The next day, Ryder ran into Reyes in almost the exact same spot outside Kralla's Song. This time, he made sure she could not avoid him.

"I don't need an army. I've got a krogan! I'll remember that one!" Drack roared appreciatively as they strode out of Kralla's Song, leaving dozens of semi-conscious exiles in their wake.

"I was only telling the truth," Ryder shrugged, chuckling in response.

After agreeing to meet the old krogan for drinks at the bar, upon her arrival Ryder had been accosted by several drunk exiles, desperate to work out their displeasure over tensions between them and the Nexus. Ryder and Drack had obliged.

"Do not tell Lexi about this, if she finds out I've been involved in a drunken brawl she'll never let me leave the Tempest again, and we're supposed to be leaving tomorrow."

"Don't worry Ryder I'm no snitch," Drack replied, "besides, her and Kesh will probably have my ass for this if they find out."

"It'll be our secret," Ryder grinned weakly, her muscles already aching from the extended fistfight, her shoulder throbbing from the exertion.

Another voice addressed them, "See Miss B'Sayle, if there's a brawl, that is where you will find Ryder."

She didn't even need to look over even though she did. From the way her pulse reacted to the timbre of his voice, the speaker could only be one person. Reyes and Peebee were stood before them looking amused, each with their arms folded expectantly.

"You were looking for me?" Ryder frowned.

Although she was somewhat recovered from her bout of remorse the day before, (thanks in part to watching Drack smash Liam's arm through a table during their arm-wrestling match, sending the crew into hysterics for the best part of the previous evening) she still felt uneasy around Reyes, unsure where they had left things. She knew if she looked in those eyes she would be powerless to think at all rationally, so she was careful to look anywhere other than at his face.

"Lexi sent me to let you know she wants you back on the ship within the hour, for the last part of your physio," Peebee explained, "and I happened to bump into this one."

Peebee gestured to Reyes but Ryder's gaze did not follow her extended hand.

"Right, well, I better head straight there then," Ryder nodded, moving to brush past the two figures before her. Ryder summoned Peebee and Drack, "You both coming?"

"Ryder, could I borrow you for a moment?" Reyes asked, voice even silkier than usual.

Ryder stopped but replied belligerently, "You heard Peebee, Lexi needs me ASAP."

Peebee shoved her (thankfully unwounded) shoulder jovially, "Since when did you worry so much about Lexi? We'll go on ahead and let her know you're on your way." Her olive eyes flicked deviously to the large krogan, "Any chance of a piggyback old man?"

"Only if we take it in turns," Drack grunted in response, and the pair stalked off towards the docks. To Ryder's disappointment, neither of them offered the other a piggyback.

After following the pair until they reached the doors, Ryder's gaze settled uncomfortably somewhere past Reyes' left shoulder, "I really don't have long…"

Her words trailed off as he grasped her arm gently.

"Sara, I have upset you."

Cautiously, she glanced down at her hands, "I'm not upset with you."

"Come on, it's not like you to ignore my calls. Well, not without dying first anyway."

Ryder fought back the smile the joke evoked and replied simply, "I talked to Kaetus yesterday."

A note of understanding crept into his voice, "Ah. We should probably talk somewhere else. I could come to the Tempest again?"

Ryder hesitated, "I'm going to be busy for the next few hours with physio and training…"

"Tonight then?" he persisted.

"Reyes, I need it to go well today, I have to be well enough for ground missions. I can't take anymore sitting around." Ryder sighed as fear constricted her chest. She continued quietly, "Things with the kett, things with Meridian, everything feels like it's coming to a close now and I don't know what's going to happen. I need to be focused, I…"

The hand on her arm squeezed slightly. Ryder glanced up at Reyes. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, his golden eyes unwavering. Looking at his face after having avoided it was like returning to the warmth of a campfire after venturing out into the cold night air.

Ryder shook her head, more at herself for being so easily swayed than anything else, "Okay. I'll call you when I'm done."

