"What do you mean decommissioned?" asked Kaidan, not believing the news himself.
"There aren't any details," seethed Elissa, balling up the papers in anger, "I'm just supposed to report to Admiral Hackett's office as soon as I am able where he will explain everything."
"Lisa, are you still a Spectre?" asked Tali. "Being discharged from the Alliance Forces does not mean you have been demoted from Spectre status."
"I guess I'll find that out when I get honorably discharged," said Elissa through her teeth. "Excuse me." She pushed Kaidan's hands off of her and practically ran up the stairs and tried with all of her might not to slam the door when she got into her bedroom.
"How could they do this?" asked Kaidan aloud, "Ella's a good soldier and leader, she hasn't done anything wrong, she was found innocent of all charges at her hearing for God's sake."
"You got me, Maj," said Joker, looking at the floor, EDI putting her hand on his shoulder, "I mean the Commander, uh, Elissa, is a damn fine soldier and Spectre. Alright so we went rogue for a little while, and might have unintentionally caused a war with the Batarians, oh and there was the whole disobeying orders against going to Ilos incident—"
"Joker, stop trying to help," sighed Jacob. "She might have the chance to appeal the decision if their evidence isn't sound."
"That is possible," said Tali, thinking about her trial back on the Migrant Fleet, "maybe we could request a trial for her, and we all speak on her behalf."
"Well, everyone except Joker," said James jokingly, "his testimony would single handedly guarantee Lola's discharge, not to mention the rest of us."
"Hey! I love the Commander like the rest of you, well maybe not like you, Maj," said Joker, winking at Kaidan, "but that doesn't mean I want to see her get booted out!"
"None of us wants to see Lisa get discharged, Joker," said Liara patiently.
"Is there anything you can do, Liara, being the Shadow Broker and all?" asked Garrus.
"I could take a look at any evidence they could present against her, possibly peek at the forms that explain their reason for the discharge, but that's all I can do," said Liara, sighing heavily, she wanted to help her friend but there was only so much even she could do at this point.
"It's a start," said Kaidan forcefully, "there might be more we could do to help Ella but right now, I think we should just try to boost her morale."
"Well, Maj, I think that's your department," quipped Joker and everyone else snickered softly. Kaidan rolled his eyes in jest, he knew they were trying to ease the tension in this situation, so in the spirit of a good laugh he stooped his shoulders and hung his head as he headed up the stairs.
"Do I have to?" asked Kaidan in a whiny voice with a sparkle in his eyes. The rest of them laughed, while Joker motioned that he had to venture forth to the second story, which he did with a spring in his step despite his outward appearance. When he got to their bedroom he eased the door open he saw Ella sitting on their bed with her head hung, arms resting on her legs and hands clasped in front of her. Kaidan slowly walked towards her and when she did not move from her position, he sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"How are you holding up, Ella?" asked Kaidan quietly, his hand gently caressing her side.
"I don't understand it, Kaidan," started Elissa, her voice almost a whisper, "what did I do wrong?"
"Nothing, Ella, you've done nothing wrong," said Kaidan, his voice raised some, "what would make you think that you did something wrong?"
"Why else would they discharge me?" snapped Elissa, a tone Elissa immediately regretted when she saw the hurt look on his face. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."
"Hey, you've had a rough night," said Kaidan soothingly, "you have a reason to be upset."
"I've been a soldier for most of my life, my parents were military, and now I have nothing," said Elissa, running her fingers through her hair.
"You still have me, and the house," said Kaidan, a bit hurt.
"I know," said Elissa, putting her hand on Kaidan's thigh, "I love being here and being with you, I'm just pissed off and blowing off steam."
"I know, baby," said Kaidan taking Elissa's hand in both of his and kissing her fingertips, then stood up, "come on downstairs, it's not a party without you."
