Which Cheek?

“It's an incredible ship, Commander. I can see why you like it.”

“It is. What drink would you like?” Shepard asked, standing in Gardner's usual spot.

“Gin and tonic, please,” Adams replied, watching his former Commander pick out the drinks and pour.

“Double Vodka for me, plus a few shots!” Jack shouted as she came into the mess. Shepard didn't turn round to see Jack as he handed Adams his drink. He started to pour the vodka.

“Ah, Mother Russia,” Shepard said in a poor Russian accent as he finished the vodka. He moved to grab the shot glasses.

“Mother Russia?” Jack asked. Shepard looked up at her as he lined up the shot glasses. She had a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt on. She was becoming more conservative, it seemed. She had also clearly put some make-up on; or more likely, someone had put make-up on her.

“Where vodka comes from. What shots you want?” Shepard paused as he thought. “Adams, this is Jack. Jack, this is a member of the original Normandy's crew, Engineer Adams.”

“You were with Shepard when I met him earlier, weren't you? It's different to see you with less guns on your back.” Adams extended his hand.

Jack didn't take his hand and replied a little harshly: “Adams. Don't care what shots, just line 'em up.” Shepard shook his head before grabbing some random bottles and poured Jack some shots.

“She's a little angry. You'll get used to it.” Jack glared at him and Shepard just smiled back. She huffed, angry she couldn't get a reaction from him and downed her shots in turn.

“Not afraid of alcohol this one, is she?” Adams remarked, leaning against a cupboard near Shepard. Jack finished her shots quickly.

“You can drink, Jack,” Shepard said. “I'm impressed.” Jack gurned a little after she finished her shots and took a sip of her vodka, almost no reaction from it.

“You fucking bet I can. Let's hope this will actually get me drunk. I still need to see if I can out drink you, Shepard,” she replied.

“I'm not a great drinker. You'll beat me, I'm sure,” Shepard modestly responded.

Jack drank a little of her vodka. “I learnt fucking quickly never to think I was better than you. Until I beat you, I will assume you're a fucking good drinker.” More of the crew came in, many crewmen and women who usually populated the CIC: Patel, Hawthorne, Goldstein, Matthews, Jacob, Chakwas, Gardner and various Security. It took a while for Shepard to get them their drinks; there were around 45 of them, the lights and music starting up not soon after with a few presses on his omni-tool.

“Shepard.” The lone Turian on board was standing in front of the bar. He was out of his armour for once. In a simple suit he had seen many Turians wear. Shepard poured him a drink from one of the only Turian friendly drinks they had and handed it to him. Chakwas had labelled the bottles very clearly. “One for Joker too. He's on his way down now.” Shepard did as the Turian asked.

“How's your sister, Garrus?” Adams asked as Shepard put Joker's drink in front of Garrus.

“Good,” Garrus answered. He picked Joker's drink up as he took a drink of his own. His tone did not invite further questioning.

“This is the first time I've seen you out of your armour I think,” Shepard said. More of the crew came in: Grunt, Donnelly, Daniels, Thane, Kolyat, Barsil and Mordin with Joker behind him. “Adams go mingle. Donnelly and Daniels are my engineers, you've seen their station, go talk to them, or Chakwas. It's a party! Go have fun.”

“I guess... I am on leave,” Adams hesitantly answered. He clearly didn't go to many parties or the like. He walked off and Chakwas loudly greeted him, her brandy having made her a little more friendly than before. Shepard poured drinks ready for the krogan, the Drell and the Salarians. Garrus handed Joker his drink and then gave him a shoulder to lean on to take him to his seat.

“It's weird seeing you behind that, Commander,” Donnelly said as he came up to what doubled as the bar for the night. Daniels was talking to Patel near the table in the centre of the room.

“It's weird being behind it. What's your poison? And that of your partner in crime?” Shepard asked as he washed a glass with a wash cloth.

“Does that glass even need cleaning?” Donnelly asked as he decided.

“No, I just like to feel like I'm a bartender in one of the old vids,” Shepard replied, before putting the glass on the counter.

“Double brandy on the rocks. Vodka and cola for Daniels. She doesn't like ice,” Donnelly gave his drink order. Shepard smiled at his knowledge of Daniels’ drink order. He did as his Engineer asked of him and handed him the two drinks. Hadley entered with the asari, a look on her face of combined fear and wonder. Hadley brought her over to the bar. Hadley was wearing a smart suit and tie, Sharblu had clearly dressed to impress. She was wearing an asari dress that had been cut to show off her cleavage, her neck adorned with some simple yet stunning gold jewellery.

“So this is her then, Hadley. Pleasure to meet you, I'm John.” Shepard extended his hand over the counter. She hesitantly extended her arm and shook it. “What are you drinking?”

“Do you have any asari wine?” she asked.

“Of course. Hadley, what about you?” Shepard talked while he looked around for the wine she had asked for. It didn't take him long to find and he poured it into a wine glass for her.

“Beer for me,” Hadley said. “Commander, this is Sharblu. She's too shy to introduce herself. Also a little confused as to why the famous Commander Shepard is serving drinks! I'll explain later though.”

“No need to be shy, I don't bite. Anyone gives you trouble, come find me.” Shepard smiled as he handed her the wine, then found the bottle of beer to hand to Hadley.

“Thank you, Commander Shepard,” Sharblu's voice was stronger this time, less hesitant.

“Now go have fun. When your drink is empty, come back; we've got enough for about 400 people to get so drunk they'll forget their names.”

“Sure thing, Commander. I bet there's no one better at bar-tending than you!” Sharblu grasped his hand as Hadley led her off and he introduced her to many of the others.

“Grunt! Your drink is ready!” Shepard shouted as he saw Jack and Grunt squaring up to each other. They slowly separated and the krogan came over. He was still in his armour. Shepard slid him his drink. “Grunt, don't fight. This is a celebration. Cheer the fuck up.” Shepard raised his voice. “Jack you too!”

“You want me to calm down, you've got to fucking drink with me!” Jack shouted back.

“You don't get in a fight tonight, I'll get drunk with you the next 3 nights!” Shepard yelled back a challenge.

“Only if I get to join in!” shouted a voice Shepard recognized well. Shepard looked towards the voice to see Ashley, Miranda, Samara, Kasumi and Tali walking in, Ashley at the head of the group. Ashley was in a short black lace dress and high heels, the first one she had picked out during shopping that day. Her hair was slightly wavy, framing her face, a smile plastered across it. He loved seeing her with her hair down. Shepard was glad he hadn't seen her in it so far; his girlfriend looked incredible. Samara was in a low cut dress, the skirt long, almost touching the floor. She reminded Shepard why the asari were thought of as the sexiest creatures in the galaxy. Miranda was wearing a long red dress, tied over her left shoulder, her dark hair tied in a long ponytail over her right shoulder, her earrings shining in the light, the colour of her heels matching her dress.

Kelly was in the back of the group wearing a black dress, that hugged her figure and contrasted with her hair. Kasumi was not wearing her normal clothes, which Shepard had expected. She had a strapless light blue dress on, high on her shapely legs, the curve of the top showing off a little cleavage. She didn't have as much to work with as Miranda or Samara, but it didn't diminish her look. Her hair was a lot longer than Shepard had expected; it was softly parted on the side and it flowed down her shoulders, showing off the necklace she was wearing. Knowing her, it was probably an incredibly expensive piece she'd stolen from a billionaire. All of the four had bright red lips of the same scarlet shade. Tali wore her usual attire, except more brightly coloured, many of her clothes that were usually a grey or black now a scarlet red. All the eyes in the room were on them as they walked in like they were in a teen vid and the chattering had quietened down.

“If you can keep up, Ashley, let's get our fucking drink on!” Jack shouted back. She wasn't one for polite company. Thankfully, this was not polite company, this was a party of soldiers. Even the youngest there were classified as adults in their own culture. Shepard lined up a series of shots for the girls as they walked over. Grunt downed his drink. The talking started up again. Shepard could hear a lot of the guys talking about them, he did notice that Jacob's eyes still followed Kasumi.

“Another one, Battlemaster,” Grunt said.

“Ryncol is some harsh stuff, Grunt, you don't want to drink too much of it,” Shepard replied, pouring the drink anyway. He handed it to the krogan and turned to the girls who had found their way to the bar. Ashley came to his side of the bar and wrapped her arms around him before giving him a quick kiss. She smiled at him. “What's your poison, ladies?” Shepard asked, looking hazily at Ashley before shaking his head clear. He poured a Quarian friendly drink for Tali. “I'm assuming you want this, Tali,” Shepard stated as he held up the bottle for her, shaking it. Ashley's arms were round his chest now. Grunt moved away and Shepard saw him slap Garrus on the back before roaring in laughter at something Joker said.

“Thank you, Commander,” Tali said, the three fingers of her right hand wrapping around the glass. Shepard had seen Tali eat and drink before. It was still an odd thing to him. Not as odd as watching a Hanar eat or hearing Jack make a joke, but still odd. He almost didn't notice the smile that her voice betrayed.

“You're welcome, Tali. I like the changes to your suit that you've made. They look great. Much like the rest of you; if you went into battle like that we'd never have to shoot anyone.” Shepard thought for a second. “Well, bar Geth. They probably wouldn't be affected by it. Shall we test it out?”

“Let's not,” Miranda said, if Shepard didn't know her as well as he did he'd think she didn't appreciate his humour. “I'd like some champagne. Or some rosé.”

“I will have the same,” Samara added.

“Coming right up,” Shepard said before trying to move, finding Ashley holding onto him made this difficult. “Ash?” He could hear her mock disapproval as she let him move to get the champagne glasses and bottle. “Ash, Kasumi, Kelly, what drinks do you want?” He pressed the button on the champagne bottle, de-corking itself after he did so and allowing him to pour.

“I want you,” Ashley said as he poured the champagne into the two glasses. He was looking away from her towards the girls on the opposite side of the bar, but she still hit him after he rolled his eyes. He smiled and laughed a little bit. “I'll have a double vodka and cola. Heavy on the cola. A little ice too,” Ashley continued. When Shepard finished pouring the champagne, the glasses floated away towards the two biotics. They grasped their glasses and Miranda clinked hers with Samara. The asari looked at the former Cerberus agent in confusion. Shepard moved to grab another glass from another counter, the vodka and cola on the main one.

“Human thing,” Miranda said, not really explaining the meaning behind it.

“You do any cocktails?” Kasumi asked Shepard.

“Kasumi? Is that you?” Shepard mockingly leant forward and inspected her face. The mark on her lip gave away that it was Kasumi even if he didn't know beforehand. He proceeded to finish Ashley's drink with some ice cubes when he stopped the inspection. “I know a few, not many though. I don't do this often, remember?”

“We should have got an actual bartender in,” Ashley interrupted. “He might make better jokes too.”

“I apologize, Miss Williams, for not being the galaxy's greatest bartender.” Shepard handed her the finished drink. Ashley took her beverage and leaned against the counter behind him as she started to sip it. “Kasumi?”

“Do you know the Citadel Sunrise?” Kasumi responded after a short pause.

“Vodka, orange juice, black aftershock and blue syntho, right?” Shepard replied, picking out the supplies.

“Very good, Commander,” Kasumi confirmed. “Vodka first, then the orange juice, the blue syntho and black aftershock at the same time.”

“Can I have one too?” Kelly asked.

“Of course, Kelly. It's good to see you out of the hood, Kasumi. You should do it more often,” Shepard said before lowering his voice. “Jacob can't keep his eyes off you.” Kasumi smiled broadly. Shepard poured the drink.

“Really?” the thief asked, not turning around.

