So sorry for the deley everyone, I lost my touch for a while and had no motivation to do this. But I'm back now with a new chapter. I'll let you all get on with it.
It felt like it was forever when Joker finally heard anything about Becca, he was sitting in the waiting room when one of the doctors, a Salarian, walked out and towards him. He was looking at a chart when he looked up at Joker.
"Mr. Moreau? You are Rebecca's guardian? I had no idea, well she's perfectly fine, surgery went well, even with her usual problems. We also have found that she had a slight reaction to turian skin, it was actually quite interesting. Her body appears to be able to tolerate it, unlike the usual allergic reactions when ingesting. Even inhaling stray flakes causes the reaction, though she's just fine. I'd say if she has interest in a turian, there is nothing to worry about," The doctor said and Joker nodded.
"Thank you, will she be able to return to the ship?" Joker asked.
"She will need a few hours to recover from the anesthetic, but afterwards, just make sure she rests before doing too much."
"Can I see her?" The Salarian nodded and led him to where Becca was resting, her leg bandaged up and an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth.
"She is still very weak, give her time," the Salarian whispered before leaving them. Joker brushed a strand of Becca's hair from her face and she opened her eyes weakly, looking very tired.
"Hey kiddo, everything went well, you're on your way to recovery, and in a few hours they'll let you go and you can sleep on the ship," Joker whispered to her and she gave him a weak smile. He sat down on her bed, though she reached for him and he laid down next to her. She snuggled close to him and sighed. Joker smiled down at her, missing this feeling, just laying with her close to him. Since she turned thirteen, they would do this before she went to bed. Six years without it, Joker was happy to lay like this again.
It was probably a good hour passed when the door opened again and Shepard walked in. Joker fought a yawn, getting tired himself.
"How's she doing?" Shepard asked.
"She needs a few hours to recover from the surgery, by the time visiting hours are over, she'll be out, I'm gonna need help getting her back to the ship," Joker said and Shepard smiled.
"Not a problem, Joker. Becca had a rough ride, she'll need a lot of sleep until tomorrow."
"Shit that's...did they come in?" He glanced at Becca when he paused.
"Yeah, everything is ready, we'll just have to set up while she sleeps." Shepard didn't let Joker's sigh go unnoticed. "Something wrong?"
"Its so close to a special day and she has to spend it with broken bones."
"Don't worry too much about it, it'll be nothing but a happy day for her, too bad she and Tali won't be going out tomorrow."
"Is Jack coming?"
"I haven't heard anything from her."
"Typical, she doesn't even know Becca, just for the fact that she refuses to return to the ship for a bit or even to the Citadel."
"I'll take a look and see if I got anything from her." Joker nodded before looking down at Becca when she stirred. Her eyes opening again and Shepard came into view.
"Hey kiddo, Shepard's here." Becca turned her eyes to him and smiled weakly.
"How you feeling?" They laughed when Becca stuck her tongue out behind the oxygen mask. "Keeping it real, as always." Shepard rubbed her hand before nodding to Joker. "I've gotta go check a few things, I'll be back to help you get her back to the ship, Joker."
"Alright Commander, see you later."
~oOo~
True to his word, Shepard returned as Joker signed the release papers and they helped Becca to the ship and into the female crew quarters. After helping her lay down and replace her leg braces, they left her to sleep. Shepard stopped Joker before he walked off.
"Listen, Joker, she's basically your kid, organize this decorating with everyone, I'll be in my quarters if you need anything," Shepard said and Joker smiled.
"Aye aye Commander," Joker saluted before heading to the bridge and turning his ear comm on, knowing Becca didn't have hers in. "Alright everyone, whoever is helping out with Becca's party in a few hours, head on over to the bridge, I'm organizing this thing." After receiving responses, Joker turned to EDI. "EDI, I need a list started so everyone knows what they're doing with who."
"Of course, Jeff," EDI smiled and Joker pulled up his Omni Tool and received the blank sheet, EDI ready to type. Joker got a little more comfortable in his chair as everyone piled into the flight deck and bridge.
"First of all, I just wanna thank you all for coming on short notice to help out with Becca's party. This kid means everything to me since her parents died, and I know you all have a special link to her, be the guys she loves to tease, the girls who she needs to gossip with, or the brother she loves to be strong with." Joker looked at Grunt who hit his hands together. "Becca turns nineteen in only a few hours, so I want this to be the best party ever. So, we need the decorations, the entertainment, the food, the gift manager, and of course, the one to keep an eye on Becca in case she decides to wake up early. Tali, keep an eye on Becca, keep her occupied if she wakes up earlier than expected."
"Of course, Joker," Tali responded, giving him a lazy salute with a finger.
"James, you're good with food, manage the cooking."
"No problemo, comodin" James said.
"Wrex, Grunt, Liara, and Samara, handle entertainment, I'm sure two krogan can come up with stuff and two asari can lighten things up with some calming fun."
"Yeah, like that time at Loco's party before we took down the Reapers, that was trippy," James said and Liara rolled her eyes.
"Jeff, you are forgetting music," EDI pipped up.
"Shit I did, EDI?" EDI simply nodded, noting she would take care of it. "Everyone else, decorations, Dr. Chakwas can you handle the gifts since you're the expert on Becca's special gift?"
