With unsteady hands Shepard opened the door.
"Good afternoon Admiral." Shepard said saluting.
"It's good to see you Shepard." Hackett admitted with a smile.
"erm…hello Admiral." Traynor said clearly nervous.
"I'm ready to start Admiral." Shepard said trying to save Sam anymore embarrassment.
"Ok then follow me, Specialist I'm going to have to ask you to wait here."
"Of course Admiral." Sam said saluting.
"good luck." She whispered to Shepard.
Shepard followed Hackett through a door into a small medical room.
"Ahh Commander it's good to see you up" Doctor Chakwas said smiling.
"it's good to be up Karen." Shepard said returning the smile.
"Right lets start, we don't want to keep Sam alone too long do we? Please sit."
Shepard sat on the medical bed.
"OK Shepard nothing major just a few scans." Chakwas reassured her as she activated her omni-tool.
A few minutes later Chakwas spoke up.
"Could you please lay down?" The doctor asked.
"What why?" Shepard asked concerned.
"I'm following up from EDI's reports, that you were using your biotics instead of your crutches, when you needed them that is, so I'm making sure that your implants aren't over used."
"Damn AI monitoring everything" Shepard muttered as she laid down.
"OK this shouldn't take long" Chakwas said as she held up a small object above Shepard's face.
After a few minuites of beeps and noises Chakwas allowed Shepard to sit up.
"Doctor what's the damage?" Hackett asked.
"I'd say that the commander is going to be fine, I'll give her a medical all clear although she'll need a psychological evaluation." Chakwas answered.
"Ugh you mean I'm still not allowed back?" Shepard complained.
"Normally yes, but considering the circumstances I'll allow you to return to active command, but not to go to ground ops until the Normandy Psychological officer clears you" Hackett said.
"I..,thank you sir, can I ask but since when has the Normady had a Psychological officer?"
"It's a new initiative, the impact of the Reaper war is far reaching and is much more than simple physical damage but psychological as well, so now each ship and ground squadron has a minimum of one fully trained officer to monitor the mental health of everyone else" Hackett explained.
"That's a good intuitive sir one that should see good results."
"That's the hope anyway I think we've kept Specialist Traynor in the cold long enough don't you?" Hackett asked.
"Ohh Doctor Chakwas I wasn't aware you were here" Sam said startled.
The doctor chuckled "I was asked to clear the Commander here" She explained.
"Wait you knew as well?" Sam asked angry.
"I.. " the doctor stammered.
"Sammy, please leave the good doctor alone" Shepard pleaded.
Traynor took a deep breath. "Ok but tell me, besides Ash, the only people that knew that you were alive and didn't tell me are in this room?"
"Yeah"
Hackett cleared his throat as he sat down "Shepard I have something for you" as he took out a small box from his desk.
"yes sir?"
"This is long overdue, I meant to do this after you came back from the Terminus systems but then the Collectors attacked the first Normandy and we all know what happened after, sorry I'm rambling" Hackett apologised before taking a breath and opening the box.
"Sarah Rachel Shepard, I Admiral Stephen Joseph Hackett do promote you from the rank of Commander to Captain and re-instate you as the commanding officer of the SSV Normandy SR-2" Hackett announced handing the Captain bars to Shepard.
"I thank you sir and I can't think of much else to say" Shepard said shocked
"She's speechless!" Sam pointed out.
"I don't think this has happened before" Chakwas added smiling.
Shepard turned to Sam "Come on let's go celebrate."
A/N: Hurray Shepard got a promotion let's face it though if Shepard wasn't called "Commander" in game, he/she would have gotten a promotion after the first game. Anyway hope you've enjoyed the chapter.