Nihlus and Kaidan where moved to an empty patient room, the one Shepard would be moved to when she got out of surjery. Kaidan moved to the large window that made up the far wall. "Come on" he muttered, almost too low for Nihlus to hear "You'll make it through this ntl."
"What?" Nihlus asked, making Kaidan turn around to face him. "What was that last word?"
"Shepard's name?" Kaidan asked, confused.
"That wasn't Shepard," Nihlus said, bringing up his omni-tool to check his translator.
"No it was her first name." Kaidan said.
Nihlus paused, putting away his omni-tool and looking up at him. "Shepard is her first name, isn't it?"
"No it is her family name, like mine is Alenko," he explained. "Her first name is…" he trailed off, going a shade paler. "Actually if she hasn't told you I'm not going to get my ass kicked for telling you."
"Why would she hurt you?" Nihlus asked. Why wouldn't Shepard tell him her name? He thought they were close and obviously it wasn't some human thing because he knew Kaidan and Joker's names without it being a big deal. Did they have soul names like the hanar? Was it a female thing?
"I'm actually not sure why, I just know that she hates her first name. Everyone I know just calls her Shepard. I actually don't think most people would know who you were talking about if you called her Sa… that name." Kaidan explained. "But you two are all buddy-buddy, if she hasn't told you I'm not going to risk making her mad... Also don't mention I called her it, the last time I did she punched me."
Nihlus took in the information as he moved to an overstuffed chair in the corner. "As much as I'd love to get the information from you, Shepard has asked me not to hurt you after you suggested that I was forcing myself upon her." He checked the time on his omni-tool. "Might as well get comfortable, she won't be out till late tonight at the earliest."
"What? Its morning." Kaidan said, pulling up his own omni-tool. "It is only a little after seven."
"Yes and it's a long procedure that on a known species takes around fifteen hours, pending you have several doctors to switch out. Shepard isn't a known species, we don't have the luxury of multiple doctors, and she is pumped full of experimental technology that will have to be analyzed and then attempted to be removed or modified without paralyzing her." Nihlus said with a long, depressing sigh.
"So you're saying it's likely to fail?" Kaidan asked, his body becoming tenser.
"If any doctor could pull it off it would be Mordin, the man is a genius." Nihlus assured him. "And if anyone would be able to survive this, it would be Shepard," he added, picking a strand of red hair off his armor, running it between his fingers before it fell and disappeared somewhere on the ground.
An awkward silence grew between them, one that Kaidan felt the urge to fill. "This is going to be a long day," he said, rubbing his face with his hands.
"You're the one who insisted that you come." Nihlus said, crossing his legs at the ankle and pulling up a game on his omni-tool to distract him if nothing else.
They sat in silence for hours, with Nihlus playing mindless games on his omni-tool and Kaidan rubbing a bit of metal on a chain in between his fingers. Finally Kaidan spoke, clutching the bit of metal in his fist. "You care for her, don't you?" he said, making Nihlus look at him and the ship he had been controlling in his game exploded.
"Of course I do, we are friends," he said, dodging the actual question per Shepard's request they keep their relationship as much of a secret from the other humans as they could, mainly just Kaidan.
"I mean… like like…" Kaidan said, gesturing with his hands aimlessly. It felt better to move in this situation, this awkward situation. Nihlus sighed and was going to answer, but Kaidan started speaking again. "I love her, I have ever since she saved my ass from a burning car on our first convoy."
"Burning car?" Nihlus asked, interested. Shepard hardly ever talked about herself, if he had a chance to hear more about her past he was going to take it.
"Yeah," Kaidan chuckled. "We got ambushed a couple dozen miles out from the refugee camp. Shepard had been on look out, but we hit some spikes and it popped a tire. Guess that was our first clue something was wrong, but… it wasn't like spikes where that uncommon of a thing."
Kaidan slowed up the jeep and moved it to the side of the road. "Blown tire?" Shepard called down from the top of the jeep. Without waiting for an answer she jumped off the leaning jeep and inspected the damage. "Johnson, hand me the spare and the jack," she called to one of her crew in the back. Promptly a tall soldier appeared from the back of the jeep with a spare tire over one broad shoulder and the jack tucked under his other arm.
"Would you like me do the lifting?" he asked her.
She gave a short bark laugh. "I didn't get prompted over you by letting you do all the heavy lifting, you do enough of that in your bunk," she teased, giving him a wink.
He blushed deeply, but whether it was from the comment about his size or the insinuation that he masturbated Kaidan would never get to ask him. Johnson handed her the jack before he went to lean against the hood of the jeep beside her. "If you like heavy lifting so much I could help with that," he offered, a charming smile on his face, despite the blush that was still present.
She glared up at him, "Don't even think about it, the jack is barely able to lift the jeep, I don't need your fat ass sitting on it," she warned him.
He laughed, "No I meant that we should—" he was cut off by an explosion on his other side away from Shepard.
Kaidan, still in the driver's seat, was left dazed as his mind tried to process what just happened. He blinked several times, but the dark clouds outside the front window didn't go away and the deafening ringing in his ears was making him nauseous.