Elissa smiled and allowed Kaidan to help her up off the bed and they walked downstairs together where she was greeted with a loud round of applause. She was deeply touched, the people standing before her had been to hell and back under her command and they had all remained strong throughout the whole ordeal, now here they were helping her regain the resilience she had thought was long gone. She looked at each of her crew members, amazed that they had all made it through when she had been told it would be nearly impossible to have this many survive, she could not believe that she had achieved that impossible and they were all there. Joker had found someone to be with who laughed at his bad jokes, and even though she was made entirely of metal, she was gentle with him, understanding that his condition required delicate care and he was happy with EDI despite the irregular nature of their relationship. Liara's life was going phenomenally well, she was the most powerful being in the Milky Way yet she had still maintained her friendly disposition and concern for the well being of each planet. Now Liara was going to be a mother and wife a journey she would not embark on alone, she would have all of the support she needed from the crew and Feron would be there too, helping her through the rough times.
Tali had regained her status on the Migrant Fleet and was now working side by side with a Geth to try and improve their technology in an attempt to maintain the Quarian home world, yet even with all of these projects occupying her time she was still able to visit with her friends and be there for them without question. Without Tali, Elissa was not sure how she would have made it through those tough months without Kaidan, especially after what happened on Horizon, not having Kaidan or his support made those the hardest months of her life. Wrex and Grunt were both now trying to unite the individual tribes of the Krogan on Tuchanka, they sounded more hopeful now that the genophage had been eradicated, and at last count there were already over two hundred Krogan babies. Their new radical ideas were being accepted by more of the Krogan and were having the impact that Wrex had hoped for when he had set out on this renaissance for his species.
James had made a name for himself, being not only a formidable poker opponent, but as a soldier too, after the Reaper war he had become a drill sergeant for N7 training, specializing in recruiting and assisting kids who had been in the same situation he had been in before becoming a marine. He had also opened up a small tattoo parlor with Cortez though James never really did anything there beyond getting additions to his own body, though Cortez did not care, he enjoyed running the business or so James said. Jacob was now living with Brynn and his son Nicholas in Vancouver and had managed to stay hidden from Cerberus for long enough to get both his wife and son off world and to a safe haven until the war was over. Brynn was adjusting well to a simple life after what she had experienced and Nicholas was about a year old now and Jacob was taking to being a father extremely well. Garrus had gone back to Omega as the vigilante Archangel and had been seen around with Aria though he denied that it was a romantic relationship, Elissa had seen the way his eyes sparkled whenever someone spoke about her though, so she knew he was laying.
Elissa beamed at all of her friends, feeling very proud to have led them all and being able to see how their lives turned out, then she looked at Kaidan and saw the rest of her life. The ring on her finger caught the light again, making her think of all the times she and Kaidan had shared and she could not begin to imagine her life without Kaidan nor did she want to again, she thought she had lost him once and could not go through that hell again. Now she needed his support again, dealing with this discharge was going to be trying on both her patience and confidence, and if she lost her Spectre status then she would feel completely useless in this world and the other ones as well.
"Food's ready!" called Kaidan from the kitchen where he had disappeared to momentarily. Everyone filed out of the living room and onto the balcony where they enjoyed their various foods, most enjoying steaks while others were enjoying delicacies that was specific to their species. Jacob was talking with Liara about being a parent, Garrus was speaking with Wrex and Grunt about some various guns and how to acquire them and Tali was trying to coax more details about some secret technology from EDI while Joker was joking around with Kaidan.
"Ellie!" shouted Joker, "stop being a loner, come join us!" Elissa smiled and walked over to where Joker was sitting and Kaidan kissed her cheek.
"Joker was just telling me about some of the adventures you had without me, again," said Kaidan, leaning against the railing of the deck.
"Which ones?" asked Elissa, eyeing Joker suspiciously.
"The fun ones, like recruiting Garrus and taking down the Shadow Broker, oh and tracking Thane that was awesome!" said Joker loudly, then he sipped his Canadian lager. "This beer, is the real deal, I've missed a good old fashion beer."
