Nihlus sighed as they docked at a refueling station and inserted his credit chit to pay for the gas before he pushed himself out of the chair. He stretched, pulling his arms high above his head until he felt his back pop under his armor. He gave a pleased purr at the feeling and rolled out the tension in his neck. "Shepard, what do you want for breakfast?" he asked, knowing she would be getting up about this time, her kind slept a lot. Turians needed about five hours of sleep and could go on as little as three, Shepard normally slept around seven or eight, sometimes more if she had done a lot the previous day. He made it to her door right as it opened and Shepard stepped out with a towel. This was also normal he was finding out, she liked to shower every day. "Breakfast?" he asked and she gave him a nod before disappearing into the shower.

He went into the kitchen and started the stove, putting a pan on it and taking out a pack of levo food. He slit it open with a knife and dumped it into the hot pan. As it heated up he read the instructions and added the water it told him to. The stuff smelled horrible, but that was probably just because it was levo and thus not anything close to food for him. With hers cooking he pulled out another pan and grabbed a packet of dextro food. He slit it open and repeated the same process as with Shepard's food.

Shepard

Shepard took her time in the shower. Nihlus had gotten her some nice smelling body wash that worked well enough to double as a shampoo. He also got her soft towels. She was grateful to everything he had done for her, but she couldn't help but worry about the why. She wrapped herself up in the towel and poked her head out the door. She looked down the hall and saw Nihlus in the kitchen with his back to her so she darted across the hall and slipped into her room. She let the towel fall and looked at herself in the mirror, frowning. All along her legs little red hairs where making their home. She lifted up her arm and grimaced, her underarms weren't any better. It reminded her of the question "If you were on a stranded island what two things would you bring."

"A razor and my Ipod," she said after a bit of thought.

She pulled on a pair of tight pants and a snug t-shirt, effectively covering up all the unattractive hair. Her hips swayed as she dressed, dancing to a song playing in her head. Fingers tapped against her thighs, counting out the beats.

Then she flipped forward, catching herself with one hand and held it for several counts. She let herself fall forward and rolled herself to her feet. She smiled and went to do a back flip, flawlessly catching herself on her hands, using the momentum to spin herself to face the other direction on her way back to her feet. She went for one final forward flip, catching herself on her other hand, but when she went to come back to her feet she hit the door with a thud and a cry of surprise. Her rear hit the door, followed by her legs, and she slid down until she was on the ground, her butt on the door and floor.

"Ow…" she said and rubbed the small of her back where she had hit the floor. "I guess there really isn't enough room in here for that." she muttered and eep-ed when the door suddenly opened. Her legs fell off to the side around Nihlus, who stood there with a worried and confused look on his face. "I was dancing." she said but he didn't understand her. "I was…" she did an old dance were you point your thumbs in one direction and scoot that way and then the other. "Dancing?" she tried again, but now he looked even more confused. "No? Okay then, I just look like an idiot." she sighed and didn't protest when he leaned down, thinking he was going to help her up. Instead he pulled her shirt down that had nearly ridden up past her breasts. "Th-thanks." she coughed, her cheeks red, and got to her feet. Sure she wasn't embarrassed about her body, but that had caught her off guard.

Nihlus tried to look her over, but she kept worming away and towards the kitchen, towards the smell of food. She grabbed the plate Nihlus made for her and plopped down at the table. Nihlus gave up and did the same, sitting across from her. She paused in scooping the food into her mouth to look at his food. "Nih, that is gross." she said and poked the meal with her fork. It looked like a big fried lizard in a purple sauce.

He laughed and pointed at hers "Grrrosssss." he said, mimicking her.

"Hey," she said and scooped up another mouthful of the food. It tasted similar to powdered eggs and looked like overcooked ramen; there was also some type of meat that wasn't too bad either, like a cross between pork and fish. "At least mine isn't some sort of boiled lizard… I think," she said after she swallowed. "How do you eat any meat off of that without the bones getting in the way anyways?" she asked.

