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Shepard leaned forward to look at the datapad, and she felt a weight on her neck shift. She glanced down at her dogtags, unthinking, and Kaidan’s eyes followed the movement. Hanging right over her heart were her tags and her simple gold wedding band.
“Wait, Commander,” Kaidan said aloud, and his tone was of mixed awe and shock. “You’re married?”
Well those were the magic words. Every head in the mess turned toward her. With a soft exhale, Shepard reached forward and tugged the datapad from Kaidan’s hands so that she could sit back down. “Widowed, actually.”
“... oh.”
Shepard didn’t try to avoid the curious looks she was getting; Garrus’ face was a study, and Ashley looked floored. Shepard just looked down at the datapad and waited for the questions. Liara finally broke the silence. “Whoever it was, they must have been something special to catch your eye.”
Bless Liara and her surprisingly tactful opening. The loss still stung, but Shepard had loved her wife fiercely. “She was,” Shepard said. Her throat felt thick, closed off, but she still smiled. “The first time I ever spoke to her, I called her an angel.” Ashley and Tali leaned forward obviously, while Kaidan and Wrex tried to be more subtle about it. Garrus’ face was still undecipherable to her, for all she had tried learning turian expressions. Liara simply looked expectant.
Well. If nothing else, Shepard could tell a damn good story. “I’d just finished the first level of ICT…”
Shepard staggered away from the bus stop and toward the still-glowing lights of the little diner. Anderson was coming to congratulate her and take her home for a few days, but she didn’t want to wait the seventeen hours it was going to take before she got real food in her stomach.
Her last round of training had been particularly grueling, as her squad had been ‘accidentally’ cut off from their supply line. Shepard was just glad she’d had knowledge of edible plants and been able to provide for her team; three biotics could wreak hell on rations. Rations. Just the thought of them made her lip curl. No, she wanted a big, greasy burger with a fried egg on top, and maybe some homefries. And coffee… she practically moaned at the thought of a real cup of coffee.
So she trudged to the diner, body sore and tired. She wasn’t even really sure if she’d gotten all the dirt off her face, but she didn’t care. The diner was cool, air-conditioned beautifully, and designed to look retro and homey. It was cheesy as hell, but Shepard loved it. She dropped down at the bar and dug into her pocket for her credit chit.
Her credit chit that wasn’t actually in her pocket.
Shepard dug through her pockets, motions getting increasingly more frantic. Nope. No credit chit. It was probably still in her footlocker at the villa. Letting out her frustrations in a groan, Shepard slumped forward onto the bar and closed her eyes, resting her cheek against the nice, clean counter. There was a clink of ceramic being set down, and the smell of coffee filled her brain. A warm, feminine voice said “Here you go, solider. You look like you could use it.” Shepard opened her mouth to mention her chit, but the waitress cut her off. “Lost your credit chit, yeah? Don’t worry. This one’s on me.”
Shepard opened her eyes and sat up. The beautiful voice was attached to a beautiful woman, all soft wavy hair and big brown eyes and skin nearly as dark as Shepard’s own. The light from the cheesy retro jukebox haloed her. Shepard couldn’t even speak as the woman set down some creamer. She smiled, and Shepard reached for the coffee without looking away. The mug was warm in her hands. The first sip of the bitter brew shot fireworks off in her brain. “You’re an angel,” Shepard sighed. She took a deep inhale over her coffee just to enjoy the smell. “I’m now fairly certain I died during my training and you’ve just welcomed me into heaven.”
“It’s just coffee,” the waitress said, and her cheeks flushed.
Shepard shook her head. “Gorgeous girls don’t just buy me coffee, especially not when I look like death warmed over. So… heaven. And I must have done something right, for my escort to be such a beautiful angel.” The waitress froze, and Shepard wondered if maybe she’d crossed a line, but then the waitress giggled. It was the dawn over the long, shitty night that was her last round of training. It warmed her, like the coffee in her hands warmed her, and she hadn’t even realized she was cold. That laugh was the most beautiful thing Shepard had ever heard.
“You are very much still alive and on Earth,” she leaned forward to read Shepard’s dogtags, and the smell of her perfume lit a different kind of warmth in Shepard’s gut, “Shepard.” She leaned back again, her grin cheeky. “And the battle-hardened soldier is a good look. I find a woman in uniform irresistible.”
Mercy of mercies, the woman was flirting. “Well,” Shepard made a show of leaning forward to read the waitress’ nametag, “Emily, maybe you’ll be able to resist my offer for dinner tonight? You know, with the credit chit that I’m going to go retrieve?”
Emily put a hand on her chin as if deep in thought. “No, sorry, not resisting at all. Guess it’ll have to be dinner, then.”
Shepard gave Emily her omni-tool info, and then smiled back. “It’s a date.”
“That was how I met Emily Rocha. We were married a year later.” Shepard’s smile didn’t waver. She hadn’t had very long with her wife, but their years together had been unspeakably happy. Her fingers traced the shape of the ring over her heart, and the metal was warm under her fingertips. “We went on vacations together when I had leave. Our last was to Elysium.” That name, everyone present knew.
“The Blitz,” Ashley murmured.
“The Blitz,” Shepard confirmed. “She was brave. Died shielding a kid from a raider’s bullet. A real angel, Emily.” Her voice cracked a little on the last part. Tali reached forward and rested a hand over Shepard’s own.
“Thank you for sharing that with us, Shepard.” Liara looked almost misty-eyed. Ashley and Kaidan both looked a little tender themselves.
Shepard squeezed Tali’s hand just a little. “Of course. You’re my team.” She looked each of them in the eye. “I’m happy to share with you if there’s something you want to know. I trust you with all of me - the good and the bad.” She refocused on Liara. “It’s been seven years, Liara. Emily’s definitely a good part.”
There was a long moment of silence as they let this information settle in. Kaidan plucked the datapad from where she’d laid it on the table and shot her a cocky grin. “So what’s this story about your last round of N1? It sounds like you seriously went through the ringer."
Shepard grinned back, but she hoped her eyes conveyed just how grateful she was to the Lt. “Look, it wasn’t my fault we lost half our supplies…”