Mass Effect Stealing Commander Shepard

A sleek black skycar slipped silently thru the Nos Astra night. The passenger, herself dressed in body-hugging black leather, was seated in the driver's seat reviewing several expertly encoded messages on her Omni-tool, while the car's auto-pilot unerringly guided the vehicle to her destination.

Over the previous weeks, several heavily encoded messages had been posted on different antiques auction extranet sites. Separately the messages were innocuous, simply the announcement of an upcoming auction of some extremely rare earth artifacts, but together the messages created a heavily encrypted invitation to dinner. Dinner at Domingo's Bistro, an exclusive upscale restaurant in Nos Astra situated at the top of the Azure Hotel. It was the type of restaurant that catered to Illium's richest and most discreet citizens. The skycar's passenger, one Kasumi Goto thief extraordinaire, looked on with interest at the offer, a pair of rare Japanese swords. The weapons were ancient, products of the early Tokugawa Shogunate. The supplementary extranet vids did not do the polished steel weapons any justice. They were as beautiful and lethal as their future owner.

The current owner of said objects, however, was the most intriguing aspect of the messages. Apart from the owner's extranet account originating on Illium, there was nothing in the message to give a clue as to who the sender of the auction invite was, which was why the thief was there, herself. She was going find out first-hand why this particular sword collector was seeking her out.

The content of the messages were only entreaties to said auction, but it was the information NOT printed in the announcements that was the real puzzle. Even the decryption key needed to decode the antique owner's location was itself a piece of the riddle. Hidden inside the encryption key's hashing algorithm was the meeting's location, and hidden in the private key was the date and time for said meeting encoded between long sections of meaningless numeric code. Kasumi had to admit that the whole affair WAS a very clever way to arrange a clandestine tête-à-tête.

The skycar glided swiftly along a thermal updraft and then slipped into a parking space close to the exclusive restaurant's employee entrance. Keeping her senses sharp for possible ambushes, Kasumi activated her cloak and moved silently into the restaurant. Once inside, she found herself standing in restaurant's kitchen. She eyed the organized chaos as the cooks, chefs and servers moved around the central stoves and ovens. The smells of searing meat, roasting vegetables and baking desserts all combined to create an atmosphere that left the young thief's mouth watering. Shaking her head to regain some clarity through the haute cuisine induced haze, she slipped behind a waitress carrying a large tray of desserts, mugs of coffee, and after dinner aperitifs. Her hand, moving of its own volition, snagged a port filled glass and she downed it one go.

Moving from behind the waitress, she moved among the restaurant's patrons, Kasumi eyed a young Asari maiden seated in the rear of the restaurant rather close to the exit. She watched as the Asari woman played as if she were only interested in her food and drink, but the thief could tell that the maiden was also scanning the restaurant no doubt waiting for her arrival. The eyes of the maiden were a gorgeous shade of blue and the facial markings were distinctive. There was only one person this diner could possibly be. Only one Asari was there at the Citadel when the press was finally allowed to see who it was that saved the council and all of the lives of the Citadel's residents. The vid of her standing on the right side of the Savior of the Citadel was still, even two years later, a popular Extranet search request.

She stepped behind the lone diner and bent at the waist as she deactivated her cloak and smiled, "Why hello there, Dr. T'Soni."

* * *

><p>Liara had been eating for all of ten minutes before her guest whispered in her ear. A widening of her eyes was the only indication that the thief had surprised her. Kasumi slipped into a seat next to the young information broker. "Ms. T'soni, this is definitely an unexpected pleasure."<p>

"Ms. Goto I see you do not disappoint. Please try the wine." Liara motioned to the bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc sitting in the middle of the circular table. "It's from a very good year."

"You're quite right, it has quite a delicious aroma." Kasumi swirled the contents of the glass in her hand, and Liara realized the glass was, in fact, hers. The thief downed the contents in a single gulp and began refilling the crystal goblet. Liara's right eye ridge angled upward in a distinctly human gesture as she watched Kasumi sip from the cup and then place back in front of her.

