Nicci couldn't help but to chuckle at her own brilliance.

Maybe tomorrow I'll start working on a plan to get him to clean Speedy's cage.