#Tali Adams and everyone in engineering certainly do

[edenprime]

Jacob saying the Normandy is shepard's real love. Please shut up. Shepard fits many clichés, but she's not the ship-obsessed weirdo of the series. That's joker. Nevermind!!!! that I don't think we ever see Shepard mooning over the Normandy, but the people inside? That's another thing! Shepard loves and is loyal to people, ideas, and morals. Not things.

Hell, I'd buy it if he had said that the fight is shepards real love. That's believable. The Normandy is just a means to an end.

[ghostxofxartemis]

John x Ashley: hugging for too long?

Thank you for submitting this amazing prompt! Not only did I manage to get a birthday fic done for John, I also managed to fit this in! From this prompt list!  Fic also available on AO3.

A huge thank you to @bardofheartdive for beta reading for me! You are simply amazing! 

Happy Birthday, Shepard!

Shepard is sitting at his desk in his cabin in the Normandy SR1. His chair is hard, uncomfortable, his back is sore, though that’s the least of his concerns; he feels like it should be Anderson in here and not him. His mind is unfocused, his thoughts keep going back to their mission on Feros a few days ago. The Thorian still churns his stomach as he remembers how it was controlling the colonist. It’s not the only thing keeping him distracted, there is an awful lot of commotion coming from the mess hall just outside his cabin, making it difficult to finish his report from their mission on Elatania this morning; those space monkeys were just a pain in the ass to deal with. Having Ashley and Liara giggle away at him while on all fours didn’t exactly help with his mood either.  He’s certainly not feeling like someone who spent months and months on end through a grueling program to achieve N7, but more like a serviceman grunt at this moment. 

"What in the devil's work is going on?!"

Frustrated, he flicks his stylus onto his desk, then stands up, makes his way to his door and steps into the mess hall. He’s not one to usually lose his temper, but the persistent migraine he’s had the last past two days after receiving the cypher on Feros has been driving him insane. The commotion was just making it worse, souring his mood that much more. 

There is an unusually large crowd, most of whom should be working, gathered around the tables. Plates, cups, bottles of varied drinks, beer, and bowls full of different snacks were set on the tables. 

Ashley and Kaidan are at the kitchen counter, their backs facing him. They are in the middle of sniggering at something Shepard clearly missed out on. 

He walks up behind them very quietly, his head peering over their shoulders.

"What are you two doing?"

Ashley yelps, dropping her spatula. Kaidan jumps slightly at the unexpected visitor, face turning red from embarrassment, his expression resembling that of a kid getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar, knowing very well they aren't supposed to do that. Looks like two squadmates forgot they have an infiltrator among them. 

Ashley turns to face Shepard, a guilty look on her face, icing splattered on her cheeks and the tip of her nose.

Shepard's breath hitches, his heart skips a beat or several for that matter, and his lips twitch upwards into a half-smile. Just when he thinks she couldn't get any more adorable, she somehow manages to prove him wrong at every turn. His mind races, thinks about all the things he would very much love to do to her, then forces them back down just as quickly, out of mind. He's not that guy anymore, if he's to be with Ashley, he is going to do it right this time. Though… something tells him she wouldn't mind too much. First, they have to get rid of a little problem, a Rogue Spectre problem.

Shepard looks at her sheepishly.  

"Chief… you got….er," Shepard clears his throat, "you've got icing on your face."  He points in the general vicinity of her face.

“Oh!”

Ashley wipes the back of her hands, also covered in icing, against her cheeks, resulting in an even worse smear than she had just moments ago. 

“Did I get it?” She asks him, her eyebrows furrowed together. 

His grin widens just a fraction more, breath caught in his chest. He can feel his cheeks turning a little pink. He reaches for a napkin on the counter, then lifts it up to her, raising an eyebrow.

“May I?” 

Ashley’s cheeks turn a bright pink, her eyes take on a look of utter embarrassment as she nods at him. 

“Where did you learn how to bake, Ash? Normally you put the icing on the cake, not bury your face in the container,” he teases as he wipes the icing with the napkin off her face. 

“My mom and I would bake cakes together for every special occasion. Birthdays, holidays...you know.” 

Shepard throws the dirty napkin in the trash, “Question still remains...why are you and Alenko baking a cake?” 

He looks around, still confused. He certainly doesn’t remember giving everyone permission to gather around. He isn’t opposed to down time, but there have to be at least a few people manning stations. Was there a special occasion he was unaware of? 

“Shepard, it’s your birthday…” Kaidan says incredulously. Wondering how someone could possibly forget it’s their birthday. 

“Wha…?” John squawks, now he’s the one with the incredulous look on his face. He checks his omni-tool, hoping this is somehow all a big joke. When he notices the date his eyes widen, and he mutters something under his breath that sounds along the lines of  “you’re shitting me.” 

“It’s April 11th… your birthday…” Alenko drags the last two words like it’s the most obvious thing in the whole galaxy.

John crosses his arms across his chest, and shifts his weight onto his hip. His M.O. that he’s about to be stubborn and stand his ground. 

