Chapter 2. - 101 drinks.
They docked the Citadel, and the crew looked forward to a couple of days of leave. Shepard left the Normandy too, figuring he could spend some time at the market buying some upgrades, he had seen this specific thing last he had been here, and he sorta hoped it was still here, the price -had- been pretty steep, so maybe the merchant hadn't found a buyer for it yet.
"Where are you going Commander?" Jack called from behind him.
Shepard turned around, surprised not to find Garrus at her heel, he rarely left her side. Shepard wasn't sure he wanted to know the story there. Still it was good to see they got along so well. "The Market." He said, "Buying your engagement ring." He winked and grinned.
"Jerk." Jack muttered good-natured, and jogged to walk along side Shepard. "Mind some company?"
"If you want to," Shepard said, pushing the elevator button, "Don't you have something more interesting to do? Something with a ton of alcohol and some strippers?"
"True." Jack grinned, stepping into the elevator with John. "I'm sure that the strippers wont mind waiting."
"If you say so." Shepard said, smiling, shaking his head amused. He eyed Jack suspiciously, "Where's Garrus?"
"Damned if I know." Jack said with an easy shrug.
"For an expensive freak of nature, you sure are a terrible liar." Shepard teased her.
"Okay, okay." Jack held up her hands in a defensive stance. "He had some stuff to take care of."
Shepard nodded, "I see."
Jack arched a brow, "Why so suspicious?"
"Can you blame me?" Shepard said, eyes trained on the floors that swooshed by outside the elevator. "I know you Jack."
"Alright." Jack sighed, "Look, Garrus and I talked about it, and we realised that none of us know you very well, not that we don't trust you, because we do. We trust you with our lives, or we wouldn't be here. But we are hardly friends." She licked her lips nervously, not sure if Shepard would bolt or aim a gun at her face, when the elevator stopped. "I talk to you every day, you know everything about me that's worth knowing. And I didn't even know you were gay."
Shepard flexed his jaw, while several answers to that question ran around in his head. "That's private." He said harshly, relieved that the elevator had finally reached the bottom floor. He almost fled the elevator, when Jack grabbed his arm.
"Shepard." She said, holding his gaze. "I know, but don't you think that.."
"Jack, listen. I had to learn of your past to assess your part on this team. My private life is mine, end of story." Shepard shrugged Jack's hand off him, and started to walk towards the market.
"What about friends?" Jack called after him.
Shepard stopped, turning around, walking back to Jack. "Don't give me that shit. You don't have friends either. Friends are just a luxury that aren't meant for everyone."
"I used to think the same thing." Jack admitted, "Everyone wants something, right?"
Shepard didn't answer, he just looked at her. Wondering where the hell Jack was, and who this lady who had possessed Jack's body was.
"Garrus changed that, he didn't covet my abilities, he would praise me for them. But he didn't try to take advantage of them, or me. And.." Jack trailed off, seeing that Shepard wasn't listening anymore.
"That's touching. Really." Shepard said with a scornful tone. "Now are we done with the therapy session? I would like to do what i came here for and get the fuck off this station." He turned around again walking towards the market.
"Shit!" Jack growled angrily stomping after Shepard, "Garrus said you were a stubborn asshole."
"Alright." Shepard sighed, "You're giving me a headache." He turned a corner and descended some steps to the ward. "Tell you what, when we're done here, you buy me a drink, and I'll answer whatever question you have." He briefly turned his head and looked at Jack who walked at his side. "Not because I think it's any of your business, or something like that. But if it means so much to you guys, I suppose it can't hurt."
Jack smiled "And Garrus said that tits wouldn't help."
Much against anything he just said, Shepard couldn't help but to laugh out loudly.
"Never took you for a stingy bastard." Shepard muttered studying his drink, ignoring Jacks deep laugh.
"So." Jack said, leaning in over the table. "Tell me about Alenko."
"Why do you want to know about him?" Shepard said, trying to dismiss it as nothing, with a carefree smile.
"Because."