"Please try the tortellini as well it is also quite delicious. The chef here is a master of fusing cuisines from a variety of cultures. This particular dish has ingredients from several Asari colonies as well as cooking techniques from both Earth and Thessia. For example the pasta filling is Thessian crab and black tuffles, the pasta itself is made from a grain that grows only on Terra Nova. It is very similar to semolina wheat, but has a sweeter flavor and can be much more difficult to work with, I'm told."

Liara's eyes widened almost imperceptibly as a pair of ornate chopsticks seemed to have simply appeared in the thief's right hand. She watched as the two pieces of lacquered bamboo quickly snagged a tortellini shell, and deposited it into the japanese woman's mouth. "Delicious. Might I have some more?"

Liara nodded in affirmation and continued eating. She eyed the hooded thief inquisitively as she watched Kasumi slide her chair a little closer to the young Asari. A few more flashes of the red chopsticks and several more pieces of tortellini vanished. "Yes, this food is most exquisite... And don't we make the lovely couple? Seated so close; eating off the same plate." Kasumi noted with a hint of laughter in her voice. A second wine glass, filled with the pale Sauvignon, manifested itself in the thief's hand.

Liara couldn't help but smile at the thief's light teasing. "I'm glad you are having such a good time." The two continued eating until the majority of the pasta was gone and Liara slid the plate to side. "As delicious as the food was, and as delightful as your company has turned out to be, I'm afraid business must intrude. I have invited you here because I have a proposition for you, Ms. Goto. The two swords in my extranet messages are to be payment for your consideration in taking this meeting."

"Oh, to business already. I was so going to seduce you. Maybe even steal your heart in the process." Kasumi's eyes glittered with mischief as she half-smiled at Liara.

"Ms. Goto, not to make light of your intention to seduce me, but my heart has not been in my possession for quite some time. And as it so happens is yet central to this proposed business arrangement." Liara removed a datapad from her lap and activated the screen. "I have recently acquired the location of a… let's just call it an object… that is extremely valuable to me. I am hoping that you would be available to retrieve this object and return it to me safely. Once the object is back in my possession, a sum of 5 million credits, as well as the whereabouts of your late partner's graybox will be forwarded to you." Liara reached under the table to retrieve the katana and wakizashi when she realized they were already in Kasumi's hands. A raised eye ridge was her only response.

Kasumi eyed the swords for a moment as if deep in thought. "Okay, be straight with me. As you probably already know there are SOME things even I won't steal." Kasumi's gaze shifted to Liara. "I usually draw the line at children, invalids, and large objects that go boom. Okay, that last one is more of a case by case, but you catch my drift."

Liara nodded and swiped her finger over the datapad. "The target is being housed at this location." A pic of an extremely large space station appeared. "The place is known as The Lazarus Station, and it is one of Cerberus's most important, and assuming the financial statements are correct, most expensive assets. As such, the station is well fortified and is very self-sufficient. It will be extremely difficult getting in and out without complications. The object I seek is probably housed in the center of that station." She passed a finger over the datapad again a man's pic appeared. A very well-known man.

Kasumi eyed the picture and then looked back at Liara. "That's a pic of Commander Shepard. What does he have to do with this object you're after?"

Liara looked squarely in the thief's eyes. "He is the object. Cerberus has had him in their custody for the last two years. And now I want him back." The levity that had been present in the Asari maiden's eyes disappeared and the Asari's gaze become much more steely. "We should probably continue this conversation elsewhere." Liara wiped the corners of her mouth with her white linen napkin and placed it on the plate. She then turned and got up from her seat. As she and the thief left the table, Liara dropped a a thousand credit chit next to the half empty bottle of wine as they exited the restaurant.

