Leaving Miranda sleeping in her bed, Commander Jane Shepard straightened her hair and clothes before leaving XO's quarters, making sure she didn't look like someone who just had sex with her subordinate. After all, doing such a thing could cause problems with her superiors.
But after a moment, the redhead realized how dumb this thought was. Firstly, Miranda was Cerberus and Jane wasn't, so they weren't a part of any official chain of command. Secondly, even if they were, Cerberus didn't have the same ani-fraternization rules as the Alliance, so it was legal to maintain any type of relationship between different ranks. Thirdly, no rules stopped Shepard from having sex with Ashley Williams back on Normandy SR-1; although, technically, she was then a Spectre, not an Alliance soldier. Fourthly, Jane didn't even have a classic superior; the Illusive Man was more like her customer than her employer.
But, well, you can take someone out of the Alliance, but you can't take the Alliance out of someone.
Anyway, faithfully to her words, Jane returned to Illium to recruit more people to her 'suicide squad'. Initially, she had only sparse dossiers from the Illusive Man, but Liara already provided her with more useful data and thanks to them, she could go directly where she needed to.
It was an intensive effort, but in a few hours, she'd gotten two new companions: justicar Samara and assassin Thane. The former turned out to be an older asari dressed in a skin-tight red jumpsuit whose low neckline bore plenty of her gigantic fake tits; the only things that could make Shepard stop looking at them were the matriarch's incredibly bright eyes and her surprisingly deep voice. The latter was a drell suffering from life-treating lung disease, yet luckily the danger wasn't imminent. The most important, though, was that both showed serious combat skills: Samara's biotics was nothing like the commander had ever seen, while Thane was an expert in stealth, sniping, and hand-to-hand combat.
What was also important, wandering around Illium to reach her new recruits led Jane to run into some old acquaintances.
The first was Gianna Parasini, a Noveria Internal Affairs agent Shepard met when chasing Saren. The dark-skinned, dark-haired woman of Italian ancestry was still working in the same field, and Jane helped her catch an asari merchant smuggling experimental technology. Before and after the provocation, the women had a beer and talked a little about their jobs, but eventually, the time had come for the Spectre to go.
"It's been a pleasure, Gianna," she said, getting on her feet.
"You too, Shepard. See you around."
For a moment, the two women awkwardly stood next to each other and for the first time Shepard realized how tall Parasini was - she had to be at least 6 feet tall; still 1 foot below Jane, but still impressive. But even more shocking was what she did.
"Ah, hell with it," she suddenly said and... kissed the commander on the cheek. "Much better than an autograph. Take care of yourself, Jane," she said in a seductive voice and began walking away with extra sway to her hips, emphasized by the fitting dress she was wearing.
"Wait!" The Spectre shouted, stopping the officer in her tracks. "Maybe we could spend some more time together? Tonight, in Eternity? I mean, we had just one beer."
"You know what, Shepard? Why not! To hell with paperwork, drinking and dancing will be much more fun." Gianna agreed, a smile appearing on her lips. "I have some time before my next assignment. Let's see..."
The women turned on their omni-tools and checked their calendars, after a quick search finding a timeslot suitable for both. Afterward, they said their goodbyes and went in separate directions.
On the higher level, Shepard spotted the green-skinned asari and as she seemed familiar, the commander came closer and recognized her as Shiala - a former Benezia's disciple she spared on Feros. It turned out that the colonists from Zhu's Hope had been experiencing some aftereffects of contacting Thorian's spores and Shiala's abnormal color was one of them. As the medical group that was supposed to examine and treat them acted unethically, the asari needed help dealing with its representative and Jane offered the assistance.
"You did it! I just got the revised contracts. Thank you, Shepard. You've saved Zhu's Hope again," Shiala said when the commander returned, visibly cheering up. But after a moment, she looked down. "I don't think I could have... Is it always like this? Yesterday's problems lingering in some new form? Isn't anything ever just fixed?"
"You've got the power to make a difference, Shiala. Not everyone does." Jane tried to comfort the asari.
"You're right. You gave us a chance by saving the colony. I can't let them down. I won't." Once again, the redhead's charisma worked like a charm - a few simple words was enough to improve the green asari's mood. "Thank you for what you've done here, Shepard. I'll keep doing what I can," she continued, coming closer to the soldier. "Maybe sometime when I'm not organizing the colony and you're not... doing whatever you do..."
Saying this, the green asari's voice cracked a little. She looked deep into Shepard's eyes and the commander felt herself drowning in hers until the touch of the asari's fingers on her face brought her back to reality. Then, she looked at Shiala and the asari was smiling as if waiting for an answer. When she didn't get one for a moment, she began walking away, but then the redhead spoke.
"Why wait so long? We should set a meeting right now. Otherwise, we would never do it," she suggested, turning her omni-tool on and the asari did the same.
