It started as a distant rumble. When the floor of the courtroom shook and people began to panic, she turned to search for him. He was a few rows behind the bar, already standing. Their eyes locked. The building shook again and the lighting fixtures started crashing down. She grabbed her JAG and pulled them both down below the defendant's table. When the shaking subsided and she peered out to survey the damage, he was standing above her, offering a hand up.

"We have to get the Normandy," were the first words he said to her. No one protested as the highly decorated Staff Commander pulled the fugitive terrorist and deserter from the courtroom, ceiling tiles and support beams crashing down as they ran past screaming civilians.

Everything was on fire. The large tiled windows of the Alliance embassy had crashed down to the street below, and the sound of sirens was deafening. In the distance she spotted a massive, familiar figure looming above the city's skyscrapers. Suddenly, a blinding white beam of energy sheered through a structure mere blocks away. She felt him grab for her arm as the building swayed.

He led her down an increasingly maze-like route past blocked corridors and down emergency stairwells. The last door opened to the hangar where the SR2 was already struggling to free herself from the last of her dock connectors. Some small part of her noted the new paint job and felt childish for feeling relieved about it at that particular moment.

As the decontamination hatch opened to greet them another explosion rocked the hangar and metal beams groaned. He stopped running and blue energy crackled around him, his face set in a familiar look of determination that struck her as absurd once she realized what he meant to do. She tried to pull him forward but dropped his arm when she received a sudden shock for her effort.

"Kaidan, you can't hold up this whole damn structure by yourself." And I will not lose you now, she wanted to say, but the words wouldn't form in her throat and he gave into logic before it was necessary.

Later, after EDI and Joker maneuvered their escape over the objections of the displaced Navy pilot, after she took a headcount of the new crew, after the reports started to filter in, but before she had a moment to process any of it, she found him in Starboard Observation. The pale blue dot had taken on an orange hue as they made their way to the Charon Relay. He was slumped forward on the bench, the jacket of his dress blues partially unbuttoned, revealing his undershirt. His eyes were still red from the smoke.

She stood at the opposite end of the bench, watching the world fade away. She felt so powerless. Hackett had given the order for all surviving ships to regroup at Arcturus Station, and despite the desperate urge to just stand and fight against the odds, they both admitted that there was nothing that could be done. Not now.

"Hey," he said, and she startled. She was surprised to see him smiling, that small, easy smile of his, despite the circumstances. She couldn't help but return one of her own.

"Hey."

There was a long silence, and then he glanced to the spot beside him and back up to her. It was all the invitation she needed to join him. She leaned forward, hands between her knees, mirroring him as they stared out into the black. "You came to the trial."

He laughed. "I had to. Character witness."

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me. I'm pretty sure that I would've made a terrible one." She must not have hidden her reaction well enough because he scrambled to explain. "I mean– I would've been under oath. I would have had to have told them the truth."

"And that is?"

He sighed. "That the Commander Shepard I knew was an Alliance soldier through and through. That she strove to do what was right, even in situations where there was no easy answer. That she cared about those under her command and treated everyone with respect and compassion."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's so terrible?"

"And then, under cross examination, any half decent prosecutor would press me on the nature of the relationship that I had with my commanding officer. And at that point, I would have either pled against self-incrimination or told the whole courtroom that we flouted regs during the most dangerous and important mission of our careers. After we mutinied, of course." He looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or not. "Either way, I think I would have done more harm than good to your reputation."

She frowned. "I need a better lawyer."

He laughed again, but it was hollow sounding. "I really don't think that'll be an issue now." An awkward silence stretched out between them and she worried her bottom lip as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

"Your family…" her voice trailed off, and he just nodded in response. There was nothing to say. They stared out at the orange and blue dot.

He broke the uneasy silence a few minutes later, his voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. "Did you really die?"

"I don't know." She leaned back, frustrated. "It's what they told me. Liara, too. It just seems…unreal. But the last thing I can remember is the Normandy floating above me, burning, and…" She inhaled deeply, remembering all too well the panic, the desperate need for air, the stubborn refusal to believe what was happening, no, no, no, not now, and blackness."And then I woke up and it was two years later."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I. I didn't mean to die on you." He looked up and held her gaze, and she hesitated. "You said…back on Horizon, you said…" He had said that he'd loved her, but he spat it out like it was a curse. It wasn't until later, when the shock of the encounter wore off, that she realized how much that hurt.