"Alright." Shepard said with a sigh, taking a sip of his blue drink. "He served as Staff Lieutenant on the SSV1 Normandy, and slowly over time we fell in love. And when the Normandy was destroyed I ordered him to rally the crew into the escape pods, and as you know, i didn't make it into one myself." He smiled and took a sip more of his drink. "That's it."
"Shepard." Jack rolled her eyes, "Come on man."
"Hey that is what information you will get with a cheap ass drink like this." Shepard teased her.
"So if i buy you the best the bar has to offer, you'll tell me who's the bottom?" She smiled knowingly, but folded her hands demurely under her chin, batting her eyelashes at Shepard.
"Maybe." Shepard said, with a lopsided smile. "Maybe not."
Jack laughed and left to get them another drink.
Garrus had been amazed of how easy it had been to track down Alenko. Still he hesitated now that he stood outside the room where he knew the man lived, his finger hovered over the doorbell. In the end he pushed it, hearing the little beep inside the apartment. Figuring that Jack would skin him alive if he didn't uphold his part of the plan.
The intercom flickered to life, and a distorted feed of Kaidan emerged. "Garrus?" He asked surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Alenko." Garrus said, "Had some time to kill, and I figured that I'd come by and check up on you." He shrugged, "It was all pretty awkward at Horizon."
"True." Kaidan said, buzzing the door up. Garrus stepped inside the apartments darkness. Kaidan scratched his hair, tussled from sleep. "Catching up on some sleep." He said with a little apologetic smile.
"Sounds like a good idea." Garrus said, sitting down in a chair, watching Kaidan as he pressed a button and the shutters opened up, letting light into the room.
"Did Shepard send you?" Kaidan asked.
"No." Garrus just said.
"Oh." Kaidan said, sitting down on the corner of his bed. "Are you here on Cerberus business then?"
"No." Garrus stated.
"I give up." Kaidan sighed, "So why are you really here?"
Garrus scanned the room, noticing a picture frame with a picture of Alenko, Shepard and himself. He had wanted to take this slow, but how that he was sitting here, he saw no other way than to just take a plunge off into it. "He tore Horizon to pieces to find you, he searched for you for hours." He said, "I haven't seen him that frantic before."
"Shit." Kaidan huffed, "I don't want to talk about Shepard, so if that is why you're here, I suggest that you see yourself out."
"Your choice." Garrus said curtly, getting up from the chair, he looked down at Alenko who sat on the bed. "But I want you to know that he didn't betray you, or abandon you, or whatever foolish ideas you have."
"Of course you would say that. You work for Cerberus too." Kaidan growled.
Garrus shook his head. "No, I work for the Commander." When Kaidan didn't answer, Garrus continued. "You trusted him too, once."
"Well." Alenko said, getting up from the bed, starting to pace the room. "That was before he died, and Cerberus recreated him. Who am I to know that they didn't sneak a spy chip in there or something?" He shook his head, "So to answer your question, yes I trusted him, I fucking -loved- him with everything I had. But that was another Shepard, in another life."
"There's always that." Garrus admitted. He walked to the door, and stopped before he left, turning around he looked at Alenko. "Everybody needs something, and Sheppard needs you."
"No he don't." Kaidan said, pinching the bridge of his nose to fend off the upcoming headache.
"Very well." Garrus shrugged, determined not to show Kaidan how frustrated he was. "He is at Flux, throwing back some drinks. If you should change your mind."
Kaidan just nodded, "It was good to see you Garrus," He said with a little stiff smile.
"Likewise Alenko." Garrus said, and finally left the apartment. Inwardly he was kicking himself, it was not like he didn't know that it was an impossible mission he had set out to solve. But he could have handled it better.
Back at Flux, Shepard was on his fourth drink, and he wasn't much of a drinker. Jack was glad that he was a cheap date like that, and she had learned more about John Shepard in the last hour, than she had in the months they had worked together.
She looked up at Garrus as he came and sat down with a drink in his hand. He just shook his head, and Jack's smile faltered. It was worth a try though, apparently both of them were stubborn assholes.
"Hey Garrus." Shepard leered, "Do you remember Liara? That Asari chick."