“Really. I'm not surprised though, I can barely keep my eyes off you,” Ashley admitted. “I think we did nicely when shopping today.”

“I think you did,” Shepard stated, focused on pouring the aftershock and syntho. “I like the way it doesn't combine.” He looked up and handed Kasumi her drink. She took it in an elegant hand and lifted it to her lips to take a sip. Shepard started making Kelly's cocktail.

“Is he still looking?” Kasumi asked, as casually as she could. Miranda, Samara and Tali had been making quiet conversation just next to them and Shepard nodded in the affirmative. “Good.” She continued to sip at her drink.

“Everyone's here now, right?” Shepard wondered out loud, straining his neck to see everyone. “Yeah, except Legion. Where is...he?” Shepard asked, to no one in particular.

“He's by the elevator. Wants to stay out of the way of the party as much as he can,” Tali stated. Shepard handed Kelly her finished cocktail.

“Thank you, well girls, are you going to have these shots or not?” Shepard asked, pouring himself a glass of cola. “Jack! Come here. Tali, here's yours.” Shepard took the black one in hand and gave it to her. The rest were clear. Shepard walked around to the stairs with his glass in his hand and loudly cleared his throat. He put the glass down on the floor next to the stairs and pressed buttons on his omni-tool. The music stopped. Everyone turned to look at him and he bent down to pick his glass up.

“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, I'd just like to say a few things before continuing.” A lot of heads strained out from where the big table was, the partition obscuring lots of views. Many more standing around to the sides of the room. Shepard looked at all the assembled people; the vast majority humans; with some asari; salarians; a turian; quarian; krogan and he knew somewhere close by, listening; a geth. “First of all, thanks for being here. The Citadel has a lot of things to see and places to be, yet you all choose to be here. I appreciate that, current and former members of my crew, guests and everyone. Secondly... bar Grunt you are all dressed incredibly. It's good to be able to see you all off-duty. Tonight, there is no thinking about tomorrow. Nothing about the future, we shall just have a great night, fun and games. Tomorrow, we shall think about then. So enjoy yourselves, don't spoil anyone else's night and get drunk.” Shepard raised his glass. “To tonight.”

“To tonight!” All the humans in the room, as well as Tali and Garrus, raised their glasses into the air. The rest looked confused at the human tradition. Shepard pressed a few buttons on his omni-tool again, a little awkwardly as he still had his glass in his hand. The music started up again, as well as the lights over the empty space in front of the stairs where there used to be a table, moved next to the stairs by the medical bay. Shepard moved back to the bar, drinking his cola, watching the girls take their shots, then move past him.

“There's no alcohol in that, is there?” Ashley asked, as the other girls sat down at the empty table by medical bay.

“Nope, there isn't,” Shepard confirmed.

“Isn't it a little childish to just have cola then?”

“I don't think so. Hell, if it is, I could use a little childishness.” He downed the rest of his drink before refilling it. “Yours OK? I didn't put poison in it, did I?” he smiled at her as he poured his drink into his glass.

“It's good. It's pretty difficult to ruin vodka and cola. I'm not sure even you could make this deadly.” He left his glass on the counter once he'd filled it. He took hold of her free hand and pulled her to him, one hand on her lower back as his other grasped her hand, her drink arm held to the side of them. He started to dance a little with her, making her laugh slightly. “What are you doing, Skipper?”

He stopped and then let her go. “Go have fun, Ash. I do owe you a few drinks though. There were three years I didn't celebrate Armistice Day with you.”

Ashley smiled at him. “You were dead, I can forgive you that.”

“Still, I'd like to. Now go, go catch up with Chakwas, Adams, Joker. Make friends. Get drunk. Tomorrow, you and I are spending all day together, so don't worry about me tonight.”

Ashley put her drink down on the counter and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, their foreheads against each other. His hands rested on her hips. “Just because we're spending all day together tomorrow, doesn't mean I don't want to spend time with you tonight. You had better come and dance with me later.”

“Oh I'd better, had I? I...” Ashley cut his voice off with a kiss. It deepened before someone cleared their throat, loudly.

“Can I have a drink, Commander?” Dr. Chakwas stood at the counter. She was definitely saving that outfit for a special occasion. Chakwas had aged very well.

“Of course,” Shepard said, removing his hands from Ashley's hips and she stepped away, her arms no longer around his neck. “Brandy, right?”

“You remember well.” Shepard smiled, his lips lightly covered in Ashley's lipstick. He rolled his eyes as soon as he felt it. He quickly found a glass and the brandy then started to pour before jumping a little as he felt a hand lightly smack his ass. Ashley kissed his cheek, then moved round from behind the counter.

“See you for the dance later, Skipper.” Ashley walked off, steady on her heels this time. Shepard watched her as he poured the brandy and she turned around to smile at him as got to the girls' table before joining in their conversation. He looked back to realise he'd filled Chakwas glass almost to the point of overflowing.

“Er, sorry. At least you won't have to come back for a while,” Shepard said, handing her the drink.

Chakwas smiled broadly at him. “It's good to have her back, isn't it?” Chakwas turned around as she talked to look towards who she was talking to.

Shepard picked up his drink. “It's not for as long as I'd like...but it's great to have her back.”

“Good,” Chakwas said. “Thanks for the drink, Commander.” She walked off to sit down with Joker. Soon after people started to move to the dance floor, various people coming to the bar for a drink. They would usually find Shepard leaning against the counter behind him, smiling at the increasingly drunken antics. Watching Ashley dancing with Kasumi, Miranda, Samara, Tali and Kelly was a sight for sore eyes. They all looked incredible. Tali may have still been in her suit, but Shepard had realised a long time ago it did nothing to diminish her sex appeal. When the song changed, they came to the bar. Shepard poured Tali's drink before they reached the bar and then began to pour the champagne for Miranda and Samara.

“Commander, we're not here for our drinks. We're here to make sure you join in,” Tali said, as firmly as she could when talking to Shepard.

“Not for the moment girls, maybe later,” was his response, still pouring the drinks. He got all he needed for the cocktails Kasumi and Kelly were drinking and began to pour them. He knew Ashley and Tali were making their way to his side of the bar, but he made no effort to change this. He just poured his drinks.

“One dance, Commander.”

“Come on Skipper... one dance, that's all we ask.” Ashley added as Shepard continued to pour the drinks. He didn't respond, just moving around the bar as he finished the cocktails and then poured Ashley's drink. Miranda and Samara sipped at their champagne as the rest began to pout at Shepard's infuriating patience. He finished making Ashley's drink and handed it to her. She took it before placing it on the bar, taking his hand and pulling him onto what had become the dance floor for the night. Shepard didn't resist and they followed her onto the dance floor, their drinks back on the bar. They started to dance almost immediately, Shepard's style simple as ever.

“It's been a long time since we've danced together, Ash.” Shepard had to lean in to Ashley's ear to say it as he attempted to dance, the music much louder over here. “Last time was Flux before Ilos. Do you remember?”

“How could I forget?” she almost shouted back. “I still have more moves to show you.”

“I look forward to it.” Shepard smiled, while they all danced. He looked around to see everyone else dancing. Samara looked a little forced with her dancing, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. He was extremely happy to see Tali enjoying her dancing and she seemed pretty good at it, although she had nothing on Kasumi. She moved with a grace that Shepard wasn't surprised by, with her talent for thieving. He hadn't expected it to be so apparent on the dance floor though. Ashley drew his attention back to her as she did some moves that impressed him. He smiled at her during her dance, looking at him while she moved. They had both almost forgotten about the rest of the room before the song came to an end. He kissed her in the lull between songs.

“That's your dance.” Ashley pulled him close and whispered breathlessly in his ear: “Later... we are doing a different dance.” Shepard hardened under his trousers as he knew exactly what kind of 'dance' she had in mind. He smiled broadly, hugging her tightly before turning to walk back to the bar which now had a decent number of people waiting for drinks. One or two had poured their own. Shepard took orders and gave people their drinks quickly.

“You do good in my position, Sir,” Gardner said as he came up to order his drink.

“I do my best, Gardner. What's your drink?”

“Beer, Commander.”

“Coming right up,” Shepard responded. He grabbed a bottle out of cold storage, opened it, and handed it to the Mess officer. “Can you find out for me if Joker or Ellis wants a drink? I'll bring it over.”

“Sure, Sir.” Shepard didn't want anyone to call him Sir or Commander that night but wasn't going to admonish people for doing so. Gardner walked off and asked the two sitting around the table, before nodding the affirmative. The Spectre had remembered their orders and made them their drinks.

“I think you missed your calling, Shepard, no better bartender in the galaxy!” Joker said as loudly as he could so Shepard might actually hear it as he was coming over.

“I think you missed it too, Joker, you should be a comedian!” Shepard responded as he put down the drinks. “How are you, Ellis? Are you enjoying yourself?” He knelt down next to one of his many navigation personnel.

“I'm fine, Sir, thank you. The party has been good so far, I like this song,” she answered his questions. “I'm only two months pregnant Sir, not eight. Still mobile, still OK, no need to coddle me.”

“She told me I was the best she ever had, Shepard. I think you should get her away from me, I might get hurt!” Joker added, trying to lighten the mood.

“That's not the only time someone's lied to you, Joker,” Shepard quipped as he stood up.

“Oh, ouch. I'm so hurt I might be getting broken bones just from your dangerous, razor sharp wit,” Joker replied, jokingly doubling over to emphasis his joke.

“If you need anything, Ellis, anything at all. Just come find me,” Shepard ignored Joker, before squeezing her shoulder and walking off. He looked at the dance floor, Kasumi and Kelly strangely conspicuous in absence. Ashley was still there, dancing with Tali, Miranda and Samara though Chakwas had joined them, along with Adams. Jack was waiting at the bar.

“So Shepard, you enjoying this party? It's never as fun when sober... or when fighting. Drunk fighting is the fucking best.”

“Not drunk angry fucking is the fighting best?” Shepard asked as he took his place behind the counter. “What can I get you, Jack?”

“I want to ask you something, Shepard. It's about those scars...” Shepard's face didn't change much. If it was Ashley though, she would have noticed.

“What do you want to know?” He made Jack's drink as he talked. He added some mixer this time.

“Where'd you get them?” She leaned on the counter.

“I've got a lot of scars Jack, so many places.” He knew he didn't actually answer her question. He put her drink on the counter next to her.

“It's just, I never thought you would. I don't know why, but when you changed into your armour this morning and I saw all those scars on your back... I can't get it out of my fucking head. Where'd you get them?”

“Training, fighting, getting shot, getting knifed, getting scratched, some...”

“Getting scratched? Getting fucking scratched, really?”

Shepard actually laughed. “You've never fought a Rachni or a Thorian Creeper.”

Jack looked confused. “What the fuck are they?” She stood up and took a gulp of her drink.

“Thorian Creepers... are some fucking weird creatures. Rachni are an ancient insectoid race. Don't let them scratch you. It hurts.” Shepard took a swig of his own.

“Are there not any you remember exactly where you got them?” Jack was so interested Shepard couldn't just wave her off or deflect her like he would have done usually.

“How many can you remember?”

“Most of them. Half of them are from those fucking Cerberus ass-holes doing shit with me as a kid. Most of the rest were from fighting, the scar on the back of my left leg was on Purgatory. You know when you recruited me? I've got a fucking massive scar on my shoulder from Illium, another in my stomach from there, one on my thigh from Tuchanka,” Jack was looking up at the ceiling as she spoke, thinking heavily on the current subject. She clearly wasn't sober; Shepard was quite impressed at her drunken memory. “Do you want the entire list?”

