The story is going to go kind of fast from here so I can get to ME2! Just a heads up! But I thought I should give a small back story. :-) The story will grow with time but for now it's short. I want to get to the good stuff!

...w...

It had been a long quiet three days for the Normandy and her crew. Liara and Doctor Chakwas had finally completed their analysis and asked Shepard to meet Doctor Chakwas in his room, Liara refused to leave the new alien unattended.

"Why not have me meet you in the infirmary, Doctor?" Shepard asked after walking in. "She is still asleep, right?"

"Yes, she still sleeps. Commander, can you please secure this room." She said simply.

"Secure the ro..."

"Shepard." She warned.

"Joker." Shepard called.

"Yes, Commander?" His voice rang through the room.

"Ask Garrus to join us and shut off all communication in this room immediately."

"Aye, aye Commander."

"The less people..." Doctor Chakwas began.

"It's important for Garrus to hear whatever you are about to say." He interrupted her. "We pulled the Primarch into this and he is adamant that Garrus be involved. This is bigger than us, Doctor."

"I understand." She smiled.

Garrus walked into Shepard's room and looked around.

"Shepard, you asked to see me?"

"Doctor, what is it?"

She handed the data pad to Shepard, who waved Garrus to him and the men looked at it together.

"I cannot know what she is, Commander. The only thing I can identify are traces of Turian DNA." She pointed to a middle side of the three colors. "...Cerberus files are still being analyzed." Doctor Chakwas paused before continuing. "...but whatever she is, they went to great lengths to keep her hidden. I'm assuming this," She pointed to a dominate color. "...majority is her race DNA but I cannot identify the third marker."

"You found Turian DNA in her?" Shepard stared.

"I cannot explain what I am seeing. Maybe her father was Turian, I do not know."

"...I don't understand." Garrus stared.

"Shepard," Doctor Chakwas stepped closer. "...if the wrong people get this... the lengths and decoding we had to go through to break Cerberus' security…"

"There isn't much we can do now. This information will be safe, Doctor. We'll have Wrex sit with you in the infirmary, Doc." He smiled at Doctor Chakwas.

...w...

After stopping at a port and getting supplies at the Citadel the next day, their lives quickly got interesting. Shepard, Kaiden, and Garrus were in the docking bay making sure all the supplies were delivered.

"Shepard!" Joker yelled over their comms. "That ...uh...hot alien is up! She just knocked Wrex out! I've locked down the ship so she can't get off."

"She what?!" The three men said together.

"I need to get onto the Normandy, Shepard!" Liara yelled into the comm.

"Let's go! Now!" Shepard ordered. "Seal the room she is in!"

Shepard, Garrus, and Kaiden gave a quick glance between each other the ran to the Normandy. They ran through the CIC and down the steps and there she stood. She was holding Wrex's gun and stared at the two humans, the Asari, and the Turian. Shepard assumed she didn't fire because of Garrus but he didn't want to put all his faith in that.

Leah still wore the med bay clothes they found her in, a small tank top and pants that were olive green. They did an excellent job showing her slim muscled form and Shepard stared at her thin toned figure, she was perfect... she was so beautiful. He hated that she was even more stunning awake and hated that his blood felt alive whenever she met eyes with him. Her green eyes burned into him instantly as soon as she looked at him and all he wanted to do was comfort her because she looked like she was in pain. Kaiden let out a thankful sigh bringing Shepard back to reality, he shook his head and tried to ignore it.

"We're not going to hurt you." Garrus had his hands up as if he was surrendering.

"I'm Commander John Shepard, Alliance Navy. This is Garrus Vakarian, he's part of my crew. Please calm down and drop the gun." He stated while holding his hands up as if he was also surrendering.

"You task an armed Krogan to watch me and you tell me to calm down?" Her voice was soft but harsh at the same time.

"We didn't know what you were. I needed to be cautious to keep my crew safe." He answered immediately.