* * *

><p>"Just to verify we're on the same page, you want me to STEAL Commander Shepard?" Kasumi stared half incredulously at her new benefactor. The duo had left the roof of the Azure Hotel in the same taxi that Kasumi had arrived in. It was now weaving efficiently between the numerous skyscrapers as the autopilot followed a pre-plotted course.<p>

The young Asari maiden in the driver's seat gazed evenly at the Japanese thief seated next to her in the taxi and nodded. "Once he is safely with me once more, I am certain that arrangements can be made on the retrieval of the other item in question, namely your partner Keiji's Graybox." Liara gazed back over the horizon as Illium's sun had just slipped behind it. Nos Astra was now fully in its night cycle.

"Keiji's graybox aside, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that the galaxy's most famous Spectre is in a position to be stolen, much less actually stealing him. The news reported that the good Commander was dead. Granted I was a huge fan of his work while he was alive, but I assumed the Alliance News Network could at least get THAT right.

Liara responded, with a raised eye-ridge "I was under the impression that you were the best thief in the galaxy. As such this should be, as you humans are fond of saying, 'a walk in the park' for one such as you." Liara answered primly giving the human klepto a half smile and a tilt of her head.

"Alright now, just because you're calling me to the carpet doesn't mean I'll automatically accept your challenge. Let's, for argument sake, say I AM interested. Why now, after almost two years? Where has he been?" Then another realization dawned on Kasumi, "Is he being held against his will?"

The taxi slipped onto the roof of what appeared to be a high-rise office building. "The datapad has all the answers you need. There is a cargo freighter leaving the Nos Astra space port tomorrow, bound for the station. I would suggest that, if you are taking the job, you be on it when it leaves. Whether you accept the job or not you may keep the swords as a gesture of goodwill." Liara stepped out of the skycar and looked back at the lone passenger. "One piece of friendly advice, DO NOT underestimate Cerberus. I have a feeling they won't make Shepard's theft easy." She smiled once more and walked quickly to another taxi. Kasumi's eyes followed the blue skycar as it sped away into the Nos Astra night before commanding the on-board VI to take her back to her hotel.

* * *

><p>Kasumi used the roof entrance of her hotel and moved unnoticed to her hotel room. She walked into the bathroom and began preparing a nice hot bubble bath. She moved with grace around the room as she began to reassemble her belongings which consisted mainly of the tools of her trade. The new pair of blades would take a place of honor among her those tools. She placed her bag in the bathroom beside the door. She stripped off her trademark suit and slipped into a deep tub of hot luxuriant bubble bath water.<p>

She thoroughly scrubbed herself, rinsed and slipped under the surface for a moment before coming back up and shifting into a more comfortable position for a nice long soak. She quickly dismissed a moment of nostalgia as she reminisced about the last time she had received a proper Japanese bath. She reached over to the stand next to the tub and grabbed the datapad that sat thereon. She perused the information on the datapad as she relaxed away the stress of the day.

Several pics of the station itself immediately popped up as well as pics of the Director of the Lazarus project Miranda Lawson. The data also gave details regarding the project's goal of resurrecting Commander Shepard. She returned to the info regarding the Lazarus Station. Kasumi had to admit the station was very large, and, as Liara had informed her, extremely well-fortified. According to the shipping manifests provided with the data of the station's layout, the station only received supplies once every four months, so the freighter would be her only ticket in for quite another four months. She was not prepared to commit four more months of her time to this project. The young thief decided that she would keep her infiltration simple and direct. She would slip in, cause a little chaos, and slip out with her prize before anyone even knew he was missing.

Once she had determined the appropriate course of action, her thoughts then turned to her new asari benefactor. She ran several searches on the extranet looking for more information on the asari archaeologist. She skimmed many of the young doctor's scholastic papers on the Protheans looking for some insight into the doctor herself. She watched the special news report that had been on the ANN news site of the "Savior of the Citadel". It had chronicled the Spectre's life and had even touched on the members of his ground team and the crew of the _Normandy_. The retrospective had been narrated by Emily Wong, the only reporter that he had ever given a full interview during his search for Saren.

