"Cora."
Sighing, Cora marked her place in her book before setting it aside on the bunk next to her. People always thought her odd that she brought one of her favorite books in actually paper form. There was something about the feel and smell of it that always calmed Cora just as much as the words on the pages. "Yes Lexi?" She tried night to sign in displeasure. It must be her turn for the Asari doctor to psychoanalyze her since being left behind while the Pathfinder and crew were out in the field was a rare occasion. And, damn it, she hated it.
"I think you should make your way to the med bay."
The tone in the doctor's voice had Cora bolting up in her bunk. Luckily, she was on top or she would've knocked herself out cold. "What happened?"
"The Pathfinder has returned and has been injured." There was no further explanation as the comm went quiet.
Years of Asari Commando training kept Cora from scrambling down the ladder and racing to the med bay. Scott was hurt, but Lexi didn't sound to frazzled meaning it couldn't be that bad. Still, the knowledge had her heart in her throat as she carefully climbed down from her bunk.
Drack was standing right outside the sleeping quarters almost as if he was waiting for her.
"What the hell happened out there?" Cora demanded. She should've pressed harder for Scott to take her. A simple trip he said. What could go wrong he said. She silently cursed the man and his flippant thinking.
"Kid did something stupid," The Krogan answered.
Stupid wasn't the word she would've used to describe what transpired on Kadara. Her heart wrenching worry turned into fury at the drop of a hat. Fuming, Cora walked through the med bay doors after they hissed open. She opened her mouth ready to yell, then she saw Scott sitting on the table, naked from the waist up with a bloody bandage wrapped around his right bicep. The worry came flooding back.
"Damn it, Doc," Scott cursed in pain. "A little be gentler would be nice."
"How bad?" Cora asked altered Scott to her presence.
Scott straightened up the best he could, doing everything in his power to hide his grimace. "It's nothing," Scott assured putting his manly pride in front of the truth. "Only a flesh wound."
Lexi clutched her tongue. "Armor piercing round constitutes as a little more than a flesh wound." She took Scott's other hand and instructed him to apply pressure to his wound. "This is beyond a simple coat of med-gel."
While Lexi rummaged around the room for the correct equipment, Cora moved closer to the med table. She longed to touch him, a simple brush against his skin to assure herself he was safe. That he was here. Instead, she felt her cheeks burn as she tried and failed to keep her gaze from roaming the sharp plains of his body. "Are you in a lot of pain?" Such a dumb question. Of course, he was. It was an armor piercing round.
Scott smirked. "It's not too bad."
"Lair." She didn't need a SAM to tell her that he was lying.
His shoulders drooped in defeat. "Lexi gave me a pain blocker the moment I came onboard. Right now, my brain is a bit fuzzy."
"From Drack's account, I think your brain was in such condition before that," Cora grumbled. Anger slowly began to creep back over taking her worry.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It would be the only probable explanation to why you would've done something so stupid!"
"I didn't plan on getting shot, you know! Scott shot back. "It just sort of happened.
"Sorta happened," Cora mockingly echoed torn between wanting to throttle the man and kissing him senseless. "You took an armor piercing round for the life of a damn pirate."
"There was a sniper."
"You could've been killed, Ryder!"
"I was trying to save Solane's life so we could secure the favor we need to set up our outpost." Scott was baffled by Cora's behavior. IT wasn't like her to be this hot headed. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but establishing outposts and helping those we can is something the Initiative is supposed to do."
"Nowhere in the Initiative's plan does it tell you to throw yourself in front of a bullet meant for a damn space pirate who think she owns this galaxy."
Seething through the pain, Scott pushed to his feet towering over her. They both ignored the blood trickling down his arm and staining the white tile floor. "I did what I thought was right thing. I made an in the field snap decision. As a soldier-."
"Well…" Cora folded her arms over her chest, glowering at the Pathfinder. She refused to let the man think he could intimidate her in anyway. "It was a stupid one."
"Why the hell are you acting like this?" He missed the emotions flickering across her face through the haze of his anger and pain. The blocker only did so much when he was working against its effect by moving around.
"Because?"
"Because," Scott echoed in uttered frustration.
