Mass Effect Rain Check

**Rain Check**

December 2188

Rain checks, a human concept of getting something at a later date. It's a concept the turian, Garrus Vakarian, is learning to appreciate. Several months ago, then Captain Leia Shepard, contacted him about another sniper contest with her friend, Marcy Thomas, included. Too bad he had to take a rain check, but today, he's cashing his check in and plans on showing the two human who is the better sniper. This contest isn't about two friends get together blowing off some steam during an epic war where they shoot at bottles on the Citadel. This contest is being held at the Villa, the N7 training facility, where Shepard is the commanding officer.

"No shooting at bottles with skycars whizzing by this time." That is what Shepard told him. Too bad he couldn't leave the Normandy to partake in the 'proper' sniper contest back then. His duties to the hierarchy comes before play. A sniper contest with Shepard is play time. They'll joke and tease each other the entire time and a few targets might get hit. Shepard also mentioned her friend and fellow N7 Staff Commander Marcy Thomas is joining them.

Garrus wasn't sure about adding a third to their contest, but after talking with Shepard's mother, Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard and finding out how competitive the two friends are with each other, he's fine with adding Commander Thomas to the mix. Hannah did warn him, Marcy and Leia will push each other and will play for keeps. She did say, "Marcy is an expert sniper and N7. Remember that, Garrus."

"Bring it on." That is what Garrus remembers thinking when Hannah said that to him. He's always felt, Shepard missed that last shot on purpose, but he never bothered to ask her about it. _Those where good times. Well, it wasn't so good then, but looking back on it now. Yea, good times._ Garrus' mandibles twitch when he thinks about those times. The running and gunning with Shepard hitting a button here or there. He puts his favorite sniper rifle in its usual spot over his left shoulder then heads to the elevator so he can have Lt. Steve Cortez take him to Rio in the shuttle.

Cortez is double-checking the shuttle when the elevator doors open. The pilot looks over his shoulder to see Garrus heading in his direction. Shutting off his omni-tool, Steve says, "I'm ready if you are, Garrus."

"Oh, I'm ready all right. Ready to show Shepard and her friend who is really the better sniper," replies Garrus as he gets into the shuttle.

"I'm going to stick around at watch too. It's going to be an interesting contest and should be very entertaining. Cortez preps the shuttle for departure and within a few minutes the shuttle leaves the comfort of the Normandy's hanger, headed towards Rio.

Garrus admires the pilot a great deal. Steve has proven he's more than a shuttle pilot. He's a brother-in-arms too. More than once during the war, Steve without hesitation pulled out his pistol and jumped into the fray. Plus Steve giving Joker shit about his lack of range time with a pistol during Shepard's party was icing on the cake. Joker got Steve in the end with the concoction he made with antiseptic mouthwash.

Rio

General Leia Shepard is making french toast for her family and friend, Staff Commander Marcy Thomas, retired. Dr. Liara T'Soni is sitting at the table, trying to get her one-year-old daughter, Kaja, to eat her puree banana. Kaja keeps smacking at the spoon Liara is holding, causing the banana to fall on the highchair's tray. Every time Kaja smacks at the spoon, she giggles.

Marcy sits across from Liara, watching the asari attempting to feed her daughter. "Shepard, I think Kaja is taking after you."

Leia looks over her shoulder to ask, "How so?"

"Well, during the forty-eight hours of hell at the Villa, your tray looks like hers does with more food on it then in your mouth," answers Marcy with a huge grin on her face.

Shepard chuckles at the memory. "Couldn't I say the same about you and everyone else in our class? We had five minutes to eat then we moved on to the next activity."

Liara gets Kaja to take eat some banana. She wipes her daughter's chin then attempts to give her another spoonful. "Kaja, please stop smacking at the spoon and eat." Liara moves her hand so Kaja won't hit the spoon. She waits for her daughter to calm down before she tries to give Kaja another bite of her breakfast.

