Alarms and preparations scattered all over the Citadel. Shepard had left a few team members to keep watch on the council, while he and others prepared the Normandy. The Normady's stealth ability had been damaged and it would take an hour to repair it. Joker was in a particular good mood considering his ship had severe repairs on the shield damper modules. Meanwhile EDI, the ship's AI gave continuous reports. Joker had a friendship with the AI and enjoyed giving her a hard time. "EDI can you ask the engineers to install a cupholder here too?"
"Jeff that is hardly appropiate. The engineers and technicians are hard-"
"Mom, I was just kidding."
"Humor is hard to decipher Jeff. You should not tease an AI that controls your oxygen levels."
Joker laughed surprised at EDI's cleverness."It would be funnier if you laughed too EDI." He said after he was done laughing. There was a pause."I do not have any records on that behavior Jeff."
Joker thought about how to teach EDI how to laugh. "Just copy my laughs." He said unable to come up with a good explanation.
"Just don't overuse them or they will become monotome." explained Joker.
"Joker what is the status of the repairs?" came Shepard's voice in the comms. "I would say about an hour, commander." replied Joker. "We are cutting it close. The citadel is almost done with all the combat preparations."
"I will let them know to hurry commander."
"Keep me posted Joker." said Shepard from the capitan's cabin.
Joker was a good friend of Shepard and they had been through so many battles in the Normandy. He could tell how anxious Shepard really was about saving the Earth. Shepard wanted to take the Normandy and start the attack, but one ship would hardly stand a chance against all the Reapers. As Shepard leaned back in his bed he thought about the battle that laid ahead. He was nervous of how effective his new army would be against the Reapers, an ancient race of hybrid organic and cybernic AI. The reapers had the tenacity of organics and the calculating coldness of the artificial lifeforms. He did not want to dwell on it too much otherwise his fear would take over. He knew his chances of victory were slim even with the citadel army. Yet he decided that his first and only objective at the moment would be to liberate Earth. The rest would come afterwards. He felt bad about Jacob, he had always been a friend he could count on, despite the fact he had worked for Cerberus. He was going to miss him. The crew had set a memorial aboard the Normandy of all the people who had died. Jacob's picture was framed along with other crew members, who died in the collector attack. Jacob was the first of the assault team to die and that bothered Shepard more than he cared to admit. S
Ever since Shepard and Tali had begun dating. Precautions had been taken because of the weak immune system of her species. His whole room was constantly sprayed with desinfectants and bacteria killing fumes. Shepard himself bathed more often than he really wanted to. Everything to prevent Tali from catching a disease or become ill. They both now lay in bed silent near each other. Shepard had removed his armor and lay on his back deep in thought. Tali had removed her suit and lay next to him with an artificial respirator, she could easily remove in case she wanted to say something important or kiss him. She was dressed in pink Quarian gown that covered some of her pale white skin. The suits had been worn for generations on her race and little by little her people had lost pigmentation color on their skin, hair, and eyes. Their albino look enhanced their humanoid body form. Quarians were very similar to humans except on their feet. Their feet bone structure differed from toes to dark bones that allowed faster movement than humans. Colors adapted to her skin and Shepard could swear that she glowed beautifully when there was little light during the night. Shepard and Dr. Chakwas were the only humans who had ever seen a quarian without their enviro suit. He considered himself lucky at how beautiful his girlfriend really was. Her straight long silvery hair was about shoulder length and Shepard was caressing it at the moment. Tali was a mechanical expert by trade, but a soldier by necessity. Her slender shoulders and arms had defined muscles from all the weapons she carried during battle. Shepard had employed her expertise in hacking securities and geth cyberwarfare. Over the months of fighting side by side Shepard knew he could depend on her for any matter regarding machinery or computers. Their trust and continous company had blossomed to a respectful friendship. She had a crush on him, but did not approach him and he dated an asari scientist named Liara T'Soni. After the Citadel battle against the first Reaper attack. Tali had decided to go back to her fleet and continue helping them. She wanted to convince them to try to colonize new worlds at least till they could reclaim their homeplanet from the Geth, the aware AIs that had taken over the Quarian's home planet. After a few months, news of the destruction of the old Normandy ship reached her. She had frozen at those news and had burst into tears after hearing that Shepard had been killed in the attack. It was during those sorrowful two years she had learned how much he really liked Shepard. He