It was Wednesday night. The course was over, with about ten or so of the trainees actually thinking about joining the Alliance. They had until the week after to submit their completed registration forms through the extranet. Out of 22 students, that was about about a 45% success rate. Could've been worse.

Out of the gang of four he'd been teaching with, Iris was shipping back to her old outpost on Friday and Hotaru would be bouncing around Alliance Command until they figured out what to do with him. Francis was meeting up with a bunch of old friends somewhere else in the colony. That left Kaidan alone, standing at the foot of the Hotel Iris, on Oriana's invitation to see her off before she took the first shuttle out the next morning.

What was he doing here? Even now, some part of him was berating himself for having gone this far. It was already bad enough that he'd agreed to that dinner last week. What was he doing here? He should have said 'no', and followed Francis around. Or chat with Hotaru or Iris. Or gone for a night on the town solo. Or gone cable-skiing in the local lake. Basically, anything besides this.

He pushed aside that part of his mind. She wasn't his student any more, and he wasn't her teacher. That much had been made clear the moment she and the rest of them had walked out of that auditorium that last time. So what was holding him back? Shepard? She was having enough fun herself. There was nothing more to it. They had shared something last week, and he wasn't going to let it go.

Taking a deep breath, he tapped open the door to the club attached to the hotel. The lighting in it was dimmed, except for the strobe light right in the middle, slowly revolving and projecting multicolored lights to every corner of the club. Kaidan recognised the song as being a mix of a fairly popular one back in the day.

I

Have wondered about you

Where will you be

When this is through?

He scanned around the club, looking for his date. After a few seconds, he found her, wearing a long-sleeved purple dress with a skirt so short it'd be considered lewd, except for the pair of shiny black leggings she was wearing under it, which ended in a pair of fierce violet boots.

"Hey, Mr. Alenko."

Kaidan approached her. "Call me Kaidan, Oriana. We're not in class any more."

Leaning forward, she replied, "Then call me Ori, Kaidan."

"Okay, Ori."

He came to sit beside her, calling up a drink; two parts gin to one of cointreau and lime juice each. She matched his with gin and grenadine, skipping the egg white.

If all

If all goes as planned

Will you redeem

My life again?

My life again

He'd barely finished his second sip when she turned to him again. "Wanna dance?"

Kaidan took the third sip to think his answer through. "Lead on, milady."

Laughing, she grabbed his hand and moved to the platform in front of the stage, where the song practically blared at those assembled from all four sides. As they started to move to the music, he instantly noticed one key difference between Shepard and her; while Shepard's attempts at dancing had one day led the entire squad to mock her by shuffling their shoulders in unison in the briefing room, Oriana was a natural. She flowed from move to move so smoothly, and even managed to do a pirouette despite wearing those thick boots. Kaidan tried his best to follow her, although his own moves had been rendered rusty due to no particular need to maintain them.

Fight your foes, you're not alone

Holy war is on the phone

Asking to please stay on hold

The bleeding loss of blood runs cold

She ended her little routine by sliding into a perfect front split, although her achievement was rather undermined by the fact that she then needed a helping hand from Kaidan in getting back two of them were wiping perspiration off their brows, laughing as they came to the bar to return to their drinks. Her round cheeks were blushing. He kissed them, then moved to her lips. Her hand moved down the side of his chest, past his obliques down to his waist. He gently placed her hand on the table, shaking his head to indicate this wasn't the place.

And I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

And I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

A few more sips, and both glasses were drained. In less time than that, they were gone from the club, heading up the elevator to her floor.


Their clothes lay in messy piles by the foot of the bed, their bodies twisting and turning in it. It was, of course, just about too small for both of them, having been booked for just one. But they were trying their best.

Kaidan started with his lips on her neck, working down her throat, which tingled as he licked it, then right over her sternum. All she got after that was a tantalizing brush on each nipple. She shuffled down the sheet to get closer to him, and he obliged.

Her hand went straight for it, and a few gentle rubs later, it stood proud and erect. Kaidan groaned with pleasure as she wrapped her lips around it, her tongue flicking his head. As she let go, he moved to return the favor, parting her legs with his strong arms and the small tuft of hair over hers with his tongue.

Fucking Shepard had never been like this. It was always sex with her, not quite love. She'd had to learn to be tender, to be gentle. With Oriana, he could afford to go slow, moving his lips across her exposed skin, taking in every little moan and twitch she made as he did so.

Finally, he smoothly guided it into her. The look on her face made it perfectly clear that this was she hadn't someone else enter her before, not like this, anyway. He took it slowly, edging in until he was buried to the hilt in her, her legs tightening and loosening around his waist with every inch he moved in. He whispered to her ear.

"Follow me. Do as I do."

