AUTHOR'S NOTE: Even Commander Shepard needs to just get drunk and talk about boys sometimes. This was SO fun to write. I hope you like it.

Shepard didn't know what possessed her to invite half the crew up to her cabin for a drink. They'd just gotten back from retrieving the Reaper IFF and everyone was on edge. The Collectors were on the move, always one step ahead, and human colonies were vanishing with each passing day. It probably wasn't the best time for a night of drunken revelry, but Shepard knew damn good and well that it might be the only time they had. They'd be hitting the Omega 4 relay soon. What lurked beyond it was the possibility of death, and if Shepard was going to die, she was going to die satisfied and happy with her achievements.

Or at least a little drunk.

She poured herself another glass of brandy and passed the bottle over to Dr. Chakwas, who eyed it wearily before snatching it from the Commander's hands.

"Let's hope the Collectors decide to take tomorrow off." The doctor joked as she drank.

Shepard laughed, shaking her head at the thought. The Collectors never "took a day off," and, therefore, neither did she. Rest was a precious resource, peace an even rarer one. It was nice to sit down for once, take some time to herself. The alcohol helped, too. She'd worked up a good buzz, the kind of buzz that helped you forget the things you didn't want to remember. The kind of buzz that loosened your tongue and made you want to say things you never would otherwise. Shepard didn't get drunk often, but when she did…

It was Miranda's turn with the bottle. She poured a small amount of brandy in her glass and sipped, grey eyes flickering around the crowded cabin. "This is quite the party you've assembled, Shepard." She said.

"Only the best." Shepard replied.

Dr. Chakwas raised her glass. "I think that that deserves a toast."

The rest of the cabin agreed.

"To the best!" Dr. Chakwas announced. "May we always be superior!"

Six glasses clanked together in wordless solidarity. Shepard couldn't help but smiled as she watched her crew drain their drinks. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe it was the all too real possibility of dying within the next few days, but Shepard couldn't have imagined going into this mission with anyone else. Dr. Chakwas, Miranda, Tali, Samara, Kelly Chambers, even Jack. They weren't just her crew anymore. They were family. Sisters. Shepard always wanted a sister.

"This shit is weak." Jack mumbled from her seat at Shepard's desk. The rest of them had opted to crowd on the bed, but Jack, ever the rebel, had to sit apart from everyone else. Shepard didn't mind. The woman needed her space and she'd get it. She deserved it.

"I don't think it's—it's weak. Er—shit. Er…What did you say?" Tali slurred, swaying as she sucked the turian wine from her straw. She'd bought it on their last trip to the Citadel and said she'd been saving it for a "special occasion." Since she was the only one in the cabin who could drink it without getting a horrible rash, she was far drunker than the rest of them by a light year. Had it been anyone else, Shepard might've gotten annoyed, but with Tali, the slurring and the swaying was simply endearing.

"You're going to be so fucking sick tomorrow." Jack snorted.

Shepard had to squint a bit, but she swore she saw something of a smile on the other woman's face. Nothing like free alcohol to bring even the most distant of crewmembers together.

"Are you saying something?" Tali asked. She attempted to get up, only to fall back down to the bed a few unsteady seconds later. "Did—did you do something to my suit?"

Jack rolled her eyes. "I don't need to rip into that suit of yours to know you're gonna have a massive hangover. Honestly, have you ever gotten drunk?"

"Not—not really." Tali confessed. "This—this wine is very strong, though."

"We can tell." Miranda said. She placed a hand on Tali's shoulder and, for a moment, the icy mask she always wore melted away, revealing genuine concern. "You should slow down. Better yet, you should stop."

Shepard leaned back against the wall of pillows propped up behind her. "I'm with Miranda on this one, Tali. You should slow down."

Tali sighed loudly. She shoved the rest of her wine at Miranda. "Aye-aye, Commander." She said, sounding none too pleased about her orders. "If you say so."

Shepard smiled. "Thanks, Tali."

"Yeah, whatever." She grumbled.

The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable. It wasn't awkward. It wasn't heavy. It simply…was. No one attempted to fill it with pointless words or trivial questions. They didn't need to. It just went to show how the crew had bonded during all this time. They didn't need words to communicate. Hell, they didn't need to communicate at all. All they needed was a few bottles of wine and a place to sit and they were set.

"Commander," Samara spoke up for the first time since their gathering.

Everyone turned to look at her, Shepard included.

"Yeah?" She asked, feeling slightly dizzy. She leaned over Kelly's lap to put her empty glass on the nightstand beside the bed. No more brandy for the night. She was drunk enough.

Samara, who sat cross legged at the foot of the bed, lifted her striking blue gaze to meet Shepard's. "Forgive me if it is too personal, but…What is your first name?"

