Author Note: This is a rewrite of my story "Life in Gray."

"Cutting all ties... won't you baptize me? Cause life sometimes got me on my knees. I've been praying for redemption, learning my lessons, my pain is my therapy." ~ Baptize Me/James Arthur

The cargo bay was usually fairly quiet aside from the constant hum of the ship. It had been exceptionally so since Commander Katherine Shepard had reprimanded Gunnery Chief Ashley William harshly for her anti-alien opinions. Williams had retreated elsewhere in the ship, away from Wrex and Garrus, and Shepard hadn't been seen since.

"What's your opinion of the commander, turian?" Wrex asked from across the cargo bay.

Garrus looked up from the gears he was tightening on the Mako.

"She is an efficient leader," Garrus said, and returned his attention to the Mako.

"Yeah, yeah. That's not what I'm talking about," Wrex grumbled. "Everyone knows that. I'm asking about her angle."

Garrus stood and turned to Wrex. "Her what?"

"Angle," Wrex repeated. "She has to have one. She's human, but she spends most of her time away from the other humans on the ship. She talks to us. After every mission. Every time. She just yelled at that Williams for viewing aliens as untrustworthy. What is she playing at, turian?"

"I am not sure she is angling for anything, which is discomfiting for us because our experience tends to tell us humans are self-serving," Garrus shrugged.

"Humans are hard to read," Wrex grunted. "She does this thing with her head. Leans it to the side, back a bit, when she talks to you. In krogan, it's a sign of submission, weakness... But it doesn't mean that when she does it."

"It's curiosity," Garrus said.

"How do you know?"

"I looked it up," Garrus said casually. "Human body language is much different than most species."

Wrex narrowed his eyes. "You looked up human body language?"

"It helped me to understand our human crew mates a bit better, so yes." Garrus bristled, and his mandibles tightened around his face defensively. "You've certainly done a fair bit of analyzing yourself."

"Why does she come down here to talk to us when she could be up there talking to the other humans? Hell, she even spends a lot of time with Liara. Talking about Prothean who knows what for hours on end..."

"She doesn't do much talking when she's down here," Garrus pointed out.

"She doesn't question us, our actions or motivations. She questions Williams and Alenko. It doesn't make sense."

"I admit it is... Different from most of the humans I have encountered," Garrus said. "Though I can see why she questions them, and not us. Alenko is too timid, mistrustful of his own biotics. He'd be a damn good soldier if he'd get out of his own way. I think she is trying to push him to come into his own. Turians are military trained early, and you have plenty of battle experience."

"Alenko is a whelp in a grown body," Wrex added. "Too busy vying for the her affection rather than her respect."

Garrus had noticed Alenko constantly following Shepard, constantly seeking a continued conversation. Shepard, as far as he could tell, and he was no human expert, seemed neutral at best and disinterested at worst.

"And Williams..." Garrus looked over at Williams's work bench. "She's hotheaded and small minded. It rubs Shepard the wrong way. Shepard can be hot headed, but she is far from small minded."

Wrex nodded in agreement. "I like Shepard. She gets shit done, she's loyal... a friend. As far as a human could be." Wrex rolled his massive shoulders. "She helped me get my family armor back."

They were interrupted by the ding of the elevator. Shepard stepped off the elevator. "Wrex," She nodded towards the krogan.

"Shepard," Wrex returned gruffly.

"Garrus," Shepard's green eyes turned to the turian.

He nodded. "Commander."

She scratched at the back of her neck, and then shifted her weight to one foot. "I... Things got a little heated there with Williams, and I..." Garrus' visor scanned her body. Her heart rate was elevated. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. "I just wanted you both to know that I don't share her views about other species, and that I won't accept those views from anyone on this ship."

Wrex snorted. "We know we're your favorites."

Garrus looked between Wrex and Shepard. She smirked. "I don't have favorites."

"Well, you've got least favorites," Wrex said.

"Wrex," Shepard warned and crossed her arms across her chest and raised a red eyebrow.

"C'mon," Wrex slapped a giant hand on her thin shoulder. She was displaced several inches to her left. "You might be able to earn your pride back in another round of poker."

As they played, Wrex posed a question. "So, where are you from Shepard?"

"Earth," She answered flatly. Wrex grunted as he downed his drink. "I was born in Toronto, but spent most of my life in Chicago."

"Any family? Siblings?"

Shepard tensed, and then shook her head and played a card.

"I figured you the military family type," Wrex said.

"I got caught up in some shit on Earth," Shepard said. Garrus studied her. The muscle at the corner of her jaw was flexing. Bad memories, he assumed.

"Not so squeaky clean, Commander? Just what kind of shit did you get caught up in?"

"Ha!" She barked a laugh. "I used to run with the Tenth Street Reds."

"What is that? A band?" Wrex asked.

"It's a gang," Garrus said. "One gaining quite a reputation at the moment..." Shepard looked at him. He could see confusion in her eyes, which quickly turned to shame, and then she looked away.

"I got lucky," Shepard said. "Got out. Now, here I am."

"Maybe humans define lucky differently, but I wouldn't say you are particularly lucky, Shepard," Wrex said darkly.

"Spectacularly unlucky perhaps," Garrus added.

Shepard smirked. "It's not all bad," She shrugged. "I get to see the galaxy," She added and then gestured toward the two of them. "I've made friends I otherwise would have never met."

