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From the KAST and the KAAS:
I want to say a big thank you to:
My support group Shenzi, Sesheta and Star, cause they are who get me through the day.
To Sirius, Ruby, OdS, Jane and Aslan (who just joined us)... my Posse in the search for an evil character we are trying to eliminate.
To Phoenix, cause she created said evil character (and I will prevail, I always do).
And to Alenko... who naively chose the wrong side (soon you will realize the error of you ways).
Well it looks like we finally are going to make it to the new ship. Looks like some new character have shown up, you will recognize them, but Shepard doesn't. Well let's see where we go from here.
Getting Comfy
Kaidan looks at the dark haired woman. She is pretty and sexy but that outfit she wears leaves nothing to the imagination. Someone ought to tell her it's the mystery that lends to the excitement. He doesn't recognize the logo on her chest, but if that is a uniform, they are doing it wrong. The man with her wore armor covered with leather. Impractical, but flashy is what comes to mind. He has the same logo on his chest as the female. These people dress to be noticed but are trying not to be noticed. They are obviously fools, Kaidan picked them up right away, well mostly because they were watching Shepard. Yes that woman had nothing on his Shepard, I mean really, how can you not love a woman who you can drive to distraction just by kissing her neck. He looks back at the female, she is talking to the salesman, but she was watching Shepard's every move.
"So do you think we should get the extra heat sink pack for the arms or for the thighs? I think the thighs are more practical." Shepard asks him.
"I think the thighs, they might go flying when I execute a biotic move on the arms." Kaidan answers.
"You haven't looked at them obviously because the arm ones are sealed." She tells him.
"Then definitely the thighs, who wants to waste time opening something up. That could be the difference between life and death."
"Okay so how long have you been staring at that sexy bitch."
"She has been watching you since we got here." Kaidan tells her, not surprised she knows where he is looking without looking at him.
"So you're only watching her because she is watching me? That tight outfit that shows off her ass didn't catch your attention."
"Shepard, there is only one ass for me and it's attached to your body, you know that." He told her but he was really enjoying that she was showing him a bit of jealousy, it was rare. "Besides, with that outfit I've already seen everything she has to offer, I'm not impressed."
"They have actually been following us since we left the ship." Shepard tells him.
"Wow, you're good, I didn't pick them up until we got to the transport." he still kept the air of bored indifference while studying the pair further. "Then I was watching your ass at the time so maybe you can forgive me."
"Slip ups like that can get you killed, though since we were on the Citadel at the time and there was only a four minute difference from the time I picked them up to the time you did, maybe I will forgive you. More than likely you'll have to be tortured again." She was filling out the order data pad to have the upgrades sent to the SSV Antietam, since they were here to join the ship.
Anyone that was watching them would never realize they were having a running conversation. To an observer it would look like Shepard was shopping and Kaidan was bored waiting for her to finish. That was the idea really.
"Yes I know 'and forever I will torture you' isn't that the line from that cheesy old vid you like to watch?" Kaidan asks her.
"Actually the line is 'and forever will I torture you' and it is not cheesy, and if you don't like it you don't have to watch it." Shepard says.
"Well it's the idea that you like to watch the same vids over and over again. Old ones too, not the newer stuff I don't know, don't you want diversity?"
"I like familiarity, besides I love to watch my favorite parts over and over again. The old ones have better stories. New stuff is hollow, without depth or form. It makes me happy to watch them again and again. Like I said, if you don't want to watch you don't have to. I can always find someone else to watch them with, or I will watch them alone. You should be glad that I like the same things over and over again, Kaidan. It means I won't get bored. You know how I can be when I am bored."
"Yes I don't want you to get bored, you drive the crew crazy when you're bored. When you had that damn mold thing you were driving everyone crazy. You know, I noticed that you scheming didn't start until after Vimire, but I always thought that it was because you were getting closer to me, I never dreamed it was because of the mold."
"Well it might have been a bit of both. The constant annoying smell made it hard for me to concentrate. On the other hand, thinking of ways to get you in compromising situations that is always fun." Shepard tells him.
"Yeah well I hope that you give up that particular pastime."
"Why would I give it up? Oh, and don't think I didn't notice that you didn't say you wanted to watch the vids with me, I will find someone else to watch them with. I will make sure that they are cute and have a really tight butt, and I will spend a lot of time with them."
"Hey I watch them every time with you, and don't think I didn't notice that you described me. Yes of course I will watch your vids with you, even if it is just to spend time with you."
They are coming over, they what to know what we are talking about. They are better then I gave them credit for."
"Yes I noticed." Kaidan tells her and then they stay quiet.
