Checkmate

by Hakkari

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. She's lying in bed with her specialist, both of them completely naked. She can't remember being drunk when Traynor walked into her room, carrying a chess board underneath her arm. The fact that she can't remember should be a tip off, but it isn't. Femshep/Traynor, Femshep/Liara, implied Garrus/Tali and Joker/EDI. Rated M for sexual themes.

Trix Shepard is a Spacer and a War Hero, and is an engineer. She's also mostly paragon, though she has some renegade moments. This deviates away from canon, as Trix's reactions are much different than Shepard's would be in game. But anyway…

Rated M for sexual themes and language.

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

She's lying in bed with her specialist, both of them completely naked. She can't remember being drunk when Traynor walked into her room, carrying a chess board underneath her arm.

The fact that she can't remember should be a tip off, but it isn't.

She slightly remembers inviting Samantha Traynor up to her cabin to play a game of chess. Then the specialist looked at her shower and asked if she could use it. They could play afterwards, and she was so eager to take a shower... then she started talking about some sort of date while Shepard had awkwardly sat outside, waiting for her to finish. Then there were words about playing a game with someone who she hoped was interested…

Honest to god, this girl is the only one who could make chess sound like the dirtiest type of innuendo…

It wasn't meant to happen this way, with her brushing against Traynor's neck with her lips, grabbing her ass and trying not to slip on the wet tiles. Getting her clothes off was so much more awkward than the movies had made it look, and her hair was clinging to her face and her fingers struggled to grasp Samantha's arms without sliding…

Simply put, shower sex looked hot, but really didn't feel like it. Even the commander's cabin didn't have a large enough shower for the types of things she had wanted and attempted to do. And she had forgotten to ask EDI to please stop watching if she was…

Oh god, Joker.

She almost laughs that the pilot's thoughts were the first thing on her mind, when she had a bigger thing to worry about. Liara was going to find out about this, she just doesn't know when. Any competent information broker would be scanning through the ship's security tapes, looking for suspicious activity. Plus the asari was the Shadow Broker. She gives it a day, maybe less.

"Hm… Commander? You up?" She hopes that Traynor will view this as some sort of horrible mistake, but that hope is dashed as soon as she sees the woman's sparkling eyes. Hey, at least you're actually sleeping with your own species! She can hear Joker's voice already, his normal smirk growing wider as EDI realizes her mistake. They share everything, those two. Joker's probably already asking for the security tapes.

She wonders what would be worse; Joker having the tapes or Liara.

She realizes she can't decide when the choice should be obvious.

"Trix?" She snaps to attention at her first name, a rarity to hear on the Normandy. No one calls her by that, except for Liara. Garrus and Joker call her Trix sometimes, too, but only when she's really distressed. To the asari it's almost like a pet name, something to whisper in her ear as she pinches her butt through her itchy Alliance uniform. When Wrex had caught the action, his mouth had widened, making the attempted peace talks between krogan and turian all the more awkward.

"Yeah… Samantha." She brightens even further when she hears her own name, and she wiggles out of the covers and puts her clothes back on.

"We, ah, should probably get downstairs, right? We're supposed to be docking at the Citadel this morning. Is it okay if I get shore leave with the rest of the crew? It gets kind of, ah, lonely without anyone else here."

"Oh, uh, sure. Right. Yeah, you can have shore leave. If anyone gives you trouble, just let me know." At least this delays the inevitable talk with Liara, as soon as she finds out about this. She gets dressed and brushes out her shock-white hair, watching the specialist as she gets ready to leave.

Samantha stops, frowns. "We didn't even get to play chess. Oh, well, I guess there's always next time. Thank you, Commander." She takes her leave then, leaving Trix alone before she follows her to the elevator a few moments later. The specialist smiles. "Couldn't get enough of me, hm?"

The conversation is cut short as she gets off on the second level, while Shepard rides down to the third. She's hoping that Liara is still holed up in her office, or getting ready for shore leave. Or something other than reviewing the tapes. Even if the asari has figured out what she and the specialist have done, well, she still needs her coffee fix.

"Hey, commander! Get a second?" Vega. She's not even sure why he's on this ship, since he never really contributes. He's never selected for her squad because he's a general incompetent, and he crashed the shuttle on Mars. Overall, he's a waste of space, food, and precious oxygen. She perks up when she sees Garrus sitting next to him, rolling his eyes, his mandibles twitching.

"Sure. Just let me get my coffee."

