ME: Lost

Banter

The deep voice reverberated around the rocky basin, vibrating deep into her chest as she stood on the edge. Rannoch's hot sun reflected off the orange clay and she blinked away the sweat dripping from her brow.

"The cycle must continue, there is no alternative."

Shepard shook her head in disgust, "there is an alternative! We killed Sovereign, we killed Harbinger, and we just destroyed you. I think you underestimate our strength."

"Strength in what? You have no understanding of our power." Red electricity danced around the glowing eye as the reaper's voice deepened, "even the strongest of minds can be conquered. Where will your strength lie then?"

"You talk too much." She lifted her gun and squeezed the trigger, jumping back as the crimson eye fizzled and sparked before shorting out.

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"You single-handedly killed a reaper and convinced the geth and quarians to work together, are you trying to make the rest of us look bad?"

Joker spun his seat, swinging his arms in an exaggerated robotic manner as the chair turned, "I'm...Commander Shepard, I do...amazing...things like cure the genophage...and end...a generations-long war. What do you do? You fly a ship? Pish-posh, I could do that in my sleep!"

"Pish-posh?" Shepard laughed, "what does that even mean?"

"Oh, you know, 'you're stupid, Joker', I'm pretty sure that's what it means. Ok fine, I don't know. I read it somewhere."

Another snort of laughter bubbled up inside her, and she settled back into the chair as he chattered on.

"I can't believe we have the whole gang back together again. It was great to see Tali. Is she really an admiral?"

"She's an admiral."

"But really? Like an actual admiral, not just something they told her to shut her up?"

"She's an admiral, Joker."

"Our little kiddo's all grown up."

She chuckled at that, "we've all grown up, even you with your massive crush on a robot!"

"Hey, that's not...that's...that's entirely accurate, actually."

"I know," Shepard grinned, "I'm really happy for you. Your babies will be terrifying."

"Har, har, har, you're hilarious, commander. Besides, you're one to talk, your kids will be, well, they'll probably be beautiful actually. With Kaidan's eyes, and your hair-"

"Joker!"

"What?" he feigned innocence, "what did I say?"

"You can't say stuff like that! The crew will get the wrong idea!"

"The wrong idea? The WRONG idea?" Joker burst into prolonged fake laughter, clutching his belly dramatically, "oh," he pretended to wipe tears from his eyes, "thank you, I needed that."

"Joker-"

"Seriously, commander, I don't know why you bother."

Shepard rolled her eyes, "just don't go around telling anyone, ok?"

"Yeah, sure, but you might want to tone down the happiness a little. Maybe yell at someone at least once a day. It'll help your cover."

"Thanks, I'll try that."

Joker paused a moment before shifting uncomfortably in his chair, "we talked a couple days ago. We're good."

"What?"

"Kaidan. The whole, you know, dislocation thing."

"Oh, good," she bit her lip to keep from smiling.

"It wasn't that big of a deal. We're cool. He's cool. Really. I wouldn't want you to think badly of him. We were all upset. Cause you died, I mean."

His words trailed off sadly and she quickly changed the subject, "these leather seats really are comfortable, I can see why you made such a big deal when Cerberus put them in."

"I know, right! So much better than the crappy Alliance-issued stuff," he placed both hands behind his neck and stretched back to emphasize his point, "although, it seems to be lost on EDI, she can't appreciate that chair like you can."

"Well, she does have a metal body, Joker," Shepard grinned playfully.

"No, really? I hadn't noticed! Thanks for pointing that out!"

They settled into a comfortable silence, both content to watch the stars pass by. The CIC was dark behind them, all non-essential crew currently completing a sleep cycle. Shepard closed her eyes, fatigue edging into her consciousness. Maybe she could take a quick nap here. Walking all the way back to the elevator seemed like such hard work right now, and the leather really was comfortable.

Joker's voice was so low she almost didn't hear it, "we're gonna beat them, right?"

She blinked, pulling herself back to reality, "yeah. We're going to beat them, Joker."

"Good."