Chapter 2: What the Hell the Citadel
"Oh! You have a hamster! What's his name?" Eve was always full of energy, Jane didn't know where it all came from.
"Garrus named him. I forget what it is though. I only got it cause it was hyper... It kinda reminded me of you actually, Evie. Guess I needed something familiar." She laughed at her sister's bewildered look.
Anna leaned back on the door to her bathroom, eying the model ships as she spoke, "So... What's the deal with him?"
"Yeah, we want details. Though not all," Eve put her hands up defensively, "definitely not all."
Jane rolled her eyes, "He's been part of my crew since I was with the SR-1. Joined me again when I was, uh, revived. And I just picked him up from Palavan's moon, Manae."
Anna drew her eyes towards Jane, "That's not what we mean, Janie."
Jane sighed, "Fine. But not a word of this to anyone," they nodded their heads in return, "I guess I started having, uh, romantic feelings towards him after I was revived. But he was always a good friend before that. Always at my six." She smiled, "I missed him so much while I was stuck on Earth. I didn't realize how invested I was until I saw him again, on Manae."
Anna interrupted, "How serious are you two?"
Jane shifted her weight, and adverted her eyes, "Uh..."
"You two seem pretty serious," she stood straighter, "aren't you?"
Jane couldn't reply to that as Joker interrupted, "We've arrived at the Citadel, Commander."
She let out a slow breath, "Thanks Joker."
Eve blurted out, "Oh! That reminds me. I want a quick look at Joker. Karin has told me about his condition. I want to see if I can help."
She shifted towards Eve, "Well, if your 'help' is what I think it will be, then you will definitely have to kiss his ass in order to get a look at his legs, and that may not be just metaphorical."
…...
They were just outside of the Normandy at the docking bay, Jack and the sisters were talking, as Sanders was instructing the students. Jack may not have been a Shepard, but she was certainty a good friend to them all. Jack actually got along well with Anna and Eve. They had hung out a lot, got drunk a lot rather, at Grissom. Although, they never really spoke about Jane. Jack liked to talk about herself, a lot. They continued to say their goodbyes to Jack.
Jack crossed her arms, "Hell, you guys are way too soft. All you need to say is, 'don't get your ass handed to you,' and that would've been good enough."
Eve turned to Jane, "I guess we ought to be going."
"No, you two aren't."
"What the hell Jane?" Anna added, skeptical.
"I have permission from Hackett for you two to join the Normandy crew. With the war going on, we're going to need all the experienced medical professionals we can get our hands on. And Anna, I want you advising in the war room. You did teach war strategy and basic combat at Grissom, correct?" She placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "Plus, I want you two close. We've been too far apart for too long."
…...
"Crap! We have to stay in the crew's quarters? And here I thought being the commanding officer's sister was supposed to lead to special treatment."
Jane laughed, the crew quarters were crammed, "Yeah. You both may want to stock-up on some decent smelling soap before we go. We'll be on shore leave until the morning."
And with those words, everyone was out of that room, likely heading for the closest bar. Jane hung back a bit, and caught Vega on his way through the CIC.
"Lieutenant, a word?" She led him to a corner of the CIC, back to where the door had been that led to the old armory, before the rebuild.
"Be honest. What's the deal with you and Anna?" She found herself using the same terminology as Anna had towards her about Garrus.
"Uh..." he fumbled, "well we worked together. Special Forces. Remember the story I told you during our dance, Lola?" He smiled, trying to appease to her better half.
She leaned back on one leg, crossed her arms, "Uh huh. Look, I saw you hug. She's pretty reserved. No touching unless there's trust. Details Vega."
He straightened himself, "Anita was one of the few of the team that I was able to save. An incinerating round took her eye out. I carried her to the evac. I, uh, stuck around until I was sure she was okay. I was there when the doc told her that she couldn't get a new eye grown, too much damage." He grimaced at the memory. This was a side of Vega that Jane never saw before. He looked genuinely concerned, and saddened by the memory. "We're friends is all, Lola."
"Mmhmm. That's it for now Lieutenant, but watch yourself." He saluted her and then left.
…...
Later, at Purgatory and two shots in, Garrus joined Jane at the bar.
He sat down next to her, with his usual swagger, "I hear you had a 'talk' with Jimmy Vega. Wanna tell me about it?"
She took another shot, that was enough for the night.
"I didn't threaten to cut off his balls and sell them to a krogan, if that's what you're asking." He laughed, then she added, "I just asked him about him and Anna. They apparently are just 'friends.' Pfft."
Their conversation was cut-off by a bellowing laugh that originated in Joker's direction. He was laughing, and crying, over something. Jane and Garrus got up to have a look themselves.