Marcy glances between Shepard and Liara. A giant grin appears on her face. This is a side of Shepard she never thought she would see. Plus, she's amazed on how easily Shepard goes from being a tough-as-nails soldier to a loving caring parent, wife. Marcy has known Shepard for over fifteen years and never once thought her friend would ever settle down and get married, let alone have children. Those roles fit Leia like a glove, same as being the savior of the galaxy.

The one thing Marcy still wonders about Shepard is when she cooks but when will Shepard need the fire extinguisher that is hanging inside the cabinet door under the sink. The retired N7 officer watches Shepard bring three plates with three pieces of french toast with a side of ham on each plate. Two of the plates have butter and powered sugar on the french toast and was with only butter.

Kaja giggles then smacks her hand on the small pile of banana on the tray causing the banana to splatter all over Kaja's bib and Liara's arm. "Kaja, I said stop it." The elder asari puts the spoon down to grab a towel so she can wipe the banana from her arm and to clean Kaja's hands.

Leia pats Liara on the shoulder, "Here, eat. I'll finish feeding, little one." Shepard sits in her normal spot across from Liara. She moves her chair closer to Kaja's highchair and turns the highchair, so Kaja can face her. Kaja giggles and flings her arms when she's being moved. To her this is a game, until she sees the look on her father's face when the chair stops moving. Leia gives Kaja a stern look. The look is all she needs to get her daughter to stop playing around and eat her breakfast.

"I bet that's the look you gave your squad during the war when things weren't going so well," comments Marcy when she sees Leia's look and Kaja's reaction to it.

Liara replies, "Actually, that look was reserved for those we had contact with who didn't always want to do what we needed from them."

"The salarian delatrass comes to mind. That woman was so wrong about the krogan too. She still doesn't get along with Wrex and that's a shame. I am the one they call to mediate between them and I wish she would just open her view about the krogan some. It would make colony rights discussions for the krogan go smoother." Shepard wipes Kaja's mouth when the youth eats her last bite. "See, Kaja, you get done eating faster when you don't smack at the spoon or the tray." She kisses Kaja's crest, "One of these days, you'll take that spoon and start feeding yourself."

"Here, let me," says Liara when Shepard starts to remove Kaja from the highchair. Liara sets Kaja down in her playpen. The first toy Kaja grabs is the hanar plushy doll, Blasto. Liara kisses her daughter's cheek then sits back down to finish her breakfast.

Marcy has her fork with a bite of french toast on the tongs pointing at Shepard. "I still can't believe you lost to Garrus the last time you two did this." She moves the fork to her lips to take the bite.

"It was windy," retorts Shepard in the same tone she did with Garrus when she missed on purpose. A sly grin appears on her face that doesn't go unnoticed by Marcy or Liara when she sits back at the table.

"Uh huh, Windy and Citadel don't mix, Shepard," remarks Marcy after she swallows her bite.

Shepard's grin remains as she shrugs her shoulders. "I do miss some times."

"Uh huh." Marcy isn't buying that Shepard missed. She thinks her friend missed on purpose to keep moral up with Garrus. Or their contest wasn't a serious one. She isn't sure which. Possible it's a mix of the two. That is something Marcy thinks Shepard would do, miss on purpose to keep moral up and not have it be anything serious. For the retired officer, this is her last hurrah and she wants to go out on top. Beating Shepard at anything is always a good feeling, but to add a third. Icing on the cake.

Liara remains silent on the matter. She knows what happened between Garrus and Shepard on their "play" date during one of their trips to the Citadel. The asari can tell by Marcy's reaction she believes Shepard missed on purpose. Garrus did return to the Normandy with a little pep in his step when Shepard missed. She had her reasons for missing the target. Liara doubts Leia misses any target today on purpose. Even if this contest was between only her and Garrus, Shepard isn't letting anyone win. A morale boost is not needed today.

The two N7 officers might "claim" this is a friendly contest. In the short time Liara has known Marcy, she brings out the competitiveness in Shepard. Like Shepard needs anyone pushing her to excel. She does that naturally. Liara is thankful Marcy and Leia are close again. It's helped Shepard regain the small part she misplaced after blowing up the Citadel and ending the war. There was a time when Liara thought that part of Shepard was gone forever, but it's back and it's good to see.

