Dedicated to the ladies (& gents) of the KAST. Inspired by Jhosephine's magnificent pic of the triple Treat - Kaidan, Alistair, & Carth, although my meagre efforts cannot live up to the dizzying heights achieved by the "manipulator of manmeat." My apologies for the liberties I've taken with characters and situations, but in dreams all things are possible. :) Thanks once again to Star58 for braving my bad/nonexistent punctuation and sentence structure.
Dreams
(why getting hit by a Prothean beacon is a good thing, from a certain point of view)
Shepard felt herself fading in and out of consciousness. She tried to focus on her surroundings but they were totally unfamiliar to her. Last thing she remembered was knocking Lieutenant Alenko out of the way of some kind of gravitational field generated by the beacon on Eden Prime. Now here she was, sitting beside a stream wearing strange leather armour and her guns had been replaced by swords. She wasn't alone, but it wasn't Alenko or Williams who were with her, they were nowhere in sight. She looked thoughtfully at her companion, a young man stripped to the waist, washing blood off himself, his muscles rippling with his movements. She had to admit that wherever she was, the view was very interesting indeed.
She must have made some sound because he turned to face her, relief evident on his face.
"Oh thank the Maker you're awake. I was starting to get worried."
He had a very nice voice, not in the same league as Alenko's but very nice just the same. What was it about that man's voice that threatened all of her self control? You have more important things to think about, she chided herself. She needed answers to the questions that were running through her mind, but for now was content to take in the view while she waited for her head to clear. The man knelt in front of her, his hand cupping her face as he spoke,
"Promise me you won't ever scare me like that again, my love."
His love? Ok this is getting weird. I know it's been a long time between drinks but I don't normally have these kinds of dreams. Damn Alenko and his voice. Giving herself a mental shake she spoke,
"I have some questions if you don't mind. Who are you, where the hell are we, and where are my guns?"
"It's me, Alistair, love of your life and fellow Grey Warden. You can't have forgotten the darkspawn horde and the Archdemon we need to defeat to save Ferelden, and what in the name of Andraste is a gun?" He looked perplexed for a moment, then he grinned.
"Oh you're such a kidder," he laughed. "This is payback isn't it for letting you get hurt? See this is what I love about you."
He stood up pulling her to her feet at the same time. A wave of giddiness hit her and she swayed, his arms immediately encircling her and pulling her close. This is not helping, although I could get used to this kind of dream she thought as her hands encountered his bare muscular flesh. Oh well might as well make the most of this dream while it lasts, at least I still seem to be in the business of saving everyone's asses anyway.
"Now you've hurt my manly feelings. You don't remember telling me how handsome I am, or licking lampposts in winter?" He grinned at her, one eyebrow raised suggestively.
Well he was handsome. It was lucky that she had such good taste even in her dreams. And I'm pretty sure I'd remember licking his lamppost in winter or any other season. She giggled, Ok now I'm really starting to worry about my mental health. It's definitely Alenko's fault, he's put all sorts of thoughts into my head with that voice of his. Thoughts that I shouldn't be having. I'm his commanding officer after all, he serves under me. Damn, there I go again, that beacon must have really hit me hard. She collapsed helplessly against Alistair's chest as a giggling fit shook her body.
"Alright, now it's getting creepy. You don't normally giggle so much unless I do this."
His words were accompanied by his fingers running lightly up her sides, causing an involuntary shiver to go through her.
You have to put a stop to this Shepard. Where is the legendary cool, calm demeanor that you are known for? Apparently in these kinds of dreams, cool and calm went right out of the window. Would it really hurt to act so terribly out of character and just go with the flow for once, it was only a dream after all, wasn't it?
All coherent thought stopped at that point as his mouth descended upon hers, while his hands were busy with the buckles and straps of the armour she wore. He stepped away briefly to remove the top half of the leather armour before planting a row of kisses down her neck and across her bare shoulder. She groaned as her legs went weak and she wrapped her arms around him for support. I could definitely get used to this she thought as her surroundings started to fade out, hazy images of machines, death and destruction replacing Alistair as the darkness claimed her once again.
Once again she came to in unfamiliar surroundings. Damn it, just when things had been getting good. What the hell happened to Alistair? Why don't I have control over my own dream? She sat up and looked around slowly waiting for the dizziness to recede. She seemed to be in a base of some sort, accompanied by two others carrying strange glowing swords. Here we go again. Not a gun in sight, and what happened to my armour? She looked down and saw that she was wearing some sort of hooded robe over a plain shirt and pants that were tucked into calf length boots.
Her companions left the room without speaking although she heard them telling someone outside that she was finally awake.
"It's about time" a familiar voice said as the door opened.
"Where the hell have you been Alenk………Oh" she finished lamely as the man entered the room. He was definitely not Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing with Alenko's voice?" she demanded angrily. This was just getting too bizarre.
"Don't get all snippy with me sister. That bump on the head must have done more damage than we thought. You know very well that I'm Carth Onassi, or is this your way of saying you regret telling me yesterday that you think you could fall in love with me? So now you're going to plead amnesia?" he shot back as he sat down next to her.
"Pull yourself together. We've got to stop the Sith or millions of innocent people will suffer. I found your lightsaber by the way. You must have dropped it when that terminal you just had to play around with exploded. But don't worry I won't tell anyone that the most beautiful Jedi in the galaxy lost her lightsaber," he said grinning as he handed her a small metal cylinder.
She didn't know who or what the Sith or the Jedi were, but once again it seemed that people were relying on her to save them. Well I'm consistent in my career choices anyway, even in my weirdest dreams.