She knew Nihlus couldn't understand her, but he showed her anyways. He picked up the lizard by the mid-section and crunched off its head. Shepard felt her appetite leave her at the sound. He didn't seem to notice and bit off its upper mid-section. A bit of guts leaked out of where he bit and onto his plate and she felt her breakfast wanting to make a second appearance. She got up and went into the bathroom. She hovered over the toilet until the feeling past. "Damnit Shep, you're getting weak… nearly throwing up just from that," she cursed herself. "Come on, you've seen worse, you were a sniper, you've seen a guy's blood squirt out of his body through a shot in his neck and drench his buddy." She swallowed the bile in her throat.

"Shepard?" She heard Nihlus ask from behind her. She wiped off her mouth and got to her feet.

"I'm fine," she said, but let him come and look her over. Once he was satisfied she wasn't hurt she let him lead her back into the dining hall and force her to sit back down in front of her plate.

"Eat," he said and left into the cargo area.

His plate was gone and Shepard wondered if he had finished eating or just removed it from her sight after her overreaction. Either way it was nice of him to not make her watch him crunch down lizard, bones and all.

Nihlus

Nihlus was just about to go get her and tell her the food was done when he heard a thud from her room. He quickly went to the door and opened it, blinking when her legs were suddenly on either side of him and she was on the floor. He blinked and tried not to look at her exposed smooth stomach. She tried to act out what she had been doing for him, but it just looked like a volus trying to scratch his back to him. He leaned down and pulled her shirt down. Her stomach jerked away from his touch and he couldn't help but be a bit giddy of the involuntary reaction. In the handful of days since they had left Illium he had come to terms with his… attraction to Shepard, and since then the fantasies just kept cropping up. It was little he could do not to jump her sometimes, to follow her into the shower and hook those creamy legs over his hips, to pin her down to his work bench when she watched him work on his guns. He shoved those thoughts to a back burner like he always did. It just felt good that he could do something to make her have a reaction, even if it was something so small, even something totally unrelated to his desires.

"Thanks," he heard her mutter past an embarrassed cough and took note to the red color of her cheeks. It happened from time to time, but he was still unsure of the full meaning of it. Just to make sure it didn't mean she was sick or her he tried to look her over, but she kept squirming, trying to get to the food. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body, but she just slid down and out of his grasp.

"Fine," he grumbled and grabbed his own plate and sat in front of her. She made a comment about his food, poking it. He could guess the meaning and laughed, pointing back at her food and making the same comment back.

She gave a look that faked being hurt and scooped up a chuck of the soggy instant meal and shoved it into her mouth.

He figured that was the end of the conversation so he picked up his boiled lizard and bit through its head. He crunched up the bones with his back teeth before swallowing and taking another bite pausing when he heard Shepard get up and run off. He sighed and finished the bite before removing his plate and taking it down to his work bench. Then he went back to find Shepard.

She was kneeling in front of the toilet muttering to herself. He allowed her the moment before he let her know he was there. "Shepard…" he said and she turned to look at him.

She smiled and stood up, telling him something he guessed was close to "I'm okay," but he still looked her over. Once he didn't find anything wrong and she wasn't an abnormal temperature he guided her back to the table and forced her to sit in front of her meal.

"Eat," he ordered and tucked her hair behind her ear and left her be to go finish his own breakfast.

The universe must really never want him to have any peace, because the moment he made it down to his work bench his ship told him of an incoming call. He grumbled and headed back up, swallowing the rest of the lizard before he made it back to where Shepard could see him. She gave him a questioning look when he passed back by and followed him to the cockpit, finishing her food on the way.

He answered without sitting down, "This is ship V. Verecaw, responding to your distress signal. What is the problem?" he said loud and clear, but the voice that came back was in a different language. Before he could pin point it there was a clatter behind him. He turned and saw Shepard trembling. "Shepard? Are you okay?" He asked quieter, but the voice heard and understood that.

"Shepard? Shepard!" It shouted and she looked like she was about to cry. She rushed past Nihlus to the mic and the two started speaking quickly, tears streaming down her face. She pulled up her omni-tool and started scribbling in the drawing tool. At first it appeared to be nonsense, and then he recognized a few as batarian numbers.

"Well aren't you a clever one," he muttered, putting together what was happening. One of her crew must have gotten out a distress call and she was getting him to tell her the location. They couldn't even read anything in front of them and yet they were still pulling it off, this species was full of surprises.

Shepard cursed and looked at him before asking the other voice something. After a few seconds another voice came on, this one he could understand. "Hello? Is anyone there?" it asked.

