"It won't be for too long."
His voice was a hum in his ears. If he reached over, he could touch his husband's warm skin, slide fingers over his abdomen and the contours of hard muscle. Robert was proud of those abs. So was Steve.
"You don't have to say that," He said quietly.
Shepard propped himself up and gazed at him. In the soft light of their bedroom his eyes were very blue, stubble dusting his jaw and chin. He was scruffy still, like the boy Steve when he was just out of high school and the Alliance had come calling. Most of the people as the Systems Alliance Military Academy had been top of their classes, squared-away, had worked hard to get there. Or rich.
Robert Shepard had waltzed in wearing his scuffed leather jacket, his attitude and those blue, blue eyes. He hadn't gone to high school. He'd gotten in on his exceedingly high scores in basic and a few good words from the right people. He'd come out with a commission, an invitation to ICT and Steve's ring on his finger.
"It's just a shake-down cruise," Robert said softly, the pads on his callused fingers trailing across Steve's stomach.
"I know," Steve said, but they both knew Shepard was reassuring himself. N7s got the most dangerous missions, the ones deep into places the Alliance denied any activity in, the ones without support. Being XO of an experimental warship was a little safer, right?
Shepard kissed him, before resting his forehead against Steve's chest, "I was hoping for a little more time off."
As had Steve. He'd gotten used to finding Shepard's clothes scattered around the apartment, coming home to find the husband on the couch, drinking beer and watching sports. Reacting to a raised eyebrow with protests that he needed to catch up, because he was 'football deprived'. Most of those afternoons ended up with Steve pushing him down, tasting his mouth and the alcohol there.
"I know," Steve repeated, wrapping his arm around Shepard's back, "It's just another tour." They were both soldiers. Time spent apart was their sacrifice. Another kiss, deeper, harder. One to keep for the months apart. Shepard pressed himself closer.
In the morning Robert slung his bag over his shoulder, looking tall and broad shouldered in his uniform, the stripes of his rank across his shoulders and his medals on his chest. He had so many he'd had to pin them through the material and into a bit of cardboard to stop the jacket from tearing.
Today they launched the SSV Normandy, a mixture of human and turian technology and a trophy for improved relations. Terra Firma was apparently protesting.
Robert kissed him on the mouth and Steve could feel the stubble he refused to shave off because it was a 'special forces privelege'
"See ya around, lieutenant," Shepard said with a lop-sided grin.
"You bet," Said Steve. Around them Arcturus Station bustled; most of the inhabitants in the suits that declared them employees of the SA government or the firms that grew off it. There were a few soldiers scattered around them, and two Marines guarding the entrance to the bay that the Normandy inhabited.
They've done this before. The Alliance usually tried to keep married couples together. But Shepard was valuable with a capital V and soon Steve would be heading off to his own post, commanding a flight deck on one of the new carriers or maybe a star base on a colony somewhere.
Robert stepped forward, pressed them together, his arms tight around Steve, almost crushing the air out of him. He smelled like clean sweat and leather. "I love you, yeah?"
"Love you too." Steve said, hugging him back fiercely, "You go out there and do what you have to do, okay? Then we'll get some real leave this time and go somewhere. Barcelona maybe."
"Sounds like a plan," Shepard grinned that smile again, kissed him one last time and then he was walking past the Marines, flashing his ID at them. They snapped to attention and suddenly it wasn't his Robert, his silly, cocky husband with that grin and those eyes, but Lieutenant Commander Shepard, poster-boy of the Alliance with his hard jaw and steel eyes.
He didn't look back.
a/n: fill for masskink prompt 'Robert!Shepard/Cortez Always married'. Also this fic's fault that I haven't finished chapter three of A Hole in the Sun Yet O_o.