The two came over to the weapons' kiosk that Shepard and Kaidan were at. Kaidan makes a show of checking out the woman so that they will think it is the first time he has seen her. He lingers on her assets and gives the male a way to go buddy smile, knowing it will lower their opinion of him. If they know Shepard, then they know him, but he is hoping since their interest was in Shepard they won't know as much about him.
"If you're finished gawking Lieutenant, maybe we can get a move on so that I can finish my shopping." Shepard says to him sharply and heads off.
"Yes Commander!" Kaidan jumps to attention and follows behind her.
When they are far enough from the two subjects Shepard says "now let's see if they follow us knowing that I have spotted her."
"You mean them."
"No, her, she is obviously in charge."
"Oh why do you say that?"
"Because he reacts to her and not the other way around. She makes a move first and then he follows it. Like us but I'd like to think that we are better at hiding it when we have to." It would stil look to an outsider like they are ignoring each other however he is looking more alert as he had just gotten 'disciplined'.
Shepard goes over to another kiosk and starts talking about armor upgrades. This time Kaidan stands behind her with his arms to his side covering her rear showing that he is being alert and attentive. The female saunters by obviously overdoing it to draw his attention and he seems to oblige her but he still notices the male subject slip closer and enter the shopping area of the kiosk. He is positive that Shepard is quite aware of what is going on around her.
"Since you're the in field medic do you think it would be worth it to get med gel upgrades for the armor lieutenant?" Shepard asks.
Kaidan suspects she is using this question as an excuse to turn around, also knowing that records show that he is the unit field medic. He acts like he is loath to remove his eyes from the female and turns to look at the Commander Just as she bangs on his armor.
"Hey, second warning lieutenant; gawk on your own time, now pay attention." She tells him.
Kaidan is trying very hard not to laugh, she is trying so hard to discredit him so they will dismiss him.
"Yes, Commander, understood Ma'am."
"Well then answer my question."
"Question Ma'am?"
He can see the twinkle in her eye, she is having trouble trying not to laugh too. "Do you think the unit could benefit from the med gel upgrades made for the armor?"
"Uh, well Commander, I think that would be a good idea."
"You think it would be a good Idea, or you know it would be a good idea lieutenant?" she asks icily.
"Uh… Commander, extra med gel is always a good idea, I mean you never know when you're going to need it."
"If you keep it up you're going to need med gel." She grumbles, and it is all that Kaidan can do to not bust out laughing. They had come to buy the upgrades anyway so the whole conversation was moot.
Shepard takes the data pad from the clerk and starts filling out the information for the delivery. The female makes another pass this time making eyes at Kaidan to try and see if she can get him to shirk his duty again. He tries to figure out what her game is. They are possibly trying to get the Commander alone, and they think that if they get her angry enough she will send him back to the ship. Speculation of course but he is sure he isn't far off from the mark. He doesn't do more then follow her bit before jumping back to alertness as if he realizes he is pushing his luck. He notices the disappointment on the female's face out of the corner of his eye. Yes they want the Commander alone, the question is for what.
Shepard finishes the sale receiving her credit chit back from the sales clerk and stalks off heading back to the ship with Kaidan close behind her. He notices in the reflection from one of the Galaxy News terminals that the female and male are following again.
"We have a shadow again." Kaidan says in a low voice.
"Yes I noticed." She talks in her comm. "Garrus we have a tail, I need you to come out and follow them. They are wearing some kind of uniform, human female light skinned, brown hair, white one piece outfit skin tight, black and gold trim with circular shaped logo on the left side of the chest and black high heeled boots. The second subject dark skinned male, short black hair, wearing armor covered in black leather with gold and white trim and the same circlular logo on chest left side."
"Got it Shepard, five minutes." Kaidan hears Garrus answer.
They slow down so Garrus has the time to catch up with them. Shepard stops at a food vender and purchases some stores for the new ship. They needed them anyway. The man and woman are being careful to try and stay hidden, because obviously they have been seen twice, if Shepard sees them again they realize that she would become suspicious. They are not very good at hiding and it's too late, Shepard has already taken note of them.
Kaidan, having been admonished twice is making a show of scanning the area. Of course it is more efficient to scan the area without it being noticed, as he normally would be doing, but now it is important to be noticed. He catches Garrus closing in behind the two subjects and Kaidan gives him the sign he has the right ones.
"Garrus has them, what now?" Kaidan asks her.
"We go back to the Solice and see if we can figure out who they are and what they want of course.
Shepard, Garras and Kaidan are sitting around the mess table discussing the shadows.
"They are staying at one of the new hotels. Amanda Grayston and Jason Trainer, they have separate rooms. They checked in the same day we arrived. According to C-Sec records they came on a merchant ship from the Eta Hawking cluster. That is all the info they had. Records check shows they are from an earth colony in the area, but that is all he records show." Garrus tells them.
