Chapter 5: Party All Week Long

Shepard and Shiala finished helping each other put on their clothes back on after their cuddle session. Shiala was having some fun when she pulled on one of Shepard's shirt on. It wasn't the regular Cerberus outfit the other crew members wore but a plain black shirt that hung to Shepard's body tightly.

After putting it on, she moved her hand from Shepard's chest to his abdominals. Shepard grinned and wrapped his hands around her waist. They leaned in and kissed.

"You ready," Shepard asked with enthusiasm. He was ready to start the night.

"Lead the way commander," Shiala said in a very seductive voice. She looked more forward to what they would do after the party. Shepard did as well.

Shepard led Shiala to the elevator and down to the CIC. When the elevator door opened, saw Joker and Miranda talking.

Miranda looked over to the elevator and saw Shepard and Shiala walk over. She told Joker something and went towards them."Shepard. I'll leave to Eternity after I finish talking to Joker about the Normandy I better hurry. The crew probably has made a mess by now." She turned back to Joker.

They made it to the airlock. Before the door opened, EDI's voice came in over the intercom. "Shepard. Without you or Ms. Lawson aboard, the Normandy does not stand equip to be ready in a moment's notice if trouble arises."

Shepard smiled at EDI for not being able to relax for a bit. "Don't worry EDI. Well be a few minutes away and I'm sure that Joker is more than able of being in charge of the Normandy. Just make sure he doesn't launch any suicide missions while I'm gone. Okay?"

"Acknowledged. Logging you out." EDI then manually opened the door for them.

Shepard walked out of the airlock and stood over the railing looking out to the horizon. It was beautiful. Shiala walked up next to Shepard and put her head on his shoulder. He then remembered Thane saying that all the time he was an assassin, he never bothered to look up to see the horizon. Now he truly knew the meaning of it. If you just worry about your job or life problems, you'll never see what else there is in the galaxy.

Shepard was saddened by that thought. All his life he had been alone and then had to stand up to stop the Reapers. He was weighed down by all that pressure and responsibility that he had never got truly enjoy just one day.

He wrapped his arms around Shiala and she snaked her hand around his waist. No. I will live the rest of my life with the ones I care about. And no one is going to stop me. Not the slavers. Not Cerberus. And not the Reapers.

Shepard motioned with his hand for them to continue on. He held out his hand to Shiala and she eagerly accepted. They walked through the crowd of buyers and sellers. Shouting out deals and numbers.

They walked up and down the stairs until they were outside the bar. They heard loud music and people yelling over it to be heard. They walked in and were meant with the most unusual sight ever. There was about ever species in the known galaxy all in one room. Salarians, turians, krogan, asair, humans, a hanar. All in the same bar and no one seemed to mind.

They walked into the middle of the room where most of the Normandy crew was at. They made up most of the people in the room. The engineers, Tali, Samara, and Kasumi were all in the back seating. The CIC workers were all getting drinks and watching a couple of asari strippers. Shepard and Shiala walked into the private room where most of his team was at. Thane, Jacob, Garrus, Zaeed and even Legion were all playing 21 on the only table in the room.

"Alright Legion. You have to get as close as possible to 21." Garrus was having a hard time getting Legion to know the rules and basics of organic gambling.

"The objective is to get as close as possible to 21 without knowing what cards you might get. We do not understand why organics take such risk without knowing the outcome. This way of achieving your goal is inefficient ." Legion trying to understand what organics do in their down time was amusing to watch.

"We organics have what you call hope. You should try it sometime," Garrus said amusingly.

" We will run this through our consensus."

Shepard turned to Shiala.

"You don't mind if I played a few games would you?" Shiala didn't want to stop him from enjoying himself. It's probably been awhile since he had the chance to joke and relax. She wanted Shepard to relax after he recently assaulted the Collector base.

"Sure. I'll go back out and talk to your crew. I really want to get to know them. Just try not to lose." She smirked and walked towards where Tali, Samara and Kasumi were seating.

"So how long have you've known Shepard?" Shiala was interested to know how the commander made friends with the most unusual people.

"It was back aboard the old Normandy. He rescued me from Saren's assassins. He also helped me with my pilgrimage. He was really nice to me. Treated me with the same respect as anybody else on the crew. He later then saved me again on Haestrom and helped me at my trail." Tali wanted to say more but it would take forever. Shepard was a nice man and it would be impossible to tell Shiala everything. Shiala was very lucky to get someone like Shepard.

Shiala was impressed with all the good Shepard has done in all his life. How many people has helped, she may never know. Shepard himself probably didn't know.

Just then, Shepard and all the men playing 21 came out of the private room. The others went out of the bar but Shepard came to their group.

"Are you guys ready to take the party to the hotel?" All the other crew members got up in excitement.

"About time! I had my Islay scotch back at the hotel." With that, Ken hurried out the bar with Jack right behind him.

They walked out of the bar and went to the taxi stand on the opposite side of Nos Astra. Shepard walked behind the rest of the crew. He was right behind Shiala, Kasumi and Tali who were probably all gossiping.

