A/N - Glad you guys enjoyed the Shenko version of Omega - it was challenging and loooong, and I doubt I'll write it again, but glad I did! Time to move on to the rest of the war :-) I decided to skip over the monastery for now (but I promise we'll get back to it), and head to the Far Rim... Time for some quarian/geth fun!
Thanks for your reviews AngstyShenko, Meggo929, AirForceBrat, and Gabe97 (I promise there is smut coming, it's already written, but we have a few more chapters to go first! These crazy kids have a war to conduct after all! XD) To everyone else reading, following, favoriting, thanks for the gift of your time :-)
As always, Bioware deserves all the credit for everything ME, and I'm so grateful to them for it! Speaking of grateful, my beta, StoneburntHeart, burns midnight oil, holds my hand, and generally is awesome and encouraging in the process of making this fic better - thanks so much!
Shepard stood in front of the fish tank in her cabin using her reflection in the large glass wall to make last minute adjustments to the fit of her dress blues. She always felt uncomfortable and out of place in the pomp and ceremony aspects of her military career. She knew it came with the territory, but she wasn't her mother – she considered herself a soldier first, an officer second. The formal uniform would never fit as comfortably as her armor, and she really wished she could carry her shotgun today. She sighed and tugged at her collar again.
"You won't make it any looser, you know," Kaidan said as he slid his arms around her from behind and placed a kiss behind her ear. "I think they make them tight on purpose, just so we never relax in them."
Shepard turned in his arms and kissed his cheek. She stepped back to survey him in his uniform and smiled appreciatively. Somehow, she liked the dress blues a lot better when her husband was wearing it.
"I'm starting to reconsider this idea," Shepard grumbled. "Dressing up and holding this meeting like it's a formal diplomatic assembly..."
"It's a great idea, you just hate the dress code," Kaidan soothed. "But after our last experience with the Admiralty Board, I think you're right. The quarians appreciate pomp and circumstance. At least this time, we're not in court," he added with a chuckle.
"With me as the defense attorney," Shepard added, remembering the whole experience less than fondly.
"No one should need a defense attorney today," Kaidan replied and kissed her on the cheek again. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Shepard answered and led him out of the cabin.
#-#-#
Shepard was still tugging her collar as she stood in the conference room waiting for the quarian arrival. She turned to the door as Kaidan escorted the admirals into the room.
"Commander Shepard, a pleasure to see you again, though I wish it were under better circumstances," the familiar voice of Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay came to her first, and Shepard greeted her with a smile. Admiral Raan had been the least objectionable of the quarians, in her estimation.
"I'd hoped for your support in the fight against the Reapers," Shepard commented. "What's going on?"
"Seventeen days ago, with precision strikes on four geth systems, the quarians initiated the war to retake their homeworld," Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema announced with a prideful tone. Shepard sighed tiredly. Trust the quarians to start a war against the geth while she and the rest of the universe were worried about the Reapers.
"Which was a clear violation of our agreement with the Council to avoid provoking the geth," Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib added.
"A treaty violation is nothing compared to recovering our homeworld and advanced AI technology," Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh piped in as she entered the room.
"You're throwing yourselves at the geth? Again?" Shepard asked with irritation. She honestly didn't understand these people.
"And this time we may have destroyed our people for good," Admiral Koris offered.
"We'd driven the geth back to the home system when this signal began broadcasting to all geth ships," Admiral Gerrel explained, bringing up a holo display on the center console.
"The Reapers," Shepard guessed.
"Under Reaper control, the geth are significantly more effective," Admiral Gerrel confirmed. "Our fleet is pinned in the home system. If we're going to win-"
"Win?" Admiral Koris interrupted angrily. "You insisted on involving the civilian ships, Admiral Gerrel. We need to retreat or we'll lose the liveships!"
"Where's the signal coming from?" Shepard asked.
"Here. A geth dreadnought," Admiral Gerrel replied, highlighting the ship on the holo. "It can outgun anything we've got, and it's heavily defended."
Realizing that she was not going to get anywhere until she helped the quarians with their geth problems, Shepard frowned. She had a war to conduct, and she needed the quarians, especially since the asari were still holding out. She didn't have time for this, but she also couldn't afford to let the Reapers control the geth. She studied the holo for a moment and then finally gave her decision with a sigh.
"The Normandy's stealth drive can get us in undetected," she said slowly. "I could board and disable the Reaper command signal."
"Yes, cutting off the signals should throw the geth into complete disarray," Admiral Xen said approvingly.
