ME1: World Without End
Chapter 4: A Spectre's R&R

"You know, Shepard, you really do look like shit."

I turned and looked at Wrex as we all made our way do the transport shuttles.

"Thank you Wrex, you look like shit too." I said with a grumble.

Wrex chuckled then turned and looked at Tali. "Come on, Sweet stuff. Since we have been recruited we have to go through possessing."

"Keelah, it feels like I was just there."

As I watched Wrex head to the elevator, I just had to say it. "Wrex, are you sure you don't want to take a shuttle. Garrus is driving."

"VERY FUNNY, SHEPARD!" Wrex shouted

"What is she talking about?" I had overheard Tali.

"You know, that wasn't very funny." Garrus stated with a huff.

"What?" I asked innocently giving him a grin.

I stepped into the shuttle car as Garrus followed behind me. I set our coordinates to the Presidium Hotel and Suite, before I leaned back. It was going to take about 10 minutes to get there and I needed every little bit of shut eye as I can.

"My driving skills were not THAT bad!"

"Nah, I actually enjoyed it." I closed my eyes, "Wrex however..."

"How can a bad ass 800 pound Krogan be afraid of flight?" Garrus had asked mostly to himself than to me.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head gently on Garrus's shoulder. Thankfully the Turian didn't mind. I was so tired, and Anderson was right. Stems and energy shots weren't going to work. I needed to rest the best I could.

"Shepard?"

I heard the familiar sound of his voice and I opened my eyes. "Hmmm?"

"Are you going to get off me, or do you want me to carry you into the hotel?"

I lifted my head off Garrus's shoulder and I looked at him. "Are we there already?"

"We have been sitting here for the past five minutes." Garrus pointed out.

I sighed and nodded. "Sorry, I'm just- Thank you for the ride."

"My apartment isn't for another three blocks, but I'm going to escort you to your room just in case you fall asleep in the elevator or something." Garrus stated, his attitude telling me he wasn't going to take a no for an answer.

As we got out of the shuttle and entered the lobby of the hotel, my eyes widened. The lobby was just as beautiful as the Presidium itself. Waterfalls came pouring into a large lagoon. The floor was made of what I would have guessed white marble. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I made my way over to the counter where an Asari receptionist was standing.

"Welcome to the Presidium Hotel and Suites. How can I help you?"

"Yes, I am checking into my room. Under the name Shepard."

"One moment please." the beautiful Asari spoke.

I waited for a moment and then smiled as the receptionist hit her Omni Tool and transformed the information to mine.

"You've been checked in. Your room is on level 79, room 7970."

"Thank you," I smiled at the Asari as I turned and walked to Garrus who was waiting for me by the marble fountain.

"I'm all checked in."

"I have to say, your alliance really knows how to spoil their commanders."

"No, it's just Anderson."

Garrus and I walked up to the elevator. "You two are pretty close huh?"

I nodded and was happy that we were the only ones in the elevator as I pushed the 79 button. "He found me on Mindoir hiding in a bunch of debris."

"Was he the one that convinced you to join the Alliance?" Garrus had asked

"Yeah, he was the one that said I had a good 'aim'. He convinced Admiral Hackett to get me into the program a little earlier than normal."

"That must have been an honor." Garrus said with a nod.

"It was, actually. After the events of Mindoir, I wanted to be the best soldier I could be. I wanted to protect people, so events like that never happened to anyone else. Then at the age of 23..." I froze. "Can we change the subject?"

Garrus nodded and then was about to say something when the elevator doors opened. My eyes widened as who I saw standing just outside.

"Commander."

"Kaidan!" I was happy to see the LC.

"Nice to see you, Garrus. What are you two up too?"

"I was just escorting the Commander to her room. She has been ordered by Anderson to get some shut eye." Kaidan nodded as he took a step aside so we could get off. "Actually, since you are here... You think you can escort her back, Lieutenant?"

"You bet." he smiled with a nod.

"Thank you for escorting me, Garrus." I said as I gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Anytime, Commander. Get some rest and I will see you at the hearing in about 3 hours."

I nodded as Garrus stepped back into the elevator and the doors closed. Kaidan smiled as he held out his hand, pointing the way. "You're in the room about three doors down from mine."

I nodded as I walked with him. He really was a handsome man, and he smelled great. I had to admit that ever since I met Kaidan Alenko I had a small crush on him. Not that I could ever express those feelings since I was his commanding officer. Another thing the Alliance never tolerated was fraternization.

