Chapter 1: So It Begins

(If you read this once you've read it a thousand times, so here's the Boiler Plat Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Mass Effect Universe, That belongs to the Great and Powerful BioWare. I only , or more accurately my Co-Author Lycanwolff, own Kitrina Aurora Wolff , and any other OCs that may pop up )

AN: This is my retelling of the game Mass Effect, there will be changes, OCs, and main charters will most defiantly go OOC. I have noticed that most Authors start their fics at the beginning of the game, I'm choosing to go much further back. This fic will contain Violence, fluff, angst, Xeno-racism, and scenes of an erotic nature(thou not tell much later). I hope you enjoy my retelling and I appreciate constrictive criticism, and any pointers you all feel free to provide. Thank you for reading.

"GET OFF MY BUS! GET OFF MY BUS! GET THE FUCK OFF MY MOTHERFUCKING BUS!"

This...was the first thing Hew Shepard heard as he woke up from his decent slumber. The sheer volume of the voice echoed through the bus like a bullhorn through a vast cavern and the man it was coming from, was no taller then 5'9. As Hew blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked around, he saw all the other recruits damn near crawling over each other to get off the bus before the screaming men trained their sites on them. He couldn't help but chuckle at the spectacle of scrambling cattle. That, of course, was the wrong thing to do as the DI zeroed in on the noise that assaulted his ears.

"OH IS THAT FUCKING RIGHT? DO I AMUSE YOU? WAS I PUT HERE FOR YOU PLEASURE? GET THE FUCK OFF MY GODDAMN BUS RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!" the DI screamed with all his might as he got up close and personal with the grinning kid.

Hew, not wanting to draw anymore attention to himself, got off the bus which allowed for quick glances to locate the best routes of escape. It was an old habit he developed on the streets of Earth and one that allowed him to locate the rest of his group as they tried to find a spot on the infamous yellow foot prints he had heard so much about from eavesdropping on the conversations going on around him.

After finding a spot, Hew took a chance and looked around while the DI's screamed into the faces of the more scared recruits. The first thing he noticed, was a slightly overweight Alliance Officer standing on a small raised platform whom was yapping away, but Hew wasn't paying attention. He opted to ignore the officer and kept scanning, finding great amusement as one recruit, a young girl, started to cry from all the screaming being done which earned her some unwanted attention. That's when he saw the pretty little thing standing next to him. She wasn't all that tall, not compared to him that is, as he guessed she was only 5'7 or so. He noticed her hair was a dark auburn that brushed along her neck and each strand was well groomed and kept in line. As he traced her hair, he noticed a fair skin tone, one acquired while living on starships and not having the pleasure of witnessing sunshine on a regular basis. That caused him to take a step back and start to notice other things about her. The fact that she seemed to know what was going on, told him she knew military doctrine or had a rough idea at the very least. Perhaps a parent served? Then, he noticed she smelled clean, very clean. Not the kind of clean from using generic toiletries that you manage to get your hands on while trying to survive on the streets, but the clean you get from using scented, expensive products. In those few moments of observation, they told Hew everything he needed to know about her. She was a spoiled, Spacer, military brat. Oh joy. He thought with a cringe. This is gonna be a long five months.

As the officer finished his speech, the DI's came out of no where, and once again started yelling and shouting, all to get the recruits into a large beige building that had 'Many Will Enter. But Few Will Leave' painted above the large red double doors and into a bright room that had a long table running it's length, covered with hundreds of gray plastic bins. As the last of the stragglers entered, the doors slammed shut with a loud bang that made all but a few jump, which included the auburn haired girl whom stood right next of him. After the doors were shut and sealed, the DI's started to walk up and down the aisles, telling everyone to put all their electronics, media devices, and anything else that was written on the wall, into the bins provided. Hew, only owning what was on his back, just stared at the bins, wondering what other people would place inside. So having nothing else to do, he watched as 'Auburn,' his nickname for the girl, placed her Omni-tool, wallet, music player, and some other personal items into her bin. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he automatically stared, adding up the value of her belongings in his head. The Omni-tool alone would have gotten him a warm meal and a few nights out of the cold back home. Something he most likely would have mugged the poor girl for if they were, in fact, back on Earth and he was still with the old gang. After a few minutes, the DI's started to funnel the recruits to a wall of windows where everyone lined up against the wall. When Hew arrived at one of the windows, the Alliance clerk behind the counter asked for his bin, upon which he just shrugged.

