The original fic was so popular I decided to add some more! Here you go, readers! Here's how Young!Shep 'n Garrus hooked up including the fight with Aria T'Loak that started it all and total BFFs Shep and Joker! Whee!

ONE YEAR EARLIER...

"Ha! Read it and weep, Shepard!"

"Damnit! Now I'm sure you're cheating! You're hiding cards in that blasted chair, aren't you?" Shepard rounded Joker's grav-chair and made to check the storage compartments.

"Hey, dig all you like. I'm just that good," Joker smirked, glancing back at her as he lifted his hand in mock modesty. "Now hand over that burger."

Shepard groaned and flopped into the chair across from the pilot-in-training, scooting the package across the table. Her parents had sent her a care package complete with her favorite fast-food found only on Earth. Once Joker had caught wind that there was authentic Earth-food in the Academy aside from the multi-race-compliant mess they usually ended up eating, he set a plan in motion. One game of poker was all he needed and that burger would be his.

Shepard was always up for a challenge, sometimes too often for her own good. Joker knew she wouldn't have been able to resist.

"Guess it's god-knows-what casserole for me tonight," she mourned. "Then again, maybe I have some gum stashed away somewhere."

"Mmmnnsooogooood," Joker muffled around the burger and Shepard threw the box wrapper at him. It promptly bounced off his cap. "Fhey... Watch the merchandise."

"You really should get a new one anyway. That one's getting awful ratty," she said, leaning an elbow on the table.

"Hey, this baby is gonna get me through flight school. Don't knock it."

"Yes, because piloting has nothing to do with skill."

"Never said anything like that. My mad skills are what's getting me to the top of the class. The hat just keeps the spitballs off my head." Shepard tilted her head and regarded him a little sympathetically. Unfortunately for Jeff, his fellow students were not the kindest. Because of the disease that made his bones brittle, they expected no competition from him in the slightest. Shepard knew better. He was determined as hell not to let his condition get the better of him. They had become fast friends when they first met, she admiring his drive and he appreciating the fact she treated him as an equal. That and they both respected the fact the other preferred to be called something other than their first name. Shepard hated how girly her name sounded, so she stuck to her surname. Joker enjoyed his nickname because it reflected his wicked humor, and was the name of a badass Batman villain. "Don't give me that look."

"Sorry," Shepard apologized. She knew he didn't like it when people looked like they were sorry for him. Sometimes the expression just slipped in and she always felt a little guilty for it. He always forgave her though. Quickly, she changed the subject. "So what happened with that Asari you asked out recently? Sha'ira I think?"

"Ahhh. She just gave me some bull story about why not. Somethin' about our galaxies weren't in alignment or something. I tell ya, Shepard...it sucks getting blown off but at least the humans do it without the crazy...most the time." Shepard chuckled lightly. "So why haven't you gone and seduced some lucky guy yet?" he asked, savoring the remnants of the burger juice on his fingers. "I tell ya that Alenko guy from the Biotic-Ball team has been eying you up and down."

"Kaiden? Please...," Shepard said with a shake of her head. "I don't know why, but biotics just seem to turn guys into assholes. He's another jock that thinks he's better than everyone else, trust me. Besides, I'm not here to date. I'm here to get my own ship and rule the galaxy someday." She waved a fist with dramatic ruthlessness.

"Hey, cool. Maybe I can be your pilot!" he grinned genuinely, shifting in his chair.

"We'll be the bane of the universe!" Shepard said and they both let out a playful, maniacal chorus of laughter which garnered some odd looks from the others in the cafeteria. Joker snickered.

"They'll be wondering what the hell that was about for weeks," Shepard said, pressing her face into her hand to stifle a giggle.

"Well, it's just my opinion and everything..."

"Oh no..."

"No! Hear me out. Maybe you should try dating outside your species. You could totally hook up with a hot Asari, though I demand vids of the makeout sessions."

"Joker!"

"It's your duty as a friend!" he said, giving her puppy dog eyes. Shepard shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Fine. What about that Turian over there? He seems to have found something interesting about the back of your head."

Shepard glanced over her shoulder a few tables down to see that Joker was right. The Turian, when he realized he'd been caught staring, ducked his head and became fixated on his lunch. Joker couldn't stop himself from grinning ear to ear as Shepard looked back at him.

"I think I've seen him before."

"Convenient! I dare you to go ask him out. I bet he'll piss his pants."

"What's that mean?" Shepard gave him a crooked look. Joker shrugged.

"You're not exactly the most feminine girl I know. Half the people you talk to look like they're going to wet themselves. Happens when you manage to take down half the class in hand-to-hand training." Shepard felt her cheeks heat up. Why should that have been a problem? It wasn't her fault they were all terrible at it and couldn't do a proper duck and weave!

