Chapter 22
Returning Home
"Miri, up high!" Shepard shouted out as she took cover behind a wall. The bastard sniper had her position covered well, too well to be exact. Every time she moved out of cover the laser would track her regardless of where she was and then take a shot.
So far her kinetic shield had been taken down twice, and at this point in the fight it was becoming equally frustrating as it was putting her in danger. They needed to take down it down now or risk an even worse injury thanks to the Atlas accompanying it.
"Got it!" Miranda deployed an overload technique, taking down the shield of the sniper and causing them to stumble. Three rounds echoed after it, all piercing the snipers head to take them down for good.
"Time to take down the big bitch!" Jack sounded thoroughly entertained at fighting the Atlas stomping around the field of battle. It was the final enemy they had to fight and was what was causing the commander to be in danger when the Nemesis had taken down her shields.
With a quick glance up Shepard saw that with this final kill she would once again score nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine, once again putting her back at the top of the Armax Arsenal Arena's high score.
They had intentionally chosen the super elite's option with enemy enhanced shields and damage to get as much points as possible. It would help to bring more attention to her dedication to the Kepral Syndrome cure as high scoring had in the past. Doing this also showed her desire to destroy the disease how she and her squad destroyed the holographic Cerberus soldiers: With extreme prejudice.
Currently they were at the Classic Armax Map with her position being on the bottom floor where the Atlas was stomping around. It was not the best place to be with the hulking death bringing machine nearby, but she was making do.
Jack was on the same side of the field as her but was still a distance away behind a different cover using her M-11 Wraith shotgun and biotic's to weaken the machine. Miranda was on the high ground mixing up her tech and biotic attacks with the rapid fire of her Locust sub-machinegun.
The Atlas's attention was drawn usually towards the two biotic's on the ground floor, which helped the duo to alternate between taking cover and taking shots at the machine. It was the flaw of the machine not being able to turn on a dime to face new targets.
A flaw they were making the best of.
Shepard had gotten back into the swing of things fairly quickly and had proceeded to use her mixture of biotic and tech attacks to kick Cerberus's asses as if they were amateurs, just like old times. They are holograms so I suppose I can't boast too much.
This was also a field test to let Miranda examine how her biotic's reacted to the new amp she was using. So far the N7 was impressed by the strength it added with quicker cool downs than her last amp had. Even with the exertion of energy she had expended during this fight, she found that the amp had yet to start to burn and her reserve strength was still at peak condition.
Her strength not lacking at all was thanks to Jack's and Miranda's individual boot camps during her time of recovery and maintaining it on her own as of late. Thanks to their efforts to ensure she didn't have a complacent physical therapy, getting back onto the field of battle was like getting back on a bicycle again after years of not using one.
At first she had been a bit clunky, but soon after it was like she never stopped. Muscle memory kicked in, allowing her to complete the dance she had danced for most of her entire life. It wasn't as pretty as a tango, but this dance was one she was an expert at.
"All right, I've got a plan to take this final Atlas down," Shepard started. She popped out of cover to unload a few rounds from her Paladin to weaken the remaining armor on the Atlas. The commander quickly got back in cover when it aimed a missile right at her.
An explosion sounded off against the opposite side of her cover, sending a shockwave through her armored body. Another feeling she had grown used to in her years of battle. "I'm going to toss my last lift grenade at him; it should knock him off balance. Jack, I want you to hit it with your strongest shockwave on my go. Miri the same goes for you, but you and I are going to use a warp."
Jack let out a hearty laugh at the plan. "That's going to create one big fucking explosion Girl Scout. I love it." Yes it would, and that was the plan. The power of their biotic's exploding off each other's plus the eventuality of the Atlas blowing up would create a large explosion.
A great way to end a match.
Shepard grinned to herself seeing an opportunity to give her friend a hard time. "You're just looking forward to detonating Miri's biotic's, aren't you?"
"I knew she was going to say that," Miranda groaned from her cover.
"Prude."
"I am not a prude," the former Cerberus operative retorted defensively.
"As I say Miri, proof of non-prudyness comes from a public display of affection. Until you prove me wrong, you will always be my favorite prude."
"Prudyness is not a word, Shepard."
"Prude," she fired back all the while trying to contain her laughter at the sigh of disbelief from her friend. For all her serious nature, Miranda made herself easy to banter with even when she wasn't trying to.
The redhead spared a glance to the tattooed biotic and noticed her rolling her eyes at how easily Miranda was taking the bait. She had clearly not taken the initial bait on purpose only to have the raven-haired woman do it instead. "Give it a rest, Cheerleader. You keep setting yourself up for the same shit every time you open that perfect mouth of yours," Jack scolded.
"You would know about it being perfect." Shepard snickered at how easy her friend set herself up. Only if Kasumi was here too, she would be getting in some good quips too.
"Can we just get on with this?" Miranda sounded exasperated.