And what they saw, left them both slack-jawed. Jane spoke first, "Eve's dancing with... Liara!"
They looked over to Joker. "I guess I'm out 30 credits, and I'm in for some tests. I bet your sister that she couldn't get Liara drunk, and if she could – I'd let her take a look at my legs." He rushed that out before he threw himself into another fit of laughter.
Garrus finally said something, though it didn't help any. "This...is...not good."
…...
Having to deal with a drunk Liara, was not how Jane imagined herself spending her shore-leave. Garrus, I'm sorry. But Jane wasn't alone in this, oh no, she dragged Eve right back to the Normandy with her.
"Take care of this, now." Jane couldn't remember the last time Liara was drunk, did she get drunk?
"I will, ma'am..." She teased.
"Don't talk like that, Eve."
"What?"
Jane brought a hand to her temple, "Just, just help Liara."
Jane was frustrated – she didn't much care for the way Eve said ma'am. It always rilled her up, and Eve new that too. Why is she acting like a child? Good thing Garrus seemingly magically appeared next to her in the med-bay, before she punched her sister.
She turned around, "Garrus, let's go."
"Is Liara alright?"
"She will be."
…...
"Goddess, what happened?" Liara's voice cracked as she said that, clutching her head, waking up on some couch. Her eyes focused. She was in Shepard's cabin. Jane and Garrus lay cuddled, but thank the Goddess, clothed, in their bed. Diagonally across from Liara, slept Eve in a lounge chair. Eve stirred right after Liara.
"Good morning drunkshine." she yawned.
"Oh, so that's what happened... I haven't felt like this in decades." She groaned in pain, still clutching her head.
Eve decided to clarify the situation, "We decided that we couldn't leave you alone, especially when the thing I tried in the med-bay didn't work."
She looked up, perhaps a little too quickly, "What did you try?"
Eve shrugged, "Better you don't know."
"Hmm. You're just like your sister."
"Not quite. I'm the fun one." She smiled.
"Keep it down." Jane huffed from the bed. This most certainly was not how she wanted to spend shore-leave.
She then had the sudden realization that she sounded like a mother, her mother. And that in some twisted way she and Garrus were playing the role of parents to Eve and Liara. Despite her ass-kicking ways, she did have a maternal side – she had pretty much been a mother to her sisters since she was young, since her parents were always too busy to be around. No, she put these thoughts aside. Garrus didn't seem like a fatherly type, did he?
Sometime during her thought process, Liara and Eve had gotten up and left the room, the sound of the door closing shook her from her thoughts.
"Spirits, they're gone. Thought they would never leave." Garrus' grip on her waist tightened, as he spoke into her hair.
"I thought you were asleep." She angled her head back, since he was behind her.
He gently rolled her over, "How could I sleep? This is the first time we've shared a bed in over six months."
…...
Some time, definitely sometime later, Jane found herself down in the cargo-hold double checking all the supplies she ordered the day before.
She turned to Steve, "Cortez, are we missing anything?"
He looked down at his data pad, "Ah, it looks like we're missing a shipment of dextro food reserves." Crap. If she didn't want Garrus and the Primarch to survive on nutrient paste, she would have to track down that order.
Before she left, she stopped to talk with Eve in the med-bay.
"Eve. I have something I still need to do on the Citadel, so we're going to be stuck here for a little while more. I was wondering if you could stop by Huerta for me? A friend of mine, Major Kaidan Alenko, is there. I'd like it if you could confer with his attending physician, Dr. Michel, and see if there's anything you could do for him. Since, well, you have a lot of experience with biotics and amps, thanks to Grissom."
"Sure thing sis."
…...
Kaidan awoke from a drugged haze, to find a woman standing over him, her omni-tool glowing orange over his head.
"Oh. You're awake Major? You're part of the Normandy crew, right?"
His eyes were still adjusting, he waved off her omni-tool. "Commander Shepard?"
"Oh, no no. I'm not Commander Jane Shepard, I'm Doctor Eve Shepard. I'm Jane's younger sister." He still looked confused, so she elaborated, "Ugh, you don't know either? Well, I'm Jane's younger sister. I'm a doctor. Field doctor actually, I have some combat training. Anyways, sorry my mouth sometimes runs away from me. But, ah, Jane asked me to take a look at you. I have some experience with L-implants, biotics. I've already spoken with Dr. Michel, but I also wanted a look myself." She smiled.
Kaidan had always found the Commander physically attractive, but this younger Shepard was very charming, in some cute awkward way.
"Oh. Well have at it, Doctor Shepard." He sat up straighter.
She offered her hand, "Eve. Everyone calls me Eve."
…...