T

She still isn't sure how she managed to get roped into a two hour debate about krogan testicles. What's even weirder (and probably more worrying) is how she doesn't find any of this weird anymore. Three years ago, before Sovereign and her death, she would have shied away from these types of conversations. She cries out as Vega spits out more of his bullshit lies – "Krogan only have two balls, chica. I've seen 'em myself."

"Then why do they call them a quad, huh? Pretty sure they have four, James. Just admit you're wrong."

Eventually the debate dies down, and Vega slaps some credits into Garrus's outstretched hands. His mandibles twitch in delight. "Perfect. Just in time for shore leave. Oh, and Shepard? Remember my message."

As if she can forget. She has about fifty people to meet on the Citadel, and two to avoid now. As long as she can meet Miranda, Jack, Aria, Garrus, Joker, and EDI without running into Traynor or Liara… Ha, like that would happen. But she hopes that both of them don't attempt to track her down until nightfall, while she is at Purgatory. Liara absolutely detested nightclubs, and if Traynor came by… well, at least Trix would be drunk.

She heads up to the second level, acknowledging Traynor with a quick nod before heading up to the cockpit. EDI is not in her usual chair, probably down at the AI Core to fix up her body. The last time they had been to the Citadel had been brutal, with the AI taking most of the rockets that the Cerberus agents were firing.

He stares at her, mouth curling into a triumphant smirk. "You don't have the guts to do it, Shepard. You never do." She doesn't lower her gun, and she barks orders at Williams to stand down so she can get to him. If need be, she'll shoot her former crewmate. His confidence is waning as she places her finger on the trigger.

"You wouldn't. Shepard, you wouldn't."

His eyes are filled with disbelief as he falls to the ground, a bullet in his heart.

"Commander." Joker nods at her, tipping his hat as he pulls into the Citadel docks. He asks permission to land. It's granted, and he pulls into his spot. She can hear the others getting off the ship, footsteps and voices fading. Everyone is curious about the damages done after the failed coup. Even she wants to see what's going on, but she doesn't have it in her heart to move.

The pilot seems to pick up her mood, and he lifts his eyebrow. She expects some sort of snarky remark, a classic Joker-quip that he expects her to respond to. Instead, he merely watches her, waiting for her to speak. It's silent for a few moments before she finally makes her confession.

"I slept with Specialist Traynor last night."

His expression doesn't change. "Yeah, I know. EDI told me." She groans.

"Does EDI tell everyone about my business?"

He turns his attention back to the flight controls, locking them in case of another attack on the ship or the Citadel. The Collecter attack has made him cautious; he cares for the crew just as much as anyone else, even if he doesn't show it. "No, I don't think so. Heard you did it in the shower though, which is kind of kinky, commander." The normal Joker is showing through, sarcasm intertwining with worry.

"No, you can't have the tapes, if that was what you were wondering." He lets out a short bark of a laugh, but concern still colors his expression. "If, by chance, you're wondering if I feel guilty about it… Yes, I am. A lot of guilt, actually. Not only did I hurt Liara, I also just hurt Samantha in the process. I… I don't know."

"I just want to finish out the cycle, you know? We asari can live for centuries, and I'm only in my early one-hundreds. A baby, to most."

"What about… us, Liara?"

She blinks, trying to figure out a satisfactory answer. "Well, we always knew that this would happen, didn't we? That you'd die and I'd live… it's the asari way, Trix. It doesn't mean I don't love you all the same."

"Well, you guys were getting pretty serious. At least, that's what I've heard. I really don't think she'll be happy that you, uh, basically cheated on her. Was she pissed about Kelly?"

She ponders this for a moment, flinching at the memory of Liara's sad-angry face. Joker shrugs. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

"…Why do you even care, anyway? You're not really the type to have heart-to-heart talks, far as I can remember. In fact, I recall you saying that the only reason you stayed was because you, ah, 'liked flying the Normandy' or something along those lines."

He grins again. "Well, yeah, I do like flying the Normandy. I've just… had things on my mind, too. Figured if I helped you, you could help me. Not that it's required or anything, commander."

Her eyes narrow. "What's your problem?"

"What do you think of EDI and I?"

The answer shoots out of her mouth before she can even really think about it. "Go for it. I support you completely." He looks taken aback.

"Really? You don't think it's… weird?"

"If you wanted an opinion for a normal person, you probably shouldn't have come to me. Seriously, I am the one dating an asari." It would become past tense as soon as Liara found out. She didn't play three strikes, and she had already used up one.

