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Kaidan was about to follow Shepard upstairs to change for the casino when Liara called him in to settle a dispute she and Garrus were having over which was the better Normandy—the original version or the Cerberus-made SR-2. He frowned at them as they stood behind the bar looking very serious about this dispute.
Before he could say anything Liara leaned in close to him while Garrus was loudly holding forth on the wonders of the expertly calibrated Thannix cannon and whispered in his ear, "We're concerned about what's going on here. Does Brooks seem odd to you?"
He frowned. She talked very fast and seemed extremely nervous—except that when she wasn't talking she didn't seem like that at all. And it was strange how she had appeared just before the sushi restaurant was attacked. Cautiously, he nodded.
"Thannix cannons, my foot!" Liara snapped at Garrus. "The original was much more homey."
Garrus went off again on the ridiculousness of expecting a warship to be homey, while Liara whispered in Kaidan's ear again. "You go in with Shepard, and keep a sharp eye on Brooks. Garrus and I will research her here and see what we can uncover."
Kaidan nodded more firmly this time and said loudly, "You two are crazy if you think I'm getting in on this argument. Besides, I have to change."
"Oh, sure, don't back me up," Liara said. She winked at him as he left the room and headed up the stairs.
Shepard was in the bathroom when he came into her room. "Kaidan, that you?"
"It better not be anyone else," he told her, leaning against the doorway and admiring the view. She was in her underwear, putting on some makeup and spritzing herself with perfume. "I didn't know you owned any of that stuff.
"I don't. I found it in the cupboards, in a bag labeled K. Sanders."
Kaidan whistled. "I'm glad Anderson had someone in his life. I hope he gets to come back to her."
"It sounded like he'd rather she come to him." She turned around, frowning. "Do I look okay?"
"You look amazing."
Shepard smiled, coming toward him and putting her arms around his neck. She smelled so good, and was so desirable half-naked that Kaidan wanted to forget the whole mission and just keep her here for … hours, at least.
"Nice to see you in action in the car lot," Shepard murmured. "It was pretty hot."
"Why, thank you." It was impossible to keep his hands from exploring the smooth skin of her lower back.
"What would I do without you?"
He held her gaze. "You never have to find out." It was dangerous territory, a promise like that, after she had lost Thane … but Kaidan certainly had no intention of going anywhere, and that had to count for something.
"Um, excuse me, Commander, we should go!" Brooks' urgent, nervous voice floated up to them.
"Just when this was getting interesting," Shepard grumbled, but she disentangled herself from him and went hunting for her dress.
Kaidan didn't have any of his own stuff here, but Anderson had left some things behind, and they were close enough to the same size that it worked out.
"Did I ever tell you about my casino run in with the vorcha mafia? Five thousand credits and a bottle of whiskey?" he asked while he was buttoning his jacket.
Shepard gave him a sidelong smile. "No, but that sounds like a story I'll need to hear sometime."
"Only if you get me alone and very, very drunk."
"Done, and done." She turned to him, one hand on her hip, waiting for his approval.
"You look radiant," he told her.
"As in 'beautiful', or as in 'causing invisible damage'?"
Kaidan grinned. "Why can't it be both? Ow, my heart."
Shepard chuckled at that one. "Come on, before Brooks blows a gasket."
At the bottom of the stairs, Brooks was waiting for them in a dress almost exactly the same as Shepard's, except in blue instead of black. Kaidan was immediately suspicious—how in the galaxy could Brooks have known what Shepard's only fancy dress looked like? He glanced at Liara, who nodded at him to indicate she had seen the same thing.
Brooks spun around. "Can you see my exit wound? The medi-gel is supposed to match skin pigmentation, but it never does."
Vega hastened to assure Brooks that she looked smoking hot. Shepard frowned, leaning over to Kaidan as if she was whispering sweet nothings in his ear. "I thought she'd never been shot before. How does she know medi-gel never matches?"
Kaidan smiled as if in response to a romantic comment, to cover his shrug. It seemed fairly clear there was more to Brooks than met the eye. He'd be interested in seeing what Liara and Garrus could dig up.
He held out an arm to Brooks, gallantly. "Well, ladies, shall we go be dazzling?"
"Are you sure we can manage this?" Brooks fretted. "I'm not sure we can manage this."
"Just smile and wave," Shepard told her.
"That's the easy part. You don't have to crawl through the duct work."
"No, I have to distract the guards and turn off the cameras. We each do what suits us."
"Sure. Right. Of course. What suits us." Brooks nodded. "I can do that. I think."
Liara was fixing an earpiece behind Shepard's left ear. "Can you hear me all right?"
"You're standing in front of me, Liara."
"You know what I mean."
"It's fine. You'll walk me through the cameras and the guards?"
"I've got you, Shepard." Liara patted her on the shoulder. "You just concentrate on walking in those shoes."
Shepard looked down at her feet in the high heels. "Why do women wear these things?"
Vega began on something about the way a woman's legs looked with the high heels, but a matching glare from both Brooks and Shepard stopped him in his tracks.
With a beautiful, if dangerous, woman on each arm, Kaidan headed out of the apartment. So far, shore leave was turning out very differently than he had imagined—he had no idea where the rest of the night was likely to lead, but he was willing to roll with whatever came.