Location: Personal Quarters of Commander Liam Shepard —SSV Dublin deck 5— Ontarom

Five freshly starched uniform shirts and three pairs of dress pants joined a stack of data-pads already in his bag. Liam looked around for anything he'd missed but the place was bare. It suddenly dawned on him just how impersonal his room really was.

The stainless steel walls didn't carry any marks of his existence, neither did the perfect grey slab they called a desk. The room that was once inviting suddenly seemed cold and empty, ready to dazzle some other officer in his place.

Plunking down on the bed beside his single suitcase, Shepard raised his omni-tool and tried Michael again. The kid hadn't answered any of his fifteen calls and Liam was beginning to worry.

Selecting his number, he was about to press down on the key when the omni-tool announced an incoming call. At the sight of the caller ID his heart relaxed and he answered with an elated smile, only to let it drop when Sasha's sleepy eyes met his.

Even in the middle of the night she looked breathtaking, her raven hair fell in ringlets and something about her tousled strands of hair made Sasha radiate.

His mind was struck with an onslaught of memories. Mainly the morning ones where she laughed in his arms whenever he nuzzled the back of her neck before he had time to shave, or when she shrieked in delight every time toddler Mikey jumped aboard with the breakfast song.

"Don't even think about leaving another message," she croaked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as he tried to compose himself.

"Hey you," he whispered, trying to keep his voice low by way of apology, "sorry I didn't realize it was that late."

"It's ten in the morning," she mumbled, raising her arms high above her head as she stretched sensuously. The blankets dipped below her breasts to reveal a lacey nightshirt, but she caught it before it slipped away completely. "What's the fire?"

Liam gulped as his brain came back online. "Where's Michael? I thought I phoned his omni-tool?"

"It is. I had to pry the damn thing away from him before they left..." she trailed off. Her eyes narrowed as she suddenly caught herself. "Oh no you don't."

"Don't what? I just want to talk to my son," Liam replied, not in the mood for another one of her mind games. Sasha had a suspicious nature about the stupidest things. One time when he brought her flowers she spent an entire afternoon interrogating him on their meaning, as if a man couldn't just treat his woman once in a while. Suspicion was probably another thing she inherited from her father, but Liam valued his life too much to say that out loud.

"I know that look, Liam," she accused, pointing a finger at him as if he just caught him with his pants down. Her green eyes flashed with malevolence. "You're unbelievable. What is it you think Michael can say that will make it all go away?"

Now he was completely lost. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can see it on your face clear as day," she seethed. "Something bad happens and you're the world's most attentive dad for a month, two tops. Then it's mission-as-usual until the next event breaks you."

In his life Liam had been, shot, stabbed, nearly blown to bits and operated on without anesthetic; but her words right now hurt more.

"Sash..." he stammered, unable to form a coherent thought let alone a sentence. Is that what I've been leaving her to deal with? No wonder she dumped my ass.

Something in her voice softened and suddenly the anger died as she took a deep breath. "Don't you see what it does to him? You can't just pop into his life, be his hero and then leave."

"I'm..." Liam didn't know what to say. A part of him wanted to argue, to prove her wrong and do anything necessary to reassure her that this was not true. But he was still reeling from her confession. Sasha was no stranger to letting her thoughts and feelings be heard, yet there was something off about her confession and his brain wouldn't let it go.

"I know you're trying to protect him. I get it." A single tear started streaming down her face and she swiped at it furiously. He wanted to reach over and wipe it. Seeing her cry wrecked him inside but his internal alarm rang loud. She was never this emotional. What the hell is going on? "But I'm always left to pick up the pieces. Why didn't you just tell us what you were running from?"

"Hey," he started, finding his voice again, "Sasha is everything okay?"

"This isn't about me, Liam," she stammered, sniffling lightly. "Just leave him alone."

"He's my son. I have a right to see him and I'm going to," he replied, abandoning all earlier desire to stay calm. "So you can either tell me where he is or I'll turn this entire galaxy to ash looking for him."