Instead of goading them further, Shepard grabbed her last lift grenade. "Okay, ready?"
"Ready," Miranda responded.
"Waiting on you Girl Scout," Jack replied.
Without further questioning, the redhead leaned out from the side of her cover and tossed the grenade, hitting the Atlas directly. As expected, the hulking machine was knocked off its balance due to the biotic explosion from the grenade which in turn left the pilot too disoriented to get his gun aimed at any of them.
A quick glance to her two friends showed they were already glowing with biotic's, waiting for her to command to unleash their full power on their final opponent. Shepard summoned her own biotic's to create a heavy warp.
"Now!" she ordered.
On her order they each released their biotic attacks. Miranda's and Shepard's warps were the first to impact on the Atlas creating a medium sized biotic explosion. Before the detonation could fade from their attack, Jack's powerful shockwave cascaded right into the hulking mass, creating an even larger biotic explosion.
The energy formed by all of their attacks was powerful, and the telltale signs of an imminent explosion from the Atlas signaled all three women to take cover. Even if it was a simulation, getting bruises were not unheard of if your shields were taken down.
A large shockwave from the explosion was sent out in all directions, hammering the commander through the cover without knocking her over. Although she was not knocked over, she could feel the strength of the wave echoing in her chest like a hammer striking an anvil.
"Damn, that was powerful," Jack commented, clearly pleased as she stood up from her behind her cover.
Shepard holstered her pistol and stood up as well. The announcer came over the speaker to announce their victory with the score of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine. Looks like I'm back on the top of the score board.
It was a bit of a petty thought since she truly did not care if she was on the top of the scoreboard, but she did secretly wish to see Ghost's face when he saw that his score was beat. Knowing him he would dramatize the situation.
She gave a small smirk as she and Miranda moved to join Jack who had her shotgun resting on her shoulder. "Blowing up Cerberus shit just never gets old," she said to the pair, grinning as she did.
"I admit it's a bit therapeutic after everything the Illusive Man did," Miranda agreed.
No longer having to deal with Cerberus ruining everything was a lot more therapeutic in the commander's opinion. Yet she could not deny that she too enjoyed destroying a simulation version of the group that had caused her so many headaches.
"Aw, you two are bonding over blowing stuff up. It's so cute," Shepard teased.
She received two eye rolls in return from her two friends.
They exited the arena via the elevator they used to enter it. Said elevator brought them back down to the bottom floor where the holographic terminal to select the matches was located.
With her main match over that meant she was going to have her easier fun fight with Kasumi soon.
She was looking forward to stepping into the arena with her lover again. To see her in her form fitting armor, to hear her making quips on the battlefield and see her disappearing at a moment's notice to reappear as she was taking out an enemy. These were merely the smallest of reasons for why the commander was looking forward to the next fight.
To have her fighting by her side again was something Shepard was looking forward to more. It was the same with Jack and Miranda in some ways yet different in others.
During the Suicide Mission she had grown accustomed to having each of them at her side when going into battle. Then the Alpha Relay incident happened and after the Collectors were defeated they each went their separate ways because she turned herself in.
When the Reaper War came she had seen them each sporadically during the war and heard from them on a few occasions, but they were all so far apart. Of course the redhead was aware she could not lock them all up in her apartment and never allow them to leave. Eventually they were all going to go their separate ways once clean-up was more or less done.
They each had individual goals and dreams they desired to chase, whether that was retiring, taking on ambassadorial positions or simply to keep working in what they did best.
Can't really imagine Grunt enjoying a boring retirement.
Despite this, Shepard planned to remain in better contact with her friends this time around when it came time to part ways. They were her family, and she had no intention of losing another family through lack of contact.
Now, though, she had the opportunity to fight alongside them again like what was now the good ol' days. No longer did she have to worry about them and how they were doing with the war. She was simply enjoying the luxury of their company.
Fighting alongside them also helped to reassure her of how well they could defend themselves and see how much they had each grown since they first met.
After what happened to Kasumi during the Saracino incident, the redhead was looking forward to helping her get back on the bike just as she had. Their time of relaxation was more or less coming to an end and that meant getting back into shape for a fight.
Of course what had happened to her lover worried her, but at the same time she wasn't worried about her at all. Her thief was the best damn thief in the galaxy and could handle herself very well in combat.
She would be back to combat ready by the end of the first round.
Shepard was confident in her abilities and would not doubt the woman who had watched her back countless times before. All that was left to do now was enjoy their second date in what was a normal environment for them.
The trio came to a stop at the terminal and stairs leading back up to the main floor of the arena. Jack turned around first with a smirk on her lips. "Thanks for the fun, Shepard. That was a pretty kick ass match."
"Oh you know me, Jack. I like blowing up stuff just as much as the next space Girl Scout," Shepard replied as her lips turned upwards as well.
