A/N: All I have to say is - wow, I sure didn't waste any time. I feel like maybe I should have put more in here, but oh well. I imagine the day-to-day life of a Normandy engineer isn't *that* exciting. Plus, this isn't meant to be epically long or anything. So skipping some time is fine. Right?

Here's the third chapter. Let me know what you think. And to the anonymous guest review - Thank you! Very much appreciated! Also, thank you to the few followers I have already. :)


Chapter 3

Halanz collapsed into her bunk, fully clothed, as Traynor began getting her uniform on across the aisle from her. "Rough night," Samantha asked, pulling off her shorts and stepping a leg into her uniform pants. Denna just nodded. "What made it so rough?"

"I spent the entire night welding – one thing. One big thing. I just kept finding corrosion that needed to be chipped away and replaced by new soldering."

"Mmmm, keep that talk up, and I might be late for duty," teased Samantha. She laughed at Denna's groan, caught the pillow thrown at her, and kept getting dressed. When she left, she plopped the pillow on Denna's face, startling her out of a doze. "Take your uniform off, soldier!" After fifteen minutes, she cursed Traynor out loud, waking one or two fellow night-shifters who were now trying to sleep. She got up, unable to sleep, yet exhausted, and wandered out to get something to eat. Maybe something in her stomach would make her fall asleep again.

She passed everyone on the day shift finishing their breakfasts. She forewent coffee, grabbed a plate, looked around, saw no one else, and filled her plate with the rest of the food and sat down to eat. It was technically more than she should eat, but after last night, with how sore it was going to make her shoulders from hanging over the railing by the drive core with soldering iron and welder's mask, she felt justified.

"Hungry?" Liara had exited her room and approached Denna as she sat at a table.

"Uh… yeah, I guess." Answer of the century, Denna.

Liara chuckled. "Obvious answer for an obvious question, I suppose." She sat across from her, datapad in-hand. They settled into a comfortable silence, Liara working, Denna eating. She noticed that Liara wasn't gloved today, and wondered if she'd ever seen her without the gloves before. Her hands were very pretty, a sort of deep sky blue, and Denna found herself somewhat mesmerized as they moved in normal, everyday ways.

Liara noticed the engineer staring at her hands. The woman intrigued her. The human was quite young for her people's standards, twenty-six, if Liara remembered correctly from looking at her service record the night she'd found her with her broken guitar. Liara moved her left hand up to her chin, just to be sure that she was looking at the asari's hands, and – yes! There they went! Denna's eyes flicked to her face before moving just as quickly to her other hand, the one not touching her face. Liara smiled to herself.

Denna continued to eat, chewing quietly, feeling she'd somehow been caught staring, but not sure. She'd been thinking less of Sheila lately. She also felt less guilty about her tryst with James that one drunken night. She'd been reacquainting herself with the mandolin, for whose survival she was actually thankful, as it had been her grandfather's. She'd even pulled out the drums in the shuttle bay and had James and Steve jam with her a little, much to Samantha's delight. It had been four weeks since her precious baby, her beautiful guitar, had crashed to the floor. They hadn't been back to the Citadel since their first trip, instead flying to the war summer, then Sur'Kesh, then to a few backwater planets to root out a Cerberus presence there. She was aching to get back to the Citadel and see her dog – but not her wife.

"Engineer Halanz, I was hoping you'd indulge me and let me buy you a meal when we dock on the Citadel later." Denna almost jumped out of her reverie. She looked questioningly at Liara, her mouth full, no longer chewing. Liara's cheeks became a slightly darker blue. "We've come to know each other a little, but I thought it might be nice to get off the crowded ship and-"

"I'd love to," blurted Denna through her food. She blushed and swallowed heroically. "Sorry, I just wasn't aware we were headed for the Citadel. Don't we have to go cure the genophage?"

"Yes, but it's not ready yet, and we're running low on a few things, so Shepard decided to refuel while we wait for Mordin." Her blush was fading, which Denna was kind of sad for. "So, dinner then? Tonight?"

Denna's flushed face only flushed harder. "Uh, yeah, that sounds… wonderful…" she finished very quietly. "I… you can call me Denna, by the way." She looked up. "You're not even part of the military. My last name is so official, I tend to think I'm being reprimanded when someone uses it along with my title."

Liara smiled. "Denna. Alright. As long as you stop calling me Dr. T'Soni and start calling me Liara."

