A/N: thanks for the fav and follows and the author fav :)

Panic set in when Bex woke up to find herself unable to move. Her shoulder had been popped back into place at some point and her arm put in a secure sling, but that wasn't what made her immobile. A strong arm was wrapped around her waist, another carefully around her uninjured shoulder, effectively pinning her up against a muscular body, though the lighting was too poor for her to see whose. As she struggled to get free, a hand came up and clamped over her mouth.

"It's all right, Bex," Kaidan whispered. "It's just me. And if you keep struggling, you're gonna injure your shoulder more."

Bex pushed his hand away from her mouth. "What the hell happened?"

"We stunned a couple of them, you fell and hit your head, and I made a run for it in the confusion."

She sighed. "I seem to do that a lot, falling and hitting my head. Where are we?"

"An alley a block or so from the transport station. I called Morgan and Tamara. He's keeping a lookout," Kaidan gestured toward a crouched figure at the alley's entrance. "And she's at the station, trying to work out a way to get us out of Vancouver without using public transport."

Bex wiggled around so she could glare up at Kaidan, though the impact was lessened by the alley's dim light. "I can't believe you!" she hissed. "They're on their honeymoon."

He chuckled softly. "No, they're not. Together, they could only get leave for this weekend, for the wedding. They're not going on their honeymoon for a couple of months."

"Did you call Zaeed? If he thinks something super horrible happened, he'll do something supremely stupid."

"I did. And he almost did."

"Fucking idiot."

"But it's fine. He hadn't left Newcastle yet. He's still going to London, but he said he'll try to avoid Vido now, unless he can't find us."

She sighed again. "Of course he will. Idiot."

She leaned her head against Kaidan's shoulder and said nothing else for several minutes, thinking about what to do next. She knew what she had to do, it was just a matter of getting Kaidan and Tamara and Morgan to let her do it without putting up too much of a fuss.

She glanced around as footsteps echoing in the alley brought her out of her thoughts. Morgan was still keeping watch, but Tamara had finally returned and was walking toward Bex and Kaidan.

She smiled as she carefully crouched down next to them. "How ya feelin', Bex?"

"Fine." Bex held up her free hand to stop Tamara from saying anything else. "Look, I appreciate you guys helping out, but this isn't your fight. You two should be off celebrating while you have a chance to be together. And you," she glanced up at Kaidan. "You should be..."

"Exactly where I am right now," he said softly. "You can't get rid of me that easily, Bex Shepard."

"Not us either," Tamara said defiantly. "You forgettin' how friendship works?"

Bex glared at both of them. "I was afraid you guys were gonna take it this badly."

"Mhm. And you're gonna do what about that, exactly?" Kaidan said. "Not like you'd use your biotics to try to get away from us, not when we're trying to keep a low profile."

He and Tamara exchanged a look. "Oh my god, that's exactly what she was thinking of doing," she said incredulously.

Bex continued glaring and said nothing. She was annoyed that they knew her well enough to realize the thought had crossed her mind for a moment before she'd realized it just wasn't practical.

"So you got everything arranged?" Kaidan asked after a few minutes of complete silence.

Tamara nodded. "My dad's got a pilot friend who can take y'all wherever. Otherwise, you'd have to take public transport, and there's not one going to London tonight. Closest is Manchester."

"I think I like the first option," Bex said, stumbling a bit as she got to her feet. She looked up at Kaidan and Tamara after they'd stood up as well. "Seriously, guys, please let me go on my own. You'll be safer without me."

"How d'you expect to fight, if it comes to that?" Kaidan asked.

"I glow, don't I?"

"Will you quit bein' so fucking stubborn?" Tamara snapped. "If we were gonna let you go your own way, we wouldn't have come out here to help in the first place. Take Kaidan with you. Please."

"Fine," Bex relented after a tense few moments in which the usually stoic Tamara had simply stood and glared at her.

Tamara grinned. "Well, that was easy."