"Good thing you're living here then," said Kaidan as he reached for another, "all the beer you can drink."
"I still prefer a good white wine," said Elissa, "best way to unwind after a rough day, did that more than once while on active duty."
"That explains the wine racks in the basement," said Kaidan teasingly, kissing Elissa's cheek again.
"Might want to hide the wine after her meeting with Hackett," said Joker and Elissa lifted her fist in a playful gesture, Joker flinched just slightly, though they were smiling the whole time. They had been doing this since they had been hired by Cerberus, he was one of only a few friendly faces she had seen at the beginning of those long months and she was grateful to have had him there.
Instead of being Commander and Lieutenant, they were now more like brother and sister, both had supported the other through tough times and had the other's back when push came to shove. Elissa remembered one night after a difficult mission, she had been in her quarters trying to unwind with a glass of muscato and in walked Joker with a deck of playing cards, he had insisted that he was going to teach her how to play gin rummy then and there. After a few hands, Elissa had a better grasp on the game and things got serious, they played well into that night waking up with cards everywhere. They then had gotten into the habit of playing almost every night even if there was not a difficult mission to contend with, soon they were opening up more and more about their lives, she talked about living on the various Naval stations and he talked about his life focusing more on how he had learned the basics of flying from an old friend of his mom's. Now they still played gin rummy almost every night, but not for hours on end, both Kaidan and EDI had limited the time to three hours on weekends and two hours on weekdays.
Elissa was smiling when she was shaken from her thoughts by Joker's hand waving in her face saying, "Normandy to shore party, come in shore party."
"I'm fine, Joker, I was just thinking about when you taught me how to play gin," said Elissa.
"Are we going to play tonight or would you rather postpone?" asked Joker, checking his watch. "It's getting pretty late even for a two hour game."
"I think we'll have enough time to play a few hands," said Elissa, "besides, on our flight back to the Citadel, we'll probably have even more time."
"I agree, but I think the Major should join us," said Joker.
"I play poker not gin," said Kaidan as he took a sip of his lemonade.
"You should learn how to play," said Elissa nudging him in the arm with her shoulder, "it's something fun that is also mentally stimulating."
"Why don't you ask Liara or Tali to play?" asked Kaidan as he took a bite of his piece of bread.
"Yeah, Ellie, why don't we ask the members of two of the smartest races in the galaxy to play a game that involves keeping track of points? What were we thinking?" asked Joker sarcastically.
"Joker, be nice," warned Elissa, "if he doesn't want to play, he doesn't have to, it's solely his choice."
"Thank you, Ella," said Kaidan, pecking her on the lips.
"Hey, Elissa, Kaidan," said Jacob walking over, "I'm heading out, Vega's going to take me home, I had one too many glasses of that spiked lemonade."
"That's fine, Jacob, just get back to Brynn and Nick safely," said Elissa hugging him good-bye.
"Take care, Jacob," said Kaidan as he shook Jacob's hand.
"You too, Kaidan," said Jacob and he stumbled a little as he walked down the deck stairs.
"I really should make sure he gets home alright," said James, taking Elissa in a great big bear hug, "great dinner, Lola, you and Kaidan really put a spread out tonight."
"Thank you, James," said Elissa, struggling to say anything under the pressure of his hug.
"Kaidan," said James as he released Elissa and then hugged Kaidan but not the same as he had hugged her, "great steaks, great beer, great to be here."
"Glad you came," said Kaidan and then James followed the path Jacob had taken off the deck and was gone with him shortly after.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave as well, Lisa," said Tali, walking up to Elissa and Kaidan, "I have a trip tomorrow to Rannoch for a meeting with the architects about my house, thank you for an excellent night." She hugged Elissa tightly and then hugged Kaidan.
"Don't spend that hundred in one night," said Kaidan as he released her, and then he embraced Liara as she hugged him after having hugged Elissa. "You leaving too?"