"Almost felt like the old days," Miranda mused, allowing herself to smile a small smile.
"Just like old times as Garrus would say," the commander recited her Turian best friend's saying. It did feel a bit like the old days, except instead of mercenaries wearing different colored armor or Collectors they fought against Cerberus.
In a way that made things a bit more entertaining and less nightmarish.
Another difference was the attitudes of both powerful biotic's with her. Jack no longer lacked any care for her own well-being or others. She had matured a lot since the Suicide Mission and had grown to care for her students and the squad.
On the other spectrum, Miranda's blind loyalty to Cerberus no longer existed; being severed the moment the Illusive Man thought keeping the Collector Base was a good idea. Targeting her sister, trying to kill her, and working on trying to control the Reapers had really nailed in the coffin of never working with them again.
In words that only her sarcastic pilot could say secretly to survive any reprisal, "Commander, do you make a habit of helping people pull the sticks out of their asses? First Garrus, then Miranda? And then you helped Jack to become less crazy than she was. I lost a hundred credits to Kasumi because of you going around helping people. Next thing you're going to tell me is that Grunt is a pacifist and Javik is going to abstain from using 'throw it out the airlock' as his solution to everything."
Shepard's smile remained at the memory of Joker sharing his frustration of losing one hundred credits to Kasumi. She hadn't known of the bet until a few days after her thief surprised her with the Normandy team being in her apartment when Kasumi asked Joker for the credits he owed.
Since Miranda and Jack were on better terms, dare I say a friendship at that, and it wasn't a cold day in hell, Kasumi was the victor of the bet.
Leave it to her to bet on the most unlikely of possibilities and have it come through. Then again, everything from the Suicide Mission to the Reaper War was betting against the odds and we pulled through. The redhead mentally shrugged. I guess there were worse odds then those two being on friendly terms.
"For the most part at least." The commander gave a shrug as she finished her earlier statement.
"Some things have changed," Miranda agreed with a nod.
"Except you being a prude." Jack chuckled at Shepard's comment.
The former Cerberus operative threw her hands up in exasperation. "I'm not a bloody prude!"
She really made it easy.
"As I've said countless time, Miri, until you prove me otherwise you will always be my favorite prude."
Shepard wasn't sure why she enjoyed getting under Miranda's skin by calling her a prude; it was probably because she gave a reaction every time. It was similar to that of Tara making flirtatious comments to fluster her friends long ago and Shepard the one time she managed to do it.
Doing so was entertaining and gave Shepard a good laugh every time her friend would get defensive about not being a prude.
The N7 knew Miranda was truly not a prude and the Cerberus operative knew Shepard was simply giving her a hard time. She just couldn't stop herself from defending the fact she was not a prude.
"Of for the love of— fine!"
Fine? Shepard hadn't had the time to voice her question.
In a shocking flash of movement, Miranda turned to Jack, grabbed her by her black jacket then pulled the surprised woman into a kiss.
The tattooed biotic's body tensed up for a brief moment of paralyzing shock, something the commander also found herself in to a lesser degree. Once the shock wore off Jack wrapped her arms around the neck of the raven-haired woman deepening the kiss.
…and Kasumi wins yet another bet.
Their kiss did not last much longer, although it had already left Shepard rubbing the back of her neck in confusion as to what exactly transpired. She had often made jokes about there being sexual tension between the two, but those had always been jokes to her.
She knew at the start when she or Kasumi had made jokes about it the two had blushed a few times, yet the commander had never really expected anything was really going on. Or at least she hadn't expected to make a joke and get what she got as a result.
I told Jack I was supportive of whatever they pursued…but I honestly didn't think they would be anything other than on and off again frenemies. If I had known I would have been more supportive, plus jokes.
"Well, that's one way to prove it." Jack said a bit breathlessly, smiling as she did.
If Shepard had to guess what the tattooed biotic was feeling right about now, she would place her credits on Jack being really turned on by the boldness Miranda showed.
"So uh— how long have you two been…together?"
A safe guess was they were together based on the intensity Shepard witnessed in their kiss. She could see there was more in it than just a blowing off steam kind of feeling, but she also didn't want to assume anything. I've made enough of an ass out myself…Not what I expected to see today.
Miranda moved closer to Jack and intertwined one of their hands. Definitely together. "A little while after our talk in the elevator," Jack answered. Shepard gave a nod understanding…even though she was still a bit confused as to how they went from what they were to this. "I guess what you said helped."
The N7 knew it was Jack's way of saying thanks for helping her to figure out whatever was going through her mind at the time. Had I known I would have tried to help earlier or better for that matter. It also explains why she was quick to anger when I attempted to make those jokes. And why she dropped off the pull-up bar to threaten Zaeed.
It was not unknown to Shepard that emotional subjects and emotions could scare Jack. She had witnessed it a few times through their friendship where instinctually the tattooed biotic would start putting up her walls, get flustered, or get stressed at the moment her emotions got involved.