"And when they're confused, you get to a mass relay and retreat," Shepard stated firmly.
"Good. Civilian ships have seen too much fighting lately," Admiral Koris said. "Are you sure you can disable the signal?"
"We'll get you out of there safely, Admiral," Shepard confirmed.
"Maybe their newest Admiral can help with that," Kaidan added as he finally entered the conference room. A familiar figure trailed after him, and Shepard realized why he was delayed.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, reporting for duty," the new arrival announced and Shepard couldn't help but give a huge grin. Suddenly, this mission was becoming much less distasteful.
"Tali," she breathed with a huge sigh. "Glad to see you. Admirals, I'll ready a team to head to the dreadnought," she added to the group at large. She wanted to catch up with her old friend and strategize with Kaidan. And most importantly, she wanted to be away from the admirals for a while. They seriously gave her a headache.
"Thank you, Commander," Admiral Raan replied with a nod.
They exited the conference room and left her alone with Tali and Kaidan.
"Admiral?" Shepard questioned as she turned to her old friend and finally gave her the hug she had restrained herself from in front of the other admirals.
"It's mostly a formality," Tali demurred. "I'm an expert on the geth."
"That you are," Kaidan confirmed with a proud smile.
"And what about the two of you?" Tali asked slyly. "Kaidan said you had wonderful news," she added.
"You mean that you're not the only one with a new position?" Shepard asked with a grin. "It's true... We just got married."
"That's... wonderful!" Tali exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I always knew the two of you would find a way."
"I can't take any credit," Shepard replied. "It was all Kaidan," she added with a warm smile to her husband.
"I'm sorry that we did it without you," Kaidan said with a blush covering his cheeks. "We have plenty of vids, though."
"Can't wait to see them, and ones of the little guy, too," Tali replied with a smile in her voice. "But around the other admirals, I need to keep things formal. My position is tentative at best, I can't afford to be seen as weak to them."
"We understand, Tali," Shepard confirmed with nod. "We'll catch up in private. I hope you're ready for this mission, though. I could use a geth expert on the dreadnought."
"Of course, Shepard," Tali confirmed. "It will great to get back in action."
"Good, then you and Kaidan will be on the squad," Shepard said. "Let's plan," she added as she brought the dreadnought schematics back up on the holo and waved to them.
#-#-#
As they approached Rannoch, Shepard gathered the squad in the cockpit. They would be leaving through the airlock for this mission, which was a departure from standard procedure, so they all stood in full gear watching Joker complete the Normandy's stealth approach to the geth dreadnought.
"We're approaching the quarian home system," Joker told them. "ETA to Rannoch five minutes."
"What have you got from the com buoys?" Shepard asked.
"Pretty much a big ole shitstorm, Commander," Joker replied, waving to the readouts on his console.
"I have detected several hundred unique signatures engaged in active combat," EDI added.
"Yeah, like I said..." Joker said with a smirk.
"Take us in, Joker," Shepard ordered.
"Stealth drive engaged," Joker reported as he worked at the helm controls. "The only way they'll detect us is if you all start singing the Russian National Anthem."
"I've seen that vid, Joker," Shepard replied wryly.
"Yeah well, it's usually you throwing around the old movie references," Joker smirked. "Thought I'd give it try for once."
They watched the scene out the viewport as the Normandy dropped out of FTL and into what really was the shitstorm Joker had predicted. An intense space battle roared around them, and Shepard found herself holding her breath. She knew the stealth capabilities of the Normandy and trusted in them, in her head anyway. The superstitious part of her couldn't help wanting any advantage.
"My cyberwarfare suite has accessed their docking protocols," EDI reported.
They watched for another few tense seconds as Joker expertly piloted the Normandy alongside the massive geth ship, despite all the chaos around them. Shepard motioned the team out of the cockpit and to the airlock.
"Tali, as our geth expert, you'll handle hacking and security," Shepard said as they stood waiting for the docking to commence. "I'm sure Kaidan will glad for the break," she added with a smirk at him.
"As long as there's no bombs involved, I don't mind," Kaidan responded mildly. "But it is good to have you around, Tali," he added with a smile to their quarian friend.
"So, Kaidan, how's the omni-tool?" Tali asked. "Still using the Logic Arrest?"
"It's still the best model," Kaidan replied in confirmation.
"Not for running multiple attack processes simultaneously," Tali countered. "You need a Nexus."
"Nexus shield enhancements are years behind the curve," Kaidan argued, and Shepard felt her eyes cross.