"Yes, I need to get back to Feron," said Liara, as he released her, "Tali's taking me back there on her way to Rannoch, I had a great time, thank you both for everything."
"It was good to see you both again, thanks for the help with the furniture," said Elissa and she waved good-bye as they left.
"You guys leaving too?" asked Kaidan, looking at Wrex, Grunt, and Garrus.
"Yes, but not to go home, we have some more parties to attend," said Garrus with a wicked tone.
"Uh-huh," said Elissa, folding her arms across her chest, "do these parties involve guns and armor?"
"Only the best ones do, Shepard," said Garrus, he hugged Elissa carefully, his armor getting in the way more than it usually did.
"Good bye, Shepard, Alenko," said Wrex, shaking her her hand and then Kaidan's.
"So long, Wrex," said Elissa.
"Glad you could make it," said Kaidan.
Grunt walked up to them and bowed his head, his way of saying good-bye in situations where he knew great respect was deserved.
"Grunt, you know you don't have to bow to me," said Elissa exasperated at the Krogan's actions.
"I will bow to you until I am your equal," replied Grunt, "I do the same to Urdnot Wrex and several other clan leaders."
"Come on, Grunt!" called Garrus, "There's still some fun to be had!"
"Shepard," said Grunt and he left, following Wrex and Garrus to Garrus's car and then like everyone before them, they flew away from the house.
"Shall we adjourn inside?" asked Joker, shuffling the deck of cards he kept on him at all times. "Major, you are learning how to play gin, no if ands or buts about it."
"Ella," said Kaidan, his tone implying he really wanted out of this.
"Come on, Kaidan," said Elissa tugging his hand towards the house, "it'll be fun, just a few hands, what's the harm?"
"I have a feeling that if I don't play, you'll keep asking until I relent," said Kaidan and he followed Elissa inside. Joker was already sitting on the loveseat, EDI was sitting in the chair, reading a book of poetry, Elissa and Kaidan sat on the couch.
"Ready to lose, Major?" asked Joker dealing out the cards onto the table.
"If you say so, Joker," said Kaidan reluctantly as he picked up his cards.
"Lighten up, Kaidan, you're probably good at this game," said Elissa.
Several hours and hands later, Kaidan finally threw down his cards and shouted, "Gin!"
"Great job, sweetheart," said Elissa as she gathered up the cards and handed them back to Joker.
"You're just as good as Elissa," said Joker, trying to look dismayed at how quickly Kaidan had picked up the game.
"I can see how you two can play this game for hours," said Kaidan laughing, "it really is a lot of fun, not to mention a great way to relax."
"So are you going to be a third for gin rummy, Major?" asked Joker, hoping he would say no, as he put the deck back in his pocket.
"I might be persuaded to join you guys every now and again," said Kaidan as he leaned back into the cushions of the couch putting his arm on the back of the couch, Elissa then leaned against Kaidan, overcome with the feeling of needing lots of sleep.
"Joker, it is nearly three in the morning," said EDI, standing up, "I think we should return home and let the Commander and Major sleep."
"Killjoy," muttered Joker and he stood up, stretching carefully. He came over and hugged Elissa as tight as he could without injuring himself and then shook Kaidan's hand, EDI then picked up Joker and they left.
"I finally have you all to myself," said Kaidan pulling Elissa closer to his body, and placing a soft kiss on her lips.
"Reminds me of when we first bunked together on the Normandy," said Elissa in a sultry voice.
"That was a pretty spectacular night, if I remember correctly," said Kaidan laughing slightly to himself.
"Want to try and recreate that night?" asked Elissa, standing up and extending her hand to Kaidan which he eagerly took.
"Just like we do nearly every night," said Kaidan planting a passionate kiss on the unsuspecting Elissa, he took her hand and pulled her with him up the stairs and to their bedroom, Elissa giggling and blushing the whole walk.
