Lauren was tired, sweaty and her head hurt. She started pulling off her armor and started cleaning the now detoxified goo that the Thorian creepers vomited on her too many times to count. Another run-in with an asari who apparently held the key to the jumbled Prothean message inside my head. Another joining, and still another yet to go, she thought. Liara had insisted that she allow her to join minds again to see if this cipher would help them find the Mu Relay.

"I'm surprised you didn't take L-T on this mission," Ashley said as she sat to clean her own armor.

"Everyone needs down time sometimes and I know Kaidan had a lot of backed up reports to file," said Lauren lamely.

"And that also surprises me…," answered Ashley slowly. "You sure they weren't your reports, Skipper?"she teased.

"Well, yeah, they are, but he does a better job of bullshitting the Council. I can't read or write their goddamn political mumbo jumbo," Lauren said, angrily scraping at the piece of armor in her hand. She then snapped at Ashley, "Are you questioning my judgment?"

Ashley held her hands up, "Whoa…no, ma'am. I was just curious. He just always seems to be your go-to guy."

Lauren shot a hard look at the woman. "Did Kaidan say something to you about this?"

"No, he didn't." Ashley looked back down at her own armor. "Are you ok? You seem tense."

Lauren sighed and mentally chided herself for taking her frustrations out on the blameless Ashley. "I have a terrible headache. I'm tired of asari being in my head, and in a bit I have to let Liara in again. I'm sorry." She looked up at Ashley's pretty and concerned face and felt a pang of sadness mingled with jealousy. "I just…want to get this mission over with."

"I think we all do. Ma'am, may I make a suggestion?"

Lauren gave Ashley a curt nod of affirmation.

"Ma'am, you need your own down time. I've never seen you have one bit of fun outside of mowing down enemy combatants. Granted, that gets the blood pumping, but you seem to forget we're here. Maybe it's because I've always had groundside assignments, but we've always been more than fellow soldiers…we were family. Next time we go to the Citadel, you are going out with L-T and me," Ashley said firmly.

"But wouldn't I just be…" Lauren started.

Ashley folded her arms in front of her. "I won't take no for answer."

x-X-x

"Oh, you are going to thank me…," Ashley said quietly as she slipped into her seat beside Kaidan in the comm room.

"Why?"

Ashley beamed. "I just got your beloved commander to agree to go out with us when we head to the Citadel next."

"I thought you told me to move on," said Kaidan, a bit confused by this new development.

"Yeah, well, you weren't down on Feros with her like I was. That woman is about as on edge as I've ever seen a commanding officer of mine. I saw her fight on Eden Prime and on Therum. She did not lay waste to anything like she did on Feros. Her biotics were…nearly out of control. My shields went down more than once on account of them. You know I don't wear any papier-mâché armor."

"What am I supposed to do about it? Our personal boundaries have been established by her and our regulations," Kaidan protested.

"I can't believe you are arguing with me about this," Ashley said, shaking her dark waves. "She needs a friend, Kaidan. At the very least, she needs to know you are there. For whatever reason, something recent has made her insecure and now she's overcompensating. You said yourself you've known her for a long time. Talk to her."

"I'll try, I guess."

x-X-x

Kaidan nervously tapped the datapad in his hand as he stood in front of the door to Lauren's quarters. The team debriefing had gone as smoothly as Ashley predicted with Liara nearly passing out from joining minds with the commander. Part of Kaidan wished he could see into Lauren's head himself so he'd have some idea of what was going on with her. The door opened.

Lauren was sitting on the couch surrounded by datapads. "We're no closer to finding the Mu Relay even after having my mind rooted around in by two asari today," she said without looking up.

"We'll find it. You're resourceful and smart. You probably have some plan cooking in that head of yours," Kaidan replied.

"I wish I did. Right now, all I can do is head back to the Citadel, get some weapons upgrades, and hope for a break. I'm going to talk to the Council while I'm there, give them what we've got and see if they can help shake something out of it."

"Ashley said you seemed…angry on Feros," Kaidan said cautiously.

Lauren looked up at the man now sitting across from her on the couch. His face seemed genuine in its concern and had no hint of hiding anything. "Ashley said that huh? I suppose she's good at figuring out how people are feeling…"

"She seems to be quite perceptive," said Kaidan, thinking about how Ashley figured him out so quickly. "Maybe a little too…anyway, is there something going on? Something I should know about? I don't want you going around half-cocked."

She bit her lower lip and let out a huff. "I'm fine, Kaidan. It's personal, but it's under control."

"I'm going to take your word for it," he said, leaning over the barrier of datapads between them and placing his hand on hers. "If you need to get something off your chest, you know you can always unload on me. I'll tell you if you are full of shit or not." He grinned and leaned back into his seat.

Kaidan's gesture left Lauren more confused. Is he playing me? Is he playing her? What the hell game is going on here?

x-X-x

Ashley was at her locker, gathering civilian clothes to wear out on the Citadel. A voice behind her cleared his throat. She turned to see the young, nervous face of Jenkins.

"Hey, C-J!" Ashley said pleasantly.

"Hi, um, Chief…uh, where are you headed?" He was wringing his hands while he talked, then he noticed and abruptly put them at his sides.

"Just getting ready to head out for some fun after the commander gets done with her meeting with the Council."

Jenkins nodded. "Just you two?"

"No, we're bringing along Alenko as well." Ashley stopped and let a subtle smile cross her face. "Would you like to join us? It'll be kind of like a double date."

Jenkins looked shocked at first, then beamed. "Ab-absolutely," he stammered. "What should I wear?"

"Just civvies. Nothing fancy," she answered.

"That sounds great. I'll get ready quickly." He turned and quickly walked away, a little bounce in his step.

Ashley smiled deviously. "I'm the best matchmaker that has ever lived," she said to herself. "L-T and Skipper will have to be a pair…since I have a date."

A/N: Thank you to those who caught my bad original upload on the last chapter! Eeek! Also a big thank you to my new followers and favorites! Not quite ready for Virmire yet...we'll get there. :)