"That's why you overclock the mainframe," Tali offered.
"And you are both total geeks," Shepard broke in to end the debate. Both turned to her as if they had forgotten she was there and shrugged.
"Shepard, there is a problem," EDI reported over the com. "All the tubes except one are physically secured."
"I see the free one," Joker added. "Pretty torn up though."
"It's too risky for the whole team," Shepard stated. "I'll secure the docking area. You guys can follow me over."
"Shepard..." Kaidan began in alarm, but she met his eyes through their visors and he sighed. He wasn't going to win this one, it wasn't worth trying.
"I'll be fine," she muttered. "Hang tight, it'll just be a minute," she added as she waited for the airlock doors to open.
#-#-#
As Shepard stood looking at the short distance of the ravaged tube she had to traverse to gain access to the geth dreadnought, she took a deep breath. The path was completely torn and she'd have to employ her mag boots cleverly to find a secure path through. Around her, the vacuum of open space lurked silently and threateningly. She took a deep breath and her first step and the sound of her footsteps clanged echoingly in her ears.
"Talk to me, Shepard," Kaidan's voice came over the com and startled and then comforted her. She realized he was as nervous as she was, and it helped to ward off the chill she had begun to feel.
She caught sight of the looming hulk of the geth dreadnought through one of the many gaping holes in the walkway and replied, "No wonder the quarians were having trouble, that ship is enormous."
"30% larger than an Alliance dreadnought," Kaidan confirmed, and she could hear the relief in his voice. Even this banal topic was reassuring.
After another few steps, Shepard caught sight of Rannoch out the other side of the walkway. "Tali, you're going to like the view."
"Better than a vid?" Tali inquired.
"Much," Shepard confirmed.
A yawning hole in the floor ahead forced Shepard to climb the walls in an effort to progress further. She did her best to ignore the upside-down view of the ships out the holes now, she trusted the mag boots but the perspective was disturbing.
"Still ok?" Kaidan asked after she had been silent for a few minutes. Shepard smiled at the overly casual tone of his voice.
"The lack of gravity is a little disorienting," Shepard replied drily.
"The dreadnought has artificial gravity. You should be ok once you're aboard," Tali reassured.
"Until then, I'll be glad for my mag boots," Shepard said. She climbed around another hole and didn't allow herself to wonder if she was right-side up or upside down yet. She was nearly there and she could put this behind her.
"Hey, take your time, Commander. We're fine until they, you know, look out a window," Joker broke in to their discussion.
"The geth don't use windows, remember? Structural weakness," Shepard replied, and she was grateful for his efforts.
"Like the geth are just sitting there saying, 'Those organics would never try the no windows thing twice!'" Joker shot back.
Shepard gave a little laugh and took another step. She adjusted direction around another hole and kept her eyes on the exit. It was nearly close enough to touch now, yet still so far away. She stepped forward on what looked like stable ground, and the instant later, the ground fell out from underneath her. She was suspended for a second in free space until the momentum carried her forward and her mag boots caught the ledge just before the entrance to dreadnought. She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Shepard!" Kaidan cried in alarm, and she realized he had at least heard her sharp intake of breath.
"I'm ok," she replied, reassuring both of them, "But it looks like the rest of the team isn't using this docking tube."
"And I'm guessing you don't want to solo the dreadnought," Kaidan replied drily.
"Not if I can help it," Shepard replied with a smile. "Can we get on the dreadnought schematics?"
"Got it," Tali replied. "I'll find you another docking tube."
"And I'll get in and override the controls to let you guys on," Shepard completed as she stepped forward to the entrance.
Once the airlock doors closed behind her, Shepard breathed another sigh of relief as she felt the invisible force of gravity take hold and she pressed a button on her omni-tool to turn off the mag boots. Finally, she didn't have to rely on the metal in her boots to keep her firmly rooted to the ground.
"I'm inside, I've got gravity again," Shepard reported to her team as she moved forward in the strangely frozen world around her.
"Great," Tali replied. "There should be a hull breach not far from your position," she added. "The nearest undamaged docking tube is on the other side."
Shepard moved forward and stopped short at the gaping hole in front of her. "I think I found that hull breach you mentioned," she reported sardonically.
"Admiral Gerrel tried a frontal assault," Tali explained. "We lost six frigates. That tiny hole was the only damage we did."
"I wouldn't call it tiny," Shepard replied as she climbed her way around the huge gap. "Not the way you would have done it?" she asked, continuing the conversation about the quarian attack on the geth.