"Your funeral if the Drill Instructors find anything. Name: last, first and social I.D. Number." the clerk nearly ordered without bothering to look at the kid.

Hew froze, old instincts taking over. Rule number 1: Never give them your real name. He briefly thought, realizing that the clerk was still waiting for his answer.

As the clerk glanced at him with a strange look, Hew finally opened his mouth, "Shepard, Hew. 5923-AC-2826." he said flatly.

The clerk ran the info through his terminal without saying another word.

After a few seconds, he looked at the boy before him with a slightly amused smirk plastered across his lips, "Shepard, Hewbert Arthur," he was starting to laugh but bit his tongue to prevent it, "Here's your Mil card. Don't lose it or it's your funeral. NEXT!"

As Hew was stepping into a new line to get his issue, his temper fuming at the way the clerk had announced his full name to the entire room like it was a running joke, looked for 'Auburn,' and found her at the window. He noticed that the clerk was spending more time staring at her chest then her face when she spoke, overhearing her state her full name and ID number.

"Wolff, Kitrina Aurora, 5924-SC-2547" she easily reported with a soothing voice.

So that's her name...huh...fitting for some reason. Hew thought as he turned his attention back to the line, just as it started to move forward. He came to yet another window, with yet another clerk that glared back at him with a blank face.

"Mil card." the clerk demanded.

Hew handed over the card, watching as the clerk scanned it into his terminal just like the previous one had.

"Lets see here," the clerk mumbled, his eyes flicking across the screen quickly, "1.8796 meters tall...83.91 Kg. Damn you're a skinny one aren't you. Don't worry. We'll get some weight on ya." he said nonchalantly, ignoring Hew's growing sneer.

The clerk disappeared for a moment into the back room which was out of Hew's line of sight, returning with a military gray C-Bag that was full, "Here you go. Three uniforms, five skivvy shirts, briefs, couple pairs of socks, two pairs of boots, a belt, and cover. This is your initial issue. You will get more gear as you go through training. If you lose, damage or just need new gear, just return here with your Mil card and a gear replacement chit and we'll hook you up. NEXT!" the clerk rattled off, probably for the thousandth time that week as he held a hand out for the next recruit's Mil card.

As Hew shouldered his bag and moved to the exit, he was bumped in his other shoulder but it wasn't anything that was going to threaten his balance, not like the poor soul whom had collided with him. He spun to see whom it was and discovered, it was none other then the girl named Kitrina Wolff, of all people. She stumbled from the sudden contact and was about to fall when Hew reached out and caught her by the collar, causing it to rip with a loud tear and expose just a little more of her slender neck.

Kitrina regained her balance and looked up to thank whomever stopped her from hitting the deck, but found him already walking towards the rest of their group. As she watched him walk away, she took in his clothes, and the way he walked. Years of living on starships has left her unaccustomed to walking in normal gravity, something that that man didn't seem to have a problem with. She also noticed, that his clothes seemed to be hanging on a slender frame and didn't seem to fit him. Almost as if they weren't his clothes. Kitrina hurried to catch up to her group and was a bit surprised that he was apart of it.

After the group had formed up into something resembling a platoon, a tall DI seemed to appear from the darkness, "ALL RIGHT YOU PATHETIC PIECES OF SHIT! WHEN I SAY LEFT, I WANT YOU TO TAKE A 30 INCH STEP WITH YOUR LEFT GODDAMN FOOT! WHEN I SAY RIGHT, I WANT YOU TO TAKE A 30 INCH STEP WITH YOUR RIGHT GODDAMN FOOT! ANY QUSTIONS!...NO!...GOOD! FORWARD...MARCH!" the DI screamed with an angry sneer across his face, "LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT..." he provided a cadence for the recruits to follow, but sadly, it wasn't doing much good as everyone was out of step.