When Ryder arrived at her quarters to find Reyes waiting there for her, she slipped wordlessly onto her bed, exhausted. She felt a pressure on the mattress beside her as he joined her, sliding his hand up her arm. Ryder curled against his body, muscles still trembling from the exertion of the intense training session she had put her body through. Tucking her head underneath his chin, she eased her fingers beneath the folds of his flightsuit until she could feel the warmth of his body through his shirt. Ryder closed her eyes, hair still wet from the shower drying on his shoulder, appreciating the steady weight of his arm over hers, the rhythmic beat of his heart against the flat of her palm. She was too tired to ply him with any questions just yet, his mere presence, his touch, comforting enough for now. She realised that this probably should have felt strange, alien even. She was used to him being distracting, stimulating, she couldn't remember when Reyes' presence had become soothing as well, when his touch had become something that in some moments eased the anxious beating of her heart, and excited it at others.

After allowing her several minutes to collect herself, Reyes spoke, "Everything alright?"

"Lexi says I'm fine, I just have to take it easy, no displays of brute force or excessive use of my biotics. So basically, she's taken all the fun out of field work."

Reyes shifted, sliding the ends of her hair onto the pillow so the shoulder of his flightsuit was not completely sodden, weaving his fingers through it as he did so, "No punching raiders for a while? Devastating."

"Yeah, or throwing them into the air and timing how long it takes for them to come back down," she grumbled before relenting, "although after today I have to admit, she is right. Everything aches. Muscles I didn't even know that I had ache."

"Sit up."

Ryder shifted so she could look at him, eyes lingering uncertainly on his, "Why?"

Reyes chuckled in return, sending a thrill of nervous tension through her body, "You'll like it. Promise."

She sat up obediently and he did the same, leaning back on the headboard. She was still trying to pick apart what the intentions were behind the mischief in his expression, the gleam in his almond eyes, when Reyes manoeuvred her so she was sat between his legs, facing away from him. Reyes ran his hands from her shoulder blades to the base of her neck and began to press circles there with the pads of his thumbs, softly.

"Oh," she murmured.

Ryder nearly purred in appreciation as he began to apply more pressure, brushing his thumbs firmly from the base of her neck to her hairline. Where he found a knotted muscle Reyes pressed harder, the sensation intensely pleasurable and painful in equal measure.

"Told you you'd like it," Reyes responded, sounding pleased with her reaction.

"Mhhhm."

Ryder lost herself in the motions of his hands, allowing her mind to wander, relaxing as her muscles did. However, there was one thought she could not clear from her mind entirely, "I suppose you want to know about my conversation with Kaetus?"

"Only if you wish to tell me," Reyes replied, voice sounding a little too offhand.

"What are your plans for him?" Ryder asked, her tone cautious.

He began pinching along the back of her neck, "I hope he can become an asset. But he's proven… stubborn."

"Sloane was very important to him. He needs time to cool off."

"Well, he's got all the time in the world now. Hopefully, he sees reason," Reyes responded, dryly.

Ryder was quiet for a time before she spoke, "Reyes… I'm aware that you, well I mean the Collective, have been trying to extract information from Kaetus less than delicately. A lot of those bruises are fresh." Reyes' fingers slackened in their movements, but she continued as though she hadn't noticed, "I don't like it, but I know how places like Kadara work." She twisted so she could see his face and he let his hands fall back to his knees, frowning as though he were mulling over her words. Ryder pressed on hurriedly, "I don't know if you're aware, but he idolised Sloane, loved her, I don't think you'll be able to beat out of him what you need. He's going through his own personal hell already."

Reyes didn't say anything, the contours of his face looked harder, almost stern. It made her feel uneasy, as he withdrew and became the Charlatan, reminding her that her version of him was not the only one, reinforcing there was a Reyes that had ordered people killed, had killed them himself, seemingly without a second thought.

"I know it's not my place to tell you what to do but I-"

"Still feel guilty about Sloane's death?" Reyes finished her sentence for her sharply, but there was no malice in his voice, only a glimmer of understanding in his eyes.

"Yes, but that's not why I'm asking," Ryder replied, firmly.

"Are you sure? You know she was not gentle in her exit from the Nexus, neither was Kaetus. They fought their way out brutally. They do not deserve your sympathy."

"What about you?"