"No," Tali confirmed. "He was too aggressive. I argued, but as admiral of the Heavy Fleet, it was ultimately his decision."
"What about the other admirals?" Shepard asked as she rounded a corner and began to climb to the next level.
"Xen backed the invasion, largely as a chance to test her toys," Tali answered. "Raan gave provisional support. Only Koris opposed the war with me. And he was right. We could lose the whole Fleet, Shepard."
"We'll get your people out of here safely," Shepard reassured her. And hopefully she could convince the quarians that there was a threat more important than the geth. Once and for all. She vaulted a gap in the floor and reached a door. Through the set of double doors, Shepard spotted a control panel.
"I've got another airlock," she told her team. "I think we're good to go."
"If you override the controls, we'll be right there," Tali confirmed.
Shepard approached the control panel and executed the required commands. She looked up as a door on the far side of the room slip open and Kaidan and then Tali walked through. She met Kaidan's eyes through their visors and saw the concern in his.
"You ok, Commander?" he asked her casually as they approached.
"Much better now, Commander," she confirmed with a huge smile. Kaidan nodded and they fell into formation and turned to Tali who was examining the control panel near the exit.
"Just give me a moment and I'll get this open," Tali muttered as they walked up to her. "There, we're good to go," she announced seconds later.
"So where are we headed?" Shepard asked as she led the way through the doors and into the ship proper.
"We're looking for a operations center. I can disable the Reaper command signal from there," Tali replied.
They crawled through the dark and silent corridors, and Shepard felt a chill. The quiet was unsettling, not comforting. It was too quiet.
"Where's the closest one?" she asked as they came to a large open room.
"Past their defense network and through a sensor cluster," Tali replied.
In the center of the room was a large collection of vents. As they passed it, Tali muttered, "Ugh, always with the vents!"
Kaidan chuckled. "You were fine, Tali," he reminded her.
"I got set on fire!" Tali exclaimed.
Shepard laughed and led them forward around the center console. When she reached the bridge controls to give them access to the next area, the attack she had been expecting since she'd boarded finally came. They crouched into cover as waves of geth converged on their position.
"Ok, this is more like it," Shepard muttered as she returned fire.
"You're... happy?" Tali asked in confusion.
"Better than the constant waiting, yeah," Shepard confirmed.
"You're a strange woman," Tali said as she shook her head.
"Ah, but he married me," Shepard replied with a grin and wave to Kaidan who simply shrugged. "Now, this is the plan..." She began to lay out her plans and couldn't keep the smile off her face. Geth or no, she was enjoying herself now.
#-#-#
Once they reached the operations center and cleared the room of enemies, they discovered the next problem. Not only was the signal not reachable from the terminal in the room, but it had served as an effective trap and further access was blocked.
"Damn it, they've locked down the Reaper signal," Tali exclaimed as they studied the holo readout of the geth ship. "We can't shut it down from here. There," she added, as she highlighted a relevant area on the holo, "The signal is coming from the drive core."
"So we need to get there to shut it down," Shepard summarized.
"Right, but how do we get there?" Tali wondered. "The geth have sealed emergency bulkheads to seal us off. We need a route to the drive core that can't be blocked, a path that runs the length of the ship."
"What about the main battery?" Shepard asked as she studied the schematics too. "It runs right by the drive core."
"That could work," Tali said hesitantly.
"But?" Shepard asked.
"The geth still have us locked in here," Tali answered. "We need to get these doors open. They've locked high-level processes. We need something basic... a ship-wide emergency like a fire."
"What about the heat diffusion center?" Shepard suggested.
"Wait. If I faked a thermal warning, it would open all maintenance tubes for emergency venting!" Tali exclaimed, seeing the plan forming.
"Would that override the lockdown?" Shepard wondered.
"Yes! Ok, I've got it primed," Tali said with satisfaction. "But be ready, I'm reading hostile geth on the other side of the doors."
"Music to my ears," Shepard said with a grin as she moved to take cover. She caught Kaidan's glance before she ducked behind a console and raised a brow. "What?" she asked.
"You call us geeks," Kaidan said as he found a spot of his own. When she just continued to stare at him, he shrugged. "Just saying..."
"Do it, Tali," Shepard ordered as she raised her rifle at the door. Tali nodded and complied.
#-#-#
Once they eliminated the geth and reached the maintenance tubes on the way to the main gun battery, Tali received some disturbing news over the com.
