Lauren sat nervously in a room that looked like a doctor's office. She had been at what everyone was now calling "Brain Camp" for nearly 3 weeks. She was put into a class with Indira, Rahna, Kaidan and two other guys, Corvick Azarov and Joel Young. Vyrnnus was the "teacher" of their particular class. He told them they had the most advanced biotics of all the kids there and he was going to make sure that they used them to their full potential. Lauren couldn't stand listening to his multi-tonal droning about mnemonic movements to draw up specific powers.

Now, she was waiting her turn to get her amp. Apparently, lots of others had parents similar to hers and they resisted Conatix's advances when offered the amps in previous years. She hated doctors. Her parents had pleaded with her to never mention her "unique abilities," and to "please for God's sake, do not turn blue when you sneeze again, you frighten people."

"Lauren Shepard, please come in," the soft-voiced woman said, interrupting her thoughts and leading her down a hallway to a small exam room. "I'm Jeannine. We are going to be putting the newest biotic amp into the back of your neck. It's called an L3. The shots I give you to numb the area will hurt badly, I won't lie. But you shouldn't feel anything else during the procedure. Please tell me if you do. Ok? Ready to go?"

"Sure," Lauren muttered. Jeannine motioned for her lay on her stomach on the exam bed. Lauren placed her face in the pillow and thought about class earlier that day. Vyrnnus was giving the "Basics of Protection." That got more than a few giggles and snickers from the group. No one in the class took him seriously after they had talked together about their own personal introductions to the turian. Each of them met with him in his office and he told them that he had killed their fathers. Lauren had told him to go fuck himself. His eyes narrowed in response, but he didn't do or say anything. Probably can't touch me. She smiled into the pillow at the memory.

A sharp sting coursed thought Lauren's neck and she hissed in pain. She tried very hard not to let her biotic power erupt in defense. "You ok?" Jeannine asked. "Yeah," Lauren muttered. Another sharp sting and she felt her neck go numb. She relaxed her body and thought about class again.

x-X-x

"Most of you will end up going into the military. Don't fool yourselves about that," Vyrnnus had said. "Your biotic barrier will be what lets you survive when the regular soldiers fall." The turian pulled out a pistol. That caught everyone's attention. "In actual combat, your enemies use real ammunition, but because you are kids and soft, and Conatix is paying me, I'll be using fake ammo. This will be a paired exercise."

Lauren looked at Indira and smiled. She had become a good friend because they both were so awkward around guys. Indira was just about to reach out to touch Lauren's shoulder when Vyrnnus walked between them. "Here are the pairs…Zorlu and Young, Kuthari and Azarov, Shepard and Alenko."

Girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy…damnit, Lauren thought. Of course it had to be even. She turned back to look where Rahna was sitting by Kaidan. Ever since she passed out after the testing, Kaidan hadn't left her side and Rahna seemed to like it, even to the point that she no longer was interested in Jason.

Vyrnnus loaded his gun and looked what Lauren had come to think was disinterested. "Ok, Zorlu, Young, over there. Throw up a joint barrier and we'll see how good it is."

Rahna looked confident and took Joel by the shoulder. Because Joel was barely 13, she was probably a head taller than he was, and the boy was easily moved. They knelt together and Rahna threw up a barrier first. Joel followed suit and Vyrnnus lowered his gun and fired. Three rapid shots.

Their barrier went down. Joel cried out and tumbled back, frightened, clutching his shoulder. "Unacceptable," said Vyrnnus as he lowered his gun, not even looking at the pair. "Have to be able to take more than three shots. Armor can take that many. Next pair, Kuthari, Azarov."

Rahna looked disappointed, but not concerned about the teary-eyed boy next to her on the ground. She stood and went back to slump in her seat, making a pouty face at Kaidan, but not saying a word. Joel steeled himself and walked stiffly to his desk. His embarrassment was apparent and he laid his head on his arms, looking around nervously.

Indira and Corvick looked more closely matched. With a nod from Corvick, the pair threw up a barrier at the same time. Vyrnnus began firing his gun. He shot six times rapidly before the gun overheated. He let it cool and fired again. The barrier failed at shot 11, and Vyrnnus nodded begrudgingly.

"Fine," he said waving the pair on. "You may take your seat. It looks as if you are adequate in this skill. I will give you a more difficult challenge next time. Shepard, Alenko. Up."