"I checked with Alliance intel and there is no record of an Amanda Grayston or a Jason Trainer matching their description in any of the colony records on any of the planets in the Eta Hawking Cluster. " Kaidan says.
"Matching their description?" Shepard asks him.
"Yes According to the records there is a Jason Trainer, but he is two years of age. Amanda Grayston is a precocious nine year old. Yeah they used real people and just modified the records, they are good. They also were able to somehow modify their implant identifications to match." Kaidan says.
"So they are being very careful not to be known. So why than, would they dress so high price merc, and then follow us and try not to be seen? I mean really it isn't like they dressed to tail us." Shepard says.
"It wasn't us it was you." Kaidan tells her.
"Why do you think it was me that they were after?" She asks.
"Because when you were looking at the med gel upgrades she tried to get me to pay attention to her again, after witnessing the act you put on chastising me she went out of her way to entice me to pay attention to her again. I think they were trying to get you to send me back to the ship so they can get you alone." Kaidan tells her.
"What made you think it was an act marine, you were shirking your duty. Oh, never mind I can't even keep a straight face now." She starts laughing. "Yeah it was really hard not to laugh, when we had no problems keeping tabs on them."
"Yeah well I think it means you have to have two of us with you with a third covering for the tail, Shepard. We don't know what they want and if they get desperate, well let's just say it's better to be safe." Garrus says.
"This is ridiculous, I have a ship to move in to and I have things to do. I can't be worried about these two people. I don't need to two person back up on the Citadel that is just too much." Shepard says.
"Complain all you want, you're not running around the Citadel alone." Kaidan tells her.
"Oh yeah, and who is going to stop me?" she says with acid in her voice.
"I will go to Admiral Hackett and I will present our findings and make him order you to have an escort, or better yet assign you to barracks until we find out what these people want. He wouldn't want the Savior of the Citadel to be kidnapped or something. Especially not on the Citadel, that would be bad publicity." Kaidan tells her.
"You wouldn't dare do that Lieutenant!" She snaps at him.
"You know damn well that I will do that and more to protect you. if you don't agree to the minor changes that Gurras has suggested to secure your safety I will have to go to Hackett. I am not taking a chance with your life Shepard, and neither are you." Kaidan tells her.
"You think I can't protect myself? Who do you think you're dealing with here?" Shepard yells with fire in her eyes.
"I am dealing with one of the most stubborn woman in the universe, but I know that she will follow orders so I think I will just go and contact Admiral Hackett right now!" Kaidan says standing up.
"You do and I will shoot you where you stand, Alenko!" Shepard says going for her pistol, which of course is in her locker.
"Is this what they call a lover's quarrel? I don't think I have ever seen one before." Gurras asks watching the retreating backs of the lovers.
Kaidan stops just short of the door without warning and Shepard walks right into his back.
"Watch where you're going!" Shepard snaps at him.
"Stop, just stop. Gurras is right, you're just fighting me on this cause it's me." Kaidan says."
"No that's not it!" Shepard yells.
"Yes it is. You're afraid that I am trying to take care of you. It doesn't mean you can't take care of yourself. You know that. Garrus and I are trying to help you protect yourself not protect you ourselves."
"Shepard, it isn't a bad thing to need help." Garrus tells her.
"Yes it is, it's a weakness." Shepard tells them.
Kaidan takes her hands. "No Shepard, it is not a weakness, it's just a precaution."
Shepard frowned at him. "A precaution?"
"Yes a precaution. You can protect yourself, and we are not saying you can't, but we are saying that we want to be with you as a precaution against what could happen. For example what if they had those stasis fields." Kaidan tells her
"You think they have those?" Shepard asks excitedly.
"No, I am just saying what if they had those, you know there is nothing you can do with those. They could probably take out all three of us at one time anyway, but if there is a fourth following maybe they can help us. Like I said, I don't think that is what is going on, it's just the worse case seniero." Kaidan says.
"Besides Shepard, it might get us more information on them by observing what they do and when they do it. Wrex is out there now waiting to see what they will do next. So far one of them is at the hotel and the other is watching the ship." Gurras tells her.
"Well I want to know who they are. Isn't there some way to find out." Shepard wants to know.
"Well maybe when Tali arrives tomorrow she can dig through the databases and see when the Identifications were made and maybe we can get an idea who created them." Kaidan says.
"Can't you do that?" Shepard asks.
"You know that Tali is better at weeding out things then Garrus or I. We are going to be switching ships tomorrow and we are all going to be busy, so it's a good idea to leave it to her, since her stuff is already on the ship." Kaidan tells her.
"Well I guess that is alright. After lunch I have to make sure that all the reports are up to date and make sure I read through the crew reports also. I have to see about the new crewmembers too. Only six, and we lost over twenty, they new ship is more efficient I guess. I will be curious to see what changes were made, since they never can leave well enough alone." Shepard says.