Before she could find a pause between her gasps to ask what it was, Kaidan lit up with a brilliant blue biotic sparkle. Oriana's eyes widened, and she complied. The room lit up with their energy, which only amplified every little touch, every brush of skin.

The two of them joined voices in their release. Again and again he moved, ridding himself of every last trace of Shepard with each thrust.


The Shadow Broker was dead, and Liara had found another hole to crawl into - one even more obscure than the one Shepard had first met her in. The whole thing had been crazy, and Shepard was really glad to put it all behind her. That, and the sheer horrendous odor of a dead yahg. Ejecting that damn brute into his own ship's solar sail had been a huge relief.

Liara would be busy setting up shop, asking Shepard to call on her later. Yeah, maybe she'd do that when she felt like talking about old days. Shepard briefly remembered Hackett's message about rescuing some old friend of his from the deepest armpit of batarian space. She'd get to it in a while. What she really needed now was -

"Miranda would like to speak to you, Commander."

Shepard looked up as she passed the little platform she usually stood on when giving Joker his latest coordinates. Kelly was tapping away at her station's keyboard.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the wonderful prospect of running more errands for her crew, Shepard asked, "Did she say what it was about?"

"No, Commander. She did seem rather perturbed, and was muttering about Alliance people being unable to keep it in their-"

"I get the picture." Shepard took a few steps to the elevator. "Uh, thanks for letting me know, Kelly."

"It's always a pleasure talking to-"

The elevator door shut closed.

She really didn't have time for this. Well, Miranda had recently earned a whole bunch of brownie points by telling the Illusive Man in so many words to screw off. Still didn't stop her from being a nag though, especially now the entire purpose she'd singlehandedly (as she related it) brought her back to life had ended with that trip through Omega 4 and back.

Let her rant for a while. All this probably meant that she'd have to drag her ass halfway across the galaxy. Maybe this time she'd have to rescue a teenager or even a little kid version of Miranda. She smirked to herself, imagining her nominal XO in the form of a bratty toddler.


Kaidan had followed Oriana to the spaceport to see her off, helping her with her ponderous mass of luggage. He no longer had to wonder where she'd managed to dig up yesterday's ensemble - one could probably fit half a cabinet in the portmanteau he was lugging around.

As for today, she was in a considerably more conservative dress, with something that barely qualified as a jacket around it. She was carrying two more bags, one on each arm. One could only wonder what more was in their depths.

The side of the shuttle slid open with a hiss and a click, and the three bags were deposited into the hold, much to Kaidan's relief. The two proceeded to the front of the vehicle, where the door too opened, and a series of steps slid out from the bottom of the hull.

Oriana moved towards the staircase, before turning around to face him again, with a slight tinge of sadness.

"I guess this is goodbye, Kaidan."

Kaidan stepped closer to her, returning her pout with a smile. "We'll meet again."

With that, and a swift hand to her waist, he pulled her in for a quick kiss. To his surprise he felt her tongue trying to force its way past his lips. He indulged her for a moment before glancing to the side to remind her they weren't quite alone in the dock.

They parted, and she paused again at the entrance to wave goodbye. Kaidan returned it, and she disappeared into the shuttle. Kaidan walked past the barricades, waiting for the shuttle to take to the skies, away from here forever.


The door slid open, revealing Miranda sitting cross-legged at her usual desk, supreme irritation seemingly about to burst from her seams. She stood up the instant Shepard had taken one step into her office.

"We need to talk, Shepard."

Crossing her arms nonchalantly, she replied, "Yes, Miranda. That would be the chief reason why I've decided to come down here, against my allegedly better judgment. Get to it."

"You know my sister, Oriana?"

"How could I forget?"

Miranda went to her computer, and with a few keystrokes had loaded something or other. "Using the Shadow Broker's resources, I was able to get a few feeds of the hotel where she's staying as part of some Alliance outreach programme for biotics. A foolish idea, getting on some Alliance shortlist, free for every tom-dick-and-harry to check up on, but that was her decision, and I respected that..."

"...Not like spying on your sister's hotel room is excessively creepy or in any way a symptom of general issues with needing to keep tabs on everyone one knows, not at all..."

She glared at Shepard. "Look here, commander, you yourself said to 'get to it'. Do you want to hear what I have to say or continue to needle me with unneccessary snipes?"

With a sigh, Shepard said, "All right, Miranda. What's the problem?"

"She appears to be fraternising with one of her instructors."

Shepard's right eyebrow jacked up a little. "Concerning, I guess, but what's it got to do with-"

"It might interest you to know just who said instructor is, Shepard."

With that, she had turned the screen a hundred and eighty degrees to face Shepard. The image on screen was a blurred one, showing patrons of some nightclub somewhere. At its center were two figures. One of them, she guessed, was Oriana, based on her hairdo and the dress she had on. The other was...no, it couldn't be. No. Not him. Not with her. Not-

"Kaidan Alenko, Terra Nova."

