A/N: Hey! So I know I should be working on WaTtBA but I am having trouble with the next chapter and am thinking of revising chapter 3 because I don't like the way it turned out. It seemed a bit too stiff to me. So I AM working on revisions. BUT (Yes that ever-dreaded but) I randomly got this idea and it has been stuck in my head for a few weeks… and it has taken up residence there and refuses to leave until I write it down and share it. Bummer right? Welp, enjoy this ( I hope) and I'll get working on WaTtBA, just give me some time.

That Dammed Bundle of Problems

Chapter 1

This was a bad idea and a half. She should have just left it there but… she couldn't. She was running, her feet pounding on the ground, in rhythm with Anderson's, when she saw the bundle, miraculously unharmed in the midst of the chaos. She pulled the trigger and put another bullet in the head of the husk and watched the package carefully as Anderson tried to raise the Normandy. Then she saw it move and before she even realized it, she was carefully making her way over to the cart and picking it up ever so gently. When Anderson shouted to get her attention and began running again, this time to the docks, she holstered her borrowed pistol, cradled the bundle and followed close behind. He didn't question her, other than a raised eyebrow and exasperated noise rising from the back of his throat.

She dove for cover, protecting the bundle when gunfire sprayed over the makeshift barrier the wounded Marines had their backs to. She carefully placed the bundle in lap of the one with the broken leg and told him to hold it curtly.

"Ma'am-"

"That's an order Marine!" The white faced soldier said no more and she raised her pistol once again, firing an Incinerate at the twisted creatures raining bullets upon their company. They were gruesome, and when one fell, others rushed to it, tearing it apart, armoring themselves with their fallen comrade's body. Cannibals, she thought grimly as she slayed another beast.

When the last one fell, the wounded Marine and his partner told them of a radio that fell with their shuttle. 'Over there' they said, pointing to the destroyed bridge with the wreckage of their shuttle and swarming with more of the twisted beasts. Of course, why would I even think that it would be anywhere remotely easy to get? A dangerous place, but she couldn't leave the bundle here, with Marines who would be unable to defend it. But what to do?

Spotting a dead civilian, she strode to him quickly and stripped him of his sweatshirt and tied it over her chest. The bundle made a noise of protest when she liberated the injured Marine from it and placed it in the makeshift sling. This time when Anderson saw her, he raised both eyebrows and started to speak before she shot him the dirtiest look she could manage. His mouth snapped shut quickly with an audible click!

Anderson took point as they made their way over the occupied bridge, taking down the Cannibals with practiced ease, slowly running out of heat clips. She slid into cover, and checked the bundle, releasing a sigh of relief when it moved again. Ejecting the spent heat clip, she shifted the makeshift sling to her back and cloaked, sneaking to where Anderson was crouched, out of ammo. The last two Cannibals were firing at him, forcing him to keep his head down. She launched another Incinerate at one of them, and fired thrice at the other as she uncloaked, diving for cover.

Both fell, clearing the way for Anderson and herself to find the radio. Anderson found it quickly and she found an Avenger assault rifle. She took position, protecting Anderson's 6 o'clock as he managed to raise Ashely and the Normandy. As the line broke up, Ashley yelled at them to hold their position, that she would bring the cavalry as quickly as she could. She snorted to herself as Anderson took up position to her right.

"Why does this kind of shit always happen to me?"

"Careful with that language," Anderson cocked his pistol, "You don't want to be a bad influence." Despite the bullets raining on their position once again, Anderson threw her a mischievous grin as she scowled at him.

She fired off another Incinerate and cloaked as her last heat sink was spent, crouching low behind the crates that served as her cover. She cursed quietly to herself as the bundle on her back began to make a racket, drawing the attention of the Cannibals, the noise coming from nothing visible peaking their interest. Just when she thought they were going to be filled with flaming projectiles, she heard the familiar hum that had so many good and just as many bad memories. A feral grin crossed her face as she uncloaked, much to the surprise of the beasts before her.