"I have a free slot... here," Shiala said, sending Jane the invitation. Still captured by the green asari's beauty, the commander didn't pay attention to the warning message that appeared on her screen and just hurriedly closed it before accepting Shiala's proposition. "Great! Then I see you soon. Can't wait!"
Then, the asari and the human finally parted ways - at least for now.
A few hours later, Shepard left the shower after returning from the second recruitment mission on Illium. Her cock hung low between her legs, swaying a little when she dried her crimson hair with a towel. When she got to the wardrobe, she was offered her favorite set of a tank top with cargo pants, but ignored it and looked for something more fitting for a fancy meeting.
"Troubles with choosing an outfit for your dates, commander?" Jane heard a robotic voice and in a corner of her eye, saw the blue halo of EDI's holographic image. "Whatever you choose, don't forget about contraception."
"It's not a date, EDI, just a meeting with a friend. I won't be having sex tonight, they're not into me like that," she replied, but her face turned a little red.
"Whatever you said, commander," the AI's voice sounded doubtful. "Who are you meeting with and where?" She asked with a joking undertone.
"Come on, EDI, you have access to my calendar," the commander replied but activated her omni-tool anyway. When she looked at her calendar, she gasped when she discovered the same spot being occupied by two separate meetings: one with Gianna and another with Shiala.
"How the fuck did it happen?" Jane asked herself and then remembered how she drowned in the green's asari eyes. "What should I do now?"
"You may reschedule one of those meetings," EDI suggested. "Or combine them into one."
"Nah, I cannot do any of that. My schedule is full, I won't find another spot, and besides it's too late for that. Combining them isn't possible as well, given how Gianna feels about asari," Shepard replied and then took a deep breath. "There is only one option: I'll meet with them at the same time, and just... juggle a little for them to not spot each other. It's gonna work, right? RIGHT?"
But EDI didn't respond. She wasn't programmed to laugh.
"Wow, you look great!" Kelly exclaimed, seeing Jane leaving the elevator. The commander's outfit was perfect: black ladies' pants, a matching vest, and an elegant red shirt. She briefly considered a dress but didn't want to take the risk of her cock betraying her and finding a way into an open view. "A hot date?"
"No, not a date. Just meetings with old friends," Shepard replied. "But thank you."
"Wait a moment. Meetings, friends? Plural?"
"Yep. I might've... accidentally... set two for the same time," the commander explained. "I've just got distracted!" She added, seeing Kelly's quizzical expression. "Anyway, I can handle it. Just look!" She said and then opened a few top buttons of her shirt and rolled up the sleeves; the operation made her formal attire look much more playful. "See? I can rock two looks, I can handle two girls."
"Right," the ginger nodded, but her expression hadn't changed. "Anyway, have fun. Don't be too late, and remember about protection."
"It's not a date," Shepard denied again, one more time failing to stop a blush climbing her cheeks. "I won't be needing... Eh, never mind, I gotta go. Take care!" She waved her hand and almost ran toward the airlock.
When Joker saw her, he opened his mouth to comment, but the Spectre didn't want to have the same conversation again.
"NO!" She shouted wagging her finger and then left the ship.
When Jane'd gotten to Eternity - luckily, both her meetings were set in the same place - she was a little late because of the confusion caused by discovering she would need to handle both Gianna and Shiala at the same time. Before she decided who to meet with first, she was already spotted by someone.
"Jane! Jane, over here!" Shepard heard the familiar voice. Following it to the source, she noticed Gianna waving at her from the club area - her height enough for her to be easily seen over the crowd. Taking a deep breath, the redhead walked toward the agent, her strength and intimidating look allowing her to easily move through the sea of people separating them.
When the commander had gotten to her friend, she struggled to not gasp - Gianna looked hot! She let her hair - kept in a tight bun earlier - loose, as well as switched her form-fitting dress for a set of black leather pants and a loose top that showed off her shoulder and a strap of her bra. Her midriff was also partially visible and Jane birefly admired a shade of abs on Parasini's belly.
"Gianna! Sorry I'm late," she greeted her friend by kissing her on both cheeks. "So this is you when you're not working. You look gorgeous!"
"Look who's speaking!" Parasini returned the compliment, her hand falling onto Jane's hip. "And don't worry about being fashionably late. I've already ordered you a beer," she announced, pointing at the table she was standing by.
The Spectre would happily drink something, but she needed also to find Shiala. Luckily, she got the idea of how to get away without making it look suspicious.
"Erkhm... Don't be mad, but I'm allergic to this kind. I'm gonna get myself something else and also bring some snacks, ok?"
"You're allergic? But it's the same one you ordered earlier today!" Gianna looked at her, confused.
"Did I? Well, I... I like it very much, but one bottle is ok while the larger amount... You get the picture." The commander hoped that talking fast would not allow Parasini to notice how senseless it all was. "Anyway, gotta go! Don't leave this exact spot, ok? It's a great one!" She said and made a hurried retreat.
