Chapter 6: Normandy under New Command June 19, 2183 CE John Shepard Citadel Dock 422 0800 hours "War, I have always said, forces men to change their standards, regardless of whether their country won or lost." -Salvatore Quasimondo, author

It had taken a few days for Anderson and Udina to get everything in motion. Captain Anderson was stepping down, handing the Normandy over to John. He'd pulled John aside shortly after the hearing, admitting to John in confidence that he had been a candidate at one time, twenty years ago. He'd been sabotaged by Saren, and Udina didn't want the Council to think their quarrel with Saren was retaliation. So Anderson claimed that his time had passed, and it was time for him to step down from active command. John hoped administrative duty wouldn't be too hard on his former captain, but he couldn't deny the excitement he felt to be captain of his own ship, and a Spectre, to boot. He knew his sister was beyond excited.

He'd asked her opinion about his crew the last few days, curious if she had an issue with any of the aliens he wanted to bring along on the hunt for Saren. He expected she wouldn't have a problem with any of them, but what he hadn't expected was she'd tracked down their respective service records and had even done background checks on all of them, in just a day. Not only did she approve, she actually liked a few of them. And that was enough for John. Anyone who could manage being friends with Mia was pretty alright in his book.

Now they were just waiting for permission to board, once the dock crew gave the all-clear, the ship would be his. They'd undergone a few last-minute repairs while they'd been docked, so the whole crew was waiting in the docking area.

Everyone except Mia, John noted, as he looked around. He frowned, before checking the time. He stood from the bench he'd been sitting on, and found one person who he could bet would know where she was.

"Alenko, have you seen Shepard?" John asked, opting for last names in such a public place.

"Commander," Kaidan greeted, turning away from his conversation with Garrus. "We were headed down from the embassy this morning when a man stopped her. Said his wife was on Eden Prime, in her unit. Her body hadn't been recovered yet. She asked a few questions and stormed off towards that business class bar. You know how she is," He gave the man a knowing look. "I just got here, she's probably still there."

"Aye, that sounds like her. It's almost time to ship out, I'll be right back." He informed them, taking off at almost a sprint. He didn't want his sister to do something to another Alliance officer, no matter how justified, in a fit of anger.

"Oh I want to see this," Kaidan said, looking over at Garrus with a grin and following John.

"Yeah, I'm not missing this one either," Garrus agreed, following the men.

John shook his head but didn't dismiss the men as he headed up to the Embassy Lounge. They used a rapid transit vehicle and arrived in the Presidium fairly quickly. John had Kaidan lead when they got to the embassy lobby, but when they entered the lounge, it was pretty clear where Mia was.

" Years?! " Mia's voice, granted a few octaves higher than normal, came from the far side of the room. "What do you mean, years? Bhatia gave her life defending humanity on the edges of Alliance space, and you're telling me it'll take years for you to get enough data from her remains to be useful?" Mia shouted.

"You of all people should understand how far we must go to protect humanity, Lieutenant." the man replied just as John made it to them.

"Shepard, stand down," John said, knowing she was hurting and taking her frustrations out on this man.

"Are you hearing this shit, John? They're keeping her body for research!" Mia said indignantly. "It's.. it's inhumane!"

"Mia, I know," John said, putting a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Let me handle this? I think you might be a little too close to this to act rationally." He told her with a little smile.

"I-" Mia frowned. "I can't let you fight all my battles, John." She frowned, looking away.

"I only meant I can get this done faster for you, without you having to get upset. Please, go with Kaidan. I've got this." John told her.

"Amelia," Kaidan said, breaking through her attention. Her head whipped around, meeting his eyes at once. He should start using her full name, it seemed. "Can you show me that observation deck you were talking about? The one where you can see the whole tower? We don't have a lot of time left on the Citadel." Kaidan's voice was casual, as though asking to go on a date. And clearly that worked on Mia. Her face melted, and she looked back over her shoulder at the man she'd been yelling at, looking bashful. John couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his sister look bashful. It was cute.

"Y-yeah. I can take you there, Kaidan." She said softly, looking back up at John. "Thank you," She whispered, trying to hold back tears. John smiled at her, then nodded to Kaidan.

"Go on, we ship out at 0900. Be back by then, please?" John said to Kaidan more than Mia. He didn't mention that he was pushing back their departure time by about thirty minutes.

"Yes, sir." Kaidan said as Mia led him away. John watched them go for a moment, noticing Mia slipping her hand into Kaidan's. He also noticed that Kaidan didn't hesitate to take it. He'd have a talk with them about the regulations on interpersonal relationships later. Right now, it was nothing but a benefit for his war-torn crew.

