A/N – Some of you may have read the two one-shot stories I've written for Shepard and Khalisah. Always thinking of new and different things to write, I thought I'd put together a story pairing these two. If read the two one-shots, they will be referenced in this story (if not added as a chapter later on.)

I'm not sure how many chapters this will last, and the chapters won't be too long. No more than a couple of thousand words at most. Starts pre-ME1 and will go all the way to post-ME3 eventually.

"So, what do you know about him?" Emily asked, pouring some milk into her coffee.

"No more than anyone else. Information released by the Alliance is paltry at best," she replied.

Khalisah flicked through the binder they had all been given. His service photo was on the cover. He does have a certain rugged handsomeness I suppose. And I do like blue eyes. But inside, information was sparse. They knew his birth-date, his current rank, and where he had served, though even half of that was missing. Any personal information – parents, siblings, hometown, anything to do about the man himself – was either classified or missing.

"Well, I guess this news conference will help us fill in some of the blanks," Emily suggested.

"Why now, though? I would have thought the Alliance would have put him front and centre after Elysium," she wondered, the pair walked back into the conference room, taking a seat side by side. Many other reporters were taking up position around them. Mostly human, but there were one or two asari and turian reporters setting up. To the rear were cameras, while in front was a lone podium, a few seats behind the podium, with flags of the Alliance to either side.

"He was badly injured, Khalisah. I mean, if the reports are to be believed, he stopped an attack by himself, stopping the last of the invaders by hand."

"They could have presented him afterwards. But not a word. Sure, a lot of nice words from the Alliance itself, and there are the photos of him being give the Star of Terra, but no press conferences, no interviews, no anything. He's an enigma."

"You'll get your chance now. Particularly after what's happened…"

"He must have been involved in it all for them to put him in front of us now."

There was plenty of conversation around them as everyone waited for the arrival of Lieutenant Shepard and whoever else would be joining him. She was rather interested to hear what he had to say about certain events it was known he was involved in. And, as usual, she would go for the jugular. She had a reputation to uphold, after all.

All conversations stopped immediately as a man everyone recognised, Captain David Anderson, appeared through a side door, striding forward towards the podium. Following immediately behind him was Lieutenant John Shepard, walking alongside Major Nathan Kyle and Admiral Steven Hackett, the three chatting quietly as they took a seat on one of the chairs behind them.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Anderson began, "I'm sure you already have a million and one questions as to why you're gathered here today. The first bit of news is that the Alliance has completed operations on the batarian moon of Torfan. For those of you who don't remember, the raid on Torfan was in retaliation to the events that took place above and on Elysium in 2176. The Alliance was prepared to leave much of the information regarding both events classified, but believe transparency will help understanding of what happened. The man who will soon be front and centre was at the forefront of events on both Elysium and Torfan. The binder you may currently have is short on detail. It is hoped that during this conference you may learn more about the man himself." Anderson gestured Shepard towards the podium. "Therefore, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Lieutenant John Shepard."

He walked forward confidently, perhaps not realising he was approaching a pool of sharks, who would sense blood if he made the slightest of errors. Khalisah wasn't aware that he'd ever held a single interview, or spoke at a press conference before, and she had searched the extranet for any information.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Shepard stated, "As you already know my name, I could stand here and go over my life story for you, but I don't think that will be interesting for any of us. So I will open the floor to questions immediately. As Captain Anderson just stated, nothing is off-limits, though if you hear a cleared throat behind me from Admiral Hackett, that will be a suggestion that I am careful with how I respond. So, the floor is open."

The first few questions were as she expected. Surprisingly, nothing about his early life, all about his service, with plenty of focus on his time on Elysium. They were being too respectful, even from Emily beside her, whose question left her groaning. Finally, she'd had enough, and her hand shot up, hoping to grab his attention. It took another two questions, but he finally gestured in her direction. "You have a question, ma'am?"

"Yes, I do, Lieutenant. Khalisah al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Reports from events on Torfan suggest that the Alliance was brutal in their treatment of batarian prisoners, and that you alone are responsible for the murder of numerous batarians who had surrendered, and instead of being treated as an apparent war hero, you should be arrested and tried as a war criminal. How do you respond to those claims?"

She expected a glare and a dismissive answer. Instead, he glanced back to the Captain and Admiral seated behind him, noticing both nodded their heads. Turning back to face the crowd of reports, he stood at near attention, hands behind his back, as he started to reply.

"None of you have asked me yet, so I will tell you where I am from. I am a child of Mindoir." The whispers and exclamations of surprise started immediately. "My family owned a small farm on one of the many colonies that dotted Mindoir itself. We were not rich, but we were happy. It was hardly idyllic, as life is hard on a colony world. But we survived… until the batarians came. I was sixteen years old when I watched my mother and father, my older brother and little sister, my uncles, my aunts, my cousins, my friends from school, friends down the road, everyone I knew. I watched all of them be butchered or taken away as slaves."

"How did you survive?" someone called out behind her.