Cora noted the way Lexi looked at her, silent encouragement on her face for Cora to tell him the truth.. And she was going to until the words bubbled up her throat and she lost her nerve. Swallowing them, Cora could only find a single word out of the many screaming in her head to be let loose. "Because." That's all she said before fleeing the med bay leaving behind a baffled Scott.
Struggling to process the events that just transpired, Scott dropped back down onto the med table. He understood that Cora would always be slightly bitter about his father's choice to make him Pathfinder, but this seemed way out of line.
"Scott?"
He snapped out of his world of thought and found Lexi looking down at him in that special way that meant she was trying to analyze his state of mind. He did his best not to squirm. "Guess she's still mad I'm the Pathfinder."
"Oh Scott," Lexi sighed. "You really are stupid."
"Not you too, Doc. I know you don't like patching me up and all, but I didn't think you'd take her side."
"I've met my fair share of human in my lifetime. Yet, not one as dense of you." Lexi removed the soiled bandage and held up a cauterizing tool. "Also, you bled on my floor. So, I'm more inclined to be on her side."
"How am I being dense?"
Lexi shook her head. Match maker wasn't something she saw herself doing while on the Tempest. If she wasn't so certain Scott would remain oblivious to the situation, she would let things progress on their own. "Do you honestly think she acted like that out of bitterness over you being Pathfinder?"
"What else could it be?"
"You really are dense, Scott."
"I think I've had my share of name calling today, Lexi. Just finish patching me up and-."
"She cares for you," Lexi blurted out cutting him off.
"Wait? What?" Hope sprang and blocked out any pain or discomfort he was experiencing. Scott searched the Asari's face, desperate to find out if he missed heard the woman. His heart began to pound in delight. "She cares for me? Like as a friend? Or…?
Once again, Lexi shook her head in disbelief. "How can you be this oblivious about it? I've seen the way you two are together. I've heard and seen the flirting."
Scott felt his cheek burn. "I always thought it was just harmless flirting and her most likely humoring me more than anything. I didn't think…" How could a woman like Cora possibly want to be with a man like him? For the love of God, she trained with the Asari Commandos while he, for the lack of better terms, baby sat a Mass Relay.
"I think you should talk to her after this," Lexi encouraged. "Than rest, of course."
Scott looked down. "Sorry about the floor."
"Let's not add more to it, shall we. I'm going to have to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding. The blocker should help with the pain.
"Should?"
0o0o0o0o00o0o0
Still cursing the doc and her method of treatment, Scott left the med bay at the first chance he got. HE glanced down the hall towards his quarters. He nearly ignored Lexi's advice out of fear, but knew he risked her wrath or worse if he did so. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and spoke, "SAM?"
"Yes Scott?" the AI's voice echoed in his head.
"What is Cora's location?" He kept his voice no louder than a whisper. The last thing he wanted to do was feed into the scuttlebutt going through the ship.
There was a moment of silence before SAM spoke again. "Lieutenant Harper has turn off her Omi-tool therefore I cannot get her exact location."
"Great." Now he had to search the ship and that defiantly draw the crew's attention. They members of the Tempest would only throw in their two cents about the incident in the med bay. He could so without being called stupid, dumb, or dense for at least an hour or two.
"I do believe your best chance in finding her is in the Bio Lab."
In the Bio-lab, Cora was cursing herself and the valve she was struggling with at the moment. Mostly as herself if she was being honest. She shouldn't have caused such a scene. Sighing, Cora tossed her tool back into the case and picked up an adjustable wrench. An Asari Commando needed to be cool, calm, and collected at all times. Both on and off the battlefield. Being emotional triggered bad things to happen.
All of these feelings she harbored for Scott Ryder were new for her and confusing to say the least. Her training kept most physical entanglements causal. Maybe a night or two on shore leave and she'd cut ties. No attachments meant not getting hurt. Cora knew things in Andromeda would be different and that eventually when things settled down so would she. What she didn't expect was to fall for her mentor's son.
And now after the scene in the med bay the entire ship would know.
Going back to cursing herself, Cora clamped the wrench over the troublesome valve. This time she chose to do it allowed making her miss the door hissing open.
"Need some help?"
Cora stiffened at the sound of Scott's voice. Great! She knew she should've locked the door. "I'm fine. It's just being stubborn."
