Author's Note: Yeah don't have much to say today. Kinda tired… But I must fight on!

Chapter 5

"I don't think I'll get used to this uniform any time soon." Sean remarked, running his hands across his tight, Cerberus labeled, tee shirt.

"Hey it shows off your muscles." Shepard commented, chuckling.

Sean chuckled as well and let his arms drop to his sides.

"There's a open room in the starboard cargo room on the engineering deck. EDI will show you where." Jacob chimed in, arms firmly crossed across his chest.

"Eager to get rid of me?" Sean teased.

"I don't trust assassins." Jacob responded.

"Well I guess this is a personal matter." Sean said, emotion leaving his voice.

"I need to know one thing, Mr. Mason, can you follow orders." Shepard intervened.

"I don't know much about my past, but one thing is for certain, I respect and obey my superiors." Sean said.

"So is that a yes?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, maim." Sean said straightening into attention.

"Good. Your effects have been moved there as well. In the mean time, get comfortable with the ship. I'll message you when your services are needed." Shepard said leaving the Briefing room.

"Don't get too comfortable." Jacob warned, his eyes digging into Sean.

"Alright mom." Sean teased, raising his hands in surrender and quickly walking out.

Sean tried to blend in as he walked casually through the CIC and called the elevator. He didn't like being singled out, but he knew that he was the 'new guy' on the Normandy and a lot of attention was going to be brought to him. He sighed as he meandered forward

"Hello there." Came a perky voice from behind Sean.

"Oh, hi." He said turning and giving a small wave.

"I'm Kelly Chambers. I'm the yeoman on the Normandy." Kelly said smiling.

"Hi, I'm Sean. Sean Mason." He said casually offering his hand.

Taking his hand, she said, "Ah, yes. You must be the merc we just picked up off of Omega."

"That's me." Sean said.

"I hope you can get used to your new room on the Normandy." Kelly said

"Yea that won't be a problem. I've been in worse." Sean said his face dropping.

"Oh I'm sorry." Kelly quickly said, "Do you mind if I ask why?"

"You'll need to get to know me first." Sean said smirking as he entered the elevator. As the door shut, Sean cringed. What the hell did he mean by that last comment? The words rang though his mind.

Damn, he thought as the elevator descended, what's wrong with me? He sighed and calmed himself

The elevators opened on the fourth level, the engineering deck and Sean stepped out.

"Hey, Gabby, what do you think of our new quarian boss?" a male voice from around the corner said.

"Hush. She's right over there." The female, Gabby, said quickly trying to stop her loud-mouthed partner.

Sean peaked his head into the Engineering part of the ship. He saw a redheaded male and female working closely together on the right side. They both wore Cerberus branded uniforms, like Sean. Their body language said that they had been friends for a while, and were comfortable in just about any situation. On the far left side was a quarian.

Sean paused. He had never seen a quarian up close, much less worked with one. She wore a black bull body suit with a purple hood and visor. Her purple hood had beautiful artwork embossed in it, giving off a comfortable vibe about her. She stood straight, intently working on the holographic console before her. She was so engrossed in her work she seemed to block out everything around her. Sean quickly realized he was uncomfortably eyeing her and quickly turned away. You're not ready yet. Sean's mind warned him. If you jump into this too quickly you'll only regret it later. Sean nodded as he once again listened into the human engineers' conversation.

"Ah, she can't hear us with her head in that bucket." The man said grinning, "Don't get me wrong; it's a beautiful bucket. The whole suit is lovely. Quite snug in all the right places."

"You know I can hear you." The quarian said glancing up from her console.

"Ha!" Gabby sneered as the man blushed and quickly returned to his work. Sean let out a loud laugh, causing all three of them to turn.

"Oh sorry." Sean apologized, "I'm Sean. I'm new here. Shepard picked me up on Omega."

"Oh yea, I remember Shepard talking about that. I'm Ken and this is Gabby." Ken said pointing to the woman to his left.

"Nice to meet you." Gabby said cheerfully, "Oh and that's our boss, Tali." Gabby said pointing to the quarian.

"It's Tali'Zora vas Neema, but you can call me Tali." The quarian chimed in looking up at Sean.

Tali, got to remember that name. Sean thought to himself. "Nice to meet you." Sean said waiving to Tali. Tali just silently stared back.

"So where does Shepard have you situated?" Ken asked

"Um… Starboard cargo." Sean said, shuffling.

