The relief over reaching a decision was always inevitably followed by a muddled fumble. They couldn't return to the Tempest until they collected Peebee. Where exactly was Peebee? How would Sara say goodbye to Reyes? Should she even tell him she was leaving? He probably already knew.

It was all the panic of transition. It kept Sara's mind buzzing with nonsense that prevented her from moving. Frozen on Kadara, she wouldn't have to worry about addressing her crew, or easing back into ship life. She wouldn't have to test who would listen to her or who would look her in the eyes. She wouldn't have to track down Jaal on Harvarl. Or deal with Liam.

Sara opted for hovering awkwardly outside of Sloane's old place until she worked up the courage to go inside with no game plan. She reassured herself by repeating over and over that it wasn't her job to be suave. It'd be nice, certainly, but her only obligation was a goodbye.

Of course, she was fretting for nothing.

Inside the newly-minted Collective headquarters, there was the hustle and bustle of fresh energy. New faces, new security, angarans in a rainbow of blue and lavender and violet. The old throne appeared less jagged somehow and there, smack dab in the middle of it sat... not Reyes Vidal.

A plume of smoke drifted from Keema Dohrgun's mouth as she lounged in Sloane Kelly's not yet cold seat. The angaran stretched like a cat caught napping in the midday sun and she regarded Sara with a new attention. "Pathfinder. How may I help you?"

"Sorry. I was looking for the Charlatan."

"Yes." Keema sat upright, her dusky teal skin radiant in the gloom of the windowless room. "How may I help you?"

"Oh." More misdirection, more games. How far had Sara come that she was curious and willing to play along instead of annoyed? "I just wanted to let you know I have to go offworld and was wondering if you had thoughts on an outpost location."

Keema cast a sidelong glance at all the people scurrying about before nodding. "I told Reyes to tell you earlier. That night at the party. But he worried about what you'd think. It was adorable, really."

"Well, too late for that, right?" Sara laughed it off. "I've got to go fix the mess my subordinates started."

"I understand." Keema bit down on her cigar and smiled. "I had a feeling your stay wouldn't be permanent, but with Sloane gone, there is room for the Initiative on Kadara."

Sara nodded. "I'll start rounding up volunteers for an outpost," she said. After a quick look over her shoulder, she added, "Might take a while- you exiles have a reputation."

"And the Initiative does as well," Keema replied. "I see the benefit, but am glad that it's developing slowly."

"Hey, I take what I can get, right?" Sara said, backing away towards the door. "Thanks, Keema. I'll see you around."

She made it only two steps out of the headquarters before her omni tool was alight with a radio frequency. She didn't bother with a 'hello' and brought her wrist toward her mouth. "Word travels fast, huh?" Sara murmured.

"What?" Reyes protested. "I can't just miss the sound of your voice? It has to be one of my people contacting me from inside the Collective base about you leaving? It's not as romantic that way, sounds a little creepy, even."

"Your words, not mine," Sara sighed. She slowed her walk to a crawl and meandered toward the docks. "Thought you'd be in the throne room. Tartarus is a little shabby for Kadara's new leader, don't you think?"

He exhaled. "Come on, Ryder. You know I prefer to rule from the shadows."

"You are a shady bastard."

"But a handsome one, right?"

The beats to their conversation were off. She couldn't keep it up without seeing the warmth of his smile. "What's Keema doing on Sloane's old throne?"

"She's agreed to be my front," Reyes said.

"That's convenient."

"It is." Now she really wished she had a visual. His words came slower, more cautious, like he was considering them instead of just letting them flow. "The port was angaran. It should have someone angaran in charge."

Sara stopped her ambling and froze directly in the middle of the market square. "An angaran that echoes the directives of a human. Got it."

That did it. That got the words tumbling out of his mouth with too much heat for his lips to contain. "I thought you'd appreciate the pressure off of us," Reyes snapped, each syllable a hailstorm of ferocity. "It would make our relationship more of an inconvenient annoyance to your Nexus overlords instead of a constant political shit show."

So they did have a relationship! Maybe. "Are you telling me you did this for us?"

"Not just us, of course-"

"Because I can't imagine someone as smart as Keema Dohrgun willingly painting a target on her back just for the honor of sitting in Sloane Kelly's cobbled together throne is all I'm saying-"

"That's pretty rich, being lectured about 'not painting targets on backs' by a Pathfinder."

This was not the best place for this type of discussion, Sara standing in the center of an open market and hissing at Reyes through her omni tool while he sat growling somewhere in a bar deep beneath her feet. But then, maybe it was exactly the perfect place for this type of discussion when there were no distractable smiles or handsome looks. There was just frustration and facts that Sara could skew any way she saw fit. "You knew I was the Pathfinder going into this- what, don't tell me you're worried all of a sudden?"

"Of course I'm worried about you!" Reyes exploded. "Do you know how many eyes I've had to place on you, how many deals I've had to make to see you weren't shanked in a dark alley somewhere? Do you know how much the Roekaar would pay for your head, Madam Pathfinder?"