Lauren got up and made her way to the cleared area. She nervously eyed Kaidan. She hadn't talked to him since the day of their testing and Rahna had so occupied his time that she doubted he'd noticed. As they crouched to the ground, Kaidan placed his hand on her shoulder, whispering. "Put your hand on mine. I think that this will help our biotics combine. Neither of the other pairs did this. I think he's looking for that. We'll go up on 3, ok?" Lauren nodded and put her arm on his shoulder. She tried not to let her face flush at his touch. Kaidan counted and they raised their barrier.

Lauren would always feel her skin prickle with the sensation of her biotics humming, but with the added power of Kaidan, she felt the very nerve fibers in her body light up. It was like a cool breeze was flying through her, as if her skin wasn't there. It was exhilarating.

Vyrnnus had put down the pistol he had been firing for the others. This time he had an assault rifle. He loaded it and fired. The blast rang out and made Lauren flinch. She heard a little ping as the shot bounced off the barrier. Her eyes met Kaidan's as she looked to see if he had heard it. "Live ammo," Kaidan said through his teeth. "The bastard's shooting to kill." He gripped her shoulder harder and she felt a stronger wave of biotics rush through her. Her eyes narrowed and she followed his lead, giving a boost to her own output.

Vyrnnus still looked bored as he reloaded and aimed to fire again. "This," he said as he fired again, "is what a good barrier looks like. In fact, exceptional." He put the rifle down and walked toward the pair. "But anyone can walk through." He shoved Lauren with his foot, knocking her off-balance. She fell and the barrier broke. She looked at him in disbelief. He stared right back. "You should have thrown me before I ever got close enough," he said with disapproval. "You're good enough to handle that."

Kaidan stood and offered Lauren a hand to help her up. She took it, but never took her eyes off the turian. With still no inflection of emotion in his voice, Vyrnnus cocked his head to the side and looked at both of them. "You two, you are special. We need to explore your power."

A voice broke in through the station's comm system. "Lauren Shepard, please report to the infirmary to get fitted with your amp."

The turian's mandibles flared. "Unamped? Impressive. I expect to see more from you. Maybe you aren't just bluster after all."

Lauren turned to go and realized she was still clutching Kaidan's hand. She let go of it quickly, blushing, and rushed out of the room.

x-X-x

"Ok, we're all done here," Jeannine said cheerfully. Go on back to your bunk. Your neck will be sore for a few days, but let us know if you get any migraines or loss of vision. Keep your biotics off for about 12 hours or so. Tomorrow, you'll be, well, improved."

She left the room and walked back down the hallway to make her way to her bunk. When she got to the waiting room, Kaidan was there, his head buried in his hands.

"Hey, are you ok?" she asked quietly. He looked up and weakly smiled.

"Yeah, I will be. A migraine. That's all. How about you?"

"My neck is numb, so I'm fine." She reached back and felt the tackiness of medigel at the base of her hair.

"I can't believe that guy shot at us with real ammunition!" Kaidan said loudly, then moaned and grabbed his head. "Son of a bitch…I got all worked up from that barrier and thinking he could kill us and that brought on this. Damn turian."

"Yeah…" Lauren's voice trailed off. "Why do you think he said we were special?"

"Honestly? You because you're the strongest biotic I've seen here. Me…I don't know. Maybe because I'm smart enough to figure out his tricks."

"Well, it was pretty cool, you figuring out that we should touch to have a better barrier."

"Nah, it was just common sense. If you understand any tech stuff, it'll make sense," Kaidan said plainly.

Lauren smiled. "I hope you feel better."

"Yeah, thanks. Uh, you too. Getting an amp can be a real bitch for a while."

"Thanks…" Lauren stopped at the door. "Hey, Kaidan, did you…?" Did you like combining biotics with me? Did it feel great to you?

"Did I what?"

"Did you feel bad that you weren't paired up with Rahna? I didn't mean to…"

"Hey, it's just Vyrnnus. He's an ass. And, no, I didn't. Actually, I'm glad he gave us the challenge. You're a nice girl, and a phenomenal biotic." Kaidan smiled and got up to leave as a nurse called him in. "I like you."

"You seem pretty nice too." Lauren smiled and walked away.