Act I : XIX

SSV Normandy

Commander Zoey Shepard walked towards the elevator, attempting to hide her wide grin from the sight of any crew members as she walked by. As she stepped into the elevator, she was joined by Slade, who activated the control panel and began the descent.

"Ready for the galaxy's slowest elevator ride once again?" Zoey giggled. Slade turned his head to look at her with a mischievous smirk.

"Someone's in a good mood", he commented. "Judging by the goofy smile on your face, I'd bet you were just talking to Kaidan. Am I right, or am I right?" Zoey blushed and immediately looked away into a wall, before giggling again.

"What I do in my free time is my own business!" Zoey grinned.

"No need to be defensive, Commander", Slade teased. "Everyone knows about you two, it's not a secret."

Wait…what?!

"Excuse me?" Zoey demanded, now directing her gaze towards Slade. "What do you mean everybody knows?!" Slade quietly chuckled before turning to face her.

"I mean", Slade mocked. "The ENTIRE crew has noticed your back and forth flirting with Lieutenant Alenko, ma'am. Neither of you are exactly 'subtle', and you both walk away from each other with stupid smiles on your faces. Honestly, if you still think your shenanigans have gone unnoticed, I'm worried. We all know about you and Kaidan. Actually, we all also kinda gossip about the two of you…although…you didn't hear this from me, okay? I don't know if I was suppose to tell you any of that." Zoey's ears and cheeks felt like they were on fire, and she suddenly found the floor of the elevator very interesting to look at.

"How long has everyone known about me and Kaidan"? Zoey asked without looking up.

"I wouldn't know about that", Slade laughed. "You'd have to ask someone else. But I've known about you two for…maybe a month now? Yeah that sounds right. Probably a month. Liara told me while I was recovering from my knife wound in the medbay."

"A WHOLE MONTH?!" Zoey exclaimed as she looked back up from the floor. "And how did Liara know?!"

"Ashley told her", Slade said with a wavering voice, as he was trying not to break out in laughter.

"How did Ashley know?!" Zoey huffed, now feeling more irritated than embarrassed.

"Oh, wow, look at the time", Slade scoffed while pretending to look at an imaginary watch on his wrist. "This elevator sure is slow, I think it's even slower than usual today…" Zoey rolled her eyes as Slade hunched over and laughed until his eyes watered.

"Why are you even here?", Zoey spat, eager to change the subject. "Shooting range, again?"

"Yeah", Slade answered while rubbing tears away from his eyes and straightening his posture. "Garrus said I've finally impressed him enough to begin training with sniper rifles. He got me started on a M-97 Viper yesterday, but honestly, I'm hoping he'll give me something with a little more punch. The Viper feels like it shoots peas, I don't really like it."

"Wow!" Zoey cheered. "Garrus said you're good enough to train with HIM? That's high praise indeed. We'll see if you can keep up, Specialist. I have yet to see Garrus miss a shot. What else have you been up to behind my back?"

"Well", Slade retorted. "Since you haven't been taking me out with you on missions, I've been getting-

"Hey!" Zoey cut in. "That's not my fault! Karin specifically said you need six weeks to yourself before I'm allowed to take you with me! I would take you if I could!"

"Since when do you listen to Karin?" Slade shot back.

"Since she yelled at me for slapping you!" Zoey rebounded. "And I don't like it when she yells, so I'm gonna be a good girl and listen!"

"Alright, alright", Slade snickered. "Anyway, I've just been catching up on my training. Ashley says my hand-to-hand could use a lot of work, but I know enough to survive a fight against a pirate or someone with minimal training. I'm getting a lot better, but she did say I shouldn't try to fight another marine. Not that I'd want to…and Liara says I've made amazing progress with my biotics. There isn't a lot of things she can teach me anymore, and my potential is astounding, for a human. I might have to start asking someone else for more combat oriented biotic training. Are you interested in teaching me, Commander?"

"Why don't you ask Wrex?" Zoey teased.

"Because he'd probably just laugh at me and tell me to fuck off", Slade grumbled. "Or maybe I could ask your boyfriend? Kaidan probably has a few things he could teach me…"

"Not funny", Zoey spat. "He's not my boyfriend, please don't say that." Slade raised an eyebrow, then looked away from her.

"Sorry", Slade mumbled. "Didn't mean to touch that nerve…" Zoey crossed her arms and leaned against the railing.

"There are regs", Zoey muttered. "Rules against fraternization, and things like that. We may flirt with each other, but it'll never be anything more than that. The word 'boyfriend' is kinda inappropriate. He's not my boyfriend, and he probably never will be." Slade shifted slightly, as if he was uncomfortable.

"Aren't you a spectre?" Slade questioned. "Do the rules even apply to you?"

"Maybe not in the same way", Zoey answered. "But they DO apply to Kaidan, and I was a marine long before I was a spectre, so the rules also apply to me, even if it's just on principle." Slade nodded his head, but chose to remain silent for a few moments before answering.

"I'm glad I'm not technically part of the Alliance", Slade commented. "Too many rules."

"True", Zoey stated. "But you're expected to follow those rules while you're aboard this ship, Specialist."

"Don't worry, Commander", Slade reassured. "I'll behave. So…why are you heading down? Do you just enjoy the excruciatingly long elevator rides?"

"We had another encounter with this Cerberus group again", Zoey reported. "I need to take a look at some data the Mako recorded while we were planetside."

"What kinda crimes against humanity did they commit this time?" Slade asked. Zoey and Slade looked to the elevator control panel as it beeped, finally announcing their arrival.

"Well, would you look at that!" Zoey snickered as they stepped out of the elevator. "Is it still Thursday? How long were we in there?"

"Are you just not going to answer my question?" Slade demanded.

"Sorry, Slade", Zoey laughed. "It's classified!"

"Wow", Slade fumed. "That's a pretty polite way to tell me to fuck off." Zoey chuckled softly to herself as Slade headed off in the opposite direction towards the armoury, while she headed to the Mako.

Does Kaidan know that everyone else knows about us? I'll ask him later…