He turned back to the Alliance officer finally, turning work mode back on. He glanced up at Garrus, who'd stayed with him, giving the man a nod of acknowledgment before speaking to the man before him.

"Now, I believe my sister was trying to get one of her fallen unit member's body sent home. What's the hold-up, soldier?" John asked, and the man, Bosker, by his nametag, looked speechless for a moment.

"C-Commander Shepard. Yes, sir, the lieutenant was inquiring about Nadia Bhatia's remains. Her wounds were inconsistent with any type of weapon damage we've seen before. That is why her body is being held." He told him.

"Is what Lieutenant Shepard said true? It would take years for this information to be useful?" John asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I-" He looked like he was considering lying. "Yes, sir." he said eventually.

"Then let me give you some free advice on your research. Release the body, we'll send back actual geth weapons when we encounter them. Maybe researching the real thing instead of the damage they do will speed your process up." He said, shaking his head.

"I- yes, yes, sir. That would help immensely." He said, stuttering.

"Send me an email, we'll get the details sorted later." He said, nodding. "I'm going to tell this man his wife will be transported home. Today. Don't disappoint me, kid. I have a ship to catch." John said, saluting the man.

"I won't, sir." He agreed, saluting him back before John about-faced and headed out of the lounge, towards the Indian man Kaidan had pointed out in the lobby. Before they got there, Garrus chuckled, looking down at John.

"Remind me to never disappoint you. You made it sound as scary as a thresher maw." Garrus laughed.

"It's not pleasant." John chuckled. "Thanks for coming." He told the turian sincerely.

"Gotta make sure the crew's okay. And Mia's been a little scattered since Eden Prime, according to Kaidan." Garrus admitted. "Wanted to make sure she was okay."

John gave the news to the husband of the deceased, glad for once that he was in dress blues for the first voyage. He turned away and headed for the closest transport back to the docks, but Garrus paused outside the car, looking John over.

"Delivering that news never gets easier. Let's hope we're lucky enough that you don't have to make that speech again." Garrus said. John nodded, but couldn't bring himself to say anything. Garrus had a way of putting things into sharp perspective with just his words. Suddenly, he couldn't wait to be back on the Normandy again.


Mia Shepard Normandy Engineering Deck 1400 hours "I'm about to break down, I'm searching for a way out." -Falling in Reverse, "Popular Monster"

Mia had made it back to the Normandy with Kaidan just before take off. She had been surprised by Kaidan- not just by how quickly he took to her, but also how quickly she had taken to him. Mia had a notorious track record for not getting along with people. It'd held her back from several promotions, and was part of the reason her ICT training took as long as it did. Of course, her crazy mom didn't help opinions of her. She'd enlisted when her mother was still active, had been on the same bases for the most part, at least early on. She was no John, she couldn't just…make people like her.

She didn't have to try with Kaidan. He got it. He'd been on Eden Prime, too. She wasn't the only survivor. That made it better. She looked down at the after action reports on her Omnitool. Nearly two weeks had passed and a lot of the gray names were still there. A lot of them had turned red. She sighed, shaking her head. She'd been hiding in Engineering since she snuck onboard, only reporting to John once so he didn't wait on her. She didn't really feel like being around people, and Adams got that. He'd taken one look at Mia's face and told her to stay as long as she needed. Apparently hiding in Engineering was a common practice.

It was how long she'd been allowed to remain there uninterrupted that was beginning to concern her. She was sure John was upstairs, being a busybody.

The doors to Engineering opened just then and she peeked up from where she was hiding behind a console. She ducked back down just as she saw John talking to Adams, groaning internally. She wasn't ready for whatever big talk he was gonna give her. She felt more than saw him plop down across from her on the floor, in the middle of the pathway.

"Kaidan asked me to check up on you." John said honestly. "He was worried. Said you vented pretty hard." John said, trying to make eye contact with Mia.

"Yeah, I did. That's what my therapist always tells me to do. Let my frustrations out." Mia pouted, turning away from her brother and facing the wall.

"I'm not reprimanding you, kid." John said with a small smile. "I'm not Mom. I'm not gonna punish you for having emotions. I'm just worried about you." John said, putting a hand on knee.

"Why?!" Mia asked, moving to shove his hand off her knee, but he caught her wrist. He flicked her Omnitool on, pulling up her last closed file.

"This is why, Mia." He said, showing her the file. "Not the names, not the deaths, the fact that you check it every hour. You've been through two hard losses, even for an N7. I lost one man and a Spectre. My survivor's guilt is tough enough. Mia, I just want you to know you're not alone out here." He told her, finally meeting her eye. She took a moment to process his words, not wanting to let herself break down. Looking her brother in the eye, in the end, is what broke her. She all but collapsed in his arms, letting out all the tears she'd been holding in since Eden Prime.