Bex rolled her eyes. "Let's get moving. Faster we're out of Vancouver, the happier I'll be."

From: Bex

To: Zaeed

Subj: On Our Way

We just passed over Prince Edward Island, so it'll be a few hours yet 'til we get to London. I'm attaching the coordinates the pilot gave me for where we'll be landing, and I'll send you another message when we get closer.

-Bex

Even though she'd kept insisting she couldn't wait to get back to London, by the time the shuttle landed, doubts had started nagging her, that maybe they should have stayed in Vancouver. And by the end of the night, she knew they should have stayed put. Probably.

The moment the shuttle landed and she'd finally gotten the change of clothes Zaeed had brought from Newcastle, he and Kaidan both insisted she had to go to the hospital just to make sure there'd been no permanent damage done to her shoulder. She in turn insisted on hitting a pub afterward, and that's when the trouble started up again.

"You didn't really think you could fucking hide from me in London, did you, girlie?"

Bex inhaled sharply and nearly choked on her beer when Ian and a couple of his goons surrounded her in the corner booth she'd taken for herself. She looked around the pub for help but Zaeed was at the bar waiting for another round of drinks and Kaidan had stepped outside twenty minutes ago to update Tamara and Morgan. And Ian was sitting too close for her to discreetly send a message with her omni-tool. She was on her own for the moment.

"I have no bloody clue what you're talking about, Ian," she said more casually than she felt. "I was in Vancouver for a weekend and the weekend's over so I came home."

"We know where you live," one of the goons said. "London isn't your home anymore."

Bex scoffed. "What's your fucking point?" She suppressed a snort of laughter as his face contorted in confusion, trying to figure out how what she'd said fit with what he'd said.

Ian rolled his eyes. "Useless idiots." He grabbed her arm and pulled her from the booth. "Let's go, girlie. Someplace I want to show you."

Bex dug in her heels. "I'm not going anywhere with you, jackass." A moment later, she whimpered and dropped to her knees as one of Ian's men squeezed her injured shoulder.

Ian crouched down in front of her, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Not so tough now, are ya?"

She said nothing and he hauled her to her feet and shoved her toward the front of the pub. She prayed that Kaidan was still just outside or that Zaeed had seen her leaving, though the near-darkness inside the pub made it hard to see much of anything at all. She tried to move away from Ian, but he quickly moved up behind her and she felt a pistol being pressed into the small of her back as he used his other hand to tightly grip her left arm just above the top of the sling.

Bex knew she'd be in serious trouble if they made it outside. As they neared the front door, she stopped in her tracks and lifted her right elbow so that it collided with Ian's nose when he ran into her. She quickly shoved away from him using her biotics, knowing full well that would draw Zaeed's attention.

Unfortunately, it drew the attention of everyone and the scene quickly escalated to a full-on brawl, Bex and Ian in the middle of it. Every time she tried to get away, or Zaeed or Kaidan tried to pull her away, she ended up drawn back in.

The police finally showed up and broke up the fight, arresting more than half the patrons left in the pub, most of whom pointed to Bex as the one who'd started the brawl. She tried to argue self-defense, but Ian's gun had disappeared by then and there was no evidence that she wasn't just a drunk looking for a fight.

In the end, Bex was given two options: stay in jail indefinitely until a trial date was set, or join the Alliance.

"What about bail?" she asked. "Why's everybody else get that option, and all I get is 'sit and rot or join the Alliance'?"

"I'll tell you why," the officer in charge growled. "One of the men you claimed was with this Ian that you claim is a gang leader? He's one of us, and at the moment he's in a coma.

Fuck. Not again.

"You've got a record, Shepard, of grievous bodily harm against public servants," the officer continued. "If it was up to me, you'd sit in that cell for the rest of your pathetic life. But you've apparently got friends in high places and they want you for the Alliance. So, choose."

"Alliance," she said without hesitation. "I'll join the Alliance."