As we stopped at my door, I couldn't help but put my hand on his forearm. My eyes widened at how big his biceps were and I quickly jerked my hand away. "Thank you for the escort, Lieutenant. Will you do me a favor? Come knock on my door in about an hour and a half or so. I want to make sure I am awake."

"Sure thing." He said with a smile.

As I walked into my room and closed the door, I couldn't help but sigh. I was so tired, and my body hurt. I slowly unclasped my armor, got butt ass naked and headed for the shower. As the hot water poured onto me, I just closed my eyes and thought of the events last night, or was it today? Everything was such a blur.

I opened my eyes and the water was cold... I must have fallen asleep. I slowly shut off the cold water and stepped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel and dried off, before stepping out into the area of the bedroom. I smiled as I saw a fresh pair of clean clothes laying on one of the chairs. Anderson thought of everything.

I looked at the counter, 1045. I had about forty five minutes of sleep. As I crawled into the large fluffy bed in only in my bra and panties, I grabbed a pillow and snuggled with it.

"Will you stop being such a brat and come play with me?"

"We don't have time to play, Caitlyn. We have to get this job done before dad comes out here and we get into trouble."

Caitlyn looked at her big sister. "You really are no fun."

"That's because I'm the more responsible one." Kate Shepard stated as she ran the tactical scan over the foreign plants.

"No, it's because you're the more boring one."

Kate turned and looked at her sister who was standing with her hand on her hip. Her long black hair blew in the wind. Kate then saw a dark shadow forming above the crops and she looked up. Her eyes widened as Batarian ships came zooming passed the field. Kate quickly turned her head as she began to hear gun fire and screams.

"Caitlyn, to the house... NOW."

Kate quickly grabbed her sister's hand and ran as fast as she could.

"Kate!"

"Kate."

"Katmadner."

"Commander?"  

I opened my eyes and noticed Kaidan and Ashley standing above me with worried looks on their faces.

"Humph."

"Commander, we're going to be late."

"What, what time is it?"

"Umm 1145." Ashley stated.

"WHAT!" I quickly jumped out of bed, forgetting I was half naked and quickly put on my clothes.

As I zipped up my pants I realized Kaidan's face was bright red and then I blushed.

"Sorry. Come on, we got to get going."

"What about your armor?" Ashley pointed out.

"Don't have time, let's move!"

"We got you some muffins." Kaidan offered as we all rushed out of my room.

I grabbed a muffin and nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

As the ride to the lobby luckily took just under five minutes and I quickly scarfed down the muffin. Blueberry. How did the Lieutenant know that was my favorite? I would have to really thank him later.

"The shuttle is already waiting for you," came the bell boy noticing Shepard right away.

I nodded my thanks and quickly jumped in with Ashley and Kaidan. I was only five minutes late when we arrived at the tower. Luckily the trial hadn't started.

"Shepard, you look a little less shitty." Wrex stated as I walked up to the group.

I couldn't help but shake my head as I stood next to Anderson. "Sorry, I'm late."

"I's okay, how are you feeling?"

Besides the dream of my sister, I actually felt really good. Wasn't sure if it was the shower or not, but I was ready to conquer the universe for another day. "I feel good, thank you for the suggestion of slowing my ass down."

Anderson patted me on the back. "Anytime."

"The Council will see you now," said the voice of an Asari secretary.

As we approached the Council, I couldn't help but wonder why Saren wasn't here in his holographic form defending himself like he had done before. Perhaps he knew he was guilty and refused to show his sorry turian ass. It didn't matter, we had proof he was the attacker on Eden Prime, the Council couldn't deny it.

The Asari Counselor bowed her head. "This trial is in session. You say you have evidence that claims Saren Arterius is the attacker on Eden Prime?"

"We do, Councilor." Ambassador Udina stated as he nodded to Tali.

Tali shyly stepped forward and hit the button on her Omni Tool.

"Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

The Counselor's eyes widened as Udina pointed to them.

"You wanted proof." Udina pointed at them. "There it is."

"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes." The turian Councilor swore.

The asari Councilor looked at the turian to her right then back to us. "I recognize the other voice, the one talking to Saren. Matriarch Benezia."

"Who is she?" I asked

"Matriarch's are powerful among the asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."

"I'm more interested in the Reapers." The salarian Councilor confessed. "What do you know about them?"

"Only what was extracted from the geth's memory core." Anderson shrugged. "The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished."

"The geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return." I explained.