Kasumi had often wondered what that mission had been like for the crew of the _Normandy_. She found herself imagining what it might have been like to have taken part in the search for Saren and the _Normandy's_ fight against the Geth. She would picture herself standing to the right of the great Commander Shepard as they fought wave after wave of killer robots. Keiji had even once accused her of hero worship, and as much as she tried to deny it her arguments had always fallen flat on their proverbial faces in the light of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. But really here was a human who had withstood extreme odds at Elysium only to overcome near insurmountable odds on worlds that she had never even been to. Was it hero worship? Yeah, probably. She continued to watch the few vids of the Commander in action. Mostly surveillance vids that had been leaked onto the extranet from places like the Exo Geni Corp offices on Feros and the Binary Helix research building on Noveria. He moved like a cobra, swift, silent, and extremely lethal.

Settng aside the object of said hero worship, Kasumi then began searching the extranet for any information on Cerberus. She found surprising little aside from the projects that Shepard himself had dismantled during his quest for the rogue Spectre. _The Illusive Man, really lives up to his title._ She shied away from direct searches for either Lazarus Station or Miranda Lawson as she didn't want to tip Cerberus off that there was someone out there with a little more than common curiosity. The information she did find did not sit well with her. In some ways she could see the argument that an organization like Cerberus posed. Push humanity forward and in turn humanity is in a better position to aid the rest of the galaxy, but at what cost. The attack on the Idenna was yet another example that Cerberus's ideals and its realities were worlds apart. She shut down the datapad and set it aside once more. Leaning back in the tub she pondered all of the information that she had gleaned from the data slate and contemplated what might happen if, perhaps, Commander Shepard wasn't actually being held against his will at all.

She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her torso as she exited the tub. As she walked out of the bathroom, she grabbed her tool bag and walked over to a closet where a full length bath robe waited. She pulled the towel from her body and wrapped it around her hair. She paused for just a moment to glance at her reflection in the mirror. She was hairless except for her head and she kept that cut relatively short; _it just wouldn't do to lose sight of an objective because my hair got in the way_.

Her figure was that of a classic Japanese maiden; slim, and toned but still feminine. She often imagined herself wearing a soft white yukata with cherry blossom prints, or the shrine maiden uniform of a white kimono and dark colored split skirt. Her current hair cut would not allow for the ponytail that was a prerequisite for the yamato nadeshiko template of classical Japanese beauty. _But maybe if a certain Council Spectre saw her… No, bad Kasumi. No trying to steal your employer's strapping young hero. _She slid under the covers of the four poster bed and dreamed of fighting alongside the great Commander Shepard.

* * *

><p>THREE DAYS LATER<p>

_God, I hate cargo holds!_ Kasumi was once again moving among the cargo containers staying out of sight of the crew. The trip to Lazarus Station had been fairly uneventful. The crew had performed similarly to many of the other freighter crews had performed in past trips, that is to say they were lazy and borderline incompetent. She had rarely needed to use her cloak during most of the trip as the cargo crates created a large number of blind spots in the hold. She kept herself busy watching the rest of the inhabitants of the ship go about their lives. She counted no less than 6 intimate liaisons and several of the crew seemed to be contemplating mutiny on a regular basis. Even with the soap opera that was the AML Herakles, the crew's shenanigans barely kept her from succumbing from the monotony of the cargo hold. _God, I miss my books._

She almost screamed with relief when she heard the pilot announce that the freighter had exited the last mass relay and was engaging the drive core for the final leg of the journey. She gathered her belongings once more and quickly scaled a tall cargo crate, fully intent on using the crate as her means of exiting the freighter once the cargo had been offloaded onto the station. She set her tactical cloak to a passive setting and settled in for the several hours that it would take to approach the facility and obtain docking clearance.

