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"Commander," Cortez said.
Shepard didn't look up from the datapad on his desk. "Lieutenant."
It was unusual to find the Commander in his cabin, enough so that Steve had almost delayed his request. But EDI had assured him Shepard wasn't sleeping (though he should be) and was therefore as approachable as if he were in the CIC. It still made Steve a little uncomfortable.
"After that last mission, the shuttle needs some... more extensive repairs." To put it mildly. Steve still wasn't sure what all had gone down on Despoina, but it had wreaked havoc on the shuttle's systems.
"So fix it," Shepard said absently, his attention still elsewhere. "I trust you can handle it."
Steve cleared his throat. "Yes, Sir. However, the parts and upgrades I need are proving quite hard to come by. It would be faster if we -"
"We don't have time for a trip to Citadel. Requisition what you need. I'll make sure it gets priority."
Call him on his bullshit if you have to, Major Alenko had said.
Steve took a deep breath. "With all due respect, Sir -"
Shepard's head came up.
"- I can't guarantee the safety of the crew, or the Normandy, if we don't take the time to make proper repairs before deploying again."
Shepard as a friend was one thing, Steve knew. Commander Shepard, Captain of the Normandy, was an entirely different thing. It was easy to forget sometimes, until those piercing blue eyes pinned you to a wall like lasers.
"Alright," Shepard said. "I'll make it happen."
"Thank you, Sir." Resisting the urge to salute (a formality Shepard had no patience for, as his crew were well aware), Steve nodded his head in thanks and turned to leave the cabin.
#
"Did he agree?" Tali asked when Steve returned to the shuttle. She was still in the pilot's seat, running diagnostics on the systems.
"Yes," Steve said, sinking down into the seat beside her.
Tali's shoulders relaxed and she straightened up a little. "That is good. I had feared his sense of duty would override his common sense."
"Nah." Steve leaned over to scan the datapad she had propped on the dash. The haptic interface was still glitching oddly, so they'd disabled it and patched directly into the system. "He's a good captain. Proper repairs save lives."
Tali nodded. "Still, when you are accustomed to making do..."
She let the words trail off, but Steve knew she was thinking of the Fleet and its struggles.
"Let's make sure we make the most of it. Anything you think you need, put two of it on the list. Just in case."
He couldn't see her face well through her mask, but he knew she smiled anyway.
#
"Wait! Lieutenant! May I join you?" Traynor called as Steve and Tali walked past her station.
It wasn't like their plan was a secret, but Steve was still surprised. "Join us?"
"For your shopping expedition. I believe I may be of assistance." She was practically bouncing in place with excitement.
Tali looked at Steve.
"Well, you do have mad people skills," Steve said. To Tali, he added, "Have you seen her haggle?"
"Not yet." A delighted lilt coloured Tali's words.
Steve nodded his head toward the airlock. "Alright, Traynor. Let's go."
Traynor grinned and swiped a hand over her terminal to shut it down before falling into step behind them.
#
A few hours later, the trio sat on a bench reviewing their list.
"Well, that's most of it," Steve said with a tired sigh. He leaned back and rolled his neck to stretch it.
"Every time, I forget how very large the Citadel is." Tali sighed. "It is exhausting."
Only Traynor seemed to have retained her enthusiasm. "Most of it - but not all. We've still got to find these sensors and thermal pipe couplers."
Steve groaned. "It's always the pipe and the couplers. There's gotta be a better replacement."
Tali made a thoughtful sound and brought up the screen on her omni-tool. "I am certain there is. We simply lack the time and resources to test a viable alternative."
"And we've exhausted all the local sources." Traynor scanned the list again, but the zero inventory markers hadn't changed.
"All the reputable ones, at least." Sitting forward, Steve braced his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. "Between the two of you, though, maybe we could find some others..."
Tali and Samantha exchanged a look.
"Are you suggesting we... steal -"
"- From pirates?"
Steve snorted. "Profiteers, more like. Anyone who's trying to make themselves rich while the world is ending is fair game in my books."
Commander Shepard had a philanthropic streak wider than half the landing zones Steve had put down in. Even the seasoned Dr. Chakwas had commented on it. It was a trait most of the crew shared though not all of them were generous to a fault.
A gleam lit Traynor's eyes as she moved to sit beside Tali. The two leaned their heads together, conversing in quick, low tones over the data they pulled. Steve smiled, and waited.
About ten minutes later, Traynor tapped him on the arm. "Lieutenant? I think we're going to need Grunt for this... expedition."
He blinked and studied her for a moment. "That sounds... heavy. Are you sure?"
"Quite sure," Tali piped up. "The risk of injury is greatly decreased by his presence."
Steve hesitated. "And the chance of success?"
"Increases exponentially. Without casualties!" Tali sounded far too excited.
"Your call, Lieutenant," Sam added quietly.
The Normandy needed the Kodiak in top shape. The Kodiak needed the parts. Procurement was his specialty; piloting was his job. The Commander needed every ounce of advantage they could wring out of the system to win this war.
"Alright," Steve said. "Make the call."
#
"You did the right thing," Grunt rumbled. "Been too long since I got to smash things."
"You will have plenty of opportunity, I promise," Traynor replied.
"So what's the deal?" he asked, settling carefully onto a chair around their table in the bar.
"It's a heist!" Tali's glee was reflected in Traynor's fierce grin. "Just like episode 463 in Fleet and Flotilla."
Tali leaned in close, projecting a docking bay map from her omni-tool onto the scuffed table top. Their four heads drew as close together as a Krogan, a Quarian, and two Terrans could.
