#mjshepard

"It only takes one candle to light a fire, and then the darkness is gone."

Marian-Jane (MJ) Shepard

She is not a morning person.

First Human Spectre

Her words were coming out more hurried and unorganized than steve had heard come from the Commander before. He turned his focus from the repairs he had been making on the Hammerhead, and looked up to where Shepard was leaning against its exterior. "I find myself thinking-" she had been saying, voice suddenly strained, "- that if i'd been born a spacer or - or maybe grew up on earth I would have -- I wouldn't have to--" she cut herself off with a bitter huff, shaking her head. She pressed the back of her skull against the cool steel of the Hammerheads exterior, as if that was the only thing keeping her upright. "No." she whispered after a minute. Steve listened, though he had the feeling she wasnt talking to him anymore. "No, I think I would have always ended up here." She said slowly. Her eyes had glazed over, as if she was watching all the lives she could have lived. Watching how every one took her to the Normandy, leading the charge against countless horrors Steve watched the realization lay accross her shoulders like a viper. "Commander, I-" Steve started, hand moving in an attempt to comfort her. Shepard let out a huff and quickly pushed off the hammerhead, standing stright. Her demeanor snapping to that of Commander Shepard. "I'll let you get back to it, Steve." She smiled and patted him on the shoulder before quickly walking towards the cargo bay elevator. Steve watched her leave, noting the inward curve of her shoulders. He thought to himself, not for the first time, how many heavy burdens can one person carry before they break.