*SSV NORMANDY*
It had been several weeks since leaving the ice cube, Noveria, behind along with its newfound infestation of gargantuan bugs. The hunt for Saren had stagnated as the Commander's prey had become surprisingly elusive. Days had gone by without so much as a hint pointing to where the rogue Turian could be lurking, or what he might be doing while conducting said lurking. Garrus had put out feelers with some of his C-Sec contacts while Wrex had reached out to a few mercenary pals he had ran with back in his younger days. Neither met with any success.
In a bid to curb the looming threat of cabin fever, Kraven had been hard at work delving into the friendships he was forming with the people under his command. In essence, he was curious to discover what made each of them tick, and one could only spend so much time secretly building model ships in his own quarters before someone became suspicious. Thankfully, no one had scrutinized the invoice submitted by Alliance Requisitions after their most recent detour to the Citadel. A detour Wrex had lobbied particularly heavily for since calling anyone Sensei, much less a frail Human, was beginning to chafe.
Once the Normandy had again set sail to search the empty void, Kraven had begun making his rounds. After only a week he was surprised at how well he'd fit into a steady routine. First thing in the morning he would head up to the CIC to chat with Navigator Pressley. He had initially been put off by the man's distaste for aliens, but couldn't begrudge him that. The First Contact war was an unpleasant business so it only stood to reason that there would still be some scars on both sides. Fortunately, after taking the time to speak with the older man, Shepard had come to appreciate his no-nonsense bluntness and valued his opinions.
Once he'd checked in with the rest of the navigations, systems, and weapons specialists scattered around the command deck he would make his way to the helm to shoot the breeze with Joker. He had noticed that his pilot seemed particularly prickly and defensive anytime the subject of conversation drifted to his illness. Shepard had nipped that in the bud completely by accident when he spoke about what had happened to him on Mindoir, and later on Akuze. Turned out that realizing nobody had a monopoly on hard times was exactly what Joker needed to get over the chip he'd been carrying on his shoulder.
After leaving the helm, Kraven would then head down to the crew deck one level below. Most of the time he'd bump into Kaidan who seemed very attached to a single spot near the sleeper pods. When asked about why he never seemed to venture through the rest of the ship, he'd replied. "Where else would I go?" He always had plenty of sage advice, and impassioned opinions to keep conversation going, but Shepard couldn't help but laugh when he pictured what a crazy night out would look like for the Lt. How many towns had that man painted beige?
Next he would carefully tiptoe through the med bay trying not to incur the wrath of their resident medic who never seemed to run out of angry things to say. He'd tried to explain that he was just caught up in the heat of the moment, and that he would never headbutt anyone again, but that only seemed to make her angrier. He couldn't remember his mother very well, but he was sure she and the good doctor were cut from the same cloth.
Upon navigating the doctor's minefield he would let himself into the office behind the med bay where Liara spent most of her time. Upon leaving Noveria she had thrown herself wholeheartedly into researching the artifact he'd found on Feros. They had moved it up to her quarters so she didn't have to constantly run back and forth to the cargo bay to study it. Several times he found himself hovering just over her shoulder for hours to catch a glimpse at what she was doing. He had a particular fascination with implements of war, and knowing the one he'd found was probably the only one of its kind got his cranial juices flowing. Unfortunately, the young Asari had taken his keen interest in the sword for something somewhat different. He was still trying to figure out how to explain his curiosity was strictly professional without hurting her feelings. He wasn't very good at that sort of thing.
His next stop was always the mess to grab some kind of snack or another. He never told anyone, but one of his greatest fears was dying of hunger or thirst while waiting for the lift to cycle between floors. He figured if he took sustenance with him his only worry would be dying from old age. Once he made it to the cargo hold he usually found Wrex first. The two would swap interesting stories in a never-ending bid to lord it over one another, and share whatever morsels the Commander had brought for his journey down the elevator.
It usually didn't take long for Ashley to be drawn to the ruckus from her work bench, and join in on the banter. This of course would pique Garrus' interest so all four would invariably end up in good natured pissing contests. Each time they did, Shepard learned just a little bit more about each. Wrex was tough as nails, and knew when to let things slide or when to pick a fight. His display of confidence wasn't without merit, but appeared to be a very convincing veneer masking a measure of anxiety. Specifically anxiety that revolved around the deteriorating state of his people. He would never openly admit to worrying about anyone besides himself, but the hints of his concern were there if one knew how to read them.