As the DI called the cadence to get every one moving, Hew realized, somewhat to his amusement, that he had just joined one gang to get away from another. He started to laugh, causing Kitrina, whom was standing next to him, to give him a sidelong glance and probably wondering to herself if the tall man had lost his mind.

When the group got to the squad bay, as they learned it was called, the DI began to scream once more, which Hew was starting to get tired of, "ALRIGHT...CLAIM YOUR RACK AND GET SOME SLEEP," the DI started to snicker, as he was having a hard time holding it back, "You're going to need it." he mumbled.

With that, he disappeared into a small office and slammed the door with more force then was necessary and caused everyone to stare with shocked expressions. Everyone milled around for a few seconds before they started to pick racks and stow their gear, none talking for the first few moments until they finally started to warm up to each other. Hew found a rack in the back corner of the barracks and stowed his gear in the provided foot locker that sat at the foot of his chosen bed by just tossing it inside. Not really feeling tired, he started to watch all the other recruits. He watched the groups start to form and isolate themselves, already finding their clicks like they were in fucking high school. He groaned, leaning against his rack with his arms folded, thinking that maybe, he had made the wrong choice in enlisting in the first place, but it was better then alternative. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, breaking him free of his thoughts as he saw Kitrina stowing her gear in the footlocker next to his.

"Why are you here?" he asked curtly, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

Kitrina looked up, slightly startled by the sudden voice, "Huh? What?" it clicked that it was the tall, thin kid that had caught her collar.

"Why are you bunking here? There are plenty of other bunks left." Hew motioned with his chin to the other empty racks that were away from his.

Kitrina began to feel slightly awkward, "Uh...I don't know. I didn't put much thought into it. I never really fit in with the normal crowd so I guess I just like it here. Why do you ask?" she tried to sound as kind as possible, as she was going to be spending the next five months with this man.

Hew scoffed and shrugged, "Whatever. Just curious. Most people give me a wide berth. On a side note, you might wanna try and get some sleep. The DI's are planning something and I think we might need it...But...you probably already know that being a spacer brat."

Kitrina's eyes narrowed as she glared and watched the strange man, seeing him slip into his rack, close his eyes and seemingly fall asleep in the span of a minute or two. She was a little curious, due to his actions, and wondered why he was still wearing the same clothes he checked in with. She shook off her thoughts and proceeded to change into her sleeping cloths, listening as the squad bay began to die down as many of the recruits were preparing to sleep when all hell broke loose.

The DI's burst from the Duty Hut and started flipping racks, throwing foot lockers and raising a royal racket that immediately awoke every recruit and probably any recruit that resided in the neighboring buildings.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY RACKS! YOU DON'T GET TO SLEEP YET! I'LL TELL YOU WHEN YOU CAN SLEEP!" a DI bellowed as he flipped a rack with surprising ease, tossing the mattress aside like it was an empty sack.

The youngest DI glared around the bay, seeing Hew laying on the top rack in the back corner and figured he would make an example out of him. They were taught in DI School to find the recruit that would most likely be the problem and deal with them fast and hard and by the looks of things, that particular recruit was going to be a handful as he was the oldest in the bay.

Hew saw the DI making a beeline for him, causing two thoughts to rampage through his mind. One, he was about to be made an example of, or two, wondering if he should wait and see what the DI was going to do. Hew chose the latter. He shifted his weight and as soon as the DI had grasped the rack, Hew slide down to the ground and stared down the far smaller man. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do as the DI reacted in a time honored way of the DI...He poked Hew in the chest.

The following scene was a blur for everyone in the bay, including the other DI's as it ended with one DI on his back with the sound of breaking bones echoing through the squad bay. The bay turned silent and still as Hew stood up, still glaring down at the now hissing DI on the deck, holding his arm that was...less then straight. Again, all hell broke loose as the remaining two DI's converged on Hew, pinning him to the wall and yelling at the top of their lungs for the 'Senior Hat.'