Wrex grunted. "I never thought I'd be a part of a human crew."

"We're a pretty even split as far as squad goes. Kaidan and Ash are human, but Tali, Liara, you two..." She added.

The elevator dinged again. Kaidan stepped out into the cargo bay. "Commander..." He said quietly.

Shepard placed her cards face down. She stood and moved toward Kaidan. He bent his head and spoke to her. Tali appeared from the Engineering Deck. "Tali, perfect timing. Play my hand for me?"

Tali looked between Shepard and Kaidan. "You're out, Shepard?" The quarian asked.

"I'll be back. Anderson needs me on vidcom," She said. "Just a round, Tali. Don't lose it for me. Wrex cheats." She stepped onto the elevator with Kaidan and disappeared

"What do you think of Shepard?" Wrex asked, narrowing his eyes at Tali.

"Why?" Tali asked.

"The turian and I were discussing. Figured I'd get another opinion. She spends a great deal of time down here with us," Wrex said. "What's the angle?"

"I doubt she has an angle. She is pretty straight forward." Tali glanced at Shepard's hand, and the played a card. "I think Shepard is wonderful. She's a loyal friend, and she is a great leader. I wish she would take me out more often, though..." Tali sighed.

"She is trying to protect you, Tali," Garrus said. "Aside from Liara, you have the least direct combat experience."

"Perhaps she could be less protective then?" Tali suggested. "How am I to gain experience otherwise?"

Wrex grunted in agreement. "Speak up then, and maybe she will."

Garrus glanced down at his cards, but his mind was elsewhere. When he watched Shepard's protective nature in battle, it made her a stronger leader, and it never seemed to be a distraction for her. She would appear at their sides, taking down an enemy that they hadn't seen coming, or bumping them slightly out of the scope of a sniper. It seemed as natural for her as breathing. Truthfully, watching her in battle through his sniper scope was mesmerizing. He hadn't seen many humans in real battles before, but he'd watched Kaiden and Ashley a fair amount since joining up with Shepard.

Kaiden was clunky in battle, simultaneously trusting and mistrusting his own biotics, though his biotics were strong and reliable even if he had faulty implants. Ashley was as hotheaded and full-steam-ahead in a fight as she was in conversation.

Shepard, on the other hand, was a formidable soldier, an N7 special forces marine, and a powerful biotic. At times, Garrus worried her tactics bordered on reckless, but no human on the squad batted an eye, nor did Liara, Tali, or Wrex. He figured that it was down to the fact that Garrus had very little experience fighting alongside biotics. Turian biotics were rare, and they were automatically transferred to a specialist group. Liara and Wrex both tended to have an up close, in your face fighting style as well, though Liara relied more heavily on biotics than Wrex, so at times she lingered in the mid-range. Ashley and Kaidan both hung in the mid-range as well. Perhaps it was individual preference.

Compared to turians or krogan, humans seemed so fragile, yet Shepard never acted as such. She would turn herself into a biotic comet, charging an enemy, knocking them off balance and then hitting the enemy squarely between the eyes with a bullet from her pistol. It was a move that would earn the scorn of turian generals, not only for its reliance on biotics, but also for how it often literally put her behind the enemy lines, but nobody on the Normandy ever said anything about it. They knew Shepard was the ultimate soldier and leader. Garrus still found himself stunned at the way she could move, at how effective she was while being something completely different than what he was used to. Wrex loved Shepard's fighting style. He actually encouraged it, roaring, charging after her with his biotics glowing through his armor with his shotgun in the air.

Shepard reappeared. They dealt a new hand and pulled up more chairs for Kaidan, Liara, and Tali to play. Ash was still hiding, nursing her bruised ego. Shepard seemed slightly absent minded after whatever vidcom conversation she'd had with Anderson. Garrus' eyes focused on Shepard, feigning studying her poker face. She had... What did humans call them again? Freckles. Bright red hair and green eyes. Pale skin. She had a faint scar that broke her left eyebrow just slightly. He wondered where it came from. She was fascinating. Suddenly, he felt eyes on him. Glancing toward Wrex, he met the krogan's eyes, then immediately looked down at his cards.

Kaidan rested a hand on the back of Shepard's chair. Garrus watched as she tensed for the briefest of moments and then relaxed. Perhaps Shepard did return Alenko's affections. He had always thought she'd seemed mildly annoyed with him, flustered by his pursuit of her, but perhaps he had misread her. He was not an expert, by any means, on humans.

The game wrapped up, and Shepard disappeared into the elevator with Liara and Kaidan, who were bunked upstairs. Wrex and Garrus made their way to the rooms behind the elevator. The bunk rooms were small, but they were both grateful to have their own rooms.

"So..." Wrex said, and Garrus looked at him. "When are you gonna tell her?"

Garrus' mandibles flared for a moment before he pulled them tight against his face again. His eyes narrowed. "What are you implying?"

"Not implying anything. Made some observations, and now I am asking questions. You have a thing for humans?"

"No," Garrus growled.

"So it's just Shepard then?"

"Wrex," Garrus said in a low and dangerous voice that would have struck fear in anyone but the krogan in front of him.

"Is it even possible? Wouldn't she be allergic to you? What're you going to do about Alenko?"

Garrus growled and disappeared into his bunk room, slamming the door behind him. He could hear Wrex laughing lowly through the door. "Turians..."