“Maybe some other time.” Jack took a drink as she listened to his reply. Shepard ran a hand over his short hair, before scratching the back of his head. “The ones I know of on my back, one was from Eden Prime. One of the long ones on my back was from Feros. There's another on my leg from there. Another was from training, one from Virmire. I don't know if there's any more from since then. I don't like to check. I know there's a lot of random scars everywhere else that came from me dying, I don't know how many of them were from the collector attack or from the work Cerberus did. I had enough scars before and I've been shot enough afterwards.”

“Touchy subject?” She clearly possessed more actual tact than she usually used.

“I'd say so. It's good to have you actually interested in something though, Jack. That isn't murder or sex. Do you really want to know more about them?”

“Fuck no!” Jack immediately responded.

“Jack, a word of advice: when answering a question like that, don't answer it so quickly. It gives away how much you want to know.” Shepard had leaned forward as he said that. Jack was about to respond when she saw Thane walking to the bar.

“Am I interrupting?” Thane asked as he got close, noticing they had stopped talking.

“No,” Jack simply stated.

“May I have another drink, please?” Thane asked Shepard.

“One for Kolyat, too?” Shepard replied.

“Yes.” Shepard poured their drinks.

“Sorry that we don't have a big selection of Drell friendly drinks.” Shepard handed Thane the two glasses. “How is Kolyat?”

“This is the drink I would have chosen anyway, Shepard. Thank you. Kolyat is fine. His wound is almost fully healed.” Thane turned to walk back towards his son, talking to Mordin and Barsil, laughing heavily. The boy had clearly lightened up, maybe it was the alcohol.

“You're the poster boy for the Alliance, for humanity, hell, for the fucking Council. Your picture is all over the extranet. You have this reputation as impervious to harm, built like a God, so good you shit on all the other Spectres out there. It's just...I never thought someone like you would have as many scars as me. Hell, you've probably got fucking more,” Jack said after she was sure Thane was out of ear shot. Her glass was now empty and Shepard noticed, turning around to get the necessary drinks to rectify that.

“I don't know how many I have, Jack. I may have more than you, I may not. I've been wounded a lot of times. Sometimes I haven't even noticed. Most of them I don't even notice any more. Some...Some I never fail to.”

“Like what?” he heard her ask behind him. Shepard turned around to find her still alone at the bar and he replenished her glass. She was leaning forwards, genuinely interested.

“There are three I always remember.” He showed her his left palm. “One of my trainers, in the Special Forces program. Put a knife through my palm. They didn't do it for training purposes, they didn't do it because it was to teach a lesson. Turns out he was jealous that I was better than him. Next time he tried to do that, I broke his arm. It taught me that just because someone has a rank, doesn't mean they deserve it.” Shepard seethed at that. He clearly did not like the guy.

“The other two?” Jack asked.

“It's an entry and exit wound on my thigh. I got it the first time someone died under my command. The third...” Shepard paused, “is incredibly mundane. It was simply a cut I got on the first Normandy after we defeated Saren. It reminded me that I am only human, I should never forget that. Being successful at anything isn't going to happen if you just assume you're going to be successful. You've got to work hard and try your best. Focus, train and think, then anything is possible.”

“I was expecting a massive fucking story about how you defeated some Mafia organisation on your own with nothing but a pen-knife and some cheese! Not something as small as that,” Jack replied.

“Sometimes you need something boring to remind you what is unusual, exciting, different,” Shepard replied.

“You get that from a fucking fortune cookie or something?”

“I should start selling those. If that VI is any indication, I'll make a lot of money.”

“You are a strange motherfucker, Shepard.” Jack said, just before the song ended. The sounds of chatter were all that filled the mess, before another song started and quite a few people started to come to the bar.

“Drinks please, Commander Shepard!” One of the security guards loudly emphasised each word, his hand raised as he talked before it slammed down on the counter, setting the rest off to start talking to each other loudly. Shepard didn't bother asking for their orders; he could remember them, all twelve, most of them doubled over laughing at someone's joke.

“You've got a good memory on you there, Commander,” Adams said as he came back to the bar, Chakwas next to him.

“I do my best, Adams,” Shepard was handing over bottles as he spoke, before pouring some more drinks.

“Shots please, Sir!” A navigation officer slurred slightly, clearly the round of shots earlier had taken its toll, at least to a small extent. She leant forward and rested her hands on the counter. Shepard was happy to give them their shots and as he finished pouring their main drinks, the Spectre playing bartender fished out some more shot glasses.

“I'll take one of them too,” Adams added as Shepard placed the 12th shot glass down. Shepard found another and placed them in a row, before filling them.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, if you haven't met him already, this is Adams. Chief Engineer on the first Normandy and today, your drinking buddy. Introduce yourselves,” Shepard said as he finished pouring the shots, his staff stopping their conversations as he spoke.

“Adams!” The group all cheered in unison, their shot glasses in their hands. They all downed them together, the usual slight retching sound accompanying it shortly after and they moved slowly to the tables that had been set up in the empty space at the front of the medbay. Shepard and Jack were once again the only two at the bar.

“Are you OK, Jack?” the Spectre asked as he started to clean the counter, before throwing the cloth over his shoulder. She was leaning against the bar, nursing her drink and staring at the wall behind her Commander.

“What?” She looked at him as she registered his question. “Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Shepard.”

“Are you trying to convince me, or you?”

“No,” she answered instantly. “I mean, neither.”

Shepard smiled at her reply. “There's no one else here, Jack. If you don't want to talk, you don't have to but it will stay between you and I should you choose to do so. You have my word.”

“It's nothing, Shepard.” Jack stood up and the wry, dangerous smile she occasionally wore spread across her face, albeit a little forced, before she downed her drink. “Another fucking drink!” She stood up, a little too straight to be serious. He shook his head, a sly smile on his face as he poured her another drink, their lack of conversation covered by the loud music and the conversations running through the mess. Joker swearing in the back ground, someone telling an obscene joke and various people laughing or singing along to the song.

He slid her the drink and then sat back on the counter behind him. She took it, before wandering off and sitting down at the table where Ashley, Tali, Miranda and Samara now sat. Jacob and Kasumi were nowhere to be seen, Kelly now sitting next to Garrus at the table with Joker, Grunt, Ellis and some of the other girls from the CIC. Thane, Kolyat, Mordin and Barsil were standing on the far side of the table. The dance floor had become a little empty, but there were still a few of the security and CIC staff were still there, dancing and laughing. It all seemed to be going well. The bartender smiled before cleaning the counter again, realising it was unnecessary and leaning back against the counter.

Time seemed to speed up, people coming to the bar, dancing, laughing, joking and smiling. Kasumi and Jacob had come back, joining in the party once more. Kelly and Garrus danced once together, somehow Daniels had convinced Donnelly to dance with him while the dance floor was packed but Shepard could see they were closer than necessary. Ashley was with Tali, Miranda and Samara, who seemed to have become a group for the night's festivities. People doing shots, getting drinks and Shepard was really enjoying not being 'Commander Shepard' for a night; most of them had even taken to start calling him ‘barkeep’. He doubted it would last, but it was a nice change nevertheless.

People would come over, some would try to convince him to start drinking before they remembered who they were trying to convince and did their own drinking. Ashley would kiss him and he could taste the alcohol on her lips and her tongue, before she whispered what she would do to him when they were back upstairs. Once or twice he told her he wasn't sure he could wait that long and may have to take her behind the counter where everyone would see, because she looked so good in that dress. Neither were genuinely that adventurous, so Ashley would kiss him and Shepard would feel her squirm as she did so before she walked off a little unsteadily, a combination of her arousal and the alcohol affecting her legs.

When everyone had taken drinks, creating a lull at the bar, he would clean his bar or wander round and make sure people were enjoying themselves. About the only one not drunk, apart from Shepard, was Ellis. He would ask if she had everything she wanted and she would always reply in the affirmative. The Spectre was enjoying the party; it made him smile knowing everyone was having a great time. Hours passed and people started to drink less as they reached their limit. Jack had started off drinking heavily and continued, the effects of the alcohol only just showing themselves physically. Shepard had noticed Ashley, Tali, Miranda and Samara had paced themselves, even while they talked to everyone else, their collective pace very similar. A few had disappeared looking like they would vomit.

“The strength of alcohol is something medical science has never managed to overcome. Although if it had, would anyone still drink it?” Shepard thought, counting how many had disappeared. Of some sixty crew, plus four guests who had come to the party, thirty-five remained. Shepard had included Ashley in the crew, whether he realised or not. The music was still loud, the lights still changing, people still dancing underneath them but a lot less energetically than before. The party was slowly coming to an end, those who had not had too much alcohol beginning to tire. The music ended and Ashley wandered over, her legs steady once more.

“Hey Skipper, you throw a good party. Who knew these Cerberus guys could drink?” Shepard was on the dance floor side of the bar, leaning against it, so Ashley took his hand and pulled him up. “Can you put something slower on?” she asked before she gave him a quick kiss and hugged him. Shepard wrapped his arms around her and pressed buttons in his omni-tool behind her back.

“Sure,” he said as the music started once more, a much slower piece. She separated from him and pulled him onto the dance floor, pulling his arms and hands into place on her for an old-fashioned dance. Others around them did the same: Hadley tried to teach Sharblu it, both of them laughing as they did so. Kasumi and Jacob, Kelly and Garrus, even Adams and Chakwas, among other couples now on the dance floor. Ashley and Shepard looked into each other's eyes as they danced slowly, slowly turning together, but not really moving from the one spot. They didn't realise it, but most of the eyes in the room were on them. The song ended and others left the dance floor to find their way back to their seats but as the new song started, the couple at the centre of attention continued to dance. No words passed between them for a good twenty minutes as they danced, Ashley occasionally resting her head on Shepard's shoulder, their hands gripping each other’s. Shepard yawned once and realised how long they had been dancing before he scanned the room, finding it far more barren than it had been before. They hadn't noticed it but most of the people had left, secluded corners all over the ship occupied.

“This is a first for me,” Shepard said as he stopped moving. Ashley raised her head from the crook of his neck, to look at him, puzzled. “I've never danced quite like this.”

“Same,” She smiled at him before reaching her hand into his hair and pulling him in for a kiss which quickly turned more than passionate. Shepard could feel himself responding a little too eagerly and broke as he did so.

“I think this is not the time or place for this,” Shepard almost whispered but she heard him. They separated before scanning the room. Kasumi and Jacob were still at the table by the medbay, talking, laughing, Miranda and Samara at the big table deep in conversation. Tali was standing at the bar, twiddling her fingers, looking at the floor. Shepard took Ashley's hand and almost pulled her over towards the quarian, although she was more than willing. “Are you OK, Tali?” he asked quietly, so she turned her head towards his and stood up.

“I'm fine, Commander,” Tali said, her voice strong but wavering. The Spectre could tell something was wrong.

“What's wrong?” It was almost not a question. Her head tilted and her shoulders sagged.

“Where am I meant to sleep? It's er...it's kind of occupied.”

“Occupied? Occupied by...oh.” Shepard realised what she meant a little too late.

“You can come and stay with us tonight, Tali,” Ashley interrupted. Shepard looked at her and Ashley's smile was broad.

“No...it's OK, I don't want to be a burden,” Tali replied, still twiddling her fingers.

“It's no trouble. Is it, skipper?”

“Of course not, we've got lots of room,” Shepard replied, quite annoyed he wouldn't get to ravish Ashley. He had been looking forward to it all night, the way she danced and the dress... He had wanted to do it when she first walked in.

“Are you sure?” Tali asked, with a little hint of excitement.