Denna chuckled. "I think that's more than fair. Now," she said, getting to her feet and grabbing up her plate, "I haven't slept in sixteen hours, and I would very much like to be awake and alert for our, uh… date." She blushed again, cursing her skin for giving her away.

"Sleep well, Denna." Liara's smile said so many things that Denna didn't know how to interpret.

"Thank you. I'd tell you the same, but you clearly keep a normal schedule. So, uh… have a good morning." She hurried away before she could be any more awkward, feeling wide-awake, but like she would sleep like a baby at the same time.


She had awoken when the Normandy docked with the Citadel. The entire crew was granted shore leave. She'd showered, gotten into a fresh uniform – the only clothing she had at this point – and wandered off the ship. By the time she left, it was a ghost ship, and she couldn't find James, Steve, or Samantha. So she just ambled by herself, pleased with the message she'd received in her email from Liara about where and when to meet.

She decided to call on Sheila. She didn't really want to see her, but she did want to see Baxter, and since she had some time to kill, now was as good a time as any. She headed over to her old apartment, site of her last big fight with her soon-to-be ex-wife, sending her a brief message on her way. She received an equally brief reply, saying that she was out, but Denna was welcome to get Baxter and take him out for a bit. When she entered the apartment, Baxter once again tried to jump into her arms. She looked around at the different arrangement – Baxter's bed was in a different place, and Sheila had upgraded the furniture, particularly the bed. A bra that was far too large to be Sheila's sat on the floor next to the bed – Baxter went over, grabbed it in his mouth, and brought it to Denna in much the same way he would bring a toy. She narrowed her eyes and took it from him, placing it up on the kitchen counter. She leashed him up and got the hell out of there, grabbing pick-up bags as she left. He happily trotted next to her, his boxer-butt wiggling in place of a tail whenever they stopped.

She'd been out for an hour when she heard her name being called. She turned to find Liara coming down a street perpendicular to hers. She stopped and waited for her to approach, kneeling and placing her arms around Baxter to keep him from greeting her as enthusiastically as he'd greeted Denna. She was genuinely happy to see her, and hoped that came through in her greeting.

"Hello, Liara," Denna greeted as she got close enough, still kneeling next to the dog with an arm around him, hand on his chest. He was literally vibrating, wanting to cover the woman in kisses and sniffs, and his fur, no doubt.

"Denna, hello. I don't… why do you have an animal with you?" She eyed him cautiously. Maybe asari didn't keep pets?

"This is Baxter, a handsome gentlemen with very few manners," she said, getting up and admonishing him to remain sitting. Somehow he managed to restrain himself. "It's… a long story. Care to walk with me?"

"Y- Yes," Liara said, still looking unsure of the animal. Then her startling blue eyes snapped back to Denna's face. "But only if I get to hear this long story."

"I suppose I can do that," she said, letting Baxter stand, keeping him on a very short leash, and taking a step to continue their walk. "It's, well… It's nothing happy, unfortunately."

Liara walked beside her on the side without the dog. "Is it going to be what you wouldn't tell me all those weeks ago?" Denna nodded, looking ahead of her, then down at Baxter.

"I'm, um, married. I picked Baxter up from my wife's apartment today." Liara looked at her, shock clearly written on her features. Denna hurried on. "Only we're getting divorced. It's not legal, the paperwork hasn't gone through yet, but I had to get my stuff out of her apartment, and – she's taking the dog, since I have nowhere to keep him. Even though I got him before we ever lived together and he's mine."

Liara didn't know what to say. It explained a lot about the woman. Should she continue to try to get involved with her? She hadn't had an outburst that Liara knew about since they'd met in the lounge four weeks before. Instead, they'd had many pleasant interactions in the halls, or in the mess, and she'd even gone to watch her dance a couple of times in the shuttle bay. She knew she made Denna's friends uncomfortable, though, so after the last time, she decided to watch from the loft above the shuttle bay. She hadn't confessed her interest to anyone, though.

After a few moments of silence, Denna continued. "After my parents were killed in a Collector attack, I decided to re-enlist in the Navy. And maybe two months after I got to Earth, I received notice that she'd filed for divorce. She didn't even fucking talk to me about it beforehand – just filed for divorce, citing 'irreconcilable differences.'" She sighed. "And now she's taking my dog, and my guitar is smashed, and I just lost it that night. I had been feeling better, but it was like I'd gotten back part of my life when I was able to play that guitar again. It smashed on the ground kind of represented my life, my marriage, and the entire situation with the war at that moment." They continued walking at a slow pace, the dog walking jauntily beside them.