“That’s nice. But I don’t celebrate my birthday. So clean this mess up, and get back to work. That goes for everybody,” he says as he uncrosses his arms, turns on heels to make his way back to his cabin. Instead, he comes face to face with a seven feet tall wall...a krogan wall to be exact. Wrex had come up behind him, blocking his way. 

“Out of my way, Wrex.” 

Wrex growls, Shepard’s scowls.

If there’s one thing that puts a sour taste in his mouth, it is people wanting to celebrate his birthday. He hasn’t celebrated since he was five and that’s simply because his mother was still alive that year. After that the birthday celebration ceased to exist, other than occasional shots he’d share with fellow soldiers, and wasn’t going to start now. 

“Anderson told us you might object so... Wrex here volunteered to be your personal bodyguard for tonight,” Alenko smirks and John balls his hands into fists, nails digging in his skin because he’d rather feel that pain than punch his friend in his smug-faced expression. 

John inhales loudly, he’s about to argue until he thinks better of it. He really isn’t in the mood to go head to toe with a Krogan at the moment. He uncurls his fists, exhales while throwing his arms up in the year in exasperation.

“Fine!” 

Engineer Adams cracks a beer bottle open, and hands it to Shepard with a sheepish look on his face. Shepard growls slightly before muttering a barely audible “thanks.”

“Chief, just one request… no candles” 