It wasn't like she meant her fling with Kelly to go as far as it did. The yeoman had offered to feed her fish in exchange for a dinner, and Trix had eagerly accepted. Neither of them saw the relationship as a serious thing, a mere distraction from the shitstorm that was going on around them.

Still, when the yeoman and the rest of the crew had been kidnapped by the Collectors, she had been devastated. She had abandoned all preparations, taking her completed team to the Omega 4 Relay without delay. It had been stupid, in retrospect, but she hadn't lost a single soul that day. Except for that one colonist… but she couldn't help them anyway. Not when the rest of the crew was sitting there being dissolved into goop to be pushed into a Reaper.

When they all returned (some with worse scars than others; Garrus' face certainly wasn't any prettier), Kelly had come up to her cabin and danced for her. The same dance the asari dancers did in Afterlife on Omega.

Needless to say, the rest of the night wasn't spent sleeping.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Hey, you said you were going to Purgatory tonight?"

"Yeah… I said I'd meet up with Aria and Jack. Bringing EDI along with you?" Shepard smiles, leaning forward in her seat.

"Maybe. We'll see."

She rises, waving carelessly. "Well, just don't break anything. I don't care if you don't need your legs to fly the ship; don't expect me to haul your ass anywhere. Last time I did that, I ended up dead." She's teasing, of course. Joker's like her obnoxious brother; couldn't live with or without him. A strange expression crosses over his face, but he's quick to recover.

"Right. Trust me, I'm not planning on dancing or anything. Anyway, I better finish locking everything up. See ya, commander."

The words are an obvious dismissal.

T

"Y'see, my commander knows all this shit about krogan balls and she don't even like human ones! Oy, that girl is loooocooo!" He's already drunk, and it's barely noon. Too early for her to even consider getting a buzz, but he's long gone. A few of the refugees are watching him with hunger in their eyes, a teenage girl staring directly at his front pocket.

Aware that he doesn't see her, Trix walks up to him, tapping him on the shoulder. He whips around before giving her a goofy grin. "Oh hey, commander! See, this is my commander, the one who saw a krogan's, uh, quad." There are murmurs of admiration and disbelief, though she's used to that by now. Just being the legendary Commander Shepard of the Normandy gets her all the stares she could ever desire and then some.

"Watch yourself, Vega. That little girl's eyeing your wallet." With that she turns away, not really caring about her lieutenant's stupidity. If he gets robbed, it's his own fault.

"Commander." She notices Garrus watching her from the seat of a taxi, his eyes sparkling. "You coming with me?"

With a quick glance back at Vega – who's currently taking off his shirt for only-god-knows-why – she nods, eager to escape. "Where are we going?"

"Top of the Presidium. Always wanted to go there, but regulations got in the way. So, since I'm not with C-Sec anymore… well, their regulations don't apply to me anymore, do they?" He grins in his own turian way – or at least what she interprets as a grin – before jerking the car upward, rising above the rest of the traffic. A few cars swerve out of the way, their drivers yelling obscenities in various languages at them. She smothers a grin as Garrus responds with harsh words of his own. He never was the best driver in the universe.

T

The two of them are a bit too competitive when it comes to shooting cans thrown in the air. Garrus is good, but Shepard isn't exactly a pushover herself. They taunt each other, glaring and trying to curve the can as they throw it into the air. They only stop once the turian misses and they're out of ammo. He swears, scratching his spines with his three fingers. "Well, Shepard, consider me impressed. Still the best damn soldier out here, aren't you? Hell, you aren't even a soldier; just an engineer."

"This engineer just kicked your ass, Vakarian."

He chuckles. "Which just makes it all the more embarrassing."

They sit in silence, watching the artificial glow of the Citadel begin to dim. Garrus seems to notice her discomfort, and awkwardly places a hand on her shoulder. "So, uh, what's on your mind? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"I just… I dunno. I'm just… different. Even after the Sovereign incident I was still… me. Now? Maybe Cerberus did change me. I just… I've been doing things that I would have never done just a few years ago."

"Well, out of character as it was, shooting that bastard Udina straight in the heart was pretty badass, if I say so myself."

"Shepard, you wouldn't do this."

He's dead on the floor in the next twenty seconds, eyes filled with disbelief.

"And I've cheated on Liara twice now. I'm not a figure people should be looking up to, Garrus, I'm a monster!" He's silent for a few moments, then grips her shoulder tighter.