Fighting and making snarky comments were comfortable for Jack. Sharing emotions locked deep away inside of her after the terrible things she experienced to become the strong woman she was could possibly be the hardest thing for her to do; harder than fighting Reapers and sure as hell harder than crushing something or someone with her biotic's.
And if Miranda had been the one to make her feelings known first, Jack would have probably flipped the hell out. Confusion would have led to anger, the redhead thought. And she would have put distance between them outside of professional matters.
Confronting sensitive feelings and emotions were not in the playbook of the psychotic biotic. That wasn't to say she could not be sensitive, but she was not one to show it so long as she had the power.
In a way that was a similarity the two biotic's in front of her shared. They were both strong women who did not allow themselves to show any sort of weakness. Each had their own struggles growing up as well, one forced to live up one man's idea of perfection and the other being shaped into the perfect weapon.
And both were deemed mistakes by someone at some point—Jack by Miranda and probably everyone she knew before the Normandy for being what she was, and Miranda by her father for one reason or another.
There were certainly differences between their struggles—Jack having a very traumatic childhood versus Miranda's pampered childhood—but there were parallels there. Shepard had always known it to one degree or another but she never dared to say anything about it.
Comparing the two to one another back during the Suicide Mission would have been a different type of suicide mission, but a suicide mission just the same.
"How did this all come about? I mean, I had to stop you from 'smearing the walls' with each other." Shepard provided air quotes for the mention of the argument she had to break up back during the Suicide Mission.
"That's a story for another day, Shepard," Miranda said.
"That isn't cryptic at all," she mumbled. Both women smirked and shook their heads at her with mirth in their eyes. She was hoping to hear at least part of the story but they were getting entertainment at keeping her in the dark for now. Probably because no one will believe me if I tried to tell them.
Not that the commander planned on going around telling everyone. They had been clearly keeping it secret and would tell, or not, when they felt like it. "I'll hold you to that promise, Miri."
"You're looking for a sappy romance story on us, aren't you Girl Scout?" Jack received a bashful grin from the commander. Her friend shook her head at her, brandishing a humored smirk. "Kasumi really has corrupted you."
"My corruption has finally taken hold!" the thief's voice played through her mind. It was now officially true; her love of sappy romances had rubbed off on the redhead.
Not that she really minded.
"You say that likes it's a bad thing," a voice piped in. The trio looked to the stairway simultaneously. Leaning against the wall with a smirk on her face looking oh so beautiful fully dressed in her classic black and silver armor with N7 tags hanging around her neck was Kasumi Goto in all her glory. "Sorry to drop in, I hadn't expected to find you like this. But I should thank you two."
Jack and Miranda raised their eyebrows in question, but Shepard already had an idea of where this was going. "Dare I ask you why?" the former Cerberus operative questioned.
"Shepard and I had a bet going about you two since the Suicide Mission and we continued to up the ante until the end of the war."
"What was the bet?" Jack asked.
Something the redhead was regretting at this very moment. She had hoped Kasumi would forget, but that was like betting she would get caught on a job.
You'd lose every time.
"At first I bet five hundred credits you two were hiding sexual tension for one another. She didn't think you were, at first. Then around the time we met during the war I bet another five hundred that by the end of the war you two would blow off some of that tension."
Shepard let out a sigh, she had nearly forgotten about this.
Only nearly.
"And at the party I said I would watch a vid of her choosing regardless of how ridiculously sappy it happens to be, as long as it wasn't Fleet and Flotilla."
The biotic duo was beginning to realize why she had let out a sigh. Everyone on the Normandy during the Suicide Mission knew of the thief's love for sappy romance stories whether written or on a vid. "Don't forget the last part of our bet." Kasumi winked causing Shepard to blush. And when I was released from the hospital we renewed the bet again, and I quipped I'd give her free reign to do whatever she wanted for the entirety of the vid if it came true.
The redhead knew she was now in for one hell of a marathon of teasing. She had signed her own warrant for being left utterly flustered with a magnificent blush and a quivering body when Kasumi had taken that bet.
It would probably be amazing, but it was also going to be terrible. Her thief was going to be relentless in what she was doing, and Shepard only had herself to blame.
Of course she had not expected it to happen, and her side of the bet was along the same lines if nothing did happen. So in a way one of them was going to be left flustered, blushing and quivering—and this time it would be her.
"It's funny, the expiration date on that bet was only a few days away, Shep," Kasumi mused. "To think you were this close," she brought up her index finger and thumb with a minimal distance between them, "from winning the bet."
"I'll forward you the credits later," she muttered.
"So what sounds better, Shep: Vaenia, With Genericized Holiday Spirit, or The 840-Year-Old-Virigin?"
A sigh escaped Shepard. Unfortunately saying neither was not an option. "Do I have to pick now?" Her lover nodded, troublesome woman. "Which is shorter?" she asked jokingly.
