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Chapter 10

She Said

I'm sure Kaidan did his best, but cramming us aboard the Concord was a bit awkward. My ragtag bunch of hardened experts was utterly unimpressed with Kaidan's wet-behind-the-ears crew. And I couldn't blame them. I made a mental note to remind Kaidan the recovery of the Normandy was ours to deal with. No use in sending his group of babies to the slaughter-house.

For lack of anywhere else to congregate, we gathered in the hold with our gear. I kept my Omni-Tool open so that EDI could participate in our discussions, but I doubted there was enough memory left in my 'Tool for her to record anything. I paused as the door opened and just looked at my team. Jack lounged on top of the highest pile of crates she could find. Joker sat on another overturned crate, looking at something on his Omni-Tool. Grunt crouched, using yet another crate as a makeshift table to strip down and clean his shotgun. Thane and Samara had retreated to opposite sides of the hold and both seemed to be deep in meditation. Doctor Chakwas seemed to have gotten Tali and Garrus to play a game of cards with her. Texas Hold'em, if I recognized the pattern of the dealer's layout correctly. Miranda and Jacob were merely sitting quietly, her head leaning on his shoulder. Legion was simply standing still, presumably attempting to conserve energy.

"All right, listen up, people!" Everyone stood up from where they were and Jack leaped down from her stack of crates. "We're headed to Illium. Liara T'Soni has been apprised of our situation and has been hunting for clues as to the whereabouts of our ship. Due to the lack of consensus between our Cerberus experts, we are going to need her help." Of course, the "Cerberus experts" began to protest, and I held up my hand. "I'm quite aware that looking for the Normandy is rather like a needle in a galactic haystack. You've all at least narrowed down where she couldn't be."

Garrus leaned on a stack of crates and asked, "So, how much assistance can we count on the Alliance for, anyway, Shepard?"

"Hopefully, all we'll need to ask of them is a ride. I fully intend to keep this rather green crew out of our troubles."

"Does that include Kaidan?" Tali asked, the grin evident in her voice.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. She would bring that up. "This is Spectre business, so yes. Staff Commander Alenko is on a need to know basis." I caught Garrus and Tali's amused glances at each other. "Don't even start, you two."

Garrus flared his mandibles at me in a grin, "So, we just hang out here for two days?"

I nodded at him, "You're not on vacation, though, Vakarian. I need an accounting of what we have and what we need to retake the Normandy. And straighten up our junk. Let's not leave the Concord's hold looking like someplace Grunt spent the night while drunk on ryncol."

EDI's voice spoke from my wrist, "Is there anything you need from me, Commander?" If I were the AI, I'd probably be feeling rather useless, too.

"Joker, come here." The pilot complied with my order and I took off my Omni-Tool and fastened it to his bare wrist. "EDI can help you all with the cataloguing. I'll be back down in a little while to help, too." I felt naked without the 'Tool on my wrist, but EDI needed to feel like part of the crew, too. I wondered when I'd started to take an AI's feelings to account in my actions. But I guess, between her and Legion, I had to.

I headed for the elevator to the CIC, knowing I should probably track down Kaidan and discuss my team's rearrangement of his cargo hold. On the way there, I ran into an Ensign who literally squeaked and jumped back, her brown eyes staring up at me. "C-c-commander? Shepard?" She jerked into an awkward salute, visibly trembling.

"What is it Ensign…?"

"Wheaton, ma'am. Ensign Wheaton? I'm to be your liaison for… for the crew?" I crossed my arms and leaned back on one leg, trying to keep the doubt I felt from my face. What was Kaidan playing at now? My question was answered when she spoke again, "Are there really aliens on your team?" The way she said aliens made me think she'd have been more at home in Cerberus, and I wasn't thinking of my current crew.

"Yes, there are. Is there a problem, Ensign?"

"Uh, no ma'am," her voice broke on the words.

"They're in the cargo hold; they could probably use your help," I thought of who would be the best alien for her to report to. Grunt was out, the teenaged krogan was rather clueless himself. The drell was too human-looking to teach the girl what she needed to learn. That left Mordin, who didn't have the patience, and whom I didn't want distracted, or Tali and Garrus. Garrus it was, Tali would be too nice. "Go talk to Garrus Vakarian, Ensign. He'll tell you what we need. Dismissed."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." The girl squeaked.

I needed to have a talk with Kaidan, the sooner the better. My team wasn't here to disabuse his crew of their prejudices. Annoyed, I took the elevator up to the CIC to track down my former lieutenant. I climbed the steps to the CIC and entered. Turning to find Kaidan, I saw him standing on the dias over the galaxy map, frowning in concentration. I froze and found myself thinking of him as the attractive man he was, not the commanding officer of the ship on which I was currently relying for transportation.

The soft light of the galaxy map highlighted his chiseled cheekbones and that spare amount of stubble he could never seem to shave closely enough to get rid of. His class "As" conformed to his well-muscled body like a second skin. He felt my eyes on him and he turned to look at me, one perfect eyebrow quirked in inquiry. I jerked my head toward the comm. room and started walking that way, trying to get my pulse and breathing under control. Sometimes, the night before Ilos seemed to have been only yesterday, other times, it was more than a lifetime ago. Right now, I was remembering it like it had just happened; I could almost feel his hands on me.

The door swished closed behind him and he stood on the sloping steps, his hands clasped behind his back, "How can I help you, Shepard?"

I swallowed down what I was feeling. "First, thank you for the liaison," I smirked. "I sic'ed Vakarian on her. He's gotten good at dealing with prejudices while we were forced to deal with Cerberus."

Kaidan nodded, "I figured as much. It's a good crew, just a bit green."

"I noticed." He stepped closer to me, his hands still clasped behind his back. I couldn't pull my eyes away from his whiskey-brown ones. "Second, is there anything you need us to do while we're in transit to Illium?"

His eyes still locked with mine, he shook his head. "Not unless you want to allow your team to introduce themselves above decks and get my crew used to non-humans and biotics."

He was so close I could feel his biotics humming along the back of my jaw and the bones of my ears. It was entirely too familiar and I'd missed it too much. I wanted so much to just lean into him and let that electric tingle just wash over me. I wanted my armor off and I wanted his lips against mine and I wanted the last two years and Horizon and that bloody damned email to disappear from between us. He closed the distance. "Shepard." His mouth hovered over my lips, I could feel his breath. There were no regs to stop us, this time. I wasn't even Alliance anymore.

"Kaidan," I replied before his mouth closed over mine.