Shepard was getting dressed on the Observation deck she shared with Thane. She thought she heard noises out side the doors, but it didn't sound like anything she needed to investigate. She donned a clean jump suit and headed to the elevators up to the command deck. Some how she missed Garrus leaving the showers. She hand ducked into the observation room in just the towel, she was glad there had been no one around. She found the shortest rout to the Citadel. They had the best and widest selection of food and reasonably priced plastic dinnerware. She decided to go up and chat with Joker for a while. She passed Kelly on her way.
"Hey, Kelly."
"Hello, Shepard. How's it going?"
"Fine. How are you and Joker?"
"We're doing well." Kelly blushed. "He's very sweet."
"Really," Shepard smiled, "he dosen't seem like the 'sweet' type with all that sarcasm."
"Oh, he's just a kidder. His name is Joker. You can't take everything he says seriously."
"So can you tell me about this 'sweet' side? Or is it too private." Shepard was goading her.
"Commander! It's not polite to kiss and tell... but, I can tell you we're trying to locate a zero gravity containment modual we could keep in the cargo bay. It wouldn't take up that much room and that way when Joker and I... well, it would be easier for us to... spend time together with out risking fractures." Kelly's face was red enough to match her hair. Shepard had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. "Uh, with your permission of corse, Commander." Kelly added.
"Oh, by all means. As long as it dosen't get in the way..." she was teasing, but the Yeoman took her seriously.
"Oh, no. Of corse. We'll get a smaller model. I promise!"
"It's ok, Kelly." She laughed. She couldn't hold it back any longer. "Get whatever you need."
"Is there anything else, Commander." Kelly could barely stand her embarrassment.
"That'll be all." She left Kelly to calm down.
Instead of immediately going to tease Joker, Shepard stopped by the lab to check any medical messages that may have come through or if Mordin had replied yet. He had't.
Shepard slapped the leather of the pilot chair Joker sat in.
"So, Joker!"
"Shit!" Joker just about jumped out of his chair.
"Know anything about zero gravity moduals?"
"You scared the shit outta me, Commander." Joker said, animated as always. "Yeah, I might know something about zero gravity. What do you need it for?"
"The question is, what do you need it for?" Shepard teased.
"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Joker gave her a intentionally false look of bewilderment.
Shepard just looked at him.
"I need it so I can screw my girlfriend with out breaking any bones. God, you're nosey." he shook his head, teasing her.
"Why didn't you say something sooner? I could have help you guys out." She ignored the attitude.
"I didn't think you'd have the time or interest in getting me laid, Commander." He was smiling and maybe blushing.
"I'm interested in the morale of my crew." Shepard teased. "If getting you and Kelly a more convent way to relieve stress then I'm all for it." She smiled, crossing her arms. "Just make sure it dosen't take up the whole cargo bay."
"Of corse not, I only need half of it."
Shepard rolled her eyes and shook head.
"I'll talk to you late, Joker."
"Later, Commander."
Shepard gave Kelly a wink when she walked by on her way to the elevator. Kelly turned smiled and turned pink as she continued to work.
Shepard took the elevator down to the main cargo bay. She wanted to see how much room was actually down there for one of those zero gravity things. The crap she did for her crew... She should get a huge card on Commander's Day. She laughed as she stepped out of the elevator.
"Commander's Day. I wonder if there is such a thing."
"Not likely." Came a familiar voice.
Shepard looked around but couldn't find the source of the words.
"Where are you?" she scanned the area for hiding spots. There was no reply. "Ok. You wanna play?" Shepard ran to her locker, grabbed her practice gear and took cover behind some crates.
"You won't need that." The voice seemed to come from nowhere.
"You'd like to think that, but I'll get you. I know you." She taunted.
"You know me as much as I allow you to know me."
Now he was teasing back, right? She thought. "Get it together. He's trying to shake my confidence." She narrowed her eyes, listening. She looked around her position for any openings he may make use of. There were several. She needed better cover.
Shepard peeked around the corner. Listened. Searched. Nothing. She spotted a gap between two large crates that also had one across the top providing cover from above. The other side of the gap opened to a narrow space between the crates and the wall. Perfect. Now she just had to get to it.