"Just be careful not to go into the other cargo bay." Ken warned, "There's an irritable krogan trying to settle there. He gives me the creeps." Ken added, shuddering.

"Thanks for the warning." Sean said, "It was nice meeting you all." He added walking off to his room.

The door slid open to reveal a moderately sized room. To Sean's immediate right sat a small desk and chair with a computer set up on it. Next to the desk was a small cot; his personals lay on top of it. Sean quickly went over to his luggage and rifled through it until he pulled out his M-96 Mattock rifle and M-5 Phalanx pistol. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he gingerly placed them on the table. Both weapons meant a lot to him. Both had a lot of personal meaning to him. The Phalanx was his weapon of choice, with his custom built silencer no enemy stood a chance when he caught him off guard. The Mattock, on the other hand, was the weapon his employer had given him as a gift once he became one of the top assassins on Omega. The Mattock was a marvel. Sean had never once fired it, he never saw a reason to use it given his covert style of kills, but he knew when the opportunity arose, he wouldn't hesitate to use it.

Sean casually rested them on a nearby crate and began to fully unpack. Once all his effects had found their respected places he flopped onto his cot and let out a deep sigh as he relaxed. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander.

So this is the famous Normandy.

It's cozy.

Not as cozy as home.

I wonder how Kate is doing.

No. She left you don't be stupid.

But she deserves to know.

No, listen to me. She left you because she couldn't handle you. She deserves to be left alone.

Shut up! She still cares about me. We were friends.

Listen to yourself.

Screw you, I'm going to leave her a message; plus it's been ages since I have checked my messages.

I'm warning you.

Sean sat up and made his way to the desk and began to work on the computer. As he logged on he saw he had twenty unread messages. He sifted through the spam and narrowed it down to two. One was from his contractor and one was from Kate. Sean paused. Kate had contacted him. He quickly opened the message and began to read it.

Dear Sean,

About what happened. I think we rushed too quickly. I don't know what went on. I would really like to talk to you about it, face to face. I'm now living on the Citadel it would be great to see a familiar face. Please respond to me when you get this message.

Sincerest apologies,

Kate

Sean started at the screen. He was confused. So many emotions had risen he didn't know how to act. He took a deep breath and wrote his response:

Kate,

It's good to hear from you again. I would like to set up a meet date, but I am currently positioned on a star ship and I do not know when I will be landing but when I do, I'll be sure to inform you.

Sean

Sean smiled as he sent the letter and quickly stood up. He walked out of his room and made his way to the galley. When he arrived, he was surprised to see most of the crew there. They were milling about and chatting comfortably with each other. Sean grabbed a tray and walked over to the cook.

Looking up, the cook quickly said, "Ah you must be the new guy. I'm Gardner."

"Nice to meet you Gardner, I'm Sean." Sean said as he received his meal. He turned and scanned the area for an open seat. He spotted an empty table in the corner and made his way there. He sat and quietly began to pick at his meal. Absorbed in his own thoughts of his new life.

A voice from behind made him jump, "Ah, so you must be the famous Ghost." A turian said as he took a seat across from him.

"You're well informed." Sean said returning to his meal, "but I used to be."

"Get plenty of kills?" the turian heckled.

"I'm not in it for the kills, I was in it to rid Omega of the thieves and scoundrels." Sean corrected.

"Oh." He said pausing. "Well I guess you and I aren't that different."

"How so?" Sean asked peaking up from his meal at the turian.

"I had a band of mercs with me." He let out a painful laugh, "We had every gang in Omega after me; Eclipse, Blue Suns, Blood Pack, you name it."

"That story sounds familiar." Sean said intrigued.

"Yea, that was the infamous merc Archangel." The turian said, "I heard he was quiet the catch. The ladies loved him you know?"

"Ha! And how would you know?" Sean chuckled. He then paused as he put the pieces together. "No." He could only manage to say as he stared slack jawed at the turian in front of him.

"I see you are beginning to pick it up." The turian said smiling.

"I can't believe we meet each other again!" Sean said, "I still remember our chat way back. You know you really changed my outlook."

"Thanks, but I think formal recognitions are in order. Garrus Vakarian." He said offering his hand.

"Sean, Sean Mason."

The two talked and laughed through their meals.

Author's After Note: Ah. Joining the Normandy. New friendships and all… You know every time I read the part where Sean is talking to himself I think Deadpool. Anyways Thanks for being fans!