"I'm going to go over to the Antietam now and help Adams run some checks in engineering. This way if you need to go out later or tomorrow I will be able to go." Kaidan tells her.
"But what about lunch, aren't you going to eat with me, you never let me skip it?" she asks him.
"Well your eating normal now so I don't have to make you eat anymore. That was the only reason we had to eat together, you weren't eating enough." Kaidan says, then realized he has said too much and hopes that she won't pick up on it.
No such luck. "Wait, you mean you made me think that you had ulterior motives, just to get me to eat?" Shepard asks in a sharp voice.
"Well now Shepard, you weren't eating enough and you know it. I had to think of something to get you to eat, and if I hadn't done that you might still be slowly starving to death." Kaidan said.
"So you tricked me. You pretended you were up to something, and you weren't." Shepard says icily.
"Shepard you know it was for your own good, if I hadn't, I never would have noticed the little signs that proved you were having a medical problem." Kaidan tries to explain.
"You tricked me." She snaps.
"Uh, yeah." Kaidan says sheepishly.
"You got caught, and it was your own fault. Yeah, not very smart. You know Kaidan... you shouldn't trick me... the consequences, they are going to be... bad." Shepard said with a wicked lilt in her voice.
"But Shepard, in a way he did save your life, so maybe you could let him have a pass on this one." Garrus says.
"On this one Garrus? What else is he tricking me on? Are you involved too?" Shepard turns on Garrus and asks.
Garrus turns to Kaidan "sorry man, you're on your own." he tells him.
"Shepard I am not trying to trick you on anything else, that isn't what Garrus meant." He could see the anger in her eyes and he watched as her mind started planning ways to get even. "You are blowing this all out of proportion. I mean really, what is the big deal, I just wanted you healthy?" Kaidan asks.
"You tricked me. You got caught. You will pay." and with that said Shepard turned around and walks out.
"Oh man, she is going to be planning something totally embarrassing." Kaidan groans.
"Kaidan, did you ever think that there are women out there that don't live to torture their boyfriends?" Garrus asks.
"Yeah but those women are not Shepard. The times when she isn't torturing me she makes it totally worth it. Besides, maybe she will get tired of it." Kaidan says.
"Kaidan, this is Shepard, do you really think that she will get tired of it. This is the woman that diverts the ship light years off course just because there might be a thresher maw on some little insignificant out of the way planet, so she can wreak revenge on the creature. What do you really think your chances are that she will get tired of it and stop?" Garrus asks.
"At some point I will really ask her to stop, and she will just stop." Kaidan tells him.
"Why would she stop something she so obviously enjoys." Garrus asks.
"Because she loves me." Kaidan says and he turns and leaves.
Shepard walks into her cabin and wrinkles her nose. It has an odd smell. She is sensitive to smells ever since that thing was in her nose. Well it is a new ship, she guess strange smells went with that. Too bad she couldn't open a window.
She went to her practically empty closet and looked inside. ACUs, her toiletries, underwear, tee shirts and shorts. Yeah, she really had to get to earth and get some clothing. She had nothing to wear really. Maybe she should go to the family storage area and pull out some of her old things. Maybe one or two of her dresses. Kaidan had never seen her in a dress before. Might be interesting to see his reaction when he found out she could actually look like a lady when she wanted to. She opened the second closet next door to hers that she told Kaidan to put some of his stuff in and looked to see what he had put in there. He had a couple of ACUs, some toiletries, underwear, tee shirts and sweat pants. Neither one of them thought to buy anything else since the explosion of the Normandy. Well I guess we should requisition dress uniforms for the crew in case we need them. We might be required to do honor guard duty or something equally annoying, wouldn't want it to be a problem. Knowing Kaidan he has probably ordered his already.
She went over to the bed and opened the box that was on top of it. She had ordered cotton sheets and bedding because she preferred it to the synthetic the Alliance used. She had picked a deep burgundy with a silver gray trim, just because she enjoyed the contrast. She brought six sets. Kaidan was right I do like the same things. I'm not really into variety. Maybe that isn't such a good thing. She pulled off the Alliance standard bedding and put it in the cleaning chute and put her new bedding in place. The burgundy did go well with the gray blue decor of the walls, and brought some color to the room. She pulled out the rest of the bedding and put it in one of the cabinets. Each one had a tag with her name on it so it would come back to her once they were cleaned.
She went back to the box on the bed and pulled out the smaller box inside. She opened the box and there were two satin robes. Both were burgundy and gray to match the bedding. Hers was floor length and his was approximately knee length maybe a bit shorter. There was a dragon embroidered on the back of each one. Her dragon was silver, his was gold. She didn't know why she had picked them out. Plain was what she had been thinking, but once she saw the dragons, she was sold. She placed each in the appropriate closet. She broke down both boxes and dropped them in the recycle chute.