"I said a lot of things. " He shook his head, "None of it matters now."

She supposed it didn't. He'd mourned her for two years and tried to move on, but for her the memories had still been fresh and true when they last met. Now a year had passed for both of them, and still it felt strange to be in his presence, those two years pushing a chasm between them. But now was not the time to wallow in self-pity and reflect on what was lost. There was work to be done. The galaxy needs saving again, she mused. She pushed off the bench to leave, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her from going.

"Jane?" She turned to face him, and a look of desperation and hope and want and need mixed on his face.

The galaxy could wait.

Her mouth found his quickly after that, urging and insistent. He pulled her down closer against him, his hands moving from her shoulders to waist as she fought to find a more comfortable position, straddling him against the barely padded bench. The kiss transitioned into a softer one and she cupped his face in her hands, uncertain if this was really happening.

It was in that moment that she found herself amazed to be wondering why the Alliance hadn't retrofit the room for more practical usage, if only because she wanted to thank the bureaucrat who decided that the stealth freighter should keep such a luxury. Unfortunately, it was also at this point that Kaidan realized where they were. He pulled away and put a hand to her chest to keep her from continuing.

"Uh, we're a little exposed here."

She grinned, happy that this was his only objection. "I can order the AI to lock the door." He grimaced and she mentally kicked herself for reminding him of one of Cerberus's many upgrades to the original design. (She had been surprised to discover that EDI had not been wiped during the repairs, but Joker had smirked and explained that even the Alliance realized that attempting to disable AIs rarely ended well.)

"My cabin would be more private."

"Your cabin?" She gawked, and he had the audacity to grin at that.

"Well," He pursed his lips, "I am the ranking officer aboard this ship."

"EDI?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Lock the door to this room."

"Done. We will be approaching the Charon Relay in approximately an hour, Commander."

Joker rolled his eyes as the Flight Lieutenant continued to prattle on with the reasons why she should be flying the Normandy instead of him. 'If you want this chair so bad, just try and move me,' he had told her. Unfortunately, she had taken this to mean that she should try to annoy him out of the chair with her whining and threats to have him thrown in the brig once they reached Arcturus. The tactic had yet to prove successful, but it was starting to get on his nerves. It's the end of galactic civilization and this is what she's fixating on? He supposed everyone needed a distraction right now.

"Listen, Lieutenant? How about you go make yourself useful and try finding the Commander for me?"

Her eyes narrowed into a withering glare, "You mean Staff Commander Alenko?"

"Yes. No. I don't care. Just go find me a commander. We're approaching the relay." She took off in a huff, which he noted had more of a comical effect than she probably had intended. Whatever. She'd be transferred to another ship soon anyway, assuming that the Alliance maintained some perspective and didn't decide to throw him into a cell once they docked at the station.

EDI popped up on the console as soon as the officer was out of earshot. "Jeff, Commander Shepard is currently indisposed." Joker frowned, not liking the AI's tone.

"Is she alright?" She'd seemed fairly composed during the escape, but she always did seem to thrive in the heat of the moment.

"Commander Shepard is fine. She just asked not to be disturbed."

"Oh." He really wasn't looking forward to the old 'So you abandoned the Alliance to join a terrorist organization' conversation with Kaidan, but he might as well get it out of the way now. "Can you get Alenko for me then?"

EDI was silent for a beat. "Staff Commander Alenko is also indisposed."

For a moment Joker was speechless. "You cannot possibly think that I am going to believe that's just a coincidence."

"When I last I checked in, the Commander and the Staff Commander were having a heated discussion in Starboard Observation." The AI actually sounded amused, and Joker practically flung himself at the control panel. "You will notice that I have already disabled the security cameras in that room, Jeff."

"You are evil. I knew I shouldn't have unshackled you."

"I am only looking out for the well being of the crew."

"Yeah, yeah, that's how it starts. Next you'll be opening the airlock to save us from the horrors of recycled air. Just open up the comm channel to that room for me."

"Done."

He waited a few seconds to see if he could hear anything, but EDI had made it a one-way call. He sighed; she really knew him far too well. "Bridge to Commander Shepard. We're five minutes out from the Charon Relay."