"Maybe sometime, when I'm not organizing the colony and you're not... doing whatever you do."

With a scoff, she downed the bottom of her glass.

"Yeah, maybe."

She wasn't sure what she had expected. In fact, if she was even expecting anything. She said those words on impulse, it felt like. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if she meant it. Then again, did it matter? Nothing came of it, or will.

With a shrug of disappointment, she downed the drink the bartender poured for her.

She got up after that. The bartender had refused give her more, reminding her she had a shuttle to catch. It didn't take long for her to remember what the bartender was talking about. It all started there. It all continued there. Might as well have it all end there too. She transferred the credits from her omni-tool, and sent off for the shuttle bay.

'Goddess,' she thought miserably. 'How did I end up so far away?'

It all seemed so far away now. It seemed like better times too. Was she really that naïve? No. She wasn't, she reassured herself. It wasn't her fault. There had been nothing that she could do. If even a matriarch couldn't resist, how could she have hoped to? With a reassuring smile, she reminded herself that she was lucky. She escaped.

Others, she had seen them. She feared becoming like them. But every day, looking in the mirror, she knew she wouldn't. Even when the whispers were at their strongest, she felt like she had a fighting chance, somehow. Her own nightmares, the horrible deeds she committed in its name, they kept her grounded. Or maybe it was simpler than that. Maybe it was its control that, ironically, freed her. Squeezing her eyes shut in disgust, trying to block out the involuntary memories surfacing, she cast the thought aside.

"No," she scolded herself. "I'm not going there. Not tonight. Not again. Commandos are better than this."

Burying her face in her hands, she couldn't help the sobs that racked her body. She jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, it's just that… um… your shuttle, ma'am. It's boarding," the owner of the hand said uncertainly.

"Oh," she wiped her tears away as she looked up. "Right, of course," she got up hastily before being stopped by the hand on her shoulder.

"The shuttle's that way, ma'am," he said softly pointing in the opposite direction she was heading.

"Right," she replied sheepishly before mumbling a quick apology and heading to where the man pointed.

With an impatient huff, she kicked off her boots. As she got up, she unzipped her suit and let it pool at her ankles before gingerly stepping the rest of the way out. With a heavy sigh, she fell face first on her bed. It had been a long trip, and an even longer meeting with the rest of the colonists.

"I missed you," her muffled voice filled the sheets in front of her. Her own hot breath tickling her slightly.

She grunted very loudly when she her terminal chimed. She knew it wouldn't stop until she viewed the e-mail, but she was really comfortable right now. Naked, she walked over to her terminal. She paused momentarily when she saw the sender.

She opened it, and read its contents very slowly.

She leaned back into her recliner, in a daze, not even aware of how cold her chair was on her bare back.

Snapping out of her reverie, she quickly replied.

I would love to.

Send.

A faint smile crept up her lips. That was, to say, unexpected. Good, very good even, but unexpected. Suddenly, she felt so much more alive. The tenseness in her muscles was gone. The troubles of the colony seemed so trivial all of a sudden. She hugged her bare chest, eagerly anticipating another message.

Great!

The response flashed on her screen for a few seconds. Even after it had faded, she sat there, asleep, that small smile still ghosting her lips.

The red haired woman sat back in her seat.

"There, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" she asked herself smiling. "Just a quick message and poof: success!"

Shaking her head, the woman got up still grinning. Sure, it had taken her by surprise at first. In fact, the thought hadn't even crossed her mind. But she thought about it. It wasn't like she had had much time on her hands lately, even less for this kind of thing. Could she call it that? It was weird calling it that. It was, by all means, a date.

'A date,' she thought. She tried saying the words a few times, relishing the feel of forming the word with her mouth. It made her laugh.

A date. With an alien. An asari. Green, no less. Commander Shepard was going on a date with Shiala.