Major and Commander Shepards [Mass Effect Fanfiction]

1: Post N7 Mission in Cerberus Labs

Only when the shuttle touched down in the cargo hold of the Normandy did George breathe a sigh of relief. The sigh was echoed by the rest of the people in the shuttle, including the newcomer. Looking over at him, she wondered again what one person, obviously Alliance Navy, would be doing by himself (herself?) on a Cerberus base. It was all the more confusing since Admiral Hackett hadn't mentioned any other troops at that lab.

Even if another Admiral were independently investigating the lab, what were the odds that Hackett wouldn't have known about it? What were the odds that the other Admiral would send in a single soldier, even if he were a Corsair? Not high.

"Major?"

George looked over at Dr. T'soni, who looked - hesitant. A painfully familiar expression. Somehow she mustered up a smile for T'soni, through the lead suddenly dragging her bones down, her eyelids threatening the same.

"What's up, Liara?" Straightening, she automatically holstered her N7 Eagle and folded her arms across her chest. "Got any info off of that Reaper artifact data yet?"

"While I admire your faith in my capabilities, Major," T'soni said, smiling fondly, "I have only had this data for approximately two minutes. I have, as your people say, only scratched the surface."

"Scratching the surface in two minutes? That's more than most people could do in that time," George pointed out. "Well, keep at it. When you've got something, you know how to reach me."

"I do, Major." T'soni dipped her head in assent and followed Vega out of the shuttle. As Steve went over the checks for the shuttle, George looked back at the stranger.

"How about you, soldier? You have a ship to get back to?"

The soldier snapped to attention, saluted. "Yes, ma'am," (s)he said in that helmet that distorted his/her voice. Standing up, the soldier was identifiable as a male, by his carriage and the splay of his legs. He was tall, taller than she (not a difficult feat, she thought with tired humor), and, in the red lighting of the shuttle, broken only by the light coming in from the cargo hold, was imposing. His armor suit, save for the Commander insignia on his collar, was an unrelieved black, his Kestrel helmet modded with a mask so all she could see was her reflection in the bug-eyed HUD staring back at her.

Suitably creepy, if he were, as she suspected, a Corsair.

"What ship is that, then?" she asked patiently, when the commander didn't elaborate.

The soldier startled. "Oh, uh, the SSV Baghdad, ma'am. I'll see if I can hail them."

George nodded. "Might be a good idea, Commander," she said wryly, turning to leave the shuttle. "I'm sure the Baghdad would be delighted to know the mission succeeded."

"Ma'am?"

Surprised, George looked back. The soldier was frozen in half-step, his hand in the middle of reaching for her. As if noticing his strange behavior, the soldier fell back into parade rest. "Permission to speak privately?"

"How privately, Commander?" she asked, her brain suddenly afire again. Worst-case scenarios flashed through her head, each one worse than the last. Indoctrination, the Reapers being on their tail, the SSV Baghdad destroyed.

"It's nothing critical, ma'am," the soldier assured her. "Just...personal."

"Hm." George forced her shoulders to relax. Probably wanted to thank her for saving someone or other close to him. Weird that he wanted to do that in private, though. Normally people were only too happy to bray exactly how she'd saved them and over-effusive in their thanks, never mind that she didn't know them most of the time.