She went over to the table and opened the box her mother had sent her. It contained some holos of the family that she took out and placed on the table next to the bed, Mom and Dad watching over her. She always had a picture of them with her, and she had missed it on the Salice and had to do with two separate pictures that she was able to download from Alliance Command from the files. She went back to the box to see what else her mom had sent. There were some cotton underpants, her favorites of course, her ever practical mother. A few tee shirts, the kind she liked to sleep in. Some of the cocoa butter skin cream to avoid the dryness her skin could get on the ship. Shampoo and conditioner and soap in her favorite scent, odorless. Then in the bottom of the box was a velvet case. She knew what it was without opening it and she shook her head. Now Why did she do that? She knows that I hate them. It's probably fucking all of them! She threw the case on the small desk as Kaidan came in the room.
"What's that?" He asks pointing to the case.
"Nothing, just something my mother sent she thought I would want replaced."
"It looks kind of important."
"To some it might be, but I think it's not." She advises him.
"Well now you have me curious." he says reaching over for it.
"Oh Kaidan, just leave it." she can't hide the stress in her voice.
"What is it Ari." he stops reaching for it and looks at her.
"I told you, it isn't really important. She could have just kept them. I don't see what the big deal is really. I don't want them here. They just cause problems and jealousy." She has trouble pushing the words out.
He kept his eyes on her as he reaches for the case. She doesn't try and stop him but keeps her eyes on his until he finishes opening the case and has to break eye contact to look down at what he has opened. She closes her eyes so she doesn't have to see them.
"Ari, these are your metals, all of them."
"I know, could you just close it please." She asks him.
"But why."
"Kaidan, please just close it, maybe shove it in the back of the closet, please, better yet in the back of your closet." She tells him.
She hears him walk away and then hears the closet door open and close. Only then does she open her eyes again. He is standing next to her now.
"Okay the big bad metals are away, now tell me why."
"A girl's got to have her secrets." She tells him and starts to turn away.
He grabs her arm and swings her around, she crashes into his chest and he quickly puts his arms around her holding her tight against him.
"Not from me, so come on, you can tell me." He tells her putting his lips to her neck and kisses her.
A shiver runs down her body at the contact of his lips and it relaxes her a bit. Tell him, what is the big deal? It isn't a big deal. He kisses her neck again sending another shiver down her body. She reaches her hand behind his back and holds on.
"They are just bad memories that's all." She tells him quietly.
"Okay, now how can metals..." he pauses and kisses her neck again, she realizes he is trying to keep her calm. She closes her eyes because he isn't going to stop until she tells him all he wants to know. She hates that it bothers her, and the last thing she wants to do is talk about it. But if she was going to talk about it, he is the one she would talk about it with. She starts grinding her teeth.
"How can metals be bad memories." Kaidan continues. "They are just metals."
She doesn't answer him. She just holds on and grinds her teeth, trying not to think of the dead people each of her metals represent. Well most of them anyway. Maybe all, I'm not sure. I'm certainly not going to be checking that case to find out any time soon. Just then Kaidan gives a little nibble on her neck sending a wave of pleasure down her body. She feels his breath against her skin.
"Ari, please tell me what you're thinking, I really want to know." he says squeezing her a little tighter.
Sometimes his patience is really annoying. I don't suppose he will give up anytime soon...oh wow. Kaidan nibbles on her neck a bit more. She tries to push him away, but he isn't letting her put her hands between them and she can't get any leverage. He grips her tighter.
"It's okay, I'm here with you, just tell me." he says softly.
"Death!" she chokes out. "Each of the … metals, they represent death." she feels the tears spring to her eyes and she hates it. She tries to pull away again, but he just holds on and starts to rock with her in his arms. He doesn't talk while she struggles with him and only speaks when she stops struggling and relaxes against him. She feels the tears rolling down her cheeks as his words reach her ears.
"Ari, those metals were given to you because of you deeds and actions, not to commemorate the death of anyone."
"You don't see the blood on them, I do. You don't understand." She said quietly.
"I understand that you look at things differently then I do, and I understand that for some reason you have decided to look at the metals this way. I accept what your feelings are and I will keep them in the back of my locker for now. It was really stressful for you to tell me, I know. We will just leave things the way they are for now. Thank you for sharing with me. It helps me to know you better. I need that Ari." He tells her giving her another kiss on her neck.
"I know you do Kaidan." She says letting him hold her for a bit more before trying to pull away again.