“I make any promises, sir.” Ashley gives him mischievous smiles. Shepard shakes his head before turning away to make his way to the table and sits next to Tali who seemed to be overjoyed by seeing human customs for the first time.

~~~~~~~

Ashley waits until Shepard finds a seat next to Tali at the tables before she turns around and picks up the spatula. 

“Great, the icing is ruined now’” she grumbles.

She feels Kaidan elbowing her just a bit. She looks to see him with a coy smile on his face.

“What?” She demands, one eyebrow raising to her hairline.

“Nothing,” he shrugs and takes the spatula from her hand. 

“You’re withholding something.” She sneers at him.

“Me?!” Kaidan feigns innocence. “I would never!”

Ashley rolls her eyes and snatches the spatula from Kaidan and washes it. It’s always the quiet ones you have to look out for, she thinks to herself. 

“I think the icing is fine, chief.”

“It really isn’t. Has to be perfect and there’s a spot missing icing and since someone sneaked up behind us, it’s going to be tricky to get it right without messing the rest of the icing.” She sighs as she dries the spatula with a dishcloth. 

“I didn’t take you for someone who demands perfection.”

“Really?! Have you seen your pistol, LT? Has it ever been in any better condition until I started taking care of it?” She scowls him.

“Good point.”

Ashley sighs. 

“Why don’t you let me give it a try.” Kaidan offers her a hand.

“I...oh alrighty.” With resignation, she sighs louder as she hands him the spatula and takes a couple of steps to the side to give him room. 

Kaidan eyes the cake for a moment before scooping up more icing from the container. He feels Ashley’s hot breath down his neck.

“Chief. I can’t focus while you’re breathing down my neck.” Kaidan looks down at her with raised eyebrows.

“I’m sorry! Okay. I won’t watch.” She sucks in her breath as she puts her hands over her eyes, though peaks through her fingers. She rolls her bottom lips between her lips, a nervous tell. 

Kaidan chuckles, shaking his head, slaps on the icing, and follows the trajectory that Ashley was doing earlier, somehow even making the icing look smoother than it had when she had done it. 

“Is it done?!” 

“It’s all good.”

Dropping her hands, she inspects the cake, a sly smiling making its way at the corner of her mouth.

“Not all heroes wear capes! Now, where’s that candle I had brought up earlier?” Before she can even look for it, Kaidan lifts up the candle to her eyes. She snatches it and places it next to Shepard’s name on the cake.

“I hope he doesn’t kill us. I am pinning this on you if he gets even more in a soured mood. Everyone should get to celebrate their birthday. You know what Anderson told me, last time we were on the Citadel?” She looks up to Kaidan, her eyes now distant deep in thought.

“No. What did he say?” Kaidan asks her, curious.

“The Skipper skipped out on his own birthday dinner with Anderson last year. Just no show. Anderson asked him about it later and the skipper just simply said ‘he didn’t feel like celebrating another year of making it out alive’.”

Kaidan’s mouth gapes open, and he closes it just as quickly. No words come out. Ashley couldn’t blame him. She had had the same reaction when Anderson had told him. 

“Anyways. Let’s go give him his cake.” Carefully, Ashley lights the candle with a lighter and picks it up while Kaidan picks up the cake they made for the dextro-amino crew mates and they make their way to the table while singing ‘Happy Birthday Shepard.’

Ashley’s gaze locks in with Shepard’s, his cheeks turn red and she feels hers heat up, forcing her to look away embarrassed. By some miracle, she manages to get the cake in front of him and chuckles when he covers his face with both his hands and mutters “for the love of God” at it.

“I told you I made no promises.”

“I know!” He grunts behind his hands before rubbing his face and blows out the candle.

“Now you get the honors of cutting, commander.” Kaidan smirks as he puts down the cake for the dextro.

“Yeah, no thanks. You know what,” Shepard picks up the cutting knife and hands it over to Dr. Chawkas, handle first, “why don’t you do me the honors, good doctor.” 

“Oh, Commander. I couldn’t.” She lifts her hands and shakes her head.

“Please. I insist. This is already too much.” Shepard levels the knife in his hand, giving her a sly smile.

“Well, in that case,” she sighs. 

While Dr. Chawkas cuts the cake, Shepard hands her the plates and she lays them on the table for anyone to grab until both cakes have been symmetrically cut. 

“So, Tali, I’m curious,” Ashley says as she slides in the seat next to Shepard and takes a bite from her cake in hand, “how do Quarians celebrate birthdays?” 

“Well. Quarians are only allowed one toy as personal possession while we’re children, and on our birthdays we part with them for us to get a new one.”

“Wait? You only get one toy?! Do you get to choose what it is at least?” Ashley asks Tali, perplexed. 

“Oh yes! We do get to choose among what is available, but we don’t always get what we like. We just have to make do. With limited space, we can’t get too choosy. That’s why on our birthdays we get to choose who gets our old toy, and we get to pick another one from what’s available in the storage.”

“Like a hand-me-down.” Ashley says as she licks her fork. She catches Shepard shuffling in his seat next to her in her peripheral vision, his hands grab hold of fabric from his trousers and he adjusts them slightly, pulling down on them. It took everything she got to resist looking down at him to see if she had managed to get a reaction out of him. She smirks. She reaches for an opened beer bottle on the table and opens it, gulping a good draft from it.

Ashley puts her bottle down on the table. “My parents couldn’t afford much on my father’s salary, so often, whatever I didn’t use anymore would get passed down to my sisters. But my parents always made sure we got something new for our birthdays. Something we wanted.” 

“Right. Something like that. But it wasn’t new.” Tali agreed.

“Heh! You humans and Quarians are soft. On our birthdays we drink ryncol and blow things up.” Wrex’s booming laugh shook the table. 

“Remind not to give you ryncol while on my ship,” Shepard shakes his head. 

The thought of the ship blowing up while they were in space was not a comforting one. How would he explain that one to the Alliance? Ashley could only imagine how the conversation would go for the Skipper’s side. Yeah, my krogan passenger decided to light the Mako on fire and send it off through the cargo door while it was still down, is probably what he would say. 

“Relax Shepard! After a few hundred years you don’t really care about celebrating anymore.” 

Ashley feels a shift beside her. Skipper. She gets a whiff of his musky scent mixed with cedar as he stands up and moves behind her to make his way to the counter. Her heart skips a beat, his signature scent always seemed to get her all warm inside. How can people not smell him coming? He just smells so good. She locks eyes with Kaidan who sits in front of her and feels herself starting to blush. Kaidan's eyes tell her he is on to her. Is she that obvious of her feelings for the Commander? Oh Gosh, what if Kaidan reports her? No. She tries to put those thoughts out of mind. 

Kaidan clears his throat, and he pulls her back to the present. Maybe she was panicking for no reason after all. 

“Now’s probably the time to give him what you got him, while he isn’t at the table,” he whispers. The others are too immersed in conversations to pay attention to the two of them. 

Ashley exhales deeply. “Right. Well here we go.” Standing up, she picks up the gift bag she had tucked under the table, and somehow Shepard had completely missed, at least, she thought he did and made her way to the skipper. 

Shepard’s back faces her and she inhales before she taps him gently on the shoulder. He looks back to her while washing his hands. 

“Williams.”

Ashley lifts the bag to him. “I...er… I got you a little something. Picked it up last time we were at the Citadel.”

He turns his head away from her, hiding his expression, and for a moment she thinks she has overstepped and maybe made a grave error. He dries his hands on a dishcloth before he turns completely to face her.

“Ash. You really didn’t have to do this. All this.” He looks back to the table where his crew conversed with one another. She could hear them laughing.

“Skipper. Really. It’s no big deal. In my family, we always celebrate everyone's birthday. It’s important.” She reaches her arm out towards him more, insisting he takes it. 

Reluctantly, he does. Slowly, he opens it up and takes a peek inside. He reaches inside with one hand and pulls out a weapon upgrade. An eyebrow reaches his hairline as he inspects it.

“How on Earth did you manage to get your hands on a Scram Rail X?! I thought only the Spectre Requisition officer had time in stock?”

“A girl needs to keep some secrets, now. Doesn’t she?” Ashley gave him a coy smile.

“Fine. Keep your secrets then Williams.” He returns her a smile. “Thank you.” 

Ashley rocks on her toes and points to the bag. “That’s not all. There’s more inside”

“Ash…” Shepard rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. A tell-tale sign he was feeling a tad uncomfortable. He places the Scram Rail X onto the counter and looks back down to the bag.  Ashley’s heart sinks a little when she remembers he’d been orphaned so young. Has he never celebrated his birthday before?

She waves him off. “Come on. Open it,” she urges him while bouncing on her toes. 

Sighing, he reaches down again and this time pulls out a box. He places the bag onto the counter and inspects the contents in his hand. 

“How-” His eyes widen, “how did you manage to get your hands on a WWII A-26 Douglas Invader aircraft model?!”

Ashley shrugged her shoulders.

“A girl has her secrets.” Shepard chuckles as he repeats her words and gently puts down the model box onto the counter.

Ashley suddenly gets pulled into a hug. She hadn’t expected this. For a moment she’s shocked, but it doesn’t take her long to return the hug and they hold onto each other tightly. She feels him bury his face in her hair. She feels him shake against her slightly. 

“Is it that bad?” She chuckles nervously as she rubs his back. She knows she should pull away, that this is against protocol, but she doesn’t care. There is just something about being in his arms that makes her feel at home and her heart sinks a little. She can’t imagine not celebrating the birthday of someone in her family. Every year, she and her sisters would always send vidmails to her father who was posted somewhere, eventually her sisters did the same for her when she joined the Alliance. In fact, she knew she would find one in her messages in a few days for her birthday. Shepard… Shepard has no one. He spent most of his life alone on his birthday. 

She rubs her face against his chest to wipe the tears that escaped her eye and trails down her cheek.

“No. Thank you, Ash. No one’s ever given me a gift quite like this one before.” He mumbles against her head. 

She hears footsteps coming up from behind her. She can’t tell who it is as her face is still buried up against Shepard. All she can smell is Shepard’s musky scent mixed with cedar, and she lets herself get lost in it. No care in the world, just the two of them at this moment, and she can count on her fingers how many times she has wished for this since he had shown interest in her and admitted he had feelings for her. 

Someone clears their throat behind her, bringing both her and Shepard back to the present and they separate. Shepard looks away, wiping his face with the back of his thumb. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt this moment, but I don’t want anyone making any fraternization complaints, Commander.”  Ashley turns to face the owner of the voice and sees Kaidan cleaning some of the dishes. She rubs her forehead with a hand.

“We weren’t...there’s nothing between us, I mean.” She starts to panic.

“Don’t worry chief. I didn’t see anything. It’s a birthday after all.” Kaidan reassures her as he picks up the dishcloth and dries the dishes.

Shepard picks up the mod and hands it over to Ashley. “I trust you’ll take good care of this.” 

“You bet, Skipper. The targeting system will be ready for our next mission. Sir.” She says as she picks it up and places it in her pockets.

Shepard gives her a wink before heading back to sit down next to Liara who sat with the others, yet still managed to be distant from them, this time.

Ashley feels a hard elbow to her ribs, and grunts. “What?!” She looks hard at Kaidan, trying to read his mind. 

Kaidan gives her a coy smile, his eyes twinkle with mischievousness Ashley didn’t think was possible for the goody two shoes Kaidan. He brings both his index fingers together and moves them around against each other, “Williams and Shepard sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

Horror struck, her eyes widen and her cheeks turn red, but what horrifies her most is that her eyes meet with Shepard’s and his eyebrows are raised quizzically at them’ his head slightly tilted to the side. He definitely saw something.  

“You’re blushing, Chief. I mean, I’m pretty sure you’re the same colour of beets right now.” Kaidan chuckles as he crosses his arms and leans up against the counter.

Groaning, she buries her face into her hands. “Oh dear, God. Shoot me now! This is your fault!”

“Hmm. I did no such thing.” Kaidan shuffles away and Ashley scurries to grab a plate of cake and a couple more beer bottles to bring up to Joker up in the cockpit to get away from everyone for a moment. She just barely manages to see someone placing a party hat on Shepard and immediately thinks who did that is a dead man or woman. 

