Diablo

Kaidan opened the door to his new quarters. He knew he was bunking with the ship's pilot, Jeff Moreau, and had already agreed to take the top bunk because of Jeff's medical needs. Since he had just left Jeff in the mess hall, he was not expecting to see anyone in the room. Certainly not someone with long dark hair, huge blue eyes outlined and mascaraed, with soft, sensuous lips painted red like a streetwalker. Certainly not someone in black leather boots, ripped black jeans, and a tight red top. Certainly not a man.
The man lying on Jeff's bed blew a bubble with the gum he was chewing, then popped it while he flipped the page of what looked like a tawdry romance novel. "Wanna make out?" he said cheerfully, then looked over the top of his book. "Oh, hey, you're not Jeff."
"No, I am not," said Kaidan sharply.
"Wanna make out?" he grinned, then laughed at the look on Kaidan's face.
"What are you doing in my room?"
"I was waiting for Jeff," he explained. "We were gonna make out." He slid out of the bed, every move of his body graceful and erotic, and went back to reading his romance novel as he sauntered out of the room without waiting for Kaidan to say anything.
Kaidan put down his things as quickly as he could and went to go find Jeff. Who on earth was that man? Surely, Jeff wouldn't have been so stupid as to bring a hooker onto a brand-new, experimental, top-secret warship? He went back to the mess hall, but Jeff wasn't there. Kaidan checked the other public spaces, but there was no sign of him anywhere. It wasn't until he walked past the cockpit that he heard him.
"Will you keep your hands to yourself? You're not even supposed to be here yet," Jeff was complaining.
"Anderson wanted to know how destabilizing I would be, so I figured I would start early." There was the obnoxious sound of a bubble popping.
"You asshole, you got it in my hair!"
Kaidan walked closer, to see Jeff sitting in someone's lap, working on the flight console. He was looking at the gum in his hair, while the other man was laughing.
"Moreau?"
"Oh, hey, Alenko," Jeff waved. "Did you get all moved in? Oh, have you met Shepard?"
Kaidan shook his head, and held out his hand. "Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, Sentinel."
"Commander Jarrett Shepard, Adept." He didn't stand to shake hands, he just reached past Jeff. "I'm not official until tomorrow."
"Day after," Jeff corrected.
"Are you done with those calibrations, Jeff? Cuz, you have gum in your hair." Jarrett smiled. "We should go take a shower."
"Asshole," muttered Jeff. "Anyway, see you around, Alenko." He stood up, and walked away, Jarrett following him.
Kaidan wondered if he looked as shocked as he felt, and he suspected that he did. He had never really thought about what the legendary Shepard, the Butcher of Torfan, would look like. But he would never have guessed that the man who had been pulled out of prison to join the Alliance looked like jailbait.

Jarrett Shepard wasn't very tall. He was average height for a Human male, but most Alliance men are taller. He was also less heavily muscled than the average Alliance soldier. This didn't stop him from being a violent psychopath, Kaidan noted. He quickly applied pressure to Jenkin's wound, and started applying medi-gel.
Jarrett laughed, and sprawled out on the sparring mat like a cat, rather than a lunatic who had just stabbed one of his crewmates. "You're shit, even for a Marine, Jenkins. I hope you don't spurt that fast when you're fucking."
Jenkins moved, and Kaidan forced him to stay still before he bled to death.
"Shepard, would you mind?" Kaidan scanned Jenkins, but he wasn't stable yet. He continued applying medi-gel.
"I'm waiting for my knife," Jarrett grinned.
Kaidan tried not to lose his temper. "Your knife is stuck in Jenkins' throat. It's staying there until I can get him to med-bay."
"That knife is an antique. We have more Marines."
"Shepard, get out! Now!"
"He's not even a good Marine, he's a fucking pussy. Real Marines suck cock before they drop."
Jenkins twitched convulsively again, and Kaidan concentrated on saving the young Marine's life. Dr. Chakwas ran into the recreation room, and knelt down next to Kaidan.
"Check it out, Jenkins, you've finally found a way to get a woman to fall for you."
Dr. Chakwas ignored Shepard's taunting, and she and Kaidan carried Jenkins away.
Anderson walked into the med-bay. "How is Jenkins?"
"He'll be fine," sighed Dr. Chakwas. "He's learned his lesson, Captain."
Anderson chuckled. "Where's the knife?"
"You're not going to give it back to him, are you?" asked Kaidan.
Dr. Chakwas handed over the knife, an antique Italian blade from Earth's distant history. Kaidan looked, wonderingly, at Anderson, who didn't answer his question.
"Thank you for your help today, Chakwas, Alenko. Good night."
Kaidan looked at Dr. Chakwas. "He's going to give it back! What if that happens again? Shepard's insane, he's a danger to everyone on the ship!"
Dr. Chakwas laughed wearily. "He's not that bad, Kaidan. He really isn't," she said reassuringly. "Jenkins probably said something that got on his nerves."
"So, he stabs someone and all he gets is an angry lecture from the Captain?"
"Have you ever gotten a lecture from Anderson? They're quite frightening."
Kaidan shook his head, partly in disbelief and partly in disgust. "I'm going to turn in, if you don't need me for anything else."
"No, I think we're done here. Thank you, Kaidan." Dr. Chakwas turned back to her patient, and Kaidan walked out of the med-bay.
He couldn't believe that Shepard was going to get away with this, that once again Shepard would get special treatment. It was bad enough that Shepard was bunking with the Captain, and didn't have a regular shift like everyone else. Kaidan wasn't even clear on what Shepard was supposed to be doing on the Normandy. So far, all he'd done was behave outrageously with Jeff and piss off Jenkins. At least he wasn't hanging all over Jeff any more.
Kaidan made himself a snack, and went down to the public terminals to check for any letters from home. He opened the door to the room, and almost stepped on Pressly, who was lying on top of Shepard, kissing him wildly, running his hands through Shepard's dark hair. Kaidan tried to slam the door closed and shut out Shepard's mocking laughter, but the door was stuck on something, and he could still hear them.
"Was that Alenko? Crap, I'll never live this down!" moaned Pressly.
Kaidan stiffened, furious.
"Oh, calm down, he's not a gossip."
"No, he'll just give me that look," grumbled Pressly.
Kaidan stormed away, Shepard's amused laughter ringing in his ears.