"We've been on the Citadel for eight hours and you've already pulled in a turian defect from C-Sec, a krogan on a vendetta and a quarian on her pilgrimage? And that somehow convinced the Council to make you the first human Spectre? That's pretty impressive," said Kaidan as he looked over the duty roster, shaking his head in disbelief.

Lauren leaned back on they couch they were sitting on in the Normandy's captain's quarters. "You helped me find Garrus Vakarian...I'm honestly surprised you suggested we look for him. The krogan, Wrex...he was ready to go as soon as I didn't take his shit. You came back here after that, but the sound file Tali'Zorah had...invaluable, but it wasn't all sunshine and roses." Her face sank into a frown. "Don't forget that on top of that I managed to get Anderson moved off the ship. That wasn't on my agenda."

"You can't help what happened with Anderson...Com..." Kaidan took a breath in slight frustration. "What should I call you when we talk here on board? I know what to do when we are out in public, but..."

"Just call me Lauren. No one else does. Joker could and has, but now he just calls me Commander because of some weird fetish of his. Some kind of dominatrix thing he thinks I have. Or should." A smile started to return to Lauren's face.

"I won't get into your kinky relationship with Joker," chuckled Kaidan.

"There's nothing going on between us," said Lauren.

"He told me that you two 'had a thing' years ago on the Emden."

Lauren's mouth fell open. "Hardly! We flirted a bit, I kind of liked his cocky attitude. Then one night after our duty shift was over, I let him kiss me. It was ok, but no sparks. I was only just starting to get a little interested in Daniel too...he was just so far away."

Kaidan held up his hands. "It's fine...you don't have to explain. I've seen and heard enough from Joker to get him." He looked back to his datapad.

"We've been stocked with dextro food supplies now for the turian and quarian. Our regular food supplies have been doubled because of the krogan...and Mess Sergeant Chase told me she wanted to kill you."

"She can stand in line," Lauren deadpanned. "I'm sure by the end of all this...most of the crew will hate me. I'm not a good leader like Anderson."

"You'll be fine, Lauren," said Kaidan. "You've got a fine crew and they have no qualms about what we are getting into."

Her eyes glanced up from her hands that she had been staring at to rest on Kaidan's face. An awkward silence fell as their eyes locked for a little too long. Lauren coughed. "Um, about New Year's..."

"It's been over three months...I told you it was no problem. You were drunk and I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have fallen asleep in your apartment," Kaidan quickly explained.

"No, I mean earlier...there are parts I do remember...like at midnight. I, um..."

"Were still pretty intoxicated," finished Kaidan. "You just..."

Lauren put her hand over Kaidan's mouth. "Shut up! I'm trying to talk here and you keep interrupting. I wanted to say I was sorry about how I acted...and for Christmas too. I wasn't drunk then..."

"You didn't do anything wrong...," he said from behind her hand. She tried to ignore the pleasant feel of his lips on her palm.

"Kaidan, I need to explain something...I thought on Christmas that you somehow were making a pass at me, so on New Year's when I..." Her face started to turn a little red at the memory. "I kissed you...I knew what I was doing. I wanted to...Christmas, I was scared. New Year's, I wasn't." She had brought her hand down and now both were clasped in her lap.

"Oh." Kaidan couldn't think of anything better to say.

Lauren closed her eyes and just let the words fall out of her mouth. "I do have a point to this...my point is...this mission is paramount. I want us to meet like this every morning to go over things...as ground assignments allow, obviously. I want your frank feedback, Kaidan. You are the person I trust the most on this ship...that isn't changing."

"So something is changing?" Kaidan said, finding his tongue again.

"I don't know. What I do know is I don't want this clouded with a bunch of sentimental shit. You are important to me. You're my best friend. Whatever is happening...we don't have time to explore it. My gut says this Reapers thing is big, and it has never lied to me."

"Well," said Kaidan, clearing his throat and abruptly changing subjects, "that's everything I had. Everything is go...where are we heading first?"

"I think we should head to Therum...to find that asari. Maybe she can help us deal with her mother."

Kaidan stood to leave. "Anything else?"

When Lauren stood it made her too close and Kaidan forced himself to take a step back. "No, Kaidan...we need to head out ASAP. Inform Joker."

"Aye, ma'am," he responded and left the captain's quarters. Outside the door, Jenkins was waiting. He quickly caught up and lockstepped with Kaidan.

"Hey, do have a chance right now to talk? About what I wanted to talk about earlier on the Citadel?" said Jenkins.

"I've got about 5 minutes. Shoot." Kaidan stopped and faced the soldier, his arms crossed. He really didn't want to be bothered right now.

