Author: diraemythos

- Mass Effect… please don't sue me bioware

Summary- Liara comes out of her shell a little- Kaidan dives back in (Shenko)

With Ears to See (part 3)

"I think they make something to fix that now," Ash joked as Shepard made an awkward turn on the dance floor.

Shepard's eyes were closed in amusement. Her head lolled from side to side as she grooved with all the flair of a one legged geth.

Ashley amended that thought. "You dance like my mom."

Shepard's eyes were still closed and she smiled as she danced. "Mothers everywhere, your son's hearts are safe. I'm hear to steal your moves."

"Maybe a gene-mod… instructional vids… something," she continued to tease.

Shepard echoed the laughter in her voice and replied over the buzz of bad techno and delirium: "I would argue with that, but as you can see…" she twirled around as if to demonstrate.

The two laughed until their stomach muscles seized.

The two women were no doubt a sight on the dance floor- the only ones wearing standard issue alliance garb, and way more hammered than they had any right to be and laughing like idiots.

"Oh, we have every right to be hammered right now," Ashley said as Shepard realized her half-formed thoughts had sprung from her mouth aloud.

"We've been working like goddamn dawgs! Not just dogs- dawgs!"

"In that case…" Shepard grabbed Ash's wrist and dragged her back to the bartender.

The past few weeks had been a rough slog. The errand to find Garoth's brother, Wilem, and Kahoku's men had both yielded tragic results. It was on that note that Shepard had returned to the Citadel- to bear bad news. When Ashley suggested that they go out for drinks, the commander had jumped at the opportunity.

"What do we toast to next?" Shepard asked, holding up a glass of some mystery liquid. "We toasted to Fai-dan… Wilem, … Jenkins…"

Ashley wasn't ready for the mood to sober, even if it would be hours until their systems did. " to Al-Jilani's facial condition…"

Shepard shook her head. Ashley was incorrigible, and thus the perfect drinking partner for a night like this.

Ashley's dark eyes suddenly seemed to gaze inward. "Armistice day is coming up," she said, as quietly as the loud surroundings allowed.

The commander's senses weren't quite as dull as to miss the softening in Ashley's face. She grabbed both their drinks and carried them to a far table. To her credit, she made it look as though she'd been planning on that anyway.

They'd snagged a nice view of outside traffic, and it was somewhat quieter. They could chat without straining their vocal cords and distance gave the illusion of privacy.

"Do you think it's expensive to live here?" Ash said, trying to change the subject.

Shepard eyed her thoughtfully. Ashley was coming to know that look. It was the "I'm not going to judge you, you're safe, but seriously. Spill it," look.

"Flux is fun and all," Shepard said, "but I have a feeling there's more to this outing than sheer boredom."

Ashley kept her face neutral. "You happened to be around." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was getting nearer. Anyway she wasn't about to fling information out there that would make her CO think less of her as a soldier or a person for that matter.

"In that case I'm sorry," came Shepard's non-apology.

Ashley waited for the commander to continue, but was only met by that damn look of hers- calm, sure, protective? She sighed and stretched a kink out of her neck.

"To hell with it… You've read my file, so you know about my family, right? My commanders always find out."

The woman sitting across from her quirked a brow, wondering how the bland background would correlate to a date on the calendar.

Shepard tilted her glass from side to side. "There's almost nothing in your files. Technical scores and some crap assignments…"

"There's a reason for the crap assignments, ma'am," Ashley said. She explained that marking the end of the First Contact War was a long held obligation in her family. Her grandfather was none other than General Williams. Shepard already knew the story- everyone did. The general was a brave man, but a scapegoat one. He'd surrendered in the face of horrific human losses. It was an act of compassion in a politically inconvenient time. Shepard wasn't so sure she'd do anything differently if she'd been in his shoes.

"As I recall, your grandfather held out for quite a while."

"They brought him back in irons. Spent the rest of his life working construction… Every so often there's official talk of having him exonerated somehow but nothing comes of it." She laughed. "It takes a special kind of thick-headed to march into a job where your family's blacklisted."