GySgt Ellison was siting in the the Duty Hut listening to the 'music' as he called it when all of a sudden the squad bay went quiet. In the six years he had been a Drill Instructor, the squad bay had never been quiet...ever. When the yelling started up again, it wasn't the usual noise from the 'breaking process' but the panicked yelling that he hadn't heard since that botched training mission that left two Marines dead and six in the infirmary. He stood from his chair, causing it to smack against the bulkhead and marched right into the squad bay with his trade marked sneer across his face.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON OUT HERE?" is eyes shifted immediately to the young DI on the deck, "AND WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO HENDERSON?" he added, trying to not let his voice squeak which it was known to do if he yelled to loud.

The surprise on Ellison's face was only noticed by the other DI's, as all the recruits refused to look him in the face for fear of getting punished. This was the corporal's first cycle and judging by the angle of his arm, he wouldn't be able to train the recruits for a while. Ellison raised his view to take in the recruit that Sgt. Johnson and Cpl. Fredricks were restraining and was a bit taken back by his appearance. The kid standing before him was tall, very tall but he couldn't have weighed more then 90 kilos soaking wet. How the Hell did this kid overpower Henderson? Ellison thought briefly. The corporal was a black belt in MCMAP and was also on the MC Mixed Martial Arts team, but this kid not only overpowered him, but broke his arm before the other DI's could react. He noticed a female standing off to the side with a shocked look an her face, trying with all her might not to stare him back in the eyes.

"RECRUIT!" he snapped his fingers to get her attention, making her look at him and lowered his voice to something far more reasonable for the enclosed space, "What happened here?"

Kitrina drew in a breath to try and steady her nerves, "I...I don't know. The Drill Instructor reached out and...the next thing this recruit knew, was that the other Drill Instructors had that recruit pinned to the bulkhead. It happened so fast Sir. This recruit really didn't see anything...Sir." she added as an afterthought.

Ellison pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, "Drop him," he ordered of the two DI's that had the tall male pinned, "Now...recruit," Ellison looked down at his data pad to get the recruits name, as he wasn't wearing anything that he had been issued like the others, "Shepard...What happened?"

Hew brushed himself off and brought his gaze up to the Senior Drill Instructor and locked eyes, taking in a long, unbroken breath, "I slipped off the rack...Sir. I must have fallen into the Drill Instructor...Sir." he sneered, using 'Sir' as a curse and finding that his attitude was rearing it's ugly head.

The fact that this recruit was able to say that with a straight face was a little unsettling to Ellison as he knew he was lying but couldn't tell, as this Shepard kid had no tells that he could readily see. He must have had the best poker face that the older man had ever seen.

Ellison didn't let his discomfort show however, "OH IS THAT SO! GET THE FUCK ON MY QUARTER DECK," he screamed at Hew before turning his attention to the female, "And you, recruit Wolff, will join him. Think of it as a training lesson to make you more observant."

"But I didn't do any..." Kitrina began to protest.

"DID THAT SOUND LIKE A REQUEST RECRUIT WOLFF! MOVE YOUR ASS NOW!"

As Kitrina hustled up to the Quarter Deck, she saw that Shepard was already getting worked on at the hands of the two DI's that had him up against the wall only moments before. She stood at attention on the Quarter Deck awaiting her orders, upon which she received from the DI with the name tag of Sgt. Johnson.

"WELL HELLO PRINCESS! WHAT? YOU WANT AN ENGRAVED INVITATION! SIDE STRADDLE HOPS RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!" he screamed.

As Kitrina started doing jumping jacks, all she could do was think. I didn't do anything wrong. That Shepard kid hit the DI and I'm getting punished? That's bull shit! She started to get angry.

Hew could tell that Kitrina was mad at him, and was surprised that it mattered to him. That was a new feeling for him, as he hadn't had much experience with with people who didn't have criminal records. His whole life, all he cared about was himself. That was the only way to stay alive on the streets. Now he found himself glancing at her and he noticed the scowl on her face. Ha ha...It looks like little miss perfect can fuck up too and the best part is, is that I was there to see it. All this went through Hew's head as he was doing his push-ups.

"SWITCH!"

Hew looked at the DI for a moment till it clicked. He stood up and started doing jumping jacks, but Kitrina was a little quicker on the up take, as she was already doing push ups.

