"I've had enough of your tabloid journalism!"
.

"Commander Shepard? Over here..."

Oh crap!

The door to their apartment hissed open and Shepard stormed in, immediately turning on her heels and hammering at the controls to close it again.

"We need to find another apartment!" she declared, still panting from her run up here. "We need to move out. Now!"

Miranda raised her head from the datapad she'd just been reading, a steaming cup of coffee in her other hand. "Why? What's wrong with this one?" And after a quick sideglance at Shepard's pet happily greeting its owner, she added, "Do you know how hard it is to find a landlord that allows a varren in their apartments?"

"It's not the apartment," Shepard started, hurrying into their bedroom. "It's-"

The doorbell rang and Miranda set the datapad and coffee cup down before she approached the door, skillfully evading the varren speeding past her. She'd gotten used to his behavior by now...

"Don't!" Shepard's head appeared in the doorframe.

Miranda turned her head back to her, a questioning eyebrow raised. "What's wrong with you today?" She took another step towards the door.

Shepard vigorously shook her head. "Just don't open that doo-"

Miranda's brows furrowed in irritation. Her hand dropped from the door controls just as it hissed open. She shrugged, Shepard groaned.

"Commander Shepard?"

Miranda turned back to the person standing in front of their door and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "And you are...?"

The man waved her off and started scanning the apartment behind her without another word. Miranda's eyes narrowed and she was about to address the rude intruder a second time (or just push him through the entire corridor with her biotics... After all, that was a very rude behavior! How dare he?), as they both heard a low growl coming from the bedroom. Shepard stepped back into the hallway and approached the door, the man's face immediately lighting up at her sight.

"Commander Shepard, I knew it was you!"

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Conrad, what are you doing here?"

Conrad Verner straightened as he proudly announced, "I live here."

"You what?"

He nodded eagerly. "Yes, me and my wife, that is..." His eyes widened. "Oh, I should introduce you two! Just a second..." He turned and happily added over his shoulder, "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" as he skipped down the hallway.

Shepard gave another sigh as she buried her head in Miranda's neck. "That's the one you shot in the foot, right?" Miranda smiled as the former commander nodded.

"Well, he seems-"

"He's got a shrine of me!"

Miranda's eyebrow rose but before she could open her mouth (not that there would have been a proper answer for a statement like this to begin with...), they heard Conrad's voice in the hallway again and soon after, he was standing in front of their door, dragging an asari along with him. Shepard lifted her head and her jaw immediately dropped as she recognized the person smiling at her.

"Nelyna, meet Commander Shepard," Conrad introduced them proudly. And conspiratorially, he added, "We met at a Commander Shepard fan convention..."

Miranda snorted. So Oriana hadn't been joking when she'd told her about the event she and Danner had come across during one of their holiday trips... Thank god she didn't buy the 'Commander Shepard bobblehead' she told me about...

The asari offered her hand. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Commander." She smiled.

Shepard shook the still smiling asari's hand and recoiled immediately, turning away as a sudden heat rushed through her entire body. "Fingertips..." she whispered to herself while she shook her hands as if she'd burned them.

Miranda touched Shepard's arm lightly, a concerned look on her face. "Shepard, are you all right?"

The former commander straightened up immediately and took a deep breath, nodding.

Nelyna's chuckle made Miranda turn back to their visitors. The asari nodded. "So you do remember me, Commander... It's been quite some time..." Turning to Miranda, she added. "You should know, I used to work at the Consortium on the Citadel... That's where I met Commander Shepard many years ago."

Miranda's eyes narrowed. "You worked for the Consort?" she asked in disbelief and Nelyna nodded, still smiling as she locked eyes with Shepard once more. The former commander seemed to have regained her composure suspiciously fast and returned the smile.

Conrad cleared his throat and turned to his wife. "You never told me that you know the Commander."

Nelyna turned to him. "I didn't? I thought I'd mentioned it sometime..." She shrugged. "Oh well, maybe I was just so fascinated by your stories about her that I simply... forgot..." Smiling, she linked arms with him, the simple motion seeming to soothe the man immediately. Conrad visibly relaxed and nodded, obviously satisfied with her answer, while Miranda's eyes narrowed some more...

"Well, I certainly never thought I'd live next to the famous Commander Shepard," Nelyna smiled, looking down the hallway to their own apartment. "You know, since I've stopped working for the Consort, I found I have a lot of free time now... It would be a shame to let my talents go to waste and I believe we still have some... unfinished business..." She winked at her.

Shepard's smile widened and, oblivious to Miranda's suspicious gaze, her eyes started gleaming as she nodded. "We certainly do..." She gave a short laugh, which immediately died in her throat as she noticed Miranda's expression next to her. Rubbing the nape of her neck, Shepard cleared her throat and hastily faced Conrad. "What happened to Jenna, by the way?" she tried to change the subject.

"Who?"

Shepard cocked her head to the side. "Jenna, the girl who saved your life in the Citadel Holding Area..." she offered, her eyes narrowing incredulously.

"Oh, Jenna... yeah..." Conrad waved his hand dismissively. "It didn't work out..." And before Miranda could open her mouth to question this strange man's ability to bond, or offer the advice that a Commander Shepard shrine might be a bit too much for a girlfriend to handle, he spread his arms and exclaimed, "But hey, since we all know each other now, why don't you come over? We can have some drinks and talk about good old times..."