"The best kind," Shepard corrected her. "I don't care what your family did or didn't do in the past. You're part of my crew."

Ashley had been gulping some of her drink to ease the talk along and nearly sputtered on it. "Not to get all cheesy, but that's the first time a CO's ever said that to me."

She suddenly understood why Williams was so tough on herself. Unjust or not, her grandfather's name was synonymous with Quisling.

A worrisome thought occurred to her. "Your grandfather refused to sacrifice lives just to save face. You planning to throw yourself on a sword to save face for him?"

The dark-eyed woman laughed throatily. "Okay, okay, stop! The is getting waay too heavy for me. We're out here to have fun, blow off steam, remember?""I got something here you ladiez cn' blow," a very round and balding man slurred. He leaned over Ashley, and swayed dangerously.

"Seriously?" Ash grimaced. She and Shepard shared a pained look.

"There's no gud reason two fine honeys like yourself are alone like this." The man looked around, seemingly assured that the spot was private enough. His hand moved to expose his crotch and suddenly both women were on him- perhaps not in the way he had intended. Ash pinned one of his arms behind his back and Shepard's pistol was a fuzzy metallic gleam in his eyes. If the booze made them a little too harsh, a little too enthusiastic, so be it.

"I don't think the aliens here are in need of a human anatomy lesson, thanks," Ash growled.

"Actually we're technically the aliens here, "Shepard said conversationally.

"I wasn't doing anything!" the man protested. "Augh!" Ashley twisted his arm back farther.

The harried volus club owner waddled up to them along with a bouncer. "Commander Shepard!" he greeted with distress. He really did look apologetic, the poor guy.

Evidently the man had been in prior scrapes with c-sec over this, but that was when Choras Den was still in business.

"Dykes," he muttered as the c-sec officer hauled him away.

"That's the third time you've helped me out," he said, scratching his brow sheepishly. "Please, allow me to clear your tab for the evening!"

Shepard's face was placid as she handed the drunkard off to the bouncer and an off duty c-sec officer stood up to assist.

"No trouble, Doran," she said dryly. "I'll take you up on that on our next visit, maybe."

"Lieutenant!" Liara trotted up to Kaidan as he strolled the corridors. "You are a surprisingly hard man to find. Are you busy?"

If she had asked that a few minutes sooner, or a few minutes later, he could politely disengage. Unfortunately he hesitated a moment too long in his reply. The asari began to walk alongside him to whatever his destination was.

"I was gonna hit the showers."

"Oh…" Liara clamped her mouth shut but continued walking with Kaidan.

"Is there something you needed?"

Liara's pretty face looked troubled for a moment. She hadn't forgotten her promise to be subtle and tactful, but it appeared that time was short.

"I'm curious about human biotics. Asari are born with the ability but humans are not. I have some questions about how the our methods and sensations may differ."

Kaidan felt like a dirty old man for thinking that sounded like a come-on. Luckily he recovered quickly with Liara none the wiser.

"It's been a long day. Maybe later," he said politely. "You could try asking Chakwas about it in the meantime."

"While she may be human she is not a biotic," Liara countered.

Kaidan sighed and leaned against the wall. "Uh. Alright then. What do you want to know?"

Liara collected her thoughts. She was surprised to even get this far. She was starting to suspect that the human male didn't like her. Nothing pointed specifically to that impression- other than intuition. He hadn't shown any inclination to speaking with her when he didn't have to. When he did, his words were always stilted and carefully constructed. Not unlike herself, cold comfort as that may be.

"Er… what Biotic-amp do you use?"

Kaidan rubbed his eyes. "Solaris at the moment."

"Hm… I will have to speak to the quartermaster and see about acquiring a Serrice liscence," she mused.

"The items are quite rare and sought after. Maybe Shepard will have some sort of sway on the matter?"

"As a Spectre, you mean? Couldn't hurt to try," Kaidan said, his interest piquing despite himself.