“Yes,” Ashley replied. “Definitely sure.” Ashley started to move towards the elevator, taking Tali with her. “Meet you up there, skipper?” Shepard smiled before pulling her to him kissing her and hugging her.

“What have you two got planned?” Shepard asked.

“Us, plans?” Ashley's tone was mischievous. Shepard smiled and shook his head before kissing her again and letting go of her.

“I'll be up in about ten minutes, just got to clear up a few things here.” She pinched his ass before she separated and walked towards Tali. She put her arm around the Quarian's shoulder and they whispered to each other as they walked towards the elevator. The Spectre gathered together all the glasses that were unused, only six people left there meant many unused glasses. They were all washed quickly, advanced technology not reserved just to weapons and medicine.

“Cleaning up, Commander?” Jacob asked as he took glasses from the table that he and Kasumi were the sole users of.

“Someone's got to do it. Shouldn't take long, it's not like I do much of it.”

“Don't worry, Commander, we'll do it tomorrow.”

“This party is for all of you. If you guys have to clean it up, it doesn't really make it for you.”

“Shepard, leave it to us. You've done enough. It was a good party,” Kasumi responded. He reached for a glass again and she took it before he could. “Shepard, stop.” He stood up with the glasses in his hand, yawned before nodding.

“I am pretty tired. I guess it can wait until morning.” Shepard moved across to the bar and put the glasses in the washer. “Fuck it,” he muttered under his breath. “Good night everyone, hope you enjoyed the party!” he said loudly, after stopping the party lights, just dimming the normal lights, turning off the music too.

“’Night, Commander,”

“Goodnight Shepard,”

“Sleep well,” came the replies as he walked to the elevator. Legion was standing quietly between the crew quarters and life support.

“Any trouble, Legion?” Shepard asked as he pressed the button for the elevator.

“No, Shepard-Commander. There were no incidents. Just your former engineer was extremely nervous when he saw us.”

“Expected, so thanks, you did a great job tonight.” The doors to the elevator opened. “If you want to go back to the AI core, you can.”

“We shall. Goodnight, Shepard-Commander,” Legion said as Shepard stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for his cabin.

“Goodnight, Legion.” The journey seemed to take longer than usual. He was a little tired and anxious, although looking forward to...bed less than before. When the doors opened he walked out, the lobby of the deck as empty and silent as always, the only sounds his footsteps as he walked to his door and put his hand to the pad to open it.

“It's fine, you don't have to if you don't want to,” he heard Ashley say as he walked in, unbuttoning his jacket.

“I do want to, it's just, I'm nervous...Oh hi, Shepard,” Tali said, poking her head round from the sofa.

“Nervous about what?” Shepard asked, sitting down at his terminal and checking his messages. There was one from Liara, congratulating him on his new-found wealth, as well as some intel on Balak Hammer. He heard some whispering between them and couldn't make out what they were saying.

“Nothing you need to know about. What messages are you checking?” Ashley responded.

“This and that.”

“Ah, very mysterious.”

“I do my best.”

“Are you tired?” Ashley asked, a hint of apprehension and hopefulness in her voice.

“Yes, I am, I have a few things to check though. You two OK sharing the bed?” Ashley's head popped up over the opening where so many model ships rested, clearly having changed from her dress.

“It's your bed! We should be on the sofa,” Ashley said, completely unsurprised at his chivalry.

“Yes and no. There's some spare blankets and stuff in here, I can sleep on the sofa or the floor.” Shepard's fingers fluttered over the computer's controls, sending a few reply messages. Occasionally pausing as he read one.

“Are you sure?” Tali asked as her suit poked itself out next to Ashley's.

“Of course,” Shepard looked at Tali as he replied. “Get settled in, I'll get some sleep later.”

“Come on then Tali, let's get in bed together!” Ashley replied, mock seductively. “We should have fun! You've got to be better than him.” She laughed before pulling Tali towards the bed and Shepard could hear ruffling of the bed sheets, as well as quiet whisperings, far more serious than before. Shepard continued to press buttons on the holopad, his reading on the intel creating lulls in the quiet noise of button pressing. He re-read his portfolio, moved some funds around, checking extranet control of his companies and prepared to be able to show his crew his new-found wealth. Shepard found his eyes heavy and realised how tired he was. He took off his shoes and found his way to the storage space, watching Ashley with Tali under the covers, silent and still. He undressed before bedding was quickly brought out and Shepard dragged himself onto the sofa, pulling the covers over him.

“Well, that was an interesting night,” Shepard thought to himself as his eyes closed. It took him a while to fall asleep. Visions of the darkness of space littered the back of his eyelids. Despite his tiredness, it took him an hour to sleep. These nights were rare now, but they did still happen. He heard Ashley make a little noise in her sleep and he smiled, before sleep overcame him.

*^*



The alarm sounded loudly and Shepard turned around, crowds all around the plaza running in different directions. He stopped a uniformed officer to ask what was going on.

“We're being attacked! Get inside somewhere! The targeting centres for the defence platforms are in this sector, they're going to attack here! Get out of here!”

“I am a soldier in the Alliance, where's the nearest armoury?” The officer steeled himself before pointing him towards the opposite side of the plaza. The strong thud of banks of anti-aircraft guns starting up.

“That direction, second left, there's a base there. It's the headquarters for the Alliance on Elysium, they have weapons and they'll know what to do with you there,” The officer ran off past Shepard as the short-haired N7 trainee starting moving in the direction he was pointed. The clothes he was wearing were not built for combat, but he could run in them just fine and he needed to; there were a lot of things to get around, flower beds, seating and kiosks. People almost bounced off him as they ran in all directions and as he got to the other side, the plaza was all but clear. Doors were shutting and people were hiding all along the roads as he ran past. Explosions started to sound out as the first shots landed. He could see the invading fleet in the skies above and an explosion nearby knocked him to his feet, along with three asari. He was up quickly, checking on them, all of them still breathing.

“Are you able to walk?” he asked them all, loudly as he checked the pulse on one of them. One of the blue-skinned aliens tried to stand up but even with no visible wounds, collapsed as her knees buckled underneath her. “I will take that as a no.” Shepard moved over to her and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. “Are you two OK?” The AA guns were now a consistent periodical noise.

“I think so,” one spoke, looking at her friends who both stood up, clearly not using a translator, yet her English was just fine.

“Good, where are we going?” Shepard asked, looking around, ducking slightly at another explosion further away.

“We're staying at the local Systems Alliance base,” she said, dusting herself off. “It's just around the corner.” She waited there for a second, her and her friend catching their breath. The asari over Shepard's shoulder was quiet as he turned to start moving in the direction he had been before.

“We'd better be quick.” Shepard's stride was long and purposeful as the asari broke into a run ahead of him, a few civilians and cars speeding both ways along the road he was on, ducking occasionally as some of the cars flew too low. The base was a short walk from the main road, the turn barely necessary. The guard gate pointed his gun at them before the asari pointed out they were council liaison personnel, not a part of the large Elysium non-human population. She handed him her credentials and they went inside.

“Who are you?” the guard spoke as Shepard got close to him, his gun pointed firmly at Shepard's head. It had the desired effect and he stopped.

“He's a guy who helped Naleena up,” the confident asari had said.

“My name is John Shepard, I'm an Alliance marine,” Shepard spoke, re-positioning Naleena on his shoulder. “I was told to come here to help.” The guard spoke into his communicator, before speaking loudly to Shepard.

“What's your service number?”

“5923-AC-2826,” Shepard had clearly had to state it a lot. The guard repeated it into his radio, before clearly getting a reply and lowering his weapon.

“Get inside. Lieutenant Kennedy wants to talk to you. Get her in the infirmary and get to the HQ. It's unmissable,” the guard told him, Shepard nodding in response before actually looking at the compound as the gate was raised, the enormous building there clearly the aforementioned headquarters. He followed the asari to the infirmary through a throng of purposeful soldiers with technicians and left Naleena there, the doctors and nurses rushing to help her.

“Thank you, John Shepard. I am Vailia. This is Yiasa. If we survive this, we'd like to thank you for helping us.” Vailia smiled before they ran out of the infirmary away from the HQ, the opposite direction to which he found himself marching in. The doors were open and he didn't need to say much to be pointed in the direction of Lieutenant Kennedy, many soldiers moving against him in the corridors. Some were in their allotted positions for the raid, others had just put on their gear, although many followed him in having returned from their downtime. He turned a corner and walked through a door into an operations room, littered with maps and holographic displays. A beautiful blonde woman stopped speaking via a communicator as she noticed him and walked over, her Alliance uniform covering what he guessed was something that should not have been.

“Lieutenant Kennedy, I assume you are Sergeant John Shepard of the N7 program?” She extended her hand as she came close and he shook it.

“You assume correctly, Ma'am, I am here on shore leave. What do you need me to do?” She turned around and signalled the man who replaced her at her station before she gestured Shepard into the corridor, taking him down the hall.

“One of my Sergeants was injured by a drunk two days ago, he can't lead his squad. I need you to be his replacement.” A particularly enthusiastic soldier ran down the hall and she sidestepped him before carrying on. “The brass has assigned that squad the position on our side of the Plaza, refusing to let me speak when I want to tell them they have no Sergeant. They're going to come right through there!” She was clearly angry, her tone and gestures telling much more than her words.

“So a lot is expected of me, Ma'am.” She turned through another door, clearly the armoury, Soldiers in all states of undress as they took off their civvies and strapped on armour, weapons and grenades.

“You N7 guys are supposed to be the best. I hope that proves true,” she said. “This man can get you some armour and weapons. Sergeant Johnson!”

“Yes Ma'am!” A man smoking a cigar that was helping get their armour on walked to them and saluted.

“This is Sergeant John Shepard. He needs some armour and weapons. Sort him out, I'm going to get into mine.” She stalked off to her locker on the other side of the room.

“I'd love to tell you my life story, Shepard, but we're in some real shit here!” Shepard followed Johnson as he moved to the next room. “There are the spare suits. Find your size, we got guns in the other room.” Johnson left and Shepard found his size quickly and strapped himself in as quickly as he could. He was about three quarters done as Lieutenant Kennedy strode in, accompanied by the now common sound of explosions.

“We haven't got all day, Sergeant.” Shepard didn't take long before he grabbed the guns Kennedy had laid out for him, placing them in the holds on his back, strapping the grenades in place, his communicator placed in his left ear.

“Ready when you are, Ma'am.” He stood up, before she walked out and he followed. Her armour was a solid black, contrasting with her now tied-up blonde hair and his grey armour. The squad was now assembled in front of them in the armoury.

“This is Sergeant Shepard, he's an N7 trainee and that means he's a bigger bad-ass than all of you combined! Get your ass in gear, get to your position and do as he tells you. You might just survive!” Lieutenant Kennedy almost shouted, her deep, commanding voice suiting her aura but so unpredictable for someone who had only seen her. The assembled soldiers were a mix of men and women, with different heights, weights and haircuts. They looked like the pampered token force most believed them to be.

“Keep your eyes focused, fingers on your triggers and we all go home in one piece. Am I right, Marines?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!” shouted the assembled soldiers in unison. He was impressed at either their naïve optimism or their naïve confidence in a Sergeant they had only just met.

“Damn right I am. Standing marching formation, follow me.” They all put their helmets on and Shepard turned around, purposefully marching in the direction of the plaza that he had until recently been a tourist at. Kennedy matched his pace and the squad following on behind. One explosion rocked the building, bucking Shepard a little before picking Lieutenant Kennedy up and checking on his soldiers. “ON YOUR FEET,” he shouted and the ones who had been knocked over scrambled to their feet. “Good.” Shepard walked on, and they found themselves at the entrance of the base. The turrets were firing into the sky at visible ships as squads assembled in the courtyard. Kennedy walked over to Sergeant Johnson and his squad, having a short conversation with him.