Past the black clouds he saw Shepard, she was yelling soundlessly in her direction, her assault rifle drawn. She came to the door and pulled on the handle, but it didn't budge. She lifted her assault rifle and slammed the butt of the weapon into the window, shattering it. The glass fell against him as some of his earing returned.
"Alenko, are you ok?" she asked, pulling herself in through the window. She crawled over him and into the seat beside him.
"What happened?" he asked, lifting a hand to his ear and when he pulled it back there was blood on his fingers.
"Bomb, Johnson took the major part of the blast. The jeep is dead," she filled him in as she pulled out her combat knife and sawed through his locked up seatbelt.
He looked down at what she was doing and saw a decent size piece of shrapnel embedded in his thigh. "I'm bleeding," he stammered, still too dizzy from the blast to say anything more specific.
She grabbed his leg, making him wince, and looked at it. "Looks like it missed the artery," she said, letting go of his leg. "Come on, through the window."
"I can't, I'm too big," he said, stumbling as she pushed him to the door. He tried to get through, but with all his gear he kept getting stuck at the waist.
"Damn it," Shepard said, pulling him back in. She moved to the door and started slamming her foot against it, but it didn't budge.
"Shepard, the car is going to blow!" one of the crew called, Kaidan couldn't tell which with the dimming ringing.
"I'm not leaving him behind," she snapped at him. She turned to him and turned her nimble fingers to his gear.
"Sa…" she punched him.
"Don't call me that," she grunted as she kept pulling his gear off. Once he was down to his uniform she shoved him back at the window, forcing his wider waist through the window.
He plopped on the ground on the other side before he had several pairs of hands grab his shoulders, dragging him across the sandy road. He turned in time to see Shepard hop out of the window being him. She took two steps away from the jeep when it exploded, sending her flying towards him. He lifted up his arms in reflex, catching her as the force sent them both out of the grasp of their comrades and to the ground. Time seemed to slow down for him. Around him his squad was rushing this way and that, checking on each other's injuries, attending to a soldier not moving on the ground. Johnson. Kaidan could tell by the man's larger form. He turned back to the weight on his chest. Shepard was still tight in his arms, her head on his chest, hair sprawled out in all directions. She really was pretty, with her bright red hair and her slender form that he could feel pressed against him. His squad just blew up, he really shouldn't be thinking about things like that.
She pushed herself up off of him with her hands on his chest. "You ok?" she asked, brushing her red hair out of her face, but it only fell back down into her eyes from the angle she was at.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "You saved me."
"Of course," she smiled, giving a small chuckle. "You may be the newbie, but that doesn't mean you're not part of my squad." She removed herself from him and straightened her uniform. "Swanson, look at Kaidan's leg and get it patched up," she ordered.
"But Johnson—" Swanson tried to protest, not moving from her spot knelt down next to Johnson's burned, motionless form.
"I'll see to Johnson, you get his leg stitched up so we only have one injured people instead of two," Shepard ordered, going over to kneel beside Swanson. "On three," she said, hovering her hands over Swanson's that were putting pressure on a wound. "One… two… three." They switched hands quickly and Swanson moved to Kaidan as ordered, still giving Johnson occasional glances back.
Shepard knew some medical training enough to apply the med-foam to the wound. It wouldn't heal the wound, but it would help lessen the bleeding until they could get back to camp. "He's not breathing…" she muttered, her fingers moving to Johnson's neck. "Damn it, I'm not losing anyone," she growled as she started CPR. She clasped her hands together over Johnson's chest and pushed down with enough force to make her grunt. Three presses and then she leaned down, clamping a hand over his nose and covering his mouth with hers, breathing air into his lungs. He coughed roughly, dreary eyes looking up at her.
"Hey beautiful, were you just kissing me?" he asked with a failed attempt at a smirk.
"CPR, playboy," she said before standing up. "Swanson, how is Kaidan?"
"All stitched up, despite his bitching," she reported, muttering the last part.
"Good, make a stretcher out of our packs and get Johnson on it, and find a stick big enough for Kaidan to use as a crutch. Everyone not injured or helping carry Johnson grab what is left of the supplies from the jeep, we are finishing this mission," she ordered, pulling Kaidan to his feet. He tried to hide his wince.
"The camp is still five miles away," O'Brien complained as he shouldered his share of the packs.
Shepard turned to glare at him, storming up to him and staring him down even when he was nearly a head taller than her. He shank under her gaze. "Then it is a damn good thing I trained all of you so well, cadet, isn't it?"
He swallowed, standing up straight and clasping his feet together the heels. "Ma'am, yes ma'am."
"Move out," Shepard said, lifting up more packs than most of her men had before they started down the path, guns raised and ready to defend themselves if the owner of the bomb returned.
"What set off the bomb, though?" Nihlus asked as Kaidan finished the story.
"It was a pressure plate bomb, the tire stopped on it, but when Shepard lifted it with the jack to change it..." Kaidan sighed, making an exploding gesture with his hands.