Shepard took several strafing steps toward some crate closer to her target, weapon at the ready. She could almost feel him watching her. She was clearly at the disadvantage. He knew where she was. Could follow her every move. It wouldn't matter where she took cover or how good it was. He could get to her because he already knew where she was. He was the one hiding. She needed to switch tactics. She continued dodging and weaving until she got to the cover she'd been aiming for. Luckily there was a smaller crate near by that she could use to block the entrance behind her. From the darkened position she set up the gun so it looked like she was holding it, bunkered down in her make shift fort. She set up the sniper rifle stand then stripped off her clothes. She arranged them on the stand so 'she' was holding the rifle. Then she checked her rear exit. The right would take her to the corer and along that wall to the elevator. The right took her to more crates along the wall. She could climb them, maybe and get to the scaffolding above, but he would see her. She looked up. The wall was sheer. No grip. She could wedge her body between the wall and the crates, but that wouldn't get her far enough.
She started thinking about when she met him. He had crawled through the ventilation shafts. When the Collectors attacked her ship, Joker had gone through the ducts. Where was the nearest of either of those? She had to think, to remember the schematics of the ship. There was a duct access in the opposite corner of the wall with the elevator. That would mean she'd have to back track in the open to get to it. She had to create some cover or a distraction...
She unclipped several smoke grenades from her belt. She pulled the pin on one and tossed it a few feet from the entrance to her 'fortress'. Moving quickly she squeezed down the left side pulled the pin on two and tossed one a few feet and the other a few feet further from that one making a path of smoke to the next cluster of crates. Then she went the other direction. She slid along the wall. Over flow smoke obscured the view from above and where she was heading. The grayish color of her tank and panties would help her blend in. She moved along the edge of the crate and waited for the smoke to roll toward the elevator. She stayed it the thickest part of it, sneaking along in a crouched position.. She couldn't get to close to the elevator or it would open and give her position away. She ducked behind some crates before the smoke got to the doors. She did a quick survey. A dark wave of smoke was rolling exactly where she needed to go. She pulled a pin from another grenade and tossed it a few yards away from the entrance to the 'fort' in the opposite direction. Then she went for it. She moved as quickly and quietly as she could into the shaft and through the duct work. She came to a split. Good. One went left. That should take her to Jacks old bunk. The other went right and bent up a little ways down. That's what she needed.
Climbing up the duct was a little harder than she thought it would be, but nothing she couldn't handle. When she got to the top she had hoped there would be some king of hatch or exit. There were only two more choices. One went toward the elevator the other toward the bay doors. When she had come into the cargo bay, it sounded like he was above her. She headed for the elevator. The duct went around it, but there was a hatch. She opened it. No Thane. But there was pipe work she could walk on. Before she exited she checked for disturbances in the dust or any clue if he had been here and which way he'd gone. Nothing. She quietly got out and closed the hatch. She was sweating now. He'd smell her before she could get close enough. She mentally cursed herself. She crept around the edge of the elevator keeping as low to the ground as she could. He wasn't there. She checked the other side. Nothing. She listened for an echo of movement or breathing. Listening. She thought she could hear the faint whir of a fan. She went in that direction. There was no cover. Just pipe walls and floor. It was almost as bad as the ducts. She passed a small breeze way. She looked in, even took a few steps into it, but it narrowed. She decided not to try and get stuck. She passed it. There were more. All of them narrow. She got to the fan. It was a dead end.
"Damn." She whispered. She stared to back up and turn around. There was a firm, cool presser on either side of her head, the back and over her mouth. Thane! If he had wanted to kill her, she would have been dead, neck broken in the bowels of her own ship. As it was...
"You were six inches from me, Siha, and you did not know I was there." His words chilled her as he whispered them into her ear.
Thane released her. She turned her body slowly to look at him. She could not hide the surprise on her face. His was a mere two inches from hers. She was trembling.
"You needn't be afraid." His voice rumbled in the small space.
She didn't reply. She couldn't. She panted through slightly parted lips. She felt herself fall into the deep, black wells of his eyes. Her heart was racing. He moved in closer. She thought he was going to kiss her.
"We should return to our duties." he said, and left.
She was impressed with how agilely he moved through the pipe work tunnel. She didn't follow him immediately. She might not need to be afraid, but that didn't mean he didn't just scare the piss out of her.