"I doubt that Cerberus made you do those things. You know I love Liara just as much as the next guy, but maybe it's just not working out between you two?"

She hasn't even considered that. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like it's all one-sided, like I'm a minor fling she'll have for however long I live and then she'll just forget about me."

"Well, she is an asari…"

Trix slams her hands on the ground, clutching at the Presidium with tightly. "I know, Vakarian. I know."

There's silence for a few more minutes before he nods. "Well, you're going to have to figure out how you feel about her, then. Now, however… didn't you say you wanted to meet a few people at Purgatory?"

T

Purgatory is nothing like Afterlife.

It's tame and boring and the dancers aren't even at the tables for her to get a closer look at. Even the music is tamer, and the drinks are weak enough so that she has to get a few to feel even a slight buzz. The only exciting part is Aria T'Loak, who is looking royally pissed off on her couch. They have a common enemy now; the Illusive Man.

But tonight Cerberus and their leader are not her problem. She's here to blow off steam, and she needs more than just a minor buzz to get her going. The bartender's giving her weird looks as she takes drink after drink, but she doesn't care.

Eventually she feels satisfied, smashed beyond her usual limits. She staggers onto the dance floor, flailing around with all the grace of a drunken, already bad dancer. In the back of her mind she can see Jack laughing at her.

"Everyone knows you can't dance, Shepard!"

She stumbles down the stairs to the lower bar, then takes another drink.

The world suddenly goes black.

T

To say that waking up next to strange blue women after drinking was an unusual occurrence would be a lie. Liara forgave her drunken behavior, knowing that she was an extremely… happy drunk. At least this time her clothes were still on, and she recognized the asari that she was lying next to.

"Aria… what the hell happened while I was out?"

The asari only gives her a knowing glance before shrugging. "You cause a scene no matter where you go, don't you, commander?"

"…What… happened? Seriously, what…?"

Aria gives her a half-smirk before listing off her offenses. Some are minor, such as when she apparently dumped a drink on the ground and ordered some random guest to clean it up. Others are more extreme and would have gotten her kicked out if Aria hadn't been around. The asari only mentions an incident with one of the dancers, though doesn't elaborate. "You don't want to know, Shepard. It was entertaining, though. Some excitement in this boring club."

Not sure if she wants to be associated with excitement to Aria, Shepard takes her leave.

Only to run into an extremely pissed off looking Liara.

"I know what you did with Samantha, Shepard. I don't care who you're sleeping with, but I don't have time for these games. And, quite frankly, neither do you."

She turns away, leaving Trix stunned. Not that she wasn't expecting the reaction, but it still hurts her. As she boards the Normandy she feels tears trickling down her cheeks, and she stumbles up to the cockpit. She sits in Joker's empty seat, closing the door behind her before letting out loud sobs.

T

"…Commander?" She fell asleep in the pilot's chair last night, and now Joker is awkwardly prodding her. EDI's grasping his arm gently, making sure he doesn't stumble and break himself. "Hey, you okay? I, uh, heard about Liara… She was pretty damn pissed last night." That's the last thing she needs to hear, and she breaks into more sobs despite herself.

Trix can hear EDI and Joker whispering to each other about not knowing what to do, and then she vaguely hears Joker get on the intercom and ask that Garrus come up to the cockpit. After what feels like a mere second, she feels the turian's strong hand on her shoulder, lifting her up.

"Is there any way we can speak in private, Joker? Why don't you go and take EDI someplace nice. You know, a present before the Reapers get here or another Council member decides to go rogue." His mandibles twitch, his voice dripping with dry humor as it flanges. The flight lieutenant takes his leave, muttering something about turians as EDI tries to calm him.

"So, what's on your mind? We could talk about Liara if you want. Or we could talk about something different. You, er, always liked shooting things, right?"

He's wrong about that, Trix realizes numbly. The Shepard he's been associated with is nothing but a soldier. She misses Tali, misses having intense discussions on various ship repair methods and part replacements. If not for her being selected for the N7 training, she'd be happily working as an engineer on some Alliance cruiser. She would have never known about the Reapers, never been known as the hero of the Citadel.

Sometimes she prefers it that way. Adams was always eager for help since Tali had left with the rest of her crew – who knew where the quarian was now? – and she enjoyed the work very much. It annoys her that the engineers watch her with some sort of superstitious awe, as if she comes down to spy on them or something.

