The shuttle was eerily silent as it approached the Normandy - Tali, normally one to be chatting amicably to anyone who would listen post-mission, was stock-still in the corner, as if afraid that one move by her would set the Commander off in a tirade of curses and fists. Garrus' feet were bouncing awkwardly as he sat, gloved talons tapping anxiously against his knee. He knew. Of course he knew, he'd have to be a fucking idiot not to.

Shepard was fuming.

She learned early on in life that, if you did the right thing, treated your crew well, made a good example of yourself, people would listen to you. Respect you. Follow orders without question, not because they agreed, but because you fucking said so and your word was law. On her first day as Commander of the Normandy she had introduced herself to the lower-ranked officers as God, and although the name hadn't stuck thanks to Anderson's meddling, the idea behind it and the respect it demanded most certainly had.

Commander Shepard was God come to Earth to guide all their sorry asses to salvation, and they damn well had better respect that.

So when Vakarian deliberately went against her orders, shooting the Salarian bastard (who deserved what he got, she could admit that much) right after she had told him not to? Yeah, it was safe to say that she wasn't impressed.

The tension carried over into the airlock as they boarded the ship once more - side by side but deliberately not touching, the small gap between her shoulder and his forearm feeling like a chasm. Tali's silence had shifted into anxious chattering, as if family story time was going to nurse Shepard's pride back to full health. Yeah, not fucking likely. What had she done to the last soldier that had gone against an order? Killed him? Nah, that wasn't really her style...

Oh.

Of course.

She remembered now, clear as day, as if it had just happened. Human colony under attacks by mercs - you ordered your soldiers not to shoot if a civilian was even slightly in the way and he did anyways, insubordinate bastard. Nobody died but you screamed at him until your throat was coarse, fucked him, and then kicked him right off your ship. Stupid kid had probably never got a job with the Alliance again.

Now that had been problem solving.

It hadn't been her intention, of course. Shepard was actually rather good at following regs when she put her mind to it, the fraternization one a little harder but no exception. But every soldier got a bit of blood lust after a battle, and all the yelling and close contact hadn't helped, either. And it had definitely got her point across, she knew that much at least.

But it was a step she wouldn't be able to take with Garrus. He wasn't some low-ranking soldier that she could just toss off the ship - he was an integral part of their team, and one of her closest friends. Not to mention that he was a Turian, and she didn't even want to think about how that would work...

Did she?

Clearing her throat as the airlock doors opened, she waited a moment for Tali to step out before turning to the turian in question, eyebrow cocked as she stared him down. "Cargo hold. Now."

She could figure out to do with him when they got there.

. .
. .

Her eyes didn't leave his as they faced each other, focused solely on his face. She wanted to see his fear, see him understand what it meant when you screwed with your commanding officer. Turians thought humans were weak, she knew that. Soft skin, round bodies - they probably looked like pudding to them, like dough that could easily be molded or destroyed. But Shepard knew better, and she thought Garrus had too.

No matter. He would soon enough, she supposed.

"What the hell were you thinking out there Vakarian? I gave you an order - don't. Shoot." Her voice cut through the silence like a knife; deep, a more serious tone than she had ever taken with him before.

"It was the wrong call, Shepard. The bastard would have shot you as soon as you turned your back. I saved your life."

Smug son of a varren. He actually sounded pleased with himself, like going against direct order from a superior was something that one should be proud of. Armor clacking, she took a step towards him, suddenly cursing his alien body for being so damn tall. She shouldn't have to look up at him when she was giving orders.

"A word of advice, Officer? As long as you're on my ship? You don't get an opinion. I say jump, you say how high. I say don't shoot? You don't dare fucking shoot your gun." Another step towards him, eyes narrowing, yanking her hair of of the slick-tight bun and falling into her face as she glared at him.

"Hit me, Vakarian."

The silence from the shuttle was back, this one less angry and more shocked. Shepard waited patiently for him to make a move, eyes searching his plate-covered face for any flicker of emotion, any signs that he would follow through on her order.

"Shepard, I can't -"

"That was an order, Officer. No excuses."

"You're not wearing a helmet - I could kill you!" Garrus flexed his talons as if to emphasize his point, the skin on them rough and scaly. She considered his point for a moment before coming to the conclusion that he definitely had one; humans weren't as soft as turians thought they were, but turians were as hard as she thought, and a lot more muscular.

Fine then, plan B.

"Point taken," she allowed, crossing her arms over her chest and sinking into her hip slightly, giving him a once-over. Shepard wasn't sure what she was going to do until her mind flashed back two years, to a human colony and an insubordinate prick and an order a human male would jump on the chance to follow through on - but a Turian? Time to find out how good of an officer he really is.