~~~~~~

Shepard currently finds himself alone in the mess. Everyone has either gone back to their post to work or gone to bed. Shepard sits against the cupboards, he is holding his model box in hand, inspecting the box and reading the description. A couple of empty beer bottles are at his feet, a freshly opened one beside him.

“It’s not going to bite you know.”

He looks up to find Ashley standing in front of him. 

“I know’” is all he says. He tilts his head slightly to his left, an invitation for her to sit next to him. She does. 

“You ran off pretty quickly there earlier. Everything alright?”

“Yeah.” She shuffles a little and gets comfortable. She leans her head against the cupboards. “So who’s the dead one?” she asks him. 

“Huh?” 

She points at the party hat. His eyes follow her fingers.

“Oh! Crosby.” 

“Is he cleaning head?”

“Oh, definitely on latrine duty for two weeks. He just doesn’t know it yet.”  Shepard chuckles.

Ashley snorts.

They fall into companionable silence for a while.

“So. Whose idea was this anyway?” Shepard finally asks her after a few moments.

“LT’s and mine. Ander-”

“Anderson told you guys about last year, didn’t he?” He finishes her sentence for her. 

Ashley chews on her bottom lip before nodding. 

Shepard sighs and gently puts down his box between his legs and reaches for his beer. He is just a little upset with Anderson now, but he knows the man only had good intentions in mind. He always does when it comes to Shepard, and Shepard knows this very well. Ever since they’ve known each other, Anderson always has his back. He is the closest thing to a father Shepard would ever have. 