Ashley's blood ran true blue Alliance all the way, and it showed in her every action and word. Her commitment to the military was only second to her loyalty to her family. Funnily enough, he had experienced that family bond one morning when he had been making his rounds, and happened to overhear her talking to her sister over the FTL com. His ears started burning, and so did the skin on the back of his neck, when he heard his name strung together with the word cute. He had swiftly turned in an attempt to flee, but a greeting from the Chief had stopped his retreat cold. The awkward conversation that followed wasn't altogether unpleasant, but it did serve to prominently reveal a certain type of affection Ashley was harboring for him. Once again he was flattered but not terribly interested. Mostly because there were regs and if things ever went pear shaped with her, he assumed there wouldn't be enough of him left to fill a coffee cup. Yet again he was stuck in the uncomfortable position of not being able to reciprocate certain feelings, but didn't know how to explain it without causing offense.
While things were somewhat complicated with the Chief, his talks with Garrus were a great deal more simple. He liked the Turian, and already considered him to be a good friend. Especially after hearing about his struggles rising through C-Sec. They shared similar views on the ugly necessity of the Spectres, and that someone needed to exist that could take on the messy jobs a regular governmental agency couldn't. They also agreed that such freedom was a dangerous privilege that was too-easily abused. Regardless, he liked Garrus because it seemed the Turian had almost an exact match to his own sense of justice. He was also a crack shot with a sniper rifle, had a refreshingly short temper, and understood more of the Commander's references and idioms than any of the other aliens. That alone earned him boatloads of brownie points. Although having someone to be angry with was a definite plus, too.
Finally, after bidding his Turian buddy adieu, Kraven would make his way down into engineering to greet his engineering staff. In particular, the Quarian Tali'Zorah. For some time it had been exceedingly difficult to get her to talk about anything at all, but that had swiftly started to change once she became more acclimatized to the ship's rhythm. Especially after their chat regarding the Feros artifact she'd seemed a great deal more eager to share her thoughts and feelings with him. He'd been taken aback by just how much she had to say, and she wasn't lacking for things to talk about. He certainly wasn't complaining as her perky disposition, and flowing accent were like music to his ears. More than once he'd gone completely off into la la land just listening to the cadence of her voice before she scolded him for not really listening. When she asked him what had taken his attention, he had joked that he was imagining what he would look like with legs that bent like hers. She'd come back with a single word "weird". He agreed before adding in a low mumble that he would just have to make due with staring at hers. She seemed exceptionally cheerful after that.
And so days went by with the Commander gradually peeling back the layers of his team to learn what type of people they were deep down. He was satisfied with what he'd found. Satisfied enough that when Garrus had asked him for help in bringing a black market organ harvester to justice, he'd gladly agreed to lend a hand. Wrex had also made reference to a personal matter that he would begrudgingly accept assistance with should their primary target remain elusive. The Commander had also agreed to chip in where he could.
It was on one such mission, Garrus' organ harvester, that the Commander currently found himself. Given that they were only there for a morally bankrupt doctor, Kraven had decided the two of them would be sufficient to handle it. As they wound their way through the shadowy confines of the small ship, an unsettling chill ran up his spine. The smell of fresh blood, antiseptic, and the unmistakable aroma of death hung heavy in the air.
Not long after venturing into the bowels of the vessel, a drug addled Turian had appeared from out of the dimly lit gloom. They had attempted to communicate with him, but the hapless man seemed to no longer be in control of his faculties. He let out a croaking groan before lurching forward with a rusty scalpel in one hand. Garrus ended up putting him down with a concussive round from his rifle. Upon closer inspection of the body, they found a spider web lattice of fresh incisions covering the unfortunate Turian's body. He was one of the walking test tubes.
"You know. Just about every time I go out on a mission, and see something horrible, I say to myself. 'Yep. That's pretty much the worst thing I've ever seen.' I wonder what I'll end up having to see before I can't say that anymore."
Garrus wrinkled his brow. "Not a very cheerful thought."
"Nothing a few drinks and a good fight can't fix."
"That's your answer for everything." Garrus snorted.
Shepard shrugged as they both headed deeper into the nightmare ship. "Everyone needs a few ways to decompress. That just happens to be one of my favorites."
"Can't argue with that."
"So what does a C-Sec officer do to unwind at the end of the day?"
Garrus' mandibles twitched in his species' approximation of a smile. "Scoping mercs is always fun."
Kraven shook his head. "Doesn't count, that's technically still work."
The Turian had to ponder for a while. "Well, I guess... Oh hold it." He brought up his rifle to train the crosshairs on a silhouette that had appeared further up the corridor and was menacingly shuffling toward them. "Hey there. Are you ok? Do you know where you are?"
Once again all they received as a response was an unintelligible gurgling. The person appeared to be either a Human woman or an Asari, but was obviously carrying something neither Shepard nor Vakarian wanted a closer look at. A single shot from Garrus' gun was sufficient to put her down before she got close enough to use it.