"There's a shipment coming in on this shuttle in about an hour. The paper trail claims they are delivering supplies for the war effort, but there's another shuttle scheduled to land in that bay a few hours later, and its manifest has the same shipment outbound again."
"It's a shuffle drop," Cortez agreed. "Looks legal on the surface, but those goods are never going to reach the folks who need them."
"Like us?" Grunt said.
"Exactly like us," Traynor agreed. "And a bunch more people who need them."
"So we smash and grab?"
Tali shook her head. "No, we need to be a little more subtle. Don't want to start a firefight if we don't have to?"
"We don't? Then what'm I here for?"
Cortez glanced over his shoulder, but no-one was paying any attention to them. "Here's the plan. Tali handles the locks and redirects the security cams. Traynor is on scrub duty - fixing the paper trail so that they get caught without us getting caught. The goods stay off the radar - what we don't need, we will make available to others, through some covert drops. And you, Grunt, you are a big, obvious distraction so that I can get in and lift what we need."
Grunt studied the floorplan. "There's no smashing in that plan."
"These crates," Traynor tapped four of them. "These are empty and fair game. Use them for cover, or smash away. Make as much noise as you want to."
"Smash the guards if you need to," Cortez added. "Just try not to kill anyone."
"They're mercs?"
"Close enough," Traynor confirmed. "We think Cerberus is behind the shuffle, but can't prove it."
Grunt grunted. "Good."
#
"The pilot and crew are gone," Traynor whispered into her comms. "Just the two guards left."
"Switching to recycled footage. Mag locks disengaged. Shark team, go."
A low laugh rumbled over the comms as Grunt strode toward the door. Slapping one fist into his open palm, he stomped through the disabled security beams. Cortez followed a few feet behind, darting into cover as Grunt strode out into the open.
The Krogran's roar shook the bay. The two guards opened fire without hesitation as the giant stalked toward them. Their bullets bounced harmlessly off his shields, their energy dissipated on contact. The guards drew closer together, ejecting clips and reloading at the same time. Grunt swept one up in each hand and slammed them into each other. They crumpled into matching heaps at the foot of the shuttle's stairs.
"Too easy." Job done, Grunt stalked over to the nearest expendable crate and put both fists through the side.
"Incoming," Traynor hissed.
"Stall them." Cortez sprinted to the shuttle and up the stairs two at a time. Tali had the door open for him already, and a map on his omni-tool showed exactly where the box he needed was. He punched open the side door on the shuttle, grabbed the cargo skimmer and its load, and shoved them both ahead of him.
Grunt had moved on to a second crate and was gleefully tossing it across the bay. Pieces of shredded metal and plastic went flying.
Tali cycled the locks on the doors, closing the entryway and opening a side door to a maintenance corridor for Cortez. From Traynor's direction, where the crew had been returning, she heard a pop... fizzzz.... WHUMP.... And a chaotic round of exclamations.
"Traynor?"
"I overloaded a toothbrush and threw it at them. High chaos, low destruction factor."
Tali could hear the grin in her voice. "Okay, get out of there. Cortez is clear."
"Roger that!"
"Grunt. Time to go," Tali said firmly.
"One more smash."
Grabbing a third empty crate, he hoisted it into the air.
"Wait!" Tali exclaimed. "Stuff it through the shuttle instead."
Grunt cackled as he rammed the crate through the shuttle's loading door. "Have fun with that," he said, dusting his hands together. He headed for the maintenance door.
All that was left was for Tali to do a bit of digital clean-up. The team disappeared into the Citadel crowds as if they were never there.
#
"Yesterday, C-Sec officers received an anonymous tip that led to the arrest of two crews involved in a profiteering ring run out of a private docking bay in the Wards --"
"Commander," Cortez said, coming to stand beside Shepard.
Shepard kept his attention on the newsfeed a moment longer. "Tell me you didn't have anything to do with this."
"- officials insist it will take some time to extract a cargo crate wedged - impossibly, according to some physics experts* - through the interior of the seized shuttle."
Cortez folded his arms across his chest. "I didn't have anything to do with this. Also not my style, really."
"In other news, the 9000 series SpinBrush toothbrushes, featuring 6 micro mass effect field generators, are being recalled due to risk of spontaneous explosion. When contacted a representative for SpinBrush insisted they had no comment on details of the recall."
"And that? Isn't that the brand of toothbrush Traynor uses?"
Steve frowned. "I'll check the recall, sir, and let her know. Can't afford to have that happen onboard."
"A sudden influx of previously unattainable thermal repair parts is being attributed to an unknown 'Robin Hood-esque' hero, according to local Terrans -"
Shepard sighed. "And those parts conveniently but mysteriously include the thermal couplers we needed, I suppose."
"We were able to benefit from their generosity," Steve admitted. "The Kodiak is as good as new."
Scrubbing a hand over his head, the Commander finally turned to look at him. Steve refused to squirm beneath his gaze. After a moment, Shepard chuckled.
"Then you have my thanks, Lieutenant."
Cortez smiled and tipped his head in acknowledgement. "Any time, Commander."
#
"Do you think he knows?" Tali asked dubiously.
Traynor shrugged. "C-Sec doesn't, and that's what counts."
"I don't know how you made it look like that crate levitated itself into the shuttle," Cortez added as he joined them on the couch in the lounge. "I was there, and I still fell for it."
Music faded in to the lounge, starting as a low trill and building to techno drum beats.
"Is that...?" Tali began.
Traynor's eyes went wide. "Heist music!"
"Do not worry, " EDI said. "Your secret is safe with me."
~ end ~