was not only a hero to humanity, but to many alien species. Because of her travels with him, she knew that the Reapers would reappear; so she decided to focus on reinforcing the might of the Quarian Flotilla Army. With the help of her father she created a unit to scout planets for weapons and equipment to be used for the upcoming war. Her father had sympathized at her eagerness to do something meaninful for the Flotilla, but he never really believed her about the Reapers and decided to focus his efforts on creating a hacking weapon against the Geth. She once again had met Shepard, alive and working for the Cerberus, an evil human secret organization, that had attacked the Flotilla a year ago. Despite of Shepard's relation with Cerberus she could not abandon him. She had join him and discovered his motives for working with Cerberus. Slowly, but surely she had fallen madly in love with him. They were from different species, but Shepard had always treated her with respect and patience. His impulsive nature and her overthinking ways meshed well together. She could not help herself with him. That made her scared and a little insecure. Specially when they were both around humans. She had studied Miranda and Jacob's behavior after Shepard had confessed to the entire Normandy squad that Tali was his girlfriend. Miranda Lawson and Jacob were part of the human crew working for Cerberus. He did not trust them much, but their reactions had made her apprehensive of her display of affection towards Shepard. Miranda had protested the relationship calling a blasphemy against humanity and Jacob had outright stopped speaking to her. Jacob, who had once been real friendly and welcoming, was now an akward co-worker, that Tali was forced to work with. Tali avoided Miranda as much as she could. She found it irritating having to justify her relationship to Miranda. She would critize Tali whenever she could. Many times she wished she could've told Shepard about it, but he did not want to burden him with it. Tali was intimidated of Jack, another human female that had joined the group and she did feel some hostility coming from her from those few times they had battled together. Kelly Chambers, the official psychiatrist of the Normandy had approached Tali about the subject. At first Tali did not want to talk to her about Shepard, but as the burden grew, it began to affect her work. Surprised at her sincere offer of friendship, Tali had agreed and confided in her. They both became best friends fast. Tali was grateful to have another friend in the Normandy. Specially a human female who could advise her on human customs. The curiosity for human customs had grown out of deep interest Shepard had in her. He had helped her so much and was always there for her after her father had died. She had demostrated her love for him by making love, which had come at a price to her health. She had been ill with a fever for two weeks. "Well worth it." She had told him later.
Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, could sense how worried her boyfriend, Shepard, really was. Ever since he had gotten the distress signal from his his human planet, he had gone tense with worry. She could imagine how hard it must be for Shepard, but she was mesmerized at how maturely and brilliant he had reacted. Instead of acting rash and charging to the human planet and possible doom. He had held back and planned the kidnap of the Citadel. They both knew how dangerous that mission was, but now it was over and things were moving at a good pace. Regardless, Tali dreaded the mission ahead. She feared for Shepard. A few hours ago he had risked himself recklessly and she did not want to lose him. She loved him with all her heart and she hoped he did too. Unlike her, Shepard did not expressed his feelings as much as Tali hoped. She hugged him closer and Shepard put his muscular arm around her. She had something to tell him but she did not know how to begin.
"Shepard?" Tali asked after removing her breathing mask.
"yea?"
"Do you love me?"
He turned to look at her. His green emerald eyes staring at her made her blush. "I do a lot of things to show you that I love you." His olive skin and jet black hair, shinning brighting in the low blue light coming from the cabin fish tank.
"Yea... but you hardly say it."
"I'm sorry," He caressed her cheek and kissed her gently. "I promise I will tell you more often."
In the short time Tali knew Shepard, he had always kept his promises. She hoped he would keep this one as well. She felt the urge to tell him her fear, but he knew how stressed and pressured he was already. "But what if I don't see him again?" she thought. Unable to contain her fear, tears ran down her beautiful pale eyes. Shepard felt a little guilt and sadness seeing the woman he loved, cry because of him. Tali acted tough when she had her enviro-suit, but without it her feminity increased tenfold. He found that charming and surprising at times. This being one of those times. He wanted to make her laugh and smile. Not have to bear his burden or responsabilities. Words could not describe how his heart ached to see her in tears. He leaned in close and embraced her, stealing her breath in a deep kiss. The kiss tasted bittersweet with her tears. "Shepard-" she moaned within the french kisses.