"Me? I jumped on the first ship I could possibly hijack and go the hell out of there. I wasn't getting dragged into all that messy shit," Reyes shook his head. She could tell he was telling the truth from the look that passed over his face at the memory, his distaste for how the other exiles had handled the situation. "I still don't understand why you still care so damn much about someone who never gave a fuck about you."

"It's not about caring about Sloane, because I don't particularly, it's about a sense of honour. It's implicit to the role of Pathfinder, people need to be able to trust me. If I give my word, I do not break it. That was the exception."

Reyes glanced over at her, eyes piercing. He thought for a moment, but when he spoke the words didn't sound like the ones he'd wanted to say, "You won't find a lot of honour on Kadara."

"No honour amongst thieves, right?" Ryder shrugged, "But that wasn't my point. Kaetus is so full of anger towards me, towards the Collective and by extension, you… I don't think you'll get anywhere with him with violence. He doesn't care what happens to him anymore."

"I knew they were close, he was more to her than second in command that's for sure, that's why we targeted him in the first place, but… How do you know?" Reyes asked her, eyebrows furrowing curiously.

"Well, he always got so defensive whenever she came up. Sometimes just the way he looked at her, or the way he didn't. It was all the more obvious since he tried to hide it, not sure from who. Sloane, perhaps? Although perhaps she knew, maybe felt the same, I could never read her. Maybe instead he was trying to hide it from everyone else? It would have been an exploitable weakness," Ryder mused.

"You're incredibly sexy when you're being devious, you know," Reyes grinned, grabbing her knees and pulling her towards him across the bedspread. Despite this his shoulders were still tense, his eyes still colder than normal.

"Don't change the subject," she stopped him when her knees bumped into his.

"I'm not. You know, he spoke more to you than any of my-" Ryder noticed how he tripped over and quickly amended the word, "any Collective interrogators. Would you consider visiting him again?"

Ryder looked at him thoughtfully, slightly taller than her even when they were sat down, his shins against hers, hands resting, still, for now, on her thighs.

"I could next time I'm on Kadara, although it might be a while," she ventured, cautiously, "and there's no guarantee I'd get anything useful out of him.

"That's fine, it'd give him time to calm down. I just want him talking, for now, doesn't matter about what."

"This would be based on the proviso that, my dear Charlatan," she poked his chest playfully, but her eyes were serious, "you leave him be until that time."

"Ah, you are a hard woman to please…" Reyes stared back at her as they weighed one another up, each slightly wary of the other's intentions, "but I cannot refuse you."

"Since when?" Ryder arced her eyes eyebrow sceptically.

It was as though a spell had broken, the harsh lines of his face smoothed out, his eyes rounded and regained their usual gleam and he was utterly charming again, "Have I ever refused you?"

"Well, if that's the case then you can continue to massage me," Ryder winked as she turned her back on him, keen to move on from the intense topic of conversation, to hold onto her version of Reyes before he changed back again.

Reyes complied, his legs extending either side of her, pressing the flats of his hands against each of her shoulder blades, "Also, who said I was your Charlatan exactly?"

"Just a feeling I got," Ryder shrugged.

Reyes chuckled in response before continuing the previous pattern, fingers drawing circles on her back, easing away the tension from her tight frame. The uneasiness that had ghosted their conversation abated at his touch, replaced by a flustered feeling, drawn by the warmth of his thighs brushing against her hips, the way his fingers deftly traversed her skin.

"You're distractingly good with your hands, you know," Ryder muttered as she let out a heavy breath.

"Well, if you remember, it's not the only part of my body I'm skilled with."

Reyes' hands eased down her shoulders and wound tightly around her waist.

Ryder eased herself backwards so she was lying against his chest, "How could I forget?"

Reyes laughed, his voice lower this time, "Well I did endeavour to make it memorable, but it has been a while." He dropped a kiss on the crook of her neck that made her shiver. Ryder turned in his arms until she was knelt between his legs, eyes catching his. Reyes had the same expression he had the night he had approached her in his apartment, the one that made her unravel. One that made her afraid of the easy control he held over her.

"That's one thing we agree on," Ryder murmured.

Reyes' hand slid up her neck, drawing her closer as she allowed herself to be steered, his eyes suddenly darker, wilder. This man had the ability to ruin her in so many ways, and yet she jumped so obligingly to every snap of his fingers.

