"Where the fuck are you?" Aria grumbled, her arms folded over her chest; and from what Cass could tell on the hologram, her eyes angry.
"I got dragged back to Earth, I- I'm not sure when I'll be back on the Citadel…"
"We are taking Omega back with or without you; whether you want to be there is your own problem."
"Arai, you don't have the fucking resources, you need to gather all three mercenary groups before you do anything else; and Cerberus is stronger than ever, you don't stand a chance going back there now."
"I have to do something," Aria growled, "You can't expect me to leave Omega in the hands of them."
"And I don't! WE need to wait. Wait for the right moment, wait when Cerberus will be fighting the same war that we will be and take the time to gather your resources, and when you're ready I'll be there and I can bring who I can." Cass explained.
Aria sighed, her lips twisting into a considering frown. "I'll contact you again soon. I- Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I just have some things to do here."
"Very well," Aria nodded, "I'll speak with you soon."
"Okay," Cass replied, shutting off the Omni tool.
"Who was that?" Shepard asked, appearing out of the bedroom, a towel wrapped around her shoulders catching the drops of water from her hair.
"Aria T-Loak."
Shepard made a face, "Oh."
"What?" Cass frowned.
"Well, it's just-"
"What?" Cass inquired more forcefully.
"Well, I hardly think any mother's want their children hanging around someone like Aria T-Loak."
Cass laughed coldly, "And I doubt very many mother's want their daughter's fighting a war with them."
Shepard's lips pursed. "So, have you made your decision then?"
Pausing, the teen shook her head.
Shepard nodded at the girl, before bringing the towel up to rub some of her deep brown hair.
Cass frowned.
"You don't need to come along." Cass spoke flatly, clearly unenthused at the idea of having a "babysitter."
"Shepard asked me to." James responded.
"Do you always do what Shepard asks?"
"Well, yeah, most of the time."
"Puppy."
"What?" James scowled.
"You heard me. When that say dog of the military, well, I didn't think it was this literal." Cass laughed.
"I'm not a dog, I don't follow order blindly, I-"
"You're escorting a teenage girl on shopping trip, say what you like, but you're a puppy through and through." Cass laughed again.
"Yeah, well, at least I don't need a babysitter." James stated, causing the teen to roll her eyes and walk on a head of the Marine.
Turning a sharp left into Kassa Fabrications, the soldier stepped in front of the girl with a frown. "I dunno if this is what Shepard had in mind for new, um, clothes."
"I lost most of my gear back on Omega, and if I'm going to stick around and play war, well, I'm not doing it with my mother's hand me downs." Cass replied, pushing past her companion.
"I don't think this is a good idea."
"Relax muscles, I'll pay for it on my own." The girl ran her hands over a new display, red and black armor, light, but strong shiny material with smaller cauldrons and fitted greaves; the bracers sleek but edged on the outside of the wrist spiked for melee purposes. "This looks good."
"You're kidding, right? That's like 50,000 credits."
"If there's one thing about Aria that I like, it's that she pays well." Cass grinned, her smile feral while sauntering over to the vendor to purchase her new found equipment.
James shook his head, following the teen; this was not how he imagined his day going.
Further into the shopping trip, James suppressed a groan.
"What's wrong with you?" Cass asked.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not, muscles. It's written all over your face."
"Well, this isn't exactly how I imagined me spending my day off, you know?"
"And this only further extends my views of you being a puppy. You could have said no and had the whole day to yourself, you could leave."
"The commander wouldn't be happy-"
"If she finds out." Cass interrupted. "Where do you think I'm going to go? All of my new things are sent to deliver to headquarters. Do you really think I would abandon all my new shit to, I don't know, where am I supposed to even go now anyways- Omega was on fire, so I'm stuck here, for now, because I really don't want to go deal with an angry Aria anyways. So please, just leave, your constant sighing is starting to severely annoy me."
James gaped slightly, before affirming himself. "Shepard requested that I look after you, and that is what I am going to do."
Cass rolled her eyes. "Puppy."
"Can you take the flag off of my file?" Cass asked, leaning against Anderson's desk; James stood at the door, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Because I think you put it there."
"I- Who told you?" Anderson coughed, leaning back in his desk chair.
"It wasn't that hard to figure out; you aren't a very good liar." Cass' eyes narrowed. "So, can you do it? Or not? Because I don't like getting stopped at security checkpoints everywhere I go, nor do I like getting dragged back to Earth by Alliance lackeys."
"I can take care of it." Anderson frowned.
"Good man, And with that, I'll be on my way; always a pleasure, Anderson." Cass smiled slyly; sauntering out the door.
"Admiral." James hastily saluted before hurrying after the girl.
Anderson frowned, that girl was becoming more like her mother every day.
"You were gone long." Shepard stated, letting her elbows fall on the small, circular table; letting her head rest atop her hands.
"Yeah, well, I had a few errands to run." Cass mumbled, pushing around the remainder of her food with her fork.