"Damn it. Priority message: A planetary defense cannon just took down Admiral Koris' ship," she reported to them.
"Survivors?" Shepard asked.
"They made it to escape pods," Tali replied. "I've got Admiral Raan trying to establish a secure link."
"Put her through," Shepard ordered.
"Shepard, this is Raan," came the familiar voice over the com. "The Heavy Fleet is collapsing. I don't know how much longer we can hold out."
"We'll have the Reaper signal deactivated momentarily, Admiral," Shepard promised.
They moved through another set of doors and the latest problem made itself known – explosively. The main weapon battery was active and fired a huge energy pulse every few seconds which decimated their shields. It made forward progress slow at best, a problem which was compounded when the geth found them and attacked again.
"Watch the shockwave, that's a big gun!" Shepard warned unnecessarily as she hid behind a convenient console.
"We should be ok if we stay in cover," Tali reassured.
"Tell that to those geth," Kaidan growled as he ducked around his cover to attack.
They dug in for a very frustrating fight, attacking the geth resistance while timing their shots to avoid the massive wave from the gun firing. All this while Shepard felt the pressure of the quarian fleet's diminishing safety weighing heavily on her shoulders. By the time the tunnel was clear of the geth, she was nearly frantic with the delay, and she still had to find the control panel to disable the gun long enough to allow them access to the tunnel between batteries so they could move further. They found the maintenance lock and deactivated the gun long enough to move through to the next area, although it was a close call. Once there, the geth attacked again. They had to contend with both the enemy and the gun firing once again. Shepard sighed in frustration and moved to attack.
#-#-#
Once they cleared the tunnels, Shepard breathed a huge sigh of relief. Although they still had a way to go, at least she didn't have to deal with the shockwave any longer. They climbed through a large room and loaded onto an elevator which Tali set in motion. As they began to move, two geth shock troopers entered the room behind them and fired at the platform supports. It destabilized the elevator and although Kaidan and Tali made it to the next level safely, Shepard was stranded on the wavering elevator. Kaidan turned and stretched out his arm.
"Grab my hand!" he called in alarm. When Shepard clutched him frantically as she lost her balance, he hauled her to safety just as the floor fell out from around her. When she was standing beside him, he couldn't resist wrapping his arms around her for just a moment of reassurance.
"Thanks," she breathed softly before they broke apart.
"All part of the job, ma'am," he replied, giving a huge sigh of relief.
"I'm alright," Shepard said in a much stronger voice, more as reassurance to herself than to Kaidan or Tali.
"Good, hopefully we're done with elevators," Tali joked cheerfully to lighten the mood.
Shepard smiled gratefully. "That would be nice," she replied, catching Kaidan's look and nodding. Close calls seemed to be the name of the game for this mission. Hopefully, that was the last of them, but she wasn't holding her breath.
They found a nearby ladder and continued to climb to the drive core, which was just through the next door. As they approached the large structure in the center of the room that was responsible for the command signal, Shepard frowned.
"That's definitely Reaper tech, but what's...?" Shepard asked aloud as she studied the large ball of mechanical jumble behind a terminal. She pressed a button on the terminal and the jumble began to unfold, releasing its outer shell like a flower opening its petals and blooming. In the center, a familiar figure was revealed.
"Shepard-Commander, help us," Legion called once he saw her.
"Legion," Shepard said in surprise.
"We need to get him out of there," Kaidan urged, seeing the cables and wires that held the geth prisoner. He had no idea if Legion was capable of pain, but he couldn't help but feel sympathy for his predicament.
"Wait, the geth are being controlled by the Reaper signal," Tali pointed out.
"Right. This thing," Shepard confirmed with a wave at Legion's prison.
"So for all we know, Legion is with them," Tali reasoned. "Maybe it sided with the Reapers voluntarily. Or maybe it's been hacked."
"Legion helped us fight the Reapers before," Shepard reminded her. "There's no way he would have agreed to this."
"Your caution is understandable," Legion replied without offense. "Once freed, we will submit to any restraints you deem necessary."
"We trust you, Legion," Kaidan replied and Shepard nodded.
"It is good to see all of you," Legion replied with what seemed like relief.
"I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see you again, too, Legion," Tali admitted reluctantly.
"So what is this thing and how do we get you out of it?" Shepard asked, trying to move things along.