“Hey Sarge! Why are you commanding us?” one of the soldiers asked. Shepard didn't bother turning around.

“Lieutenant Kennedy said your Sergeant was ill. I was here.”

“Why were you here?”

“Why was I here, Sir,” Shepard corrected.

“Why were you here, Sir?” Shepard nodded at the guard as they walked out of the entrance, the guard nodding back before checking his weapons.

“Shore leave. Just wrong time, wrong place,” Shepard said, before he turned right and his squad followed him. The road was now deserted, small arms fire now audible, albeit barely. He could see the barricades that were being erected near the Plaza. He seriously doubted they were the only ones.

“What's the N7 program like, Sir?” His purposeful stride gained pace.

“Not the most fun I've ever had in my life, private.” Lieutenant Kennedy caught him up.

“Your position is those barricades. You've got to stop them from coming down this road. They should be coming in from the North, it's the only place they can land without being knocked out by the AA we have going. Sergeant Johnson is on the west side of the plaza, you're going to have to let him through the barricades to do so, Sergeant Hall is on the south barricades. There is a lot of cover in that plaza, so they'll be able to hunker down. The residential district is through Sergeant Johnson's defences.”

“They'll be coming through here, after the base, Ma'am.”

“Intel says they're slavers and pirates, Sergeant, they will be after money and people, both of which are away from you. You'll still have your work cut out, the fleet is substantial.”

“There are far easier targets in the Verge if they're after just those. If they're here, they're sending a message, which means hitting that base, Ma'am.” They reached the barricades, the walls pretty sturdy, but clearly makeshift. There were five different layers of walls about chest height, placed in a haste by the engineers. “Those walls will be good for defensive positions. If they're coming through our defences, they're going over or through a maze.” Shepard pointed at a place on the ground, almost ignoring the Lieutenant. “First wall here.” No one moved. He pointed with his other hand at three soldiers in succession. “You, you and you. Move that wall, here.” They did as they were told and he had the walls moved in similar fashions, stopping to let the other squads through before resuming their work. Shepard looked at all the buildings around, all much higher than the walls that closed them off from the plaza and other buildings, before looking across the plaza at Johnson's squad moving the walls that engineering had left for them too.

“Who are your four best shots?” Shepard asked, six hands shooting up. He glared at them before three of those six lowered their hands and another came up. Two men, two women. He assigned a unisex pairing to a building on either side of the barricade. “Get in there, use your cover, don't waste your shots. If they don't know you're there, they won't cover themselves, gives you kill-shots. Got that?” Shepard got in place roughly in the middle of his makeshift defences. The sounds of small arms fire were growing louder, explosions more consistently landing nearby. The pirates were advancing.

“Yes Sir!” Shepard started to fiddle with his omni-tool.

“Everyone hearing me OK?” Shepard spoke quietly, making sure they heard him via their communications rather than general voice.

“Yes Sir.”

“Good, snipers, get in position. The rest of you, get in cover.”

“Nice defences, Sergeants,” Shepard heard Lieutenant Kennedy say over the platoon's command frequency.

“Eyes on hostiles, Ma'am?” Shepard wondered aloud.

“Coming, Sergeant, three hundred metres from the north side of the plaza.” An explosion landed in the middle of the plaza, everyone covering their eyes before looking again, smoke covering the central plaza. Shepard could no longer see Johnson's squad across the plaza.

“Three hundred metres out from North entrance of plaza, be ready. Snipers, what do you see?” Shepard asked, hearing similar messages from the other platoon Sergeants.

“Not in position yet.”

“I can see about three hundred hostiles, Sir. Staggered by about 400 metres, mainly batarians. Rest are human, one or two krogan.”

“Well done, private.” If the smoke had dissipated he was sure Hall would have shot towards the oncoming enemy. The plaza had a lot of cover, impossible to lure them into a death trap. “Open fire when ready,” Shepard commanded. Shepard heard the sharp sound of two sniper rifles firing from the building to his left, the south east corner of the plaza; they had a very good view. Clearly two of the soldiers were not in position yet.

“Advance not slowing, be prepared.” One of the other two snipers started firing. Shepard could hear the dull thud of shots landing in the distance, wild return fire littering the buildings either side of him, but it did little to stop the snipers firing. The arc of the return fire showing they were entering the plaza. “Front waves entering the plaza now.”

“Squad breaking off to attack west blockade, the rest seem to be heading towards east blockade, watch yourselves.” The guy speaking fired his sniper rifle before and after he spoke, Shepard watching the pirates run into the centre and pan out, snipers from all the defences ripping the occasional pirate to pieces. Explosions detonated at the top of the buildings the snipers were in, their firing paused but not stopping as glass from the building rained down from a sea of open windows. They were clearly not badly wounded, if they were at all.

“Everyone, open fire!” Kennedy screamed over the comms, Shepard popping out above his wall to fire at the visible pirates in the square, the smoke dissipating a little. He fired at one of the many exposed targets and took them down, before the rest of his squad opened up and the other squads did the same. The fire took down a number of the pirates, but as soon as they were hit, another took their place. Shepard thought he'd taken out three before he had to hide again to let his rifle cool down, not to mention the pirates had begun firing back at their position.

“More incoming on the north road, a thousand metres out.” More explosions racked the buildings to the side before one of his men fell to the ground on a wall in front of Shepard, a bullet through his shoulder, screaming in pain.

“Mortars being fired at the centre of the plaza, beware,” Kennedy radioed.

“Incoming friendly fire,” Shepard relayed to his squad and ran over to the wounded man, spraying his now cool assault rifle to cover himself. Mortar fire detonated over the pirates’ position and Shepard took the opportunity to pull the man via his non-wounded arm to the back of the barricades, narrowly avoiding being shot by his own squad, not to mention the various pirates who had recovered from the mortar fire. More explosions racked out on the buildings again, more glass raining down.

“You, at the back, with me.” One of the soldiers turned around as they noticed Shepard talking, running over to him. “Get him into that building.” Shepard pointed towards the second building along the road and the soldier picked his wounded friend up before he fell over under the weight. Shepard ran back to the front, spraying towards the centre.

“He's too heavy, Sir!” the soldier spoke as the wounded man screamed in pain.

“Get back on the line,” Shepard spoke, sprinting back again, the private on the return course. Shepard placed his assault rifle in the slot on his back before taking the pistol out and slinging the soldier over his left shoulder before running into the building. Small arms fire raked over his head, mortar fire and artillery fire now consistently landing, complimenting the sounds of the AA turrets that had become a part of the Elysium atmosphere. He dropped the soldier in the building’s lobby, the doors that were once glass now broken. “Are you OK?” The soldier grimaced before nodding. “Stay there.” Shepard stood up again, returning to the wall, to find another two of his soldiers wounded. “Status report, Squad.” Shepard continued running to the wall, firing his pistol towards the plaza over the walls in no particular direction.

“Gonzalez and Adeyanju are wounded, Powell has been killed,” someone responded.

“Get them clear, in the building at our eight,” Shepard replied and some of the soldiers on the barricades grabbed the wounded. They were awkwardly manoeuvred through the maze of walls towards the building as Shepard took his assault rifle out again to survey the scene in the Plaza. It was littered with dead bodies, mush and visceral matter, though there were still heads popping up and assault rifles firing in all directions. “Lieutenant, we're coping on our defences, four soldiers out of action though, what's happening on the others?” Shepard poked up above the barricade, cutting down a number of the pirates in the Plaza who were unfortunate enough to have been in the open. Another one of his squad got shot in the return fire and they screamed out in agony before returning fire once more. Clearly it wasn't a bad wound.

“First squad are at half strength, I'm on Hall’s barricade, he's wounded but the rest of third squad are laying down fire.”

“Snipers, status?” Shepard asked as Kennedy finished her sentence, his speech likely transmitted with the sound of his assault rifle overheating as he crouched back down in cover.

“The north road has more hostiles incoming.” More explosions detonated on the snipers buildings, although clearly they were coming in from orbit and the snipers had many floors to go before the explosions would kill them. “Roughly two hundred pirates still left alive in the Plaza.” An explosion went off in the plaza, another of the mortars landing in the middle of a group of pirates. Batarian and human body parts flew in all directions, Shepard ducked his head behind cover as some flesh hit the wall he was at, some of the soldiers at barricades in front of him not so fortunate. He jumped over the barricade and ran to the front position, exposed to withering incoming fire as he did so. Pirates were now advancing towards their barricade, the squads’ fire seemingly ineffective at keeping them back, the suppressing fire put in to the position affecting their accuracy.

“Second squad, report!” Shepard shouted, his shoulder thumping into the wall at the front of the barricade in time with another explosion on the sniper buildings.

“Snipers still firing, it's like a turkey shoot!” The sound of that particular sniper rifle before and after the comment told him that it was coming from the building to Shepard's north.

“Davies is wounded but she's OK, she'll keep firing.”

“Don't need to kill them, but get them out of action,” Shepard said, before popping above the cover, firing his assault rifle and tearing through the armour and shields on a number of different pirates. The N7 trainee dropped down behind cover once more and looked at how many guns were firing on the barricade. There had been twenty, plus him, when the fighting started, there were now twelve intermittently blasting their muzzle flashes. Thankfully all the snipers were still firing.

“Johnson's position is being overrun, 2nd squad lay down extra fire!” Kennedy screamed out over comms, the whole squad facing over the barricades. Shepard did the same, watching as there were still hundreds of living pirates firing in all different directions, the small arms fire in the plaza almost a background noise now. He saw a human peak from his cover and Shepard turned to shoot at him but was too slow, he fired a bullet and Shepard found himself flat on his back, screaming in agony.

*^*

“Shepard?” He opened his eyes to find Ashley standing over him. “Hey, are you OK?”

“Why wouldn't I be?” he said, putting his hands behind his head and laying back, closing his eyes once more.

“You were moving a lot in your sleep. Bad dream?”

“I wouldn't describe it as a dream.” He murmured.

“Nightmare?”

“Memory.”

“Oh. Which one?” Ashley sounded very interested.

“Elysium. It was a long time ago, I'm fine with it now.”

“The blitz?” Shepard smiled.

“You remembered my service history then.”

“Of course. I'm not the only one.”

“I remembered too.” Tali added.

“Sleep well, Tali?” Shepard hadn't opened his eyes, but he knew she was sitting on the couch next to him.

“I did indeed, Commander,” Tali answered.

“Why do I get the feeling that there is something you two aren't telling me?” Shepard breathed deeply, smiling as he did.

“Because there is something we haven't told you yet,” Ashley answered. Shepard couldn't see behind his closed eyes, but Ashley was smiling.

“I don't know if I...we can tell you,” Tali said.

“Whenever you're ready, Tali, no need to rush.” Shepard answered, snuggling into the side of the couch, eyes still closed.

“Thank you, John,” Tali answered. “I think I'm ready now.”

“Should I sit up for this?” Shepard asked.

“I think you should,” Ashley suggested. Shepard sat up and looked at Tali, finding Ashley sliding in beside him. He wrapped an arm around her waist unconsciously and she tensed a little before relaxing once more. He could feel her wearing a simple t-shirt. Tali was wearing what she had to the party.

“I...I think I love you,” Tali said. Shepard didn't visibly react. “I know you are... with Ashley but I had to tell you.”

“It's OK, Shepard, she's not asking you to break up with me,” Shepard didn't react once more.