“He said you haven’t celebrated your birthday long before he even met you…” She stops there. Shepard knows she is holding back what she wants to say.

He takes a good draft from his beer. He isn’t sure if it’s because he wants a drink or needs to calm his nerves for what he is about to say.

“I haven’t celebrated since the year my mother was -” He hesitates.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”

Shepard feels a sudden weight on his shoulders and something tickling his cheek.

His eyes dart to his shoulder and he sees Ashley had let her head fall onto his shoulder. He brushes the free strand of her hair away from his cheek and tucks it behind her ear, brushing her cheekbone with his fingertips as he does so.

“She was brutally murdered, you know. I was five. Watched the whole thing happen. He didn’t even know I was watching. Hidden inside my closet.” 

“Skipper, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.” Ashley wraps her arms around his closest to her and holds him close, tightly. She intertwines their fingers together. He doesn’t protest. 

“That was the last year we celebrated my birthday together. Wasn’t anything big, we didn’t have very much, but it was her and me and that was all that had mattered to me. Once you’re in a gang, you’re just a number to them. A tool. Birthdays don’t matter then.”

“But they matter to me. And you matter to me- us. So from now on we celebrate your birthday. Whether you like it or not.” She jams a finger against his bicep then goes back to hugging his arm.

“Hah! I guess I don’t have a choice in the matter?” Shepard chuckles.

“Nope. Not this time.” 

“That’s okay. I believe I have a few days left to plot my revenge?”

“You wouldn’t?!” She gasps slightly.

“You’re probably right.” Shepard shrugs nonchalantly as he takes his party hat off and slides it on Ashley’s head. He stares down at her plump lips and leans down toward her slightly. She tilts her head backwards, reaching out slightly, closing in on the distance. The smell of alcohol permeates the space between them as they inch closer and closer to each other. 

At the last second Ashley’s eyes widen just a fraction and she pulls away, red in the face. 

She clears her throat while she jumps to her feet. She rubs her hands on her fatigues as if to dust them off. Shepard notices the bit of nervousness coming from her. “I...er… I have some weapons to check out. I should get back to work. Wouldn’t want them to malfunction while on a mission. Sir.” She starts to walk away and takes the party hat off, holding it close to her chest. 

“Ash?” Shepard calls out and she stops dead in her tracks. She turns around to look at him.

“Sir?”

“Thanks, and... er… sleep well, Williams” His lips curl up into a shy grin.

“Happy birthday, sir.” She turns on her heels and makes her way toward the lift.

“Goodnight Williams.” He says more to himself than to her for she had already rounded the corner and no doubt was already in the lift making her way down to the cargo hold. 

From this prompt list!  Fic also available on AO3.

[florencemeivey]

I’m Proud of You (Chapter 3 of Somewhere Down the Line)

Several weeks passed before Shepard could begin to walk unaided. Even still, she was stiff, slow, and wobbly- she wasn’t storming battlefields any time soon. However, the hospital staff was pleased with her progress, and told her they would be discharging her soon. Shepard couldn’t wait, and her palpable excitement was an amusement to Garrus and the rest of her friends, who continued to visit individually when Shepard was not in therapy. 

Garrus had explained Shepard’s decision and the other options that had been available to her to the group while Shepard talked with Joker alone. Most of them, like Garrus, agreed that destruction was the best option. They sympathised with Joker, and understood his frustration; however, even the few who thought the other options were more attractive agreed that they were happy that Shepard was alive because of her choice, and none argued against her. 

“I could try talking to him for you,” Liara offered on one of her visits.

Shepard shook her head, and sipped the special asari tea Liara had brought for her. “No, don’t. I don’t want him angry at you, either.” She looked out the window and sighed. “It was my choice. And he has a right to be angry with me.”

Liara touched Shepard’s arm comfortingly. “Shepard, I’m sorry you ever had to make such a choice. I know it doesn’t help much, but I’m proud of you. We all are.” She smiled, a little sadly. “We will all miss EDI. But I think she’d be happy knowing her sacrifice meant the destruction of the Reapers.”

“I suppose we’ll never know.” Shepard replied, and Liara had no answer for this. Instead, she changed the subject.

“I’m sure you must be happy seeing Garrus again,” She said, a playful hint in her voice. “I know he was happy to see you. When we got the news, he practically ran from the Normandy to your hospital and shouted for them to let him see you.”

“That’s not true,” Garrus protested from his perch across the room, false indignation in his voice. “I walked at a perfectly normal pace, and when I got there, politely asked that I be permitted to see you.”

“Uh-huh,” Liara replied, smirking. “It didn’t help anyway. Only the immediate people helping you and the higher ups in the Alliance knew who you were. The poor receptionist must have been terrified out of her mind, a turian in the waiting room screaming about needing to see Commander Shepard.” 

Shepard cracked a grin and raised her eyebrows at Garrus. “Screamed huh?” 

“Well, I might have gotten a little loud there,” Garrus conceded. “But,” he added hastily. “What about you Liara? You certainly didn’t sit idly by.”

