After staring at her ceiling for an indefinite amount of time, Shepard finally couldn't take it anymore. She roused out of her trance and went to CIC in her sweats and tank top. She was still getting used to this not being an Alliance vessel, and intended to take full advantage of that fact. Still a little unnerving that she wasn't a "Commander" anymore, even though everyone still called her that. She didn't mind.

She found the CIC to be only filled with the skeleton crew. It must be late. She must've been daydreaming for longer than she thought. Slightly disgruntled, she went to the mess for a snack since she apparently missed dinner, and shot out a mass message to the ground crew asking if anyone was awake. She got no response. They weren't. She twiddled her thumbs and looked up at her offending bangs and blew them, futilely, out of her face. Hmph.

Guess I could see who all we have left to pick up, she thought to herself. Maybe I'll find another night owl. Hah. Fat chance.

An asari Justicar. Interesting. She idly wondered what that was. She felt a sudden pang of sadness at the loss of her personal favorite asari, Liara. She wondered what Liara would say about her new alliance with Cerberus. She shook her head. No use in dwelling on that right now. Who else? An assassin. A drell assassin. What the hell was a drell? And here she thought she knew most of the galactic species. She jumped on the extranet and quirked a brow. They're very .. colorful. Were those scales? Kinda like a snake. Hm. Not too extremely different physically, aside from the skin...from what she could gather at first glance. Hm. Interesting. She discovered the story of how the Hanar saved them from their dying arid planet, Rakhana, and now they lived in biodomes on Kahje. Not much else about them. There must not be many of them. Explains why she'd never met one, at any rate.

A convict. Shepard did a double take. A convict? Really? Hah. Goes by Jack. Allegedly the best human biotic anywhere. That could be useful, indeed. She made a note to look into his criminal record. Hopefully it wasn't anything she couldn't learn to live with. The last thing they needed was a whackjob serial killer on board. That'd be perfect.

A Krogan Warlord. Hmph. Again, a pang of sadness for her friend Wrex. Shepard thought fondly of him. Maybe we could just skip the warlord and get him instead. Where was he? Hah, he'd be the only one of the old crew to be unsurprised at her coming back from the dead. He'd named her Krogan during their time on the Normandy SR1. He'd be so proud. Wrex had more or less adopted her as his daughter, and she as his father. It was an unusual, but welcome, dynamic. Hopefully this .. Okeer, was half the krogan Wrex was and they'd get along quite nicely.

That's enough for one night. Time to get to bed. They'd arrive at the Citadel in the morning.

They finally resupplied and got some upgrades for the weapons. Conveniently, Kasumi wasn't hard to find at all, and was on board when Shepard returned from the inevitably disappointing meeting with the Council and Anderson. She was reluctantly reinstated as a Spectre, at least. Sufficiently pissed off, Shepard decided to have a team meeting since she had gathered a sufficient amount of eclectic people for her crew.

"EDI, tell everyone to meet me in the conference room."

Shepard arrived before everyone else. Soon after, the room was full of her new recruits... and Garrus.

"I hope you're all settled in nicely. Here's what we're looking at. We have some errands to run, but as far as I'm concerned, I want to finish all recruitment first. We still have to get quite a few more heads on board, and once we acquire everyone we can practice working together as a team. The Collector's base will be no easy task, and for us to succeed we're going to need to be very familiar with each other. I intend on forging us all in trials by fire to a finely honed Collector killing machine."

She glanced around the room and found there to be no objections. Good.

"We still have a justicar, an assasain, a krogan warload, and a convict to get. Hopefully we can find a few more along the way. I vote we head to Illium, where we will find the justicar and assasin. It's a time sensitive mission, and Illium is only about two days fight from that relay. Thoughts?"

"I think it would make the most of our resources to do exactly that, Commander. Joker?" Miranda looked at the pilot.

"On it." He wobbled out of the room to set the course.

"The rest of you, try to get to know each other a little. I suggest a movie night. Kasumi, would you be so kind as to offer up your quarters for this?" Shepard gave the a smile.

"Sure thing, Shep. I'll mix the drinks." The mirth in her eyes lit up the room. Shepard was warming up to the mischievous thief rather quickly.

Zaeed spoke up, sharing a look with Garrus, Moridin, and Jacob. "Ah, Shepard, I don' think me an the boys 'ere are too keen on 'at. If we've gotta spend some time together, we're gonna play some cards, eh Garrus?"

"Ah, hmmm, yeah, Shepard. You and the ladies can watch movies. Maybe next time." Zaeed lifted a brow at Garrus' response.

She chuckled. "Fine, fine. You boys play nice. Remember people, we're all going to be watching each other's backs out there. We've got too much at stake. Please, really make an effort." Shepard was satisfied there wasn't much objection.

"Alright team, dismissed."

Several hours and lots of chores later, the ladies of the Normandy converged in Kasumi's new quarters.

"I've already made cocktails! Help yourselves." Kasumi gestured emphatically to the bar.

Kelly piped up, a little shyly. "I brought Fleet and Flotilla.."

Shepard smirked. "Sounds like we're off to a good start." The girls plopped down on the couch with their drinks in hand.

"Miranda, I'm pleased you graced us with your presence this evening."

"Well, it is good for morale, you know. Besides, I know everything about all of you on paper. I'd rather hear it from you personally." she said with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

"Ah, point. We all know about each other a little unconventially, I guess. So.. Kelly." She turned a predatory grin on the psychologist. "Tell me about yourself. No run of the mill stuff, either. I want something juicy." Shepard wiggled her brows and leaned in.

"Juicy?" She giggled. "Well, alright. But I need a few more drinks in me first."

"Fair enough."

For the rest of the evening, cocktails flowed like water. Miranda was surprisingly easy to get along with once you got past the cold exterior. Kasumi always had a clever quip ready and kept the conversation light hearted and hilarious. The ladies discovered that Kelly was a little promiscuous and had in fact slept with most species within Council space, much to Shepard's surprise. She seemed so innocent at first. Who knew. Of course, the women dug every last juicy detail out of Kelly's various encounters and the women dissolved into a several fits of laughter. Kasumi regaled them with tales of her exploits in highly secure areas, and Miranda confessed to having had a relationship with Jacob.

Everyone else had shared their stories and expectantly looked to Shepard.

"What?"

"Come on, Shep." Kasumi drawled over her glass. "Your turn." The rest of the women nodded in agreement.

"What? I really don't have any crazy stories. I haven't been .. uhh.. involved in .. oh, god." She drug her hand down her face, exasperated. "I haven't been with anyone in years."

Kelly's jaw dropped. "Commander! We're on a suicide mission. We've got to get you laid. What about Garrus? You seem rather fond of him."

Shepard threw a pillow at her and choked on her drink. "Garrus?! You've got to be kidding me. He's practically big bird.. and he's like my brother. That'd be way too weird. Nope. No one on this ship. I'll admit, though, I do miss cuddling."

"Aw, Shep. Cuddlebug extraordinaire." Kasumi sighed wistfully. "I wouldn't have pegged you as the type. A true romantic."

Shepard blushed slightly. "Alright. You got me. Romance isn't dead!"

The women talked all night about all manner of things, and Shepard was pleased everyone was having a good time. This was good.

Hopefully the men weren't killing each other over their game of Skyllian Five.

AN: I'm trying to show some bonds being made and get to know Kairi Shepard a little more in the best way I knew how. A girl's night! Now we have a pleasant foundation to work with. Hope you enjoyed!