"She was so close to it, but she wasn't that badly hurt?" Nihlus further pried.
"Yeah, Johnson heard the click of the bomb right before it went off and shielded her the best he could with his body," Kaidan explained. "He lost his leg and his back is covered in scars."
Nihlus sat in silence, taking in the story and trying to picture it, picture the kind of person Shepard was back then.
"You never answered my question," Kaidan pointed out.
Nihlus chuckled. "I was hoping you forgot about it," he admitted. Kaidan looked at him expectantly, wanting an answer. "Yes, I am madly in love with that stubborn woman." Nihlus admitted, not going to lie about his feelings.
"And what does she feel?" Kaidan asked, timidly.
"Yes, we are in a relationship, it started after I came back from my three day excursion." Nihlus confirmed for him.
Kaidan sighed and rubbed his face in his hands. "No offense, but what does she see in you? I am her same species. What do you have that I don't?" he asked bitterly.
Nihlus shrugged, his face void of emotion. "Maybe she is into retractable cock?" he teased.
"Are you ever going to get over that?" Kaidan asked.
"Probably not, it is just too weird." Nihlus said. "I mean, how do you even walk."
"Well it isn't all that big—" Nihlus cut him off with a round of loud laughter "it isn't that big UNTIL we get aroused."
"Oh yeah?" Nihlus said, his mandibles flaring into an evil grin. "Drop your pants."
"What? No," Kaidan refused, taken back by the statement. "Is this some turian thing?"
"Comparing the size of ones cock to another's as a way of one upping the other? I'm pretty sure that is a male thing, not a turian thing," Nihlus said as he stood up. "What's the matter, Alenko? Scared? Ever think that is what I have that you don't? Or maybe it is literally just the size of my—"
"Alright if it will get you to shut up." Kaidan said, standing up awkwardly. "But… it does get bigger when aroused… And I'm a grower, not a shower."
"A what?" Nihlus asked as he started on the clasps of his armor.
"It means that mine doesn't start that big… but it gets big," he said, cutting off Nihlus before he could start laughing again. Kaidan looked to the door nervously before he undid his pants and let them drop to the ground with a sigh and a blush.
Nihlus looked at it for a long second. "Nope, doesn't make any more sense with the visual aid," he commented before he undid the front of his pants and pulled out his exposed, limp shaft.
Kaidan looked at it in shock. "Why the hell is it blue?" he asked.
"My blood is blue, is kind of makes sense that my dick would be. My tongue is blue too, you going to shout about that next?"
Kaidan continued to look at Nihlus and felt incredibly small in comparison. Nihlus was hung like the guys in the pornos that'd make any man feel inferior. And it was blue, and had ridges. "And how did Shepard react to… a blue penis?"
"She hasn't seen it yet, actually. We have an agreement that pants stay on for now." Nihlus said, putting himself away. "She is shy."
"That is an understatement." Kaidan muttered as he pulled his pants back on. "You feel like a big man now?"
Nihlus shrugged, "I'm on the upper end of the average for turians and I have no idea what the average for humans is, but I would wager that it is smaller if things are proportionate."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kaidan said, not sure if he should be offended.
"You're short." Nihlus said, putting a hand on Kaidan's head and then moving it to the equivalent height on him, which was right at the edge of his ridge.
"I'm actually tall for a human, ok?" Kaidan defended.
"And I'm kind of short for a turian." Nihlus countered.
"Really?" Kaidan blinked.
"Yeah, I take after my mother in height, my dad was really tall," he further explained. This was the first time he and Kaidan had talked for more than a few sentences. The guy wasn't all that bad, he was just a love sick puppy for his woman which would cause some problem undoubtingly.
They both sat down. Kaidan was still a little tense from their how and tell, and it didn't help that Nihlus wasn't even phased by it. "I'm not going to stop," he said after a minute of stretched silence. Nihlus glanced over at him from the game he had just pulled up. "Trying to get Shepard, I mean."
Nihlus growled sub-harmonically, but tried to keep it out of his voice. "She is mine, and turians are protective," he warned. "Other than that, good luck with that."
"If she decides that she wants me over you…"
"I will let her go, but only if it is her choice," Nihlus assured him. "Until that unlikely hypothetical situation occurs she is my girlfriend and I will defend her."
Kaidan nodded and started rubbing the bit of metal in between his fingers again.
AsL
Kaidan was asleep in his chair when they brought Shepard in early the next morning, but Nihlus was awake, he couldn't sleep without knowing that she was alright.
The nurses rolled her in on a stretcher face down. She was topless with bandages running down her spine that smelled of disinfectant. As they moved her carefully to the bed, laying her on her side, Nihlus moved to Mordin who followed the nurses into the room. "How did it go?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake Kaidan.
"Better than expected." Mordin said, trying to hide how tired he was, but Nihlus had worked beside salarians enough to see the subtle signs. "Implants were ingenious, but flawed. Was able to make modifications to better suit Shepard's biology. Main flaw was incorrectly mapping her nervous system. They used a method of muscle reacting. You stab a part of the spine and look for where the body twitches. Can be affective, but subject has to be awake during and not as accurate as current electrical current methods."