When they arrived, Shepard went up the the taxi terminal and selected two large size taxi and a smaller one for his ground team. When they arrived, all the noncombat crew got in the larger taxis and he and everybody else rode on the second one. All the guys were already at the hotel.

Shepard waited for everybody to get in and then sat down on the seat closest to the door and a window. There wasn't enough in the smaller taxi so Shiala sat on top of Shepard's lap which she didn't seem to mind.

The ride to the hotel was short but enjoyable. The crew talked exchanged about past adventures and what they would do next. Shepard enjoyed hearing his friends talk about something other than the upcoming battle ahead of them. Shiala leaned back into Shepard as the both looked outside the window.

Shepard's taxi was the last to arrive at the hotel. What he saw was probably the most expensive and luxurious hotel he has ever seen. The hotel itself was not really a part of the building. It wasn't connected to the other hotels on the bottom and it took up the entire roof top. On one side of the roof there was the hotel rooms which had the bottom floor opened to a flat patio that had a bar next to a big pool and jacuzzis which had changing lights. Around the patio, there were tropical trees of some kind and neon lights. He looked back at the rooms they would be staying at. It was three floors high. He could see through the glass that the bottom floor had a big living room and the kitchen. The floor above had tinted windows so he couldn't see. The third floor had what looked like the master bedroom and a jacuzzi looking over the others.

Miranda grabbed Shepard's attention. " Shepard. You and Shiala can have the room on top." He looked back up to the room. This is going to be a great week.

They waited their turn to be dropped off on the landing pad. Shepard was the first one off and was greeted with loud music and neon lights. Shiala came up to his side. The crew all went ahead of them laughing and excited." Let's go join the fun." Shepard said and they both went into the party.

It was well over midnight but the party didn't seem to have an end in sight. Everybody was having a good time. Shepard and Shiala were sitting on stools in the pool next to the bar. They had gone earlier to their room to call it a night when they found swim wear suspiciously waiting for them on their bed. They decided since the party wasn't over, might as well take a dip in the pool. By now, others had joined them as well.

" Come on Garrus. Dive off the cannon board." Shepard said amusingly to Garrus who seemed reluctant to go in deep water. He just sat in the jacuzzi, grinning. It was the first time Shepard had ever seen him out of his armor. Shepard thought Garrus actually didn't look as bad as he thought he would. He grinned.

" You've obviously haven't seen turians swim. We aren't very good swimmers."

" Well maybe it's because your're always in your armor. You never had time to take a swim course," Garrus smirked and drank from his glass. " I think I'll just stay in here. The water is warmer anyways."

" Turian body structure is not adept to swim. Action on trying to do so would result in drowning and flailing." Mordin said as he poured another drink to Garrus. Shepard smirked.

Shepard noticed Shiala yawning and lean her head on his shoulder. " Are you ready to call it a night?" Shiala answered by nodding her head and yawning again. " Mordin. Make sure no one drowns in the pool or falls off the building." " Yes Shepard. Will do reading on alcoholic levels on crew. Don't want no one to get alcohol poisoning. "

With that, Shepard stepped out of the pool and helped Shiala out. She was sleepy. The music's theme and sound level have changed and it was more of those old human slow song types. Shepard believed the music made her tired and he could feel it as well. Better get to our room before I pass out on the patio. They walked to the hotel and into the living room/ kitchen area. Some of the crew members were dancing slowly to a song. Ken, Gabby, Kasumi and Jacob were one of them.

They made it to the stairs when Shepard felt more weight on his shoulder. " Carry me," Shiala mumbled out. Shepard smiled and lifted her up into his arms. Slowly they made it to their door. Shepard used skill to open the door with his elbow. Once inside their room, Shepard closed the door. He let Shiala off his arms and walked over the the bathroom. He grabbed two towels and gave one to Shiala. " Thanks," Shiala said tiredly. Shepard nodded and began to wipe off any water from the pool and take off thier wet clothes. Thinking about it, they must have made a trail of water up the stairs. Oh well. The automated cleaning bots could take care of it.

After they were done, they tossed the towels back into the bathroom. Shepard walked over to where he found his clothes earlier. He only put on underwear and shorts. Shiala changed into short, shorts and a comfortable shirt that were given the her earlier.

Shepard flopped down on his back onto the bed. Shiala crawled on top of him. She leaned into him and kissed him. Shepard moved his hands over her body. He suddenly felt he wasn't tired. Shiala must have felt the same way. Shepard and Shiala smiled as they began to kiss and move their hands on each other's body. This week was just getting started. Shepard would make the most out of it.

They could still hear music downstairs. They heard people enjoying themselves at the pool. The party wasn't over. There was still another six days to go. Shiala and Shepard would enjoy each other's company all week. " Shiala? There is no where I rather be. I always want to be with you."

" Show me," she simply replied.

Sorry for the delay. Soccer is starting so I won't be able to post new chapters as much as I want to. I hope you are enjoying the story. Sorry for any errors I make. I seem to notice them AFTER I post the new chapter. Like I said, there will be delays, how long I don't know. Thanks for your patients and as always, thanks for reading.