"Like?"
"Just errands."
"So?"
"You don't have to try to do the whole small talk thing." Cass scowled.
"I was just asking about your day." Shepard's lips tightened.
"I know, but you don't have to."
"Well, I want to."
"Well, maybe I don't want you to." Cass' scowl deepening. "Can we just not do this?"
"Do what, Cass? I'm just trying to talk to you, that's all." Shepard sighed sadly.
"I know. I'm sorry- I just need some air." Cass stood; and shuffled out of the apartment leaving her mother at the table.
Cass swallowed thickly, leaning over the glass railing on the highest balcony of the Alliance compound. It was dark, just pass nine pm, and the moon was high in the sky giving the teen all the light she needed.
Was she being cruel? She glanced at her mother as she nearly ran out the door, the woman looked so distraught. Was she a terrible person for not wanting to get hurt again? It's not like her mother's intentions were ever bad, but the woman had left her so many times, and she didn't want to go through it again. So was she wrong in continuously pushing her mother away? Wrong in not letting anyone get close?
The girl let out an audible whimper, as she bowed her head, a single tear dripping down the tip of her nose and fell to the ground below.
"Are you alright?" A female voice startled the teen.
"I'm fine." The girl replied sharply. Glancing out the corner of her eye, the teen could make out the shape of the person by the door, but Cass could not make out the stranger's face by the pale light of the moon. Turning back to the railing, the teen rubbed a forearm over her eyes to rub away excess tears.
"You don't seem fine." The woman came closer; placing a comforting hand on the small of the teens back.
Cass whipped around, taking the woman's wrist in her palm and gripping it tightly.
"I suggest you-" Cass snarled, before seeing the woman's face, "I- Ashley?"
"Cass?"
"Shit, you look different." Cass frowned, dropping the older woman's wrist.
"So do you? What happened to you?" Ashley frowned, her hand touching the fading bruises Cass received on Omega.
Pushing away the hand, Cass scowled. "It's nothing."
"Doesn't look like it's nothing."
"Well, it is."
"Hmm, So, what're you doing here?"
"My mother is here."
"So I've heard." Ashley frowned, joining the teen at the railing, "How've you been?"
"Just peachy. You?"
"Busy, preparing."
"Not surprising. How is you mom doing? I haven't really been to, um, see her yet."
"She's fine." Cass' hands tightening.
"That's uh, good."
"You don't seem to enthusiastic." Cass stated flatly.
"Well, I wasn't really enthusiastic to find that she had you involved with Cerberus."
"Yeah, I remember." Cass sighed. "Fucking Cerberus."
Ashely frowned, brows raising in question.
"I was on Omega before I was here, I was living there. They-"
"Attacked and took over. I've seen the reports. It's only going to get worse."
"Yeah, that's how I got hurt; practically had to drag Aria off of the station." Cass laughed heartedly. "So, how long are you here for?"
"I'm not entirely sure, I've been busy, Lieutenant Commander isn't always an easy job."
"Wow, Lieutenant Commander? Congrats."
"Thanks." Ashely smiled.
"Well, it's late, which means it's only a matter of time before my mother appears and I'm sure you're not quite in the mood to say hello; I'll see you around Ash, thanks."
Ashley nodded. "Bye, Cass. Be careful and good luck."
"Where'd you go?" Shepard asked as the door glided open, not looking up from her tablet.
"Upstairs; outside." Cass responded quietly.
"Oh, are you alright?" Shepard asked, looking up, noticing the teen's reddened eyes.
"I'm fine." Cass responded unconvincingly.
"Okay." Shepard sighed, knowing she clearly wasn't going to get anywhere tonight. "Well, I'm going to get some sleep. Goodnight. I love you."
Cass frowned. "You waited up for me?"
"Of course I did." Shepard replied nonchalantly. "Goodnight."
"I- goodnight." Cass frowned, settling herself on the sofa, closing her eyes.
Cass woke up, her neck stiff; she had fallen asleep on the couch in her street clothes. Groaning the teen sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Glancing around the apartment, her mother was nowhere in sight, but the shower was running and the steam was escaping underneath the door. Pushing back the loose strands of hair in her face, the teen shuffled over to the kitchenette to rummage through the fridge.
"You're awake." Shepard stated surprised.
"Yup." Cass responded.
"Do you want me to make breakfast?"
Cass smirked, before breaking out into a grin.
"I-what?"
"You can't cook." Cass failed to stifle her laughter, even the idea of the great commander Shepard trying to turn on a stove, well, she may be able to save the world, but cooking was beyond help.
Shepard beamed.
"What're you smiling at?" Cass breathed, suppressing her laughter.
"It's nice to hear you laugh, is all." Shepard smiled slightly.
Cass' smiled dwindled, before disappearing. "I think I'll just fend for myself." The girl stated, returning to her rummaging.
AN: Another shortie, but we're building up to the main story! The Reapers are right around the corner! Please feel free to share ideas and review! Thanks!