"No paralyzation then?" he asked, moving to Shepard's side as the nurses finished hooking her up to IVs.
"Won't know till she wakes up," Mordin answered honestly. "But was able to remove most of the prototype implants and replace with modified asari implants. What couldn't be removed, fixed. Outlook is… decent."
"Decent?" Nihlus said, looking back at Mordin. "You can't give me any better than decent?"
"New species, new nervous system, new technology, not enough data to give a better answer."
Nihlus sighed, "Alright, we'll see when she wakes up then. You go get some rest, you look like you could use it."
Mordin nodded and slid out of the room. Once he wasn't in front of people he let out a wide yawn.
Nihlus pulled a chair beside Shepard's bed and tried to get comfortable. Finally he managed to dose off while leaning back in the chair, his head fallen back, and her hand in his. 'We'll get through this,' was his last conscious thought.
Shepard
She jolted away, pulling away from the hand around her own. She tried to sit up, but her back let out a cry of protest. She let out a whimper, but didn't lower herself back down.
A hand settled on her shoulder, causing her to jerk away from it and snap her head in its direction. "It's ok, Shepard," a deep voice soothed her. "You are safe, we are at the hospital. Mordin fixed the implants." She nodded, her hand shaky as she reached for his. "Any nerve pain?" he asked softly.
"A bit," she croaked, her voice horse and throat dry. She coughed and he quickly reached for a cup of water that was sitting on her bedside table. She accepted it gratefully, wanting to drink the whole thing in just a few gulps, but she knew that wouldn't be smart after being dehydrated all day. Instead she sipped on it before handing it back.
"Your right hand is functioning again," he pointed out.
She held it out in front of her and flexed her fingers. They still wouldn't ball up into a fist, but she could curl her fingers enough that they almost touched her palm. "Not quite."
He took her hand in his. "It will be," he assured it "now you get some rest."
"No," she answered with a tremble. "I can't or I'll dream that I'm…"
Nihlus stood up, leaning down to press his forehead to hers. "You'll dream that you are back there," he finished for her.
She gave a trembling nod, "Every time I close my eyes… every time something shifts on my back… I believe that I'm there," she admitted, her voice trembling. It was hard for her to admit her weakness, the only reason she was able to was because it was Nihlus.
He pulled back and brushed her hair out of her face. "I'll call a nurse and get something to help you sleep," he said as he pulled away from the bed and slipped into the hall.
"Shepard," a voice called out once he was gone, making her jump.
She craned her neck to see Kaidan walking up to her bed from the corner of the room. "Oh Kaidan, I didn't see you," she said, sighing as she relaxed against the bed again.
"Sorry," he muttered, stopping by Nihlus' chair. "I… I found your dogtags in a box with some of our things," he said, holding up the metal dogtags that he had been holding since she went into surgery. "I figured that… I don't know, maybe it would help. Captain Anderson always got on to you for forgetting to wear them."
"Yeah," she said, smiling kindly at him. "Thank you, Kaidan." She took the chain from him and slid it over her head.
Nihlus returned and Kaidan moved back to his chair in the corner. "What was that about?" he asked as he injected Shepard's IV with a sleeping aid.
"Don't…" Shepard blinked several times as the drug quickly took effect. "Don't worry about it, big guy…" She drifted off, her dogtags lying on the top of her sheet by her hand.
Nihlus settled back into his chair beside her and looked at them. If he wasn't mistaken they were the bits of metal that Kaidan had been holding on to earlier. He lifted them into his hand and looked at them in the dim light. One had a symbol engraved it in and the only had writing. Since it was printed and not electronical his omni-tool wasn't automatically translating it. He pulled up his omni-tool and scanned it into a program that would translate the written text. His mandibles twitched as it pulled it up. It was an ID tag. It had Shepard's military number, her squad's number and… her name. He looked at it for a long time, saying it in his head, he didn't dare say it out loud and wake Kaidan or Shepard up. His mandibles flared into a grin before he shut down his omni-tool and settled down for the night.
xXx
"Touch your fingers to your thumb." Mordin instructed and waited for Shepard to complete the task. Her left hand complied without a problem, but she was only able to do it with two of her four fingers on her right hand. Mordin grabbed her hand and turned it over in his. "Interesting," he said as he felt the tendons.
"Good interesting or bad?" she asked, trying to catch any emotion on his face, but there wasn't any she could see.
"Stand," Mordin said instead of answering her, letting her hand go and tucking his arms behind his back.
"I can't…" she said, glaring at her right foot. "I could barely walk before the operation."
"Stand," Mordin repeated.
She looked up at Nihlus. "Just try," he told her, moving close enough that he could catch her if he needed to.
She sighed and slid off the bed, putting all of her weight on her left leg. She was unsteady, but she was standing with her right foot hovering a few inches above the ground.
"Now walk," Mordin said, moving aside to give her room.
"I can't," Shepard snapped at him, brushing her hair out of her face with her left hand.
"Try," Nihlus repeated.