In Miranda's Cabin...
Miranda Lawson had spent many years working Jacob Tyler, yet she found herself not being able to say much to her father, Jacob's last living relative. He had abandoned Jacob when he was young and messed up as a captain, but Jacob had chosen to forgive him for some reason. She hoped her words of comfort would shine light of Jacob's heroism and achivements. Personally she felt sad that she had lost a friend. Although Jacob had never let go of his feelings for her. She had always hoped that being friends was the only thing she could be for him. "Rest in peace Jacob. I will make sure humanity remembers you, when this is all over."
Miranda closed her laptop after answering many extranet e-mails. Many had been death treaths to Shepard for kidnapping the Council. She had intercept them from his e-mail account and tried to find out their ip address. She could track them down for later. For now she did not want him disturbed with all the bureocratic junk, heading his way. There was enough pressure on him. Despite the fact that he hardly thanked her or trusted her, she had the desire to help him as much as she could and watch him succeed. Her twin sister had called it an infatuation. Although he had treated her with understanding when they had saved her twin sister from the blue suns, a chaotic gang of mercenaries. She had been cold and bitchy towards him before, mostly because she believed it had been a mistake to revive him. Cerberus and her had spent so much time and effort to revive him, he better be the best human in the galaxy, she had thought countless times. Ironically she had eaten her words and Shepard proved to be the greatest human the galaxy had ever seen. His recklessness and tactical genius made him a hero in no time. She envied that about him. She had not improved him physically, yet he was superior to her in many ways. He was more charismatic than her for one. Plus a natural leader with tactical expertise. He was devastly handsome. No wait, she stopped herself again. She had thought about his body again. She hated the fact that she thought about him often. Sometimes she found herself causing trouble or arguing with others just to attract his attention. His scoldings were always harsh, but she felt different around him. More insecure and angry at herself for checking his body when he wasn't looking. How can he like that repulsive Aquarian? Girlfriend? Why would he want to date her? Filled with anger about the subject she had researched everything there was about Tali'Zora. She had accessed through the Cerberus hacking programs installed on the Aquarian Flotilla and had downloaded files on Tali. She wanted to find out why Shepard had chosen her over a human girl. "I'm not just any human girl. I'm the best woman humanity has to offer. She was Beautiful, charming, intelligent, and desirable. Her long straight hair black hair matched her pale skin and gorgeous blue eyes. Her crazy father had made her perfect, she'd at least give him credit for that. Shepard should be with someone like me, Not her." She thought.
The last e-mail had been from the Elusive Man. He had reminded her of all the help Cerberus had given her, specially her twin sister. She could not deny that. So she had answer his questions and replied rudely about his behavior before the destruction of the last Collector ship and the human Reaper. She was not looking forward to his reply, but she was not going to bother Shepard with him. Her mind wondered back to Shepard and she pictured him laying in his bed. Next to her instead of Tali. She snapped back to reality after the laptop let out a bell announcing a reply to one of his extranet e-mails. She was in no mood to reply so she lay down trying hard not to think about Shepard.
Down in lower area of the ship...