The figures came to life. They stumbled to the chairs by the bar. They drank their cocktails. They kissed. Passionately. Her hand travelled to his side, and the other hungrily went further south. He gently but firmly placed them somewhere more appropriate, then led her by hand out of the camera's range, both of them clearly filled with alcohol and lust alike.

Any other time, the sheer range of Shepard's Liara-esque eye twitches and contortions would've been positively hilarious. But Miranda took them all in very, very sombrely.

Finally, allowing the dust to settle in Shepard's mind, she simply spoke. "You understand now, don't you?"

Blinking to return to reality, Shepard replied, "Yes."

"I hope-"

"No need to. I'll go and talk to him. Immediately."

"Thank you, Shepard," Miranda said, nodding.

The door clicked shut, and Shepard was gone. She ignored Thane heading to Gardner to get lunch, and Garrus heading to the little turian's room. She needed to get to her cabin, and she needed to get there now.

-

The engines of the shuttle roared to life, and in a matter of seconds, it had shot through the heavens, taking Oriana away with it. Kaidan smiled and turned away to exit the spaceport. It was after he'd gotten a small snack at the stand when his omnitool rang to life. He gazed down at the message it had to say.

[Shepard:] Need to talk. NOW.

His heart fell, and the color drained from his cheeks. It could only be about one thing. He strode out swiftly and called for a cab to take him to the community centre, imagining all the way there a thousand variations of what was to come...


Later.

The screen came to life. Shepard stared from it. It was the same indignant expression she'd worn when they'd last met. Kaidan wished that it didn't belong on a face as fair as hers - but she was a soldier first and foremost. Seeing it again shot a pang of guilt and hurt straight to his heart. Nothing had changed since Horizon. Nothing at all.

She spoke first. "Kaidan."

His mouth felt so dry. He managed a, "Yes."

"Am I right to say you're currently an instructor on Terra Nova?"

"Not any more."

"Did you come in contact with a certain Oriana?"

It came out mechanically. "Yes."

"Did you-

It was just then that Kaidan couldn't bear it any longer. Deep inside him, a floodgate wrenched itself free, unable to restrain the flow of emotions pounding against the walls of his heart.

"I'm so sorry, Shepard. I reacted. I was angry after Horizon. Then when I heard went through the Omega 4 relay and back and you didn't bother to say anything, I-"

And now, to the greatest of his surprise, she snapped, "Dammit, Kaidan! I don't care about that!"

-

Judging by the mollified look on the shimmering image of Kaidan's face, she instantly regretted blurting that out. Waving her hand in front of her face, she quickly added on, "Sorry - I didn't mean it that way - Sorry."

She could hardly bear to look his image in the eyes. It was as if something had broken deep inside him. Trying her best to ignore it, she continued, focusing on righteous anger instead.

"What I mean is, you were her teacher, Kaidan! She trusted you to teach her and take care of her, and you took advantage of it! What if one of your instructors at BAaT-"

The hurt was gone from his face. The bad thing about that was that it had been replaced by indignation.

-

Within seconds, the ball of angst had roared into fury. Kaidan yelled, "It wasn't anything like that! We didn't even do anything until the course finished. Don't claim to understand everything, Shepard. What's it to you anyway?! You don't even care!"

Now it was his turn to realise that words had slipped out, words that could never be taken back. Shepard glanced away for a second - just a second, to cast aside what Kaidan had just said in anger - then turned back to him, with as closest to a neutral expression as she could now manage.

"What last name did she give when she registered?", she asked.

The question was so sudden it jolted Kaidan out of his temper. "Uh, Davis. You mean-"

"Her real name is 'Lawson'."

Lawson. Lawson. A name in a file, during a briefing. Something to do with...something about..."Wait, Lawson as in-" he spluttered again.

"As in Miranda Lawson, the Cerberus operative. The one that was with me and Garrus on Horizon."

"You mean...She's her..."

Shepared nodded her head silently.

"...sister...oh god..."

Kaidan slumped back into his chair, surely as if a blow had landed on his chest. He brought a hand to the side of his face.

"Are you still in contact with her?"

He shook his head. "She's shipped off to Feros. Only extranet-mail."

"Can I take it you won't..."

He nodded his head.

Shepard cast her eyes to the ground. "Thank you, Kaidan. As for...other matters...we'll talk about them another time...when everything isn't crashing and tumbling around my ears all at once...when we..." Words were failing her.

He nodded his head again. Words had failed him too.

The image of Shepard flickered and died. Kaidan sat dumbstruck in his chair, staring into empty space, those five words echoing again and again in his head.

...I don't care about that...

...I don't care about that...

...I don't care about that...