Just a quick note, this gets a little sexy later on (nothing too graphic for now), so just a little warning there ;) Also I've chosen characters I liked from all Mass Effect games, and will continue to add them wherever I feel they'd fit, regardless of what game they're from, and where the story is going. This story is based around ME2 type scenarios, for example, but I've included Traynor and Vega because I really like them.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think :)

Casey wasn't a scientist. She wasn't a Doctor. She barely qualified as a Nurse (it usually took her three attempts to take blood from a Salarian, which really wasn't a difficult task). So as much as she tried to play along with Mordin's deception that she was a valuable asset, and he simply couldn't function without her, she pretty much spent all her time in his way. She soon realised that the crew weren't about to throw her out of the airlock for leaving the lab, and so she took to finding other jobs.

She'd been aboard the Normandy for two weeks now, but Casey doubted she'd ever get used to living on a ship. It wasn't the noise: truth be told the Normandy ran so silently she often had to look out of a window before she knew whether they were flying or docked. It was more like the sterility of the environment. Everything was pristine. Casey found herself more than once wandering around this little room underneath the engineering deck: the darkness and piles of crates made her feel almost like she was back on Omega. It wasn't that she missed the place, far from it, she'd never fit in living in Omega. But with her tangles of hair, clumsy nature, and bitten nails Casey didn't feel like she fit in here either.

Then there was the crew. No doubt about it, Shepard was assembling a strange bunch. She'd heard rumours about Cerberus, the company they were supposedly working for (she wasn't sure if they actually were, because Shepard denied it so often), that they were some kind of inclusive, pro human group. The number of different people aboard the ship, however, suggested otherwise.

There was Shepard: who Casey, after two weeks aboard, still felt like she knew nothing about. He was constantly leaving to recruit new team members, or rescue people from dire situations. Casey had probably spoken to him twice, and though he was friendly enough, she felt like she was in his way too.

Then there was the woman, who Casey learned was called Miranda. She was Shepard's second in command, though clearly had ambitions above this. Whenever Shepard wasn't aboard, Miranda clomped around in her ridiculous heels telling everyone what to do. Casey tried to stay out of her way, no reason to give Miranda more ammunition than necessary.

Often following Miranda around like a lost puppy was Jacob: an ex-alliance soldier who had a serious crush. Casey didn't blame him, Miranda's outfit got everyone's attention. Jacob seemed ok, far too interested in his fitness regime to cause Casey any problems, and he was polite enough whenever they met. She preferred James Vega, another ex-alliance who'd fought the enemy they were now pursuing (Casey didn't even really know who they were after, something about kidnapped colonists. She was seriously in the dark). Vega had made a real effort to welcome Casey, though she thought it might have been more to do with wanting to get into her knickers than anything else.

There was a Krogan who lived on the engineering deck, and Casey liked him. You knew where you stood with Krogan (usually well out of their way!), and he'd been surprisingly good company when Casey had been attempting to avoid Miranda: telling stories about what the Krogan did to the people they didn't like. Casey was in no hurry to take his advice, as all his stories usually ended with "and all that was left was a puddle on the floor" and a little laugh, but he was fun all the same. Mordin said there was something special about his genes, but then Mordin said that about pretty much everyone's genes, so Casey didn't pay too much attention.

Mordin was his usual self, if anything, his constant monologue had stepped up a gear since arriving on the Normandy, and Casey often had to work as a translator for him whenever he got over excited.

And what about the Turian, Garrus Vakarian? Casey had barely seen him since boarding. He was usually off with Shepard, or doing something or other in the gun battery. He seemed friendly enough, but whenever Casey got the opportunity to speak to him she completely froze. There was something about Turians that always made Casey nervous: maybe it was the proud way they carried themselves, or that she'd never seen one laugh. When Garrus walked past, Casey felt herself sinking into the walls, averting her gaze so she wouldn't find herself trapped in an awkward conversation: which is what almost always happened when she met new people.

The person Casey had really bonded with was Samantha Traynor. Casey wasn't exactly sure what her job was, but she'd been the first person to offer Casey a cup of tea and show her to her quarters, obviously realising how overwhelmed she was when she arrived on the Normandy. Casey's quarters were quite something: smaller than her apartment on Omega, but clean, bright, and hers. There was no room in the support staff quarters, so Casey had been given a room of her own.

Today, after once again failing to be any help to Mordin, Casey had found a new job. Hamster hunter. Shepard, for whatever reason, had a pet Hamster in his cabin. However, it had somehow escaped its cage. Casey had a feeling it was something to do with Ken from engineering, who'd gone into Shepard's cabin to drop off some notes, and had come out again looking very shifty and covered in woodshavings. Casey assumed he'd knocked the cage over and just run out, but she knew he'd never admit it. This was why she'd spent the last hour crawling around the lower levels of engineering, holding out a bag of sunflower seeds, and making squeaky noises.

"Mindy," Casey whispered. She didn't know what Shepard had called the Hamster, but she'd decided it looked like a Mindy.

Just when she'd finally caught sight of the thing, there was a loud noise over head, and Grunt stomped down the stairs. The Hamster disappeared.

"Where is it?" Grunt snorted.

"What?" Casey asked.

"That...that thing. The thing that's been crawling around inside the walls, scratching and squeaking."

"Mindy?"

Grunt raised an eyebrow, or he would've done if Krogan had eyebrows. In any case, he did the equivalent. "Mindy?"

"The Hamster?"

"Little furry thing with no real purpose?"

Casey smiled, "yes, Mindy."

"It's been driving me crazy for hours, I finally chased it out of my room, but it got away before I could stomp on it."