"Oh, they're all about two hours long actually."
Yep, definitely going to be terribly amazing. She had to figure the second of the group of movies had Elcor in it while the third was probably a romantic comedy about an Asari. The first she had heard of a few times but wasn't entirely sure what it was.
Something about glamorous actresses or Asari or something. Shepard wasn't sure about that one, for all she knew it could be a really awkward vid. She had seen a few vids she couldn't stomach through because of how cringe worthy the "flirting" was—if you could even call it flirting.
The other two would probably guarantee laughter, but if Kasumi was offering them it also meant there was a sappy love story to them. They couldn't have just waited a few more days for our bet to expire with me as the winner to reveal this. She groaned inwardly. Why did I have to push it?
"Are any of them really strange or cringe worthy?" she asked.
Her thief brought her hand to her chin in thought. She likely knew the vids by heart and would at least have the courtesy to not force them both to be cringing as they watched. "With Genericized Holiday Spirit can be a bit slow at points, and I think the other two have one or two cringe worthy moments."
"Which would you prefer?" Shepard asked at length.
When Kasumi smiled a sadistic smile, the redhead knew she had just made the situation worse for herself. "Vaenia works for me."
"Just try to keep it down you two. I'd rather not hear you two going at it like two Elcors," Jack teased.
The images that came to mind were images that needed to be burned forever. Both Miranda and Shepard blanched at the thought their resident psychotic biotic put into their minds.
But then Kasumi went and made it worse.
"Sexually satisfied: yes right there. That's the spot," Kasumi said in a monotone voice befitting of the Elcor.
Jack lost all control of her laughter, letting go of Miranda's hand to clench her sides as she bent over. Miranda would have turned a shade of green had it been possible as the images she had been granted before were given a voice. Shepard was in between wanting to laugh and wanting to destroy the images and sound given to her now.
The tattooed biotic raised her hand out for the thief to high five, to which she gave one as she chuckled humorously to herself at the reactions to her joke. She can be truly evil sometimes.
"Ugh…I'm never going to get that image out of my mind," Miranda groaned, sounding a bit sickly.
Kasumi smiled in victory.
I don't know what's worse, that or the Hanar and an Elcor one. Shepard shuddered as she remembered her lover's revenge for telling her the truth about who the massage oils had originally belonged to. Yeah, not even a decontaminator could get those images out of my mind.
"If you ask Jack nicely, I'm sure she'll give you a distraction," Kasumi teased the pair.
Her statement caused Jack to grin a bit evilly. "Yeah, Princess." She leaned closer to the woman's ear. "Ask me nicely."
Miranda, still caught off guard by the situation at hand, blushed visibly. "Don't encourage her," she warned. Whether she was talking about Kasumi encouraging Jack or vice versa was unknown, but Shepard assumed it was probably a bit of both in this case.
"Oh fine," Kasumi pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "But when you wake up screaming in the middle of the night because you saw two Elcors going at it wildly, don't blame me. I gave you an out."
Again Jack fell into laughter at the look of disgust on Miranda's face. "You're unbelievable," she replied with a shake of her head.
"Am not."
Instead of taking the bait, Miranda wisely rolled her eyes. "Right. You two should set up your match before they assume you canceled."
"Good point," Kasumi agreed as she sauntered her way over to the terminal.
"I'll see you two later." Shepard received two nods before the two biotic's took their leave. She made her way over to her lover, who had already punched in the map she wanted to go to, the enemies and the difficulty.
"Facing Cerberus elites on Prime Evil, huh?" Shepard asked as she slid her hands onto Kasumi's hips.
"Can't have it be too easy for us. Besides, I thought the dark spooky forest might be a nice change of scenery from all the neon lights that our last date had. Maybe even stir some primal feelings in you." Stirring was a nice way of putting the feeling Shepard had at the comment. "Just you, me, a bunch of Cerberus goons and a cold forest."
Kasumi turned her head to look back at the commander, who was attempting to maintain her composure for better or worse. She gave her a smile and continued. "The fighting will keep us nice and warm, and if it doesn't I may need your help…maintaining my core temperature."
"Oh I think I have experience with that. Lots and lots of experience," Shepard teased back.
"Good." Her thief turned back around. "I think a rumble in the jungle might be fun. You have a message by the way."
Shepard opened up the inbox as Kasumi finished the final touches on the simulation set up.
Seriously Shepard?
The N7 chuckled at the title, knowing it could only be one of two people at this point: James or Ghost. She opened it and began to read the short message.
So there I was…resting and recovering after head-butting contest with Kar when suddenly I get a message from the AAA people. "Hello Ghost" it read, "Your high score of 9500 has been beaten." I don't even need to look because I know there is only one person who breaks the score board every time they go.
She could hear his accusatory voice as she read.