She glared at him, put moved her right foot in front of her and put weight on it to take a step. The leg collapsed under her weight and she toppled into Nihlus' strong arms. "I can't…" she repeated quietly.
"Interesting," Mordin said. In smooth movements he pulled out a pistol and shot Kaidan, who was standing by the far wall, in the chest. He hit the wall and slid to the ground with a grunt and nothing more.
"Kaidan," Shepard cried, pulling away from Nihlus and ran to Kaidan's side. She checked his pulse, finding it beating uninterested. Confused she checked the wound, but found only a newly forming bruise on his chest.
"Concussive rounds, not fatal." Mordin informed her.
"You fucker," she growled, storming up to him and gripped him by the front of his shirt with both hands. "You ass," she pulled her right fist back, ready to slam it into Mordin's face.
"You're walking, and making a fist." Nihlus said, making her pause.
"Yes. No damage, just in her head." Mordin said, gripping her left wrist and pressed down on the nerves, making her let go of his shirt. "Should be fine. Do you need someone to help train her to use her biotics?" he asked Nihlus.
"I know enough from working alongside Saren, at least to get her started." Nihlus said as he went to a bag he had gotten from the ship a couple hours before. "Get dressed, we have a press thing to attend, officially introduce your species." He tossed her a set of clothes that she easily caught in her right hand.
"Why didn't you do that with Kaidan while I was in surgery?" she asked, glancing at Mordin and Kaidan.
"Shepard, salarians don't have a sex drive on top of the fact he has seen you naked several times now." Nihlus assured her. She glanced at Kaidan again to make sure he was out before she pulled at the strings of the hospital gown and let it fall around her feet. "And I thought you would make a better spokesperson for your species than Kaidan. You have one of those faces."
She slipped on her smalls first. "Lucky me," she muttered as she pulled her pants on. Mordin left the room, his job was done and thus he was bored. She watched him go, glanced at Kaidan one more time to make sure he was still out, before she moved to Nihlus and pulled him down into a kiss. He chuckled and kissed her back, his hands going to her hips, pulling her close. When they finally pulled back she trailed her fingers along the back of his cowl. "We could just sneak back to the ship," she pouted.
"Nice try, but you're not getting out of this," he said, his hands wandering between her hips and her ass.
"Damn it," she muttered under her breath and pulled back, grabbing her shirt off the bed. He came up behind her and traced a finger down her scarred spine. Modern medicine had healed it up in just a few short days, but it was too much damage to not leave the scars. She shuddered under his touch. "I'm ok, big guy," she said, the shirt gripped in her hands.
"It's my fault all of this happened…" he said sadly. "If I hadn't… I was supposed to protect you."
She turned around to face him. "You didn't do this, Nihlus," she said, cupping his cheek in her hand. "And you aren't my guardian, you are my partner. We watch each other's backs and rescue the other when they get themselves kidnapped."
He smiled down at her. "I love you."
She opened her mouth, but hesitated. "I'm sorry…" she finally said quietly, closing her eyes and bowing her head.
He let out a sub-harmonic cry and tried to swallow the tightness in his chest.
"You know I do…" she added.
"I know," he said, letting her hand drop and the space to grow between them. 'I still want to hear it,' he thought to himself.
They left Kaidan in the hospital room with an armed guard to escort him back to the ship once he woke up. "So what is required of me at this press conference?" she asked, breaking the silence between them.
He shrugged, "About the same thing that you did with the council. State your name, your species, planet name, and make people love you."
"Oh great," she said and rubbed her face. "Can't it be something I'm good at?"
He laughed, pulling her a bit closer as a curious on looker got a little too close. "You are good at making people like you, Shepard."
"No I'm not, I'm socially awkward," she protested.
"You are amazing, and kind hearted, and stubborn, and dense, and beautiful," he listed off. "And mine," he added with a purr.
She gave a snort of a laugh, "Three out of six isn't too bad I guess."
"I repeat the dense one," he laughed and she joined in, the tension between them evaporating.
He took them to the Presidium where a stage had already been assembled with a huge crowd gathered around it. The crowd was split into three different rings. The innermost were the other diplomats and ambassadors, important people. Next where all the news reporters, people with more status than your average citizen, and Nihlus even could see several of his fellow Spectres blended in among them. Most Spectres didn't go public, preferring to work under the radar. Nihlus didn't know most of these Spectres, but it was in the way they carried themselves. Now Nihlus, he liked the attention and there were other Spectres, like Saren, who just didn't give a damn. The third ring was everyone else and by far the biggest. Between each ring where patrolling C-Sec officers to keep the peace where it was needed.
Nihlus moved so he was in front of Shepard and pushed a way through the crowd. The crowd tried to collapse in around Shepard when they made it to the second ring, news reporters trying to get answers to a variety of questions out of her. She shuddered, her heart racing in her chest. It was too many people, too close, she froze in her steps, her mind going back to being strapped to that stretcher. Too tight, too close, unable to move. And then the crowd loosened around her as a familiar turian with blue markers forced the reporters back.