"Yes, this is Officer Kryik." Nihlus said, thinking that it would be best if he didn't let on he was a Spectre, he doubted this was a secure channel. "Where are you?"

"Um… some merc base on Hebat," he said.

Nihlus was already checking that and it checked out. They had gotten lucky, Hebat was by the fuel depot this time of year; otherwise no one would have gotten this transmission. "We're coming to get you, what's your name?" He said as his fingers flew across the control panel, ordering his ship to undock, ignoring the warning that they weren't done fueling and there wasn't a refund of the fuel he had paid for and had yet to receive.

"Kolyat," the voice answered. "The other guy is Jeff, he… he is some sort of new species. But he is okay, he helped me escape the cages they had us in; walks funny though."

Shepard pushed past him again. She said something loud into the mic like she was trying to get a message to someone who wasn't right beside it. And then the message cut off. Shepard panicked at first, but Nihlus got her to calm down. He put a hand on either shoulder and forced her to look at him. "It's okay, we're going to find him. It's going to be okay," he assured her and she nodded, her trembling slowly stopping.

Shepard

Shepard watched Nihlus walk back by as his ship beeped. She knew that walk, he had a destination, a cause, and curiously she picked up her plate and followed him. She stopped behind him as he answered the beeping. As she lifted the last bit to her mouth she froze, hearing a familiar voice over the com.

"Hello? Can anyone hear, or even understand this? This is Pilot Jeff Moreau, I've been kidnapped by some four eyed aliens," he said frantically. "Hello? Hello? Please answer me!"

Nihlus looked back at a loud noise and it took Shepard a second to realize that she had dropped her plate. "Shepard? Vio Laer Inlo?" he asked her. She knew the implications, but before she could answer Jeff - Joker, her best friend, started shouting, clearly having heard her name.

"Shepard? Shepard!" He shouted. "Commander, are you there?"

She pushed past Nihlus. "Yeah, I'm here Joker," she confirmed.

"Shit… Shepard, we all thought you were dead."

'I nearly was,' she thought, but didn't tell him that. "Where is the rest of the crew? Are they okay?" she asked instead. Those people had been under her command, and thus her responsibility. If even one didn't make it back to their families she didn't know if she could live with herself.

"We all had made it to the escape pods, but the four eyed aliens just rounded us up, last I knew everyone was still alive, but they split us up. I think Kaidan was taken to some sort of fighting ring, but I don't know about the others," he filled her in.

"Damn it… where are you?" she asked. "There should be a monitor near you with a bunch of symbols on it, if you can tell me what they look like maybe Nihlus can help me find you," she said.

"Nihlus? Who is Nihlus?" Joker asked.

"A friend. He saved me from the wreck," she said as she pulled up her omni's sketch function.

"The great commander has an alien boyfriend?" Joker teased.

"Shut up," she muttered back.

"I found it! Wow… those symbols look funky… The first one looks like a backwards C with four lines coming off of it. The second one looks like… and upside down, backward four with a vertical line through it… sort of… Then there is a half heart that… l-l…" he faded into static for a bit "with a dot on either side," he said when he came back in.

"Shit…" she cursed, they would lose his signal before she got all the numbers. She looked back at Nihlus a thought of another way. "Is there any alien there? Anyone at all?" she asked.

"Well this frog looking guy that shared a cage with me. But we can't understand him."

"Nihlus should be able to, put him on," she said and moved away from the mic as a voice she couldn't understand came on.

Nihlus reacted to the new voice and they exchanged information while Shepard waited nervously off to the side. When Nihlus nodded to her that he had the information she moved back. "We're coming to get you, Joker, just hang on." she tried to call out to him, but the mic cut off. She couldn't help it, she was shaking and tears were streaming out of the corner of her eyes.

Nihlus grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke to her soothingly, his mandibles clicking. There were some things that got through even a language barrier. It was going to be okay, that is what he was telling her, and she believed him.

Joker

He wasn't sure how they had made it out of the cage, there had been a break out of someone else and they managed to slip out in the chaos. It didn't matter, what mattered was that they were out and he and his frog like friend were hobbling down the hall. Frog-boy stopped them as a pair of mercs turned the corner, and dove them into a room before they were spotted. Joker groaned as his body was handled roughly. "Easy on the cripple," he said, but it didn't matter, Frog-boy couldn't understand him. He sighed in relief as he was set down in a chair and able to let his weak bones rest.