"I'm fine, Garrus. I just… there's no time for regrets. Not now. What I did was stupid, but we can't waste time trying to backpedal, right?"

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I never liked you and Liara as a couple. Made you seem desperate." She blinks, swollen eyes gazing up at him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" His mandibles clack against each other, his claws reaching up and brushing through her hair. It would look like an intimate gesture to any bystander, but they both know it means nothing. Well, nothing except that Trix trusts the turian unconditionally, and he understands that. Miranda may have been the official XO during their attack on the collector base, but the entire crew knew who was actually second in command.

"You two have nothing in common, Shepard. Other than the fact that you both liked other females, I guess… Plus the night before Ilos was a pretty lonely one for those of us without a romantic partner." She chuckles despite herself.

"Should have told Tali how you felt about her, Vakarian." He freezes, her white hair wrapped around his talons. She hears his mandibles snap back to position. "Oh, come on. Joker and I were betting on how long it would take the two of you to get together after she joined the SR2 crew. Don't tell me the thought never crossed your mind."

He continues moving, silent except for a slight vibrating hum. It's a thoughtful noise, not leaning towards good or bad. Just… thoughtful. It's a nice sound. "That doesn't matter now, Shepard. If you didn't notice, Tali's not here. Besides, this isn't about me. Stop trying to change the subject."

"Maybe I want to change the subject, Garrus. Maybe, right now, I just want to hear about a happy couple that gets a fairytale-Disney ending. Is that so hard to believe? Does everything have to be a tragedy now?" She feels tears slip from her eyes again, but this time she's able to stifle the noise.

The turian hums again. "I don't know what a fairytale or a Disney is, Shepard. But I'm assuming that it means something happy, right? Not everything's a tragedy, but turning to my nonexistent relationship isn't a good escape from it, either."

"Well, yeah, but it's better than worrying about seeing Liara or Traynor again. Are they still on the Citadel?"

His mandibles clench tight to his mouth. "Liara's in her cabin. I don't know where the specialist is, but I'm assuming she'll want to talk to you. I suggest taking care of this sooner rather than later, though. Not to be blunt, but we really don't need any more distractions."

"I know. I… just don't know how to solve this."

He tilts his head. "I can't tell you what the right answer is; there really isn't one. But, I can tell you something I learned from a certain human commander; change isn't always bad." He releases her hair before leaving, looking back once in concern before continuing to the elevator.

She sits in Joker's chair for a few more minutes before gathering herself and follows his path to the elevator. An extremely hung-over James Vega is sitting by the CIC. "Oh… hey, Lola. I, uh, sorry if I said anything to ya yesterday. Esteban said some of the things I said made me seem like an ass."

"You always seem like an ass, Vega. That's what we love about you." His lip curls into a half smile before faltering. He grips his head.

"Oh, commander. Don't make me laugh…. Hurts too much."

"Get some rest, Vega. That's an order."

He weakly salutes. "Yes, ma'am." Afterwards he doesn't move, instead opting to lean against the galaxy map. "I'll head down to the cargo bay in a few minutes, Lola."

She doesn't hear him. Vega and his ability to make an ass of himself are not her concern anymore. Her first thought as she enters the elevator and heads up to her cabin is to call up Traynor. No doubt she's heard of Shepard's relationship with Liara. No doubt she's probably more than a little offended at possibly being nothing more than a fling.

Two minutes after calling her she arrives, clutching her chess board underneath her arm. Her face is blank. "I brought up my board. Just in case you wanted to actually play a game this time, commander."

Trix cringes at how cold her voice is. "Look, Traynor, I…"

"How about we play a little game, commander? We'll talk as we play it, okay?" She sets the board down, tapping a few buttons. The holographic pieces appear. "White or black?"

"I don't really care… Black?" The specialist taps another button and the pieces reset.

"Then I go first." There is no banter this time, no playfulness about her. She shifts the pawn in front of the queen two spaces forward. "I want to know what's going on, commander. About… about you and Liara."

Trix can hear the unspoken us between her stuttered 'abouts'. She mirrors Traynor's move on her own pieces. "Liara and I… to be honest, I don't know. When I helped her to become the Shadow Broker she was just distant. We were really close on the original Normandy, as you probably know."

She moves another pawn, this one in front of her left knight. "I am well aware of it, yes. Joker answered quite a few of the… questions I had."