"I got you, Shepard," Garrus said, putting an arm around her shoulders. Nihlus had stopped a few paces in front of her, arguing with a hanar who was blabbering on about how "the enkindlers had brought them a new species and he had to talk to her to tell her of the wonders of the enkindlers so her species would be saved."
"Get out of the way or I will cut off one of your legs." Nihlus threatened finally, having enough of the hanar's biblical babble.
The hanar continued and Garrus dropped Shepard off beside Nihlus. "Sir, you are holding up the press conference, this is not the best way to represent the enkindlers, please step aside before we have to take legal action."
The hanar paused in his speech. "Yes, of course. This one is sorry for any inconvenience." The hanar stepped aside and let them pass.
"It is a big pink jellyfish…" Shepard said, turning her head to look at him even after they had passed.
"I am just going to assume a jellyfish is something on Earth." Nihlus said. "He is a hanar, they share a homeworld with the drell, Kolyat's species."
"How does it talk?" she asked, relaxing in the big crowd with Nihlus on one side of her and Garrus on the other.
"Bioluminescence, they flash different colors," Garrus answered, making her turn her head to him.
"Hey shit shot, thanks for helping me back there," she said.
"Are you going to keep calling me that forever?" Garrus asked. "My name is Garrus, you know."
"Yeah, I know," she smiled as he stopped at the bottom of the stage's steps.
Nihlus and she went up on to the stage and he moved to the podium. "Citizens of Citadel Space, I present to you the new species' ambassador, Commander Samantha Shepard," he introduced her, motioning for her to come forward.
She froze at the use of her first name. She glared at him for a second. "I'm killing Kaidan," she muttered before she moved to the podium. "Hello," she said into the microphone, speaking to the crowd. "I am Commander Shepard of the Alliance Military of Earth."
"Commander, why haven't you come forward before?" a reporter called above the crowd.
"The ship I was in command of stumbled on a mass relay. We were forced through it and ended up in hostile territory. We did not come forward before because recovering my crew was our top priority," she said, slipping into her military stance with her feet apart and hands behind her back.
"Have you recovered all of your crew now?" another reporter asked.
"Most of the crew is accounted for," she replied shortly. Nihlus had already told her about the pictures of her dead crew members.
"Is a military ship a declaration of war?" another one piped up.
"No, the mission was originally to test out a new engine design. Because the Alliance Military is formed from a majority of the countries on Earth it was designated the best course of action for the advancement of space travel," she explained.
"What is your species called?" a diplomat asked.
"Sorry, I am still not used to that being… well, being a question. Half a year ago there was only one species that I even know about." The crowd laughed with her. "We are called humans, and we are glad to be welcomed into your society."
'She is amazing,' Nihlus thought, smiling behind her. 'Samantha… I like it.'
sAs
"Joker," Shepard growled when they got back to the ship.
"Yeah, Shep?" he asked, craning his neck to see her.
"Have you told… people… about my first name?" she asked.
"What, Sam?" he asked, taking off his headset. "No, you don't like it."
"Ok," she said, smiling and turned to go into the main part of the ship.
"Kaidan, you may want to run." Joker called over the ship's intercom.
"Traitor!" Shepard yelled back at him.
Kaidan had been in the bathroom when he heard it and froze. What did he do? What didn't he do? Just how mad was Shepard? Or was it Nihlus? Either way he zipped up his pants and bolted for the crew's quarters. Shepard grabbed his arm right outside of the bathroom and flipped him onto his back. "You had no right," she growled, putting a foot on his chest to hold him on the ground. He could get up, but he knew that she would just pin him down more effectively before he could get away.
"What did I do?" he asked, sincerely confused.
"You told Nihlus my first name," she growled. "You had no fucking right."
"He didn't tell me," Nihlus said, an arm wrapping around Shepard's waist and pulling her off of Kaidan. "I read your ID tag. I'm sorry if I offended you if it is some human thing. I should have asked, Samantha."
She tensed up at the use of her first name again. "Don't call me that," she growled, jerking away from him.
"It isn't a human thing, Nihlus, it's a Shepard thing and she really, really doesn't like it when people call her it." Joker called over the intercom.
She glared at him before she stormed off to the cargo bay. Nihlus sighed and followed her. "Shepard, can you explain to me why so I can understand?" he asked as he followed her down the steps.
"I don't like my first name, and that is all the explanation that you need," she said simply.
He growled in frustration and rubbed his face plates in his hands. "I thought we were a couple," he said, deciding if he wanted to get her to talk he was going to have to play a little bit dirty.
"We are," she replied in short.
"Couples tell each other things, especially important things, like first names for instance," he pried.
She took them to their sparring ring and started wrapping up her hands. "No one calls me by my first name, hell half of the people I work with wouldn't know who you were even talking about," she shrugged. "If the name is not ever used it isn't that important, is it?"
"I still would have liked to have known," Nihlus countered. "I'm always finding things out about you from every other source, but from you. Do you not trust me?"
"Nihlus you know that is not it," she said, turning to him, her fists raised and ready to spar.