"Your people were extinct before my birth," Garrus added. "...we were told you were an assassin and a possible danger to us. We needed to be safe. We needed to keep everyone safe."

She looked away from them as if to understand being cautious, she then cocked the gun and pointed it at Shepard.

"Where am I?" Her voice danced in his head. "How did I get here?"

"You are on my ship the Normandy."

"Where did you find me?" She looked at Garrus as if only willing to listen to what He had to say.

Garrus looked to Shepard and he nodded as if to approve Garrus to speak. Leah noted that and wondered when Humans began giving orders to Turians.

"You were in a cryo-tube in a Cerberus base. We rescued you."

"Wait!" Liara stepped out from behind Shepard.

The strange woman turned so fast that it made Shepard and the others draw their weapons. She had Liara by the neck and on the ground in a blink of an eye. Determined and voice strained, Liara began speaking in a language none of them had ever heard. She held her hands up as if to show she meant no harm.

"Commander," Kaiden walked up and whispered. "...should we shoot her?"

"No." Garrus whispered back. "Shepard, you want help against Saren and his Geth, she can!"

"...if she doesn't kill us..." Shepard frowned.

The stranger immediately released her hold and looked back at Shepard as the Asari kept talking. Liara then sat up and kept talking as Leah stood and set Wrex's gun on the table before she began pacing.

When Liara finally finished talking, Leah paced a few more moments then stopped. She looked up at Shepard and smiled, lifting an eyebrow. After the short one-sided conversation, the woman sighed as if to relax.

"Ta se tarraingteach." Her voice danced in Shepard's head.

"Ah.. yes…" Liara blushed looking at Shepard.

"I'm sorry… uh…" Garrus cleared his throat.

"Seems as though you have a thing for rescuing females in need."

Wrex suddenly stepped out of the infirmary looking dazed. He used the wall to keep himself upright.

"What happened?" He grunted.

"Wrex, have Doctor Chakwas look at you." Shepard pointed him back into the infirmary.

"Shepard..." Liara began.

"If you follow me," Shepard began before Liara could continue. "...Primarch Fedorian wanted to speak to you when you woke."

"He's Primarch?" She looked at Garrus.

"Please." He nodded.

"Lead the way." She agreed.

Shepard walked up the stairs and Garrus followed. Leah looked around and followed the men into the comm room where Primarch Fedorian was already waiting for them on screen.

"Leah." His voice had a smile behind it.

"You're Primarch now? Spirits help us all." She laughed.

Her laugh sent vibrations through Shepard. Why? It's been years since he's felt anything like this. Why her? Why now? He needed to get his act together.

"How long has it been?"

"Leah, I don't think..."

"How long?"

Primarch Fedorian looked off screen and sighed loudly, he knew that she wasn't going to like finding out she lost 10 years.

"10 years."

Leah stepped back and crouched to the floor. 10 years gone. 10 years...

"Damn it. Did it work?" Leah asked not even looking at the screen.

Shepard looked between the Primarch and Leah, then to Garrus. He wanted to know what they were talking about but knew it may not be the time and place. Garrus was staring at Leah waiting for an explanation too.

"Your mission was a success before you disappeared."

"At least that wasn't a waste." She looked up.

Her eyes were fiercely green now. Before they were a beautiful olive but now, they were shining green and it looked as though she had some emotion behind them.

"Leah, what happened that day?"

"An ambush..." She stared at nothing as if she was reliving the memory. "Merchs everywhere. I killed quite a few but... There were men everywhere..."

Leah went to stand but was off balance and almost fell. Shepard was quick and grabbed her hand without thinking. Imagines then flooded his mind … Leah was fighting dozens of men. She was so fluid in her motions that it was like watching a ballet. When her weapon ran out of ammo, she fought hand to hand… hard. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before… A sudden surge of electricity then bolted through his body. He could hear and see her scream from the pain. She ripped the electrodes from her body but was hit again and again by others… then all was dark…

Leah ripped her hand from Shepard's and she shot to her feet and slammed her body against the nearest wall. His eyesight came back to the comm room, he looked down and realized that he was on his knees. Sweat poured down his face and his throat ached.

