ABLE/NOVEMBER: There's been some confusion on this matter so allow me to clarify, the Shepard in this story's name is "Markus". The one in my other story is "John". It helps keep them straight when I'm spooling up the creative gray matter in my coat hanger (that's self-depricating speak for "brain").
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Chapter 3:
Not a "People Person" Anymore
ONE MONTH POST-ACTIVATION:
The door to Shepard's cabin on the Normandy chimed.
"Open." Tali said, her voice faint.
As it slid open Javik entered, the door closing behind him.
"The asa- Doctor T'Soni suggested I apologize for acting rudely during the ceremony." He said with a huff.
"Fine. Just go." She walked over to his desk and sat down mindlessly fiddling with a model of the SR-1.
"This is quite pathetic you know."
She stared him down with the darkest, angriest look imaginable. Even behind her mask, a senile Elcor could see the rage.
"Get. Out." She spat to him. It was taking everything she had to keep from beating him back to his own cynical cycle.
"Your 'mate'." He scoffed at the later part. "Has done what trillions have failed to do. Millions upon millions of years and he, a single person, drove the Reapers out of this universe in only a few years."
"I said 'Get out'. So leave."
"And yet you sit here crying. I remember when quarians had spirit in them. It appears everyone in this cycle has become too weak-willed to do anything on their own."
"GET OUT!" She was now screaming at him.
"Not until you will listen to reason. Your relationship was an illusion. A sham. The two of you were only with each other because of a lack of options."
Tali leapt up landing a right hook into his jaw at the same time Garrus came into the room to check on her.
"What happened?" He asked, startled seeing the Prothean's jaw bleeding and Tali collapsed back in the chair crying her eyes out yet again.
"I simply told her the truth. She refused to hear it."
"And what truth was that?" Garrus had a good feeling as to why his lip was bloodied now.
"That even if he survived, she is better off without him."
Garrus followed suite with Tali's previous reaction; slamming his own fist into Javik's jaw, this time on the left side. He then grabbed the cynical alien by the collar and shoved him out of the cabin.
"You. Stay. Away from her." He growled. His best friend was in all honesty, likely dead, and here someone was rubbing salt in the wounds of Tali's loss. If Javik hadn't been a colleague he had fought with several dozen times (no matter how little they got along) he would have ripped his throat out and let him drown in a pool of his own blood.
He then slammed his hand into the door control closing it. "EDI, I want you to keep Javik off this floor." He said to the damaged AI that now barely ran the ship.
"Hey, come here." He said to Tali, helping her up.
He took her to the couch where they sat down. "Almost all of the systems have been repaired. We should be back to Earth in a few days. He'll probably be waiting for you when we land. We'll find him."
"But... wha-what if..." She didn't need to finish her sentence.
"Then you can kick my ass all the way back to the First Contact War if it'll make you feel better." His mandibles were spaced slightly farther apart in his vain attempt of a smile. "This wouldn't be the first time he'd come back from the dead. He's too stubborn."
"Why?" Markus barked at Miranda.
"Why the hell do I have to go through physical therapy?"
"I think we went over this yesterday Shepard."
"Then you shouldn't have a problem convincing me to do it." He wasn't trying to get out of it cause he hated it, he just wanted to curl up and let the world pass him by.
"That'd be right, but you haven't gotten out of bed for the last three days."
"Well then I'd hate to ruin the streak." He pulled his blanket tight with his temporary prosthetic hand.
"Besides, these damn things don't work right."
"They seemed to be working just fine at Ceres café." The incident she was referring to happened five days earlier.
Ceres café, five days ago
After two days of constant nagging from his mother he had finally gone somewhere other than the mess tent and the doctor's 'office'. He was sitting alone, having a cup of tea. He couldn't remember the brand, or even what kind of tea it was, not that it mattered.
"Hey, you're him aren't you?" One of the local patrons asked Mark. "You're that Commander Shepard aren't you?"
"Yeah. Yeah I'm Shepard." He had gotten used to the gawking, though in the last few weeks they had significantly cut back; mostly because they had been busy trying to re-build London. And the rest of Earth.
Most of the debris from the various buildings had been piled up and were being sorted through on whether or not to immediately use it for reconstruction, or to mix it with other materials for later use.
"I don't mean to intrude, but it's rather crowded. It wouldn't be a bother if I joined would it?"