Shepard has been the CO of the N-School for almost two years has yet to complain about behind a desk. It's hard for people who know Shepard to imagine her behind a desk, but Liara suspects her love spends as much time outside the office as she does sitting in her chair, filling out daily reports. Leia is content as Liara has ever seen her with her position. The only time Shepard is gone for any length of time is when the Council needs her in London. Those trips are slowly becoming less frequent.

"Oh, I can't wait to meet Garrus now. Or should I say Archangel? Geez, Leia, I'm not sure who is crazier, you or Garrus? I still have a hard time believing one person took on three merc gangs at once and lived to talk about it," comments Marcy while shaking her head in disbelief.

Liara smiles at the retired N7 officer. "Garrus has a way with people. It took Garrus a few months to piss the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack off enough for them to band together to go after him. Those groups normally don't get along very well." She sips her coffee.

"I used the mercs to get to Archangel. I didn't even know it was Garrus until he took off his helmet. He had the mercs completely frustrated and they were hiring freelancers to use as cannon fodder. The only weapon he was using was his sniper rifle. This is going to be a fun contest today." Leia takes the last bite of her food before she takes the dirty dishes from the table and puts then in the dishwasher.

Marcy says as she stands, "I'm still winning this, Leia. I might have retired last week, but I haven't been sitting behind a desk for the past year or so." Marcy winks and grins at Shepard.

Leia chuckles, "Is that so, Marcy? Well, I hate to tell you, but I'm no slouch and I did have the techs do a test run on the sim we're using before I came home last night."

"Oh, cheating already, I see. Figures, anything to gain an edge. I suppose I should be glad I brought my trusty Black Widow with me. I rarely miss. Live target or not. Shouldn't we get going? I'd hate for you to be late to your own ass whoopin'." Marcy's grin is as big as the ocean. There is a playful, yet serious look in her eyes. A look that tells Shepard, she needs to bring her "A" game today. Marcy isn't going to make winning easy.

Shepard smirks at Marcy, but remains silent. She wonders if Marcy is taking her cybernetic implants into consideration. Marcy was always the better sniper between them, but Shepard was always the better overall marksman with any weapon. Since Cerberus' rebuild, Shepard's accuracy went up. So, did her life span. As far as Leia is concerned that is the only good thing about all the cybernetics grafted into her, she'll be able to share her life with Liara longer than most humans would be able to share.

"I'm telling you, Marcy, Garrus is no slouch. He claims his rifle dances in his hands. Does your rifle do that?" asks Shepard with a teasing tone.

Marcy laughs, "Oh yea. Mine dances the tango and the rumba, Shepard. What's yours do? The two-step shuffle." She starts mimicking Shepard's bad dancing steps.

Liara can't help but laugh when Marcy teases Shepard about her bad dancing. Leia's gotten better, but still shuffles her feet more than actual dancing. With the adults laughing, Kaja stands, holding to the edge of the playpen, and starts making cooing noises. She's attempting to join in on the laughter. Shepard picks Kaja up, "Am I that bad of a dancer, little one?" She holds her daughter out and dances some before she puts the infant back into her playpen. Kaja giggles the entire time. "See, she doesn't think I'm a bad dancer."

Liara facepalms while shaking her head. Marcy laughs louder. "Really, Shepard? I think Kaja is laughing at your bad dancing." The retired officer grins at Shepard then grabs her gear and heads towards Shepard's skycar.

Leia kisses Kaja's cheek. "I'll see you later, little one. I love you." She kisses Kaja's cheek again before she moves closer to Liara. Pulling her wife close, Shepard kisses her love passionately. "We should get going. I'm sure Garrus has left the Normandy already."

Liara whispers to Leia. "Good luck, my love. They don't know you brought in Hackett to supervise do they?"

Shepard smirks at Liara's question while shaking her head no. "Have fun this today. This is going to take a few hours." She kisses Liara one last time before leaving. "I do plan on winning this, Liara."