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. It's why he attacked Eden Prime." Anderson added.

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" The salarian asked curiously.

"Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers, that's bad enough."

The turian Councilor shook his head. "Listen to what you're saying. Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible! It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!"

"I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again." I was close to pleading. I was tired of the Council taking that bastards side. How can they not see Saren was threat to the entire galaxy?

"This is different." the asari responded. "You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree that he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will." The salarian included.

I stepped forward a little. "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again."

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the right or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position." The turian confirmed.

Well at least there was that.

Udina shook his head annoyingly. "That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"

For once our dumbass human Ambassador was right. We could lose everything if we sat with our thumbs up our asses. I wanted something done now before events like Eden Prime or Mindoir happened again. The fear of children being killed, like my sister, was unacceptable.

"A fleet cannot track down one man." The salarian Councilor disagreed.

Udina sighed. "A citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the geth from attacking anymore of our colonies."

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen human colonies!"

Okay, now I had to agree with the turian Counselor. The Terminus System was rather irritable. One wrong move from the Council, it could end badly for both sides. This was the perfect time to convince them that I could do it.

"I can take Saren down." I responded slamming my fist into my other hand.

The asari Councilor motioned to me. "The Commander's right. There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies."

The turian Councilor shook his head. "No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectre's."

The flashback of Nihlus hit me.

Nihlus flexed his mandibles. "Not many could have survived what you went through on Akuze. You showed a remarkable will to live, a particularly useful talent. That's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres."

"Why would a turian want a human in the Spectres?"

Nihlus's green eyes gleamed as he looked at Commander Kate Shepard.

"Not all turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential of your species. We see what you have to offer to the rest of the galaxy and to the Spectres. We are an elite group. It's rare to find an individual with the skills we seek. I don't care that you're human, Shepard. I only care that you can do the job."

The memory of Nihlus's confidence in me made me take a step forward.

"It was a turian who betrayed this council! You can't deny humanity any longer. I've earned this!"

The turian Councilor looked to the other members, the asari nodded at him. He looked to the ground then back up to me, he gave me a nod. They pressed a few buttons and all of a sudden we were live, least that's what it felt like.

"Commander Shepard-- step forward." The asari Councilor beckoned me.

I looked to Anderson who nodded. I knew he was proud of me, and I promised to myself that I wouldn't let him down. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. Lights flashed upon the catwalk and everyone who was in the tower gradually made their way over to where we were.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Recommences branch of the Citadel." The asari began.

"Specter's are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above rank and file."

The asari Councilor spoke again after the salarian. "Spectre's are an idol, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

"Spectre's bear a great burden. They are predecessors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold." the turian Councilor took his turn.

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire Species."

I bowed my head in respect to all three of them. "Thank you, Councilors. I'm honored."

"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice. You are authorized to use any means to apprehend or eliminate him."

"I'll find him." I promised.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned."

The councilors left and Udina and Anderson turned towards me. "Congratulations, Commander." Anderson shook my hand and placed his other hand on my back. I could tell he wanted to give me a big hug, but he held his position. I had to admit I wanted to give him a big hug too. I wouldn't have been here without his council and support.

"We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard. You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies..." Udina kept his hand to his mouth, thinking.

Anderson smiled and nodded. "You'll get access not only to all your N7 gear, but also special equipment and training now. You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisitions officer. "

Yeah, he was proud of me and I couldn't help but smile.

"Anderson." Udina said rather abruptly. "Come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up."

"I'll contact you when everything is set up." Anderson said as he patted me on the back one more time before following Udina off the catwalk.

Tali was the first one to speak. "I thought the Ambassador would be a little more grateful. He didn't even say thank you."

"It's because he's a politician, Tali. Long story short, he's an asshole." Ashley stated.

Wrex turned and looked at Ashley. "I like your way of thinking, human."

I shook my head and then smiled up at my newly recruited crew. "I know you guys are all still tired from the events of last night and this morning. So, until we hear from Captain Anderson, consider yourselves off duty and get some R&R."

"What are you going to do, Skipper?" Ashley asked.

"Well, if the Lieutenant doesn't have anything planned, I think I might steal him. I owe him lunch."

Kaidan blushed. "It's a date."

"I think I am going to go hang out with Chellick, give the boss my resignation, and then go pack up some of my stuff." Garrus said.

"Need any help?" asked Tali.

Garrus nodded welcoming the Quarian's company.

"Okay everyone, dismissed, and have fun."