She nodded in defeat. "He's on Elysium. Dillon thought it'd be a good idea to take him camping for a while."

Feeling raw and just about ready to bend steel, Shepard sighed and counted backwards to ten exactly like the stupid pamphlet on PTSD trigger symptoms suggested. To this date it was the only useful suggestion that actually worked.

Of all the places to visit, Liam hoped Michael would never set foot on Elysium. That charred battlefield, those kids, the batarians...the bodies. He didn't want any member of his family to see that let alone his own son.

"And you let him go?" Liam said evenly, clamping down on his temper.

Sasha shook her head in disbelief. "That's not fair. He had every right to go there and you know it."

"He has no fucking idea of what happened there!" Liam nearly shouted.

"And whose fault is that?" She spat back through clenched teeth. "God—I don't need this. Just leave us alone."

"I'm going over there," Liam announced, making a show of drawing his Paladin. "Next time Dillon wants to take my son to a battlefield—"

Sasha only shook her head dismissively and cut the connection.

"—I'll kill him," Liam finished, eyes burning as he watched the static. The Paladin tumbled from his grip and plopped onto the mattress. Shepard leaned forward and buried his face in both hands.

And there it was in a nutshell, the darkness of his palms told him exactly why he wasn't with Sasha anymore. At some point he nearly convinced himself that they were just taking a break, things would get better, but they never did. These arguments and their variations were constant. She was furious every time he was shipped out on special ops at a moment's notice. Always fumed when he came home and it took about three days of sweetness to finally get her to accept him again after a long engagement. But as the missions got longer so did the time for her acceptance and naturally things waned between them, replaced with constant bickering and lack of real communication. For years he blamed himself for her anger, but now, maybe it was age or just plain acceptance but hearing her out like this struck a chord he felt was long ignored in his life.

A knock on his door drew his attention. "Come in," he said, looking up but not moving from his bed. Wearing a hoodie and jeans wasn't the most refined way to impress someone but he didn't give a shit.

Instead, he opted to watch a familiar brunette peek from around the corner and battle her nerves as she gave a clean salute. "Commander Shepard...Sir," Traynor stammered not sure if she should wait for his salute or continue. "I've been asked to find you."

"Have you been told why?" Shepard asked calmly, doing a wonderful job of hiding his bewilderment. Techs from the Ontarom base kept their distance from the Dub. Another sign of bad blood between Brock and everyone else.

"Oh..." Now it was her turn to look abashed as she clamped her hands behind her at ease. "I thought you'd been briefed?"

"Briefed on what exactly?" Shepard said, regretting the tone of his voice when Traynor flinched.

Deciding to get it over with and run for the hills, Traynor took a deep breath. "Captain Flores has asked me to come aboard."

"That's great news, congratulations, Sam," Liam replied, actually meaning it. At least someone had good news around here, he stood and strode over with a smile. "I guess this means you're officially free from Brock."

"I suppose so..." she fidgeted, in a way that endeared him. "She...also mentioned something about taking over your duties...in regards to the tech archive that was recovered."

Several things came to him at once. First on the list was Vega's mention of the archives they retrieved, second was the fact that he totally forgot all about them!

o~O~o

Shepard barged onto the CIC, ignoring everyone's sudden halt. If they had a problem with his casual attire they wisely kept quiet. Casey and Glen quickly left their monitors and intercepted his path.

"Shepard!" Casey squealed, and clamped her hands together then rounded on Glen. "See? I told you he's not going anywhere."

"That ain't what I'm hearing." Glen crossed his arms and waited for answers. "What gives, Shep? You leaving just cause' Blitz and I didn't see a biotic bomb?"

Liam shrugged, he had enough enemies and didn't want another fight. "We both saw our versions of what happened. No need to split hairs."

"Shepard we've been biotics for a long time. What you're saying just ain't possible, it's nothing personal," Glen tried to appease, totally misreading the situation. Liam only had eyes for the Captain and like always she was nowhere to be found.