Liara watches her love leave for the afternoon of fun with two friends. Or what they consider fun. Liara wouldn't classify a sniper contest against General Leia Shepard as fun. It's fun for Shepard, but not as much fun for everyone else. Shepard hardly loses. Staff. Commander Thomas is as sure of herself as Shepard is. The same can be said about Garrus too. It is going to be an interesting contest. One Shepard has set-up to be balanced, but also fair. Marcy and Garrus both have a surprise waiting for them at the Villa. Leia has arraigned for Admiral Hackett to supervise the contest.

Liara plans to spend the alone time going over some of her notes from her latest interview with the Prothean, Javik. T'Soni has learned more in the past few months talking to Javik about his people and his cycle than she ever did while only studying their ruins. Javik's rough edges have dulled some what. He is still as blunt as ever at times. She's slowly getting used to it and at times, she finds it suits him. Liara will always wonder how different Javik would have been if he has been born into a time of peace instead of being born during their fight for existence against the Reapers.

The archeologist knows how lucky she's been. Not only with finding Shepard, or Shepard finding her first, but with her Prothean studies. She couldn't prove what she always knew. The Protheans were not the first civilization to vanish from the galaxy. Finding Javik on Eden Prime still alive in a functioning stasis pod has been life changing. Everything she thought she knew was wrong, even her own people's history. Wrong.

Liara checks to see if Kaja needs a diaper change and without fail, she does. Once she's done changing her daughter's diaper, Liara sets the infant on the floor. She makes sure all the baby gates are secure and all doors are closed before curling up on the sofa with her data pads. Everything knee high to the floor is Kaja-proofed. The young asari is crawling around more and more every day and both parents are sure she is going to start standing and walking very soon. Liara watches Kaja crawl to a big stuff teddy bear sitting in the corner next to the book shelf. The bear is three times the size of Kaja, but that doesn't matter to the infant. Every time she is on the floor, she crawls to the toy grandfather, Matriarch Aethyta, gave her for her 1st birthday present.

The Villa

Steve and Garrus are waiting by General Shepard's office when Leia and Marcy arrive. Garrus' mandibles twitch as he grins at his close friend. "For a while there, Shepard, I thought maybe you and your friend were...what's the phrase Vega used? Oh, I remember. Chicken?"

Marcy grabs her gut and bends over laughing. When she's able to speak she says, "Oh, I like him already, Shepard. Hi, I'm Marcy Thomas. You must be the infamous Garrus Vakarian." The retired N7 officer offers her hand to the turian, who accepts it.

"Well, any friend of Shepard's is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you, Marcy. Get ready to be shown what a real sniper can do," says the turian with a grin.

Cortez offers his hand to Lt. Commander Thomas, "I'm Lt. Steve Cortez. Nice to meet you, ma'am."

Shepard chuckles at her friends. _This is going to be a good time. I'm beating you both._ Leia never thought for a nano-second that Garrus and Marcy wouldn't get along. Garrus greeting with Marcy's reaction to it proved how right her gut instincts are. The two are going to get along fine and having Garrus partake in this "friendly" contest, it will make it even more competitive. "I need to gear up, so, if you will excuse me for a few minutes." Shepard slips into her office and locks the door behind her.

Fleet Admiral Hackett is sitting behind Shepard's desk, waiting for the General to arrive. "Good to see you, Shepard. Do they know I'm here yet?" He stands to shake Shepard's hand. Normally, Hackett is wearing his dress blues, but not today. Today, he's wearing the casual crewman's uniform with the sleeves rolled up, showing part of an older looking tattoo on his left upper arm.

"No, sir, they don't. The shit talking has already begun though. This is going to be a very fun and interesting afternoon. Thank you again, Admiral, for agreeing to officiate this contest." General Shepard grabs her armor then heads to her office's bathroom.

Hackett and Shepard talk in more detail about the different simulations they will be using today while she gears up. Garrus, Steve, and Marcy stop talking to each other when Garrus puts his hand up to signal, stop. The turian moves closer to the door. The two humans follow suit. They hear two different voices. One is Shepard's and the other is male. Garrus says softly, "That sounds like Admiral Hackett."

