Bioware owns all! Thanks go out to Star582 (my idea she co wrote it) for there help with the shower scene… yeah we are obsessed and there are no towels here! Well, at least until later. Remember rated M

Lingering

Shepard was waiting for the Salice to return. They were sitting on this planet now for over a day. She was tired, she was cranky and she had slept in her armor. Jacob Smith had put them in a small storage room at the spaceport, gave them some blankets and a warm meal, which thankfully she didn't have to finish (no Kaidan). Wrex thought the blankets were a waste and he slept outside in a field.

Shepard went to sleep with Liara on the other side of the room, she woke up with Liara's arms around her, and at first she thought they were Kaidan's arms (same armor). She was really going to have to find him a different stronger set of armor (that ass needed to be protected). She got up, extricating herself from Liara's arms. He would have had a fit if he was here, but then if he were here, Liara wouldn't have worked herself over to Shepard. She probably had done it in her sleep anyway. Ever since the beacon she was drawn to Shepard, okay the fact Liara has a crush on her might add to the problem. Shepard wasn't interested, but she couldn't change the way Liara felt. Shepard understood; at times like this she just resigned herself to it.

Shepard left the storage room and went in search of something to drink, preferably with caffeine in it. She came upon Jacob's son sitting in the square by the spaceport.

"Excuse me Mr. Smith, but do you know where I could get a morning beverage, something with a pick-me-up quality would be preferred." She asked him.

"Justin, Mr. Smith is my father." He advised her.

"Okay, Justin do you know where—"

He cut her off "what do you think they did with the people they took?"

"Well, I need to find out why they were taken and where before I can find out about what happen to them." Shepard told him.

"Yeah, but those things killed everyone else. If they had wanted Jade and the others to die, wouldn't they have killed them too? "

"Look, I don't know why they took them or why the others were killed. I am trying to find out. I can promise you that I will not stop looking until I know what is going on, okay."

"Yeah, it's just that Jade, she is my friend." Justin said.

"I'm sorry, if I can find her and bring her home I will."

"You're not going to be able to find her though, are you?"

"I honestly don't know, Justin, but I do know that I can try." Shepard told him.

"Come with me, I'll get you a drink, it's not coffee, more like a tea, made from a local bark that has qualities similar to tea leaves." Justin said, leading her to one of the prefab residences.

Shepard followed the young man inside and saw a woman look up as they entered, she had Justin's eyes.

"Commander Shepard, this is my mother Jeannette Smith. Mom, this is Commander Shepard." He introduced her.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Smith." Shepard said.

"Why Commander, I am glad that you came by. I was afraid you would leave before I had a chance to make your acquaintance. My husband speaks very highly of you. Can I offer you breakfast?"

"Really I would like something to drink, your son suggested a local bark beverage you have."

"Oh yes, it doesn't have a name, we refer to it as the soak, because that is how you make it. It has a pleasant enough taste with some sweetening in it." She presented the Commander with a cup of warm liquid.

Shepard cautiously took a sip of the liquid and was pleasantly surprised. "This is good, thank you this is just what I needed."

"Your quite welcome Commander, now if you'll excuse us, we have chores to do. You can just leave the cup down at the office by the spaceport."

"Okay, thanks again." Shepard left walking back towards the spaceport cup in hand.

As she approached the spaceport, in the distance she saw Liara's red armor and could tell she was looking for her.

Shepard waved to get her attention, and saw Liara wave back. She could see Liara relax; she hadn't told anyone where she had gone so it was no surprise they were looking for her. As she approached Liara came towards her, she saw Wrex over talking to some of the men from the colony.

"Shepard, the Salice called and left word with Mr. Smith that they are having engine trouble. They are twenty-two hours away, but on their way back."

"Did they find the ship?"

"They didn't talk to me they talked to Mr. Smith, I don't think they told him anything."

"Yeah, I know, stupid question." Shepard let out her breath frustrated.

"Shepard," Liara started looking embarrassed "I just wanted to tell you that I…"

Shepard interrupted her knowing exactly where this was going. "Liara, it's over, just forget about it, okay."

"Are you sure Shepard?"

"Yes I am very sure, it's done."

Liara was relieved "thank you."

"Yeah, don't mention it, and I mean don't mention it… okay." Shepard asked her.

"Oh, yes, I understand."

They walked towards Wrex who seemed to have captured the interest of some of the local children now.

"Did you tell Wrex about the delay?" Shepard asked.

"He was with me when Mr. Smith advised us." Liara said.