"What the hell was that?" He panted.

Leah didn't answer. She was flooded with Shepard's memories as he saw hers. She looked down at her hands angry that she still didn't have control over her body yet. But it was enough for her to see into Commander Shepard and make her realize that she needed to be here. This man knows her pain and can sympathize with a lot of her feelings. He feels just as alone as she does. She swallowed hard and stared into his blue eyes. What scared her is there was something building deep within her that she thought was dormant. This man was making her feel something she didn't want to feel.

"Can I please speak to Leah alone?" The Primarch requested and Leah sighed thankful she didn't want to look at Shepard anymore.

"Clear the room." Shepard stated as he stood.

Everyone walked into the CIC and stood eager to get a better look at the new alien. Liara was pacing, wringing her hands together.

"This is amazing, Commander. How you have her is... I just need 5 minutes with her..."

"Liara," Shepard stepped in front of her to stop her pacing. "...I just met her. I need to get to know her first then you can have your 5 minutes."

Leah then walked out of the comm room and smiled. It must have been less than 2 minutes, so they all stared at her confused. She looked at the crowd and cleared her throat holding her hands up.

"I will help you to repay you for rescuing me from Cerberus. I owe you all that much."

"That easy?" Kaiden asked.

"Were you expecting difficulty? Should I go get another gun?"

"No. No. That's okay." Garrus laughed awkwardly.

"I have one request; can we go to the Citadel for some of my things?"

"I don't see that as a problem… that's where we are. If you don't mind, I need to let everyone know what's going on and introduce you to keep people from panicking." Shepard asked.

"Of course." She smiled.

The crew piled into the briefing room and all eyed the beautiful new stranger.

"Everyone this is Leahala Vail..." Shepard began.

"Please, just Leah."

"Leah," Tali waved. "...what happened to your people?"

"Tali…" Shepard frowned.

"My entire species was eliminated by Bartarians. They poisoned our skies then attacked us before we could acclimate to the poison. A Hanar prophet was on my planet ... My mother begged him to take me. They did."

"Hanar?" Kaiden asked. "I heard they train kids to be killers. Are you a trained assassin?"

"Yes."

"You're a trained killer?" Ashley shot to her feet. "Commander?!"

"Ash, enough."

"You want me to sit here and be quiet when she can kill us all in our sleep?"

"ENOUGH!" Shepard shouted.

...w...

The briefing was long, and Leah was quiet just watching as Shepard talked to his crew. She found out that Shepard was touched by a Prothean beacon, was also made something called a Spectre, and a new Commander of this ship. Liara was very knowledgeable of many things and Leah was most impressed with humanity becoming very capable.

When the briefing ended, Leah ended up bunking with Garrus after her trip to the Citadel. She felt more comfortable with him and just preferred him to all the humans after her Cerberus situation. As Garrus was silently working on a terminal, Leah was studying a data pad. He would glance her way every few moments, he had too many questions for her but didn't want to overload her on her first day back alive.

Leah wanted to know what she missed so she read non-stop on the last 10 years. She also kept thinking about the briefing she sat through. This human having encountered a Prothean beacon, Liara's knowledge of them, and just the shock of all the information she was taking in today. She also couldn't stop thinking about Shepard. She's met hundreds of thousands of people and no one has weighed on her mind like Commander John Shepard.

"Are you okay?" Garrus asked making her snap out of it.

"Yes. Just a lot to take in. Losing 10 years and waking up in middle of an insane fight with Geth and Reaper talk. Neither Geth or Reapers existed in my time."

"How old are you?"

"Older..."

"What has it been... 80 some years?"

"About 84." She smiled then sighed looking above them. "This is... all so strange."

"Hang out with Shepard long enough and you'll get used to strange."

They chuckled together and she looked at Garrus.

"I can see that. Where are we headed now?"

"…hopefully we'll find something on Saren and head there."