Ryder voiced this uncertainty, "Reyes, you're not going to take off again are you?"

Her question took him by surprise, and although he tried his best to mask his discomfort, the hand that had so easily been resting on her thigh tightened reflexively and his eyes held an uneasy, strained look, "I was waiting for you to bring this up."

"Well, are you?" Ryder pressed.

"It's not that I don't want to stay."

"And the other night?"

"It's not that I didn't want to then, either," he responded irritably.

Ryder returned his frown, "Then what?"

His jaw clenched as he withdrew his body from hers defensively.

Reyes folded his arms, "Look, can we just... move on from it?"

"You expect me to just drop it? I'm not just here whenever you want to pick me or put me down," Ryder snapped, frustratedly.

"That's not…" Reyes sighed, "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

Reyes stared at her, limbs folded in on himself, his body language blocking her out whilst his eyes searched hers for a reason to draw her close again. Vulnerability Ryder glimpsed so seldom in him she often wondered if she imagined it flickered in his troubled gaze.

"You know you can trust me," Ryder assured him.

There was no resonating flash of understanding in his eyes however, just a look of unrelenting wariness that did not dissipate with her words.

"You're probably the only trustworthy person on this rock," Reyes admitted, following a pause.

"Well then," Ryder slid her hand over his knee. "Reyes, if something's bothering you I'd rather know."

"I'm just not used to it. To this. I'm used to being alone." Reyes' frown deepened, confusion apparent in his attractive features, "Can we just leave it at that, for now?"

He looked so earnest she nodded in response before asking hesitantly, "It's just… it didn't bother you when I came to yours?"

"Well I'd invited you over and I was kind of expecting it," Reyes' eyes moved away from hers, "look I know it's strange can we just…"

Ryder leant forwards and Reyes' arms parted, allowing her to fold herself into his chest, her hands smoothing their way over the folds of his flightsuit, up to the collar, "Shall we take a break from heavy conversation topics for a bit?"

Reyes nodded looking relieved, and he looked so unlike himself devoid of a smile on his lips or in his eyes that she slid forward and kissed him keenly. His body greeted hers readily as she pressed into his lap, his fingers curling around the edges of her shirt. It took him a moment to warm up to her, as though their conversation had ridden him of his usual composure. His mouth rough, hard against hers, fingers a little too tight on her skin. She was going to break away from him when, sensing her discomfort, he slowed his motions. With a sudden sweetness he caressed her lips with his, his fingers sliding along her chin, ravelling gently in her still wet hair. As it so often did, the sensation of his mouth against hers ripped every other thought from her mind, refocussing her on his motions, his breathing. In a haze of restless tongues and impatient caresses, Ryder found herself on top of Reyes, her heart drumming against his chest, her legs tangled in his.

"You know," he mused as his lips traced her cheekbone and down her neck, "it wasn't long since your doctor advised against all sexual activity."

"I won't tell if you don't," she murmured back.

He brought his face back up toward hers and she stifled his wicked reply with her mouth, bringing their lips, their tongues together a little inelegantly in her eagerness. Reyes made a deep noise in the back of his throat that suggested he liked it as she felt his hips buck against her, her own body flush to his, feeling impossibly hot, keenly aware of the hard press of his erection against her receptive thighs. Reyes wound his fingers tightly in her hair, pulling it only slightly, teasingly too hard, his other hand curving down her back to hold her in place. Ryder eased herself backwards slightly, fingers fumbling for the zip of his flightsuit, easing it down.

Reyes pushed her away gently, "Wait."

Ryder stared down at him, "Is on a list of words Reyes Vidal has never said before…"

"Hush," he growled, punishing her for her words with a searing kiss. Reyes drew his wrist close to his face, his omni-tool glowing, "Keema? I know I said I'd drop by this evening, but I'll have to meet you tomorrow."

"But of course. Say hello to the pathfinder for me," Ryder pictured the angaran's knowing smile and sniggered, "and I do hope you're treating her well, Reyes, you spent enough time mooning over her-"

Reyes cut the call and coughed awkwardly, "So… I'm all yours. I'm not going anywhere."