"Have you spoken with her lately?" Liara asked hopefully. "I have not seen her for quite a while.

"Not since yesterday. She's on a girl's night out with Ash. I thought you'd be with them." Kaidan blurted before he could think. "I mean…. Sorry. I don't know what's going on actually," he said lamely.

"No need to explain, Lieutenant. The Commander is free to spend her off-hours as she sees fit." The asari smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Kaidan shifted nervously.

Kaidan scrubbed his hand through his hair. Someday he would master this small-talk thing.

"Wrex!" he nearly shouted when he saw the krogan wandering towards the lockers.

"What?" he grunted, and Kaidan waved him over urgently. He was surprisingly light footed as he trotted over- looking like a mix between a t-rex and a bison.

"We were discussing biotics," Liara explained. "Weren't we-?" Kaidan had slipped away while she was distracted.

"He doesn't like you," Wrex said simply.

"Well, that fun," Ash said as they entered the elevator to the docking bay. It had come out less sarcastic than she'd planned and she was okay with that.

She'd be sober or hung-over in a few hours but she was okay with that, too.

She was in that delicate state between awareness and inhibition and decided it was a good time to pick Shepard's brain.

"No one spends less time off duty than you, Skipper. What made you agree to a night out?" she asked before the elevator would finish its ascent. Why her and not Alenko?

Shepard rubbed her eyes as the doors opened. "Do I need a reason to get out now and then and take in the scenery?"

As if on cue, the lavish array of lights of the city below were open to them. Ash's body made a rubbery T shape as she stretched and drank in the beauty. All the millions of people- strangers, family and friends going about their petty lives below- oblivious to possible galactic destruction… The thought was more heartening than frightening that day.

"Besides, maybe I just wanted to deflect some of the gossip."

"Oh geeze, you are drunk," The gunnery chief chuckled. "What gossip are you talking about?"

"I can't reveal my sources but scuttlebutt says Alenko, T'soni and I go at it nightly like bunnies."

"Oh, wait, I know that one." Ashley said, sounding disappointed. "How'd you hear about it?"

Shepard ran a hand through her glossy hair. "Everyone says Joker knows all the good gossip but I will always go with Chakwas."

"You lie!"

"Right hand to God. No medical secrets, of course. I don't even think she knows she's doing it. But she has a habit of talking while she's really focused on something. I think it helps her think."

Ashley wiped a tear as her laughter abated.

"I get it now. The Normandy…. it gets kinda stifling in there. And I don't mean the living space. Kinda like when I had to take care of my sisters. I loved them to death- and almost did. I had to get away once in a while. Trust me, you need *you* time. You'll be better for it."

The Normandy was silent in its docking, but seemed to hum with its own pulse and breathing. Ashely eyed the ship as if it and not its passengers were in earshot. It was like a dormant beast. The curving lines were cetacean-esque and full of purpose.. Beautiful. Organic. Poised.

Shepard looked skyward as if it held the answers like a cosmic cheat sheet.

"There's been one thing that's been bothering me," she said after a while. "One of the things, anyway."

Ash nodded and waited for her to continue.

"It's not wrong- it may even be good - what I want to do, but for some people on board it may not be right. Does that make sense?"

"None whatsoever. But go on."

"I'm one of the lucky few that has the means and will to fix something that's wrong in my neck of the galaxy, you know?"

"Are you bragging, or complaining? Sorry, go on."

"I don't know how much I can say right now, but there's a third party that may be able to help. They just want a show of good faith. A gesture from me. That's where I'm at a loss."

"Hey, as long as its all above the board and by the book, not that I need to tell *you* that. I may not know the details but you can't get more trustworthy than Chakwas. Why don't you ask Alenko for his input?"

Shepard looked her friend in the eye. "When I need advice from the head I go to Alenko. When I need it from the heart I go to you."

Dammit, did the woman always have to be so straightforward and disarming? The way she spoke left no room to doubt that anything she said was not the absolute truth. If they continued to talk about all this mushy stuff, she'd start to feel like they were trapped in a chick-flick.

