Cass sat on the edge of her mother' s bed. Currently, the commander was pacing the length of the room; back and forth like clockwork. Liara stood up against the fish tank near the stairs; her eyes following the mother warily.
Cass scratched the back of her head and continued to avoid her mother's gaze. It had been nearly an hour of this constant pacing. Since they had gotten back from Omega; Cass went through a routine checkup with Chakwas and got herself cleaned up, then reported to her mother's cabin; which left them here now.
Liara warily stepped around the commander and sat next to the cagey teen. Cass flinched at the movement on the bed, but sighed in release as she realized it was the Asari.
"Do you think we should like get Chakwas to sedate her?" Cass offered, half joking and half serious.
"Cassandra." Liara warned sharply as she met the girl's eyes with a stern and scolding glare.
The teen exhaled slowly and averted her gaze.
"Shepard." Liara spoke cautiously and calmly, while reaching for the woman's hand. As their finger's met, and a blue hand curled around the other, the pacing stopped.
Cass blinked slowly and looked up; watching as her mother held a gaze with her significant other. The teen squirmed slightly, as this was the first time the Commander had stopped her pace.
"Maybe, I should, um go-" The teen stood abruptly and moved to rush out of the cabin, until the mother caught her arm.
"Sit back down." Shepard spoke lowly and dangerously.
Cass sat back down swiftly, wringing her hands in her lap.
"So, um- I-" The teen stammered somewhat before biting her lip, grinding the skin between her teeth.
"She kissed you." Shepard's voice was quiet and cold.
"Is that was this has all been about?" Liara shrilled. "All of this pacing and silence!?"
"Of course it is!" Shepard replied at nearly the same octave.
"You're not even going to address the fact that your daughter left without telling us and put her life at risk for Aria T'Loak?!"
"Don't say that name!" Shepard growled.
"You're kidding?!" Liara exasperated, throwing her arms up.
"I most certainly am not!" Shepard yelled, pointing at her child, while facing the Asari. "She kissed my baby! She's older than I am! Than you are! Can't you see that this is a major issue!?"
"Oh my god." Cass flopped back on the bed and covered her face with her forearm. Cringing as the Asari and Commander continued.
"You can't honestly think that the kiss is more problematic than the girl going off and staging a war against Cerberus! She could have been killed! Are we not even going to address that?" Liara folded her arms defensively.
"Of course I was, I was just focusing on the bigger issue!" Shepard defended.
"I'd hardly say that Aria T'loak's unfortunate display of gratitude is the bigger issue!"
Cass groaned quietly and rolled over onto side and jumped to her feet. Skirting around the now oblivious arguing duo, the girl slid into the elevator escaping for the time being.
As she bounded out of the elevator and out into the hall of the engineering deck. The girl began to rush toward the starboard side of the ship. So far, the girl concluded she could successfully lay low on deck four, while the arguing still commenced and she could avoid any other unpleasant interactions and questions from the rest of the crew. Besides, the only people residing down here were Adams and the two other crazy engineers.
As the teen flew her hand in front of the doors panel, the girl nearly collided with an unsuspecting woman.
"Who the fuck are you?" Cass exclaimed, mostly out of surprise.
"Diana Allers. Alliance New Network." The woman responded rather calmly. "You must be the Commander's daughter."
"Uh, yeah." Cass nodded slowly. "Have, you um, been down here the entire time?"
"A few weeks." Diana responded gradually.
"Weird." Cass' face scrunched up; how did she not know of some random reporter living on the ship? "Just, um, don't tell anyone I was here."
Dianna frowned as the teen rushed out the door, thinking that she would need to get a news story on that one.
The girl scampered down the hall to the opposite door and slid into the room . The girl meandered in slowly, coming face to face with an unfamiliar figure.
"What the fuck?" Cass' eyes widened. This thing was definitely not like any other alien she had ever encountered.
"Human child." Javik spoke deeply. "You must be the offspring of the commander."
"And you are?"
"Prothean."
"Damn! I sort of forgot about that." Cass mused, tapping a thoughtful finger against her chin. "I should thank you, gave me enough time to liberate a station before my mother could show up and ruin everything."
