Mass Effect Taking a Breath

_**Just a little drabble I was inspired to put together for femshepfit over on tumblr in an effort to give her something to smile about.**_

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><p>The war, they told her after, was over. Battlefields set on planets - some distant, some right here beneath her feet - and in other areas of space were now being cleared. It was a time of rebuilding. Life was returning to the idea of 'normal'.<p>

The old idea, anyway.

For Shepard, 'normal' wasn't in the cards. She was a career marine. When one battlefield changed, another appeared. That was how it always was. Her ship was no longer the _Normandy,_ but now a desk in Alliance Headquarters. Her crew the teams of Alliance personnel who stood ready to follow her orders to the letter. Her weapons traded in for datapads, OSDs and computers. Her enemy ….

Shepard snorted and sat back sharply, her hands flying into the air in disgust, an inelegant snort passing her lips at the thought. Her _ENEMY_ these days consisted of the piles upon piles of paperwork (Why the hell did they still call it paperwork when all it amounted to were stacks of datapads and OSDs?). And, the leader of the enemy?

A thin sneer curved her lips, her darkened eyes sliding to the left. He might not be in the her room at the moment, but she knew EXACTLY where his office sat in relation to hers. She also knew he was taking too much delight in the difficulties of transition she was having, too. _One of these days I'll get you back, old man!_ she thought.

It was irritation more than any real heat behind her thoughts, of course. After all, the man had led the Alliance Fleets to victory against the Reapers. But he had KNOWN going in how she would feel about this - about being forced into retirement from combat and given a desk to jockey now.

Sighing, Shepard sat back in her chair, eyes closed, memories all that she had left of her days as _Commander_ Shepard. Of when what she did actually _mattered_ to the world - _galaxy_ - at large. What she wouldn't give to go back to those days. She swore, if one more person stepped into her office or paged her omni-tool asking for _Captain_ Shepard she would ….

"Captain Shepard?"

Thankfully, Lieutenant Zabransky couldn't hear her groan. Biting her lip to keep from responding in too sharp of a tone - the woman was there to assist her, after all, no sense in chasing her off - she pressed the button on her omni-tool. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

"Ma'am, Admiral Hackett -"

Shepard couldn't hold back a growl of irritation. "- can stuff it right down his -"

A strangled sort of smirking-tsking sound came from the doorway and Shepard glanced over, prepared to chew out whomever it was who had chosen to bypass protocol and enter her office before checking in with the Lieutenant ... but who she found there instead had her eyes brightening, a smile curving at the corners of her lips and all thoughts of going full-rampaging _Commander _Shepard on them drifting away.

"Now Captain Shepard," the familiar deep baritone rumbled in admonishment as he strode purposefully across the room, "is this how you treat your superior officers?"

Shepard smirked, eyes focused intently upon him as she responded to the Lieutenant one last time. "Lieutenant, I will get back in touch with Admiral Hackett later. For now, I'm unavailable." With a quick flick of her fingers across the omni-tool, she turned to give her visitor her full attention … just as he handed over a steaming cup of tea. Brow lifting in surprise, she sniffed the delightful aroma and nodded her thanks. "I suppose I shouldn't bother to ask how you know my favorite tea, hmm, Captain Alenko?"

He leaned his hip against the side of her desk closest to her. "I could tell you," he murmured, mischief twinkling in his eyes, "but then I might have to find a way to silence you. Spec-Ops is quite protective of their secrets and methods."

Shepard rose to her feet with a chuckle and leaned in towards him, pressing her lips lightly to his for just a moment. "I'm sure we can find a way to … keep the peace between our departments," she promised.

She led him across the room where she dropped onto the small couch against the wall. He followed suit, and Shepard's eyes watched as he moved with the grace and elegance of a giant cat. At the same time, she felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease. "Hmm." A small sip of the fragrant tea had her raising the mug slightly in his direction. "Thanks again for this," she murmured.

"Only for that?" he countered, brow arching pointedly.

Shepard chuckled, another wave of tension rolling off her back. "Maybe a few other things, too," she admitted.

His laughter joined hers and they sat in silence for a long moment. Really, when it came right down to it, they didn't even _need_ to speak. After the years spent working together, learning all the ins and outs of one another and then finally able to be together, simply taking the moment to sit together in silence was a luxury Shepard would not ever let pass by.

Some minutes later, a buzzing at her omni-tool drew Shepard's attention back to reality. Glancing mildly down at the device, she noted the call's originator and sighed. "Hackett," she muttered, though this time there was considerably less irritation in her reaction.

"Guess you need to take that," Kaidan replied, reaching out to squeeze her hand.

Shepard allowed her fingers to linger against his briefly. "Guess I do," she agreed. Sighing, she looked up at him first. "Dinner later?"

Kaidan grinned. "My place or yours?" he asked, nodding vaguely at the room around them. These days, many a meal was spent at work.

"Yours," she replied as he rose to his feet. She followed a second after, leaning up on her toes so she could brush her lips against his cheek. "I'll bring dinner … and dessert."

An insistent buzz at her omni-tool broke the mood, but Kaidan managed to turn just enough to kiss her back. "I'll see you then," he promised, then turned and left the room.

Sighing, Shepard retrieved her mug of tea before engaging the call and walking back to her desk. "Admiral," she greeted him in a more pleasant tone than she might have earlier. "How can I be of assistance …?"


End file.

Mass Effect