A/N: thanks for the follows, favorites and the lovely reviews :)


"You okay?" Kaidan asked, lacing his fingers with Bex's as they walked to a secluded but open part of his parents' back yard. "You seem... distracted."

"Hmm?" She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He didn't seem to believe her but let it go. "We're almost there."

"What's the point of this?"

He gave her a sidelong glance while he spread a quilt on the ground and sat down on top of it. "Did you really just ask me what's the point of stargazing?"

She shrugged and flopped down beside him. "It's just... we've spent the better part of two years up there, away from Earth. We come home for a weekend and you want to spend it staring up at the place we just left?"

"I had a bit more in mind than just the stargazing," he murmured in her ear as she settled back against him."

"Mm... I bet."

He paused a moment, bringing his lips away from her jaw, and stared at her. "Wait a second. Why did you say just a weekend? I thought we were both here for a solid two weeks."

"I..." Now it came down to telling him, she was having trouble with the words. They'd been together every step of the way since boot camp. And now she was going off on her own and, if she was honest with herself, she was fucking terrified.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"I know." She rested her head in the crook of his neck and kept her eyes on his thumbs tracing circles across the tops of her hands so she wouldn't have to see his reaction. "I got a call from Major Faulkner this morning. He said I've been accepted into the Interplanetary Combatives Training program in Rio."

"That's... amazing." Kaidan brought a hand up to cup the side of her face and raised her head so they were eye to eye. "Is that why you've been acting so odd all day?"

She leaned into his touch and sighed. "I dunno. Guess I was worried you'd be disappointed or something."

"Why the hell would I be disappointed? Just because you're moving on to bigger and better things?"

Now that he'd said it, it did seem a stupid thing to worry about.

He kissed her gently and rested his forehead against hers. "I love you. I'm always proud of anything you do to get ahead, no matter what."

She smiled. "I love you too. Gonna be strange not to be with you all the time."

"I think we'll manage," he said with a smirk. "This last post, we might as well have not been in the same base."

"True."

The last six months, they'd been lucky if they'd seen each other even once a week, a shared glance across the mess hall.

"Guess we'd better make the most of this weekend, then. Make up for lost time."

Kaidan grinned as he shifted her around and gently pushed her down onto the blanket. "I couldn't agree more."

Bex growled in frustration when her omni-tool beeped with a vid-chat hail.

"Ignore it," Kaidan murmured as he nipped a path down across her stomach, finding all her ticklish spots. "If it's really important, they'll call back," he added as the beeping finally stopped.

"I... oh, you're probably right," she sighed in contentment, raking her fingers through his hair when he slipped his hands beneath the waistband of her jeans and tugged them off of her hips.

Five minutes later, she was cursing whatever bloody bastard had invented the omni-tool as hers went off again. She paled slightly as she read the ident information: Sgt. D. Addison, London Police. Nothing good could come from a call from most anyone she knew in London, least of all the police.

"Who the hell are you and what the hell d'you want?" she snapped, straightening her Alliance hoodie as she answered the hail.

A grumpy-looking man with graying hair looked momentarily startled at her "greeting" before regaining his composure. "Miss Shepard? I'm Sgt. Daniel Addison, London Police and –"

"Yes, your ident said as much," she snapped again. "And it's Lieutenant."

"Excuse me?"

She resisted rolling her eyes. "I'm not Miss, I'm Lieutenant Shepard."

"I see. Alliance?" She noticed there was a twinge of disdain in the way he said Alliance.

"Obviously. Now what is it you're calling about?"

"Your father was brought to my precinct earlier this afternoon after getting into an altercation with the barman at Brady's Pub."

Bex frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. My father's been dead for damn near ten years."

"I'm not her father," a very familiar voice slurred from somewhere close to Addison.

He turned away for a moment. "But you said –"

"I know what I said, you bloody twit," Zaeed growled. "But I never said I was her father."