"Where was I? Oh that's right. Um... there was only one thing I can think of that I've ever done to relieve stress, and it wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence." He picked up right where he'd left off without skipping a beat.
Shepard appreciated his companion's cool demeanor. One thing that always drove him bananas was having to share the trenches with some high strung nut job. "Not going to sugar coat it, Vakarian. That's pretty sad. No wonder Joker thinks you got a stick shoved where the sun don't shine."
"I don't know what that means, but what can I say? Work was its own fun."
"And when work pissed you off so much you were ready to bite someone's head off?"
The Turian raised a dubious eyebrow. "What kind of place did you grow up in?"
Shepard sighed. "Oh for the love of... not literally it's just another idi... Never mind. What did you do when Palin stonewalled your investigation of Saren? You seemed pretty hacked off so what did you do to dissipate that stress?"
Again Garrus silently contemplated. "I went back to my desk, and fished for connections until I pulled up Dr. Michelle. Then I went to find her."
Kraven stopped and stared in disbelief. "Holy crap... you don't know how to have fun!"
"That's not true. Like this. This is fun."
Shepard clucked his tongue in disappointment. "It is, but not the kind I'm talking about. As your bro, I'm officially accepting the assignment to help you pull that stick out of your ass, and beat your current idea of relaxation to death with it."
Garrus chuckled. "If you say so. You are the ranking officer after all. I have to ask though, are all N7's so intense?"
The Commander puffed out his chest. "Just me, brother. Just me."
At last they came upon a sealed door that barred their way to the last compartment they hadn't yet checked. Shepard looked to his squad mate. "Shall we see what's behind door number 3?"
"You can do the honors."
Kraven pulled up a lockbreaking function on his omni-tool that Tali had designed for them, and set it to work cracking the door's code. After nearly a minute of working the door's console pulsed from red to an inviting green. "Let's see if the doctor's in." He pushed the button that whisked the portal open.
A surprised looking Salarian stood just on the other side. Shepard was instantly aware that he had a weapon stowed on his back. "Sorry to barge in like this. My friend here has a fever and the only cure is more cowbell. Think you can help us out?"
The Salarian's thin face contorted into a confused look. "What? Who are you, what are you doing here?"
Shepard took a step inside the chamber with his hand instinctively rising to find the handle of the Prothean sword magnetically sheathed at his back. "We were in the neighborhood." He craned his neck to look at Garrus but kept one eye on the Salarian. "This the guy, Garrus?"
The Turian nodded. "That's him. Dr. Saleon."
"N... No. My name is Hart. Dr. Hart." The doctor's high-pitched voice rose almost a full octave. "Please, you have to help me. The entire crew of this ship went insane trying to kill each other, and me. You have to get me out of here."
Garrus brought up his rifle. "I don't think so, doctor. Your days of butchering unsuspecting patients are over. I'd harvest your organs first to pay them back, but I'm afraid we just don't have the time."
Saleon recoiled in horror as he started to backpedal. "Y... you're crazy. Get away from me!"
He started to grab for the gun at his back but didn't manage to bring it around before the Commander bolted forward, wreathed in a biotic inferno. The blade of his sword whipped through the air accompanied by a lethal hum. The doctor didn't even have a chance to scream as the blade bit into his flesh and discharged a blast of dark energy that vaporized him in an instant. Tattered scraps of clothing fluttering through a cloud of blood-mist was the only thing left to mark his passing.
The Commander's corona flared brightly in sympathy with a menacing glow that wreathed the length of his sword. He looked around expectantly for another target, but unfortunately found none. "Damn." He muttered letting his biotic amps cycle off. Strangely, it took a good deal longer for his neural network to respond to his commands, and he noted that as soon as the flow of dark energy stopped the glow in the sword also dissipated. He also noted that it became much lighter while it was receiving biotic energy, but quickly regained its considerable weight when the flow was staunched.
"That thing packs quite a punch." Garrus observed as the Commander once again stowed his weapon.
"Sure does." Kraven agreed. "Makes me wish there was more to try it out on."
"Probably for the best to keep it to small tests for now anyway. No telling what it was that sent you off the deep end on Feros. Plus, I don't exactly relish being stuck in a tight space with you if it happens again."
Shepard grinned. "I suppose I can't fault you for that. Still, whatever it was I can't say I'm completely opposed to doing it again. Assuming this time I can remember it."
"I'll make sure to keep Dr. Chakwas on high alert then."
They both laughed before heading back the way they'd come through blood stained corridors feeling proud of a job well done.