(Authors notes) Another new chapter up! Story really seems to be shaping up! Please enjoy!

Pressure

Shepard tapped the keys on her holopad as she stood in the Briefing room on the Normandy, ''Shepard?'' EDI's holographic projection suddenly appeared in the centre of the room. Shepard moved her busy eyes from the work she held in front of her, ''Any differences EDI?'' she asked hopefully. She spoke again, her strange artificial voice echoed in Shepard's mind, ''I'm afraid not commander, the results were the same'', She sighed dropping the holopad at her side, ''Thanks EDI, Can you run the next simulation for me?'', it almost seemed as EDI's protection nodded, ''of course commander''. As she spoke her last words she quickly faded away and Shepard was left alone once again.

She lifted her right hand staring at the Holopad she held, she didn't feel like working anymore, every simulation she ran ended worse than the last. She mumbled to herself as she dropped the holopad on the table in front of her. She leaned over it her head swinging, but she had to get her team ready, she wasn't going to be here forever, and she needed to make sure they wouldn't fall apart like they did before. they couldn't afford that now, not with the Reapers nearing their goal. She gazed up for a moment opening a hologram of Earth in the centre of the table.

She stared at it as it slowly span around on its axis, she had spent all morning running simulations with EDI, trying to figure out just how Earth could defend such a threat, the answer was becoming clearer and clearer.

She closed the Hologram turning away from the table; she exhaled slowly as she closed her eyes. It had finally reached her, the fear, the pain, and the panic, she couldn't show it, but it was there, creeping around, underneath her skin. All those battles she won, she used to think she really could pull this thing off, but now, her hope was radically disappearing.

She had no real way to judge the threat of the Reapers, no way to know their numbers, their forces, and the true power of indoctrination. It really hadn't hit her before, now as the time came ever closer; the scale of this whole thing had finally knocked Shepard off her feet. She was just hoping she could pull herself back together before it was too late.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by another appearance from EDI, Shepard turned to face EDI hiding her own thoughts away. ''What you got for me EDI? Any good news?'' Shepard sounded more desperate then she really wanted to. EDI was silent for a moment before continuing, ''The simulation ended as predicted, no successful defence was possible.'' Shepard's eyes dropped to what felt like the pit of her stomach. EDI's image still remand in the room, ''Shepard?'' She spoke again much to Shepard's surprise. ''We don't have the relevant data to truly suggest our calculations are completely accurate'', she paused again as if she was waiting for Shepard's reaction but only got a blank stare, ''I would suggest we take a break, my scans show that your blood pressure has risen by twenty-one percent''. Shepard sighed, she didn't want to stop working, she didn't have time anymore, she needed to be ready, she needed the others to be ready, she… She needed him to be ready.

Shepard straightened her poses, ''EDI, I'm fine run the next simulation please'' , EDI still remained, Shepard raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms, ''Shepard'', EDI spoke faster this time, ''Under Cerberus guide lines, I'm not allowed to give any over worked staff access to my systems''.

When Shepard heard the name Cerberus her stomach flipped, she didn't even know how the Illusive man would react to her actions of blowing up the Collectors base, but she wasn't an idiot, she would never hand over something that powerful to just one man, especially a man like him.

She sighed stepping closer to the projection of EDI; Shepard spoke in a soft but strong tone, ''Like it or not EDI, We're not with Cerberus anymore, this is my ship now.'', Shepard and EDI stared at each other her eyes watching the light blue of the AI's avatar. ''Of course commander'' EDI disappeared as fast as she spoke her last words, Shepard sighed with relief she didn't doubt that EDI had the power to drag Shepard out the airlock. As much as she wanted to trust EDI, there was always a niggling doubt in the back of her mind, she knew on some level EDI cared for the crew, but she could never understand her true motives. She thought about what it must be like to only exist to serve other people, sometimes she wished she could talk with EDI about it, but she never knew how to engage her in a real conversation.

She began walking to the door of the conference room, wanting to walk around the Normandy, even for a brief moment. She left through the armoury, trying to avoid any more conversations about her health with crewmembers. Not that she didn't like the fact they cared, but she just didn't have time to stop, she nodded to Jacob as she moved through the armoury, he spoke her name in acknowledgement, ''Shepard''.

She and Jacob got on well enough, but she didn't have any real conversation with him, she knew he meant well, but he had a lot to deal with, after all, it's not every day you discover that your father is taking advantage of vulnerable people by destroying their minds then using them for… The thought sent shivers down her spine, she didn't want to think about it anymore, she had bigger problems to worry about.

She stepped out into the CIC, the orange glow of the Normandy's projection filled the room with a warm light, most of the crew in the room continued their business but occasionally she would catch one of them glancing her way. She walked up to her private terminal, nodding at Kelly as she did, Kelly smiled back at the commander happy to see her, they hadn't talked in a couple days, but it didn't matter to her she was just glad to see her on her feet, she spoke in her bubbly tone ''No messages for you commander!''. Shepard nodded again before opening her terminal, she wanted to check up with the news, and see if there had been any word on the Batarian colony yet, strangely there hadn't.

Garrus stared at his computer screen unable to continue with his work, his mind was so distracted; he was so taken aback by Shepard crying it was such an alien concept to him. ''Crying..?'' He muttered to himself as he wondered what he could do to make Shepard feel better, sadly nothing sprang to mind. He hadn't seen her since that evening, he thought it might be a wise idea to give her some space, he was increasingly regretting that decision.

Shepard's smile wouldn't leave his mind, nor would her sent, her touch, her… Garrus shook his head franticly bringing his thoughts back to the present. He tried to continue his calibrations but he just couldn't clear his head. He sighed stepping back from his console, he was wondering what she was doing know, maybe she was back in her quarters waiting for him, that look in her eyes when they were together, He grunted as his Mandibles flickered at the thought. He needed to see her, to touch her, to let her know he loved her.

(Authors notes) So I know that was short but I don't think its even been 24 hours since the last chapter! :P Thanks for all the comments and reviews I've received they really do mean a lot.

So by the looks of it we seem to be nearing the end of this story, maybe another chapter or two till the end, (Depends on the length) But I don't plan to just leave it there!

(I haz a plan, but no spoilers!)

Thanks for reading!

Till next time!