She took some time to study him. He was definitely a good looking man but his eyes were haunted and she felt herself wanting to reach out to him to try and erase the sadness behind them. His voice had thrown her even if it did still have the same effect on her. She was trying hard to understand how and why he had Alenko's voice.
A patch of red on his shirt drew her attention.
"Carth, you're bleeding." Her concern for his injuries overrode her own worries for the moment. "Take off your shirt and let me see how bad it is."
"It's nothing. Just a flesh wound. Although it would have been a lot worse if you hadn't deflected most of the enemy fire with your lightsaber," he said taking off his shirt.
She moved around and stood in front of him to get a better look at the wound on his shoulder. Oh my. In hindsight this is probably a bad idea given the way this dream is going, she thought as she viewed his naked, muscular torso. He wasn't as well muscled as Alistair had been but he was still a very fine specimen of manhood.
Where the hell were all these hot men in real life? Not that she wasn't surrounded by hard bodied men all day, but they were all too intimidated by her reputation, not to mention regulations to treat her as a fellow marine, let alone a woman. It had never really bothered her. She had never felt attracted to any of her fellow marines until she met Alenko. Yep, this madness that she was caught up in was obviously all his fault and she would have to come up with some form of onerous duty for him as punishment if she ever managed to extract herself from this dream.
She put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself as another wave of dizziness hit her, his hands automatically going to her waist as a look of concern crossed his face.
"Are you alright, you're not having strange visions of the dark side again are you?"
Oh Carth, you have no idea she thought. I'm not sure what this dark side is but my visions are far from pure at this moment.
Unable to help herself she leaned into him, her lips meeting his in a passionate kiss as her hands roamed over his back. His arms went around her waist as he pulled her hard up against him. Now this was definitely more like it she thought as she as the all too familiar haziness began to surround her again.
The last thing she was conscious of was a female voice telling them to get a room before the hazy, orange hued images of death and destruction preceded the blackness once again.
She woke up, blinking as she took in her surroundings. At least they were recognizable this time she thought as she took in the familiar features of the Normandy's medbay. But there's no way of telling whether this was still a dream or whether she'd finally come back to reality. A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned her head to see Alenko looking worriedly at her.
He walked towards her as she sat up and pushed a stray strand of her away from her face.
"Commander, are you ok?" he asked standing directly in front of her.
I wonder where this was going. At least I've got the right man and the right voice this time. Not that there had been anything wrong with either Alistair or Carth, but they just weren't Alenko.
"I couldn't stand knowing that I was responsible for anything bad happening to you" he said as he brushed his fingers lightly down the side of her face.
This was definitely still a dream. There was no way the quiet, totally controlled lieutenant would dare to do that even if he was attracted to her. Oh what the hell she thought, this was her dream and she wasn't about to let Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko escape her in it.
Reaching up, she pulled his head towards hers. He didn't resist as their lips met, his arms going around her as he moved closer. Finally something was going right with this dream. She had forgotten that he was a biotic like her but the frisson of sensation that ran through her was a very arousing reminder.
She pulled his shirt up wanting to feel his skin and he obliged her by stepping slightly away so that he could take it off. This must be what heaven is like she thought as he reached over and pulled her shirt over her head. He moved back to her then, kissing her again as his hands moved over her body.
They were interrupted by Jokers voice coming over the com, "Commander Shepard to the bridge."
Damn it, what the hell was Joker doing in her dream? You shouldn't be surprised though she told herself, seems you can't even get laid in your own dream. She couldn't even get past first base. She swore she would get even with Joker for that even if it was just a dream. Hell, if Joker ever pulled that stunt in real life she would break every bone in his already brittle body.
"Jokers waiting for you on the bridge, you'd better go," Kaidan said as he pulled his shirt back on, tucking it in as he walked towards the door.
She watched as he began to fade, only to be replaced by the terrible orange visions of death before everything went black once again.
Opening her eyes she knew immediately that she was back in reality. The harsh lights and the throbbing in her head confirmed it. She sat up rubbing a weary hand across her forehead. Alenko's voice was the first thing she heard.
"Doctor? Doctor Chakwas? I think she's waking up."
The Doctor walked towards her, explaining that she had been out for 15 hours and that there had been some kind of problem with the beacon. Alenko spoke again.
"It's my fault. I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way."
"You had no way to know what would happen," she replied not wanting to see the look of guilt on his face.
He looked at her, the half smile on his face so adorable and sexy all at the same time. Oh God, deep breaths, deep breaths she told herself as she looked down and tried to bring some measure of control to her wayward thoughts. This was going to be one hell of a mission if her current level of frustration was anything to go by; at least she had the geth to take it out on.
The Doctor was speaking once again, giving her diagnosis.
"Physically you're fine, although I am a little concerned about your increased heart rate and the flushed appearance of your skin. But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves. I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."
Oh doc, you have absolutely no idea she thought as she tried to suppress the laughter that would have everyone on the Normandy thinking that Commander Shepard, Alliance hero was a certifiable lunatic. Pull yourself together Shepard and say something sensible.
"I saw…. I'm not sure what I saw. Death. Destruction. Nothing's really clear."
She stood to attention as Captain Anderson entered the medbay.
"Shepard, I need to speak to you in private."
Alenko saluted and left for the mess. As she watched him leave she made up her mind to talk with Alenko as much as she could. If his voice resulted in dreams like that it might just be worth the resulting frustration. If the opportunity ever presented itself in real life she would throw caution as well as rules and regulations to the wind and grab it with both hands.
Sighing, she gave her full attention to Captain Anderson.