They approached Wrex and the young boys were showing him a weapon they had made using some elastic tubing and a thick branch that forked out into two branches. The tubing was tied, each end to one of the two branches. They had set up a row of small empty containers the size of cups along the top of some shipping crates and were taking turns showing Wrex how well they could shoot their home made weapon.

"Hey Wrex, what's going on here?" Shepard asked.

"I was just giving the young-lings some pointers." Wrex told her.

"Hey can I try that?" Shepard asked the boy with the weapon.

"Girls can't shoot." One of the boys said.

"Well I don't know about girls, but I can shoot." Shepard told him.

"Well, girls can't aim." Another boy said.

"My aim is pretty good, too." Shepard told them.

"Let her try Matt." One of the boys said, and the others agreed with him.

The boy named Matt handed Shepard the weapon. She bent down to the pile of rocks and debris that the boys had stockpiled for ammunition and took a hand full. She pushed a rock behind the tubing and then pulled it back, readying the next rock in her hand. She shot the first container and quickly reloaded and shot the second one. She continued this practice until all the containers were down. She handed the weapon back to Matt who had a look of complete shock on his face.

"So I guess some girls can aim." The Commander said to him, as she tussled his hair.

"Wow, your really good. How did you learn to do that." He asked.

"My dad taught me when I was a kid." She told him.

"But how did you get so good?" Matt asked her and the other boys murmured there agreement to the question.

"Practice of course." And with that the boys were all vying for the chance to practice with the weapon.

Shepard left the boys with Wrex urging them on.

"Kaidan, you're hovering." Adams snapped at him.

"I'm an engineer I can help." He answered.

"We both can't fit in this conduit and you know it. I am fixing it as fast as I can. I know you think I am oblivious, but I am not. We will get back for her as fast as we can, but the more you bother me the longer it is going to take."

"Then let me get in there." Kaidan said.

"Kaidan, you need to go relax, the FTL drive will be fixed, when it is fixed. Now GO AWAY!" his voice got louder with every word.

Adams never yelled or raised his voice, he was always so calm. Kaidan realized he must really be annoying him. He left Adams to do his work.

Kaidan went into the cargo bay and pulled all the weapons out of the locker and started cleaning them. Once he disassembled and reassembled four pistols he felt better and more relaxed. Three hours later, when Garrus came looking for him, he had cleaned half of the ships compliment of weapons and was starting on the other half.

"You need help?" Garrus asked.

"Nope, I got it." Kaidan told him.

"Doc says you need to come and eat." Garrus said.

"I'll eat at dinner time." He said.

"Kaidan?"

"Yeah."

"It's dinner time."

Kaidan looked up at him "oh, I'll be right there."

"Okay." Garrus turned and left. Kaidan finished the reassembling the assault rifle he was cleaning and put it away then went to join the others for dinner.

Jeannette Smith found Commander Shepard sitting on a packing crate by the space dock watching the men work, Liara sitting beside her. Wrex was helping the men clear crates from the middle of the dock.

"Commander Shepard?"

"Yes, Mrs. Smith, what can I do for you?"

"Well, we thought you might join us for a party tonight, that's why the men are clearing the square and spaceport area. We are going to have a celebration of the lives that were lost and we would like you and your friends to join us. You can get cleaned up at my house and we can go from there."

"Well I wouldn't mind getting cleaned up, we've been in our armor for over a day. I don't know if it would be appropriate for me to attend a party for the dead."

"It's our way; we celebrate the happy times and send them on their way to a better place. We really would like you to join us. There will be eating, drinking and music. Please come, everyone will be there. You have to wait for your ship to return anyway."

"I guess that would be alright, lead on Mrs. Smith."

"Commander, please, call me Nettie, everyone does."

"You want me to wear that?" Shepard asked standing in a towel, looking at the white, black and blue fabric laying on the bed with under garments next to them.

"Commander I washed your clothing, they won't be dry for a few hours, we are all wearing these party clothes, they are all the same pattern just different colors. The dresses are all white with black swirls and then they have a splashes of color to show life. Yours is blue and Liara's is red.

"I can't wear a dress." Shepard was adamant.

"Commander I assure you that you can. I have slippers in your size and the undergarments are the same size as yours are."

"Where is my armor?"

"It is being aired out, besides you can't wear the armor to the Celebration. Commander Shepard, wearing the dress will not kill you, and everyone will be wearing the same thing. It will be fine." Nettie turned and left her alone to get dressed.