He lets her pull away from him and she sits down in the chair next to her feeling completely drained and closes her eyes. I hate this emotional shit. Why does he always need to know the bad things? Why isn't he just happy with the good things? She feels his fingers on her face wiping the tears away. She feels him kneel in front of her and lay his head in her lap and put his arms around her. She lifts her hand and pats his head. She feels the stress headache starting and tries to relax as the throbbing starts behind her eyes. She lifts her hand and presses her palm to her head. She feels Kaidan's head shift in her lap and then vacate it.
"What's the matter?" he asks
"Headache, the kind I always get when you make me go through the hard stuff. It will go away in a bit." she tells him.
She feels him get up and hears him head towards the bathroom. She hears him rummage a bit then the water runs. She hears him go over to the bed. Then he comes back over to her. He lifts her up and takes her over to the bed and lays her down. He places a cool compress on her head and then starts to open her boots and removes them. He sits on the bed next to her.
"Do you want an analgesic?" He asks.
"Yes."
He leans over to the table and then lifts her hand and puts a glass of water in it. He removes the compress and hands her a pill. She takes the pill and lays down handing him the water. He puts the compress back on her head.
"I'm sorry Ari, I didn't mean to upset you."
"Yes, you did. I knew you wouldn't stop until I told you. It's my fault for holding out."
"I don't understand why it is so hard for you to share things with me."
"Kaidan, It isn't you. I don't even want to share them with myself."
"Well we will just have to take these things one at a time, okay." He asks.
"Oh my lord, if you're going to keep doing this I better get a lot more analgesic." She tells him.
He laughs and kisses her cheek. "I'll make sure we have plenty on hand. I am going to go back to work, you rest okay. I'll check in on you later or Chakwas will."
"I don't think you need to bother Doc with this."
"No we don't, but if I can't make it back early, I will make sure she knows it's a friendly check in not a doctor one, okay?"
"Yeah. Hey next time you want to have one of these deep conversations, I think I am going to need some candy or something as a reward." Shepard tells him.
"I'll give you a reward right now." She feels his lips on hers and she parts them to receive his deep emotional kiss.
"There, I will see you later." She feels him get up and hears him walk towards the door.
"I don't know. I think I want the candy too." She hears him laugh as he walks through the door.
Shepard goes down to engineering. She walks in and sees exactly who she is looking for and rushes over to her.
"Tali, you're back. I really missed you!" She says.
"Shepard, it is good to see you. I am glad to be back, although I don't think my father was that happy that I wanted to leave the fleet again." Tali gives her a hug.
"What did you tell him?"
"The truth about the Reapers and that we had to help you because you helped us."
"You don't have to be here unless you want to be Tali, you're under no obligation to me really." Shepard tells her.
"I know Shepard, but it is important. We have to defeat the Reapers."
"Yes we do. I just have no idea how we are going to do that yet."
"Don't worry Shepard, you'll figure it out, you always do."
"Yes it's easy to say that, well I guess we will see."
"Well we have some things to workout with the engines, so I will see you at dinner."
"Yes it will be nice to have everyone back. See you later Tali."
Shepard left engineering and walked up to the CIC. She looked around, really the SSV Antietam looked just like the SSV Normandy. She felt comfortable enough, well except for the new ship smell, but she guessed it wouldn't last long. She went up to the cockpit and there was Joker fiddling around with his console.
"Joker what are you doing." Shepard asks.
"Working Commander." Joker says.
"Well are you busy?"
"Does it look like I am busy?"
"Well truthfully, no it doesn't." Shepard says.
"Commander, what do you want."
"Well I have an idea on how to get back at Alenko for tricking me."
"When did you find out he was tricking you, and for the record I knew nothing about it." Joker tells her.
"The other day, and yes you did, but torturing you wouldn't be as much fun since you break so easily. Of course that doesn't mean I won't figure out a way to torture you where I don't have to cause you any bodily harm. But if you help me I promise I will stop trying to think of ways to torture you. Deal?"
"Deal, Commander. What do I have to do?"
Kaidan walked into the mess and everyone was there already except Liara. He looked over at Shepard and she hadn't taken any dinner. Great, we are starting this again. He went over to pick up his dinner and hers. He walked over to her and put her dinner in front of her and then sat down to eat his.
"I didn't ask for this." Shepard tells him.
"No, but you need to eat dinner." Kaidan tells her as he starts to eat his dinner.
"What? Nothing up your sleeve to get me to eat it huh, so then I guess I don't have to." She says.
Kaidan realizes what she has planned and a bolt of fear shoots through his body for a second, but he quells it, because she will take advantage of it. He takes a deep breath.
"Shepard I am sorry, so you can eat now." Kaidan tells her.
"You are not, but you will be. I will eat when I am damn good and ready!" she says as she goes to get up from the table.