"They left me for dead. I could show you the scar where they shot me, but this isn't show and tell. I was lucky to survive. It was only thanks to the Alliance that I'm here today, as it was their medical treatment that helped me live, and I made a vow from that day that I would serve as soon as I was of age.

My next meeting with batarians was on Elysium, when a pirate gang, back by batarian paymasters, invaded a human colony. I had only served four years by that time, but there was no way I was going to let Elysium be another Mindoir. So I fought and bled, ensuring the colony and the people within survived, and those who invaded paid with their lives."

"Were you injured?" a voice asked.

"I was, though not seriously or critically. Just enough to put me out of action for a couple of months. The Alliance gave me a nice medal, but I wasn't the only hero on that day." He smirked. "But I guess the Alliance did need its poster boy." There were a few chuckles in the audience. Even the men behind him managed to crack a smile. God, he's good at this. This can't be his first interview or press conference.

And then he looked directly at her. "In direct response to your question, Miss al-Jilanai, the batarians on Torfan received exactly what they deserved. There were no innocent batarians on that moon. They were all pirates or mercenaries. More importantly, they were all criminals, and I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few of them were involved in the invasion of Elysium two years prior. It was not murder. It was war. In war, you might bleed but you make sure the other bastard dies first. If you want to call me a war criminal for doing my job, then that is your, and anyone else who shares it, opinion. But I watched most of my unit die beside me as we took that moon, so don't accuse me of murder when I watched many Alliance soldiers murdered in kind by batarian mercenaries, pirates and criminals. And I most certainly make no apology for putting every batarian on that moon in the ground. Quite frankly, my men and I did the galaxy a favour."

There was a cleared throat behind him. Shepard smiled and gestured to the floor. "Perhaps another question?"

"Geez, Khalisah, I think you may have pissed him off a little," Emily whispered in her ear.

"It was a legitimate question!" she hissed in reply, "You've seen the same reports."

"Quite frankly, he's absolutely right. The batarians got exactly what they deserved."

She lost interest in the new conference after that, as most of the questions were rather dull and boring, hardly the hard-hitting investigative journalism she was in the game for. His response to my question must have scared them all off. It eventually wrapped up around ten minutes later, with Anderson thanking them for attending, before the four Alliance soldiers disappeared through the same side door they'd entered.

The reporters found themselves escorted to another room, where food and drink had been laid out, and to nearly all their surprise, the four men appeared fifteen minutes later, though this time it was an informal chat, and off the record, Hackett warning that lives would be made very uncomfortable if anything said within the room was reported.

She kept an eye on Shepard as he worked the room. There was no doubting he had an aura about him already. Not arrogant, just confident in himself. He appeared to be incredibly polite, though maybe a little serious. She had to remember that, despite all he'd been through already, he was still very much a young man. His life is probably all about the service.

Then his eyes looked in her direction and he strode towards her. She met eyes and couldn't help but think Wow. Then he smiled, and she felt rather pathetic that her heart fluttered. Get a grip, Khalisah. Do your job.

"Quite the question, Miss al-Jilani. Since we're off the record here, do you think I'm a war criminal?"

She had to admit, she might ask questions but she never shared her personal opinion. Even when hosting a broadcast, saying 'In the opinion of this reporter…' it was not always what she thought, but it would reflect either the views of the corporation she worked for, or the view of the people she interviewed.

"The reports that came out of Torfan do not make pleasant reading, Lieutenant."

"Shepard."

"Huh?"

"Call me Shepard. Everyone else does. So, the question. What do you think?"

"Honestly, while I don't think you're a war criminal, I do believe that you have some questions to answer in regards to what you did on Torfan."

That smile again. "Thank you, Miss al-Jilani. It's nice to hear an honest response for a change." He leaned in close to her. "The constant fawning does get annoying," he whispered.

"Trust me, the last thing you will get from me is that, Shepard."

Leaning back, he replied, "Well, if I ever have another interview or press conference, I can only look forward to another one or two of your cutting questions. Now, if you'll excuse me, I can't stand here and talk to you all afternoon. But have a pleasant evening."

"You too," she replied, actually meaning it.

She watched Shepard continue to work the room like he did it every day, Emily sidling to her side. "Wow, he really is something, isn't he?" Emily stated.

"What do you mean?"

"Handsome. Courageous. War hero. Confident. What's not to like? No wonder the Alliance brass appear to love him."

"He's too clean. There has to be skeletons in the closet somewhere."

"You're not going to…"

"What? Tear him down? He's not that special."

"It's called tall poppy syndrome, Khalisah. The Alliance need someone like him. We all do."

"No-one is whiter than white. We already have Torfan, where it's clear he let bloodlust, or a sense of vengeance take over. There has to be something else. No-one is that pure, not even a war hero."

Draining her glass, she set it down on the table, said goodbye to Emily, and made her departure. She was heading home. It was time to investigate anything and everything to do with one Lieutenant John Shepard.

A/N – Let me know what you think. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up but much will depend on how popular this proves to be.