"Sure I guess." He motioned with the prosthetic hand the Geth had installed in place of the left hand he had lost. At present it was simply a bone-like graft though they promised a better, more full hand once they had access to more supplies, that what was on Earth needed to be rationed as far as it could until supply ships started coming in.
But he didn't want it to be replaced with a better one. He didn't even want what he had. The same went for his leg.
"My name is Ryan. So, what's it like being the biggest hero in all of history?" He asked. There was a distinctive southern American drawl in his voice.
Markus absently shrugged in response to his question. "Don't much care."
"Are you kidding me? Why? What could be bringing you down?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Why not? Come on! I'm a good shoulder to lean on, a fellow to spill your deepest troubles."
"I said forget it. That's my polite way of saying 'back the hell off. Now'. Are we clear?"
"Ah, so a girlfriend I take it. Would have been one of your crew or some reporter would have been able to dig and get a name."
Shepard was eying him with a 'if you keep this up I will rip your foot off and jam it in your mouth' look.
"Was it that brunette Marine? Man was she was hot!"
"No, no it wasn't Ash." He conceded to himself that some form of social contact might be good for him.
"Okay, that news chick who was reporting from the Normandy then?"
"Wrong again. Look, just drop it okay."
"Fine, fine, fine. I don't mind which way ya are. Just, one last question?"
"As long as you agree to leave me alone afterwards." Shepard was stirring his tea idly by gently swirling the cup in a slow circle.
"What did you feel when you killed our gods?" That caught his full attention; the cup stopped moving, his head didn't change angle but the eyes, those shot up to meet Ryan's in full alert mode. He was on the lookout for the slightest hint of aggression.
The rest of the café went deadly silent, unsure whether to go on as they were or to get out quickly.
"What did you just say?"
"I said," Ryan's hand quietly slipped into his jacket.
"How did it feel when you ruined our chance for SALVATION!" He brought the dagger he had concealed up and lunged for Shepard's head.
Instinctively kicking the table up between himself and his attacker, Shepard rolled out of his chair and the patrons fled out the door, the still destroyed wall, any which way they could in fear that they would be the next target.
Ryan then started ranting. "WE WERE ON THE VERGE OF GREATNESS! AND YOU RUINED OUR SALVATION!" He took another swing at Shepard, this one going to slash his chest.
Moving his cybernetic hand in the way, he flicked his fingers as the blade went between the ascetic bone-like superstructure that was all that it currently consisted of.
The blade shattered between the metal fingers, shards raining down on the floor.
Bringing his leg up, Markus slammed the indoctrinated man with his organic leg landing a blow to the kidneys. Continuing the momentum, he planted his foot down and brought the cybernetic leg around forming a roundhouse kick that nearly smashed Ryan's skull in. After the combo blow he didn't get back up.
Still heaving from the sudden assault, Shepard knelt down to check the man's vitals. He was dead. The authorities arrived shortly there after and filed a report on what happened: another indoctrinated agent had attacked.
Present day, Shepard's medical tent
"Hey Shepard, my girl ain't bothring ya is she?" Jack asked walking into the tent.
"No I- wait, what did you just say? Did you just?" He didn't need to finish the sentence.
"You didn't tell him?"
"I've been too busy trying to get him to actually follow through with his therapy!" Most of that was directed towards Shepard as a cheap shot at his stubbornness.
"Wait, hold up, I'm confused. Jack, did you just say that Miranda is... your 'girl'? You two aren't—are you?"
"Hell yeah we are Stumpy." Markus flipped her off with his cybernetic hand. "Eh... sorry?"
"Look, she's been worried about you and she brings it home with her. Just ruins the sex. I mean, the last time I got any kind of a decent lay was right when we started—" Shepard cut her off there.
"I think I'll go down to the PT tent for a few." He said climbing out of bed. "Wrex will make sure I don't go too hard."
When both Wrex and Shepard were out of earshot Jack turned back to Miranda and slung her arm around her waist. "Told ya I could get him out of bed. Now, let's see if we can't do the opposite with you."
ABLE/NOVEMBER:Despite the way this was written, Garrus doesn't, I say again DOES NOT have any romantic feelings for Tali. He sees her and Shepard like family and would do anything to keep them safe, or at least happy.
I decided not to include Jack and Miranda going at it in Shepard's bunk (Jack really doesn't have any shame does she?) because this is a Shepard/Tali story. I'm saving all the... creative juices ;) for them.