“I don't know what to say,” The Spectre said, now looking down at his feet. He felt Tali's fingers on his chin and she raised his head.

“Ashley has told me of your....arrangement,” The quarian admitted. Shepard raised an eyebrow.

“Arrangement?”

“You know...the threesome and I was allowed to sleep with other women...” Ashley clarified.

“Oh. Now I'll shut up until you two explain.” Shepard sat back, his free arm along the arm of the sofa, his hand stroking Ashley's back lightly through her t-shirt.

“Well, I was thinking that if I'm allowed some kind of arrangement like that then you should be allowed one too...I know you well, Shepard, it's not going to get awkward. We were thinking we'd spring it on you last night but well, we thought we should tell you first.”

“I...was very nervous,” Tali added, twiddling her thumbs.

“She had been a little awkward around me since I was back and I managed to coerce it out of her. When I heard it, I thought I would be angry or jealous or both but...I wasn't.”

“Ashley came up with the idea, in fact. It was she who convinced me.”

“I did. I'm only here a month...I don't know how long it will be until I see you again let alone...you know. I thought I should let you be with someone who cares for you as much as I do when I can't be there.”

“I don't want to do anything you aren't comfortable with, Shepard...if you don't like me...” Tali said, almost teasingly.

“Is that a challenge I hear, Tali? I'm not sure he's one for a challenge, he usually fails...”

“Are you two finished explaining?” Shepard asked, not fazed by their teasing, although very fazed by their admissions. “Yes, I want it spelt out.”

“Whenever Tali wants to join in our...amorous activities while I'm on board, I want her to. After I leave, when she wants you and if you're OK with it, she has you.” Shepard expected Ashley to swear a bit more.

“Let me get this clear: you want Tali to be the third in a threesome and you want it to be a common occurrence.”

“Yes.”

“When you go back to the Alliance, you want me to continue having sex with Tali.”

“I'd like to think I mean more to you than sex, Shepard,” Tali interjected.

“Of course you do, Tali, I just want to be sure.”

“Yes,” Ashley confirmed.

“Are you sure you'll be OK with that? It won't be awkward, will it? Is this why you made that comment about Tali yesterday? To see how receptive I would be to this?”

“Yes. It might be awkward but it could be amazing.” Ashley paused. “Yes, it's why I made the comment. I told her that there was no way in hell you'd care that she was a quarian, something me and you had argued over so many times, she was worried that you would. I made sure.”

“You honestly thought I would care?” Shepard glared at Tali.

“I'm in this suit all the time and you never get to see me and I can barely remember what I look like underneath it and I'm an alien and a quarian at that, we're not well thought of and it would never happen and you were with…-” Tali babbled.

“Stop,” Shepard interrupted. “It doesn't matter to me that you're a quarian and you know that. You know that well.”

“Neither do I, Tali. I'd be the one to worry about in that respect. I don't like aliens...but you're amazing. I've tried so hard, but you've always been so nice. We both owe you a lot.”

“Awww isn't she sweet,” the Spectre joked.

“She is very kind.” Shepard could tell Tali was smiling as she said it.

“See, I told you he wouldn't care,” Ashley added. She kissed Shepard on the cheek after she did. He smiled. “You mean a lot to me, Skipper, you deserve this. So does she.”

“Just admit it, Ash, you want to fuck Tali.” Shepard leaned into Ash, smiling as he spoke.

“I must admit, that was a perk of this plan. I can see you are looking forward to it.” She pointed out Shepard's erection, straining to get out of his boxers, to the quarian.

“I see you are aroused, Shepard,” Tali said, her voice unable to hide her excitement.

“I've just been told that you two want to have a threesome with me, that for the next month I'll be with two goddesses and Ashley wants to fuck you too. Fuck yes, I'm aroused.” He paused. “Tali, how quickly can you get out of your suit?”

“Oh, impatient are we, skipper?” Ashley asked. He turned to her and didn't glare, just smiled. “Now that you mention it, I am too.” They both turned their attention to the quarian in front of them. She was looking at her legs, her thumbs twiddling.

“Oh, you want to do it now? I have been taking some antibiotics and herbal supplements for some days now so I have minimized the risks, I just...” She looked up and saw them softly smiling at her. “What?”

“I understand you are nervous Tali,” Shepard stood up, taking Ashley with him and then took Tali's hands in his, gesturing Ashley to follow them over to the bed, all three standing near the foot of it. “There's no need to be.”

Ashley placed her hands on the quarian's waist and whispered to her: “We both know you want this, Tali. We both want you. I know you want us.” Ashley smiled as she looked at Shepard from behind Tali's shoulder. The quarian took a deep breath before she let go of Shepard's hands and slowly undid many of the clasps that held so much of her suit together. Shepard lightly stroked Ashley's cheek before going to Tali's face mask.

“Are you ready?” He smiled at her nervous nod. He removed her hood, Ashley rubbed her shoulders lightly before walking round in front of Tali. The Spectre smiled as he pulled away her mask as the quarian continued to unbind her suit. “Wow.”

“Damn, you are hiding that face under the suit? That really sucks,” Ashley spoke. Tali's skin was an extremely pale purple, her bright eyes and slim nose that were evident under the mask far more beautiful without the translucent cover. The quarian was gorgeous; it was clear she was not human yet she still had a face most supermodels would be jealous of. He wasn't quite sure what their version of hair was called, but it was pitch-black, shiny and it was short, but long enough to frame her face anyway. She shied away under their gaze, her fingers at the numerous clasps faltering. Shepard gently dropped her mask under the table.

“I know I may not be beautiful, but I hope to...” Tali nervously spoke before she was interrupted.

“Not beautiful? Are you crazy?” Ashley said, incredulous at Tali's response.

“If the quarians consider you anything but stunning, they are either all crazy or fuck me, are you one attractive species,” Shepard almost laughed.

“Really? You think I'm beautiful?” Shepard smiled at her before pulling Ashley towards the undressing quarian. He caressed her cheek before helping her remove her neck piece, joining the mask under the table.

“You are stunningly beautiful, Tali. It's a genuine pity that you have to wear a suit,” he said as her neck piece came off. Ashley was stood stock-still as Shepard did that and he turned to her, before stepping out of the way and pushing them together. “Ash, show her how beautiful she is.” The Spectre smiled as he talked, his voice hoarse with arousal. Ashley tilted Tali's chin towards her and brought her lips to the quarian's. Tali was clearly still nervous and the Lieutenant took her time in coaxing Tali's lust out. Shepard took in the sight, his hands continuing Tali's work of undoing the clasps. Tali pressed her tongue against Ashley's lips and they yielded, their kiss deepening. Ashley's eyes went wide at how different Tali's tongue was to any she had known, but quickly found she didn't care. Shepard did his best to remove Tali's suit as they kissed, Tali's hands roaming her former comrade's body, their arousing show causing him to swallow in anticipation. The Spectre finished undoing all the various clasps and found the separation between the top and bottom halves, his fingers working their way into it to raise it.

“If you don't mind, skipper, I'm trying to kiss her,” Ashley complained as their kiss broke so Shepard could remove the suit, the three belts that were usually wrapped round her already on the floor at her feet. The engineer’s hands left Ashley as they rose to allow Shepard to remove the top half of her suit. He could see the muscles in her back move under her incredibly pale skin as she tensed when her suit was removed. John took his time, not sure what ripping it off her would do. He could see Ashley just as interested as to what she looked like under her suit as he was. If her face was any indication, it was not something either of them would soon forget.

“You can go faster than that, you know,” Tali said. He did as she asked and Ashley gasped as Tali's ample breasts came into view.

“That suit really hides too much,” Ashley wistfully said, her lips finding Tali's quickly, one of her hands working their way into the quarian's short hair as the other roamed her skin, relishing the feel of it. Shepard continued to undress Tali lowering the rest of her suit to pool at her feet, his teeth biting her well formed ass before kissing it better, as he knelt down to finish removing it. Shepard stood up slowly, his hands roaming her legs as he bit, licked, sucked and kissed at the smooth skin on the back of her legs, ass and back. When he stood up, Tali pressed herself back to him, his hard cock nestling between her buttocks. He pulled her hips to him and ground his erection into her ass before he kissed her shoulder, one of his hands leaving her hips to trail up her stomach to her breasts, finding Ashley's hand there. He smiled as they both kneaded her ample breast, too large for either of them to get it completely in their hand.

“These have got to hurt being in the suit, they're huge!” Shepard said between his kissing and biting, the noises Tali had started to make clearly approving of the couple's actions.

“I'm... I'm used to it,” Tali said as Ashley broke the kiss, making her way down to the quarian's large bosom slowly, her hand having left Shepard's to squeeze, caress and tweak at her previously neglected mound. Tali took the chance to turn her head to Shepard's and her now bare hand found its way to his chin to stop him kissing her neck. She smiled at him as he looked at her and he smiled back, both glad to be able to see her expression. Her hand worked its way to the back of his head, pulling him to her and their lips met, her tongue immediately demanding access to his and he had no intention of denying her. His cock throbbed as he ground it into her ass, their tongues dancing inside each other's mouth. Tali broke the kiss and gasped before biting Shepard's lower lip, her reaction strong to Ashley taking the quarian's nipple into her mouth.

“You taste...unique,” Shepard talked a little oddly as his lip was still in between Tali's teeth. She released him and he licked the blood she had drawn off his lip, her moaning growing in volume as she no longer had anything to bite on as Ashley did her work. “Metallic and sweet.” Shepard moved out from behind Tali and took her hand, suggesting she follow him to the bed. Ashley reluctantly removed herself from taking care of Tali's large mammaries, standing up to push Tali on to the bed, the duvet quickly removed by Shepard to be in a pile by the side of the bed.

“Let us take care of you, Tali,” Ashley said, pushing Tali on her back on the bed. Ashley and Shepard sat on it either side of her and smiled before they kissed, tearing off what little clothes they had on. The quarian sat up to watch them kiss, Shepard's boxers on the duvet at the side of the bed, Ashley's torn t-shirt hanging off her shoulders, her black panties soaking wet and clinging to her as she awkwardly removed them and her t-shirt. Once they were both naked, Shepard's erection throbbed in front of him as Tali took it in her hands. He gasped into Ashley's mouth as they separated before wrapping his hand around Tali's, teaching her how to stroke him with his own hand. He watched Ashley look at his cock as the engineer jacked off the Lieutenant's boyfriend and she didn't look jealous, angry or envious. She just looked aroused and attentive. He pulled her to him and crashed his lips to hers, Tali continued to stroke his cock as she watched the couple kiss, their tongues dancing, their eyes closed. Shepard groaned as Tali began to stroke him quicker, her three fingers making an experience he had never had before and he was responding to it a lot stronger than he expected.

“Stop, Tali. We're supposed to be taking care of you.” Shepard broke the kiss and pulled her hands off his cock, intertwining his fingers with hers before putting her hands behind her head, the quarian not resisting. They both took their time on Tali, starting from the bottom up. The couple kissed her feet in unison, before licking, sucking and biting their way up her legs.

Tali moved her hands all over her body, forgetting Shepard's unsaid instruction to leave them above her head. She didn't get to touch her own skin often, she was going to take advantage of every second she could, testing the unusual texture of her skin under her fingertips. She squeezed her breasts beneath her small hands, before Shepard and Ashley pushed her hands out of the way to pay attention to her bosom themselves and she moaned long and loud as they took her nipples into their mouths. One of each of their hands teased over her stomach as their other hands squeezed and caressed the mound their teeth, lips and tongue were so occupied with. Tali moaned loudly before running her hands through their hair, gripping Shepard's head tightly as their fingers found their way to her previously neglected folds.