"You will sit right back down there and start eating right now!" Both Kaidan and Shepard turn to look at Dr. Chakwas. "Your body was weakened by your not eating before, you are not doing that to yourself again and especially not to wreak revenge on Kaidan just because he tried to take care of you, so eat! I would not be above force feeding you this time Shepard."
Kaidan smiles at the look on Shepard's face but schools his expression to blankness as she whorls quickly to look at him. From the look on her face, he wasn't quick enough.
Trying to ease the tension in the room Joker says "so did we find anything more out about that pair that was following Shepard the other day?"
"Well I have watched them for a couple of days now. Other than watch the Antietam they haven't done anything else. Once when Shepard came out of the ship to check on some cargo they moved closer, but we had crew all over the docks so they never got that close. It's obvious that they are trying to get to her, but not what their intentions are." Wrex says as Shepard sits back down.
"I watched them during the evening hours. They take turns getting rest but someone is always watching the ship. Liara is watching them now, I will relieve her." Garrus tells her.
"Do they know that they are being watched?" Shepard asks, finally starting to eat her food.
"Well I have Liara pretending to do inventory. There are several crew members on the dock strategically placed. We do have two guards by the entrance, one inside the airlock and one outside. I don't think they suspect that Liara is watching them, but her surveillance skills have improved since Kaidan, Wrex and I have been working with her."
Yeah and if it keeps her away from Shepard I would teach her anything. Kaidan watches as Shepard keeps eating, at least she isn't keeping her stupid resolve not to eat just to seek revenge on him.
"Have we been able to find anything else out about who they really are?" Shepard asks.
"Well I have been working on the engines so I haven't had a chance to really get into the computer files yet. We are trying to make adjustments to the engines so they will be stronger then the ones on the Normandy. Garrus is also trying to find some weapons upgrades. I am checking with the fleet to see if they have been able to find anything out about shield upgrades." Tali tells her.
"Yes, along those lines the Alliance is working on shield upgrades and I have it under pretty good authority that the Antietam will be the test ship for the new shields as soon as they are ready for field tests. We need better shields." Kaidan tells her.
"I am trying to tweak the controls so that the ship response time to commands is minimal or next to no time. I don't want to be caught unawares again. Really would like some invisibility cloak of some kind that would block a visual search for the Antietam. Too bad there is no such thing." Joker says.
"Well I spoke with my dad recently and he made some joke about how good it would be if we could learn to bend light waves around ships so they could hide from visual inspection, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the works somewhere. He sometimes comments on reports he has read without realizing it. Well at least to me and mom." Shepard says.
"That would be sweet!" Joker tells her.
"Yeah well I doubt it is anywhere past the 'hey look at this' stage, or he wouldn't have mentioned it, so it isn't going to do us any good."
"Damn, well a guy can hope." Joker says.
"When does the new navigator come on board?" Wrex asks.
"Tomorrow, 1st Lieutenant Oisin Unwin, she is considered one of the best. Her records look clear, don't know what her personallity will be or how she will fit in, but I hope she will. We have several new crew mates but not as many as we lost because thos ship is more efficient I guess. Or maybe because there were a lot of casualties from the battle. It could also be because they are going to be building up the fleet. For whatever reason, we will be running short crew for a while." Shepard says.
"Yeah it will take a while for them to fit in and for us to scope them out for trouble makers." Kaidan tells them and it means I am back to sneaking around and sleeping in my pod again if I want any Shepard time.
"Well at least the ground teams will be the same. Maybe while we are here we should take the time to train up and see if there are any new techniques we can incorporate into our routine. It will keep us on our toes. I can check with C-Sec and get the up to date info on any new weapons we might come up against." Garrus suggested.
"That's a great idea. I will check with Alliance training for the same info and we will take a few days to knock out new strategies. We can use the Alliance training center here on the Citadel." Kaidan says.
"I don't know if I want to spend more time here on the Citadel with my shadows." Shepard says.
"Yes well we aren't going anywhere until the ship is ready anyway, we might as well take advantage of the perks while we are here. Wouldn't want you guys to get rusty lounging around. I need you to be in top shape so I know that you will come back to me here." Joker says.
"Oh, Joker... I didn't know you cared." Shepard says and she gets up and gives him a big hug and a kiss on his cheek which causes him to blush.
"Oh come on, it's just that I don't like all the paperwork that causes." Joker says.
"Yes, I am sure that is all it is." Dr. Chakwas says with a knowing smile.
They finish dinner and put away the dirty items in the cleaning chute. As they leave the mess Kaidan grabs Shepard to the side.
"So I will come in to see you later." he tells her in a low voice.
"Don't bother, I am turning in early tonight, it's been a long day." she says.
"But it's been I while, I was hoping..."
"Hope springs eternal, go work it out in the gym. Maybe there you can come to a grand realization of the error of your ways."