The woman named "Codename: Zero" also known as Jack, sat in the lowerbowels of the Normandy, near engineering. So she could hear the constant hammering and fixing coming from the repairs. She could not sleep so she dressed in tight fiting army shirt that covered most of her tattoos. Personally she liked showing them all the time so she raised the sleeves to her shoulders and ripped the lower half to reveal her tummy tatoos. Through all her years of constant struggle to survive and fighting she had developed a well toned physiche that she was interested in showing to Shepard. She took off her pants and panties and tried on her shorts. She liked how her leg tattoos showed and so she got up. She looked in the mirror and applied more lipstick for her wide lips. Her pale skin suited her well and light brown eyes examined her body. Her bald haircut bothered her. Shepard better like how I look or I'm going to kick his ass." She thought. Her body was feminine, but she did not allowed herself to display it. Well untill Shepard showed up. She mostly thought about how to get the most fun of every situation. Her biotic powers had given her so much confidence in battle. Few people ever considered going against her. Yet when it came to relationships, any type of relationships, she hated letting people get close to her. Yet Shepard had seen through her tough act and even though she had threaten him, he had not faltered and had become Jack's close friend. He was always kind to her and knew how to counter her foul moods. At first she thought all he really wanted was to have sex and be rid of her. Yet he rejected that when she offered it. She was surprised at his actions. Whenever she thought she had him figured out, he went out of his way to surprise her and everybody. It was a miracle he had managed to keep everyone alive from the last suicide mission alive. Poor bastard Jacob, he was good to look at, but he did not have the balls Shepard had. The aliens onboard also had alluring talents, but none compared to Shepard. "God he has such a cute ass." She thought blushing. She smacked the pipe next to her to snap out of it and decided to get some food and maybe some chems from Dr. Chawkas to allow her to sleep. "Maybe there is a cute girl in the lobby." she wondered, climbing the stairs. As she pressed the elevator button, a girl popped in her mind. Kelly Chambers. "I wonder if that cutie is bisexual? I wouldn't mind having her and Shepard." She let her mind wonder on the way up the elevator. When the doors openned. Jack was shocked at the person standing there waiting for the elevator. Kelly Chambers, the psychatrist of the ship. She wore her usual tight uniform and had a that cute smile she always carried. Her short red hair and light make up complemented her small frame. She was shorter than Jack and more petite. Even Jack had the urge to protect her. Jack wondered if that was a facade or if she really cared about people on the ship. Jack had always been cold towards her, but now she looked different and very appealing.
"Hi Jack. Are you heading to the lunch?" Kelly asked.
"Um, yea" Jack answered wondering where this might lead.
"Mind if I join you?" asked Kelly smiling.
"Only if you don't play 'twenty questions' toots." said Jack not wanting her to know all the bad things she had done before.
She smiled widely and nodded. "toots? I wonder what that means. It is a cute nickname." said Kelly pressing on the elevator switch to go up towards the kitchen.
"Shush Kelly you are cuter when you don't talk." said Jack leaning on the wall.
"Really? you think I'm cute?" said Kelly a little upbeat.
"Apparently you didn't hear the rest." said Jack giving up. She spent her lunch sitting next to Kelly and glaring at the cook Charles and any crew passing by. Kelly kept her promise and Jack felt akward in the silence and decided to ask Kelly some questions instead.
"So...Kelly...are you single?"
"Yes, there is just so much work nowadays, with Shepard been too busy to reply his messages and some of his duties falling on me. I make a report of the crew and the status of the ship. Too busy, you-"
"Wow woman, yes or no answers please." said Jack exasperated.
"ok." She giggled.
"So...you like anyone...?" asked Jack trying to find out if she was bi.
"Maybe." She giggled again blushing. She rested her face on her hands and thought silently for a second.
"Shepard right? That's easy, since you talk to him alot."
She shook her head smiling. "While any girl on this ship has a crush on our commander, he rarely pays attention to it. You have to have huge biotic powers or almost destroy a planet to attract his attention." Kelly joked. She laughed covering her mouth with her small hands. Jack only gave her a chuckle but she thought about her words. "Well I've done both of those things." She thought. "I wonder how that bitch of Tali managed to catch his attention?" she said aloud without thinking.
Kelly looked at her with a smile. "I didn't mean...I mean...Eat your sanwich Kelly!" said Jack getting annoyed that Kelly had managed to get her to talk about herself.
"Well, to answer your question, Shepard had another alien girlfriend before Tali, and they were both alike, according to my Cerberus notes, and the file on the commander." said Kelly taking a bite out her tuna sandwich.
"Are you studying him? I thought you said-" asked Jack glaring at Kelly suspiciously.
"It is my job Jack, besides I don't think the commander sees me that way. It would be nice..." She trailed off blushing. Jack examined her thinking how nice it would be to allow her emotions to run free like her, but she reminded herself that was for weak people. However Kelly had a luring presence about her.
"Ms. Tali and the other alien, Ms. Liara T'Soni were kind, gentle girls, with a strong will, that understood him." answered Kelly counting each quality with her fingers.
"Does he only date alien girls?" wondered Jack aloud.
Kelly remembered something she had read on her Cerberus files so she decided to share it with Jack to keep her talking. "No, according to files on his last outpost when he survived the assault on "" He was known to have fraternization with a human girl. Name was Jacqueline Halls."
"was?" asked Jack interested.
Kelly hoped the commander was over it so there was no harm in telling. "Yea she died during the assault, Shepard was the only survivor. They say he fought off thirty Blue Suns Mercenaries by himself."