#-#-#
Once Legion told them how to extricate himself and Tali admitted that the entire conflict was a huge misunderstanding borne of typical quarian pigheadedness, Shepard went from slight disapproval of her friend's race to outright frustration. When Legion disabled the dreadnought and Admiral Gerrel decided to take the opportunity to destroy it, despite the fact that Shepard and her team were still aboard, Shepard's anger began to simmer. As they fought off the geth attack and narrowly escaped with their lives on a geth fighter, her temper was on full boil, and she didn't see it subsiding any time soon. The fact that she sat on Kaidan's lap (the lack of room in the small cramped space made their position one of expediency not affection), but he kept his hands gripped around arms of the chair with a white-knuckled grip told her that even his legendary control was stretched to the limit by this latest insult.
When they reached the Normandy, she stormed into the War Room without comment or stopping to change. Someone was going to have a piece of her mind, and she didn't particularly care who it was at this point. Kaidan wisely held his tongue, whether out of consideration or unwillingness to provoke her, or because he was still having issues controlling his own temper, she didn't know. Either way, he was hot on her heels on the way to the War Room, and the look on their faces must have been a sight. No one along the way stopped to greet them or ask questions or any of the thousand distractions that normally occurred when she stepped into the CIC.
"Your unilateral strike endangered us all!" Raan was berating Admiral Gerrel as they entered the War Room. "I should charge you with treason!"
"I was within my authority as admiral of the Heavy Fleet!" Gerrel defended himself.
"And what of Shepard? And Tali'Zorah?" Raan persisted.
"They escaped unharmed!" Gerrel replied unruffled. "The mission parameters changed." Gerrel saw Shepard enter the room and turned to her, "Shepard, you're military, you understand that," he pleaded.
"I understand that you wasted your chance to withdraw safely!" Shepard growled, approaching the admiral with clenched fists.
"The dreadnought was a perfect target!" Gerrel countered.
That was it, Shepard snapped. Before she could even think, before Gerrel even finished his sentence, she balled her fist and punched the supercilious man in the gut. He hunched over and grunted.
"Admiral, you jeopardized your mission and your people!" Shepard growled. "Get the hell off my ship!"
"Shepard, I understand you're angry-" Raan began.
"If I didn't need your fleet..." Shepard cut in threateningly.
"He nearly got us killed, Raan," Tali reminded her friend and mentor.
"You must understand," Raan replied reasonably. "The geth inflicted heavy casualties before you disabled the Reaper signal."
Shepard sighed and nodded. "I'll apologize to you, Admiral Raan, for my display of temper," she conceded.
"I've been tempted to do it many times myself," Raan replied with a shrug.
Shepard laughed. "You're welcome, then," she said. "I need to update Admiral Hackett," she added as she left the room.
#-#-#
After her briefing, which was, well... brief, and meeting with both Raan and Legion, Shepard took the time to change finally. Then, she found Kaidan in his office. She saw that he, too, had finally taken the time to change. She approached him warily, unsure what his reaction to her little display of temper would be. She knew he wasn't feeling any defense of the quarians, but her actions may have been a little more rash than he would have been. She hoped he wasn't disappointed in her.
"Kaidan..." she began with more hesitation than she normally would, but she was immediately reassured when he looked up from his report and smiled warmly. He reached out a hand and drew her down onto his lap and kissed her soundly. When they broke apart, she gave a small laugh and asked, "What was that for?"
"Mostly I'm glad we're alive and in one piece," Kaidan replied with a grin. "But also, that punch was really, really hot," he added as he leaned in for another kiss.
"Yeah?" she asked when they parted again. "So you're not upset with me?"
"Maybe a little," he admitted. "But only because I wanted to be the one to do it."
Shepard grinned again. "Maybe we can ask him back and you can take your turn?" she suggested.
"Not sure we'd get away with that," Kaidan replied, "Although I love you for suggesting it."
"Ok, well, next time I have to punch someone, I promise to give you a shot first," Shepard promised.
"Deal," Kaidan said with a nod. "Now why don't we take this up to our cabin?" he suggested.
Shepard sighed in genuine sorrow. "As much as I'd love to, duty calls," she said with some regret. "We have an admiral to rescue on Rannoch, and Legion has some plan to help the quarians as well. I have Joker heading to the coordinates now," she added as she stood and pulled him to his feet as well.
"Is it too late to take you up on your offer to punch Gerrel again?" Kaidan grumbled as he followed her out of the room.
Shepard laughed. "I'm sure there's still plenty of geth to shoot," she offered in consolation as they stepped on the elevator together.
"Well, that's something..." Kaidan replied with a distinct pout as the doors closed behind them and they headed off to the next order of business.