“Yeah, what about you, Liara?” Shepard said, turning to face her. “Something about telling my boss that Garrus was madly in love with me and needed to see me asap?”

Liara stuck her nose primly in the air. “I know nothing of the sort.”

Garrus rolled his eyes. “Sure, Madam Shadow Broker.”

Wrex and Grunt visited together. Shepard got the feeling that Grunt had become something of Wrex’s right-hand man. Furthermore, they both agreed that Shepard had done the right thing.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Wrex told Shepard, thumping her on the back. “Those pyjaks needed to be taken down.” He shoved some of the snacks he had supposedly brought for Shepard into his mouth. “‘Course, I would agree with whatever you chose. You cured the damn genophage! Joker will get over it.”

“I don’t know about that,” Shepard sighed. “He loved EDI.”

“Bah!” Was all Wrex had to say about the matter.

“Maybe we could find him a krogan girl,” Grunt volunteered. “She might break him, though.” He added, as an afterthought.

“That would certainly put a damper on their relationship.” Garrus remarked drily. 

“Anyways, how’s Bakara?” Shepard asked, changing the subject.

Wrex claimed more of the snacks. Talking with his mouth open, he replied, “Already bore our baby, a son! That’s why she couldn’t come, though she told me to tell you she’s happy you’re alive.”

“A son! Congrats, Wrex,” Shepard said, punching Wrex lightly in the arm. “What’s his name?”

Wrex scowled. “Mordin. Couldn’t talk her out of it. Still,” he admitted, “there are worse names. Like Grunt here.” He punched Grunt, who punched him back. “And he did help cure the genophage, even if he was a salarian.”

“To Mordin,” Garrus said suddenly, raising the glass of water he had been drinking.

“To Mordin,” Shepard echoed, raising her own glass.

“To Mordin!” Wrex and Grunt yelled, waving their snacks since they didn’t have a drink.

“I guess some salarians are okay,” Wrex mused, and the group continued their conversation, reminiscing on Mordin Solus and voicing hopes for the future of Urdnot Mordin. 

Kaidan, Steve, and Samatha visited as a group, representing the Alliance part of Shepard’s crew, besides Joker, anyhow. They brought along greetings from  Dr. Chakwas, who was busy directing the medical and recovery efforts, and Engineer Adams, who had decided to retire early after the excitement of the war. They also brought news; Donelly and Daniels had eloped!

“They’re on their honeymoon now,” Kaidan said, “But they wanted you to know that they knew you’d make it out alive, no matter what.” 

“They’re so cute together,” Samantha sighed. “I hope someday I can find a love like that.”

“There’s a lot of gay bars here in London,” Steve replied. “Most have been rebuilt by now. Maybe we could go together.”

“If Traynor doesn’t take you up on that, I might,” Kaidan told Steve. She might have imagined it, but Shepard thought she felt a flicker of something pass between the two men. However, it was quickly gone.

“Well, good for them,” Shepard said, smiling. She still remembered convincing Donelly to go for it, and catching the two in the sub deck. 

“It's too bad about EDI and Joker though,” Kaidan thought aloud, in an absent-minded tone. Steve elbowed Kaidan in warning, but it was too late. Shepard hung her head as the others looked on in worry.

“Yeah...it is.” Shepard murmured. Kaidan opened his mouth, perhaps to apologize, but thought better of it. For a moment there was only an awkward silence.

“Commander,” Samantha finally ventured, “Commander, you know how much I liked EDI. We all did. She was a part of the crew, even before she got a body. We made sure to put her name up on the Memorial Wall too.” She paused, then continued on softly, “She won’t be forgotten. Her sacrifice, and the sacrifice of all synthetic life, won’t be forgotten.”

Shepard looked away, and her crew gave her the time she needed. Finally, she spoke, in a voice that was admirably only a little strangled. “The first thing I do when I go back to the Normandy will be to visit the Memorial Wall. To honor EDI, Anderson, everyone on our crew who sacrificed their lives.” She paused, and managed a small smile. “And after, we’re going to throw the biggest celebration party this galaxy has ever seen.”

“Here, here!” Garrus intoned, placing his hand on Shepard’s shoulder. 

“Will it be anything like the Citadel party? Because I might need to work on my alcohol tolerance if so,” Traynor joked.

“Bigger than that,” Shepard replied, with a true grin breaking across her freckled face. 

“You know I’m down,” Kaidan said grinning. “And in the Normandy, there’s no neighbors to complain about the noise, this time.”

“And if we really want to feel the liquor, we can always turn the gravity off,” Steve added. 

The group laughed, and the conversation changed to a light-hearted discussion of the future party they all felt was much deserved and a long time coming.

Tali, on one of her visits, brought a gift. 

“I made these for you, Shepard,” she said, a little shyly, and deposited the gift in Shepard's lap. It was wrapped like a Christmas present, bow and all.

“Oh, uh, thanks Tali,” Shepard responded, a little taken aback. “It’s not even my birthday yet.” 

“Consider it a “Welcome Back From Your Coma” gift,” Tali told her, crossing her arms.