Everyone headed for the transport except for Kaidan and me.

"Before we go and have some lunch, I need to scan some of these keepers for Chorban."

Kaidan nodded. "Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean it does state we're not supposed to disturb the keepers."

I walked over to one of the keepers that standing next to the Asari Counselor's officer. "Probably not, but you know what they say... Curiosity killed the Commander."

Keeper ID #08 registered name: Oscar, scans complete. Credits transferred."

Kaidan's eyes widened. "They have names?"

I nodded as we made our way down the steps and then I let out a sigh.

"What?"

"I can't believe I missed the one that we were standing to next to Chorban."

"I thought he already scanned the thing."

I was curious as began to scan the keeper.

Keeper ID #20 registered name: Thor, already scanned. No credits transferred.

Well at least I knew this little guy's name. I was kind of curious as to who had come up with the names of the keepers. I had overhead a salarian and asari talked about that if we disturbed the keepers, they would explode and another would take its place. Kind of brutal if you asked me.

"Commander, there is-"

"Kaidan, we're off duty. Call me Kate."

Kaidan stopped and looked at me as I looked around to see if there were any more keepers.

"Give me a few days on that one, okay?"

I smiled as I had spotted another one of the keepers on the far left hand side of the room.

Keeper ID #01 registered name: Lucky, scans complete. Credits transferred.

"Wonder why his name is Lucky." Kaidan thought out loud.

"Probably because he hasn't been blown up yet." I teased

As we headed to the elevator I spotted one more.  I was about to head there but Kaidan grabbed my hand. "Stop, there is a turian security guard over there. He is staring at you."

I turned and looked at the turian who was giving me quite the stink eye if you would call it that.

"Do you think he is suspicious?"

"I'm a Spectre now, I'm not worried. Here," I gave him Chorban's scanner. "Go scan that last keeper and I will go talk to him." Kaidan looked worried and I placed my hand on his shoulder. "You can do it."

He nodded and as he headed for the keeper, I headed for the turian. His face paint was dark green with lines coming from the side of his mandibles up to the bridge of his nose. He wasn't as handsome as Garrus, but then I always thought turians were a handsome race all together.

"Is there a reason why you're staring at me, officer?" I asked

"You're the new human Spectre, aren't you? Commander Shepard."

"Yes, yes I am..." I was trying my best to give Kaidan some time with the keeper.

"I don't like Spectres."

I sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"You guys think you are above the law. No one is above the law."

Kaidan came back with a smile, giving me the sign that the scan was complete. I then looked at the turian who really did have a foul look on his face. "Well officer, I hope one day you will change your mind."

As I walked away from him Kaidan gave me the scanner. "Keeper #15 and his name is Otis."

I patted the Lieutenant on his back. "Come on, I actually know this little cafe that I want to try out. It's over by the embassies."

Kaidan's eyes twinkled as we stepped into the transport shuttle. "Good, I'm starving."

It was a quick fifteen minute shuttle ride to the Embassies and I couldn't help but smile as Saphyria waved to me. She was such a beautiful asari. Her purple lines on her face made her so dignified. I waved back and then pointed at the cafe to Kaidan, when I heard a voice calling my name.

"Excuse me, Commander Shepard? Could you spare me a minute of your time?" A man pleaded.

I nodded as I walked up to him. "How can I help you?"

"My name is Samesh Bhatia. Forgive the intrusion, but I have nowhere else to turn." The Indian man countered.

"It's no trouble." I reassured him. "What can I do for you?"

He started twiddling his hands nervously. "My wife was a Marine. She was in the 212 on Eden Prime. I've requested that my wife's body be returned to me for cremation, but the military has refused my request."

"Why did they refuse your request? There's got to be some reason..." I hinted.

Bhatia shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that they have declared it impossible for my wife to be returned to me."

"There's no reason for your wife's body to be held like this."

"The man in charge of my case is Mr. Bosker. When I last saw him, he went into that expensive bar over there." Bhatia pointed to the bar behind us which was where we were going.

"I'll handle this." I promised.

"Thank you for your time. I just want to give my wife a proper funeral and the respect she deserves."

I nodded and Kaidan and I headed up the stairs to the bar. "The 212, that's Ash's unit. She'll want to know about this."

"I agree." I stopped and looked at him. "Go ahead and contact her, if anything else, she could maybe give him some comfort. I will go talk with Mr. Bosker."

"Aye, Commander."