"I can be feminine. Hell, more feminine than an Asari, I bet!" Jeff raised his brows at her and blinked. "Okay, maybe not THAT feminine, but still!" He grinned now.

"My bet still stands."

"And what do I get for it if I win?"

"My respect?" Shepard grimaced. "Just do it for your own sake, really, Shepard. You need to get out more."

She sighed and nodded.

"Fine. How do I look?" She brushed the hair out of her eyes, though it fell right back in them, and straightened her uniform.

"More cleavage." Shepard glanced down at her already unzipped uniform jacket. Awkwardly she unzipped it a little further and tugged at her tank top to try to reveal more skin. Seeing as how she wasn't the most well endowed girl in the world, she shrugged and looked at Joker hopelessly. He was leaning on the table now, rubbing his chin with a hand and regarding her like an academy exam.

"Good, but turn around and let me see your butt. You know, just to make sure it's perky enough." Shepard narrowed her eyes at him disapprovingly.

"Bah. Forget you. I'll do this my way." She zipped her jacket back up to where it had started and turned to go. Joker lifted his hands.

"Just trying to be helpful!"

Garrus shuffled the mush around in the bowl before him, not believing that he'd actually let himself get caught looking at Shepard. Maybe she hadn't noticed. Maybe she had been looking past him at something else. He glanced up cautiously and immediately ducked his head again when he saw her approaching. Crap! What should he do? He felt himself starting to panic and part of him considered fleeing for the nearest exit, though he didn't particularly feel like explaining his erratic behavior to his current company later.

Chellick and Nihilus were currently involved in some sort of debate about whether or not Citadel Spectres should have been granted as much freedom as they did. Apparently, Nihilus had plans to enter Spectre training as soon as he'd completed his stint at the Academy. Garrus had considered the same thing only briefly until he'd gotten a mawful from his father concerning his distaste for the idea. At least Septimus was a little more docile, but that was because he was having woman trouble with some Asari who had rebuffed his courting request. Garrus almost wanted to rub it in his face if he wasn't so distraught. Not two days ago this Turian trio had laughed at his interest in a human.

It wasn't like he'd outwardly admitted an attraction to her, he'd just expressed his admiration for her ability to fight. As he might have expected, this garnered a few disapproving looks. He knew they would never admit Shepard was good at anything. They didn't admit such a thing about anyone beyond their own species most of the time unless they got involved in a one-on-one brawl. Garrus' openness just made him stick out worse among his acquaintances. He suspected he just wasn't a very good Turian in the first place.

But that was beside the point. The point was he had been staring.

You didn't just STARE at Shepard! How long did he think he was going to get away with it before she noticed? And now he was trapped with no way out.

But wait, now. She had just bumped into...no. Well, she certainly wasn't coming his way now, not with the bad-news Asari in her way. Garrus wondered if Shepard had shouldered into Aria on purpose, but no one would have been that stupid. The girl basically ran the school and was the highest student authority on her own terms. Some people suspected she had some sort of 'in' with the administration that made them overlook some of the things she did. For the most part, she and her goons kept a low profile, but every now and then there was an example to be made and it seemed that today it was Shepard. He suddenly became very aware that the entire cafeteria had grown deathly silent.

If the two females were talking, no one could hear it. Garrus could vaguely make out their mouths moving, but just barely. A Batarian and a Turian Garrus had never seen were flanking them, the tension so thick he could have cut it with a talon.

And then out of nowhere Shepard was flying across the room via a hefty biotic blast. The girl crashed into a table, scattering trays, chairs and students. Aria seemed to have made her point and moved to leave, only Shepard didn't deem this confrontation done. She was on her feet in seconds and tossed a ball of energy that slammed the Asari in the face and knocked her to the floor. Hushed gasps filled the air and students huddled together as Aria moved to her feet, waving off her henchmen. Garrus didn't like the look in her eyes – they meant to kill.

It was just Shepard's luck that the one day she wasn't paying attention to where she was going that Aria would show up in her path. She had nothing against the Asari, and as far as she knew Aria had no feud with her. But Aria didn't need a reason – you just didn't get within five feet of her unless you wanted your day to go horribly wrong. Shepard couldn't say she was surprised when she found herself on the other end of the room with synthesized mashed potatoes in her hair and some green jello-like fluid soaking through her pants, but it didn't mean she planned to leave the assault unanswered.