"Hmmm," Scott hummed stepping inside and closed the door behind him. "Not the only thing. At least let me help."
"I said…" Cora felt her biotics swell as Scott knelt down beside her. "…I'm fine."
The force from the wave of energy sent Scott sprawling on the floor, the wrench landing inches from his head.
"Oh God, Scott!" Horrified, Cora rushed to the Pathfinder's side. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"
"I have to remember to never approaching an angry biotic. My sister once threw me off a boat for teasing her too much." Arm aching, Scott pushed himself into a sitting position. "At least it looks like you got the water valve open."
"What-oh!" Cora looked back and sure enough the water was misting over the plants. "I'm sorry, Scott. I usually have more control."
He gave her a teasing smile. "That only means I've done something to really piss you off. Help me up. I'm injured remember."
Cora reached down and tugged. "More at myself. You…You… Scott?" She found her back pressed against the glass case of the hydroponics, hand still trapped in the warmth of his.
"You were right to call my stupid."
"That was out of line," Cora tried to argue, but soon found it difficult to speak when he angled his head downwards towards her. Sweet Jesus in Heaven. He was so close. She could feel his breath fanning across her scorching cheeks. Her heart jumped into her throat.
"Lexi called me the densest human she's ever met. You're both right. I'm both stupid and dense." He cupped her cheek in his free hand. "I never thought you could truly want me. That I was good enough for you."
Her brow furrowed. "How could you even think that?"
"Because you're such an amazing woman and I'm, well, me."
"And that's exactly what I want." Her confession left her lips with no hesitation. Weeks if not months of self-doubt went flying out the window as his piercing blue eyes bare down at her aflamed with both affection and desire.
The corner of his mouth lifted. "Even when I'm being dense and stupid?"
Cora laughed easing the knots in her stomach. "Even then."
"Good because we know those two qualities aren't going away anytime soon."
"Are you going to kiss me or not, Ryder?"
"Oh, I'm definitely going to kiss you." HE hauled her onto her toes and slammed his mouth to hers. There wasn't a moment of hesitation. Cora wrapped an arm around her shoulder while the other tangled in his hair, her lips moving hungrily against his.
Scott wavered ever so slightly, struggling to stay upright under the sheer force of the kiss. He was drowning in her and he couldn't care less if he ever surfaced again. As long as he went out with Cora's taste on his lips and her breathless murmurs in his ears, he could die a happy man.
There was a groan, a sound not human, a moment before the nut of the valve Cora had been working on went flying off.
The sudden stream of water hitting Cora in the face had her pulling away. "SAM!" Her voice was stuck somewhere between laughter and annoyance. "SAM! Shut down the water to the Bio Lab before it floods the whole room."
"Close Lieutenant Harper," SAM announced and the stream of water slowly tapered off.
"You know, Cora." Scott shook his head like a dog flinging of water everywhere before he slicked it back. A teasing smile crossed his face. "If you weren't enjoying it all you had to do was tell me. A blast of water to the face is a tad much."
"Believe me." Cora walked her fingers up his soaking wet chest. "You'd know if I wasn't enjoying it."
Grinning now, he cradled the back of her head in his hand. "Is that so?"
His lips just brushed hers when SAM's voice drew them apart. "Lieutenant Harper I'm detecting an elevated heart rate. Have you been hurt? Should I can Lexi?"
"No, SAM I'm fine." Cora chuckled and looked down at the water pooled at their feet. "I could do with a mop."
"In the meantime, I will run diagnostics on the water Valves to find the source of the malfunction."
"Thank you, SAM."
"I should…umm." Scott cleared his throat. "Go find you a mop and let you get some of you equipment dried out. We do need to talk though."
"How about over drinks?"
Scott arched a brow. "That may raise attention."
Cora shrugged hooking her arms around his neck. "I don't feel like slinking in the shadows." She rose on her toes, brushing a soft kiss against his lips. "Coming to Andromeda taught me a lot in a short amount of time. Meaning that no one should let any opportunity pass them by. Especially ones that make you happy. And you, Scott Ryder, make me happy."
"Tonight," Scott gave her one last kiss. "Meet me at Vortex."
"I'll be there."
"I look forward to it."