As I entered the cafe and bar I noticed quite a few people, but noticed Bosker right away. He was leaning on a wall going over a data pad. I walked over to him and crossed my arms, giving him an unimpressed looked.

"Oh my goodness, you're Commander Shepard?" The man looked at me in disbelief as he lowered his data pad! "Your activities made for quite a debriefing in the Diplomatic Corp. Is there something I can do to assist you?"

"Yes." I stated, knowing there was annoyance in my voice. "A man named Samesh Bhatia is having trouble claiming his wife's body."

The man rubbed his neck nervously. "Ah. Mr. Bhatia. A man in an understandably frustrating position. I wish I could help him. Serviceman Narali Bhatia died on Eden Prime, as Mr. Bhatia no doubt told you. Her wounds are inconstant with any type of weapon damage we've seen before. That is why her body is being held."

"You think that her body is dangerous or contaminated?"

"No, Commander." Bosker shook his head. "Narali Bhatia is not dangerous. Her body is, in fact, extremely valuable to the Alliance. The tests we're conducting may lead to better defenses against geth attacks. Respectively, Serviceman Bhatia may save more lives in death than she did in life."

"I understand what you are trying to do, but holding the body is wrong." I pointed out.

"Commander, you of all people should understand how far we must go to protect humanity!" Bosker challenged.

I shook my head with disbelief. "Not if we lose our humanity in the process. I'm out here fighting to stop shit like this."

"Alright, Commander. You win, it was hard enough refusing Mr. Bhatia. I'm not going to risk an incident by refusing you." He sighed. "Tell Samesh that the body will be shipped back to Earth. I'll go see to it myself."

I nodded and thanked him. I saw Kaidan enter the bar and I walked over to him.

"I convinced Bosker to let the body go back with Bhatia."

"Good work, Commander....err Kate. I just contacted Ash. She said she will meet up with him and talk to him.

I smiled and nodded and then turned to see my fellow officers, Private Fredricks, Ensign Samuel, and Lieutenant Chandler talking.

"Of course she wouldn't, she'd be tossed out the nearest airlock if she did." huffed Samuel

"I suppose." sighed Chandler

I lifted my brow curious as to what they were talking about.

"Besides, Nick, the Consort's nothing like the girls back on the colony. She's... She's...."

"You don't have to do it with her. You can just talk to her if you want." stated Samuel

"Is that all you did, Jaz? Just talk?"

"I didn't say that!"

"HA! I bet you did!" laughed Fredricks.

"SHUT UP, FREDRICKS!"

I shook my head and poked at Fredrick's shoulder. He quickly turned around. "What do you want?!" his eyes widened and quickly saluted me.  "Oh, Commander,"

The way he saluted reminded me of Jenkins,

"What do you think, Commander?" Jenkins saluted. "We won't be on Eden Prime too long will we? I'm itching for some real action."

"I sincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal. Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary." Doctor Chakwas replied.

"Only a fool goes looking for a fight, Corporal."

"Sorry, Commander. But this waiting's killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. And one with a Spectre on board." He said excited.

"Just treat this like every other assignment you've had and everything will work out."

"Easy for you to say. You proved yourself on Akuze. Everyone knows what you can do." Jenkins acknowledged with admiration. "This is my big chance. I need to show the brass what I can do.

"Is there something I can do for you?" asked Fredricks

I smiled as I looked at Fredricks. "It's all right, Private. What are you boys talking about?"

"The Consort." He blushed.

"What can you tell me about the asari consort?" I head heard everyone talking about her and was very curious. Hopefully one of these days I could meet her.

"I, ah, well, she's and asari who works here as...that Is, she helps people... With things."

"You never went to see her, did you Fredricks?" Kaidan asked with a laugh in his voice.

"I, uh, no. I never did. I couldn't afford it. It costs half a years credits just to go in and talk to her."

I raised my hand and laughed. "That's fine, private. Have fun during R&R."

"Thanks, Commander, you too."

As I was about to leave the bar and head back to Bhatia, I noticed another keeper walking behind the panel of the main bar. Kaidan looked at me and I just smiled. "Will you go scan him while I go give Bhatia the good news? Then I will meet you back here."

He gave me a nod and as he went to where the keeper was messing around with the panel, I headed down the stairs to where Bhatia was waiting.

"Hello Commander, has there been any word?"

I nodded with a smile. "I reminded Mr. Bosker what we're fighting for. Your wife is coming home."

"Oh!" Bhatia sobbed and then he bowed his head to me. "Thank you."

