AN: Thanks for reviewing. Sorry, it has taken longer than I wanted to update but I got bogged down in life. Mass Effect doesn't belong to me.
The mission to Korlus for the Krogan warlord was not much of a success in Shepard's book sine Okeer killed himself. He did get to see his fellow Spectre in action and he was not unimpressed with her combination of biotics and marksmanship. Now, he stood in waiting for the rest of the squad to talk on their new Krogan paperweight. The commander waited until he knew everyone was in before asking the opinions of his team.
"Okay, we have a cloned Krogan sleeping in a pod in the port cargo hold. What should we do about it?" Alex asked.
"We have no way to know if it'll be stable. I say we hand it over to Cerberus and let them learn anything useful from it." Miranda voiced her opinion.
"Commander, Okeer said he put all his information on the Collectors in his creation maybe we should allow him to prove himself." Aegis weighed in.
"And if he starts killing us all?" The black haired woman wondered sarcastically.
"EDI, how fast can the cargo hold be vented if there's a problem?" The Commander's question to the ship's computer caused some eyebrows to be raised.
"The cargo bay can be vented in twenty-eight seconds, Commander." EDI informed the room.
"Hey, whoa, I'm down in the cargo hold. So, you go through with that plan of yours a little warning might be nice." Thalia stated her voice rose slightly before clearing her throat, "Anyway, prove your worth as a leader to him and he'll follow you."
"I agree with Corporal Grace, Shepard. Wrex backed down on Virmire 'cause you proved a point. If he really is a perfect Krogan, I think you could get him to see your point." Garus said shocking the crew.
"Professor, Jacob, you've been silent, what are your thoughts on this?" Shepard turned to the silent team members.
"I'm good with whatever you think is right, Shepard. You've proven that you get shit done so I can get behind having an intimidating Krogan on the team." Jacob answered sincerely.
"Computing statistical analysis of positives and negatives Krogans unpredictable looking forward to seeing results." Mordin weighed scientifically.
"Alright, I'll head down to wake our new guest." Alex dismissed.
Shepard stopped in the armory to grab his hand cannon, feeling that he may need it should things take a turn for the worst. Catching sight of the picture of Ashley on his desk he sighed wishing she was here to help. Something else caught his attention but he lost it almost as soon as he the thought crossed his mind. He entered the elevator which was empty except one person. Seeing her leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, Alex felt like he was looking Ashley and it caused a small smile to come to his face. The Commander cleared his throat causing her to snap her eyes open.
"What are you still doing in the elevator?" Shepard wondered suspiciously.
"Waiting for you. I wanted to make sure you had back up for when you unleashed the Krogan." Thalia answered. "I'll be right outside the door."
"That's what I got this for." Alex said raising his weapon.
"Well, you're my Commander and I've got your back." She gave a slight smirk.
"Good to know, Grace." Shepard replied honestly.
Shepard stepped out from dealing with Grunt and there standing with her shotgun. He gave a smile at the nearly perfect match and couldn't help but think back to Virmire when Ashley was ready to jump in should anything happen while he tried to talk down Wrex.
"No need for that, Williams." Alex said not thinking and both froze. "Shit, I'm sorry I wasn't thinking."
"It's…" Thalia cleared her throat to calm down, "It's okay, Sir."
The future soldier walked off not looking all that well and Shepard couldn't help but smack himself on his head. He proceeded into the elevator to go and get some rest to hopefully clear his head. He lay in his bed holding his picture of Ashley above his head just shocked at how much she looks like the Alliance Corporal in his cargo bay. 'Geez, you could think they were related or something but that's not possible. I miss you so much, Ash. I would feel better if you were here with me instead of someplace I don't even know where.' With those thoughts, he fell asleep holding the picture to him like his life depended on it.
While the Commander was trying to get his head cleared, his future daughter was curled into a corner deep in thought. 'I can't believe that just happened. So many people tell me I'm more like my dad but I can't believe he called me that. Shit, if he figures out that I'm his kid then we're screwed. I don't know if that would be such a bad thing but if they find out what I'll do then they'll be ashamed of me. I couldn't stand those looks if they found out.'
AN: Please review and tell me what you think. I really hope to be able to update soon since I hate it when I can't get to it.