You seriously couldn't just let me hog the top of the score board for a little while, Shepard? One day and bam! You march in and take the top score.
You are a cruel woman, Shepard. I just wanted to let you know that.
With love,
Ghost.
Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to give the purple eyed man a hard time, the sky blue eyed commander clicked on reply.
Don't worry, Ghost. Tara will always love you despite being bumped down to second place. It's a prestigious position someone has to fill, might as well be you.
I would say stop head-butting Krogan's to save your face, but you were always ugly. Might improve your looks if you continue, so tell Kar I said keep up the good work.
Love always,
Shepard.
Shepard sent the message and together with Kasumi she moved to the elevator that would bring them up into the readied simulation. Once inside the simulator the arena changed into the dense dark forest map called Prime Evil. She spared her lover a smile. "This is quite the romantic spot you picked, Kasumi."
"Oh I know. All natural forestry, dark area with no light pollution, stars above the canopy of trees." She bumped the commander's hip with her own. "And just you in that dashing armor with little ol' me in my favorite outfit. What are two women like us to do?"
"Kick ass and have an amazing kiss with an explosion in the background?" Shepard offered with a chuckle.
"Oh! That would be perfect wouldn't it?" Kasumi beamed. She brought her hand to her chin. "Why didn't I think of that? I was thinking maybe boosting you up against a tree or something before the match started, but that is genius level material I would find in one of my books." She looked to Shepard. "Think we could pull it off?"
Seeing her lovable thief go off into her own little world for a moment made the redhead smile a blissful smile. I love her. "We can always try."
"3…2…1. Begin," the announcer started the match.
With glee the two lovers engaged in combat, their chemistry on the battlefield coming back into full swing. Much like their dance floor moves, they flowed across the battlefield in a battle tango, working together to create a wonderful moment and never once stepping on the others feet.
Hearing the some of the same old jeers from her lover when she would use her cloak to strike from the shadows or when she would toss a simulation flashbang brought a reminiscent smile to Shepard's face.
"Gift for you" was always one of her favorites and sure enough her thief shouted it at one of the enemies when her flashbang exploded on impact against the Phantom. For a moment the redhead felt a little like Zaeed when he would be "waxin' goddamn nostalgic" in his words.
So many memories of previous fights the pair had been in together flashed through her mind making her smile grow. Back then she always found appreciation for the nimble moves Kasumi was capable of for multiple reasons. One main reason was because they were helpful in tight spots and entertaining to watch as more of a straight up fighter herself.
Her limber body and cat-like reflexes were very impressive on the battlefield, especially because they usually caught her enemies off guard.
Not many could handle Kasumi in close range combat. She wasn't an assassin like Thane was who could break your neck with ease, but she was fast and could easily kick your teeth in if she wanted to.
At a lull at the end of the second round of three, Shepard found herself admiring the woman who held her heart as she appeared from her cloak behind a Cerberus Guardian. "Over here!" She promptly roundhouse kicked the simulation in the back of the head, knocking him forward before putting a round in the back of his skull.
Two Troopers were nearby but she had been prepared for their counter-attack. She grabbed the forearm of one as he was about to use his shock baton then back kicked the one trying to attack her, knocking him back a few feet.
With some distance between her and the other Trooper, she then brought her leg back forward to kick the bottom of the shock baton so it was knocked up into the air. Kasumi let go of the simulated soldiers arm and followed it with a quick kick to the groin, bringing him to his knees and leaving him groaning in pain.
Even simulations were not immune to a kick in the quad.
In a swift motion she axe kicked the grounded man, causing him to disappear then caught the falling baton by the grip. The other Trooper had approached again but she swiftly dodged under his strike and got behind him to slam the shock baton right into the side of his head.
He too was eliminated by the hit. With no more enemies left in the round and the baton disappearing, Kasumi turned her head to look over her shoulder where she knew Shepard was standing. When their eyes met the thief winked and disappeared using her cloak.
The simulations hadn't stood a chance against her lover and again the redhead found herself very impressed, and a bit aroused if she were honest. Neither of her opponents landed a blow on her and had they been real she would have made them look like fools. She's definitely worked out the kinks since the Saracino incident, she thought. There's just something incredibly sexy about Kasumi kicking ass in a spectacular fashion.
"Damn she's gorgeous," Shepard murmured as she shook her head.
Lips suddenly pressed against her cheek. "Honey tongue," her voice whispered. The thief's warm breath tickled her face, setting ablaze her already very warm cheek.
Due to the final round starting, the N7 had to fight against pulling the cloaked woman into a tight embrace and passionate kiss.
The next round ended up being much of the same with the two battle mistresses taking down their targets and having a good time.
Shepard was taking down a group of Cerberus soldiers ranging from Centurions to Dragoons when the sound of two cloaks deactivating behind her forced her to snap around.