"What is it exactly you want, Addison?" Bex asked, drawing the man's attention back to the screen. "Was Zaeed arrested or what? If he needs bailing out, I'm a good four hours out on a good shuttle ride."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm in Vancouver."

"Ah. No, he's not been arrested; he's just in the drunk tank over night."

"So again I ask, what d'you want?"

Addison shook his head. "Not what I want; he's the one who asked me to contact you."

"Of course he did. One bloody weekend of leave and..." Bex sighed. "Can I talk to him, then?"

He nodded and disappeared from the screen. Several moments went by before Zaeed's equally grumpy face appeared.

Bex raised an eyebrow. "So, what did you say I was exactly? And why the bloody hell are you in the drunk tank, again?"

"Not important."

"Bullshit. Why are you even in London?"

There was a long stretch of silence before he muttered, "'Livia's birthday."

Shit. Any anger Bex felt about her plans being interrupted drained away in an instant.

"Sorry, Z. I forgot."

He shrugged. "Not important," he said again, the faintest hint of hurt in his voice.

"If it wasn't important, you wouldn't have called."

He shrugged and said nothing.

Bex mentally kicked herself. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten.

Olivia's birthday and the anniversary of her death were the only times she'd ever seen Zaeed show any kind of vulnerability. She still remembered the first time she'd witnessed it, a couple of months after he'd taken her in. He'd drunkenly stumbled into her room early one morning, muttered something that vaguely sounded like "Happy Birthday" as he dropped a doll in her lap and then stumbled away again. She'd been so freaked out that she'd run down to talk to Noah.

"I knew this was bound to happen," he'd said. "You being around is a reminder of what he's lost. You'll be lucky if he never calls you by her name."

She'd nearly run away again, nearly decided that fending off the batarians and vorcha that inhabited the seedier parts of Omega was better than living in the shadow of a dead girl. But eventually, she'd realized Zaeed needed her just as much as she needed him, even if he didn't realize it himself.

And suddenly, Bex realized what he must have said when he'd told Addison to hail her.

"I'm getting on the next transport out, okay?"

Zaeed frowned. "Don't. Don't ruin your weekend plans because I can't ever fucking move on."

She shook her head. "Don't be stupid, Z. I've missed the last two years of our tradition. I'm not missing this one, okay?"

He shrugged again. "Your life. Do what you want."

"I'll see you in a few hours, okay?"

"Fine."

"And when Addison lets you out of the drunk tank, go home. I'll meet you there."

He rolled his eyes and muttered "fine" again before disconnecting the chat.

Bex barely resisted punching Kaidan in the face when she felt his arms wind around her again as the screen went dark. She'd damn near forgotten where she was and who she was with.

"You don't mind, do you?" she asked quietly, leaning back against him with a tired sigh.

He kissed the scar on her temple. "Of course not. He clearly needs you. What's this tradition you have?"

"Every year, we go to the store and buy a present he'd likely have gotten for Olivia, and donate it to a shelter. And then we get blind drunk."

Kaidan raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me that last part is a recent addition."

"'Course. Only since I was 15 or 16. He's not irresponsible, y'know."

"Uh-huh."

Bex rolled her eyes. "Come on, help me pack up real quick so I can get going."

Kaidan stood and hauled her to her feet. "You do realize I'm going with you, right?"

She sighed. "That's sweet, Kaidan but -"

He stopped her protest with a kiss. "I'm just going to make sure you actually make it to London. I have no intention of intruding on your tradition. That's just for you and him."

"Thank you." She smiled up at him and pulled him into another kiss. "I love you."


From: Morgan

To: Kaidan

Subj: re: Are You in London?

Of course you can crash at my place. It'll be good to see you; been too long.

Can't believe Bex only gets the weekend to rest up before Rio. Does she have any idea how brutal just the first course is, especially for a biotic? Hope she'll make it through all right.

See you when you get here.

-M