After.
Chapter Twenty-One: Stop
Shepard limped her way on to the bridge, as Cappa passed by her, clapping the woman on the shoulder while muttering something that she didn't catch. Once on the bridge, Shepard decided to sit in the co-pilot chair to Joker's right, since her legs were throbbing non-stop.
"You did good today, Joker," she complimented, her voice tired.
"I'm just happy you're not dead again," the Helmsman whispered mostly to himself, before he shot her a warm smile.
"Yeoman Kelly Chambers is headed for the bridge, Jeff."
"Thanks for the warning, EDI, I-"
Joker glanced over at Shepard, who had fallen asleep within the co-pilot chair. Her head rested on her crossed hands – which were gently propped up on the arm-rest that was closest to Joker. Her wet hair obscured her face.
"...send Kelly away, EDI" Joker whispered, leaning over to the co-pilot chair and gently pushing the hair out of Shepard's face, before gently rubbing her head. She smiled in her sleep.
–
Shepard's eyes opened, causing the woman to slowly count down from ten – as her mind attempted to connect the dots to where she was. There was a faint beeping sound, muttering of a familiar voice. Swirls of blue within view – which were framed by metal.
"Oh – look who's back with us."
"Wha-?"
"You were asleep, Commander," EDI clarified, as Shepard sat up from her hunched over position in the co-pilot chair.
"Oh...I'm sorry I fell asleep up here, Joker."
"It's fine," Joker shrugged, turning his head towards her as he worked, "You went through a lot today and you're the fucking Commander. I'm sure if you fell asleep across one of the tables in the mess, everyone would let you be in understanding."
Shepard laughed under her breath, as she straightened her hair with one hand, "How long was I out?"
"An hour or so, Commander."
"Five hours and twenty-three minutes, Commander."
"Thank you EDI, she really needed to know exactly."
"That's why I gave her the exact time, Jeff."
"I need to teach you sarcasm, EDI."
"Or maybe you need to learn it, Jeff. I was joking."
Gaz silently watched them, before doing some quick math in her head, "Jeez Joker, how long have you been on shift?"
"A long time."
"What about Cappa?"
"Kid's asleep. Chakwas ordered him to rest since she didn't want him pushing himself too hard."
"Ah. I should probably go see her, speaking of that..."
"Don't bother – she scanned you while you slept."
"Creepy..."
"Not really. Anyway, Commander, where do you want me to set course for next?"
"Earth."
Joker paused, before turning to her, "Earth? That's so...boring."
"There's something I've been putting off that needs to happen there."
"What?"
"You know that time I blew up a Star System?"
"To stop the Reaper early attack – yes."
"I'm being charged by the Alliance for that."
"What?"
"Yeah. I've been putting it off long enough. I just hope only I have to take the heat. I'll try to keep them off of you and the rest of the crew."
–
Joker lay in his bed staring at the underside of Kenneth's bunk. He should have been dead tired. Hell, he should have been asleep before he hit the bed. Instead, he was observing the slight patterns he could see in the underside of the bunk.
"Psst..."
Joker looked over at Kelly, who was idly watching him from over the top of her covers.
"What?"
"So you're awake?"
"Yeah."
Kelly slid out of her bed, and into Joker's - causing the man's muscles to stiffen instantly.
"Why are you in my bed?" he whispered.
"You can't sleep either."
"So naturally you invade my personal space, Kelly."
Her hand slid down the front of his pants, causing the pilot to jump involuntarily.
"Kelly!"
"What?" she seemed honestly confused, as she pushed him against the sidewall of his bed.
To pretend like people had privacy within this crew's sleeping quarters, every bunk had one small wall on the side, dividing it from its neighbor.
She quickly found what she was looking for, and began gently running her hand up and down. It was a gentle motion, but it still caused Joker to close his eyes at the contact.
"I..."
"Shh...shhh...shhh..." she ran her free hand's finger over his lips, "The storage room is full right now, so we have to be quiet."
"I'm not having sex with you in the middle of a room with other people sleeping," he whispered, as his hips involuntarily moved with her hands. Why was she so good at this?
"Sex is noisy and stinky," she observed, "Getting each other off by other means is quiet though. And easily cleaned up," he could hear the smile in her voice.
"Kelly..."
"I like it when you say my name..." she whispered, her voice low, as she moved her lips towards his neck.
"No...Kelly...stop," he grabbed her wrist – forcing away from his manhood.
The woman didn't fight his hand, though her eyes grew wide, "I...oh...sorry...I..."
"It's fine. I just...I'm kinda involved with someone else, Kelly."
"EDI doesn't count," there was a slight begging to her voice.
The pilot bit his tongue, before answering, "Not the AI. Someone else."
"Who?"
"It's...in the early stages so I'm not comfortable telling anyone."
"Oh...alright then. Well I'm happy for you," her voice failing at attempting to hide her disappointment, as she slid back into her own bed.
He turned away from her, feeling yet again violated by the woman. Yet for some reason, he also felt a bit...embarrassed. It was the first time he had spoken with his not-relationship-thing that he had with the Commander...Gaz, with anyone. It had only been one night. Two kisses. A few tears. It was burned into his mind so clearly, he could see the cat hair on Shepard's clothing when he closed his eyes.
Lifting his omni-tool, he frowned to himself as he typed,
"Awake?
-Joker"
"lakjsldjfljawo24982"
Joker stared at his omni-tool, attempting to see a code within the Commander's apparent gibberish.
"I'll take that as a no...? Or should I alert Chakwas...? An exorcist...?
-Joker"
"Sorry – cat attacked the omni-tool. Yeah I'm awake.
-Gaz"
Joker stifled a laugh, before replying,
"Can I play with your cat? Staring at the underside of a bunk is fun and all though...
-Joker"
"...! Oh, wait. You meant the kitten you got me. Yeah – sure. See ya in a few.
-Gaz"
Joker narrowed his eyes at the message, attempting to understand her reaction.
'Cat? How is cat worth exclamation points?' he wondered, before sliding out of bed and grabbing his hat.
"Where are you going, Joker?" Kelly asked, her voice oddly sad.
"Pee."
–
AN: Sorry for the delay in this chapter, everyone. I'm taking 20 units and have three-ish jobs. Blah. Busy. But here it is! I actually studied the crew quarters in Mass Effect 2 – and they do have that weird privacy board. It's so they can push two sets of bunks together without making it like you're sleeping with your neighbor. Also, enjoy the cat joke. If you don't get it, it'll be explained in the next chapter, which I'll probably post in a few – since it's already written. But yeah. They're going to Earth because of what happened in the DLC mission "Arrival" - which is fully canon and technically in the beginning of the demo. ALSO – NEXT WEEK ME3 COMES OUT. GAH. I somewhat am tempted to power through the rest of this, just because I don't feel like having everything I'm writing being thrown down the toilet by new canon. Yeah. Anyway, I'm really tired and will stop typing this now.
Rated M for: Language, sexual situations, future violence, and so I can have freedom without fear of scarring a teen for life.
Oh – and I don't own anything ever.