Marcy responds just as quietly, "Figures, Shepard would bring him into this." Staff Commander Thomas thinks Shepard turned their friendly competition into a very serious one. _Damn you, Shepard. You just had to bring the CO of the entire military into our friendly competition. It's not so friendly now. I am so kicking your ass and your turian friend's ass too. _Marcy motions for them to move away from the door when the voices get louder.

Cortez asks a question he already knows the answer to, so he can make it seem like they don't know Hackett is with Shepard. "So, Commander, newly retired. How's that working out so far?" Steve has noticed a subtle change in Marcy's body language. He's unsure if she's mad about Hackett or is taking the contest a little more seriously. The shuttle pilot is very surprised Admiral Hackett is here and waiting for Shepard in her office. Which tells him, Hackett is overseeing the contest. Why did Shepard ask him to come in the first place, remains a mystery.

"I'll let you know in a few days, Lieutenant. All I've done so far is stay with Shepard and Dr. T'Soni. I'm headed to my sister's place in Los Angeles in a few days. I have a job interview or two planned once I get there," answers Marcy.

Shepard with Hackett close behind exit the General's office. Leia glances at Marcy then Garrus to gauge their body language to seeing Admiral Hackett. Marcy's right eyebrow moves and her eyes squinted. She has a grin on her face while she nods her approval. Garrus is his normal calm, stoic self. The General says, "I decided to have Admiral Hackett supervise our contest." Shepard looks at Marcy, "That way, no one can say I ordered someone to give me the advantage while keeping track of our scores. I've arraigned a different scenario to three simulation rooms. Each of us will be in our own room and when the sim is done, we switch rooms until we do all three sims."

Garrus puts up finger when he asks, "What are the scenarios, Shepard?"

Marcy adds, "Yea, Shepard, what are these scenarios?" She folds her arms across her chest waiting to hear the answer.

Leia puts her hand on Marcy's shoulder. "Oh, don't you worry, Commander. These scenarios are designed for an infiltrator like you. Garrus and I might be the ones with the problems." Shepard winks at Garrus. "I'll explain what we're doing on the way."

As the group head towards the simulation rooms, Shepard explains the different scenarios they are doing for this contest. She set things up this way to make it harder for everyone. This isn't a simple, line up your shot type contest. This will test everyone's fortitude and keep everyone on their toes. It isn't anything any of them haven't done in the past. These scenarios are training exercises for those who are N5 or higher.

The first scenario is a barren rocky moon similar to Luna and Menae with an objective to locate and extract a data cache. There is a private mercenary army standing between the LZ and the objective. The second scenario is on the Citadel and you have to stop an assassin attempt on the human Councilor. The assassination is being done by an unknown terrorist group. Their leader must not survive. The third scenario is to locate and secure survivors of a private transport ship on the planet, Gei Hinnom. A well-armed mercenary group is suspected of shooting down the private transport ship, plus having to doeal with the native rabid varren.

Each scenario is worth one thousand points. Accuracy is factored into the score. Hit a target in the arm and you only get partial points for wounding instead of killing. Each enemy is worth a certain amount of points. One-shot kills are worth more than two-shot kills. Take enough damage during the scenario and the sim will shut down, meaning you died and a death is worth zero points.

Lieutenant Lin is stationed at his post, monitoring the simulation rooms. He is moving three cards face down around. He stops moving the cards when he sees General Shepard approaching. "Good afternoon, General. Admiral Hackett, sir. I'm ready when ever you are. I have the cards ready like you requested, General."

"Good, Lieutenant. All we need to do now is pick the rooms we're doing first then we move to the next room. If you get room one, you move to room two. Room two moves to room three. Room three moves to room one. Everyone got it?" asks Shepard.

Marcy and Garrus both nod they are ready. Hackett pulls an old Argentinian coin from his pocket. He asks, "Garrus, heads or tails?" He waits for an answer before flipping the coin into the air.