Shepard chuckled. “Ah, that’s better than a birthday anyhow.” She tore open the wrapping, noting with fondness the clumsy job that had been done. Wrapping was hard even for humans. Under the wrapping was a box, and when Shepard opened the lid, her breath caught in her throat. She pulled the gifts out of the box and held them in her palm. Sitting there were life-like miniatures of Legion and EDI.

“I know it’s not the same thing,” Tali began awkwardly, twisting her hands, “but I thought you might like them, for your cabin, once you come back. I made them myself. They feature tiny internal VI’s from the technology I managed to salvage and restore while stuck on the Normandy. I programmed them to replicate EDI and Legion’s individual personalities, as best as I could. If you press the button on the back, they speak.” 

Her hands feeling heavy, Shepard pressed the tiny button on miniature Legion’s back. His head light flickered on, and the unmistakable voice of Legion stated, “Shepard-Commander.” 

With an expression of wonder, she then pressed EDI’s button. Her small limbs moved to clasp her hands behind her back. “Commander Shepard, the Normandy is running at optimal capacity.”

Garrus gave a low whistle. “It’s like a blast from the past. You really outdid yourself, Tali.” 

“Yes you did,” Shepard agreed. She swallowed hard and turned to Tali, who looked nervous even though Shepard could not see her face. “Thank you,” Shepard told her, her voice heavy with sincerity. “I’ll treasure this forever.” 

“I wish I could bring the real ones back,” Tali replied, “but this is the best I could do.”

“It’s enough,” Shepard assured Tali. For a long time the trio sat and listened quietly to the two miniatures in Shepard’s palm, the ghosts of the past.

Miranda and Jacob came to visit a few times, and the last time, they came together, along with Brynn, and her and Jacob’s newborn baby.

“Carrie Hope Taylor,” Jacob announced proudly, as he placed the baby gently into Shepard’s arms.

“She’s beautiful,” Shepard remarked admiringly, rocking the sleeping baby girl. Garrus leaned over Shepard’s shoulder and traced his finger over the baby’s cheek, admiring the smoothness. 

“I can’t believe you looked like this at one time, Shepard.” Garrus said in wonder. “So small and...soft.”

“You look like a natural there, Shepard,” Brynn teased. “You both do.”

“Yeah, any little hybrid babies in your guys’ future?” Jacob asked with a grin. “Fatherhood is one of the best experiences in life,” He told Garrus. “It feels great.”

“Biology likely wouldn’t allow that,” Miranda stated bluntly. Then, seeing Jacob and Brynn’s face, added hastily, “But adoption would work for sure.”

Garrus and Shepaed exchanged a look, and Jacob and Miranda were astonished to see their tough former crewmates blush.

“Well, actually, we kind of talked about that before the final battle,” Garrus ventured. He looked at Shepard, then quickly looked away, his face plates tinted a deep blue. “Very briefly, though.” He added hastily. 

“I said the same thing as you Miranda, that adoption might be better. If, you know, the uh, “natural” way doesn’t work.” Shepard added, her voice getting quieter as she went on. A blush spread over her cheeks and up to her hairline, making her whole head appear red, as she looked anywhere other than Garrus. 

Jacob laughed out loud, crowing, “Shepard, Garrus, are you guys blushing?” Miranda didn’t laugh, but she still looked amused.

Brynn frowned at her partner, and smacked his arm to quiet him. “I think that’s very sweet, Commander. And I think you two will make lovely parents, however you happen to become them.”

Miranda shook her head. “You two as parents,” she murmured. “I never would have imagined.” She smiled then, though Shepard thought it looked a little sad. “I wish you luck. And Brynn is right; a child of yours would be lucky to be raised by you.”

Shepard and Garrus were touched. Shepard smiled up at Garrus, and offered baby Carrie to him. Gently, hesitatingly, he accepted the tiny human, and looked around at the surrounding humans for confirmation that he was doing it right.

“You’re a natural too, Garrus,” Brynn said admiringly. 

“I guess I need this practice, for somewhere down the line.” Garrus replied, but was gazing at Shepard as he spoke.

She gazed back, a smile on her face. “Somewhere down the line,” she confirmed. 

Kasumi, Zaeed, Samara, and Jack came together on their last visit before they left Earth once more.

“The code requires me to make the journey back to Thessia and assist however I can,” Samara remarked serenely from the table she was sitting on lotus style. “But I will see you again, Shepard, whenever I can.”

“They’re rebuilding the academy,” Jack piped up, as she leaned against the door frame. “Gotta go back and keep teaching those damn kids, they’d be lost without me. Besides, they need the extra biotic power to help patch that place back up.”

“I have work to do,” Kasumi volunteered, though she did not volunteer what the work was, and the rest of them knew better than to ask.

“I’m going to Omega,” Zaeed announced, “and I’m gunna get shit-faced drunk every day and end up in bed with an asari beauty every night.”

“Sounds like you’ll all be...very busy.” Shepard managed. Then she smiled, sincerely. “I’ll miss you guys.”

Jack made a heaving sound. “Eugh, Shepard, don’t go all Queen of the Girl Scouts on us!”

