Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. It belongs to Bioware.

Summary: When Shepard stumbles onto a planetary anomaly, old wounds are re-opened and the commander is forced to ask the age-old question "what if…?"

Rating: T for Jack's potty mouth and mild violence. Eventual M for hot xenophile lovin'.

Anomaly Detected

Started 6-11-10

Written by LadyWillow

Boredom was not something that Commander Jane Shepard handled very well. And after the assault on the Collector base, it was a pretty regular feeling.

Usually boredom meant one of two things. Someone was likely to get beat up, or there was about to be some serious, environmentally devastating planetary strip mining going down.

Right now, it was the strip mining.

"Probe away." Sounded in the otherwise empty room, and Shepard leaned back in her desk chair with a yawn and stretch.

"Probe launched."

She rolled her head on her shoulders and hit the button again.

"You have been scanning and probing these planets systematically for the past six hours, commander." Came EDI's reproachful chime, and Shepard responded by rapidly pressing the "probe" button over and over while sticking out her tongue.

Childish? Maybe, but it felt good.

"Is anyone bleeding or suffering from broken bones?"

"No, commander."

"Then trust me, this is what I need to be doing right now. Unless, of course, you and Joker want to take bets on how many punches it takes before Miranda goes down?"

Ah yes, XO abuse… another great way to pass a boring afternoon. Evening? Night? It was impossible to tell, which wasn't helping her mood in the slightest. Maybe it was time for some shore leave?

"No thank you, commander." Came EDI's clipped tones, and Shepard gave a wry smile and another purposeful press of the "probe" key.

A pause.

"Anomaly detected." Was it possible for an AI to sound surprised?

"Hnnng?" Shepard grunted, blinking rapidly and struggling to sit up straight to look at the screen.

"I'm picking up a weak distress signal; it appears to be Alliance in origin. Playing encrypted message…"

"Lost power to the –crackle- emergency landing –buzz- attack –beep- so many out there – whoosh-…"

The radio faded into a static-y silence, and Shepard frowned, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Why can't these things ever come in clear?" she grumbled, and punched the button for the ship's intercom system.

"Attention Normandy crew. We've detected a planetary anomaly. Miranda, Garrus, Jack and Grunt, report to the briefing room immediately."

Then she turned off the scanner, ending the fuzzy background noise abruptly, and left her quarters.

Well, at least she wasn't bored any more.