"A lot, I hope," was all Sara managed to mumble.

She should have known that would only incense him further. "You don't get it, do you? I want this outpost just as much as you do." For as much as the man played at cool, Reyes Vidal ran hot. Floodgate opened, she stood there as his mouth got the better of him. "It will have my full protection. That's a promise. You will have my full protection. That's a promise! But any time you are careless with that protection, I appear weak- 'Why is the Pathfinder so important' they ask, 'who is she to the Charlatan? Why does he have a soft spot for her'?"

"You don't have to-!"

"I have made my choice!" That shut her up. "So the next time you choose to do something, ask yourself if it's stupid enough that I'll have to stick my neck out for you, because you know will! But I can only extend my neck so far before someone thinks to take a swing at it."

That was a lot. To be fair, she had been hoping for that kind of brevity, if perhaps not outside in the Kadara market. "I, um..." Sara looked for obvious eavesdroppers, but could find none. "I really wish I could see your face right now."

It earned her a laugh. "You sure about that?"

"Course I am," she insisted. It would be easier to see how angry and genuine he was being that way. And that way, he'd get to see her sulk. "You know I can't stay. But I didn't want to leave with you mad at me, either."

"Uh huh." Amusement won out and she could hear the heat in his voice reduce from a boil to a simmer. "Tell me Ryder, if you met me to say goodbye, what is the likelihood of either of us being able to leave that room?"

"You mean statistically?" Sara frowned. "SAM says 100%. Despite us both being incredible shit-talkers, we're both fairly duty bound-"

"No, no, no. I didn't mean what would actually, statistically happen." There was that little laugh, again. "I was wondering about the want of it, I mean."

"You want to know how much I want you?" It was Sara's turn to laugh. With a smirk, she started walking, again. "Well, seeing as I'm headed towards the slums now, instead of the docks, maybe I should just show you?"

Of all the responses, she hadn't anticipated the sound of him sucking air through his teeth. "You know I would love that, but you know me... It's complicated."

"Complicated?" Her foot paused in the air, mid-step. "You're not alone, are you?"

"No, but it's not what you think-"

"And what do I think?"

"Oh, come on, are you really trying to make me say it out loud?"

Her footfalls hit the ground just short of a jog. "Who's down there with you? Yeah, why not? Call me curious."

"Your friend." That had her screeching to a dead halt. Maybe she wasn't that curious. "Like I said, it's not what you think. You probably should come down; she's pretty drunk."

"Yay..."

So, where was Peebee exactly? Passed out in Reyes Vidal's bed by his own admission. But he let Sara in immediately and was dressed. And Peebee, for her part, was also mostly put together.

"She was usually at the bars, so it was easy to have Umi keep an eye on her," Reyes explained. "She seems like someone used to taking care of herself, but last night she drank more than even I'd have the stomach for. Something up with her?"

"Something's been up with her," Sara said, sparing Peebee a glance before turning back to Reyes. "But I want to know what's up with you. It's not your bed if there's not a warm body in it, is it?"

"Are you kidding me?" he exclaimed. "You know I did nothing with her- she couldn't even see straight!"

Her vision may have been in question, but Peebee's hearing was very much intact. She whimpered something unintelligible and dragged a pillow over her face. Sara shook her head. "Oh? You honestly think I'm naive enough to believe that I've been your one and only since that party?"

He scoffed at her. "Of course not!"

"...Really?" That was a strangely refreshing sort of punch to the gut.

"That party was just supposed to be..." Reyes paused as he eyed her up and down and grinned. "Well! It was a fantastic amount of fun. But you left the planet!"

"I did," Sara agreed. "And I'm leaving the planet again, now."

"That was different," he insisted. "I didn't know if or when you'd be back and thought that if I could just get you off my mind- but I couldn't stop thinking about you. Besides, you literally showed me your man you left with!"

"Liam?" Her laugh came out a bark. "The jealousy is kind of cute, Reyes, but that was over way before that party and you're out of your mind if you think for even a second I'd be able to go back to that after a single night with you."

His eyebrow shot up. "Really?"

"Oh, please," she snorted. "Like you don't know how great you are in bed."

"Still nice to hear you say it all the same." God damn it, Reyes was smiling at her. If they were still arguing, why was it that he was reaching forward to tuck some hair behind her ear? And why was she just standing there like a dope and letting him?

"So seriously, nothing happened between you and Peebee?" she asked again.

"Seriously. Nothing happened." He smirked back at Peebee on the bed, before meeting eyes with Sara conspiratorially. "Even if she'd been all there, she's not really my type, to be perfectly honest."

"Oh?" It was too easy for her hands to find him and rest at his waist. "And what is your type exactly?"

He almost had her with that throaty chuckle and a flutter of eyelashes as he looked away, but then he said, "I don't know. You've seen Zia."

