Shepard went to bed at the same time though, instead of searching endlessly on the extranet, talking with his contacts, or finding information about the Illusive Man, he had been on the computer.
"I wonder what you look like sleeping." Haku told Shepard.
"Ooh!" Michael said, smiling. "Thinking of the Commander like that already?"
Haku laughed. "No. I'm just saying that we've never seen Shepard asleep. Every night, we go to sleep before him and he wakes up earlier than us. Even when we all fell asleep on the couch that one night, Shepard was the first to wake and the last to go asleep."
"Huh." Michael said. "You're right."
"I think Shepard does that to seem less human." Isabella said.
Shepard opened the door to the apartment. "If I wanted to seem less human, I would've killed you."
"That reminds me," Isabella said, opening her omni-tool. "I've sent you some information about T.I.M. Not enough to run across the galaxy on, but it's something."
"Tim?" Shepard asked.
"No, T-I-M, but you say 'Tim.' I made it up. It stands for the Illusive Man." Michael said.
Shepard nodded, pleased that he could finally reap the rewards of keeping Isabella alive. Shepard walked to his bedroom, taking his jacket off as he went. He was already missing his normal business suits and average hairstyle, and wondered what possessed him to allow Isabella to even touch him. Shepard opened the message, quickly reading a receipt.
"Nothing I haven't read before." Shepard sighed, turning his omni-tool off. Shepard shrugged his shirt off, then removed all of his clothes until he only had black boxers on. Shepard got into bed, laying his head back, and ran his index finger over his scar.
"Why am I still alive?" Shepard asked. He remembered his previous, stable life, thinking of it like it had been eternities in the past. And, suddenly, a song began playing.
'There is a house in New Orleans /They call the Rising Sun /And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy/And God I know I'm one'
Shepard related to the song, much like he had the song in the car weeks ago. He was ruined, not financially- he was doing much better than he had when he was doing legal activities -but mentally; he was paranoid, and it felt as is another personality, an angrier, bitter soul was keeping the old Shepard from seeing the light.
Before the song could continue, Michael shouted "Haku, if you don't turn that music off and let me sleep, I'm going to shove my foot up your androgynous ass!"
"Sorry!" Haku said.
Shepard chuckled. This team was much different than his old team, to be sure. But was that a bad thing?
Shepard awoke hours later, rubbing his eyes as he stood up. It was seven, two hours after he normally awoke. The alarm that would be set off if anyone walked into Shepard's room never went off, meaning Shepard wasn't seen sleeping.
'That isn't paranoia. That's safety.' Shepard assured himself, turning the alarm off. He grabbed one of his usual suits and went to the bathroom inside of his bedroom, taking a shower, as was his routine. After taking a shower, he looked at himself in the mirror. The extra hours of sleep had done wonders for Shepard, the bags under his eyes smaller, if not nonexistent. His eyes, though, were panicked, like an animal trapped inside of a cage.
"Shepard!" Haku shouted. "Do you want breakfast or not?"
Shepard smiled faintly, then wondered why. Not even memories of his old life could cause him to smile. How could Haku?
Shepard shook the thoughts from his head, taking a look at his suit. Shepard decided against dressing normally, and went back to his closet, taking a grey suit with a blue tie out. Shepard quickly put the suit on and walked out of his room, thinking.
"I was sure you only had black suits." Michael said, chomping on a piece of bacon.
"My suits are all made for business." Shepard said, sitting across from Haku.
"Of course. You were quite the businessman before running into these two." Isabella said nonchalantly.
"What were some of his deals?" Michael asked.
"I doubt Shepard wants to hear them." Isabella said.
"Why do you dress like a schoolgirl?" Haku asked. "I just don't get it."
"There's a reason behind that, actually. I-" Isabella was rudely interrupted by Michael.
"You look hot in them," Michael said. "But something I can point out without getting my girlfriend pissed at me is that Shep's going on a date with she-who-shall-not-be-named. And by that I mean Miranda."
Shepard sat as straight as ever as the rest of the squad looked at him.
"Don't you hate Miranda?" Isabella asked.
"Is that a good idea, big guy?" Haku asked.
"I thought you had a thing with Haku." Michael said.
"Yes, I hate Miranda, it probably isn't a good idea, and screw you." Shepard said, surprising everyone with his answer to Michael's statement. They all laughed, forgetting- or in Haku's case, pretending to forget -about Shepard's date. The rest of the day they spent questioning if Michael's mother dropped him on his head while he watched kiddy cartoons or playing violent videogames.'
Then, it was six thirty. Shepard suddenly stood, walking out of the room.
"Don't I get a hug?" Michael asked as Shepard opened the door.
"No." Shepard said, and shut the door behind him.