“Tali, neither of us have ever been with a quarian. So you'll have to tell us what we're doing right or wrong...” Shepard said, clearly a little upset that he had to stop nursing on her pale white nipple, contrasting with the pale purple of the rest of her skin, glistening under the lighting with their saliva and the thin layer of sweat she had begun to produce.

“You're...” Tali moaned as Shepard sucked hard on her nipple, almost saying sorry that he had to let go of it at all, “doing just fine!”

“Where is your clit?” Ashley asked, as their hands continued to probe her folds, one of Ashley's fingers slowly pushing into her incredibly tight and wet core as Shepard began to rub where he was so used to finding it. The reaction he got told him he was right. “Ah, there.” Ashley said, smiling before she returned to taking care of Tali's breast, revelling in the taste. She could feel herself growing wetter and wetter as they did all they could to get the quarian to climax. Ashley's fingers set a slow pace as she used her own leg to spread Tali's, giving her as much access and leverage as she could, before she found Tali helping her, spreading her legs as far as she could, finding it a pleasant surprise how flexible the quarian actually was.

“Oh, Keelah! Keep, keep going!” Tali stuttered, moaning loudly now as she raised her hips to meet Ashley's thrusting digits and the firm caress of Shepard's fingers. She grew louder as Ashley added a second finger, so used to be able to turn her microphone off if she ever got too carried away with her nerve stimulation programs, her voice this time not drowned out inside her suit. Shepard throbbed with arousal at hearing her moans, groans, gasps and sighs as they continued to caress her, the quarian's hand tight on his head, digging into his scalp in a way he quite enjoyed. “Keelah, oh Keelah, forgive me!” she almost screamed as her body tensed and her head thrashed about, her hair moving with it, her hips raising almost violently, her back arching with it, pressing her breasts into the mouths of Ashley and John. They looked at her face, her neck tensed, her face almost relaxed as her orgasm overcame her, her bright eyes closed, a broad smile evident underneath her long guttural moan.

Their hands continued to work as her climax didn't stop, the wave that was overcoming Tali threatening to drown her. She groaned once more as her thrashing strengthened again, her moan showing she had come again. Tali sounded like she was choking and immediately they stopped their ministrations and sat up next to her, to make sure she was OK. When she smiled at them, they smiled back, before licking each other’s fingers clean of the juices Tali had produced.

“I like it,” Ashley said, in between cleaning off her hand.

“I didn't get as much as you,” Shepard complained. Tali was relaxed and lying in the bed, her bright eyes open and looking at them as they talked about her. “I'm going to...rectify this.” Shepard smiled strongly while moving down the bed, Ashley kissing him as he did so. Shepard broke the kiss and positioned himself between Tali's legs, kissing along the inside of one thigh, before kissing along the inside of the other thigh. Ashley was not inactive during this time either, straddling the quarian, taking Tali's breasts in her hands and kissing the quarian as she felt her juices running down the inside of her own thighs and dripping onto the engineer's well-toned stomach. Tali's hands found their way along Ashley's arms stroking her and then gripping her as Shepard's tongue found her clit.

“Keelah!” she exclaimed, breaking the kiss to revel in the sensations they were once again imparting on her.

“He's good, isn't he?” Ashley whispered into what was surely the quarian equivalent of an ear, before kissing and biting her neck, her skin soft and supple beneath the soldier's mouth. Tali was however focused far less on the actions of Ashley's mouth than the actions of Shepard's tongue that was so eagerly lapping at her overflowing core. He pushed his tongue into her as his fingers rubbed at her clit, her legs spread wide to allow him as much access as possible. She squirmed strongly below him and had Ashley not been keeping her in place, Shepard may have had real problems with eating that delectable little pussy of Tali's. The quarian's moans grew louder as the Spectre continued his ministrations.

“More Shepard, harder!” The Normandy's XO moaned loudly and Shepard would have smiled were his tongue not so far out of his mouth, making it almost painful to try and smile. His tongue writhed and wriggled inside her, each movement making her do the same. He could feel her orgasm coming and decided to try something else, pushing a finger into her tight pussy as his tongue attended to her clit. Ashley had by now covered Tali's stomach in her juices and decided to change that. She turned around and Tali thrashed around underneath her a bit stronger before Ashley's dripping wet snatch now appeared above the quarian's mouth. The Lieutenant was not disappointed as the reason she had moved was not lost on Tali, her tongue quickly finding Ashley's slit, licking as much of her juices up as she could, while Shepard started to really finger her. He stopped abruptly and the noises that had previously been coming out of the head engineer, even those muffled by her licking at the Lieutenant's wet lips, ceased. “I'm so close!”

She wasn't complaining for long as Shepard added two fingers into her snatch, his tongue working harder and a finger pressed at the entrance to her behind. She cried out loudly before Ashley pressed herself down on her, her juices dripping onto the bottom half of the quarian's face. She convulsed around Shepard's fingers, her pussy walls contracting tightly around them as her ass did the same around that newly involved finger. It didn't make the Spectre stop; he continued with his favourite kind of work, his fingers pushing into her at the same time, withdrawing at the same time, his tongue changing what it was doing to her clit randomly, but always stimulating it in some way. Tali was doing the same to Ashley, taking Shepard's lead and one of her three fingers pushed into the Lieutenant's anus, but she couldn't get her hand in the right place to push any of her fingers into the former Gunnery Chief's womanhood. It didn't seem to matter: the noises Ashley was making were loud, the quarian's intuition, among other things, serving her incredibly well.

“She's good, Shepard! She's...oh holy fuck...really good. I never thought an Alien would be this good at eating pussy!” She said it very erratically, but Shepard heard it clearly anyway. It didn't take long for the Normandy's XO to come once more though and she became a little erratic in her ministrations on the Lieutenant. The Spectre lapped up as much of Tali's juices as he could as her unique voice was drowned out in Ashley's lap, her legs tensing around his head. In real terms it wasn't long that Tali was in the throes of her climax, but it felt like an eternity to her. Shepard stopped his actions, his cock throbbing with anticipation and arousal. He had to do something about it and he sat up, his cock hard and proud as he sat at the foot of his bed. Ashley moved herself a little to allow Tali to see the man they would always know as Commander Shepard, aroused and anticipating fucking her. She smiled, contently and shook her head vigorously, her voice failing her. She raised her hips and ran her fingers along her skin, stroking her own clit and squeezing one of her ample, incredibly formed breasts. “Skipper, if you don't fuck her now, I will.” He smiled at his girlfriend, that sentence reinforcing his love for the woman.

“Do it, Shepard. Fuck your Quarian,” Tali said, her voice wavering but the same out of her helmet as it was in it. He loved her voice.

“My Quarian?” Shepard asked as he moved his cock closer to the entrance to her snatch. Ashley reached out to take it, putting it in place so he could fuck her as soon as he wanted. She removed her hand from it as he took over, pushing in slightly before stopping, letting his girlfriend stroke his XO's clit.

“Mmmm...” Tali moaned as the head of Shepard's cock slipped into her pussy. He gritted his teeth, the feel of her around his manhood something unique. It wasn't the velvety caress that he was used to with humans, or even asari, but it was just as...amazing. “Yes, your Quarian.” He smiled at her, writing beneath him before he then smiled at Ashley, who smiled back. He was surprised at the complete lack of jealousy in her face once more and she nodded, before he pushed into his quarian slowly. Ashley looked at Tali who looked back, a smile of intense pleasure and satisfaction racked across her face as the Spectre pushed his cock further into his XO. Lieutenant Williams continued to stroke Tali's clit as Shepard began to withdraw, the disappointed sigh it was met with was quickly silenced by him plunging back in, the sound of his hips meeting hers reverberating around the room. The engineer's arms moved to encourage Ashley to take her former place and she was only too happy to oblige, straddling the quarian's head and lowering her dripping wet pussy to the alien tongue that was so eager to please her.

“Does she feel good?” the former Gunnery Chief asked, before moaning loudly as Tali's tongue found her clit and started stroking it. Her own hand started to move faster on the Engineer's clit, her other hand pressing on Tali's stomach to keep herself propped up as Shepard started to move faster, fucking his Quarian harder. The moans Ashley could feel told her that the body writhing underneath her was certainly enjoying it and the way Shepard kissed her as he leaned forward told her all she needed to know, but she was certain Shepard would clarify anyway.

“Holy...fuck...yes! She...feels...incredible.” He paused between each word to thrust into her after he broke the kiss, before Ashley sat up a bit and he leant down to take one of his girlfriend's nipples in his mouth as he fucked his quarian. Ashley moaned harder again as one of Tali's fingers found its way to the entrance to her ass and pushed inside, the Engineer's moans as she sucked on the human's clit adding something that pushed her over the edge. She screamed loudly, her body tensing up, her muscles clenching around the finger in her ass, her hand working more roughly on Tali's clit as the other found its way onto Shepard's head, her fingers digging into his scalp, her pussy flooding Tali's face with her juices. The Alien let go of the alleged xenophobe's clit before doing her best to lap up as much of her come as she could, tasting her friend and loving every bit of it. Shepard could hear his XO's moans among the sounds of his hips slapping against hers and his girlfriend's screams of pleasure. He wasn't far off his own orgasm, but wanted to make sure Tali had hers before he joined her.

“Keep going, Tali...” Ashley moaned as she came down from her orgasm and Tali didn't say anything in response, but clearly from the way Ashley arched her back into Shepard's mouth, Tali had resumed. Tali's up to now free hand had taken over the job of playing with the Lieutenant's clit, her tongue plunging deep into her core as a finger fucked her ass. Tali's moans got louder and Shepard sped up as he heard her, both so close to their orgasm. Shepard couldn't co-ordinate well enough to keep sucking on his girlfriend's stiff nipples and so he straightened up, tightened his grip on Tali's hips and put all his might into fucking the soaking wet pussy his cock was deep inside. “Fuck her, Skipper, fuck your Quarian, make her come.” Ashley pressed herself down onto Tali's tongue hard as she talked, Shepard's neck and arms bulging with effort to keep himself from coming. Ashley leant down to Tali's raised hips and replaced her fingers with her tongue. It took only one stroke before the quarian came, the change of sensation on her sensitive bundle of nerves taking her over the edge that Shepard's throbbing cock had got her to. She buried her tongue as deep into Ashley's snatch as she could, her screams muffled by it and the vibrations did the same to the Lieutenant who came once more, covering Tali's face even more thoroughly than she had done the time before.

“Taliiiii!” Shepard growled burying his cock completely into her cunt, the walls tightening around it much like her legs were tightening around him as he came inside his Quarian. His back was arched heavily as his cock poured the contents of his balls into his XO with almost violent force. The way she twitched told him she could feel it; the way she clenched around him, milking him and the way her hips churned told him she loved it. The pleasured sounds of both humans filled the room, a hint of quarian ecstasy in there.

It wasn't long before they were quiet though and Ashley straightened up a little, kissing her Spectre boyfriend deeply before Tali withdrew her digits and she gasped, remembering she was still smothering the quarian and rolled off while breaking the kiss. Shepard gently lowered Tali's hips and withdrew from her unique snatch, slowly. An extremely disappointed sigh released from her lips as he did so, but it was cut short as Ashley's lips found hers. Shepard smiled at their kiss, his XO's fingers finding their way into his girlfriend's hair as their tongues danced, his softened cock twitching.