Across the squad bay Ellison was dealing with Henderson, trying to keep him calm as they waited for the corpsmen. He notice the way Shepard and Wolff seemed to read each other, mainly how the Shepard kid was reading Wolff's body language. He also noticed that they are keeping in rhythm with each other. As Wolff went down on her push up, Shepard extended his jumping jack. Ellison looked back at Henderson and started to examine his crooked arm, taking great care not to injury him further as he was pretty sure that the bump protruding from the center of his arm, was the bone. He noticed the bruising started to show in precise locations, following the darkening spots and realized, that Shepard had struck only where he need to with no wasted movement. GySgt Ellison brought up all the information that the Earth recruiter had found on Shepard and was surprised that the man had no formal hand to hand training...No schooling what so ever.

"An orphan and a gang member. A Lieutenant in the Reds...Huh."

At that little tidbit, Ellison raised an eyebrow. He had heard stories about the Tenth Street Reds. That they recruited from orphanages mainly and found the outcasts and castoffs of society. Ellison kept reading the extensive file.

'Hewbert Shepard was found guilty of Assault, Grand Theft Auto and three counts of Breaking and Entering. The Judge offered Shepard the choice of prison or recruitment into the Systems Alliance Marine Corps. Hewbert Shepard chose recruitment in leu of jail time. I feel this is an opportunity not only for Shepard, but the Alliance as well. He gets a second chance and pays his debt to society. We get a trained and motivated individual that has nowhere else to go. Imagine what he could become.'

By this time, the corpsman had arrived and was working on Henderson's arm, trying to immobilize it in a makeshift sling so that he didn't injury it further. The medi-gel had taken effect as Henderson had relaxed and now needed help to walk as his mouth curled into a stupid smile. As the corpsmen loaded Henderson onto the stretcher, Ellison brought the information that was sent along with Wolff.

'Kitrina Wolff shows extreme promise in the field of electronic warfare. Recommend training in the Combat Engineer program upon completion of Basic Training. Shows limited leadership abilities. I believe this is due to the fact that both her parents are Alliance officers. I believe Basic Training will encourage development of latent Leadership skills. On a side note, I found it odd that her medical records are sealed. Hopefully this can be taken care of with a physical upon entering the second stage of training and the physicians at MCRD Mars will have the required clearance levels.'

The part about 'sealed medical records' caused the GySgt to pause. In all his years as a DI, he only came across one other with sealed medical records. A recruit that came from Earth by the name of Alenka...no, that wasn't right. Alanke?...no. 'A' something but Ellison couldn't remember for the life of him what the recruit's name was. Rumor had it, that he was a Biotic though. He clearly remembered that part. Ellison caught a note saying she should be afforded extra rations during chow, raising red flags in Ellison's head as to why the hell would the brass would send a Biotic to non-Biotic Basic Training. It made no sense...to him at least.

By now the Corpsman had Henderson out of the squad bay and well on his way to the Infirmary, leaving Ellison with the fun job of dealing with the two on the Quarter Deck. His attention turned to the two recruits that he was puzzling over, seeing Wolff covered in sweat and panting where as Shepard...wasn't even breathing hard.

So he's in shape and has endurance apparently, "Strong or Smart." Ellison said to himself. It was an old Jarhead slogan, meaning a Marine was either on the quarter deck a lot, or knew their military knowledge. He then...got an idea.

"RECRUIT WOLFF! WHAT IS YOUR FIFTH GENERAL ORDER?" Ellison bellowed.

"THIS RECRUIT'S FIFTH GENERAL ORDER IS TO QUIT MY POST ONLY WHEN PROPERLY RELIEVED! SIR!" she answered quickly, almost as if she didn't have to actually think about it.

"RECRUIT SHEPARD! WHAT IS YOU THIRD GENERAL ORDER?"

"What the fuck is a General Order? SIR!" Hew craned his head around to stare at the Senior DI with a raised eyebrow and shrugged.

At that out burst, the DI's fixed their attention back on Shepard, which was turning out to be something that they had been doing a lot.

"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING YOU WANT! I DON'T FUCKING THINK SO! FROM THIS POINT ON THE ONLY THINGS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH WILL BE: YES SIR, NO SIR, AND AYE AYE SIR. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME RECRUIT SHEPARD?" the noise echoed throughout the entire building like an earthquake.

