It was 5 a.m. and Lauren was still sleeping when her datapad beeped. All the teens had quickly learned that their datapad was everything here at Brain Camp. It was alarm clock, mail, instant messaging to others after lights out, letters home…and this time it was an urgent message from…Vyrnnus? Lauren groaned and quickly got up. She quietly dressed and rushed to get to the room to which she was summoned.

She was hungry and her stomach growled when she opened the door and saw two large plates of breakfast sitting at a table in the classroom. Vyrnnus was standing there, grouchy as ever, arms crossed. "Shepard," he acknowledged. She nodded at him, her eyes blinking at the bright fluorescent light. "I had your breakfast brought here. Eat up. You are going to need it. Your biotics are going to be taxed this morning."

Lauren sat down mutely, hoping that this stuff wasn't poisoned. She wouldn't put anything past that turian. As she started to eat, the door opened. It was Kaidan. His hair was fuzzy and disheveled. His haphazard manner of dressing matched Lauren's. Vyrnnus gave him the same greeting and speech about food and taxed biotics.

Kaidan smiled as he sat down across from her. "Hey, pretty damn early, eh?" he said as he began shoveling food in his mouth. Lauren raised her eyebrows in affirmation. She swallowed and spoke. "Why are we here?" she whispered.

"Remember the other day in class? He said something about seeing what we can do. I bet this is it."

"Hurry up, you two. We have a whole hell of a lot of things to do and your chit chat is wasting precious time," Vyrnnus scolded.

Lauren rolled her eyes. She had forgotten about that, or maybe she just hoped he was bluffing. She chugged her orange juice and looked at the turian. "Where should I put my plate?"

"Spirits, you humans are pathetic. Always needing guidance. We should have blasted your race back a hundred years," Vyrnnus complained. "Someone will come in here and get them. Now, when you both are done, I want you to practice your barriers again."

Kaidan looked at Lauren with a furrowed brow. She knew what he meant. There would be live ammunition again, and this time there were no witnesses. They got up and walked to where the turian pointed. Kneeling like last time, they placed their hands on each other's shoulders and brought up a barrier.

Vyrnnus had several weapons at his disposal and proceeded to use each and every one of them, firing until each overheated. Then, just like in class, he started walking toward the pair. Lauren wouldn't let him get the best of her this time. She took her free hand and lobbed a weak throw at him. The turian stumbled a bit, but quickly recovered. He took another step in time to be thrown off his feet, falling face first.

Kaidan whispered to Lauren. "Don't worry about that. Your aim will get better. Right now we're a team. I've got your back." She smiled back in appreciation.

As Vyrnnus stood up again, he put down the gun in his hand. "Very well, you did enough that your fellow soldiers could have finished me off. Shepard, poor form. You're going to have to work on multitasking your biotics. Barrier can work with multiple biotics, but you have to learn how to let it fall into the background of your mind."

For the next hour, Vyrnnus allowed himself to be tossed around like a ragdoll by Kaidan and Lauren's biotics. Each and every time he got back up and maintained his disdainful attitude. It irritated Lauren and she started boosting her power, throwing him harder and further. It seemed to have no effect. When she gave him a particularly powerful throw, he stood up and without warning summoned his own biotics, throwing her back into the wall. She shook her head and started to rise, but was instantly frozen.

"Stasis," he said flatly. "Makes enemies easy pickings for your fellow troops. Or makes you the very same thing for theirs. Standing still is weakness. Always move ahead, even when the enemy is charging." His words burned in Lauren's ears and her hatred for the turian only grew.

A tone sounded meaning first class would start soon. Vyrnnus sighed irritably. "I guess you must leave now. We will be doing this again tomorrow and every day after that until I determine you have mastered…something. Go."

A turian true to his word, Kaidan and Lauren were awoke early the next morning by their pads and put through their biotic paces. Vyrnnus was relentless, using stronger weapons and different tactics. Lauren thought he was actually trying to make them angry. With her, she knew it was working. Kaidan seemed unaffected.

Lauren would lie down at night thinking about his calm demeanor. She liked the camaraderie they'd developed, and she couldn't help but feel attracted to him. Her body would ache from the beatings she took when she awoke, but seeing Kaidan's messy hair and shy smile in the mornings made it all worth it. He would urge her on and she felt like they were actually a team. Them against the universe…or at least Vyrnnus.

One day, they were training in the shooting range, but they weren't doing the shooting. Vyrnnus along with several adults in armor had them pinned down behind a crate in the corner of the room. Lauren hissed in frustration. "All he wants to do is kill us! Fucking turian!"

Kaidan grabbed her arm tightly. "Hey!" he shouted. "Lauren, pull it together." He leaned around the side of the crate, throwing a couple of the adults back, but he didn't let go of her. Looking straight into her eyes, he spoke firmly. "He is trying to break us. He hates humans so badly that he wants the best they've got to turn out to be weak. You aren't weak. You are the strongest woman I know. Now prove it to them."

His grip had loosened and now his hand was just holding hers. She thought for a split second that she felt his thumb brush across her fingers, but she dropped it as she summoned a stasis field, holding the last three humans in place. Kaidan followed suit, freezing Vyrnnus where he stood. The pair stood up from behind the crate and walked out the door.

"We're going to be late to class," Lauren said coldly. They could hear Vyrnnus snort in response.

x-X-x

At lunch, Lauren was sitting with Indira, but she wasn't talking. She was deep in thought about what had happened that morning. Had he touched her affectionately? No, it was all in her mind, she told herself. But she wanted so badly to believe it was true.

"Earth to Lauren!" Indira's voice broke through her thoughts. "Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm just really tired. All this early morning crap with Vyrnnus…"

"And Kaidan!" said Indira playfully. "I'm so jealous. First Rahna gets all his attention in class, now you've got a class with him all to yourself! It's just not fair."

"It's not a big deal, Indi. We're getting shot at and basically playing war. If my parents knew about this…they'd lose their shit. And besides, there's totally nothing going on between me and Kaidan. I'm sure he's all about Rahna."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," conceded Indira. "Still I wouldn't mind a little war with him. I mean, is he protecting you? There's got to be a little romantic sense to that."

"Indi, you are such a mushy sap!" Lauren laughed.

"Maybe, but I'm not striking out with Joel. He held my hand last night in the common room."

"I'm not trying, remember?" Lauren frowned. "Wait, what? Really? Wow! That's awesome! Tell me all about it!"

Indira started chattering about the previous evening's events as Kaidan approached the pair. "Hey Lauren, Indira," he smiled. "Mind if I sit with you?"

Lauren's smile faded. "Where's Rahna? She hasn't been in here yet."

"Uh, I don't know," Kaidan said in between bites. "She has that cooking class before this. Maybe she ate there? She didn't answer my text." Lauren thought he looked disappointed.

"So Kaidan, how's your special training with Lauren going?" Indira asked. "Is it really as intense as she says it is?"

"Probably. She's a really amazing biotic. You should see her in action." He was looking in Lauren's direction. "Lauren has a lot going for her." His sideways glance and crooked smile made Lauren's heart thump awkwardly.

Kaidan quickly finished and left the girls still sitting. "He totally likes you," Indira whispered.

"What? Bullshit," Lauren protested. "Never in a million years."

"No, there's something there. I can see it. He smiles at you in a way he doesn't to Rahna. I can't say exactly what, but it's like he's all the way here with you. I don't know…mentally or something."

Lauren smiled and said nothing.