He mimicked her pose, signaling that he was ready. They settled into a pace. He caught a punch that she threw at his face. "Then what is it?" he asked. She growled and pulled back, sending out a high kick at his stomach. He blocked it. "Talk to me, Samantha."
"Don't call me that," she shouted at him, jerking her leg away and sending a furry of punches at his head.
He blocked most of them, but one got threw and hit him hard in the nose. His head snapped and he could taste blood as it dripped down from his nose. Normally she would stop and start apologizing for hitting him so hard, but she this time she didn't. She took advantage of the break in his defense to hit the clasps on his armor, making the top half fall to the ground. He opened his mouth to make a perverted comment about how she was stripping him, but she cut him short by ramming her knee into his stomach, knocking the air out of him. This wasn't like their normal sparring matches, she was actually fighting him.
"Alright," he sighed. "If that is how you want to play it, Samantha." He took off his gauntlets so he wouldn't hurt her and settled back into a defensive position with his fists blocking his face.
She barely gave him enough time to get his fists up before she started her assault again. With Nihlus not holding back he easily was able to take advantage of her rushed tactics. She overextended herself on a punch and he grabbed her arm, jerking her towards him and swiped her feet out from under her. She started to fall against him, but turned the momentum to her advantage. She swung herself upside-down, her leg aimed to land a kick at his head. He blocked it and pushed her off. He knew it was a long shot to get the upper hand on her at so close range. She didn't pause, coming flying at him once again, but with the added distance he was able to roll out of the way.
"What's wrong, Samantha? You're fighting so sloppy," he teased.
She glared at him and charged again, but she was still at too far of a distance and Nihlus had plenty of time to react. They continued, Nihlus letting Shepard blow off steam with her rash tactics, but always kept out of her reach, making her frustrated. Finally he grabbed her on one of her chargers and used the force to spin them, pinning her against the wall he conveniently moved them beside. "Spirits, you are beautiful," he said. His body was pressed tight against hers, his leg pressed between her legs, and his hand cupping her chest. They were both breathing hard, breathes mingling together as he leaned down closer to her.
She laced her fingers behind his head and pulled him down into a kiss. She may be mad at him, but that didn't change the desires that he stirred in her. He kissed her back, his tongue sliding into her mouth, tongues sliding against each other and teeth clashing. His hand slid in her shirt, gripping her side right under her breast, pulling her closer. Her hands moved from the back of his head to tug on the bottom of his under-armor shirt, trying to tug it upward despite the lack of room between them. He pulled away long enough to help her with his shirt, before he was on her again. He gripped her ass and twisted them so when he laid them down they were on the sparring mat among his discarded armor. He moved his teeth to her neck, lavishing her tender skin in nips and licks.
"Nih…" she breathed in a way that nearly undid him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as his hand that wasn't supporting his weight slid down in between them and slid inside of her pants, a claw tracing her seem before he slipped a finger through it, seeking the source of her heat and slipping inside. "Nihlus…" she called, but this time it wasn't its usual tone telling him to slow it down. It was full of want and desire that he had never heard from her and that did undo him.
She let out a whine of protest. "If I fuck you in the cargo bay you will get mad at me later for it," he said, picking her up and carrying her to the steps. "You'll have to walk for this bit," he said as he set her down.
She nodded and they both quickly went up the stairs. No one saw them, thankfully. Nihlus being topless after their sparring matches wasn't uncommon, but there hurry to get to their rooms was.
As soon as they were around the bend and out of site of the main part of the ship pinned her to the wall, his tongue sliding back into her mouth. She let out a muffled noise as her hands roamed his chest. "Are you sure about this, Shepard?" he asked, pulling back. "If we go any further no backing out, please. I'm not sure if I could."
"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm terrified, but…" she stilled her shaking hands and undid the locks to his grieves "I want this."
He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She chuckled as she wormed her way low enough that she could hit the final few clasps on his grieves so they clattered to the floor with each step. "You can do that way to easy considering we haven't actually done anything before," he commented and felt her shrug in response.
He tossed her on his bed and crawled after her. She pulled him in and dragged him into another kiss. She'd never get tired of kissing him, the feel of his tongue invading her mouth, their teeth grazing each other, she loved it. Her hands went to his hips, stroking them the way that he had shown her and she could feel the purr that ran through him resonate in his chest.
His hands gripped the top of her pants and pulled them and her panties down around her knees, not able to pull them any further because of their position. He was about to pull back so he could take them all the way off, but Shepard pulled back before he could. Briefly he was scared that she was going to run away, but instead she contorted her body in a way that nearly made him cringe, sliding her pants, panties, and shoes off easily.
He blinked at her, "Do I even want to know why you can do that so easily?" he asked.
She laughed a bit. "Gymnastics was done in a leotard and sometimes you have to change quickly," she explained.
"Ah… handy," he said, hitching her leg over his shoulder and lowering his head.
"Nih, wait I…" she cut off as he ran his tongue along her sex, unintentionally rubbing it against her clit. She shuddered and bit her lip.
"Should I not?" he asked, nipping her inner thigh.
