"Thinking"

"Talking"

"Impactful word"

There was much traffic going on the second deck as Akane sat idly by the table at the mess, watching the shuffling of the crew through the hall.

She felt bad for being amused how most of the crew, aside from Shepard's party members, avoided direct eye contact with her. But she decided to give them a break by occasionally closing her eyes whilst waiting for the Commander near her quarters.

Either she was early or Shepard was late because she had been waiting an awfully long time for the doors to finally swish open. When the redhead finally came out, it was only them and XO Pressly remaining on the Normandy.

"Hey, Akane! I hope that I haven't kept you waiting for too long."

"Not at all, Ma-", Shepard threw her a warning look, "Shepard."

"Then let's go!" The enthusiasm in the Commander's voice made Akane ponder over the friend that they were going to meet. It must be someone special for Shepard to be this ecstatic.

"Lead the way," she said, this time making sure her mask was perfectly in place so incidents like with Garrus wouldn't repeat themselves. If there was anything else in the world she hated more, then it was making the same mistake twice.

Hackett POV

He was nervous.

Rapt in the heart but trepidatious by the anticipation and thrill he had been getting since reading the message from Shepard. It had been a long time since they met up in person, but watching the live feed from her election to the Spectres was enough to temporarily quench the desire to bask in her beauty.

She was alive and well, what could he want more? Desire flared painfully in his stomach at the shameful images that his mind conjured from the depths of his imagination, proving how useless it was to lie to himself about the extent of his longing for the redhead.

An amber skinned man was waiting patiently next to him for the Commander to appear. How the man knew that the Admiral would meet up with Shepard was a mystery to him, but it wasn't like he had much to say to his superior. Even though he would have preferred to be alone with his thoughts, instead of cutting unnecessary chit-chat with the Prime Minister to pass time.

He held nothing against the Indian man, in fact, the opposite. Amul Shastri was one of the few who he could consider a friend and trust it to be mutual. It may not run as deep as with Anderson but it was safe to call him an ally.

His thoughts were interrupted as the woman in question came trotting down to them with... a teen? The Admiral would have raised his eyebrows at the company Shepard currently held but it wasn't enough to slip his stolid visage. He would definitely get a chance to ask her later when it was just the two of them.

Despite being largely contented that Shepard arranged a meeting, it also sparked a small disappointment within his yearning soul that the only reason Jane arranged it was because of a piece of advice, but he also knew that his despondency was of his own making.

How could he expect her to reciprocate his feelings when he hadn't told her of them in the first place?

He never gave Shepard any reason to think of him otherwise. To consider him in a different light.

He had never shown his interest in her to exceed mere friendship or mutual respect.

He was always professional, no matter how hard it got around her at times. Certainly foolish was he to be called, to expect a different scenario.

Yet, God help him, he couldn't take his eyes off her for a longer period. Especially enamoured by the green in her eyes that held so much vigour that he felt younger just by looking at them. Sadly, a trusty companion of that feeling was self-doubt, which reminded him how older he was in comparison to her. And sometimes he got swayed by it.

Not that any other part of her physique was less favoured in his opinion. She was a dreamboat through and through. There were many that lusted after Commander Shepard's body, judging by public opinion. If one was so unconvinced as to demand solid proof, then all it would take was to ask the large fanbase on the extranet. Hell, being the number one poster girl within the Alliance was certainly enough to prove a point.

He was tongue-tied as Shastri came to offer his bloviate encomium about Jane's recent achievements that were more than just shallow words. Meanwhile, he decided to make a short inspection of the teen standing with the stillness of a statue to the opposite of him. It didn't take him long to note that she was without a doubt - a strange one.

Not only in appearance, but in behaviour as well, that he could tell, almost without putting too much effort to read her. Perhaps this was the one Shepard need help with, he mused. In spite of his vacating thoughts, his eyes never strayed too far from their object of desire, drinking in Jane's appearance as if they had been starved at the sight of her.

Their conversation took an interesting turn when the Indian displayed a sudden interest in the teen.

Shepard POV

She felt the increase of her heart rate when her eyes locked for a split of a second with the Admiral's, and it was enough to leave her breathless. She did her best to hide it by greeting the Prime Minister with a firm 'Namaste', mindful of his ancestry before her eyes, once again, trailed off to her crush.

Hackett's look was succinct just as she remembered, yet when she focused more intensely, searching for something deeper in the alluring blue, she found an unexpected softness to his gaze. She was thankful for the Prime Minister's insistence to keep on talking because she would have been undoubtedly caught staring, even if it was yet another exposition about her service record.

She began feeling fed up by all the praise, even when all she did was cover it up behind a humble nod. She only did what she thought was right, there was nothing more to it. Yet people always found new ways to exaggerate or sing praises of her deeds, as if she did it all that on her own. She hated when all the credit went to her, and she made sure to remind everyone every time something like that came up in an interview or at any other instance.

They talked for a bit longer but she felt his eyes burning a hole into her skull, and it made her wonder why he hadn't said anything yet during this short period, only acknowledging her presence with a nod when she had saluted.

Needless to say, she hadn't met the Prime Minister before, but she never anticipated a man of his position to be so kind. She wasn't pointing it out as a fault - rather an unexpected change. Men so high in the chain of command often radiated an aura of authority to garner respect and discipline from those under their command - prime examples being Hackett or Anderson.