Hew shrugged again, "Uh...yeah...I guess."

"I! I! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY 'I!' YOU WILL ADDRESS YOURSELF AS 'THIS RECRUIT!' IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

Hew locked eyes with the only DI capable of looking him in the face and he saw the man's blood run cold.

How the fuck does a 19 year old have that look? "WELL RECRUIT!"

"This recruit understands...SIR!" he spat with a hint of snideness.

"WELL YOU CAN TEACH A SHIT STICK NEW TRICKS! MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS THE BOTH OF YOU RIGHT NOW!"

The 'Intensive Training' went on for what felt like hours...at least to Kitrina until the Senior DI stepped in, "I think they've had enough...Don't you gentleman?"

"No Senior, but if you say so." the two DI's took a step back away from the two young kids as they saw them.

"Well than recruit Wolff...have you learned your lesson?"

"YES SIR!"

"And you recruit Shepard? What have you learned?"

"I..." he corrected himself, "This recruit learned that it's not wise to fall off of his rack...Sir."

"Well as long as you learned something...I guess it's a win. Get back to your racks and get some sleep. I think you just might need it." Ellison smirked.

Hew and Kitrina shared a glance and started to run back into the squad bay, "Don't you dare run in my squad bay! People can get hurt doing that!" one of the DI's barked.

They slowed and briskly walked to their rack and picked it up, resetting the cheap mattresses and bedding that had gotten tossed in the may ham. Hew looked back and saw all the DI's walk back into the office at the head of the Squad Bay, and before he could turn back, he felt a hand make contact with his face and it stung...a lot. Hew just stared at Kitrina with his jaw open.

"What the fuck was that for?" he snarled, looking down at her.

"You got me in trouble, that's what." she hissed, her cheeks still flushed from the workout and still somewhat out of breath.

"What? I got you to break a sweat, which looks good on you by the way...and you hit me?" Hew's mouth quirked into a smart ass grin.

"That's right...wait...what did you say?"

"I made you sweat and you hit me. What's so hard about that?" he gently rubbed his stinging cheek.

"Not the make me sweat part...the other part." her brows pinched.

"What are you talking about?"

"You said I loo.."

"RECRUIT WOLFF! RECRUIT SHEPARD! REPORT TO THE DUTY HUT!"

Hew looked at Kitrina and waited for her to make the first move, for he had no idea what a Duty Hut was. Kitrina stared right back before it click in her mind that he had no idea what they were talking about. Jesus...This guy's gonna get kicked out before we even start. She rolled her eyes and walked with purpose to the office at the front of the Squad Bay, ignoring the stares from the other recruits as they watched them pass by. When she arrived, she proceeded to hit a rectangle of wood beside the door with an open hand.

"RECRUITS WOLFF AND SHEPARD REPORTING AS ORDERED SIR!"

"ENTER!"

After hearing the order to enter Kitrina entered the Duty Hut. Hew, not knowing what to do followed her lead and mimicked everything she did, almost to a tee. So when she stood slightly off center of the desk with her heels together, back straight and eyes staring over the Seniors' head at some point on the wall, Hew did the same.

After Ellison dismissed the two recruits from the Quarter Deck and returned to the Duty Hut, he closed the door, "So what are they doing?" he smirked.

Johnson, whom was watching through the window, which appeared as a wall to the recruits, smirked as he watched the two in question, "They just made it back to their racks and they're talking about something...Oh damn! She just smacked him. Gunny, you gotta see this." he started to laugh.

Ellison turned his chair to see out the 'window' to get a better view. What he saw made him smile. The fact that Shepard didn't retaliate said something about how he felt about women, which was a good thing considering his gruff background. He watched as they seemed to have a short conversation which seemed to cause Wolff to stutter, but before she could get confirmation or ask a question, Ellison bellowed "RECRUIT WOLFF! RECRUIT SHEPARD! REPORT TO THE DUTY HUT!"

The other two DI's hid in the sleeping area and closed the door. As the door shut, Ellison heard the pine being slapped and Wolff's voice "RECRUITS WOLFF AND SHEPARD REPORTING AS ORDERED SIR!"