"Of course he did." Shepard shifted her knight out of the back. Samantha's brows furrow as she scans the board. "We never had much in common. She liked me first for the Eden Prime beacon, second for me actually being me. If even that; I don't know what she truly thought of me."

Traynor moves her first pawn another space forward. "So why did you even get together, if you knew she didn't like you for you?"

Another black pawn moves forward. "Well, she continually said that she liked me for me. Maybe she meant it, I don't know. We never really… clicked, if that's okay to say. Our relationship was based off of lonely, 'oh god we have an extremely large chance of dying tomorrow'. We were also the only two onboard who actually liked other women in that way, so our choice of who to have goodbye sex with was limited."

The answer doesn't seem to satisfy her, but she moves another pawn forward. "Obviously you were both on two different levels of relationship, because she apparently got pretty mad when you cheated on her with the yeoman and I."

Trix visibly flinches before composing herself and moving her knight forward. "She was actually the one who told me that having a relationship with her would be ill advised due to our significant age difference. And the fact that I'm going to die a very long time before she does didn't make it any easier."

Traynor's hard face disintegrates into one of pity. "I'm sorry… I didn't know that –"

"She also basically told me to piss off when we were on the Shadow Broker base… Well, not in those words but she kept asking me if I was sure that it was a good idea and if I was sure that I wanted to be with her. I told her yes every time, but she didn't seem happy about it."

"Shepard, I –"

She can feel tears flowing out of her eyes. It's embarrassing; the great Commander Shepard brought to tears by girl problems. It's not like her heart has never been broken before. She cried then, too. Never in front of anyone though, especially not a crew member. "Two years is a long time, you know. Even to an asari. Especially to an asari who was in a relationship with a human. She was probably ready to move on, maybe get together with that Feron guy… then I just had to come back. I don't know why I expected everything to be the same. It only seemed like a good night's sleep to me. When I came back, I didn't even know I was dead. I thought I was still on the Normandy, maybe that I had passed out after drinking too much and someone had put me in the medbay. Imagine my face when I was surrounded by Cerberus members telling me that I had been dead."

Trix barks out a laugh, feeling the tears come harder now. It's the first time she's vented these feelings. She's not sure why she's being so open with Traynor when she's never shared any of this with Garrus or Tali or Joker. She's barely aware when Samantha grips her firmly into a bear hug. Her body reacts instead of her mind, and her arms curl around the specialist.

"Shepard, you wouldn't do this."

They sit there together in an embrace for at least ten minutes, the chess board abandoned. Trix finally manages to stop her tears, wiggling her way out of the hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright, Trix. I mean it. What you said… I couldn't even imagine going through it. Any of it. What you did… what we did… wasn't right. I think we both know that, right? But I'm sure Liara would understand… I could go talk to her…?"

"Don't. I… what we had… it was over before we even had anything. Maybe both of us were in denial, or maybe just I was and she just was playing pretend. I don't know. I don't think I was to know."

They sit there together in silence for another awkward minute, Traynor biting her lip. Finally she speaks up. "Where does this leave… us? I mean, are we something, were we just a drunken accident or…?"

"…I'd like another chance, if you'd be willing to give me one." The specialist blinks, thinking for a moment before grasping Trix's hand.

"I would, but I know for a fact that we'd have to go slow. And I know you don't like slow relationships. But I play for keeps, Commander Shepard or not."

"Change isn't always bad."

Trix licks her lips. "A wise turian once told me that I shouldn't fear change. I've never been in a slow relationship, but I'd be willing to try." Traynor smiles, squeezing the hand.

"Then I'd like that. Pity that we never finished the chess game. I would have liked to see your face when I beat you."

Shepard only laughed. It would have been the perfect time to swoop in and kiss the specialist, but she restrained herself. She needed to regain her trust first. She'd also have to deal with Liara, eventually, but for now…

"Well, the board's still out. We could always finish the game, if you'd like. Not that you'd see that face, since I won't lose."

Traynor's eyes flicker, and a smile crosses her face.

"Oh, you are so on."

A/N: Holy bugger I've been writing this since I first finished ME3 . It's not even good, but there's really not enough Traynor love out there, and there also aren't a whole lot of stories featuring romantically challenged and damaged Shepards, lol.

But anyway, I apologize for any out of character-ness, especially on Vega. Like I said, I began writing this during my first playthrough, and I didn't get all of the character dialogue (I didn't even know he was hiding in the cargo bay until my second one, lol).

Reviews are loved as always 3