Frog-boy moved back to the door, watching for any other aliens from spotting them. Joker watched him for a bit before turning to survey the room they were in. "Well ain't this a bit of luck," he said. They were in a comm room. He didn't have to be able to read their weird writing to know the design, similar even across species. He had served in a room like this one for years, he'd be damned if he was going to pass up this opportunity. He looked over the controls until he found what he wanted, a big button with a picture of a mic on it. Either it was to send a radio signal or the intercom, so either he was going to signal help or tell every alien in the place where they were. He hit it and on the screen came up a picture of a radio tower with an animation that it was broadcasting. "Come on… surely someone is out there," he pleaded and felt his heart skip a beat as it was answered and a voice answered.

The voice was quick, broken up by clicks and chirps, and he glared back at Frog-boy, but he was busy watching the door.

Looked like he was going to have to make this up as he went and hope for the best. Besides, even if he couldn't understand the guy it was something, at least someone would know they were here. "Hello? Can anyone hear, or even understand this? This is Pilot Jeff Moreau, I've been kidnapped by some four eyed aliens," he said frantically. "Hello? Hello? Please answer me!"

He was silent for several long pauses, waiting. If he hadn't been so quiet he wouldn't have heard the voice speak to someone else on its end. "Shepard? Vio Laer Inlo?"

"Shepard? Shepard!" he said, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He wondered if it were to go any faster if it would break his fragile ribs. "Commander, are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here Joker," her voice came back, the most beautiful thing he had heard in what seemed like an eternity.

"Shit… Shepard, we all thought you were dead," he said, unable to hold back the words of relief.

"Where is the rest of the crew? Are they okay?" She pressed, always one to put business before pleasure, of course she wouldn't give herself time to take in that he was alive before she knew about the rest of the crew.

"We all had made it to the escape pods, but the four eyed aliens just rounded us up, last I knew everyone was still alive, but they split us up." he told her, wishing he had more. "I think Kaidan was taken to some sort of fighting ring, but I don't know about the others," he tried to offer.

"Damnit… where are you?" She asked. "There should be a monitor near you with a bunch of symbols on it, if you can tell me what they look like maybe Nihlus can help me find you." As she talked he looked for what she was talking about, knowing the type of thing she was talking about.

"Nihlus? Who is Nihlus?" Joker asked, small talk to fill the silence, there was too much silence when no one could understand you.

"A friend. He saved me from the wreck."

"The great commander has an alien boyfriend?" Joker teased.

"Shut up," she muttered back.

"I found it! Wow… those symbols look funky…" he said, squinting at the weird writing. "The first one looks like a backwards C with four lines coming off of it. The second one looks like… and upside down, backward four with a vertical line through it… sort of…" Well it did, it just was also shifted in a way he didn't know how to explain. "Then there is a half heart that looks like a lightning bolt on the end with a dot on either side," he said and Shepard stopped him.

"Shit…" she cursed. "Is there any alien there? Anyone at all?" she asked.

"Well this frog looking guy that shared a cage with me, but we can't understand him." Joker said and looked back at Frog-boy who was still by the door, keeping watch to give them time.

"Nihlus should be able to, put him on," she said.

Joker nodded and got up, hobbling to Frog-boy. He tapped him on the shoulder and when Frog-boy turned to look at him he pointed at the mic. Frog-boy understood and went to it, leaving Joker to keep watch.

They talked for a bit before the aliens came and opened the door. Joker tried to stop them, but they just rammed into the door harder. He was flung back and Frog-boy caught him, probably saving him from several broken bones. "Thanks," he said as the aliens swarmed in and cut off the transmission. One went up to Frog-boy and hit him in the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him out. "It's too late, Shep knows where we are, and she is a force you can't stop," Joker snarled up at them before they brought the butt of the gun down on his head, knocking him out.

A/N: And here is chapter 8. Sorry I haven't updated lately, I've had exams, and finals, and papers, and mental breakdowns from all of it to deal with. As always thank you for reading and thank you to CyanB for editing my grammatical errors (which I tend to have a lot of).