"I remember her." Garrus said, studying drunken Shepard amused.
"She's here." Shepard's voice hushed, "As in right over there." He pointed at another table.
Garrus looked over, and had assumed that Shepard was drunk, and was seeing ghosts, but it really -was- her. "I'll be damned." He mumbled.
Shepard nodded, indicating that it had been his exact thought too.
"Why don't you go over and say hi?" Jack asked.
"I don't know." Shepard squirmed, "I don't think that.. No, that would be a bad idea."
Garrus laughed and turned to Jack, "Liara had the biggest crush on Shepard, and she didn't take it all too well, walking in on him and Alenko, In the hangar."
Jack laughed, "I -knew- you were a kinky little shit."
To everyone's surprise Shepard's flushed complexion from drinking, just got a little more flushed. "We weren't naked or nothing." He said, which had both Jack and Garrus laughing.
Jack looked sneaky for a moment, and then she whistled, loud and insisting. Noting as Liara looked in the direction of the sound, she elbowed Garrus, who awkwardly waved at Liara from the table. "Shit Jack, why did you do that?" Garrus whispered, knowing that Shepard wouldn't hear.
"Why not?" Jack said with a shrug, "If he doesn't jump her, I will."
Garrus just groaned, and downed his drink.
Liara studied the table as she walked over, and to her surprise she didn't just find Garrus with his tattooed human friend, but she also saw, "Shepard?"
Shepard looked up at Liara and smiled "Liara."
"How.." Liara decided against the whole 'but you were dead' conversation, and just settled with throwing herself in Shepard's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's good to see you." she whispered in his ear.
Shepard hesitated for a moment, but then wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back. "You too kiddo." He grinned.
"Hey." Jack gestured for Garrus to lean down so she could whisper something. "What did the deadbeat say?"
"He's not coming, he thinks Cerberus implanted a spy chip in Shepard's head." Garrus sighed, "He always were paranoid."
Before Shepard could protest, Liara had dragged him off to the dance floor, he managed to stretch his arm to fetch his drink from the table before she tugged in him again, pulling him on the dance floor. Jack laughed and shook her head, finishing her own drink, nodding at Garrus, "You're owe me, you didn't think i could even get him here."
"Indeed." Garrus said, getting up to get another round. When he came back Jack nodded to the entrance of Flux, "Is that who I think it is?"
Garrus looked up and nodded as he placed the drinks on the table. "That's Alenko alright. I didn't think he would come. He said he wouldn't."
Jack rolled her eyes, "Don't space out on me, Vakarian. You're starting to sound like Mordin. Just because he -said- he wasn't coming is not the same as he isn't gonna come."
With a little confused shake of his head, Garrus sat down at the table. "Humans." He just muttered.
"Do you think he's gonna run off if we invite him over to sit?" Jack asked.
"Possibly." Garrus said, handing Jack her drink.
"Men." Jack sighed, "They just don't make sense."
Garrus turned his head and chuckled, "Oh and women does?" He tasted his drink. "I say your entire bloody race is defunct." Jack gave him a hard glare, and he added. "The good way of course."
Kaidan looked away from the dance floor for a moment, and as he looked towards the bar, saw Jack and Garrus. But of course! He thought to himself, he had walked straight into that one hadn't he? Odds were they had seen him, so now he just had to make the best of it. He took a deep breath and crossed the club to their table with confident strides. He stopped at their table, and with an almost dignified stance nodded at them. "Garrus." He said, "And uh, I don't think I caught your name." He held out his hand to Jack.
"Sit down Alenko." Garrus said, handing Kaidan the drink he had bought for Liana.
"I'm Jack." Jack said, taking Kaidan's outstretched hand.
"Jack." Kaidan said seating himself. He took a tiny sip of the drink, wincing as he never cared for the Turian spirits, they tasted like a mens room smelled. "Tell me Garrus, is that Liana, or am I seeing ghosts?"
"It is."