Shepard blinked. Did she really not know? Judging by the rest of the crew's reactions, they didn't know, either. Huh. "Charlie." She said. "That's my first name."

"Charlie? Really?" Kelly piped up. Her cheeks were red from the brandy. "I like it."

"Is it short for something?" Miranda asked.

"That's classified information." Shepard said. No one needed to know what her full name was. Garrus knew, but he wasn't here, so Shepard's drowsy brain rationalized that he didn't count.

"You'd tell Garrus." Jack said suddenly.

Again, the cabin went silent. This silence wasn't as easy as the first. No, this silence was awkward as hell. Shepard felt a flush of heat crawl up her neck. Jack knew. Jack knew and she was going to tell everyone right here, right now. Damn it.

Shepard put on her best Commander face and looked Jack straight in the eye. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not dumb, Shepard." Jack got up from her chair and did something Shepard never expected her to do. She sat down on the bed. Right between Tali and Miranda. "You're hopelessly in love with the guy. It's sort of disgusting."

"You're in love with Garrus?" Kelly grabbed Shepard by the arm, grinning hugely. "I knew it! I so knew it! Don't you remember? Didn't I tell you? I told you that the two of you would make such a cute couple and I was right!"

Shepard wrenched her arm away, shooting Jack a pointed glare. "I'm not in love with Garrus."

…Or was she? Would that really be so bad? He made her laugh, he made her smile, he was loyal, he was funny, he was…

"G—Garrus?" Tali sputtered. "But he's so—"

"Annoying?" Jack supplied. She was having way too much fun with this.

"Sexy?" Kelly said at the exact same time.

The two women exchanged confused glances. Jack smirked.

"Watch out, Shepard. Chambers here might give you a run for your money."

Kelly turned even redder than before. "I'm not going to—"

"I think Garrus is a fine young man." Samara said. "Certainly worthy of your affections, Shepard. And I…I must say, I've noticed a few things, too."

Commander Charlie Shepard was the first human Spectre, an established marine in the Alliance military, and a font of Prothean knowledge, but all the tactical experience in the world wasn't helping her now. Defeat a malevolent Reaper and a brainwashed turian? No problem. But could she talk about her love life? Absolutely not.

"Is it really that obvious?" Shepard was almost afraid to ask.

Six heads nodded. Oh, God. It was worse than she thought. Shepard bit back a groan, burying her face in her hands. This was embarrassing. She was their Commander. She had to save the galaxy. She had to stop the Collectors and the Reapers. She shouldn't have been spending all her free time "blowing off steam" with Garrus. They'd tried so hard to keep it a secret. The crew didn't need to be distracted by their leader's choice in bedmates.

"We don't mind, Shepard." Miranda said quietly. "If our approval is what you're looking for."

"It's not that," Shepard began. "I just—"

"If there is anyone in this galaxy who deserves happiness, it is you, Commander." Samara said. Murmurs of agreement went up around the cabin. "He does make you happy, yes?"

Shepard smiled in spite of herself. Her mind wandered to those stolen nights with Garrus, the precious moments that were no one else's but their own. The poetry, the cheap alcohol, the kisses, the quiet…Was that happiness? It felt like it.

"Yeah," she decided. "He does."

"I always knew the two of you would end up together." Dr. Chakwas mused. "I knew it from the very beginning. He was always asking you for your opinion on everything. It was very cute. And now, he has become an extremely competent man. That stunt he pulled on Omega was very brave. A little rash, maybe. But brave."

"He's always staring at you." Tali said, pointing her finger in Shepard's direction. "You don't notice because you're too busy saving the galaxy, but I do. It's like you're the only thing he sees."

"That's so romantic." Kelly sighed.

"It's dangerous." Shepard muttered. If Garrus was always staring at her, that meant he wasn't paying attention to the mission. She'd have to have a talk with him about that later.

"You should have seen them on Omega the other day." Jack crossed her legs and launched into the action packed story of the batarian merc nearly choking Shepard to death. There were gasps, there was laughter, even a few hiccups. When the story was done and Jack had finished off the last of the brandy, the women of the Normandy SR-2 headed back to their respective places, thanking Shepard for the night off.

After they had all gone and Shepard was finally alone, she collapsed into bed, staring up at the ceiling. She loved Garrus. He loved her. The crew didn't care.

"Shepard?"

A feminine, slightly monotone voice jarred the Commander from her thoughts.

"EDI?" She sat up in the bed. "Is something wrong?"

"No," EDI's disembodied voice said. "Nothing is wrong. I just wanted to tell you that Garrus is on his way up to your cabin. I overheard him saying something about a party he'd missed."

There it was again, that stupid grin that only Garrus made her do.

"Thanks, EDI. Make sure to let him in."

"Understood, Commander."