"She died in my arms , John. She thought…" Mia sobbed, barely coherent. "She thought you were her squad. Her last… last thing she said…" Mia's sobbing intensified, having a hard time getting the words out. "Everything's gonna be… alright. " She sobbed.

"Well then, kiddo, you know what we have to do, right?" John said, hugging her tightly while she sobbed. His question calmed her a bit from her crying, and she laid her head on his chest, glad that they were both in their travel cargo sweats. Hugging in armor was uncomfy. "You gotta prove Williams right." He told her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking up at him. How sure he sounded was what broke her out of her sobbing, as if it was the clearest thing in the world. The only logical conclusion.

"She said everything was gonna be alright. So you gotta make sure it is. For her." He told her, rubbing her back. "We have to keep moving forward. You have to keep moving forward. Don't worry about anyone else, cause we'll be right behind you. I've always got your six, kid." She hugged him tighter after hearing that.

"If any other ship had picked me up, I'd have quit the Alliance that day." Mia confided, staring at a point in front of her distantly. "But Anderson, and you were hurt… it was my fault, and the beacon warning…I needed you."

"As much as I needed you." John admitted with a chuckle. "I'm gonna make sure you're safe, no matter what hell we have to go through to get there."

"I don't give a shit about being safe. If I cared about that, I wouldn't be on your crew." She chuckled, wiping her eyes. Adams coughed and she glared up at him.

"I swear to every god in every system, Adams, if you breathe a word of this…" Mia threatened weakly. Adams looked up at her, made eye contact with her, nodded to John, then turned back to his console.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, ma'am." He replied evenly. He wasn't even a little bothered. Gods, she was gonna like Adams. John chuckled, helping Mia to her feet.

"Come on. You should shower , and if you're tired, you're welcome to take a nap in my bed. It's not much, but I'm sure the barracks are loud right now." He told her with a grin.

"I'm not taking your bed, John." She protested, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It's just a nap. I'll wake you up in a few hours." He told her.

"Where are we heading? I know the Council sent you files." Mia deflected.

"Gotta pick up Benezia's daughter, some kind of doctor in the Artemis Tau cluster. Don't have an exact location, so it might take a few days. She's some sort of Prothean researcher, an asari. I'm hoping she can tell us more about the visions from the beacon." He told her. Mia nodded. It'd be nice to understand the nightmares.

"What then?" She asked, needing to know her priorities on this mission.

"Reports of synthetics on Noveria. We'll deal with that after we pick up her daughter. Benezia is in league with Saren, though. Not sure how this pick up is gonna go." John told her. "You're used to how the Alliance structures squads, right? Six man teams?"

"Of course," Mia said. "I was my squad's commander on Eden Prime." She said softly. John's smile faded a bit, but he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"This team is special, Mia. You can go places I couldn't trust a normal soldier to go, you have the same training as me. Having five crew at my disposal for a ground team opens up my options. You showed me that on the Citadel. We finished that mission in two hours because you and Garrus ran point on a lead."

"What are you getting at, John? There's gotta be more to this than you trying to stroke my ego." She said, arching a brow at him.

"I need to talk about our teams." He shrugged, meeting her eye.

"Wait. Our teams?" Mia asked, finally catching on. "You want me to lead the second team?"

"You're an N7, you've done the job before, you're qualified. You're the only one I trust enough with this position, Mia." He told her.

"I got the last squad I led killed." Mia dismissed.

"No." John said, sounding so confident that she had to look up. "You led a squad of infiltrators on a fetch errand for the Council with no intel about what you were going into. You left your N5 soldier in charge and he saved lives. You did your job , Mia, but more importantly, they did theirs. We saw the evidence of that." John said. "You're a damn good soldier when you let yourself be."

Mia nodded, taking a breath. "Kaidan and Tali." She said, finally meeting his eye. John took a moment, then smiled.

"Why?" John tested, though she could see the hint of a smile forming.

"You need Garrus, I don't need two snipers on one team. Kaidan's my biotic. Tali's definitely more tolerable to be around than Wrex." She reasoned. John nodded, then patted his sister's back.

"Go shower and get some rest, kid. I'll be in the CIC or the Comms room if you need me. Gonna try to nail down the location of this doctor. I'll wake you when I need you to prep for the mission."

"Thought we'd be in the Artemis Tau cluster by now, at least?" She asked.

"The Widow Relay's jump queue is backed up. One relay, lots of traffic. And unfortunately, Spectre status doesn't push us that much closer to the front." He smiled.

"Okay, okay, I'll shower and nap." She finally relented. "Wake me up the second you need me." She demanded, then stormed out of Engineering.