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Turnabout-	By : Spiritwolf71 Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 7688 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This story takes place within Bioware's Mass Effect Universe, their creative property. I do not own any of Bioware's stories or characters or locations. The Author recieved no money from this story and is writing it purely for entertainment.

Chapter List
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“Sir, I don’t have what you would call people skills,” Cayle argued, trying to convince Anderson of anything once he made up his mind was next to impossible. “I appreciate the promotion and the chance to serve on a crew, but you want me to lead them?”
“I have all the faith in the world in you kid,” Anderson had said as they moved down the hallway to the Normandy. “You have paid your dues and it’s time the Alliance can see what you can do.”
“But I haven’t, Captain,” She argued. “Akuze,” She trailed off.
Anderson stopped his walk and turned to her, placing a hand on either shoulder, he looked her in the eye. “Akuze is the past, Shepard, you either dwell in it and get lost, or you step out and let yourself feel the sun. You have shown me traits in a soldier that are not easily come by Shepard. Now you need to shake Akuze off and have a little bit of faith in yourself.” He paused. “Listen, I’d be more worried if you didn’t feel remorse, but you take the loss and you learn from it so next time you do better.”
Anderson waited a second then turned back and continued his walk to the Normandy. “In the meantime welcome to the Normandy Shepard.” He said with a smile as he guided her inside…
“Commander on Deck,” came Jokers voice. It had been so long since she had heard it she had not realized how much she missed him. She could not help but smile slightly. She had been a nervous wreck as she got prepared to go aboard the Normandy for the first time since the Reaper invasion was ended.
For a while she thought she had been driving Liara insane as she paced and mumbled and constantly asked if she looked all right but then she realized that the beautiful Asari was just as nervous as she was. The last time Liara was on the Normandy they had wanted her to place a memorial plaque on the wall for Cayle.
She thought of Anderson and her first walk to the Normandy as she boarded and felt a sudden sadness, she was not sad that she was returning, the butterflies in her stomach told her she was slightly excited, but she was sad that Anderson was not here. He had been the first person that had ever cared about her and had become somewhat of a father to her. She missed him dearly.
She felt tears in her eyes as she looked to Joker, standing at attention and saluting. She saluted him back then couldn’t help it as she hugged him. He was her oldest friend.
“Yeah Commander, I really missed you too, but bone, brittle,” He said, but smiled. He had met them in the airlock and no one else was present yet. As she looked to his face she knew why. She knew they must have had to pry him away from the Citadel when it was blowing up. She knew Joker well enough that it would have killed him to leave her behind. He had always been there for her. It was quiet as Liara hugged Jeff as well.
“Commander I,” Jeff started and paused.
“No, it’s over, Jeff,” Cayle said. “You had a crew to save, you did the right thing. End of discussion.”
Jeff nodded then looked up to her. “Well,” Jeff looked around, “I, for one am certainly glad you are back. You know I think Ashley is great and all but, wow, not so easy go lucky when she’s in command.”
“And you’re saying I am?” Shepard raised a brow and smiled slightly.
“Well no, I didn’t mean it like that, I just,” he smiled, “Never mind, were just all glad to see that your back, and alive too, cause coming back and being dead would have sucked.”
“Yeah I can see how that would have sucked,” Cayle laughed and looked back to Liara who had not said anything. She could not really tell what the Asari was thinking. “Ready?”
“Not really, I don’t exactly have the best memories from last time I was here,” Liara said a frown crossing her face. Shepard turned to her and took both her hands.
“Then we start making good memories, together,” Cayle said, kissing Liara on the forehead and turning back around.
“And maybe a video?” Jeff added.
“Some things never change,” Shepard chuckled. She inhaled sharply and let it out in a huff as she headed into the ship. After Jeff, Edi was the next person she saw, Shepard smiled as the AI smiled to her. She knew Edi would have no idea of how glad Shepard was to see her up and around. When Shepard had made her sacrifice, Edi and the Geth had been a part of the sacrifice. Had not been for the Quarians they would have lost both.
Beside Edi stood Garrus, Shepard raised a brow as she looked to him; she had not expected him to be here. She stopped at the two of them.
“Edi,” She said and placed a hand on the AI’s shoulder, “I am glad to see you; I have missed our little talks.”
“Has have I Commander, but there are always questions I can think to ask if you like.”
“Anytime, Edi,” she turned slightly. “Garrus, what are you doing here?”
Garrus laughed, “There is no Shepard without Vakarian, were a team Commander.”
“That we are Garrus, but Tali?”
“Said that I was supposed to stop you from getting yourself killed this time and then she said that if you did go and get yourself killed, she was going to kill you, and possibly me as well,” he explained, Shepard chuckled. She missed Tali.
“Garrus, it’s would not be the Normandy without you,” Shepard said.
“Yeah and I am sure that our main battery needs to be calibrated,” Joker piped up. They all laughed.
“Well Shepard, here we are again, and there’s a CIC full of people waiting to meet the new, old commanding officer,” Garrus stepped out of her way. Cayle nodded and adjusted her uniform. She hated her blues at the best of times but when she was nervous it tended to itch around her neck.
