Walk The Line

Chapter Six: Bring Down The Sky

AN: There will be spoilers for DLC: Bring Down The Sky over the next few chapters.

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

Nickelback – If Everyone Cared

The Normandy was a safe haven from the outside world, which was why Joker preferred the shelter of their frigate. The bridge was his domain and he was at the helm guiding The Normandy through the various realms of the solar system. Joker didn't understand how anyone could not want to be a pilot? It was the best job in the whole damn galaxy.

Joker worked in sync with The Normandy as if the ship was an extension of his crippled body. There wasn't a soul on board who questioned his abilities and it honoured him that the crew would willingly entrust their lives into his hands. He would never admit that out loud. His attitude made him come off like an asshole sometimes but that was part of his persona. Over the years he had learned to hone and develop emotional armour in order to cope with his condition.

Vrolik Syndrome was a bitch to live with and with his leg braces and crutches it was impossible to deny that it didn't restrict his motions. He loathed the pity in people's eyes when they looked at him hobbling along. They saw a weak, fractured human being and Jeff Moreau felt like he was constantly proving that he was anything but broken. Joker would never brag about overcoming his adversity but he would point out his prowess to others. He had gotten this job purely based on his own excellence. It had been hard work but Joker had never wanted anything so badly. He had earned his right to be here and he didn't give a shit if it made anyone feel uncomfortable.

Shepard was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, her nimble fingers dancing over the console as she bit her lower lip. She had been here for fifteen minutes attempting to track the changes that had been made to The Normandy's drive core over the past few hours. The woman had a gift with Tech. He had watched her progress through the control console as she worked alongside the Quarian. If he was honest he got paranoid when people starting messing with The Normandy's systems so he liked to keep an eye on things in case they needed to be undone. Yet Shepard's work was flawless, she had somehow managed to amp up the inertial dampeners and boost their shields by five percent.

Joker had to admit, he was impressed by her skill level. It made him curious to learn more about their XO and her history with Tech, he wondered if it was a natural flair or whether it was something that she had studied throughout her years with the Alliance. He had tried to gleam the information from her files but they had been classified to such a level that even he couldn't hack it. He thought about asking Tali for a hand but there was that nagging issue of morality hanging in the air.

Joker chanced a glance over his shoulder at Shepard, trying to catch a peek at what she was doing now. She was still working diligently from the co-pilot seat, her hand reaching up to the secondary controls above her and flicking several buttons. She had become accustomed to the bridge almost as quickly as he had and Joker couldn't help but think that he would be spending a lot more time in her company now that she had control of The Normandy.

The handover from Captain Anderson to Shepard hadn't changed much except for the addition of several new team members. Some of the crew were disquieted by the presence of aliens on their ship, most though had been trusting of Shepard's judgement on the matter. Williams was the most vocal, Joker didn't know what her deal was but it annoyed him how pro-humanity the brunette was. There were heroes and villains in every culture including their own, turians, krogan and Quarians were no different.

Shepard was swiftly working her way up his interesting list. The way that their XO had stood up to the Citadel Council had been ballsy. Nobody else he knew would have done that and it had taken guts to work around their imperialistic view of the galaxy. In turn for her perseverance she had been rewarded with a position amongst the Spectres, something Joker thought she heartily deserved after Eden Prime. The holo someone had taken of Shepard's promotion had gone viral and was racking up figures that even Joker found hard to believe. She was quickly becoming the beacon of humanity and Joker wasn't sure how he felt about working with a living legend. She put on no airs or graces and there was no arrogance about her elevation. She was the same person she was when she'd first stepped onto the Normandy and Joker thought that had to say something about her strength of character.