She noted Shastri's eyes shifting somewhere over her shoulder and for a moment she forgot what exactly he was looking at. "And who might your young companion be?"

She stayed in the Commander's shadow, trying her best to conceal her presence. Her attempt didn't fool the Admiral, however, as she was left under the scrutiny of his icy blue eyes that held steel in them.

In a way (or two), he reminded her of Tani from before he was indoctrinated, but she quickly dismissed such an off-hand comparison when she saw those ice caps melt in the blue of his eyes whenever they landed on the redhead.

She never saw that in Tani, not even once.

Either way, she didn't know the Admiral on a personal level so she wasn't sure if she read the chemistry between them right but she definitely saw something there. She let her attention flicker to Shepard as she conversed with the Prime Minister, searching for signs of a similar reaction.

Overall, the redhead was either blind or deliberately ignorant to the Admiral's staring, she noted how her eyes sometimes wandered off to him but it was by far not enough to conclude anything.

But what were these small signals she was picking up from both the Commander and Admiral at the same time?

She was aware of the changes in her perception of certain... things, caused solely by her interaction with the prothean beacon. But to think she could sense to such an extent... without the use of even the tiniest bit of chakra whatsoever. Man, she almost felt like a shinobi from the Inuzuka Clan.

If her recollection of biology classes was correct, then these scents she was smelling were...

... pheromones.

Sexual pheromones at that.

Kami be with her. She wasn't precisely sure of the main reason for her shock - the discovery of the extent of her newly acquired abilities or the realization that Shepard was physically attracted to someone. She would definitely go with the first option, no matter how much the latter intrigued her.

Facts aside, it was still too soon to make any assumptions. It might as well be just a part of her imagination for all she knew. For all its worth, it was an interesting development, something worth keeping an eye out for.

Hold on...

Why was she so into it in the first place? Shepard was her own woman. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. Akane had no right to mingle into her business.

Then why do you feel the urge to protect Shepard from him?

Why did she care so much?

The worst kind of emotions there were - were the ones who couldn't be suppressed.

Was it because in everything Shepard did, she saw the image of her late sister? The brightness, the joyfulness, the playfulness, the goodness, the... the light? All reminders of Shirone's characteristic personality traits. All reminders of everything she never was.

In a desperate attempt to shrug off those thoughts she shook her head.

She was, for once, grateful that she became the centre of conversation when the Prime Minister had picked up her sudden movement. It was easier to resolve than her troubling emotions. Even with both the Admiral and Shepard watching her at the same time.

Dangerous move. But she had only known danger most of her life.

The exchange of words was abbreviated by the Prime Minister's responsibilities and so it was just the three of them now, still standing at feet of the Normandy, the atmosphere getting tenser after each second of silence.

Shepard POV

That question took her by surprise, she wasn't going to lie.

Dammit!

She actually managed to forget about Akane. Luckily for her, the said teen must have picked up on her lack of response as she promptly answered in her stead.

"Uchiha Akane, Sir."

Nice save!

The man flinched from the inhospitable tone he was met with, not anticipating such emotional detachment from a misleadingly normal girl. Shepard couldn't blame him. Her first impression of Akane had been also... severe.

Akane bowed so her greeting wouldn't be mistaken as disrespectful. She saw a brief flicker in the Indian's pupils at the gesture.

"Ah, a polite one." An appraising smirk graced his lightly darker lips. "Are you perhaps Japanese?"

The question was to be expected, it was a well-known fact that the Prime Minister had a fascination for cultural differences in human society from before the First Contact War; when mankind had only known to be the only sentient species - from their perspective.

The different nations have remained exclusive to this day, but joining the galactic community brought a yet unfound sense of unity among the nations, though subtly encouraged by the other race's examples. Humanity had to band together to face this challenge. To show that they could live up to the standards of the Council races, if they ever hoped to be part of it.

"Perhaps," Akane answered in her own prevaricated fashion.

Now that she was left out as an active participant in this conversation, Jane was more aware of all the signs that pointed out the way the Uchiha interacted with others. Each question she was asked was masterfully evaded or directed off the whole point of the conversation, never giving a full response, leaving only insignificant snippets that held no real information in them.

It made Jane reflect on all their shared interactions. She certainly was convinced that Akane hadn't lied to her yet, or at least appeared to be hesitant to. But she appeared to be reluctant to speak the truth as well.

It wasn't anything that sent the alarm bells ringing in her head, Shepard also kept secrets and imagined how uncomfortable it must feel to have to spill them to someone she barely knew. The application of force could be one option Jane could make use of - she had the necessary prerogative to do so - in truth, it made her feel sick to the stomach just by thinking of it.

She would never do that to her fam-

"I fear I'll have to depart for a scheduled meeting," Jane's thoughts shifted back to reality and jumped over to the Prime Minister so she wouldn't make a bigger fool of herself than she almost already had.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Commander and I wish you the best of luck on your mission." He lifted his dark-brown eyes from his omni-tool to rest on those around him. Jane automatically saluted.

"Admiral. Akane." The Indian inclined his head towards the two, prompting the Admiral to salute as well since Shastri was considered his superior.

Unexpectedly, Akane clasped her hands together just as Jane had done and, "Namaste, Sir."

The smile that emblazoned the Prime Minister's face spoke of his satisfaction, as well as appreciation of the teen's gesture before he inevitably parted with the group.