She stepped into the long hallway that that lead to CIC, as she walked down she was overwhelmed by the memories that crossed through her mind. She had grown so much on this ship. She had found the woman she loved and died on the original Normandy. She had meet her friends and learned to love. She remembered every one of the crew members she had served with, especially those that she lost. As she walked into the CIC she took a deep breath as the entire crew was on hand and they started clapping. She looked back to Jeff who shrugged.
She had briefly contacted him before boarding the ship telling him she did not want anything special, she wanted it to be like another day at the office, she should have known better.
“This isn’t exactly an office,” Joker said moving up behind her as she had stopped. “Regardless of the last five years, this is your crew; there have been very few changes since you left.”
Shepard spotted Engineering Adams and Doctor Chakwas by lift and smiled. Joker was correct, as Shepard looked around most of the crew that she had left on the Normandy were still here. Donnelly and Daniels, Patel and Rolston, Mathews and that crewman whose name she could never remember, the one that had a crush on Kasumi, they were all still here.
She smiled as she steeped further into the CIC and the clapping stopped. “Well,” She said, “I just want to let you all know that I’m still alive.”
There was a round of laughter but no one left. Shepard had kind of hoped that they would all think that was all she had to say. She nodded, “Well, we have all been through a hell of a lot together,” she paused; she had not really prepared a speech. “Commander Williams has left the Normandy to move on to a new and shiny ship. It’s slightly bigger, not quite as fast, has a lot more firepower, but it is certainly missing a few things. It doesn’t have the battle scars that we have,” There was a slight cheer as a response, it help to spur her on. “It’s doesn’t have the defence system we have, it doesn’t have Edi,” Another cheer, Shepard smiled fully now, “And it most certainly does not have the best crew ever, because that honour belongs right here on the Normandy. This is my ship and you are my crew and I am damn glad to be back.”
“Boo- yah,” The crew shouted in unison.
“Now, let’s get to work and show them why the Normandy will go down in the books as a legend,” there was a last cheer before everyone moved out to go back to duty.
“Well played,” Garrus said moving up to her. She stood looking into the CIC with Liara on one side of her and Garrus on the other. Behind her Jeff and Edi moved back to the cockpit.
Cayle felt a stab of emotion rage through her and she fought it back. She said nothing but she could not help but feel like she was truly home.
With James Vega no longer living in the shuttle bay a fully stocked workout room had been built. It was fitting given how much time James had dedicated to working out. What had also surprised her was someone had set up a small boxing ring. She did not condone her crew beating the crap out of each other, but living in such a small condensed area for some times weeks at a time could sometimes foster bad feelings. A boxing ring was a prefect, safe place to get out frustration. She had used that concept on Vega once.
Cayle had always been able to throw a punch or get through hand to hand combat well. She had always been much better shooting things though. Lissa had pretty much been the same; however the Assassin had been learning to fight and had studied several forms of martial arts over the four to five years she was with Cerberus. Cayle had retained those skills.
They were heading back to Tortuga; again, it seemed that both she and Lissa really hated the place mostly for the same reasons. There were no laws and barely even a code. Slavery was the common trade and women were treated no better than dogs. If there was one planet she had hoped would have been decimated by the Reapers it was Tortuga. Unfortunately the hordes had not even gone near the planet.
There were very few people in the shuttle bay as Cayle took out frustration on a punching bag. Cortez was still on board and as always diligently working on the shuttles. There were a few other technicians wandering around and the Normandy was still home to Kel-9 who was pacing the length of the deck. She had never become attached to the small robot but she knew Cortes had. She had actually considered getting a real dog a few times, but a ship was no place for something like that. Perhaps someday when she and Liara settled, they’d have lots of little blue babies and a dog.
She punched the bag harder as she thought of the five years they had lost. Five years the Cerberus had stolen from her. She could only imagine what Liara had gone through. Knowing her lover she probably cocooned into her Shadow Broker role. She began to use her knees as well as kick the bag as she had been taught. The sounds of the impacts echoing in the shuttle bay as she breathed out with every strike. Sweat was trickling down her forehead and over her cheeks.
She could only wonder if she would have had children by now had Cerberus not interfered. She remembered the last conversation she had Anderson had, talking about settling down and starting a family. It was a nice dream but she had told him then that she did not think she would be good at settling down, she was still uncertain, but one thing she did know, deep in her heart; was she and Liara would make it work, somehow.
She punched the bag one last time and stepped away, leaving it to sway behind her as she looked over to her locker where her armour was stored. They just needed to stop the end of the galaxy once again before she and Liara could even talk about it. She smiled slightly at the thought as Garrus suddenly appeared from the lift. She nodded, removing her gloves as he approached.
“Found a new past time?” He asked looking at the swinging bag.
“Well one thing I can be thankful to Lissa for is the martial arts training she took. I think she took them to fend of Leng, he had a bit of a crush on her.”
“That’s actually a vision I don’t want to think about,” he said, “Good thing he’s dead.”