"Commander," came a familiar voice and I turned to Ashley.

"Ashley Williams, this is Samesh Bhatia."

As Ashley shook his hand, I took a step back. I knew Ash would help Samesh with his grief. I made my way back to the cafe and noticed Kaidan was already sitting down at a table. He motioned to me and I went and sat next to him.

"What was the keeper's name?" I couldn't help but ask

"His Registration number was 10 and his name was Gidget."

I couldn't help but smile at the Lieutenant. He was really very handsome. "So, whatcha having?"

Kaidan and I had spent the last three hours talking over lunch and laughing over Jenkins. We had talked about the Citadel, the people, even the asari Consort was mentioned. Kaidan was wonderful company, and it didn't hurt that he was easy on the eyes.

"Jenkins would have loved it here." Kaidan said as we stood up from our table. "He always loved adventure."

I knew the death of Jenkins was hard on Kaidan and so I gently put my hand on his back. "Hey, he is having a great adventure right now, wherever he is. And I know he is looking down at us and smiling."

Kaidan nodded. "So, are you interested in a movie?"

I gave Kaidan an odd look. "A movie?"

"Well, the time is 1500 hours, if we hurry we can go catch the new Blasto movie."

I laughed. "Are you serious, LC?"

"What, you're a spectre now... You totally should watch this stuff and see what your up against."

"I think I will leave that up to you." I smiled as Kaidan paid the host and then made our way down the embassy stairs. "Thank you for a wonderful lunch."

"Anytime, Commander." I looked at him and he corrected himself. "Kate."

I had to admit, I think I was getting a little crush on the LC. "I'm going to turn in early I think, though. I feel like a zombie."

Just than my Omni Tool beeped and I answered it.

"Shepard, here."

"Katie, you and your team will meet at the Normandy docking area at 0900 tomorrow." came the voice of Anderson.

I could tell in his voice that he seemed distraught. "Is everything alright, Sir?"

There was a short pause. "Everything is fine, see you in the morning. Get some sleep. Anderson out."

As soon as the com link of my Omni tool broke, Kaidan's Omni tool beeped.

"HiSir, I'm with Shepard and heard the order. I will be at the landing doc at 0900."

"See you then, Lieutenant."

Kaidan looked at me. "He did seem a bit distracted."

I frowned thinking if it was a good idea for me to go see him. I wanted to talk to him about Saren, but with him sounding like that, it probably was best until tomorrow.

"Enjoy your movie, Kaidan. Sorry I am crashing on you."

"Hey, no worries." he smiled as he put a hand on my shoulder. "I will talk to you tomorrow, get some rest."

As the shuttle approached the transporter I couldn't help but smile as I stepped in. As the hatch closed I waved. Yeah, I had a crush on the LC.

As I entered the hotel 15 minutes later, I couldn't help but enjoy the sound the waterfalls were making. This was such a beautiful place. I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the sound the water had made. I opened my eyes as I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Garrus.

"I'm glad I caught you before you went to your room." He smiled and then handed me a small black and red box.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It's a gift, congratulations on becoming the first human spectre."

"Garrus, you didn't have to get me anything. We hardly know each other."

"I wanted to, just open it." his mandibles twitched.

I smiled as I opened my box and my eyes widened. "Garrus." I gasped as I picked up a silver charm that was shaped like a pistol.

"Captain Anderson says your weapon of choice is the pistol. Not sure why, the sniper rifle is a lot better." he teased. "I know your Alliance won't let you wear jewelry when in uniform, that is why I had it made to where you can weld it to your armor."

"Thank you so much! I will stick it next to the N7 of my armor." I gave him quick a nudge, signaling my thanks.

"You're very welcome. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Commander."

"Garrus, you really can just call me Kate when I'm not on duty."

He twitched his mandibles and shook his head. "Umm, that's not going to happen."

Garrus slightly bowed his head to me before turning off and heading out the door. I sighed as I looked at my gift one more time before heading up to the 79th floor. I entered my room and for the first time I realized how big it was. I walked over to the balcony and opened the sliding door and breathed in the fresh air that rolled passed me. I walked into the bedroom, stripped, took a very nice long bath, which I probably wouldn't get the chance to do for a while, and then crawled into bed. My OT told me that the time was 1730 hours. Why did it feel like it was 2200? I crawled into the bed and set my OT alarm for 0500. I closed my eyes for a moment and the last thing I heard was the quiet noises of the passing shuttles.