She knew it was crazy, but most people already thought she was so tossing the biotic rush at Aria's head came at no second thought. When the Asari was on her feet again and made it a point to keep her goons at bay, Shepard knew they'd started a duel and the cafeteria was their arena. Anything that wasn't hinged to the floor went flying, with students screaming and evacuating the room to avoid getting caught in the brawl. Only a few stayed behind to watch – it was the best live entertainment they could get.

Garrus and the other Turians had been some of the few to stay. His troupe was currently taking bets on who would win, but when they nudged him to get in on it he was far too focused to answer. He was watching Shepard, closely, determining her actions by how she moved. He tried to predict everything she was doing and for a moment he wished he was in Aria's place, taking her on hand to hand so he could feel her power as much as see it. It wasn't the biotics at all, but just how her body moved. She was still learning but it was obvious there was skill there – it just needed to be molded to the perfection it had potential to be. Amateur or not, she was strong and she exuded that strength with every inch of her being, passionate and driven.

Garrus watched her left foot slide back a few inches as she and Aria stood locked blasting their biotic fields against one another. He felt his tongue go dry.

"Shepard...you aren't...," he murmured aloud to himself. Then, just as he had suspected, the beautifully reckless little human let her legs fold, ducking down and directing her biotics forward and up to drive Aria's away just far enough... just enough...

And then her fist connected with Aria's jaw. The biotic fields dissipated and Shepard stood a little too close a little too long. Aria recovered quickly, and though Garrus silently willed Shepard to move away from the danger zone, she was clocked with a devastating force that made her stumble, her lip splitting and nose dripping blood. And still, she came. When Aria approached her to deal another blow, Shepard's hands glowing faintly with a defensive shimmer of blue, they were forced apart. The two found themselves hoisted into the air and turned their eyes to where everyone else was looking.

Samara, the Academy's Detention Head, held the troublemakers firmly in a biotic prison.

"That's quite enough," she said in the calm cool that everyone knew didn't necessarily mean good things. "You've caused a big enough ruckus for today. I think it's time you two came to my office." With that, she dropped the girls carelessly to the floor. They grunted, but slowly pulled themselves to their feet again and followed the Asari. They didn't dare do otherwise, because while fighting each other may have been dangerous, challenging Samara was worse. Garrus watched the girls go, not believing what he had just witnessed. Though Shepard's face visibly purpled with the beaten she'd taken, if you really looked (it was not as obvious on Asari) you could see that Aria's eye had begun to swell and her jaw was turning a stained plum color.

"You know, that wasn't quite what I asked for, but it was pretty damn hot all the same."

"Glad my pain is so amusing to you," Shepard scowled at Joker as she sat on a bed in the infirmary with an ice pack to her face.

"Ehh, you'll be healed in no time and then you have the honor of saying you survived a fight with Aria T'Loak."

"And what does that say about me?" she huffed, obviously distraught about the whole thing. She hadn't meant to get in that fight. She just fought back when she was attacked. But really, who was she kidding? The second Aria was in her face she willed it. She willed the girl to attack her. God, what was wrong with her that she couldn't just back down? Her stomach clenched and she buried her face in the ice pack to hide her tears.

Joker noticed her small sobs anyway and reached up to place a hand on her knee.

"Hey...," he said lightly. "None of that. What does it say about you? It says you're a badass! What's so bad about that?"

Shepard dropped her hands with the pack into her lap. Her cheeks and eyes were pink with the tears and pressure from the pack.

"You said so yourself! I'm not feminine at all!"

"I thought you didn't LIKE to be feminine, Shep. Hell, you won't even let anyone call you by your first name."

"That's... That's not the point!" She reached up and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "Like you said, I'm crazy. There's a reason I have no friends, you know." Joker rested his chin on the hand at her knee and looked up at her soulfully.

"You have me," he said with a small pout, batting his eyes. Shepard snorted through her tears and choked on a small giggle, grabbing the bill of his hat and pulling it down. He pulled back and readjusted the hat. "You know you can't take me serious, Shepard. I mean, come on, 'Joker'? You don't need to hang yourself off some guy, or girl's, wink wink, arm. I think you're awesome and you don't need anyone else to tell you who you are. I mean, I wrote that book, right?"

Shepard nodded a little bit and sniffled, but the tears had stopped. Joker turned his chair around to head for the door.

"I gotta get to class, but try to cheer up. We're going to take over the galaxy, remember?" He held up a 'fist-bump' fist and Shepard returned the gesture with a nod. She watched him go and wiped her face a few more times with her sleeve. He was right. She didn't need to worry about it. She was going to be who she damn well wanted to be and woe to the people who got in her way! And, eventually, her perfect guy would show up, ready to take on the universe with her. They would be two peas in a pod, kicking ass and taking names! Yeah! Resolute, she headed over to check-out with Dr. Chakwas before leaving.