"I'll do my best," Dr. Chakwas said before Joker dismissed the group.
"So what are we going to do for music?" Joker asked, turning his chair towards EDI.
"I believe Becca has tastes for older rock music from a century ago and even older than that. Disturbed, Sleeping with Sirens, Black Veil Brides, AC/DC, Metallica, Iron Maiden and some country singers such as Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, and Tim McGraw," EDI read off and Joker pulled down his Omni Tool and sighed.
"I never even knew the kid had a thing for music. We should play some of the stuff Glif played at Shepard's party."
"I believe I can get those from the VI itself, allow me to find all that I can in the next few hours and create a playlist for it."
"Thanks EDI, you're a life saver." EDI nodded, knowing it was a metaphor. Over the past few years, the AI had begun understanding human sarcasm and human nature in general. Joker nodded to himself before standing and heading around the ship.
James and a few other crew members were hard at work in the mess, streamers, balloons, and various other party decals were hung on the walls. Dr. Chakwas was storing any gifts in the AI core room, Joker could see the new leg braces for Becca and couldn't wait for her to wear them. They were made with the finest materials, thanks to help from an old friend, to help support her legs better. Samara, Liara, Wrex, and Grunt were having a blast with entertainment, getting ideas with Biotic shows and wrestling, and of course, the Asari came up with some fun small craft projects for anyone who prefered that. After checking on Tali, Joker headed back to the bridge where EDI had finished with music and was back to working on her usual checks on the Normandy.
"All that's left is to get a hold of a friend," Joker mumbled to himself and the Normandy left the Citadel before heading to the very edge of the galaxy, to a single small planet covered in lush green vegetation and great lakes. Joker patched into the frequency and waited for a moment before speaking. "Tigressa Colony, the Normandy is approaching, permission to land?"
"Permission granted, you know that, Joker. Welcome back to Terrakon, how's the Commander doing?" a female voice came through, Joker talked as he landed the ship.
"Doing great, listen, do you think the Chief of the Colony can take a few days away for a party?" Joker asked.
"Oh of course! I'll be there shortly," the female responded.
Joker landed the ship and he head the hatch open. He turned his chair around and stood, waiting for the decontamination process to end before the doors slid open and revealed a beautiful creature. A big cat, fur as white as snow, stripes as black as night, and delicate, yet powerful, striped wings on her back. Her right leg was silver, made of metal due to an injury many years ago.
"Been almost twenty years since I've seen this ship after the Reapers' defeat," the Tigressa said. Clipped to her right ear were three orange feathers with black stripes, the symbol of a leader.
"It has been long, listen, we're having a birthday party for Becca, she's a kid we saved from a slaver group and I raised her myself, she has Vrolik's Syndrome, just as bad as mine."
"Right, that's why you guys wanted the metals from Terrakon right? Get them made into new leg braces. That's really something special for her huh?"
"That who I think it is?" Shepard's voice asked. They turned to him and Joker smiled.
"Couldn't leave her out now could we?" Joker asked and the Tigressa walked up to Shepard.
"Good to see you Commander," she said.
"Good to have you back on the ship, Chief Cloudwisper Snow," Shepard chuckled.
"Thanks, Shepard, so what's this Becca like?" Cloudwisper asked.
"She's the heart and joy of the ship, everyone looks out for her and she's not afraid of danger, besides the slavers that broke her leg recently," Joker responded.
"Damn, I gotta meet this girl," Cloudwisper laughed.
"You're old spot is still there if you want to wait until Becca wakes up," Joker noted and Cloudwisper nodded her head.
"Thank you, Joker."
"Tali will alert when Becca's awake, be ready then." With that said, Cloudwisper headed for the elevator.
"Its good to have her back. So, Commander, did Jack reply at all?" Joker asked, turning to Shepard.
"No, I have no idea what it is, we might have to go to the Academy to figure out what's going on," Shepard sighed.
"Commander, don't. If she's not replying, it probably means she's busy dealing with the kids, don't worry about it." Joker limped back to his chair and returned the ship to orbit. After going through the Mass Relay, the Normandy docked at the Citadel and Joker sat, staring at the lights before him. It wasn't until he heard the sound of metal clanking on the floor did he actually look up.
"Joker?" Cloudwisper piped up behind him and Joker turned his chair around. Cloudwisper was sitting just in the doorway to the bridge. She appeared to be nervous about something, but that didn't stop her from speaking her mind. "I have to ask...is...is Becca going to be afraid to see me?"
"No way in hell will she be afraid. To tell you the truth, we've spoken highly of you, and because of you, the kid has a thing for white tigers," Joker assured her and he reached for something under the controls. He tossed it to Cloudwisper and it landed on the back of her metal paw. It was a simple thing, a stuffed animal, a white tiger. "I got her an old one a few years back, that's a new one for her."
"Wow, does she still have the old one?"
"She does." Cloudwisper smiled before taking the toy in her mouth carefully and setting it on Joker's lap before walking off. Joker hid it under the controls when the beep of the comm went off.
"Becca's awake," Tali announced.
"Alright everybody, let's do this," Joker responded, he smiled at the thought of Becca's face before heading down to the crew deck.
Chapter 6 is in progress right now, I'll get it up as soon as possible. See you guys next time!