Shepard could only nod; she had made sure of that herself. Not that she felt guilty about taking him out; she felt slightly disturbed at how she had done it and the fact that she had enjoyed it slightly. A reminisce of her time as being Lissa. One that she hoped never repeated itself.
“Good thing,” She echoed, now pulling the tape off her hands. Garrus leaned against a shuttle.
“We are at Tortuga, Aria is waiting for us.”
“Good. You me and Liara will head down and pick her up. I’m sure she will have an entourage with her. She sent a message and said some Krogan by the name of Ren insisted on coming.”
Shepard smiled, “He’s an informant for the Blood Pack, used to be high up in the organization until he retired on Tortuga. He reminds me quite a bit of Wrex when we first met him. The only difference is I don’t think he’s quite as diplomatic. He is a hell of a fighter though, undefeated for as long as Lissa knew him.”
“Hmm, not too sure I want a loose cannon Krogan on board,” Garrus said, this caused Cayle to smile.
“I wouldn’t say Wrex wasn’t a loose cannon when he was aboard,” she said, “Virmir was pretty close call.”
“Yes but then Wrex is, well, Wrex,” Garrus smiled.
“We will just make sure to keep an eye on him, we’ll let him have Javik’s old quarters and Aria can have Ashley’s.”
“This pan of yours is about as crazy as my Archangel plan was,” Garrus said as they made their way to the lift.
“Not really we have Aria; she knows the station better than anyone. We will get using the Cerberus shuttle that the Alliance commandeered. Once inside Aria knows a route to get us to the atmosphere controls for the base. She also has the contacts to keep us safe. Cerberus houses their trooped in the Gozu district so we hit there, wipe out most of them immediately. Aria is a hundred percent certain that the civilians aboard the station will side with her and when the majority of Cerberus forces are taken out the remaining, policing elements of Cerberus will be overrun.”
“And this all hinges on us not being spotted, that’s huge risk Shepard.”
“It’s a big risk but we’ve taken worse. Aria’s unified forces will be attacking from outside so that will cause a major distraction as well and when we have control of the station the Allies will show up to cement the deal and cut the relay off from the station.”
They had reached the crew quarters and froze the lift. “That’s not exactly the most solid plan I have ever heard.”
“We’ve worked on less,” Cayle said and smiled again, “hell most of the time we never even had a plan. Most of the time we just barge in and shoot everything; I think this is one of the better plans we’ve had in a while.”
Garrus laughed, “Well I can’t argue with that.”

“Nope, no arguing allowed, Ill meet you back in the shuttle bay in a half hour, I need a shower.”
“So Commander Shepard,” Ren walked around her slowly, “I guess I should have known. Lissa was one tuff son of a bitch” he grunted his approval, “the blood pack doesn’t much like Commander Shepard.”
“You don’t have to come with us Ren,” Cayle replied coldly. Lissa and Ren were friends, but that did not mean that Lissa trusted him. He had done some minor backstabbing in the past, but then he had also had Lissa’s back on occasion. Cayle did not hate him, but she certainly was not going to trust him, nor would she let him get away with anything. He was like most Krogan; you lay down the law firmly and quickly.
“I said the Blood Pack doesn’t like Commander Shepard, I however think she’s fleshy in all the right places and packs one hell of wicked punch.” This comment elicited a glare from Liara who was already on edge knowing Lissa and Aria had a past.
“And if you don’t want to experience it I suggest you behave. If you come aboard my ship, you play by my rules, understand?” Shepard said dryly. Ren smiled.
“Sure do, Commander Shepard.” It was obvious that Ren found Cayle being Lissa a little bit humorous.
“I’m serious Ren, I won’t play games, and I’ll blow you right out the airlock if you step out of line.”
“Relax Shepard; you’re the boss, good nuff.”
“Good, Come with me, you’re staying in Port Cargo hold, Aria Liara will take you to the Star board observation room.”
Aria looked from Shepard to Liara who smiled at her. Liara turned and nodded to Shepard. She was truly not happy that Aria was on board the ship but the Asari was needed. She was a big part of Shepard’s plans. Liara watched as Shepard moved off with the large Krogan in tow. She turned and still smiled at Aria as she picked up one of her bags.
“Please, I’ll show you to your room,” Liara said and moved to the lift. Aria followed her.
“Well you do speak,” Aria said as they stepped on the lift. “You know I thought the Shadow Broker would have more balls.”
Liara said nothing as the lift took them to the crew quarters, the doors opened and they both stepped inside. Liara placed the bag on the ground. “There is a full kitchen just down the hall and we have a very good cook. Meals are made at seven, twelve and six sharp. Lefts overs are left in the fridge but usually there are none. On the other end of the hall is a lounge and occasionally a poker game. There is a fully stock bar but alas no stripper or dancers.”
“That’s too bad, nothing said ambiance like women dancing.”
Liara ignored this comment and stepped closer to make sure she was in the Matrons face. “And for the record, my room is in the Captain quarters with my fiancé Commander Shepard.” She stayed there for a second eye to eye with Aria for a moment then she smiled. “Enjoy your stay,” she said and turned and left Aria standing alone.
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