“Christ, Shepard, it’s not like we’ll never see you again,” Zaeed agreed. “I reckon there’s still plenty of stuff out there needs killing, and I reckon you’ll call on me an’ Jessie to come do it when the time comes.” 

“I think it’s sweet,” Kasumi argued. She turned to Shepard and gave her a bright smile. “I’ll steal plenty of stuff in your name!”

“So no one’s retiring except Zaeed, huh?” Garrus said.

“There is no ‘retiring’ in the code,” Samara responded calmly. “But I will make time for you Commander Shepard, whenever you have need of me.” 

“Who said anything about retiring?” Zaeed protested.

Shepard chuckled and shook her head. “Well, I’ll try not to take any of you from your work again.”

“Unless the Reapers have vengeful distant cousins.” Kasumi interrupted. She pondered. “The Weepers? The Creepers?...The….”

“Here’s hoping that’s not the case,” Shepard laughed, holding up a hand to stop Kasumi. “But we are talking about a party on the Normandy once I’m out of here, even better than the one on the Citadel, and you’re all invited. I hope to see you guys then.” 

“Hell, yeah,” Jack replied, “Just make sure you all learn how to hold your liquor this time. I don’t feel like piloting our asses home across the damn galaxy.”

“Bah, I’ve been drinking since before you all were a twinkle in your daddy’s eye,” Zaeed growled. 

“And I have been drinking well before any of you humans or your ancestors ever entered space,” Samara retorted serenely. 

“Rub it in, why don’t you,” Jack replied sarcastically. “I’ll be there, Shepard. Might not be as fun without certain death hanging over our heads, though.”

“I think I’m okay with that,” Shepard remarked drily.

The group passed the rest of the visit cheerfully comparing kills from the fight with the Reapers, and how the Normandy would need to be dry-docked for repairs once more, once their party was done. In Jack’s words: “We’re gonna tear that bitch up!”

Javik and James happened to come by late one afternoon when Shepard had just finished a tough but rewarding physical therapy session.

“I made it across the parallel bars by myself,” Shepard crowed. Then she looked a little embarrassed. “Never thought I’d be proud of doing something as simple as walking.”

“You should be, Lola.” James said, slapping Shepard’s leg. She winced a little, but James didn’t notice. “You beat the crap out of those pendejos, and you lived to walk another day. Not everyone gets to say that.” 

“I never thought I would see a day without the Reapers,” Javik said, looking out Shepard’s window.

“I imagine these past few months have been pretty surreal for you,” Shepard remarked gently.

“It is good to have closure, Commander. And it felt good to avenge my people.”

“What will you do now?” Garrus asked.

“What people all over the galaxy will do. What my people lost the chance to do. Live.” Javik answered. He turned towards the trio. “If you are asking about specifics...I do not know. I shall live and die surrounded by primitives.” He snorted, but then his expression softened. “Primitives who did what my cycle could not.”

“You’re welcome to stay on the ship as crew,” Shepard offered. Truthfully, she didn’t know what the Alliance had planned for her or the Normandy, but also knew damn well they weren’t grounding her again, or taking her ship. The Normandy and its crew were hers.

“I may do that,” Javik allowed. “I have decided I will help the asar...Liara with her book. To do so, I will go wherever she goes, at least until it is complete.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Shepard replied. “I think the galaxy will be very interested to hear directly from a prothean.” She turned to James. “What about you? Technically you’re not an officially recognized member of the crew, at least not by the Alliance.”

“Not yet I’m not,” James scoffed, “but I will be, just watch. I’m going to complete my N7 training, and then I’m going to apply to join you on the Normandy. You know there’s no Normandy without me, Lola.” He grinned cockily. 

Shepard clasped hands with James and shook firmly. “I’ll be happy to welcome you back,” she told him. 

James grinned, then got up and stretched. “Well, we better hit the road, Javier”

“I told you to stop calling me that.” Javick hissed back.

Garrus and Shepard laughed. “Javier?” Garrus queried. 

James shrugged. “It suits him.” He and Javik made their way out of the room, but at the door, James covertly signalled at Garrus to follow him.

“Oh, I meant to ask James something,” Garrus told a slightly bemused Shepard, before hurrying out of the room after James. He caught up to them further down the hall.

“You go ahead, Javier,” James called to Javik, who bared his teeth but didn’t respond.

When he had turned the corner, James turned back to Garrus. “So, I haven’t heard from you since you asked me about, you know.” He crossed his arms and eyed Garrus interestedly. 

“I’ve been waiting for the right moment,” Garrus replied sheepishly. “It’ll be soon, though. I’ve been waiting until she can walk again, and she almost can.”

“You got what I told you to get?” James quizzed. 

“I did,” Garrus confirmed. In fact, it was heavy in his pocket right at that moment; he hadn’t wanted to take it out in case the right moment suddenly appeared and he didn’t have it. 

James grinned and clapped Garrus on the arm. “Then you’re all set! I better be the first to know when it happens though, hear me?”

“Sure, Vega.” Garrus answered, and the two men exchanged the cozy smile of people sharing a very juicy secret.