Javik didn't respond, but turned back to the surface of water in front of him.
"So you're like a real live Prothean?" Cass folded her arms and leaned against the wall, eyes going up and down the figure.
"Opposed to a dead, fake one."
"Funny." Cass rolled her eyes. "Do you have a name, or should I just call you Prothean?"
"My name is Javik."
"Well, I'm Cass. Unless you'd like to just call me offspring."
Javik grunted in response, clearly uninterested in the girl.
"Well as fun as this has been," Cass rolled her eyes and pushed away from the wall. She would have to bother him later, maybe with Liara, the Asari would probably be vibrating with excitement and that would be funny. "I'm gonna go."
"That would be best."
"That it would." The teen mockingly repeated as she slipped out the door.
The girl shoved her hands into her pockets and she set back to the elevator. Pressing the call button, the girl waited patiently for the elevator to appear. The doors glided open, revealing the familiar form of the previous gunnery chief.
"Ashley." Cass greeted slowly.
"Hey kid." Ashley greeted with a slight smile. "Good to see you back in one piece. You weren't looking so hot back on Omega."
"Yeah, well you weren't looking so hot last time I saw you in the hospital." The girl grumbled.
"I doubt I was." Ashley's eyes narrowed as she stood in the gateway, holding the doors open.
"Seems you're recovered, that's good." Cass replied curtly, stepping into the elevator.
"Yeah," Ashley sighed. "I was pretty lucky."
Cass nodded gradually, and tapped her foot anxiously, waiting to escape this conversation. As the doors glided open on the crew deck, the older woman stepped out, but not before grabbing the teen's bicep and tugging her along.
"Hey!" Cass tried to pull her arm away, but the lieutenant commander's grip was tight. As the dark haired woman tugged them into the observation deck, she released the girl and stood in front of the door, preventing the teen's escape.
"What the hell, Ash?" Cass rounded on the older woman.
"What is with the attitude?" Ashley's arms folded, as she stared down the girl.
"What attitude?"
"The attitude that you're so obviously taking with me."
"I am not."
"You so are. I have two little sisters, I know when I'm being had at."
"Sorry." Cass sighed, relenting. "I'm just awaiting judgment, okay? Like, Liara and my ma are likely defining my fate as we speak, so I'm a little on edge."
"Okay, I understand." Ashley's demeanor lightened, as she stepped away from the door and beckoned the teen to join her on the couch. "So, how did things go on Omega?"
"Well, you were there for the most stressful part." Cass half laughed as she sat down.
"You mean physically restraining your mother from strangling that Asari."
"Yeah, I would say that was likely the worst part."
Ashley smiled slightly. "So what exactly happened though? Did you get done what you needed to?"
"Well, yeah. Aria will have to begin rebuilding, but the entire station has been liberated from Cerberus control, which is something we should all be happy about."
Ashley nodded in agreement, leaning back and relaxing against the arm rest.
"You know." Cass frowned. "I should thank you; you basically saved me from getting smashed up by that robot back on mars."
"You don't need to thank-"
"I do though. I said some shitty things to you back on Earth and you still saved my ass." Cass leaned forward, facing the brunette. "I really owe you."
"It's fine, kid." Ashley smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. We all say things we don't always mean, and even if you were being a brat, doesn't mean I wouldn't save you."
Cass nodded and averted her gaze, before looking up once more. "I'm glad you're okay."
"I'm glad you're okay too. You shouldn't have ran off to Omega like that." Ashley spoke seriously.
"Are you really going to lecture me?" Cass whined and pouted obviously.
"Normally, I would, but since you're awaiting whatever verdict you mother has waiting for you, I'll let you get away with it this one time." Ashley said lightly, slightly amused.
"God Ash, you're as bad as my mother, you know that?"
"I'll take that as a compliment." Ashley grinned, reaching over and shoving the girl playfully. "You remind me so much of my little sister, I can't help it."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Cass grunted, moving to shove the older woman back, but stopped as the whistling sound of doors alerted her to a new presence in the room. Peering back over the couch, the girl visibly paled, as both the commander and Liara stood in the doorway; arms folded and faces stern.
She was in for it now.