Act girly, no swearing, don't fall, Shepard kept repeating to herself as she slowly made her way out of her room. The trip to the CIC usually only took her a few minutes, but with the ridiculously high heels she was wearing, it was going to take her half an hour just to get to the airlock.

How could I have let them talk me into this, she thought bitterly. Her top hung off one shoulder showing off too much skin for her liking, her skirt was too short, and those damned heels were a pain to walk in. Not to mention the make up that had been caked on her face. Though it did a pretty good job of hiding her bruise, she still felt like Tali and Ashley had overdone it. At least her shirt was loose enough to hide her pistol behind her back. As much as Tali and Ashley (Chakwas had already passed out from too much brandy) tried to get her to leave her pistol, Shepard would not budge. Her outfit might make her look practically naked, but, without her pistol, she was naked.

She let out a groan when she reached the stairs leading up to the top deck. At this rate, it was going to take her all night just to reach the damn airlock. Taking a deep breath, she pressed down the sides of her skirt and set herself to the long task of climbing up the stairs.

Kaidan paced the cockpit. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"Calm down, Kaidan. You're making me nervous, and I'm the one staying behind," Joker said, turning around in his chair to face him.

Kaidan resisted the urge to run his hands through his hair, finally settling them at his sides as he leaned against the wall. He was nervous enough talking to Shepard in front of others, he couldn't even fathom how he was going to be when it was just the two of them.

He still wasn't sure about Joker's advice. More than anything, he wasn't sure if he could pull it off.

"Joker, I still don't know if I can – "

Joker held up his hand to silence Kaidan. "Don't. Worry. About. It," he said, emphasizing every word. "I told you, I'll take care of everything. Just go and enjoy a nice dinner. I'll message you when the time is right."

Kaidan was about to say something when he heard chattering from the CIC. Curious, he stepped away from the wall to see what the commotion was.

You can do this, Shepard! Act girly, no swearing, don't fall.

She was so preoccupied looking down so she wouldn't fall that she didn't notice the stares that she was getting from all the crewmembers. The maxim that she kept repeating to herself blocked out all the whispers. Her main focus was to get to the airlock in one piece.

Act girly, no swearing, don't fall. Act girly, no swearing, don't fall.

She reached the steps that led up to the gangway, and she paused with a small frown. This ship had way too many steps. She went through the same routine as when she climbed the steps up to the CIC. Very demurely, she held down her skirt and proceeded to climb up onto the gangway.

Kaidan had been watching Shepard since she had first appeared on the CIC. At first, he hadn't been sure if it was her or not. She kept her head down and was still so far away that Kaidan had to squint to make her out clearly. As she got closer, however, there was no mistaking that it was really Shepard. She might be dressed differently, but Kaidan was already familiar with the contours of her body.

She seemed to be whispering something to herself. He couldn't make out what she was saying, but he could tell that it was something she was extremely focused on. It wasn't until she (finally) made her way up the steps leading to the gangway that she looked up.

Shepard chanced a peek at the cockpit, and noticed Kaidan standing next to Joker. She suddenly forgot to breathe. Kaidan looked like a Greek god. His slacks clung perfectly to his waist. The shirt he was wearing hugged his muscles. She longed to reach out and lose herself in his touch again.

Kaidan's breath hitched. He always knew Shepard was beautiful. But seeing her dressed the way she was made his heart pound in his chest. Her long toned legs were accented by her shoes and skirt. Her flawless skin emitted a golden glow, and her hair was let loose, soft tendrils framing her face.

She couldn't move. She could feel her face getting warm at Kaidan's approving look. Maybe wearing this outfit had been a good idea after all. A surge of self confidence went through her. She could do this! She could make this work.

Without breaking eye contact with Kaidan, she began walking toward him. One hand on her hip, the other swaying in time with her steps, she strutted up the gangway. A smile curved into the corner of her mouth. This was easy! This was –

"Aaaggghhhh!"

One of her heels got caught in the grate of the gangway causing her to lose her balance. She fell forward, one knee slamming into the metal grate as she put out her hands to break the rest of her fall.

"Son of a – mmpphh!" She bit down on that last word, sitting down and inspecting the injury on her knee. She didn't care that her skirt had hiked its way up exposing her upper thighs. She didn't care that she had practically mooned everybody on her way to the floor. So much for acting girly.

"Shepard!" Kaidan ran out to pick her up. That had been a nasty fall. He could still hear the sickening crunch of her knee hitting the metal grate.

Shepard took a few seconds to calm herself for fear of letting out a string of expletives. Although, her knee didn't look any worse for the wear, she could practically feel the bruise forming around her kneecap already. She let out a breath, cursing Ashley and Tali in her mind for making her wear those ridiculous shoes and having to behave like a "lady".

Kaidan knelt in front of Shepard and put his hands on her knee. He saw her wince, but he examined her all the same. She was tough. Any other person would have probably split their knee open after that fall. Shepard would probably only have a slight bruise.

"You okay?" he asked softly, trying to ignore the exposed skin of her thighs.

"Yeah," Shepard said, though her knee was still throbbing in pain. "I'll be fine. Are you ready to go?"

Kaidan nodded, standing up and then reaching down to pick her up. He placed a hand on the small of her back as they made their way out of the ship.

"You two kids have a great time," Joker called out, watching them leave. He turned around and then hacked into the space station's surveillance cameras.

Shepard and Kaidan weren't going to get off that easy. He needed to spy on them to make sure everything went according to plan. He told Kaidan he would take care of everything and that was exactly what he was going to do.