She awoke several hours later to the sounds of docking clamps on the hull. Once she heard the loading lifts begin removing the crates from the hold, she cloaked and waited to be transported onto the station. The crane latched onto her crate, and she quickly and quietly scaled the lifter, and nimbly leapt to a balcony overlooking the station docking bay. _Now I just need to slip into one of the vents and hack into the nearest terminal._

Slipping into a vent in the ceiling was child's play and she quickly moved to a nearby empty office with an unlocked terminal. Using several intrusion programs she herself designed, she was able to obtain vid feeds and a map of the station. The layout of the place was not difficult to understand. The entirety of the facility seemed to be built around several large medical bays. She grabbed the vid from Surgical Room 1, and saw her prize. He was lying on the table with a white sheet protecting his modesty, much to her secret annoyance. She mapped out several routes to the room and, as she began moving through the duct work to her destination, watched the vid of the freighter unclamping from the station. _Not, leaving this place in that ship. Hope they have a shuttle they won't miss._

After close to thirty minutes of moving thru the ventilation ducts, the young thief found her destination. She peered down from the ceiling grate and saw that the commander was being attended to by three of the medical staff. _He's kind of cute, in a 'I'm a bad-ass Spectre' kinda way._ She checked her chrono and determined that she would probably need to wait a few more hours before the staff changed shifts. She watched as the station's crew performed their tasks around the room. Several times during her wait an attractive woman with long dark hair, a crazy sexy body, and a chip on her shoulder a mile wide, (_that Miranda person?_) came in to observer the staff's progress.

Just as Kasumi had begun to half-doze from the boredom, alarms began blaring in the surgical room and Miranda stormed in to determine what the hell was going. "Wilson! What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know EEG and echo are off the charts! I think he is trying to wake up!"

"I told you your calculations were off… Shepard, it's alright. Wilson, get him stabilized and run the numbers again!"

The commander's head lolled to the side and Kasumi could see large glowing parallel scars on one side of his face. _Oh, Shep! What have they done to you?! I HAVE got to get you out of here!_ She fidgeted half hating herself for not being able to get him out that possible moment. _Just a few more hours Shep! I promise!_

She waited until the middle of the station's night cycle when the staff's monitoring would be at its lowest, and dropped from the vent. She activated her cloak and was completely invisible by the time her boots touched the floor. She crept along the floor of the shadow filled room. She slipped from shadow to shadow and in only a few moments found herself standing by the once dead Spectre. She waved her omni-tool and a pre-looped vid of the room from that previous 5 minutes overrode the live vid feeds from each of the cameras. She stood there for a single moment warring with herself over the decision to go through with it or not. Finally, she screwed up her courage; gripped the corner of the sheet covering the commander's body; and lifted it over her head.

_Wow, Shep! I had no idea those things could even get that big! What do you eat? A whole case of Wheaties a day… with a side of beef?_

Kasumi, her curiosity now satisfied, dropped the sheet and moved back to Shepard's head. Now to wake the big lug up and get him ready to leave this racist dump.

"Shepard, this is your friendly, neighborhood kleptomaniac. Time to wake up." She shook his shoulders but he didn't budge. "Oh, wake up! We don't have time for anymore beauty sleep for you. It's time to get up. You still have a galaxy to save." She bodily shook the commander again, to no avail. "Don't make me do something you'll regret, Shep!" The shaking became more violent, until the thief snapped and slapped him across the face "WAKE UP!"

Shepard's eye flashed open and he quickly rose to a seated position, knocking his forehead into Kasumi's who had not prepared for the abrupt change in the commander's position on the table. He looked around and his eyes centered on the petite thief. "Who…? Where…?"

Shaking the spots from her vision, Kasumi replied, "My name's Kasumi Goto and I'm a big fan. Liara sent me to collect you. We have to hurry."

"Liara! … Where is she?"

"Like I said no time for questions. But she did want me to give you something."

"Really. What wahuhh…" Kasumi grabbed his head in both of her hands and planted a big wet kiss on the commander's lips. The two stayed like that for a long moment before he was able to separate her mouth from his. "She wanted you to kiss me?!"

"Well… she would have if she'd thought of it. Now let's find you some clothes. Not that I mind you in your birthday attire, but certain evidence rather pointedly suggests it's a little on the chilly side in this station." She gave him a lecherous grin and turned quickly to begin searching for clothes. "A-ha! Found something. Shep, come here."