Shepard put on the dress, it wasn't really bad at all, sleeveless form fitting on top, loose skirt on the bottom, ankle length, well, she thought she could run in it and not trip, that was a good thing. The slippers were soft and comfortable. She looked in a mirror they had behind the door. She looked normal, for a girl anyway. Well, it seemed right to follow their customs, but as soon as she could put on her own clothing, she would.

She left the room and walked down the hall and sure enough there was Nettie with the same dress white with black swirls and burst of color here and there, hers were green. Standing next to her was Liara and she looked very nice in her dress with the red color intertwined.

"Shepard, you look beautiful." Liara told her.

She rolled her eyes, "thank you Liara, you look very nice yourself"

"Thank you Shepard."

"Well, if you two girls are ready, we can get going, the square is going to be filling up and dinner taste better when its fresh." Nettie said and lead them out to the square.

True to what Nettie had said there was food, drink and music. The celebration started with people getting up and talking about one of the dead people and telling about their lives, goals, accomplishments and then everyone toasted that person. This went on for each of the six dead colonists. Then they made a toast for the missing to return to them. When they finished the music started. There was some singing, songs pertaining to celebration of life and helping the dead move on. Then the mood started to lighten and that's when the dancing started. Every time someone would ask Shepard to dance she would offer Liara in her stead. Finally it got to be too much, it was getting late and the Salice wasn't going to be there for a while still. She was getting tired of trying to dodge the dancing issue so she went to Wrex and told him she would be over to the west beyond the square. She told him she just wanted the air and not to let Liara follow her.

Walking to the west of the buildings she had noticed a clearing with open space for quite a distance. She stood there and watched the stars. It was a warm clear night and she did enjoy the warm breeze on her face. She closed her eyes and felt the wind blowing though her hair. It brought a smile to her face. The party still was going on and it was really noisy. She thought of Ashley and how it would have been nice to send her off with a party like this. She heard a noise and looked around and saw some couples going different ways. Well life does go on. Seeing the couples made her think of Kaidan, his beautiful brown eyes, shy smile and strong arms. She thought of the feel of his muscles and the sound of his voice, now that was home. Boy did she miss him.

The music died down for a moment and then started up again anew, a faster dance tune it seemed and the shouts told it was a popular one. The party got louder if that was possible, she was glad she had removed herself from the festivities. She just stood there and enjoyed the view of the stars.

Adams had been able to get the FTL drive fixed and the Salice was back on Prenadee now and ready to pick up Shepard, Wrex and Liara. Kaidan got out of the Ship and saw the party. Its strange to be having a party when they had just had people die here he thought.

The older gentleman who had recognized Shepard the day they first landed came over to Kaidan. He introduced himself as Jacob Smith and asked Kaidan and the crew to join them in the celebration, after explaining what it was for. Kaidan advised Joker to tell the crew that they were welcome to attend the party. Then he went in search of Shepard. He found Liara, wearing a dress no less, dancing with a colonist. She told him that Wrex knew where Shepard was, so he went to find Wrex. It wasn't too hard considering he was taller then any of the colonists. Kaidan asked where she was and Wrex told him where Shepard had advised she would be. He headed off in that direction.

When he got to the clearing he looked around, but he didn't see Shepard. There was one of the colonists there dressed the same as all the other females, but no Shepard. Then he took a closer look at the female and the way she was standing. It was too dark to tell what color the hair was, but it was short like Shepard's. He walked slowly closer to the female, not wanting to scare her if she was a local. Then She pulled her arms behind her and stretched them, first one, then the other and he knew it was her. He slowly walked up behind her and just before he put his arms around her he said "it's me." so she wouldn't be surprised and attack him. He enclosed her from behind pulling her tightly against him, she put her arms around his hugging them to her. He stuck his face in her hair and inhaled her scent. She turned in his arms and put her arms around his neck.

"Well you took your sweet time." she said to him with a smile on her face.

"Well you know I had all these women to visit on my way back here." He said just so he could watch the quick flash of anger she couldn't stop from coming to her face whenever she got jealous. He laughed at her. "No other woman but you Shepard, none come close."

"You better remember that, your ass belongs to me" and Shepard put both hands on his butt and pulled him closer to her.

"And yours belongs to me" he said as he gently lifted her chin and kissed her. He then proceeded to follow the line of her jaw with his lips and had just gotten to the tender spot under her ear when she yawned.

He pulled back from her but kept her in his arms. "Here I am smothering you with passionate kisses and you yawn?" He asked unable to keep the smile from his lips.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kaidan I am, I really missed you, but I didn't sleep well and I was up just after dawn. That was over twenty hours ago. I was running on adrenaline before you got here, because I was worried you hadn't arrived. Now that your in my arms, I can relax, and I'm afraid I am exhausted." she put her head on his shoulder.