Having drinks with Conrad Verner? Shepard involuntarily shuddered and shot him an apologetic smile. "Oooh, I'd love to, I really would, but see... There is this thing... we... need to do..." Shepard turned to Miranda for help, who, after noticing the pleading look, immediately started nodding.

"Right, that thing..." She activated her omni-tool. "My, is that the hour? We should really get going." Turning back to Shepard, she added, "We're already late..."

Shepard's eyes lit up. I love this woman! She grabbed Miranda's arm and they both stepped out of their apartment and shoved past Conrad and his wife.

"Well, it's been great seeing you again, Conrad, Nelyna, but... maybe another time?" Shepard added over her shoulder as they hurriedly approached the elevator.

"Sure thing!" Conrad nodded eagerly as he waved his hand. "This is gonna be so awesome. We're going to be neighbors!"

"Yay, can't wait!" Shepard muttered under her breath while they waited for the elevator doors to open.

Miranda smiled and waved to the two people still standing in front of their closed apartment door before she followed Shepard into the elevator. Having one of the Consort's former employees as a neighbor? She shuddered involuntarily at all the possible scenarios shooting through her head at the thought."We are definitely moving out!" she declared as soon as the doors closed behind her.

"It's supposed to be in this building. He said we could interview him in his apartment. According to him, he knows everything there is to know about- Commander Shepard? Over here..."

Oh come on, really?

Khalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani waved at the couple just exiting the apartment building.

Shepard sighed, but immediately paused as she felt an almost forgotten instinct rise within her... She turned to Miranda, a pleading look on her face. "Can I hit her?"

"Don't you dare!"

Shepard took a step towards the reporter regardless, but Miranda grabbed her arm and held her back. "Shepard, the Alliance won't help you out this time if you hit her. Why do you think, you never had to deal with any charges for hitting her during every single interview before?"

Shepard paused. "Huh, you're right..." She shrugged. "Oh well, would have been fun, though..." Having suddenly lost her interest in the reporter still standing in front of them, she offered Miranda her arm. "Coffee?"

"You bet!" As long as it gets us away from all these people...

They started walking and were about to pass the still waving reporter when Khalisah suddenly raised her finger.

"Just a second..." she murmured as she feverishly started tapping commands into her omni-tool. Shepard and Miranda exchanged a quick look and both shrugged. It seemed the reporter had something she wanted to show them...

"There we go," Khalisah finally announced a couple of seconds later and she was immediately wrapped in a complete body armor, its shields shimmering alternately in blue and orange.

Look who couldn't decide how to improve her armor... Heh, did she use both Fortification and Barrier? Shepard crossed her arms in front of her chest, an amused smile on her face.

"Not this time!" Khalisah announced, a superior smile on her face.

Right... "Let's go." Shepard pulled Miranda with her and together they passed the reporter, who'd meanwhile pulled out her datapad and was shouting after them.

"Commander Shepard, could you tell-"

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Ms. Al-Jilani," Shepard shouted over her shoulder, never slowing down her pace as she walked away.

"But surely there's something you could tell our audience about your former crew. Are you still in contact with any of them?"

"Nope."

"And what about the people who claim to have seen Mr. Vakarian around here a few months ago? I am sure it was him... Was he visiting you?"

"Nope."

"And what about-"

Shepard had enough. She stopped and spun back around, satisfied that Khalisah had finally stopped with her questions, obviously expecting some kind of answer. The former commander narrowed her eyes for effect and then gasped in feigned shock.

"Did your barrier just flicker?"

"What? Where?" Khalisah's eyes widened and she feverishly started searching her armor for any signs of damage. "It's supposed to be perfectly safe!" she exclaimed.

Feeling Shepard tug at her arm, Miranda gave an annoyed sigh and turned around. The former commander winked at her and Miranda rolled her eyes. The faster we get this over with... She sighed again and then turned to the still squirming reporter.

"Why yes, there it was again!" she exclaimed, pointing at Khalisah's armor. "I heard the explosion from a malfunctioning barrier can kill you..." she mused, making sure to speak loud enough for the shocked reporter to hear her.

Faced with this new, possible danger, Khalisah immediately started hacking commands into her omni-tool and the shields died down, leaving the reporter panting heavily.

"I guess we'll do the interview some other time, then..." Snickering, Shepard turned back around and pulled Miranda away from the reporter who was still checking her omni-tool, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"We're such a good team..."

"Can we please get our coffee now? I had to leave mine in the apartment..."

"Hey, watch the head!"

Both Shepard and Miranda (each stomach filled with fresh coffee and a muffin) stopped dead in their tracks. There, in front of them, was Conrad, nervously mincing around two turians carrying a life-size statue of...

Shepard blinked. A life-size statue of herself! One of the turians grunted while the other mumbled something unintelligible as they slowly made their way into the entrance of the apartment building.

Shepard and Miranda looked at each other, both opening their mouths at the same time.

"We definitely need to find another place!"

A/N: I'm not exactly happy with this chapter, I might rewrite it some other time, but right now, I just want to get it over with and end this part of the story..
Which leads me to the promised explanation... This is just the end of the first, let's call it "story arc". I thought it's kind of fitting to end it with them being forced to move out of their first apartment.
I'll upload the first two chapters for the next story arc right after this once, so make sure to check for the new story (I have to see how many letter-spaces I've got for the title, so I can't tell it just yet, sorry... :) ), but as always: thanks for all your reviews and feel free to tell me if there's anything you'd like to read or any characters I've missed to mention/include in this first story arc. Thank you :)