She shoved her Omni-Blade through the head of the one closest to her and leaped away, diving for cover as she heard that wonderful hum and the sound of its guns charging up. They fired, just as she reached shelter, and covered the bundle with her own body. Her ears rang as she stood and her face lit up in a grin when she saw the Normandy hovering there, slowly turning around, its docking bay door opening to reveal Ashely and Vega as well as two other Marines to provide cover fire for her and Anderson.

She ran to the open docking bay, leaping over the small chasm that stood between her and her home. She landed gently on the balls of her feet, cradling the bundle, before turning to face Anderson and gesture for him to join her on the Normandy. When he shook his head and told her that he was staying, she shoved the bundle into Vega's arms, causing the burly Marine to squawk in surprise, hurriedly holstering his gun. If the moment wasn't so filled with tension, she might've been amused at the situation and his reaction. Instead, she faced the man who was like a father to her and began yelling, saying that she would stay with him then, feeling her face began to burn, her implants reacting to her anger.

He ordered her to the Citadel and reinstated her rank, telling her to get help and then join him groundside. She caught the dog tags he threw across the gap, wondering how long he had been planning to return her title to her; as far as she knew, her tags were still framed in her cabinet where she was being held, with her few other meager possessions they let her keep.

"Besides," There was another shit eating grin on his face. "It looks like you'll have your hands full with this new responsibility that you brought upon yourself." Before she could reply, the Normandy was lifting away and Anderson turning away to join the Marines landing and fighting. The door shut just as she saw a nearby Reaper take aim at a civilian evac shuttle.

She turned away to see Ashely liberating Vega from the squirming bundle she had brought aboard. Ashely held it straight out to her.

"Shepard." She was cradling and bouncing it gently as it wiggled in Ashely's grip. "I believe this belongs to you." Right; her rescue, her responsibility. She took it from the Lt. Commander awkwardly, holding it at arm's length, her hands placed under its arms, its face scrunching up slightly. The bundle looked at her with keen blue eyes, a small tuff of dark hair hanging slightly in front of its face. She, Shepard, looked pleadingly at Ashely as it opened its mouth and a piercing noise escaped from it.

"Help." She practically begged holding it out to her again. Ashely sighed, shaking her head to herself, muttering under her breath as she took it from her Commander. Shepard looked relieved for a second, then a look of pure panic took over her face when the bundle screamed even louder when it was passed to Ashely.

The Lt. Commander quickly handed her back, quieting the scream to a whimper, shaking her head again when Shepard began to awkwardly bounce it. She arranged her hands, allowing her Commander to cradle what she had brought aboard. She had to laugh when its face came to rest against her breast and it tried to feed, shocking the ever stoic Commander. She glared at her, a gaze promising pain, sweat, tears and blood, if she and the other Marines didn't stop their snickering, but it was worth it. She grumbled to herself as she shifted the bundle, so that its face rested against her shoulder instead, gesturing for Ashely and Vega to follow her as she made her way to their armor lockers.

Ashely had to wonder what had prompted the Commander to bring a babe aboard a war vessel and then thought that this would be an interestingly amusing next few months, despite the impending death and doom. Something about Shepard as a nursing mother hen didn't seem possible. Not after what had happened in the past six months. The grin slid from her face and Vega's as well when they heard their assignment, no matter how amusing it was to see Hackett's face when he saw the babe against Shepard's shoulder.

A/N: So tell me what you think, please? This is an AU but will be more loyal to the games than WaTtBA is. Just an idea that interested me. Also, this is femslash slow burn with Liara and FemShep, so if you don't like, don't read, m'kay? M'kay. Any ME stories that I do with Femshep will always have a FemShepxLiara element because these two just seem like they belong together (at least in my opinion). Like (for me, at least), I honestly can't see them with anyone else, not even M!ShepxLiara, just seems strange to me. But, oh well, that's just my personal opinion. Anyways, thoughts? Questions, comments, or reviews? You know what to do! Have an awesome day/night!

Namelessgal