"Shepard..." Kaidan starts.
"No." Shepard says and she retreats to her cabin and the privacy light goes on.
Damn that woman. I should have known. Well a workout wouldn't be a bad idea, least it will get rid of some of the energy I was saving up. Kaidan goes and gets his gym clothes and his toiletries and than heads for the gym.
Kaidan is taking a nice hot shower after working out in the gym. He hears the door open and close so someone must have come in, but it was the men's shower so that wasn't too odd. He finishs his shower and gets out to get dressed. His clothing is gone as well as the towels and everything else he could possibly use to cover himself.
"Shepard" he yells. "Shepard, you better bring my stuff back"
Knowing that she is in hearing range, and also knowing that there is no way she was going to give him his clothing back until at least one crew member, one female crew member, sees him running around with no clothing on. It is his own fault really, He knew that once she found out he had tricked her into thinking he was hiding something she would get even. Problem was her way of getting even always involved putting him in awkward situations or embarrassing him so she could see him blush. This certainly fit the bill. Usually she just tried to have someone catch him after she took a few minutes turning him on, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hide his condition in his uniform. I guess she felt this deserved something more drastic.
"Joker" he said activating his implanted comm.
"Yeah, Alenko."
"Joker I need you to get someone to bring me a towel or some clothing to the men's shower."
"Yeah and you know that the chances of that happening anytime soon are right after the end of forever and when hell freezes over." Joker tells him.
"She got to everyone?"
"Oh Yeah."
"How bad?" Kaidan asks.
"Most likely every female on the ship is camped outside that shower right now."
"Shit, I really pissed her off this time."
"Yeah, you would think that you would have known better by now. What are you a slow learner." Joker asks him.
"Evidently. But hey I was just trying to keep her healthy, it was for her own good" Kaidan defends himself.
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that , cause I don't think she saw it that way. I think that she is pissed you tricked her."
"Yes Joker we already covered that. Hey did you turn on the air conditioner in here?"
"She has Tali with her." Joker tells him.
"Shit, she just turned the air conditioner on in here, It's going to get cold in here real fast."
"Why don't you just take it like a man and run, that cold is not going to do anything for your ego."
"Because." Kaidan said through gritted teeth. "If know her, then she has hidden all my clothing and it is not going to be easy to find something to wear. I am going to be wondering around nude with a bunch of women staring at me and making rude remarks. Not looking forward to that man."
"Well you could just go out the door and apologize and get it over with. Maybe she will take pity on you. You know the cold diminishing you personal assets. She might go easy on you."
"Yeah, going easy on me is not her idea of getting even. It's getting really cold in here Joker, can't you override the air conditioner?"
"Did I mention Tali?" Joker asks.
"Yeah, has she got you totally locked out."
"You've got it."
"I am going to have to go out there in the nude in front of an audience and apologize to Shepard." Kaidan says.
"Yeah, sucks to be you."
"I am going to get a waterproof container with a change of clothing to take in here with me from now on."
"Yeah, doesn't matter, she would figure out something else to do to you." Joker tells him.
"Yeah, she would."
"So, after you apologize then you guys will be square, right? That will be the end of it?"
"No." Kaidan told him but I am sure the rest of my torture will be held in private.
"So are you going to go out and get it over with or what?"
"It is getting really cold in here."
"Just suck it up and get it over with you big baby." Joker suggests.
He takes a deep breath and walks out of the bathroom expecting wolf whistles laughing or cheering or something utterly ridiculous like that, what he gets is silence. Standing in front of him is Shepard all by herself with his robe in her hand and his clothes on a chair beside her.
She looks down at him, "hummm, is it a little cold in there marine?" she asks.
He walks over to her and says "I am very sorry that I tricked you."
She hands him the robe and he put it on. "And you won't try and trick me again?" she says to him.
"Well not if you're going to catch me, no." of course, you have to catch me first "what was the purpose of this exercise?" he asks her.
"To prove to you that what you think I can do to you can sometimes be worse than what I will do to you and vise versa."
"And why did you not have all the women down here like Joker thought you would?" he asks taking her into his arms.
"The punishment fit the crime, you pretended you were up to something, I pretended there was an audience." She gives him a big kiss.
"Mmmm, I am so glad you didn't have an audience out here." he says to her pulling her closer.
"Yeah well it's time for you to get dressed so we can give the deck back to everyone. We can continue this upstairs." she pulls away from him.
"I'd like that." he tells her as he starts to get dressed.
Oh and Kaidan." she says as she walks towards the elevator.
"Yes."
"About having an audience."
"Yeah?" She turns and looks at him.
"Next time, I just might." She tells him with a sly grin.
And he gives her the blush that he is sure she has been waiting for.