"Sneaking up on a beautiful redheaded commander is my job, not yours," Kasumi chided playfully. She was standing on the side of a Phantom holding its arm and forcing its blade into its own stomach. "And on that note." The thief ripped the blade out of its stomach, spun it in her hands and shoved it backwards. "You shouldn't sneak up on cute Japanese girls with a penchant for kleptomania. It's bad karma."
The original Phantom fell backwards dead but another was revealed as its cloak deactivated still holding its hands and blade above its head. She quickly ripped the blade out of its stomach as well and kicked it away as the original Phantom along with its blade disappeared.
Kasumi turned to Shepard wearing a smirk. "Totally saved your butt."
"What can I ever do to repay you, my hero?" she replied seductively.
"Pull me into a kiss with an explosion behind us, please." She reached out one of her hands.
"Aye aye." Shepard holstered her weapon and grabbed her lift grenades. After activating them she tossed them all at the remaining soldiers with one hand. With the other hand she grabbed the outstretched hand and pulled her lover so they were chest to chest and nose to nose.
Once the grenades detonated and lifted the soldiers off the ground, the commander summoned her biotic power, causing her entire body to glow with a blue aura. She nudged her thief's nose with her own, ignoring for a moment they were on a field of battle with their enemies suspended in air and people watching.
Right now it was just the two of them, in a forest with a small fire crackling nearby and their armored covered bodies pressed together. "Ready?" Kasumi gave a nod and engaged the redhead in a kiss as she sent a very large and heavy warp into the biotically lifted simulations.
A concussion of several biotic explosions went off like fireworks continuing to bounce off one another as they kissed. Frankly the redhead didn't hear them; she was too focused on the beautiful woman she was passionately kissing.
An idea popped in her mind mid-kiss that she just had to do. Slowly she lowered her right hand to Kasumi's left leg and lifted it up so it was against her side. The smile she felt within the kiss from her lover told her she was onto what she was doing and was completely okay with it.
At a steady pace she dipped the thief back mirroring their position after their tango, exception of the switched positions. Shepard nibbled on Kasumi's bottom lip tenderly as she sucked in some much needed air and ran her fingers deeper into her sweaty red hair.
"So, my hero, does this count as repayment?" she teased.
"Oh hell yes." Kasumi smiled her beautiful smile. "Best. Second date. Ever," her lover said breathlessly.
Shepard smiled and gave her a small peck on the lips. "Who says it has to end here? There's a nice cozy bed and some nice scented candles waiting for us."
"My beautiful Ana." The master thief ran one of her hands down Shepard's chest to her stomach. "I've wondered what it would be like to strip you of your armor…piece by piece."
"Kasumi."
"Hm?"
The redhead smiled lovingly to her. "You already have."
At first the thief didn't catch what she had meant, raising her eyebrow in confusion as she tried to remember if she had or not. But then it dawned on her like the first light of the morning shining on the Earth.
She brought her hand up from her armored stomach and cupped her cheek. Her lover's face softened from her previous teasing as she began to gently caress her cheek with her thumb.
Again there was no one else but them in the galaxy as Shepard closed her eyes and leaned further into the comfort of her thief's hand. "I know. I'm honored to be the one who you dropped your barrier and tech armor for."
"You did an amazing jobs getting past them." Her voice was soft and truthful. Some days Shepard didn't know if she had unconsciously let those barriers down or if Kasumi was just that damn good and got past them.
In a teasing moment, she knew her lovable thief would gloat about being that damn good, but in truth neither truly knew how this all happened.
Love was a mysterious force.
There was a ghost of a smile on Kasumi's hooded face. "I told you." She lowered her hand to Shepard's chest and rested it over her heart. "These quick hands can and have gotten me into far more secured places."
Shepard chuckled as she remembered the statement from the morning after her nightmare. While her thoughts had been along a different line at that time, she knew the statement to be true in this case as well.
Gently she brought Kasumi back up so she could stand on her own two feet. Her head and heart were swimming in tons of emotions all surrounded by her love for the woman in front of her. It was something this woman managed to pull off at nearly any moment and always brought out the redheads true depth of the feelings she held for her. "It will always belong to you," she said.
Her thief brought her hand to her chin, bringing her lips closer to meet Shepard's in a slow tender kiss, taking all the time they wanted to share their strong emotions with each other. Just as slow as it started it ended just as slowly savoring the moment. "I know," Kasumi breathed out tenderly.
She leaned her forehead against the commander's and Shepard let out a breath, closing her eyes as she did. With each inhale she took she breathed in her lover's scent, letting it take over her senses as she found peace in their close proximity. "I'm yours," her lover told her.
"I know."
And she did know. None of the questions she had once faced about whether or not Kasumi could ever see her as more than a friend pestered her mind. She knew they were both in this one hundred percent. She knew her heart was in the thief's hands just as much as the thief's heart was in her hands.