"My armor!" She stepped out of his way to watch him get dressed, only to huff and turn around as he gave her the spinning finger. "It's not like I haven't seen it before 5 minutes ago." A snort of amusement was his only response.

"I'm ready. Let's go." Kasumi turned and nodded before activating her omni-tool check the time once more. Beside her, Shepard retrieved the pistol from her side and stared at it for a moment. "What's this?" He asked as he popped the thermal clip from the gun.

"Oh, that… Shep, there are things you need to know right now, and things I'll tell you later. This I'll answer right now. It's a heat sink. It is a tech upgrade that I will tell you more about later." She replaced the clip back in the predator, and gave it back to him. She also handed him a few spare heat sinks for reloading.

He activated the suit's omni-tool and found even more questionable material. "… A tactical cloak?...Disruptor rounds?"

"All valid questions, shep. Now please let's go before they start serving breakfast." She activated her cloak waiting as he did the same, and the two quickly stepped out of the room.

* * *

><p>Miranda awoke to the sound of blaring alarms. She knew those alarms well. They meant the station had been breached by an outside force. She quickly rose removed her night clothing and slipped, with practiced ease, into her Cerberus uniform. She holstered her side arm and contacted Jacob Taylor.<p>

"Jacob, what the hell is going on?!"

WE HAVE AN INTRUDER. SOMEONE IS STEALING THE COMMANDER.

"What the hell are you taking about?! Well, what are you doing about it?"

EVERYTHING I CAN DO! DAMN THEIR GOOD… WAIT A MINUTE NO! I TOLD YOU MIRANDA WILL GRIND YOU UP AND SPIT YOU OUT IF THE COMMANDER IS HURT! …THE INTRUDER AND THE COMMANDER ARE SLICING THROUGH MY MECHS LIKE A HOT KNIFE THROUGH BUTTER!

"We have to stop them!"

STOP THEM YOU SAY. THAT IS A HELLUVA LOT EASIER SAID THAN DONE, MIRANDA. FROM WHAT I CAN TELL THEY ARE HEADING TO THE HANGARS, BUT THEY ARE DESTROYING EVERYTHING IN THEIR WAY!

"I'll see if I can head them off at the docks. You consolidate your mechs and funnel the two of them my way. Maybe, I can talk to the commander and make him see reason."

YEAH. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. JACOB OUT.

Miranda, moved with a purpose as she raced down the hallway in an attempt to get ahead of her quarry. She periodically checked the vid feeds to remain aware of the commander's position. _I knew I should have implanted that damned control chip!_ She continued moving forward until she had gotten around to the shuttle area and waited for the two interlopers to enter the hangar.

Kasumi, for lack of a better phrase, was having the time of her life. She and the commander were working like a well-oiled machine. Neither needed direction as each seemed to be able to anticipate the other's needs and respond accordingly. She marveled at the precision and grace of the former Spectre. He moved like an apex predator as he skillfully dropped each obstacle in their way. "We need to get a shuttle ASAP, and get our butts outta here, Shep!"

"Tell me something I don't know."

"OK, you have one the tightest asses I've seen in like ever."

Shepard stumbled and almost shot himself in the foot. He turned and glared at the irrepressible thief. "What? I told you something you didn't know! Up ahead should be the loading docks and shuttles." Kasumi paused, "Is it just me or are you getting the feeling that we are being funneled toward the loading bays."

"No, it's not just you. We're definitely being herded in that direction. It's the only explanation for the light opposition in front of us and the overwhelming opposition everywhere else."

"I was really, really hoping it was just me, Shep." The two of them continued their relentless push forward.

"So, you were saying about questions for later. Can you tell me who owns that logo? It is on every single wall of this structure."

"Ah… That would be Cer.."

"Cerberus… Of course! I knew I saw that damn sign somewhere before. God, I killed almost as many Cerberus agents as I did Geth during my mission to stop Saren and the Reapers. What the hell are they up to now?"