Searching for a witty retort and finding herself incapable for once, Ryder simply smiled at him brightly, aware of the weight behind his words.

Grinning he shook his head, "Fuck."

He dragged her lips against his abruptly, simultaneously taking hold of her hips and repositioning them so they fit against his, hands sliding beneath her top, brushing, burning against her skin.

"What?" she breathed between kisses.

Ryder took a moment to take him in whilst they were a fraction apart. Eyes tracing over the devilish upturn of his lips, the slightly red tinge to his cheeks, the dark hair falling back onto her pillow. Although he may be immeasurably complicated, sometimes frustrating, often closed off, always mysterious, he was undoubtedly worth it. The indescribable rush he gave her, the blood pounding in her ears, nothing else in Andromeda, or indeed the Milky Way, ever made her feel like this.

"When you smile at me like that…" Reyes made a noise that sent hot prickles over her back.

She arched an eyebrow, ready to respond, but he quietened all her further questions by pulling her against him and sliding off her shirt.

A sudden motion jerked her awake, and Ryder sat bolt upright, her heart hammering in her chest, fingers extending out to push away clawing hands that grasped at her. As her fingertips met no resistance her eyes accustomed to the gloom of her quarters and Ryder's dream-fogged mind refocused. All was as it should be. The darkness was only broken by the light of the monitor on her desk, lighting the familiar edges of the chairs, the coffee table, and the ship models. A constricted breath beside her brought her attention back to the bed, as she suddenly recalled the events of the evening and glanced down. Reyes was laid flat on his back, one arm extended towards her, having fallen from its place about her shoulders. For a moment he was a welcome sight, bedsheets only obscuring the lower half of his naked body, her eyes able to travel freely over the bare skin of his chest, the low light framing the muscular lines of his torso. Then, his dark eyelashes fluttered slightly as his eyes rolled beneath their lids, his sleeping state troubled, far from the satiated one she had observed hours before. She reached out and felt the bare skin of his chest. It was hot, slick with sweat, and his breathing rose and fell erratically.

"Reyes?" Ryder whispered, grasping his arm gently, her fingers stark in the gloom against the darker tone of his skin.

He twitched but didn't waken, the muscles of his face contorting, black eyebrows drawn in an expression she had never observed when he was awake.

"Reyes," she repeated more firmly this time, shaking him softly.

With a start that nearly made her fall backwards from the bed, Reyes' eyes snapped open as his fingers ensnared her wrist tightly, painfully, inhaling great breaths as though he had been running at a great pace.

"Hey, hey it's just a dream…" she stammered urgently, fighting back the urge to summon her biotics in response to the flicker of fear his sudden ferocity provoked.

He blinked, his eyes wild, cast black in the grey shades of darkness, but didn't let go. Her powers itched beneath her skin, fingertips trembling from withholding them. The intensity, the incomprehensible rage that was held in his expression slowly faded from his face, but it was like a picture that had been hurriedly painted over and parts of the original canvas were still visible. The disconcerting glimmer of anger remained, as did the thinness of his lips.

"Sara?" Reyes shook his head and his grip slackened on her wrist, "Shit, I'm..."

"What the fuck?" Ryder breathed, usual composure shaken from her.

"I thought I was back on Earth… my father… that bastard..." Reyes let his head fall back onto the pillow, eyes flickering as though they were searching the darkness above him for something. "… Instead, I'm with you."

"So you are," Ryder responded, tone softening as she lay down next to him cautiously.

Although he did not speak, eventually Reyes snaked his arm around her waist, and she allowed him to draw her close. As she trailed soft kisses up his neck and onto his cheek, he turned his mouth to hers and she tried to project as much warmth as she could, fingers stroking through his hair, lips gentle. Soon their kisses became longer, more heated, and his hands began to stroke slowly, provokingly over the curves of her body. Even though she could not see him, his scent and the feeling his bare skin against hers sent an exhilarating rush through her. He shuddered when her fingers descended deftly below his waist, and Reyes responded by pushing her commandingly against the mattress.

They didn't talk after that, and Ryder wasn't able to really ponder the meaning of his words until the morning afterwards.