A/N: This is being reposted and somewhat revamped. The first chapter is completely new – because I've decided to take this story much, much further than it's original intention. This is going to be my story, through mass effect I and III, of Joker and Shepard's romance. I really hope you'll all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect.

First Impressions

Vika Shepard. That was her name, although everyone she met tended to just call her Shepard. Every single person in the Alliance knew that name, even though the woman herself was only 29 years old. A whole year older than himself; sure he had his own accomplishments, but Shepard, she was a whole different story. She had survived her colony being invaded by batarian slavers when she was only a teenager. On top of that, she had rallied a whole colony to fight batarian invaders when she was supposed to be on shore leave. Different story all together.

And now she was being stationed to the Normandy, at the Captain's behest. Anderson was a bit of a hard ass but the man was one to be respected. Next to Shepard, David Anderson was another name of the Alliance that was well known. Hell, they were one shy of having a legend trio aboard the Normandy – the only one missing would have been Admiral Hackett. Far as he knew though it was the Admiral, Anderson, and Earth Councilor Udina, who had decided to station Shepard.

That alone made him think that something big was going down.

The fact that a turian spectre was on board didn't help.

He didn't particularly care though. They wouldn't have stationed Shepard if they didn't need her for something and well, whatever it was, probably worth getting to meet the Commander.

"You must be Joker," said a softly feminine voice from behind him.

Joker adjusted his hat and turned enough to see the armored woman standing beside his chair. She grinned and he blinked, taken aback. Well, she certainly wasn't what he'd expected. She was pale, ghostly almost, standing at maybe five feet, seven inches. She was small, though he could see the lean muscles in the way she held herself. Shockingly red hair curled around her face, coming to a curled tip at her chin. Bright blue eyes, framed by red lashes, stared at him and were filled with amusement. Freckles dotted her cheeks and her nose, almost cutely.

This...this was the great Commander Shepard? Besides the few scars on her face and the heavy armor, she looked like any normal girl.

"Is there something on my face?"

"Uh. What?"

"Your staring," she pointed out, trying not to be too amused.

"Oh...oh! I'm sorry, Commander!" He snapped off a salute, almost on reflex. "You aren't exactly..."

"What you expected," she finished for him. She smirked and straightened as she tucked some of that errant red hair behind her ear. "I get that a lot."

"I see you've met our pilot," Anderson said from behind them. Shepard turned and nodded, standing with her hands respectively folded behind her back. "He's the best – like you. And trust me, he'll let you know it."

"Hey now," Joker cut in, almost insulted. Almost.

"Come now Joker, don't be modest," Shepard teased. Joker once again blinked, then eyed the Commander with growing suspicion. "It's okay. I am the best. If you are too, well then, we'll make a great team. Anderson, you wanted to speak with me?"

"Ah, yes. Come with me." Anderson waved her after him and they disappeared through the CIC, though Joker wasn't able to take his eyes off of the Commander until she was gone from his line of vision. Seriously, that couldn't be Commander Shepard.

"Was that her?" Joker adjusted his line of vision in time to see Alenko making his way into the cockpit. He took the seat beside Joker and they both turned back to the controls.

"Yeah, that was Shepard," Joker acknowledged as he adjusted their flight coordinates. "The relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit. The board is green. Approach run has begun." He coaxed the ship toward the relay as two bodies came onto deck. A quick glance alerted him to the turian spectre and Shepard's presence. His baby floated up beside the relay and in an instant, it locked on the ship, prepping them for jump. "Hitting the relay in 3...2...1."

Weightlessness gripped them and, for that split second, it felt like the ground just dropped from beneath their feet. Those who weren't used to relay jumps could very well get sick. It was something you had to get used to. But Shepard and Nihlus were unaffected as they appeared in a different system. He brought up the system analysis statistics, reading them off as he went; "Thrusters...check. Navigation...check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift...just under 1500 K."

"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." Nihlus uncrossed his arms and nodded his approval before he turned and left the cock pit.

"I hate that guy," Joker grumbled.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment...so you hate him?" Alenko rose a brow, giving him that 'stop being so snarky' look.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" Joker shook his head and shrugged. "Besides, spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid," Kaidan replied, saying exactly what Joker had told him to. Smartass. "The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment."

"Yeah, that is the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story." He glanced up at Shepard, wondering what she had to say about all this.

She half-smiled and asked, "you're the type that always expects the worst, aren't you?"

He blinked and then half-smiled back. "Well, bad feelings are an occupational hazard. We don't go anywhere unless there's a good reason. So, what are we doing here?"

"Joker," Anderson's voice filtered through the comm, "status report."

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good," Joker could imagine him crossing his arms and nodding, "find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye-aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way," Joker warned.

"He's already here, Lieutenant." Joker sighed and shook his head. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing."

As the comm link died, he turned toward Shepard. "You get that, Commander?"

"I'm on my way," she acknowledged with a nod.

"Pfft, is it me or does the captain always sound a little pissed off?" Joker mumbled.

"Only when he's talking to you, Joker," Alenko said.

Joker almost flushed red to his ears as he heard Shepard's amused laughter leaving the cock pit. He would find a way to get Alenko back for that one. He made a mental note to do so later. Nothing like good old pranks. He just had to think of the perfect one for his biotic comrade. Was Shepard biotic? He didn't remember reading anything about her being able to use biotics.

"Are we patched in?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Patching in now." Joker adjusted the controls and patched their comm systems into the comm buoy. Almost immediately, an urgent message blipped into his screen and he brought it up. He and Alenko watched it in concerned silence. It was obvious something was wrong. What the hell was that ship in the vid? He shook his head and, after giving Alenko an 'I told you so' glare, he activated the comm. "Captain! We've got a problem!"

Anderson's response was immediate. "What's wrong, Joker?"

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this!" Hell, he needed to see this.

"Bring it up on screen," he instructed.

Joker did so, patching into the briefing room projection screen to show the emergency transmission. He waited, watched the vid as it played through. When it cut to static, he said, "everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing."

"Reverse and hold at 38.5."

They all were left staring at the alien vessel once Joker reversed the vid. Just looking at it gave him the heebie jeebies. He'd never seen anything like it. He was reminded of what he'd said to Shepard; bad feelings were an occupational hazard. If that were true, then the bad feeling he was getting now was going to be one hell of a hazard.

"Status report," Anderson demanded after a long moment of stunned silence.

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area."

"Take us in, Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."

"No shit," Joker breathed once the comm cut. "I told you something was up."

"Lucky guess," Alenko mumbled. "Sticky situation aside, we do get to see Shepard in action."

Alenko had a point. Who didn't want to see the great Commander Shepard in action?