God, she had to be psychotic. But you never knew unless you tried, right?

"You want to stay on this ship, Vakarian, you're going to have to prove you know how to follow orders. No exceptions." He nodded slowly at her words, seemingly unsure of where she was planning on going but following anyways. Poor kid had no idea what was coming. "Kiss me, Officer."

Wait, what?

That hadn't been what she was planning on saying, not even close. She had wanted something far more badass, something more along the lines of "fuck me, you useless Turian bastard." Her request was considerably more tame, and it took a large amount of effort for her not to blush under his scrutiny. Well, what was done was done, right? It had been a long time since she had had a proper kiss, and she missed the contact...but Shepard just didn't know how it was going to work. It wasn't exactly like he had lips, and she certainly didn't have a lot of expertise when it came to cross-species making out.

But she had to make it work. No Commanding Officer could have a member of her crew who couldn't follow orders, certainly not if she was planning on taking on an army of angry machines.

"Is that...is that an order, Commander?" He asked after a brief pause, staring at her as if searching for some kind of permission. She couldn't say he looked pleased, more like uncomfortable, but at the very least Garrus was looking determined - that would have to be a start.

"You bet your ass it was, Officer. Follow it or get the hell off my ship."

Ah. There was God-Shep, back in business.

She didn't have much time to contemplate her victory, however, until his lips (if you could call them those, really they hardly counted) were pressed against hers, hard and not as pliable as a human's but still insistent, and a long, flat tongue was sliding against her bottom lip and he was pressing her against the wall and damn if he didn't know how to follow orders after all.

Behind the forcefulness of the kiss she felt hesitation, however, and it was clear to her that she wasn't the only one inexperienced in cross-species relations (relations? she sounded like a bloody scientist). It was actually a slight reassurance, but she wasn't exactly stressing either - something about his sleek tongue and rough skin was getting her far more turned on than she had counted on, and even if Turians weren't technically capable of kissing, he was sure doing a damn good job trying.

And then he was pulling back far too soon, a gasp escaping her throat from loss of contact.

"Orders, Commander?" he asked, husky voice deeper than usually, and she couldn't help the smirk that slid onto her face. Smug bastard.

"Fuck me, Officer."

Yeah, that was what she had been going for the first time.

It didn't take much convincing on her part - Shepard was pleased to see that Garrus was enjoying this as much as she, undoing the clasps of her armor in seconds while she worked on his, sharp talons tearing through her undersuit like it was nothing. She wasn't sure if he was just playing the part or if he was genuinely enjoying himself, but from the hungry look in his eyes she was willing to bet on the latter.

"I've always wondered what you humans looked like underneath," he muttered, mostly to himself as long fingers grazed over newly-exposed skin. "So soft. Smooth. Surprisingly attractive, actually." His stroking hands gave testimony to his words as they traveled further down, hesitating above her underwear for a second before tearing it off, the cold air causing her to shiver.

"Last chance to take back your order, Shepard." But she could feel him pressing against her, and she was far past the point of changing her mind now.

"Do it, Vakarian."

And then he was inside her, filling her completely, and damn if she didn't think that he had ruined humans for her forever. Yet another thing she could punish him for.

They moved together fluidly, bodies following each others movements completely in sync. His hard flesh rubbed against her skin slightly and she couldn't help but wonder about the whole "allergic reaction" thing she hard heard all about, and then - oh, she stopped in her tracks, because his curious hands had exposed downwards and found her sensitive spot, and all thought went out the window.

"Is this what you wanted?" he growled in her ear, still working his hand as he pressed inside of her. "Was this...what you ordered...Commander?"

She could have smacked him there for the disobedience in his tone, but his actions were doing exactly as she had asked and more, and all she could do was allow a breathy moan to slip out, eyes glued to his face even as she threw her head back.

Her release came far too quickly, but strong enough to make up for it - it overwhelmed her senses entirely, blackness wiping his face from her view, the only thing she was able to focus on being the intense pleasure taking over her entire body. It was so much that he hardly noticed him follow immediately after her, face nuzzling into the crook of her neck as his tongue grazed her flesh lazily, sending a trail of coolness down her throat.

They stood slumped there for a moment, bodies tangled up in each other, hands dragging over each others bodies slowly to appease the curiosity they hadn't been able to sate earlier, in too much of a rush. Shepard was the first to regain her voice, muffled against the side of his face as he spoke.

"Guess you're better at following orders than I thought, Vakarian," she murmured, a small smirk slipping onto her face. "Although I think you could still use a bit more practice." Shepard heard his gruff chuckle before she felt his warm breath on her skin, closing her eyes as she leaned her head back against the wall once more.

"Whatever you say, Commander."