"ENTER!"

As the two recruits stood before him, he noticed that Shepard let Wolff lead. At first, he thought he did it so she was hit with the brunt but then noticed that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye and taking his cues from her. Hmm...He might be more clever then I thought. Ellison looked at them for a few minutes, watching them squirm, well Wolff was anyway as Shepard seemed to be casing it, for lack of a better word.

"Well it seems that you two aren't really getting along are you? I have a solution for that. From now on, you are responsible for each other. Everything one does, the other gets credit for. So you two better start to work together and help each other on your weaknesses. Because if one of you fails...BOTH of you fail!"

Hew and Kitrina just stared at the Senior DI and before Hew could say anything, he caught notice that Kitrina began to sway from side to side. He turned his head and watched her as she began to fall, her knees letting go as she passed out and had to carry her back to her rack after they were dismissed. Several minutes passed until Kitrina woke up and found Hew sitting on the edge of her rack, watching her.

"What are you doing in my rack?" she groaned with another, angry sneer.

"I was making sure you were ok. You passed out. You must have locked your knees."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know why you locked 'em." he snapped.

"Not that you idiot. Why are you making sure I'm ok?" she growled, scooting away from him as she was still furious.

"You heard the Senior...If you fail, I fail and I can't afford to fail or I go to prison."

"Ah...So you're just doing it so you benefit," she hissed, "So all that actually happened?"

Hew nodded.

"My god...I'm living a nightmare." she groaned.

Hew was getting rather irritated at her attitude towards him, which caused him to wonder why as he was used to catching flack...Oh, that's right, he always caught flack, "Well I'm not to thrilled about it ether princess. You can't do much physical stuff can you? I mean, we were only on the Quarter Deck for like 15 minutes and you damn near passed out...well, you did pass out if you want to get technical. What's with that?"

Kitrina sat up and glared, "What's the problem? I grew up on spaceships. I'm not used to normal gravity. What about you? Who doesn't know simple stuff like General Orders? Did your recruiter not give you basic knowledge?"

"What the hell is a General Order? Oh...and just so you know, I never met my Recruiter." he spat.

Kitrina just stared at him. How do you not know your Recruiter? This was beyond her. Just how am I supposed to get through this if this muscle bound idiot keeps screwing up?

"I'm not an idiot and if I were you, I wouldn't jump to conclusions about me. I didn't get the chance to go to a fancy school like you did. I had to learn how to survive on the streets. I might not be 'book smart' like you, but I have skills and experiences that someone like you will never understand Miss Spacer brat."

Kitrina's brows drew together, as she was pretty sure she didn't say what she had thought out loud. "I didn't say that and what do you mean you didn't get to go to school! How the hell did you get into the Alliance without a diploma or G.E.D?"

"What else would that sentence mean princess? Listen, it's a story for another day Miss Spacer, so you better get some sleep and get ready for tomorrow."

"I have a name you know and it's not Miss Spacer."

"Well if you pull your head out of the sand, I just might use it. Go to sleep." he sprang up from her rack and climbed into his.

"Fine...But I'm not doing it because you told me too. Good...Night." she hissed as she forcefully pulled the cheap blanket up to her shoulders and turned to lay on her side in a huff.

Hew laid down to drift off to sleep, still wondering why the hell he had agreed to this in the first place. It was either this, or jail and to be honest, he would have had a better time in the slammer then getting yelled at by kids only a couple years older then he was and ordered around like he was five. He sighed quietly, knowing that his desire to be free and clear of all the things he's done was a strong one and he couldn't just ignore it. He wanted to be done with the Reds. He wanted to get out of the rut he dug for himself and he was really tired of all the cops calling him by his first name like they were his parents, as if that wasn't a sore spot. Seems like everywhere he went, no one wanted to give a damn about him, even Kitrina as she very clearly didn't like him. Who cares if she doesn't like me. No one else does so your reputation isn't soiled. Just get to sleep. He groaned to himself as he made himself comfortable and went to sleep. This is gonna be a long five months.

AN: Well there you have it, hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Your reviews will be appreciated and any criticism will be taken into consideration. Thanks again for your time.