"I never said it was," Liam replied, pushing past them. "Excuse me."

Making a beeline for the bridge, he barely got out in time as Flores stormed out with Preston hot on her heels. The Thunder assault rifle in her hands could punch a hole through a tank and everyone knew it. A few junior NCOs saluted but wisely kept clear.

"I'm not saying we sit on it. I just think we need to do some proper verification before we jump into this mess," Preston reasoned, matching her pace.

She didn't even look at him as she strode past. Glen and Casey watched the scene unfold but didn't say anything as Liam rushed after the duo. It was Preston who finally cut Flores off by planting himself between her and the elevator.

"I appreciate your concern but I don't have time for it now," Flores said in a sharp low voice while inspecting her weapon.

"I'd like to go with you," Preston stated, ignoring Liam as he hovered around them. Flores looked to him as if he were a favorite pet.

"I already have a squad," she replied, as the doors pinged open. Preston moved to follow but her hand on his chest stopped him in his tracks. "Besides, you have command of the deck. So stay put."

"Ma'am..." But protest died on his lips as a shared look of understanding passed between officer and first mate. Liam sensed a bond that went deeper than any battlefield and it hit him harder than he thought it should.

Liam took his chance and slipped in just as the doors closed between Flores and Preston.

As the lift descended, Flores thumbed the rifle's cooling chambers, looking at them from every possible angle.

The atmosphere was tense. Even though he had a million questions all of them were gobbled up with the thoughts racing his racing mind. He technically still had a decision to make.

"If you plan on going AWOL don't be here when I get back," Flores suddenly spoke, calmly collapsing her rifle and clamping it to the magnetic holder at the back of her armor.

Shepard barely held back a snort at her straightforwardness but decided to play it easy. "First Vega and now Traynor? You don't want me to leave. I'm flattered."

"I don't give a shit either way," she replied as she donned her helmet, muffing her voice near the end.

If there was ever a greater opening to leave, it was now. But if he was honest with himself, it was never much of a realistic possibility. As much as he wanted to see his son, he knew he overreacted earlier.

"I'm going with you," Liam declared, giving her a sideways glance. But that damn tinted visor shielded her reaction.

"You don't even know where I'm going," her voice boomed through the external speakers.

"Doesn't matter." Liam shook his head and hit the emergency stop button before they could descend to the hangar floor. "It's clearly something to do with Elena. Otherwise you wouldn't be breaking protocol by abandoning your ship in a non-wartime situation."

She didn't say anything but she didn't really have to. He could tell by her slightly rapid breaths he was right on the money; and dad didn't raise him to just sit there and watch while pretty women got their hands dirty.

"And your condition?"

"I'll be seeing Doctor Chakwas. It's all been taken care of," he lied, hoping some deity up there had his back today. It was stupid but at this point he was ready to do anything to ensure she didn't lone wolf this mission.

With one hand on the emergency stop button, Liam didn't move. Something about being this close to her drew him in. He could feel a sense of reciprocity in the way she spoke, "Shepard?"

"Yes?"

"We need to go." Like a bucket of cold water the moment shattered and he wanted to kick himself for being so stupid. She was clearly in the middle of something important and here he was wasting time admiring her.

"Right." He let go of the emergency stop button and the lift continued its descent. "Where to?"

"New Thebes, Anhur." She straightened up and brushed the hilt of the pistol holstered at her side. "Get your gear and make sure you linkup with Traynor. I want you to crack that data archive remotely so that we're not introducing some virus into the system."

"Yes, Captain." He wanted to point out that the data structure they discovered didn't have to be connected to the ship's computers in order to be cracked. But it was pretty clear she just wanted to keep things off record which was fine by him.

The lift ground to a halt and the doors opened to the busy hangar bay. "And Liam?"

"Ma'am?"

"From here on in we're doing spec ops. So it's Flores if you want to be formal," she said and took her first step into the hangar. "Dana if you don't."

He swore he could sense her smile beneath that visor as she walked away. Maybe just this once, the peace would last.