"Hot damn! Even as a rookie? He is one tough son-of-a-bitch!" replied Jack surprised.
Kelly smiled warmly. "That is our commander."
Jack thought about all the things Shepard liked. There was one thing that stood out. "So he likes girls that understand him? that sounds kind of pansy even for him."
"Think about it Jack, The commander is the go-to guy in the whole galaxy, that kind of pressure would crush a regular man, he needs a girl that will help him cope all that pressure by talking to him. Makes sense to me."
"Then why did he not choose you?" asked Jack suddenly.
"Well..." Kelly had give this thought and she did not like the answer, but maybe Jack would understand. "I don't go on missions with him. I can only help him with bureocratic stuff and maybe he thinks that is not good enough." She looked a little crestfallen, but Jack admired that she was being honest to her. "I can not know him like a comrade in battle can, unfortunately."
"Battle comrade?" asked Jack puzzled.
"Yea think about it, Shepard has more close ties to you and the assault team, then to the ship crew. It is because you are there to watch his back and share the hardships of battle. He respects you tremendously. Specially with all the things that have happened to you."
"He talks about me? Does he...pity me? So...you know about my past?"
"No not at all. The commander wants to help as much as he can. He talks about all his team during our sessions. I have to make sure he is healthy mentally since he is our captain. Yes I read the files and the commander has talked to me about it."
"He talks about everyone? Aren't you going to run away like the others?"
"Why?" asked Kelly.
"Because of my biotic powers. I could crush your skull if I wanted to, you know." She replied in a hushed tone and leaning in a little.
"I'll take my chances." She said smiling. Not a hint of fear on her eyes.
"Tell me all you know about Shepard and if you tell him I ask you I'll crush your skull." said Jack with a grin and tapping the table with her index finger.
Kelly saw this as a win to get closer to Jack. So she nodded and begin telling her about the commander. After half an hour they were interrupted by a man yelling "Officer on deck!"
"At ease." Said Shepard walking towards the two ladies. Jack preteded not to notice. She did not want to appear eager to see him.
"Hey ladies. What's good to eat here?" He smiled warmly. Kelly was the first one to respond blushing and smiling. "What are you in the mood for commander?"
"Steak or lobster, but I doubt we packed those onboard." he joked with a smile. Kelly laughed a little, but Jack did not want to give him that satisfaction. So she pretended to be bored and give him a bland look.
"No? you are a tough person to make laugh Jack."
"I know. So when are we leaving this tin can? I want to see some action, Shepard."
"You'll get your chance, we are sneaking past enemy lines and fighting some Reapers Jack. You'll get your action soon enough. Let's hope it is not too much for you to handle."
"Nothing is! Maybe you would like to try me sometime Shepard." She answered with a flirtatious grin on her mouth. Her finger caressing her lip, while staring at him. She was going to have him one way or another. Kelly on the other hand was wide eyed, staring at both. She sat up on the table showing her tattoed legs towards him. Shepard examined them and kept silent for a minute. "Well? Aren't you going to ask to debrief me in private Shepard?" She ran her hand down her legs. "...and you can tell me what is bothering you." she added hastily remebering what Kelly had told her. Shepard looked at her in the eyes and thought about it. "If you want to discuss my concerns like a friend come to the debriefing room dressed in combat armor otherwise don't bother."
Shepard cleared his throat and took his leave and headed towards the cook. Both women stared at Shepard's behind as he walked away. "wow" Kelly breathed inaudiably. "I didn't know you flirted with Shepard like that!" she whispered. Jack had always used the little feminity that she had to get pleasure and most guys were willing, but with Shepard it was a different ball game. Shepard resisted all her advances. Yet he always came to talk to her. During battle he joked around as well, but was more relaxed. Seems he was uptight here on the ship. Even around that bitch Tali. Jack hated not getting what she wanted and Shepard was proving too stubborn to her advances. She started fantasizing about him again, but was brought back to reality by Kelly.
"So...Kelly...you like girls?" Jack asked grinning sitting close to her. Kelly smiled at her and blushed. "I almost kissed a girl once." she said blushing furiously. Jack had to admit the appeal of trying to convert Kelly. "It will pass the time." She thought. "Till I can fuck Shepard."