"Okay, lets get you back to the then and put you to bed. Did you eat already?" He asked as he steered her back towards the ship, keeping his arms around her.

"There was a lot of food, there still is in fact, so yes I ate. I will be honest and tell you that I probably have not eaten as much as you would have liked in the last two days. I am too tired to eat right now anyway." Shepard told him.

"That's okay, I'll give you a vitamin shot when we get onto the ship." Shepard made a face at him, that he ignored. "That's a very nice dress you're wearing, I have never seen you in a dress. I like it."

"Oh I have to get my armor and clothes from the Smith residence." she told him.

"Don't worry, I will get it for you after I get you to bed." they were approaching the party so they separated, so as not to draw the attention of the crew. "So do we get to keep the dress?"

She yawned again. "I suppose we could offer to buy it, why?"

"Well I would like to see you in it again, like I said; I like it." Kaidan told her.

"Okay, I didn't think I would like it but it is actually quite comfortable, so if they let you buy it from them then go ahead." She yawed again, "and don't forget to pay for the slippers too."

"Yes Ma'am." he said as they walked up the ramp to the ship.

"Where is everyone?" Shepard asked.

"Jacob smith invited everyone to the party, I thought it would be okay with you so I let them go."

"Hey, you were in charge, it was your call. If they fuck anything up, it's your mess to clean up." she told him and stopped and yawned again.

Kaidan picked her up in his arms and walked her into the bedroom. There was no one in the room he took her over to their bunk and sat her on his bed. He removed her slippers and put them in her locker taking her sweats and tee shirt out. He stood her up and removed the dress over her head being sure to keep it neat. He shoved the tee shirt over her head while she unhooked her bra and took it off by taking one strap off her arm through the tee shirt sleeve and then pulling it out through the other. He had seen her do it before, but it always made him smile when she did it. He grabbed it from her hand and tossed it in the locker. Then he bent down with her sweat pants in his hand and tried to get them on her legs. He had to prod her several times to get her to lift each foot. She put her hand on his back for support. When he finally got them on her, she was just about asleep on her feet. He lifted her into her bunk and pulled a blanket over her.

He went to med bay but the doctor wasn't around, he filled a hypo with a vitamin mixture knowing she probably had eaten less than she told him she had. He went back into the bedroom and gave her the shot, she didn't even move and her even breathing told him she was fully asleep. He left to go and collect the armor and clothes from the Smith residence.

Kaidan opened his eyes and realized it was too soon for him to be awake. Something had awakened him however and at this point he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He resignedly got up and checked the top bunk; sure enough, Shepard was gone again. He grabbed his omni tool off the bed post by habit, checking the time as he shoved it on his arm. She had had maybe six and a half hours sleep.

Looking around the room he saw that everyone was sound asleep. Well, why wouldn't they be? Most of them only strayed in an hour or two ago. He headed towards the cargo bay expecting to find her there, but when he got into the room she wasn't on the treadmill where he had thought she would be. He checked the mess; she wasn't there. He went up to the cockpit and found Joker snoring away, but no Shepard. He went back to the bedroom but she wasn't there and everyone was still sleeping.

This ship was small and they had little privacy. There were only so many places she could be. He checked the cargo doors but they were shut tight and the ramp from the hatch was retracted into the ship so he knew she hadn't gone out onto the planet. Finally, he went down to the bathroom at the back of the ship. The door was locked, but he could hear the shower running, and he knew he had found her. He was glad he had brought his omni tool with him as he switched it on to hack the simple lock in less than a minute and quickly slip inside the bathroom.

He walked around to the shower stall and there she was. Shepard's eyes were shut and her mouth partway open while her hands were busy with a task that had nothing to do with bathing. As Kaidan watched, his clothes began feeling all too tight and he started pulling them off, all the while trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to interrupt her concentration.

Once free of the constraints posed by his clothes, he stepped into the shower stall and pulled her towards him. He crushed his mouth to hers, gratified by the shocked little noise she made before surrendering to his kiss. A wave of pleasure and surprise swept over him as he realized how much he had missed touching her like this. He took his time, enjoying the feel of her skin, the scent of her hair and the taste of her mouth.