"Anyway, about the whatever that you've got planned. We're all with you, 100% blah blah blah. You'll figure something out."

Maybe Ashley was oversimplifying. She couldn't imagine anyone not trusting Shepard. She had that effect on people. The problem was good faith on their part. "If all else fails go in guns-a- blazing. That's my two-chits."

She yawned loudly. "I guess that means its time for me to turn in. You coming?"

"In a bit," Shepard leaned over the railing and breathed in the cool air.

"One last thing, Skipper?"

"Yes, Chief?"

"Do you go at it like bunnies?"

Shepard rolled her eyes. "Dismissed Chief."

Ashley waved as she boarded the ship. Shepard was already snapping back into her fearless leader role.

It was nice while it lasted.

Kaidan was starting to think it was best that he stop thinking about topics that didn't directly relate to his career. The results were disastrous every time he did. It wasn't that he was rusty and out of practice dealing with other people. He simply had no talent for it.

He slid his bulk into the sleeping pod, noting the scratch marks in places where he'd tap his nails on the surface.

He still couldn't believe he'd run from Shepard- had been kicking himself since. She hadn't dared to do anything more salacious than show concern for him. But in the dim light of her room, she'd looked more sultry than usual. Her eyes had looked luminous and hooded, and her lips were soft and (in his mind) suggestive. The velvety tones that poured from her lips did nothing to quell the libido, either.

It was his fault for barging into her room.

Her room. What had he expected- that he could keep his thoughts clean, as a fully grown red-blooded male? What an ass he was.

He'd been a bit starstruck by her since day one. She was easy on the eyes. Very easy on the eyes. Guys fantasized about hot female superiors. It was a natural thing. And yeah, he had her on a pedestal, maybe. A little one. She was a living legend after all. She had saved his life at the spaceport.

He'd once heard Joker say that sexualizing women was a way men coped with having female bosses of any kind. He had scoffed at the time, but it was starting to make sense.

He was in her room, probably standing where she'd undress at night…

Fuck.

He had to leave before he said something stupid. He was already showing a tendency to blurt things out around her and he was acting less and less professional as time went on. Just the other day he caught himself calling her by name and not "Commander" as he usually did.

And then there was this thing with Liara. That woman made him squirm in an entirely different way. He realized that he resented the blue-skinned alien for joining the crew.

It wasn't so much that he felt she had no place there. It was the air of entitlement she seemed to have towards Shepard. The asari had no guile to hide her own obvious crush on the commander.

And she wasn't held down by regs, either.

When had he regressed to being such a child, he wondered to himself. Liara wasn't deserving of his ire. She was older than he was several times over, but still a child by her people's standards. Her position was understandable, too. The commander was intriguing and alluring. Had saved her life and given her a purpose on the crew…

He actually started to laugh and heard it echo in the confines of the pod. He shook his head and eased himself out of the pod. Liara was probably still awake. He owed her a nice, frank chat.

He'd refocus on the job *after* they talked.

Shepard mulled over Major Kyle's tentative correspondence from the Hawking Eta cluster. The man seemed a bit unstable…. Off his rocker, actually. But he was making an effort to contact the outside- insistant that he relate to her as a Spectre and not an alliance CO.

What were his intentions, then?

..

Could she to use her spectre status to transport his followers somewhere safe- somewhere the alliance would not know about?

Everyone was after Spectre favors, now, she groaned inwardly. Just once she'd like someone to grant her a favor and ask nothing of return. Just once.

His followers needed protection. They had some needs he did not have the expertise to meet. Could she be trusted?

"No alliance involvement," she wrote.

"Come alone?"

The omnitool was silent. She could tell them that the alliance military would not be involved. She couldn't exactly hold her crew to that promise, though. Alenko was now ruled out of her plans entirely. He would look like a judas horse to them- leading a herd to slaughter.

"No deal."

"Time running short"