Garrus gives Hackett a curious look then says, "Tails, I suppose."

The coin flips over a few times in the air before landing softly on the carpet. Heads is showing. Hackett says, "Staff Commander Thomas you get to pick a card."

"Thank you, sir," replies the retired N7 officer. She picks the middle card. Room three and that room has the Citadel scenario.

"Garrus, your turn. Pick a card. I get what's left," orders Shepard.

The turian's mandibles twitch as he looks at the two cards on the console. He grabs the left card. Room one and the Gei Hinnom scenario. Which leaves Shepard with room two and Menae scenario. Each participant has the weapon of their choice. Marcy almost starts laughing, but isn't surprised to see her friend using the same weapon has her. The Black Widow. Garrus is using his trusty M-92 Mantis. Each is also allowed either a pistol or SMG as a sidearm. Shepard's sidearm of choice is the N7 Eagle, while Garrus is using the M-11 Suppressor, and Marcy has the M-5 Phalanx.

"I want to say one thing before we get started. Lt. Lin, Admiral Hackett thank you both for taking the time to help oversee this contest. Garrus, Marcy, lets do this," says Leia as she adjusts her Kuwashii Visor.

"That's two things, Shepard," retorts Garrus.

Garrus' comment causes Marcy to chuckle, but no one hears her because she hasn't turn on helmet's mic yet. She turns the mic on to say, "Good one, Garrus."

"Yea, yea. We'll see who is laughing when this is over." General Shepard steps into room two. The room lights up with Menae looking like it did during the war. Small fires from down ships and plenty of places to be ambushed. "Remember, this isn't a speed contest. First one done doesn't receive any bonus points. Pick your targets, one shot, one kill."

Once everyone is in their assigned rooms, Hackett gets on the comm, "Contest begins...Now!"

Lieutenant Lin hits three buttons simultaneously, starting each room's scenario. It doesn't take long for Garrus to say, "Scoped and dropped."

"You need a new phrase, Vakarian. That one is getting old," teases Shepard as she scopes a merc, putting a hole in his chest.

Garrus replies, "I'll get a new phrase when you stop saying, I should go." The turian gets down on one knee, scopes another varren and hits it right between the eyes. "Ah, that was beautiful. Should have seen it, Shepard."

Marcy adds in, "So, she's still saying that, Garrus. Talk about old. She's been saying that since basic." The retired officer has her back against a map terminal, looking through her scope. She sees three terrorists in a store crouched near a counter. She has a full clip and by the time the clip empties, there are three dead terrorist in a heap. Each with a shot to the head.

The first round ends with everyone tied with a perfect 1000 score. What the participants don't know is Lt. Lin had the first round on the easy peasy difficulty. It's something Admiral Hackett suggested to Lin after Shepard contacted him. Shepard doesn't know about it. Hackett is sure Shepard won't mind not knowing. It does keep the competition fair. That is why the General contacted him in the first place, to keep it fair. Hackett instructs Lin to up the difficulty to its normal setting He's saving the insane difficulty for the last round. Keeping it easy is going to get Commander Thomas commenting on it at some point. Hackett is sure of that.

The second round ends with Shepard needing to double tap a target, putting her in last place with a score of 1850. Marcy and Garrus each have 1900 points.

Round three begins. The difficulty is increased to insanely hard. Very few N7s make it through the insane difficulty. It's a difficulty the General suggested to be added for those few N7s who want to push themselves even more in a simulation. Shepard has done it once and she got through it. She knows how hard it will be if Lt. Lin uses it and she suspects the last around to be the insane round. Marcy has already made a few comments about how easy this contest is. Deep down, Leia hopes the Lieutenant ups it to the insane level. If only to shut Marcy up about the easy of the simulation.

"When is this going to get hard, Shepard?" says Marcy in jest. She noticed the last round was harder than the first round and suspects the next round will also increase in difficulty. The retired officer isn't sure if each scenario is why the second one felt harder. Shepard always tries to get things to be in her favor. On the battlefield, that is necessary to survive, but Shepard does it with simple contests too. Or did, Marcy isn't sure if that is still true or not. Leia has changed, but who hasn't? "Oh, shit, never mind what I said. What the..." She turns on her cloak and takes cover behind a giant rock when three enemies almost ambush her.