"Zia again?" Sara pulled away from him. "You know, I set that delivery up perfectly for you to win some points and for someone who seems smart, you really just fucked that one up, Vidal."

"I couldn't resist!" Wrapping his arms around the small of her back, Reyes yanked her back toward him. "You know, for someone whose time never overlapped yours- and who's dead, by the way-"

"I remember, I was there." She turned her head away, but it just meant that he nuzzled her ear.

"I can't help but find it fascinating that of all people, she's the one you're hung up on." His murmured breaths sent the hairs on her arms erect.

Sara ignored it and frowned at his chest. "Why? You've got a list of others I should be more insecure about?"

Reyes glared at her indignantly. "Why should I waste my time handing you a blank page?"

That earned him an approving nod. "Good point. Keep talking."

"Talk?" There was that flash of white teeth. "You are not my type, Ryder. Coddled and from a decent family."

"Not really selling yourself, here, Reyes..." And yet, already her words were coming out lighter and airier, and Reyes was confident enough to hook his thumbs in her pant loops to lead her away from the occupied bed and toward the bathroom.

"You're not." Reyes kicked the door shut behind them. There was a maddening disconnect at the words leaving his mouth and his hands tugging at her clothes, moving to undress her. "All formally educated and never killed nobody."

"I'm sure I've killed someone, somewhere," Sara muttered, peeling his jacket off.

"Uh huh."

"Maybe?" Her shoulder pushed into his mouth as she reached for his belt. "I don't know, you'd have to ask them."

Reyes dropped to his knees and gripping her waistband, helped her squirm out of her trousers. "And sexy? Sexy I can handle. But you had to be smart, too? Now I have to actually work to keep up. Now, I have to try."

"Like you haven't always been a try hard." Sara kicked her boots to the wayside and fought herself free from the hem of her pants still clinging to her ankles. "Naked. How are you not naked, yet?"

"Getting there, Madam Pathfinder." His shirt went the way of her pants and Reyes was on her, pressing her against the wall in a tangle of limbs as Sara worked to push his trousers out of the way.

It was a jarring sensation, the heat of his body combined with the cold of the metal wall at her back. Sara swore to consider that all in much greater detail later, if only she could succeed in ridding Reyes of his last scraps of clothing. There had to be a curtain rod, a towel rack, anything that could support her weight, to lift her up-

"I knew I could keep your interest for an evening, sure," Reyes told her. "But I never thought you'd keep coming back! And that excites me."

"It looks pretty easy to, to..." speech was beginning to evade her.

"Easy to what?" Reyes wanted to know.

"Just a joke. Don't... don't worry about it."

"Think I might." All she could feel was the dampness of his breath and the tip of his nose making the barest of touches against her skin as Reyes did what Reyes did best.

After a frantic scan of the bathroom, Sara gripped the edge of the sink for balance and locked her knee in the crook of his elbow. She resolved herself to focus on the fruitful possibilities of such cramped contortions and toilet gymnastics, instead of the irony that such acts would have been so easily achievable in the bed a room away. Teetering on one leg, the trick would be to not topple over and collapse during, after, or preferably, at all.

Reyes stopped and pulled away suddenly. "I want to hear you say it."

"Say what?"

"Tell me how good I am."

But then he began again and she couldn't say anything even if she wanted to. And Reyes knew it.

They continued on like that, a tenuous balancing act of grappling each other and the sink in an attempt not to fall until the thudding began. At first, it was so quiet, Sara thought maybe it had been her tailbone bumping up against the corner of the sink. But then she realized the sound wasn't adjacent to the rhythms of their activities. And it got louder.

She frowned. "What's that-?"

Reyes placed a finger on Sara's lips, silencing her as his eyes grew round. Without a word, he quietly and quickly lowered her leg back to the ground as he listened.

The next time it wasn't a soft thud, but a loud crash that shook the walls. It had Sara scrambling for her clothes and Reyes tearing through the pile for his pistol.

"What was that?"

"Stop!" came the muffled cry on the other side of the wall. Peebee. "...Assholes so loud..! Need water... maybe barf."

As Sara's panic faded to annoyance, Reyes chuckled nervously. "Always complicated, eh?" he said with a glance at his pistol. He turned his back to her and pressed a hand against the wall. Sara begrudgingly continued to collect her clothing while Reyes took a few, steady breaths in and out to gather himself.

"Probably shouldn't let her puke on your floor." Sara handed him his trousers.

He offered her a smirk. "That would be preferable." She waited until he was tugging his shirt back over his head before she opened the door.

In the bedroom, they found Peebee on the floor, leaned against the foot of the bed. She had her head tipped back and a hand over her brow. All the pillows and bedding had been thrown at the bathroom wall, along with a lamp... and the entire nightstand.

"That's one way to use your biotics, I guess," Sara muttered with a shrug.

"I suppose, I did need to redecorate," Reyes replied.