She began squirming frantically against him and he knew he had interrupted her at a critical moment. He felt himself responding to her writhing body and lifted her into place against him. She clutched at him for support and he drew her close, his mouth and tongue exploring her neck and throat before moving upwards again to join with hers. She wrapped her legs around him, her muscles quivering with pleasure as both their mouths and fingers began moving in time with the rhythm of their bodies. She went over the edge almost immediately and he followed her shortly thereafter, crying out her name as his pleasure peaked.

When their heartbeats returned to a normal speed, Kaidan moved under the shower activating the spray. He placed Shepard down on her feet and she turned to pick up the soap running it under the water before proceeded to lather him up. He stood watching her movements, now and then stopping her for a kiss. He loved the feel of her soapy hands running over his body. When he was all soaped up she pushed him back under the stream of water to wet his hair. Then she took a bit of shampoo and reached up to soap his hair.

Kaidan grabbed the soap and began running his soapy hands over her body just as she had done to him. He looked into her eyes, drinking in the blueness as she faced him with her hands in his hair working the shampoo into it. When she had finished with his hair he turned her around so he could soap her back slowly working his way down to her toes and making sure he got soap everywhere. He then grabbed the shampoo so he could do her hair. As he worked, she rubbed her slippery soapy hands over his helping him get her hair clean. He intertwined his fingers in hers and pulled them both under the shower activating the spray. They each made sure the soap was gone from the other's body stealing kisses here and there. The water splashed on them, creating a trail of soapy suds that slid down their bodies and into the drain below. Using their hands ...and occasionally their lips, they helped the water do its work until the soap was completely gone.

Shepard stepped out of the shower. Handing Kaidan a towel she proceeded to dry herself off and watched as he did the same. As she put on her undergarments he came up behind her giving her one more hug before reaching past her to grab his sleepwear.

Once both were fully dressed they were ready to face the day. As they went for the door Kaidan stole one more kiss. She realized she hadn't said anything to him since he had surprised her (and what a nice surprise it was). As their kiss ended, she looked into his eyes and said "Good morning." And it was.

Kaidan went back to the bedroom to change from his sleepwear to his clothing. He then met Shepard in the mess. No one else was up so their morning rendezvous had gone unnoticed, which was good because he had really needed it. He saw she had only taken a cup of coffee and was sitting looking at a data pad, leaving him to get her something to eat. When he had their breakfast prepared he sat down next to her, setting her food in front of her. She of course made a face, but surprisingly didn't say anything and started to eat the food. Small victory for him, maybe.

"So what did you find for me?" Shepard asked him.

"Well we found the vorcha ship with a lot of dead vorcha on it. No humans alive or dead." He said.

"Did you find anything suspicious?" she asked, "like technology suspicious?"

"No, nothing like that at all." Kaidan told her.

"Well I grabbed anything I didn't recognize but I am sure you will be able to identify most of the things I found except- CRAP" and she was up and running from the room before Kaidan could blink.

He followed behind her "what's wrong"

"We have to go back, the evidence is in the room I slept in" heading towards the cockpit.

"Shepard, we are still planet side."

"Really?"

"Yeah after the party no one was in any condition to leave, least of all Joker." Kaidan said.

"Great" she turned around and headed for the airlock and he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Breakfast first." He told her pulling her back to the mess.

"But I have to show you...?" He put his finger to her lips and she stopped.

"Breakfast first, you haven't eaten hardly anything in two days. What you found will wait another twenty minutes while you finish your meal." He told her.

"I told you I ate." She complained.

"Yeah, you lied, I talked that lady, Nettie, she told me that she couldn't get you to eat hardly anything. Shepard, I don't understand why all of a sudden you don't want to eat anything." He led her back to the chair and she sat down.

"It doesn't taste good, nothing taste good." She told him.

"It's the same food we have all the time. It's the same food we had on the Normandy." Kaidan said.

"Well I am telling you it doesn't taste the same, it smells vile too."

"What about the food on the planet, how did it taste."

"I didn't like it either." Shepard said

"Okay well just eat this right now and I will figure out something." He watched as she ate her food and he noticed that she did grimace ever so slightly every time she took a bite. It really doesn't taste right to her he thought. He was going to have to discuss this with Dr. Chakwas.

When they finished breakfast Shepard led him out to the storage room she had slept in. She went over to the box and opened the lid and pushed it towards him. Kaidan looked inside and recognized most of the equipment in there. He stuck his hand in to move the items around and saw something he couldn't place. He pulled out the half burned piece of technology and examined it.

"Yeah, this is something new. I have never seen anything like this before." He said.

"That's what Liara thought, she found it. What do you think it does." Shepard asked.

"I don't know. But I guess we are just going to have to figure it out."