"No, I just… haven't done this," she admitted.
"I've only done it with a few women, turian women aren't… capable of it," he said, trying to make her feel better. "For you though…" he licked her again, long and slow "I want to. Tell me what you like."
"Well…" she blushed as she sat up a bit. "You see that… bud?" In answer he gave it a short lick, making her shudder. "Yeah… that. It's called the clit… it's really sensitive." She saw him grin before he dove in, licking the bundle of nerves, grazing his teeth along it as he went further down and slid his long tongue inside of her. "Shit…" she breathed, biting the palm of her hand to silence any noises.
He glanced up at her and saw them, his mandibles drooping slightly in disapproval. He pulled back and moved his way back up her. He removed her hand from her mouth and pinned both hands beside her head. "I want to hear you," he said as he leaned down to kiss her. She moaned into the kiss and he rewarded her by letting go on her hands. They went to the waistline of his pants, hesitating. Again he pulled back, getting off the bed. He pulled down his pants, leaving himself fully exposed to her eyes for the first time.
She stared at it for a long second. "It's blue… and ridged…" she said surprised.
"Well my blood is blue," he commented.
"Makes sense then," she said thoughtfully. "But ridged?"
"Turian females need more… stimulation than a lot of other species," he explained. "Is that going to be a problem?"
She moved so she was standing in front of him. "Is it wet?" she asked now that she was closer.
"Yes, male turians also supply the lubrication," he said, pulling her against him so it was pressed against her stomach. "Is that going to be a problem?" he repeated.
"Just be careful, you're big and it's been…"
"Eight years, I still don't know how you are sane," he teased as he pulled her shirt and sports bra off.
"I was doing fine before I met you," she commented as he picked her up, pinning her back down to the bed. She shifted nervously under him as he positioned himself.
"I'm going to ask one more time, Shepard. Are you sure?" he asked, ever the gentleman when it came to her.
"Damn it, Nihlus, fuck me," she growled.
That was all he needed, he slipped the tip inside of her, slowly sliding more and more of himself in her. She let out a hiss as she stretched to accommodate him.
"Are you ok?" he asked once he was buried in to the hilt. She nodded and he started to move, slow enough to drive himself crazy, but he knew she needed the time to adjust.
"You're good, it's starting not to hurt so much," she gave him the go ahead after a few minutes.
"Tell me if you need to slow down, ok?" he said, waiting for her to nod before his hands went to her hips and started thrusting into her.
"Shit," she cursed, her hands going to his upper arms. He started to slow down again, but she shook her head. "You're fine, you're fine."
With her assurance he picked the pace back up, thrusting hard and deep inside of her. She was so tight and warm, and wet. Spirits, he had dreamed of this for so long and yet it did not compare. "You feel…" he panted, at a loss of words for it. "I love you," he said instead. He moved one arm under her leg, hitching it above his shoulder, and leaned forward, allowing him to go deeper.
"Shit, Nih," she moaned.
He groaned and leaned down, biting his part on her shoulder.
"Oh fuck, Nihlus…" she groaned, her arms going around his torso, nails digging into his plates. She wasn't sure if it had just been that long, or if Nihlus was just that damn good, but he was already pushing her towards her climax. "Is breá liom tú ró-" she panted.
He pulled back and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "I have a feeling I know what that means," he panted. "Say it in a language I can understand."
"I…" she started, but closed her eyes, her bottom lip quivering just slightly.
Nihlus growled, pushing her leg closer to her chest and started going faster. He wouldn't be able to hold himself back at this pace for as long, but it had the desired effect. Shepard let out a cry, her body arching up as he hit that sweet spot deep inside of her again and again, too quick to let her recover from one before he hit it again.
"I love you…" she breathed.
"What?" he said, wanting her to say it again, to scream it. "What did you say, Samantha?"
"I… shit, Nihlus… Fuck…" she gripped the sheets as she reached her peak. "I love you… ah… fuck me."
Nihlus felt her tighten around him, "Damn it, Shepard, you are going to make this end real quick if you keep that up," he breathed. Yeah, he wasn't going to last much longer. This woman could undo him so easily, and he loved it. She held on to him tightly and bit his shoulder to silence her screams as he took her higher and higher. Her restraint was the last straw, he bit down over his mark and with a groan released inside of her. A few final thrusts and he was spent. He let her leg fall and went to pull out, but she wrapped her legs around him, holding him in place. He knew then that he would never be able to go back to turians. Turian females were done when they were done, they'd start closing back up shortly after, but Shepard stayed warm, accepting, and dripping wet. He looked down at where they were connected and could see the mixing of their juices dripping down her leg. It wasn't just turians, he could never go back to another, not after knowing what it was like to have her.
She let her legs fall and he slid out, moving so he laid down beside her. "I am never letting you go," he said, wrapping his arms around her.
She smiled, her eyes closed, chest still rising and falling deeply as she caught her breath. "Good."
A/N: I'm sorry if there are typos, it's late and I need sleep before I have to go to work in the morning. I hope you guys liked it. Please read and review.