“Wow, do you girls look good.” Shepard smiled as their kiss deepened at his comment, Tali's face and stomach glistening with Ashley's juices. Tali's ample breasts rising and lowering with each breath, Ashley's swaying with each little movement she made. Shepard scooted back a little to clean his Quarian's stomach with his tongue of his girlfriend's drying juices. He heard the gasp that was almost drowned out in the kiss as his tongue touched her skin, her body tensing a little. She was still extremely turned on and she only squirmed more as he continued to clean her stomach, so odd without a belly button, yet so human and sexy at the same time. His cock rose once more to hardness as he heard their quiet sounds, the taste of the former Gunnery Chief's juices and his Chief Engineer's skin restoring him.

“Enjoying yourself down there?” Ashley asked as she broke the kiss, both of them looking at him over Tali's heaving mounds. He continued to lick as Tali squirmed, before sitting up and looking at the quarian's stomach, clean of his girlfriend's juices. He smiled broadly.

“Definitely.” He leaned down on his arms to kiss Ashley once more before she broke it and directed him to kiss Tali. She looked at him eagerly and he kissed her hard, their kiss extremely deep extremely quickly. As they were kissing one of his hands took a hold of one of her breasts, barely registering Ashley moving around the bed to roll Shepard onto his back, taking Tali with him. They didn't break the kiss until the Spectre's mouth opened and he groaned loudly in surprise at Ashley taking his cock into her mouth. Her hand joined her mouth as she licked the tip, slowly stroking his hard manhood. Tali looked back, her body covering Shepard's view of his girlfriend's actions but he knew what was happening, the way Tali was dripping some of their combined juices onto her Captain's stomach physical proof of her enjoyment of the show.

“If you want, Tali, I will teach you how to suck cock,” Ashley said before licking the tip again eagerly. “There's still a lot of you on here, so if you mind that I will happily clean it off first...” She talked as she continued to slowly stroke his once again hard cock. Tali climbed off her Commander, making her way to join Ashley between his thighs. The brunette tilted her head, wrapping her tongue around the shaft of her boyfriend's cock, leaving the head available for the quarian and she took the invitation, the new sensation of Tali's mouth engulfing him. He wasn't quite sure what noise he made, but the girls heard and smiled at it. “It seems I don't need to teach you anything, judging from that,” Ashley said, before working her way down to take one of his balls into her mouth. Shepard couldn't help but raise his hips into Tali's mouth and she took him further into her mouth, her unusual tongue stroking him as she took half of him with ease.

“Oh fuck, that feels good,” Shepard groaned through gritted teeth. His hands were gripping the bedsheets as Tali took more of him into her mouth, Lieutenant Williams smiling at her as she did so. If the Spectre cared about his girlfriend no longer having one of his balls in her mouth, he didn't show it, no longer being the quiet, stoic rock he so often had to be. He was enjoying Tali's eager attempts at sucking his cock and one hand now buried in her short hair, digging into her scalp.

“Is she as good as me, skipper?” Ashley asked from behind Tali, before the quarian lightly bit down and vibrations from a muffled groan racked his cock. He gritted his teeth and his grip tightened. Tali rose her head up off Shepard's manhood.

“Sorry, Shepard, she just...surprised me.” The Spectre sat up while Tali kissed where her alien teeth had made indentations, licking their combined juices off as Ashley's head moved around at the junction of her legs. The dark brown hair he knew so well was moving lightly as it's owner worked its way into the quarian's well-fucked pussy, fingers clearly paying attention to her clit and working their way into her ass. She gasped once more and took the chance to take as much of the Commander's dick into her mouth as she could, not quite getting it all in, but she took it as deep as she could. When he thrust his hips into her mouth he realised she had no gag reflex, so he could probably treat her more roughly than anyone he had in the past, but he wouldn't. Tali bit down on him once more as Ashley's work sped up and while he actually quite enjoyed it that time, he wanted something else right now. So he tightened his grip in his Quarian's hair, lifting her off his cock and she made a disappointed sigh.

“You're good, Tali,” Shepard said before edging his way down the bed, kissing his XO deeply, tasting their combined juices on her tongue before she bit on his probing tongue gently. When she released him he still kept kissing her before withdrawing to whisper in her ear something Ashley didn't hear. “I want to fuck Ashley now...do you think I should?” Tali moaned even louder in response.

“Oh yes, Chief Williams, you're so good...” she responded, looking at him as she did so. She wanted him to, but wanted it to be as much of a surprise as Ashley eating her out had been. So he was as stealthy as he could in getting off the bed and behind the Alliance marine. She was dripping wet and he smiled as prepared himself, looking at his girlfriend's hair moving with her ministrations on Tali, the quarian moaning loudly as she looked back at him, smiling. She nodded and so with his cock in hand he found her entrance and drove home almost instantly. He groaned loudly as he was engulfed in her inviting core, her moans of surprise and lust drowned out in the Engineer's lap. “Fuck her, Shepard. Fuck her like you fucked meeee,” a long low moan ended her sentence as Ashley's efforts quickened. The Spectre growled as his fingers searched for the Lieutenant's clit, his newly established rhythm faltering before he found it and it quickened once more.

“Eat her pussy, Ash, make my Quarian come as my dick makes you come.” His hips quickened, her velvet heat making his head spin as he watched her finger his Quarian's ass, her head moving in time with his thrusts so it almost seemed as if he were fucking her again, albeit via his girlfriend's tongue. The way her hips had started to respond told him she was on her way. “It seems you love tasting alien pussy, Ash...” Shepard groaned, joining the cacophony of noises of sex that filled his cabin; Tali's loud moans of pleasure; the brunette's fast moving fingers, tongue and muffled groans; the heavy slap of Shepard's hips meeting Ashley's that almost drowned out the wet squelch of his cock plunging deep into her core. The Spectre looked at his dick swallowed by his favourite place, his hand quietly rubbing the clit that was so close to it and bit his bottom lip hard as Ashley clenched around him.

“Oh Keelah!” Tali squealed and Shepard looked up, growling in time with his thrusts as he noticed Tali's change in position; his XO's speed and agility was severely underappreciated. While he admired the beauty of the Quarian's ass and back, the beauty of her face and breasts was truly exquisite, three fingers buried in the Lieutenant's hair as Shepard's cock was so often in her snatch. The look of pleasure on the engineer's face was plain to see, Ashley's tongue playing with her clit, her hands extremely busy with both entrances. The Spectre beckoned Tali to lean forward and she did so, before he met her half way, their kiss drowning out their sounds as they got closer to their climax. The quarian couldn't hold the kiss; her moans, squeaks, sighs and gasps as she got close to her climax forced them to separate. Shepard watched her eyes close as she started to grind her hips onto Ashley's digits and face, her fingers tight in the brown hair, the other now playing with one of her stiff nipples and he couldn't help but take the other one in his mouth. “Keelah! Oh Williams, Shepard, Keelah!”

It was all Tali needed, the brush of his lips pushing her over the edge, and she did so almost violently. She pressed Ashley into her crotch hard as she covered the brunette's fingers and tongue in her juices, falling backwards onto the bed as she did so, out of her Commander's reach. He would have been disappointed, but Ashley started to meet his thrusts harder as she got the taste of Tali's climax, still lapping at the Quarian's pussy even as it ended. The Normandy's XO looked down at them as it did so, before she gasped: Ashley removing the finger in her ass.

“Oh that was amazing...continue with him Ashley, please,” Tali said, a little of her shyness returned.

“Believe me, I intend to!” the Lieutenant responded before turning to look at the man who was fucking her, licking and sucking her fingers clean once she had his eye. The Spectre couldn't look anywhere else as she did that, even if he wanted to. She could feel him throb in response as her eyes closed, revelling in the taste of the quarian's juices and her ass began to meet his thrusts more violently, the fact that her knees were on the floor not doing anything to stop her. They shot wide open again as his thumb pushed into her asshole, almost wailing in response.

“Oh fuck, Ash you feel so good...I'm so close...” Shepard groaned, quickening his pace on her clit and in his movements, his pulsing cock slamming into her tight channel with increasing need.

“Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me,” Ashley almost shouted back; Tali was almost forgotten until she squealed again, two fingers buried in her pussy once more as the third played with her clit, the other hand playing with one of her ample pale-skinned breasts and they both watched as she put on a private show for her incredibly captive audience. Ashley continued muttering even as they both watched Tali masturbate, the quarian coming very quickly, a thirty seconds that felt like hours yet wasn't long enough, her moans of delight pushing the couple over themselves. Shepard couldn't bring himself to pull out as he did so, hilting his cock into his girlfriend's convulsing pussy to spill his seed and roaring to signal it.

“ASHLEY!” was all he said, the Y becoming a continuous loud roar even as he watched the Quarian bury her fingers into herself. Ashley was incredibly quiet as she came, her fingers tight in the sheets at the foot of the bed, but she was watching Tali with the same intent as Shepard was. To all of them it seemed to be hours before their mutual orgasms came to an end, the way each body moved, tensed and their sounds giving them away. It had to come to an end, however, and Ashley collapsed to the floor with Shepard, both knees too weak to take their weight.

“Oh Keelah, you two looked fantastic,” Tali stated, on her front now, the face that they had got so used to over the past few hours poking out over the edge.

“Neither of us could take our eyes off you, Tali,” Shepard replied, even as he kissed the back of Ashley's neck.

“You looked so good, I am seriously worried you're going to steal him from me,” Ashley said, mock dejection in her voice.

“I don't think there's any danger of that. I'm not even sure it's him I'd pick out of you two...” Tali replied.

“Are you saying you'd pick me?” Ashley was clearly delighted.

“Oh, shut up you two, we all know there's not going to be any picking going on here,” Shepard stated.

“Why not?” Ashley asked as his softening cock slipped out of her.

“We all enjoyed that far too much to ever even consider that it won't happen again,” Shepard replied, before getting up, pulling Ashley onto her feet.

“From the smell in this room, I would have to agree with you,” Tali responded as she moved back on the bed, making room for Shepard and Ashley. “Ah, how good it is to smell without the suit...”

“How long until you have to be back in it?” Shepard asked while getting into the centre of the bed, Ashley settling in next to him, clearly anticipating the Quarian joining them. She glanced at the clock and sighed.

“About two hours, maybe. We were at that for a long time...” Tali said as she moved up the bed, pulling the covers with them.

“EDI, wake us in two hours. Unless it is an emergency, we are not to be disturbed.” The light blue orb acknowledged the command before disappearing once more.

“We have got to do that again,” Ashley said as Shepard closed his eyes, a beautiful woman nestled beneath each arm. He smiled broadly.

“I am certain we shall,” Tali replied confidently.

“I promise you both, we will do that more times than you can believe. Not right now though...I'm exhausted,” The Spectre interrupted.

“Don't make us girls a promise if you know you can't keep it,” Ashley commented in response, snuggling closer as she did so, her breathing slowing. Shepard just smiled, drifting off for the nap his wildest dreams could not match.

*^**^*^*^**^*^*^*^**^*^

Thank you new Reviewers! I just noticed them as I was getting ready to post this chapter.

As you can see, an update, although it will probably be a while until the next one. This one has been so late because of family matters, Christmas and a...troubled beta'ing. The family thing is likely to prevent me writing much. Also expect less sex in future chapters although it will most definitely be there.

Sorry Good Morning Beautiful, I'd rather not email, I'm busy enough as it is! I just hope you enjoy the new chapter and I thank you for reading the others. -> I'd changed my mind and was going to...you didn't leave an email and it isn't on your profile! Bleh.

Thanks, LegionOwnz, it does help. It always helps to know people are reading and enjoying it. Absolutely any advice will be listened to, but I retain the right to do as I please! Sometimes, I do actually have a plan ;)