Admiral Hackett has a content grin on his face as he looks over Lt. Lin's shoulder. The contest is as close as expected and just as entertaining. The Admiral stifles a chuckle when Lt. Lin says, "The turian is down, I repeat the turian is down."

Garrus says as he lies on the ground as the simulation fades to the room's normal lighting, "Ah, crap. I just fell through a fish tank, Shepard. A fish tank. I can guess where that idea came from."

The General replies as she slowly picks off a small group of varren, "I have no idea what you are talking about Garrus. I didn't fall through a fish tank."

"You didn't fall through a fish tank?" asks Garrus as he gets off the floor to exit the simulation room.

"No, I didn't," says Leia. She ducks behind a tree root, surveying the enemies near the down ship. She wishes she had a few frag grenades with her, but she doesn't. All she has is her incendiary and cryo ammo and neither do much good when every kill is done in one-shot.

Marcy adds, "Yea, I didn't fall through any fish tank either. I'm assuming that is why you're down." The retired officer dives over a crate to seek cover only to find a YMIR mech pointing its cannon at her and begins firing. "Shit, nooo..." The lights in simulation room return to normal.

"Staff Commander Thomas is down, repeat Staff Commander Thomas is down," says Lt. Lin to inform the others about Marcy's fate.

Garrus and Marcy wait by Shepard's simulation room for the winner to finish her scenario. It takes the living legend fifteen more minutes before the shuttle leaves with the survivors of the crash departs and the scenario ends. Marcy still has her helmet on, but she has a huge smile on her face. Even though she lost to Shepard, she had fun and enjoyed herself. That was the point to this contest. To have fun. The retired officer folds her arms across her chest and taps her right foot when Shepard exits the room.

"Really, Shepard, a fish tank? I fell through a fish tank. Was the target a clone?" asks Garrus in jest. He is smiling as big as a turian can smile.

Shepard shakes her head at her friend. "I don't know. My target was wearing a helmet. Looked human. Or could it have been an asari? Hard to say." Leia looks over to Marcy, who is still tapping her right foot with her arms folded across her chest. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'm surprised at you, Thomas. I've never known you to fail a scenario before." She gives Marcy a smirk, knowing the Lieutenant cranked up the difficulty without telling anyone about it first. Which she is glad because it made the contest harder and more rewarding in the end.

Marcy stops tapping her foot when she moves enough to look squarely at Garrus, "Clone? Why would you ask if the target was a clone?"

Leia says quickly, "I'll explain it later, Marcy. Inside joke."

"Ah, I see. Well, that was fun. I want a rematch on a more normal difficulty and not that insane one you created, General. Also a contest that is actually a sniper contest and not scenarios designed for a squad with an N7 leading which is what we did today," retorts Commander Thomas as she removes her helmet. A few strains of her blond hair are stuck to her forehead.

Admiral Hackett joins the group. "That was very entertaining, General. Thank you for asking me to oversee it. Watching Garrus falling through the fish tank is something I'll remember for a long time. I'll take my leave. I need to check on my property back home. Enjoy your retirement, Commander."

"Thank you, sir. I'm sure I will," replies Marcy.

Steve waits for the Admiral to leave before joining the group. "Hackett was right, that was very entertaining. The fish tank at the sushi place, Shepard?" Cortez grabs his stomach while he laughs heartily.

Marcy glances at Steve, Garrus, then Leia before asking, "What fish tank? What are you guys talking about?" She's out of the loop on the joke and desperately wants in on it. Something embarrassing happened to Shepard during the war involving a fish tank.

Leia's left hand covers her face while she shakes her head in disbelief . "Really, guys? You can't let that drop can you?"

Garrus and Steve both laugh at Shepard then say a second apart, "No, we can't."

"Who else would have a clone beside you?" asks Garrus as he puts his hand on Shepard's shoulder with a huge smile on his face.

