Freedom's Progress

"Hey Ashley, look at this." Xander spoke to his partner-in-crime. well, not technically, as he was a Spectre of two-years now, the second Human spectre (so close on the heals of the first one) and Ashley was the Alliance soldier he'd gotten permanently assigned to him as 'Support'. People assumed they were a couple. Oddly, when people saw him with Tali, they thought that about them too. (The Truth is much, much stranger or not, depending on your point of view).

Ashley looked at the evidence they just found.

"Is... Is that Shepard?"

"Yeah." He spoke with a sigh.

"She's... She's alive?"

"Dont tear up on me until after the mission, Ash." Xander spoke softly. "Come on, you can wonder about why she's with people wearing Cerberus symbols later."

-break-

Omega

Xander smiled and hugged his friend. "Aria, been a while."

"Indeed. Last we met, you were intent on becoming a Sniper." She looked at him with amusement. "Now you're a spectre."

"Yeah. I mean, I used a sniper round, and killed Sovereign. Go figure."

"Always modest." She said with an eyeroll. "Now, I take it you're here because of Shepard?"

"Yup. So, what's she up to?"

"Either rescuing Garrus or recruiting Mordin. That new ship of hers is... cerberus though." She passed a datapad. "Everything I've got on the ship, crew, situation..."

"Thanks."

-break-

Unknown

"Hey Faith."

Jack Zero looked up, and all of a sudden she looked different, but the same. her stance was changed. "Xander?"

"So. Cerberus wants to recruit you for a mission, only not into their group."

"Those assholes? P-lease."

"SHepard."

Faith was stock still, and asked, "She Cerberus now?"

"No. They presented a problem that she can fix, that is in galactic interest, not cerberus in particular."

Xander and Jack shared looks, before Jack sighed and nodded, "They don't know that I'm not in prison. Do I really have to go and..."

"Yeah. Hey, I'm the one that secretly broke you out."

-break-

Horizon

Xander smiled at the scent in the wind. "Ah. I love the smell of burnt corpse in the evening."

"Gross." Shepard commented, as she kicked the dead body of a collector - one of many that her friend from the Normandy had killed.

"Yep. So, Ashley's not happy, you know."

"I know."

"Kaidan's pissed off."

"... Whatever gave you that idea." Shepard said flatly. "And you?"

"Oh, you know, usual." He held a serious look, for all of ten seconds, then smiled like a kid, "When do I get to play with your new big shiny guns? I heard you got a THANIX cannon. Can you say, Shweet?"

-break-

Normandy

"Welcome back Commander Harris." EDI spoke. Xander grunted a little, in pain from his second away mission as a member of the SR-2 crew, a stop-over on the way to Illium.

"Are you alright?" She asked in concern.

"I'll be fine, just need a trip to the Medbay. Then my hot bod will be without a scratch in no time."

"God forbid."

"What was that?" Xander asked, knowing the sarcasm of EDI quite well already.

"Get to bed." Edi correctly lamely. Still not good at those jokes.

Xander finished trekking to the medbay, the conversation having taken place throughout Deck 2, so people had heard a bit and gave themselves looks. EDI was... joking?

-break-

Justicar a day at the office. Er... Illium. Hmm.

Samara looked at him with recognition, and turned to Shepard. "You travel with interesting comrades, Shepard."

"Xander, interesting?" Shepard joked.

"Indeed. He still looks the same as when I first met him twenty years ago."

Shepard nodded. Xander frowned at that, actually.

"You know his secret?"

"Yep."

"You do?" Xander had to ask.

"Of course I do. You told me. Right? You did tell me and I didn't just have a dream about you telling me and there was those marshmellows and gramma Willow sent me a message which I was reading when you came in to tell me and all that and then I fainted and when I woke you were gone but that message was still on my system and-"

"Woah." Xander blinked. "Gramma Willow?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

-break-

Reaper Ship

"It wasn't my fault!"

They snorted in disbelief as they ran.

"Come on, how was I supposed to know that one shot would kill it?"

Shepard just managed to give him a five-second long pointed look of reminder as she ran.

"Oh. Right."

-break-

Normandy

"This one hums 'music' in Geth language." Legion said with a wave of a hand to Xander, who blinked.

"I do?"

"What is this song, 'all along the watchtower' about?"

"No idea. I just like it."

"Indeed. It has a curious meaning in each verse..."

-break-

Xander sighed in sadness as they sped away from the geth station.

"Don't worry Xand," Faith- Er, Jack started with a grin, "You'll help me blow up Pragia, right?"

"Yeah." He smiled in happiness.

-break-

"That. Was. Awesome." Jack said as she and Xander stepped out of the shuttle. Shepard just shook her head at them, while Miranda and Jacob looked at them curious - Jack did not like hanging out with anyone, this was fact accepted by the crew. The only exception being she seemed tolerant of Shepard. But, and heres what was screwing with their minds, ever since horizon, she actually left her little hole on occasion, to chat to Spectre Xander Harris. But not as 'Spectre Harris', but as just 'Xand', as Jack was oft to call her. She seemed to find amusement whenver he would tell someone to 'have faith'. Most curious.

-break-

Xander blinked as he idly rubbed at his singed eyebrows.

"What the... were you using mini-nuke rounds again?" Shepard half-shouted as she rubbed at her own injuries.

"No, I just got a head-shot on that mech-"

"Oh dear." Garrus commented. "You do know that that causes their fusion cores to overload?" He made it sound like it was a no-no for close-combat with those heavy mechs. Unfortunately, he seemed not to remember who he was talking to until he saw the look of glee on Xander's face.

-break-

Shepard looked between the cerberus scientist just cold-clocked by Xander, and Xander.

"Angry much?"

"... don't." Xander just gave her a serious look. One that stayed. He turned away and headed down for where they would find the scientists' younger brother.

Shepard looked to Jack, and Jack sighed and said, "Look, you're the only one who knows anything about Xander, aside from me, right? and you know me and him are similar... well Xander... he, uh... kinda tried to have a family, only he lost his wife after she gave birth. and his son... well, lets just say thats part what kept him out of the fight until shanxi." Jack sighed, she hated emotional shit like that, and so pressed onward after Xander, hoping Shepard wouldn't push for info.

-break-

Omega 4 relay destination point

Xander in full suit, checked the straps on himself, and smiled at the view.

Almost literally straddling the guns, he used a holographic control panel to manipulate them and aim.

"fire!" Came the command from Joker.

THOOOOOOOM.

Xander had tears in his eyes, it was so beautiful...

-break-

He looked at the monster, and with a shrug, pulled out the one weapon Shepard never ever wanted him to handle. She'd dropper hers though without realising, and it just looks so shiny.

He charged it to full power, and aware that as soon as it did hit full power it would fire, he got it aimed just...

right... on the eye...

THungngl.

He blinked. It... didn't fire?

He tried again, and this time as it started to charge, there was an ominous humm that actually sounded like it was saying...

"Ominous hummmmmmmm."

THOOOOM!

He thought it couldn't be more beautiful than the thanix cannons but... his eyes teared up.

He turned to Shepard who was shocked.

"Can I have one of my own, please?"

She sighed, and commented, "No more ovalquik for you."