Liara finally spoke. "Did you ever learn what the differences were?"

Denna looked up at her. "Yeah, I did, the day I got my instruments back. She didn't want to be a military wife. I knew that, but I didn't know she'd leave me over it. It's not like I wanted to be career military. I just felt a duty to help in some way after I lost my family. I met her during my first stint as an Engineer on Earth, in the Navy. And she knew I wanted to serve again, with what had happened to my family. Maybe with my parents dying and all that, it was just too much. Maybe we got married too young. I don't know. But I know she's moved on, found someone else, which I suspected when I was notified that she was still seeking a divorce, even after the attack on Earth. No 'are you alive, are you okay,' just a request for me to get my things when I was next on the Citadel. And a transcript of her deposition, stating, among other things, that she was seeking to keep Baxter, since I was 'unfit to care for him' while serving." She looked back up at Liara from Baxter. "Maybe I was just too inattentive, too selfish. I'm sure that's some of it."

Liara regarded her with those inhumanly blue eyes. "Do you wish she'd take you back?"

Denna looked into the distance, then hung her head a little. "No. Not anymore. Not like this, not with what's happened. Maybe if I could have everything how it was before the Collector attack on my parents' colony. I'm ready to be done with it and never see her again. But as long as we're going to keep coming to the Citadel, I'm going to keep spending time with my boy, here. I raised him, he's a good boy – and I miss him. And every time I see him, it's clear he missed me." She went quiet, looking around as they walked. Then she froze, her eyes fixed in the distance. "Fuck!"

"What?" Liara looked in the direction Denna was looking in, but there was no way she could see anything out of the ordinary.

"That blonde woman in the blue dress? That's Sheila. My… wife. Fuck, what do I do?" Her look was desperate. Liara hesitated a second, then took her hand, laced their fingers together and made her continue walking, steering them in the direction of the blonde woman.

"Just look happy, and not terrified," she whispered in her ear, adding a kiss to her cheek as they got close.

"Denna!" Sheila seemed surprised, which Liara supposed made sense – to see her wife walking with an asari and their pet. But the woman was walking with a black-haired buxom woman in a skin-tight dress who was clearly this new lover Denna had spoken of, so Liara felt she had no room to judge.

"Sheila! How are you?" Denna took her hand from Liara's, wrapped her arm around her waist. "This is-"

"Liara T'Soni," finished Liara, offering a hand. Sheila took it, eyeing them, unable to keep the shock from her face. "We're shipmates aboard the Normandy." Sheila's eyes got wide at the name of the ship. She stammered her own introductions, clearly still not able to regain her footing. They exchanged pleasantries, Liara finally letting go of Denna and taking her hand again.

"Please excuse us. Come, Denna. We'll be late for our dinner date if we don't take your lovely dog home now." And she tugged her away, hoping Denna would indeed choose the right direction for the apartment.

When they rounded a corner, finally out of view, they stopped. "Wow, Liara. I… thank you." She looked up into the blue-skinned woman's deep, blue eyes. Liara just smiled, her cheeks turning a slightly darker shade of blue. "Really, that was just amazing." Truly, the part she'd enjoyed the most was touching Liara. Seeing Sheila again did nothing for her. Her bitterness fell away in that moment, even the bitterness over Baxter – Sheila was right, she couldn't care for him while serving on a ship. She just stared into Liara's eyes, several inches above her own. Beautiful.

"I'm glad I could help make your wife jealous," the asari said, a small rift entering her voice. "Now, shall we go?"

"Wait, Liara." Denna grabbed her hand again to keep her from turning away. "I… don't quite know how this happened, but I… wow, I really like you, Liara. And I wish I had the balls to just kiss you…" She looked at her hand, let go of Liara's, didn't know what to do. Her damn mouth, getting her into trouble.

She felt Liara's hand on her chin. A gentle pressure made Denna face her again. "I admit, I was hoping that was true since I made you coffee all those weeks ago." And she kissed her, leaning over her slightly, grazing her lips across Denna's, not touching her anywhere else but her hand on her chin.

She pulled back before the electricity could truly enflame either of them. "Thank you for telling me about your… domestic troubles. I can't imagine how painful it's been for you, especially with everything else that has happened to you. Now, why don't we take – Baxter, is it? – home, and we can have dinner like we planned." And she took her hand and gave her a little tug, chuckling at Denna being literally frozen in place. She left their hands together for their entire walk.