Shepard motions for them to follow her to her office, so she can change her clothes and head home to her wife and infant daughter. She tries to explain the best she can what happened with her clone plus Garrus and Steve giving their color commentary on the events as well. The story seems unbelievable, but with Shepard anything is believable. The retired officer doubts Cortez would put so much body language when he tells his part of the story if he wasn't excited about telling it. About how his stunt-like driving in a skycar kept the Normandy from leaving the Nebula.

Marcy cocks her right eyebrow up as she squints her eyes at Shepard. "How do I know you're not the clone?" She pokes Leia in the arm.

"I'm the one that's left, so I'm all you got, Marcy. You'd have to ask Garrus or Liara how they know to come to me and not the clone when we were dangling from the Normandy's hanger bay door," replies Shepard with a smirk on her face.

Garrus is more than happy to explain how he knew his best friend from her clone. For him and Liara, that was easy. The clone might have looked like Shepard, but her attitude and demeanor were anything like Shepard. "That was easy. Shepard always has her Mattock and Black Widow. The clone was using the Valkyrie." Pointing to his best friend, "Plus, she wasn't trying to kill me. The clone was."

"I do believe Liara said she was the better looking of the two. So she sees something I don't," interjects Steve as he points at Leia with his right thumb. "They looked identical to me. Until the clone started talking, then you knew who was who.

Leia leans against her desk with a lopsided grin on her face. "She did seem a tad angry."

"A tad?" chuckles Garrus. "I hate to imagine how things would have turned out if we hadn't stop the clone from stealing the Normandy."

"Just think, it was Traynor's toothbrush that saved the day too," chuckles Shepard at the memory on how they boarded the Normandy that day. Of all the things she can think of to break into the Normandy with, a toothbrush is near the bottom of the list.

Marcy sits in a chair and takes in the tale of Shepard's clone. Interesting tale and if it was about anyone else, Commander Thomas doubts she would believe it. This isn't about anyone else, this is a tale about the galaxy's greatest hero and her close friend. Shepard's war time life was anything but normal. Marcy has figured that much out. She's thinking what she did in the war was normal. What Shepard was doing during the war was extraordinary rare.

They sit around Shepard's office swapping stories about the General until it's time for Garrus and Lt. Cortez to report back to the Normandy. Everyone learned something new about Shepard. For Marcy, it's more of reconfirming stories she heard during the war. The Normandy exploits during the war helped keep morale up on Earth, but many colony worlds across the galaxy as well. Marcy has never been able to put her finger on it, but Shepard has always had that something special.

That something special is how Shepard always attracts the best and gets them to work together as a team. Once she gains their loyalty, they'll remain loyal for a long time. The retired officer will never figure out what made Shepard trust AIs, but because she did, things work out for everyone. Until the Citadel blew up and all AIs shut down.

As Shepard and Thomas head back to the apartment, Marcy informs Shepard if there are any more "rain checks" involving Garrus and shooting, she wants in on it. Even though she's retired, she has no intention on letting her skills go to waste. Her only request is the next contest needs to be an actual sniping contest and not a N7 training exercise.

General Leia Shepard's reply is, "Can I get a rain check?"

* * *

A/N: It's been a while. I hope you enjoyed this story. Too me longer than expected to write. I have a series of four shorts revolving around someone's shore leave in mind for my next story. Hannah, Leia, Kaja, and Eric. What I would like to know is where in Leia's career would you like her story to be? Would you like another story involving Marcy? I would set it between basic training and the Skyllian Blitz. Shepard would be 20. I believe Shepard was 22 when the Blitz happened. Or one that involves the Normandy crew while she is CO of the Villa. I can do either or when it comes to Leia's shore leave.

I have clear ideas on the others. I have not started writing them, but I'll start on Eric's today. Since I'm spending more times doing other things and less writing, I wouldn't expect anything soon. I may become a once-a-month poster vs once-a-week. We'll see on that.

I'll see you soon. Thanks in advance for any reviews and faves. Those always brighten my day.


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Mass Effect, Family, Humor