Kaidan bit his lip, "I read some of a leaked file in regards to project Lazarus." He said softly. "Liana was the one who handed Shepard's body over to Cerberus." He looked stiffly at the dance floor, "I don't know.. Maybe I should be glad that the Illusive man gave us Shepard back, had the Alliance had their way, someone would have raised a monument, and that would have been it." He briefly looked down into his drink. "Maybe, just maybe Liara was ready to do what the rest of us wouldn't."
"Whatever the reasons, someone should go save the Commander from that Asari chick." Jack stated, she pushed John's drink over at Alenko. "Drink up, and go get him."
Alenko looked mortified that she could even make such a suggestion.
Jack just looked at Kaidan with a slightly bored expression. "You don't fool us." She said, "You wouldn't have come here if you didn't give a shit." She downed her drink, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Don't try and tell me you're here for their drinks."
"You don't understand." Kaidan argued, but none the less finished off the two drinks in front of him, with a disgusted winch.
"Oh but I think we do." Garrus said, getting up to get another round of drinks.
"You are a 'glass half empty' kinda guy, aren't you?" Jack asked, staring at Kaidan, demanding an answer. When he just looked away, Jack shook her head disappointed. "Maybe he really just should settle down when we come back from the Omega4 relay, saviors of the galaxy and all." She eyed him closer, "Settle down and have a bunch of little blue kidlets."
"He wouldn't!" Kaidan gasped, and then realised that she had been tricking him. "Shit."
"You know." Jack said amused, reaching out for the drink that Garrus was handing her from a tray. "For a guy with your security clearance, you aren't very clever."
"That is my point exactly." Kaidan said in a childish, sour tone. "It's the John Shepard effect, I forget everything when he is around."
Garrus handed Kaidan two drinks, "Sounds like love to me." He just stated and sat down as dignified as he could after all these drinks.
"Fuck." Alenko cursed, finally looking away from the dance floor. "Why did I even make aware of myself at Horizon, if I had just not let curiosity get the better of me, I wouldn't be sitting here."
"True." Garrus said, leaning in over the table, "But we would also still be looking through containers and crates of canned food for any sign of you." - Jack laughed, nodding. "WE went through a great deal to get you both here, not to mention that I just blew my entire salary on drinks, so do what you have to Lieutenant Alenko, but for once just leave your politics at the door."
Alenko eyed the drinks, and figured that it might be for John, but if he was too sober for this party, and he needed it. He took one drink and downed it, then to the other's surprise took the other drink and downed that too. Standing up he snatched Garrus' drink and downed that in one go, it made his eyes water, and his stomach protest. But he had to.
Jack and Garrus just sat down and watched Alenko walk as straight as he could to the dance floor. For a second he looked like he would chicken out, but apparently composed himself and cut through the dancers. "He took my drink." Garrus stated.
"Get another one, I'll fill you in if something interesting happens." Jack said with a smile, sipping her own drink, keeping her eyes on Kaidan.
Kaidan's heart raced so fast he thought he would pass out, he wasn't sure if it was all that damn Turian alcohol he had consumed in very little time, or if it was the craziness of it all. Once he was on the dance floor, he realised he didn't have any shape or form of battle plan here. So he just had to wing it. Here goes nothing, he thought to himself, and snuck his arms around Shepard's waist, resting his chin on John's shoulder. "Commander." He purred.
Shepard couldn't have been more surprised if he tried to. He wasn't about to question why this happened, he was too drunk to bother. He turned around in Kaidan's arms, and even if he was slightly shorter than Kaidan, he wrapped his arms around Alenko's neck. "You're here." He just said so softly that it was easy to miss in the music. And without any real thought for anything but them, John kissed Kaidan's jawbone.
Kaidan tilted his head to the side, closing his eyes. This was something he had never thought he would feel again. And right now he could just ask himself, why he had thought that he would ever be alright without. He opened his eyes as he felt Shepard's hands on each side of his head, and for a brief second they looked at each other before their lips met, really then neither Shepard or Alenko had been big fans of public displays of affection, but it just didn't matter right now. They poured all they had in that kiss. Kaidan could honestly say that he had never thought that would happen again, and yet it felt like coming home.