For a few long moments they remained in the silent comfort of a close proximity to one another. It was peaceful. No outer problems weighed on her mind in turn giving Shepard the feeling of freedom only Kasumi was capable of giving her. "Let's head back," the thief whispered.
"Yes, my love."
Two Days Later
Shepard stared out the large glass window in front of her at the long stretching arms of the Citadel. There was a lot of traffic out there as she stood watching in her N7 sweater and jeans' thinking about what was to come. The probe sent through the Relay had been successful and now they were a day away from the ceremony for the victory and the fallen in London.
For the most of the last two days she had been going around tying up loose ends and figuring who was assigned to the Normandy. The official roster consisted of all those who served during the war, the seven members of her squad from that time plus Kasumi, Jack, Miranda, Grunt and Samara.
Twelve teammates for the ground squad. She smiled. Just like old times.
Jack had gotten an undesignated amount of months of leave from Sanders while they were trying to figure out when and where to restart Grissom Academy. Until all of it was solved, Sanders believed it would be best for Jack's talents not to go to waste sitting around.
Leaving the kids behind for the time being did bother the tattooed biotic. She had been with them for the duration of the war and a bit before it, leaving them was hard on her but she was toughing through it. They would be all right; if they could survive the war then salvage ops were going to be a cake run for them and Jack knew that.
Still, she was going to miss her teenage brats.
Miranda had also joined on since her set of skills, and background, made her much more useful on the Normandy than part of recovery teams. She knew the returning crew from the Suicide Mission during her time as XO and her intelligence would come in handy out in the field.
There was also a lack of trust for the former Cerberus operative by certain groups. Miranda didn't say anything, but it was another reason why she took Shepard's offer to return to the Normandy. Being around a bunch of Alliance or Council members who didn't trust her enough to allow her to work properly was not at all appealing to her.
And if Jack was going then she was going as well to make sure she and Shepard didn't get themselves killed doing something utterly ridiculous—as they were prone to do in her words.
Samara's code had dictated during the war that she was more needed elsewhere instead of the Normandy, and that was probably true. Her strength and abilities were not to turn your head at unless you wanted to die and Shepard was certain she had gave the Reapers tons of hell.
Now, though, her code was split. While she was useful within the Sol System and to the recovery teams, there was an entire galaxy the Normandy was going to be trying to help. There were many groups going through the Relay but her ability to help even more people than she could in the Sol weighed her code towards going with Shepard again.
The commander was glad to have her back and she honestly looked forward to spending time meditating with the Justicar again. There was something peaceful about the silence between the two of them as they got lost in their own minds.
Jacob was staying to be with Brynn as Shepard expected and respected. He wanted to be a better father than his had been, and so far he was doing a hell of a lot better.
Zaeed, on the other hand, was "too old to go paradin' around the galaxy again." Shepard did not blame him. After everything he had gone through, from the Suns to the present day, she understood his want to stay on solid ground. His ability to keep the more colorful characters of the galaxy in line on the Citadel would also be beneficial.
With the roster for the new mission finally settled, all that remained was boarding the Normandy and then the disaster of figuring out where everyone would be staying. It was not an event Shepard was looking forward to dealing with, but one she knew was going to be solved immediately.
That's what today was really for, that and prepping for the ceremony. After tomorrow was over they were going to be heading through the Relay to finally salvage what was left of the first large civilizations to survive the Reapers.
The day before she had met with Ghost and Tara alongside Kasumi to see the duo and the rest of his crew off. The N7 Talons were to be at the ceremony as well and they were all ready to finally embark on what was their home: The Setting Sun.
It was possible they would see each other again during this mission, but Shepard wasn't sure how far apart their postings had them. Either way he was happy to finally be getting back on his ship with his full crew and ready to fix the galaxy.
The redhead understood how he felt because she too was looking forward to both of those.
"Hey Shep." Kasumi's voice was cheery as always yet also soothing to Shepard. The hooded woman leaned forward, resting her forearms on the railing just as the redhead was to stare out the large window. Shepard looked over to her meeting her smile with her own before intertwining their hands.
Behind them the rest of her crew began to arrive, each stopping briefly to converse with one another or stare out at the view of the Citadel arms stretching out into the vastness of space. They had another going away party to match their last one the night before, although this one didn't feel so weighted down by the possibility of death tomorrow.
Then again the galaxy lacked Reapers so that probably had something to do with it.
"Ready to go?" she asked her lover.
"Yep. So are the guys, though a few may still have hangovers." She chuckled knowing it was more than a few. She felt her lover's head rest on her shoulder. "It's about time I've come home," she whispered lovingly to her.
Shepard gave her a peck on the cheek with a smile on her lips. One last time she stared out at the view in front of them.
There in all her glory was the ship she called home. The ship in which some of her best memories and some of the most harrowing experiences in her military career were all experienced during her tour on it.
The ship on which she was able to regain a family and meet the thief who stole her heart.
The Normandy.
Home.