"Excellent questions all, Shep. I'm sure Liara will be able to answer them. Let's get there first, OK."

The two intrepid infiltrators, slipped into the loading area and found themselves standing in front of one Miranda Lawson, who did not look at all happy to see them. "Commander Shepard, it looks like it's the end of the line. I have over a dozen mechs behind me just waiting for my word, so why don't we just head back inside and we can discuss this situation like rational adults. I'm sure you have a great deal of questions that need answers."

"I know you work for Cerberus. I know that I shut down a lot of Cerberus projects when I was Spectre. As far as me going anywhere with you, that is highly doubtful."

"You have probably ascertained that I do not want to hurt you, but you are not yet ready to be released from this station."

"I'm going and you can't stop me."

"If that is how you feel." She turned to the mechs, "Just incapacitate them. I need them both alive."

Kasumi and Shepard both dived for cover among the unopened crates and began picking off targets of opportunity while dodging biotic warps and shield overloads from the beautiful Cerberus operative. "Wow, she really doesn't want us to leave, does she?" Kasumi, not waiting for an answer activated her cloak and slipped around behind the enemy mechs. SHEP WHEN I GIVE YOU THE SIGNAL RUN FOR THE SHUTTLES.

WHAT SIGNAL?

YOU'LL KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT. ACTUALLY JUST DUCK, CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COVER YOUR EARS.

A second later several flash bang grenades went off simultaneously. Shepard jumped over the crate and ran to the shuttle bay. He met Kasumi at the door. "Can you get it open."

"Please, Shep I…"

"OK, less talk and more hack."

Kasumi saluted and quickly opened the door. Just as the door opened, They heard on their comms SHEPARD! KASUMI! GET DOWN!

An Cerberus shuttle began firing on the mechs behind the door and generally causing a nuisance of itself. The two escapees scrambled around and jumped into the open side. Shepard quickly closed the hatch and collapsed onto one of the benches. He reached behind him and banged on the bulkhead. The shuttle twisted around and shot out of the open bay door.

A few moments later, the shuttle was in FTL speeding for the nearest mass relay. Shepard stood up and opened the cockpit door only to find two of the last people he thought he would see. Joker in the pilot's seat and Liara in the co-pilot's.

"Liara! Joker!"

"Huh, I pull your ass out of the fire and Liara gets top-billing. Figures."

"Where are we headed?" Shepard said ignoring the obvious goading attempt.

"We are on our way to Thessia, Shepard." Liara stated, as she got up to enter into the crew compartment. "The illusive man, will not tolerate my betrayal, but I do not care. I had to see you again. Kasumi, thank you again for all of your help. Here is what we agreed upon." She handed Kasumi a credit chit and an OSD disc. She then turned to her beloved commander. "We have a lot to talk about Shepard. I only hope you will be able to forgive me when you have heard all that I have to say."

"Let's get out of Dodge first. The answers can wait. Joker! What's our ETA?

"We should be in Thessian space in 2 days tops."

Shepard slipped an arm around Liara and pulled her close to him. He could physically feel the tension in her shoulders ease as he held her. He kissed her scalp crest and felt her shiver for another reason as his warm breath washed over the sensitive folds of skin.

"So where are you headed after this, Kasumi?" Shepard, asked.

"I am gonna be stuck like glue on your hip for a while, Shep. Liara made a promise or two that I still need upheld. And besides, I think I'm gonna enjoy spending time with you guys."

He looked from her to Liara. "I take it that's something else I'll be hearing about."

Liara nodded and then resettled herself in his embrace.

WELL GUYS YOU BETTER GET COMFORTABLE. YOU'RE FLYING JOKER GALACTIC AND AS YOU CAN PLAINLY SEE, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY ZERO FIRST CLASS SEATING AVAILABLE.

"Well, I think I could use a little shut eye, right about now." And then Shepard closed his eyes and passed out.


End file.

Mass Effect, Adventure, Romance