Leah laid on her bunk and tried to go to sleep. She stared at the ceiling listening to the gentle hum of the Normandy's engines. As the time passed she realized that she wouldn't be sleeping tonight, it could have been because she has slept for 10 years. She was trying to talk herself out of the real reason for her insomnia because it was still something about Commander Shepard and his past that kept haunting her.

...w...

While the crew of the Normandy slept, Shepard was wide awake staring at the ceiling. He couldn't get Leah out of his head. He couldn't shake her beauty or the images he saw when he touched her hand. Finally, he stood and headed down to the ship's gym to blow off some steam. If he couldn't sleep, he was going to exercise.

Shepard walked to the elevator and rode it down trying to clear his head of all thoughts. He was happy no one else was awake because he needed to be alone. He approached the gym and to the nearest punching bag, he was not wanting to go hard. Once he began his mind kept going so he hit the bag harder...and harder... He wasn't sure how long he was punching the bag but by the time he realized Leah was watching him, he was covered in sweat and shirtless. She was leaning against the door frame watching. She let her eyes roam his perfectly toned body that was glistening in the lights from the sweat.

"How long..." He panted holding the bag steady.

"Long enough." She answered before he finished his question.

"Can't sleep either?"

"I think I slept long enough. You?"

"No..."

"You're punching that bag as if it has insulted you."

"...just needed a minute to blow off some steam." Shepard grabbed his shirt and wiped his face.

"Blow off steam. I don't understand this expression." She smiled.

"Oh uh…" He thought. "…built up energy in your chest. I'm trying to get it out."

"Can I ask you something?" She asked as she walked to him.

"Absolutely."

"It has been 10 years since I've fought anyone. Are you too tired to spar with me?"

Shepard smiled. He suddenly had another surge of energy because he wanted to see what an extinct species fought like. Leah smiled too seeing his curiosity. He then swung at her.

Leah wasn't expecting him to swing so quickly but she countered immediately. He was skilled. They fought until their arms and legs were sore and almost dead. By the end of it the two of them stood lazily, dripping with sweat, and very exhausted.

"That was..." Shepard let his body fall to the floor before rolling onto his back and laughed. "...exhausting."

"You fight well, Commander." Leah allowed herself to fall to the floor next to him.

They laid on the cold floor in silence, listening to their heavy breaths begin to calm and the gentle hum of the Normandy engines.

"I never thanked you for saving me. Thank you." Leah turned her head to look at Shepard.

"With Primarch Fedorian allowing you to stay to help is enough thanks."

"He isn't allowing me to do anything. I'm bound to only myself."

"You chose to stay?" He turned his head to look at her.

"Aye."

"You barely know us. Why?"

"You." She simply stated.

"Me?" Shepard sat up on an elbow facing her.

"When you touched my hand. I know you saw what I was remembering but I got a glimpse into whatever happened to you and a group of men in a sand. A thresher maw came from under you and began..."

"I remember." Shepard held his hand up, a pained look in his eye, laying back down on his back.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay. It's just... done. How did I see that?"

"Something my family could do. Not all Irlan could do it but... my family could transfer thoughts and memories through our touch. Like a silent communication. I was too young when my mom died. I never got the full story on how I can do it."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. What about your family?"

"They were killed by slavers a long time ago."

"We are depressing."

Shepard let out a loud laugh. Leah felt something within her stir, there was something about this man that made her feel more alive than she has ever felt in her years of life. She watched him closely and she immediately frowned when his smile slowly faded away.

"That we are, Leah."

They spent another 2 hours just talking about everything they could think about. It felt good to let go and just be human again, Shepard thought. Leah was amazing and he was happy she was here with him.

"Well… we have a planet to go to tomorrow." He stood up from the floor and held his hand out to her.

"I am looking forward to some action." Leah needed to get away from him and these feelings. "I think I'll be able to sleep now. Can we meet for sparring so I can get back to where I was?" She took it and stood.

"I'd love to help you."