So I've been crawling around on the floor down here for an hour, and it was in Grunt's room until five minutes ago? Casey felt a bit foolish as she tried to dust herself off without Grunt noticing.

"It's Shepard's pet," Casey began with a smile, "not sure he'd want you stamping on it."

Grunt seemed to be thinking. "I'll help you catch it."

Casey felt her eyes widen. "Oh...umm...no, don't worry, you're busy, I'll find it."

"Not asking," Grunt replied, leaning down to look under a pile of crates. "You'll find it quicker with me."

"...Ok..." Casey eyed Grunt's large boots. He wasn't exactly nimble on his feet, one wrong step and Mindy would be in Hamster Heaven.

Grunt gave his little laugh, "No stamping, I promise."

Casey and Grunt spent a companionable couple of hours chasing the little furball across the Normandy. They thought they'd hit the jackpot when they spotted her on Joker's console. However Grunt's attempts to 'gently scoop' the creature up ended up in him hitting the console so hard that the Normandy went into a nose dive. Casey got the impression Grunt wasn't too concerned about Mindy's safety, and they were both asked in no uncertain terms to leave the cockpit.

Eventually, and with little help from Grunt, Casey managed to catch Mindy. She held the Hamster between her hands, and Grunt sniffed her suspiciously. "What does it do?"

"She doesn't do anything, she just...is..."

Grunt looked sceptical. "What does it eat?"

Casey held up the bag of sunflower seeds. Grunt peered in, and then laughed. Clearly believing that Casey was pulling his leg about a creature who didn't eat living things, he slapped her across the back for a job well done (nearly causing Casey to fall into the window), and headed off, still chuckling.

Casey brought Mindy back to Shepard's cabin, depositing her safely back in her cage. She swept up the remaining wood shavings: with luck Shepard would never know anything had ever happened. As she turned to leave, Casey caught sight of a framed picture on Shepard's desk. It was of a pretty Asari. She was smiling and waving shyly at whoever was taking the picture. Casey had never seen this Asari before: she wasn't aboard the Normandy. Maybe it was Shepard's girlfriend? Everybody loved the Asari after all. Even Casey had had fling with one before. She smiled as the memory came rushing back.

"What's your name?"

"Casey." Casey didn't need to ask who the Asari was. Everyone on Omega knew Aria T'Loak. Aria smiled as Casey put the drinks down on the table in her private room.

"Casey," Aria said the name as if it was a delicious candy she was rolling around in her mouth. "Do you like working here Casey?"

"Oh...yes."

Aria laughed. "If a customer asks you that question, just smile and nod, because you can't lie worth a shit."

Casey was nervous. She needed this job, she couldn't afford to upset the boss.

"Unfreeze," Aria said, standing up and moving closer. "I'm not gonna fire you for being a bad liar. Besides, you're the reason half the Batarians come here. Most of them have got a fetish for humans, some kind of dominance thing, and you look positively terrified half the time."

"I can take care of myself," Casey said, surprised at herself.

Aria laughed, "really? I'd like to see that..." She came closer still, and now Casey could smell her: a mixture of exotic spices. It was quick, Aria had moved her arm as if to hit Casey, but she'd grabbed it at the last moment. Aria smiled, trying the same thing again, but Casey blocked her again.

Aria's grin widened, and within seconds her lips were on Casey's. Casey was shocked, but she didn't fight it. Aria was too strong anyway. Still holding Casey's arm, Aria threw her onto the couch, moving to kiss Casey's neck. Casey gasped, Aria's gentle lips were forceful, passionate. And now her hands were ripping at Casey's dress, forcefully tearing it off her until she lay there in her underwear. Aria stopped, looking down at her. She grinned again, and pulled off Casey's bra, revealing her pert breasts. Casey couldn't believe how aroused she was, but she'd never been with a woman before, she didn't know what to do. Aria noticed her pause, "first time?" She asked, a note of laughter in her voice. Casey nodded. "I won't be gentle," Aria continued, grabbing Casey's hand and putting it under her own shirt. Casey felt Aria's nipples harden beneath her touch.

Then Aria removed her own clothes, talking as she did. "Human men like Asari because we're so like human women, only a bit more...exotic. What most of them don't know is why human women like Asari." She was just in her panties now, and Casey gasped. She watched as something began to harden and stretch out the material of Aria's lace underwear. "We change, based on our partner," Aria added, climbing on top of Casey. Casey's hand reached out, feeling Aria's growing member, which was barely contained now. "This I know how to work with", Casey thought with a smile. And reached inside the panties to release Aria...

"Ahem," Casey spun around. Standing in front of her was Garrus Vakarian. Oh no! Could he see how red she'd gone? There's no way he'd know what she was just thinking about, right? Luckily he seemed too preoccupied, "I'm glad I found you, Shepard's been hurt."

"What happened?" Casey asked, following him to the elevator.

"Got hit by a powerful biotic field, knocked him out."

They arrived at the med bay within minutes, and Mordin was scanning Shepard with his omni-tool. "Casey, glad you're here. Hit with strong field, interfered with Cerberus upgrades, may be offline for a few days, need blood sample."

Oh...my specialty. Casey thought, grabbing the syringe. She moved over to Shepard, glad Mordin was preoccupied with something else. Did it matter if she missed the vein? Shepard was unconscious anyway. But unfortunately Garrus was right beside her. Close beside her. She could feel his breath on her neck. She took a deep breath, and got it right first time.

Later that night, when Shepard had been stabilised, Casey returned to her cabin. She was feeling exhausted, but in the mood to finish the memory from Shepard's cabin. She closed her eyes, heat from the body beside her, breath on her neck. But then she realised, it wasn't Aria she wanted to think about...