She paused as she exited the door and something caught her eye so she glanced to the right.

"Uh. Hi." She couldn't believe it. Wasn't this the Turian from the cafeteria? The one that Joker had teased her to ask out? Kind of late now, she thought sourly. No doubt she looked awful. The swelling had gone down but she was sporting a not-too-attractive purple eye and scratches on one of her cheeks.

"Hello," she offered anyway. "Garrus, isn't it?" Considering how he perked up she praised herself for having remembered his name. It was a feat in itself, alien names could get tricky with all sorts of vowels and hyphens and accents. At least his wasn't so complicated, and she'd heard it at least once before so she knew how to pronounce it.

"Yeah." There was a pause and Shepard stuffed her hands in her pockets waiting patiently to see what he wanted. Just as she was about to excuse herself he found his voice again. "You're amazing." Shepard cocked a brow and felt herself grow red. Where did that come from?

Garrus cursed himself but managed to stop himself from smacking himself in the head. That sounded great!

"I mean. You fight well," he clarified.

"Oh. Thanks." Crap! Was that the wrong thing to say? She didn't sound pleased. If anything she sounded a little disappointed. He looked at her a moment, at the bruises and scratches and his heart swelled a little inside. She sported her war wounds very well. "I'm sorry, but was there something you needed, Garrus? I should probably get to class."

"I...," he choked. "Shepard I was wondering something."

"What?" she asked. This was probably the most awkward Turian she had ever met. Maybe he had a speech impediment? Did Turians get those? Maybe her translator was malfunctioning.

"I know you're probably pretty popular with your own species... I mean.. probably pretty popular with everyone."

Shepard laughed out loud at this, but quieted herself when it seemed to startle him. Her fingertips poised at her lips, she bit her tongue a little.

"Erm... Sorry, go ahead."

Garrus blinked a couple times, perplexed. Had he made a joke? He hadn't thought so. Oh, well. She was smiling and that was a good thing, right? Humans laughed and smiled when they were happy.

"Just... It would honor me greatly if you would consider.. oh, what do you call it..? A...date with me?" Shepard's smile had vanished from her face and now she was staring at him with wide eyes. Garrus panicked a little inside. Maybe 'date' wasn't the right word! Maybe he'd just asked her to do something profane with him. Gods! He should have researched the terms better! Just turn around and go-home, Garrus, his brain screamed.

But she was smiling again all of a sudden. Her expression was softer; maybe he wasn't in danger of humiliation after all.

"I didn't know Turians dated," she said after a moment.

"Well... We don't. Usually we have a very involved ritual of courtship. I thought that might be a bit presumptuous of me to ask of a human."

"You want to court me, though?" she prodded, smiling a bit broader now. She rocked on her heels a little and he tried to judge what this body language meant.

"I..."

"Garrus, let me ask you something important."

"Okay." His head tilted to the side, much like an inquisitive bird.

"How do you feel about venturing the wide open spaces of the galaxy one day? Righting wrongs, sometimes wronging rights that are actually wrong?" The Turian blinked at her blankly. Shepard chuckled and simplified the question. "Do you want to soar the stars with me some day?" His confusion melted into an expression that Shepard could only find akin to winsome.

"I'd love that."

"Then, yes. You can court me."

"I... Court or date?" Shepard grinned a little and beckoned him to walk with her down the hall. He caught up to her and moved alongside her.

"How do you feel about being my second in command?"

Garrus wasn't sure what to say. Had she just accepted his request for a date or were they officially courting? Or had he somehow just been recruited on a ship somewhere? He wasn't entirely sure but he also wasn't sure he cared at this point. She was asking him to tell her about himself and so his attentions were easily distracted. He answered everything she asked, and thrilled when his answers garnered more smiles from her. He couldn't contain his own grin when she said she thought she was going to enjoy courting him.

It was just Shepard's luck, running into Garrus outside of the infirmary, just when she needed him. Joker had lifted her hopes and then here was the Turian, ready to help them soar into the stars. He wanted to date (court!) her! And he was adorable! Shepard had never really considered dating a Turian, but she had always thought they looked fascinating, if not a little ego-driven. Garrus didn't seem as bad as all that; in fact he seemed just her type. She mused a little about right places, right times, and some about things in the last place you thought to look. As he chattered on, happily answering her questions, she noticed how his mandibles flared when he got excited, or how his nose crinkled up when he was thinking.

Her aches and pains dulled with his company, and she looked forward to seeing what it was like to be properly courted by a Turian. Generally, humans never dated Turians – but she had also punched Aria T'Loak that day. There was a first time for everything.