"This is my first long-term galactic assignment. Most of my deployments lasted only a few weeks. So this is going to seem kind of weird...and maybe a little..."

"My time is short, Jenkins," said Kaidan curtly. "Spit it out."

"Have you ever had a relationship on a mission?" Jenkins blurted out.

"What? No!" Kaidan wondered if Jenkins had somehow heard the conversation he just had with Lauren.

"I know that there are regs on fraternization...I just mean, like, promises of something later? After the mission's over?"

"Jenkins, I can't read what you are trying to get at exactly, but I would say, if she outranks you, she's out of your league. If she doesn't, then give it a shot, but I will have order on this ship. Regulations will be followed, do you understand, soldier?"

Jenkins was wide-eyed at Kaidan's sudden assertion of authority. "Um, yes, sir." He awkwardly saluted because he wasn't sure if he was supposed to or not.

"Make sure your station is ready. We'll be launching in 30," said Kaidan, taking the stairs to the CIC. He mentally cursed himself for being so short with Jenkins and hurried to the cockpit.

Wrex, a rugged looking krogan, and Garrus sat at the table in the mess and glanced toward each other as Jenkins stood in shock for a moment then walked quickly away as well.

"What was that about? Are all human ships like this?" asked Garrus.

Wrex sniffed the air. "I'm not sure, but I know when a male is trying to stake a claim on a female...that was it."

Garrus chuckled. "Turians don't mind a little fraternization on their ships...helps ease the tension. I've always thought humans were a bit uptight when it came to that sort of thing."

"Must be some female to get both of those humans worked up. Heh, heh," Wrex nodded. "It's going to be a long mission for both of them."

Lauren walked out of the captain's quarters and toward where the pair were talking. "How are you two settling in?" she asked.

"We're doing just fine. Very interesting watching human culture up close. In C-Sec, I was assigned primarily to turian cases," said Garrus. "My father's a retired C-Sec officer, but he was pretty xenophobic. Guess my superiors thought I was too."

"I'm glad you are here, Vakarian, tolerating us humans. Your knowledge of Saren will be invaluable...we wouldn't be this far without you," Lauren smiled.

"You can call me Garrus. Everyone calls my father Vakarian."

"No problem," Lauren laughed. "How about you, Wrex. You have everything you need?"

"If I have food to eat, water to drink and a hard surface to sleep on, oh, and guns to shoot I'm set. I'm good, Shepard." answered the krogan.

"Glad to hear it. Don't be afraid to ask me for anything...supplies, upgrades, whatever." Then Lauren disappeared around the corner and into the elevator.

"I like her," said Wrex. "She's feisty. Would make a good krogan."

"Perhaps," replied Garrus, "But as a turian...well, I could certainly go for that."

"You sound like those human males."

"Heh," the turian laughed. "Maybe I do."

x-X-x

Lauren saw the feminine body of the quarian they had met on the Citadel. She was facing the engine core, apparently just staring at it. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya had the nearly ironclad proof the Council needed to remove Saren from the Spectres and declare him rogue. Lauren was grateful and accepted Tali's offer of help with the mission.

Lauren spoke quietly as she approached so she wouldn't startle her. "Tali, I was just checking in on you. I'm sure you can tell we're about ready to leave the Citadel."

"Oh, Shepard, yes...I'm glad to be going. So many quarians end up here on their pilgrimage, but I'm glad to be leaving."

"Have you gotten yourself settled in all right?"

"Yes, I'm just amazed at this entire ship. There's so much room. If you don't mind, I'd like to stay down here and help with engine performance. It's kind of a soft spot of mine." Tali sounded like she was smiling.

"Sure, I'll let Adams know. He's the one in charge down here, though. Anything you want to do, you pass through him, ok?"

"Absolutely, I'm just grateful to feel safe for a little while." Her voice was small but sincere.

"I can't guarantee safety on this mission, and everyone is expected to do their part."

"I know that, Shepard, and I'm ready to pitch in. It's how we quarians live. You can't be lazy in the flotilla."

"Oh, you won't just be here on the ship. I'm going to be bringing you with me outside as well...can't let good skills go to waste."

Tali tilted her helmet to the side in a show of embarrassment. "Well, I am pretty good at hacking locks and decryption," she said bashfully. "I'm also not too bad with a gun."

Lauren grinned. "You look sweet, but I think there is really a badass quarian woman in there. We're heading to Therum. Since I expect geth and you are our resident expert, be ready to gear up in a few hours."

"That sounds great, Shepard!" Tali said enthusiastically. "I can't wait."

A/N: This chapter took me longer than I had anticipated to write. I just couldn't write gameplay or cut scenes...I would just feel like I cheated you and me on the greater experience. Thank you for reading and hopefully enjoying this story!