Casey didn't sleep, she knew she wouldn't be able to. Instead she walked laps around her room, trying to take in everything that had happened over the last few hours. She still couldn't get over Garrus admitting he'd liked her all along: she hadn't seen that coming at all! And he was already calling himself her boyfriend? She knew that would scare some women off, but it made her practically giddy. She remembered the feeling of his hands on her, and her skin began to tingle.

She decided to take a shower (it had finally been fixed), so that even if she wasn't well rested, she'd at least be clean for round two, which Garrus had already promised.

When Casey came out, towel drying her hair, she found she was not alone in her room. She was almost relieved it wasn't Garrus, he'd worn her out and she'd need a couple of hours at least to recover! No, it was Kasumi who was lying on her bed, her hood pulled even lower over her eyes. She was making little groaning noises.

"Rough night?" Casey asked, not making any effort to keep her voice quiet.

"Shhhhhh!" Kasumi hissed, pulling her hood lower again. "If you like me at all you'll keep your voice down."

Casey smiled, but continued much more quietly. "What happened? You seemed very cosy in the kitchen."

"I have no idea," Kasumi grumbled. "All I have are images, fuzzy round the edges. I remember the card game, then going for more...alcohol," she said 'alcohol' like it was an unholy word. "Then dancing, lots of dancing. Drinking, definitely lots of drinking. I think Miranda put on some kind of costume...So did Ken..."

"Yeah, where did he get that from?" Casey interrupted.

"I have no idea. I'm hoping Miranda had a spare, and not that it was one of his own... I remember someone hacked the plants...Then it gets really blurry. I woke up in the kitchen."

"Alone?"

Kasumi raised an eyebrow, "Yeah...why?...Do you know something?"

Casey grinned, "I may have found you lying beside someone..."

Kasumi looked thoughtful, then grinned. "Was it Jacob? I remember dancing with him...and...I remember sleeping next to someone. I definitely remember feeling someone up in the night."

Casey's mouth dropped open. "I'm going to stop you there," she cut in, "You were sleeping next to Mordin."

Kasumi laughed, "Yeah right! He left really early, something about important experiments. No I was dancing with Jacob, then I went into the kitchen to get some cake, but no one had put it in the oven...then I had a cake mix fight with someone..."

"Mordin?"

"No, it wasn't Mordin. I had the cake mix fight with someone, then we sang some songs-"

"Patter songs?"

"It wasn't Mordin! Then we got tired and had a little lie down, but there was definitely some groping, I remember running my fingers through his..." She stopped, thinking. "He didn't have hair...Oh my God, it was Mordin!" She clasped her hand to her mouth, and Casey rolled around on the bed in hysterics.

"Don't. Tell. Anyone!" Kasumi warned.

"I won't," Casey spluttered through the laughter.

Kasumi rolled her eyes, then froze, staring at Casey. "What's that on your neck?"

Casey was still laughing, "What?"

"Are those teeth marks?"

Uh oh. She wasn't laughing anymore. Kasumi seemed to be putting two and two together. "You weren't at the party for long...neither was Garrus...You both disappeared...together..." A huge grin spread across Kasumi's face. "You didn't?!"

Casey knew it was meant to be a secret, but she was a terrible liar, and Kasumi had already worked it out. "Ok, yes, we did."

Kasumi hopped around excitedly, but soon stopped and clutched her head again.

"But you can't tell anyone," Casey pleaded. "We're keeping it a secret for now."

"For now?" Kasumi raised an eyebrow. "Is this...are you actually going to start seeing each other? Like...dating?"

Casey nodded, which resulted in more hopping from Kasumi.

"But promise you'll keep it secret!" Casey repeated.

Kasumi smiled, "You keep mine, I'll keep yours. But, you need to tell me everything!"

When Kasumi had heard all the details, and fallen asleep in Casey's bed, Casey decided it was time to stretch her legs. She left her room, nodding awkwardly at the male Quarian she'd never met before, who was carrying a glass of water towards Tali's room, and headed for the mess hall. People were already starting to clean up, though Casey thought it'd be a while before there were any real improvements. Miranda was sitting at the large table with James and Ken, and all of them were drinking water, with hands on their heads.

"Never again," Casey heard Miranda mutter.

"I don't know how to get it off," James murmured, looking at his face in a small mirror. There were still drawings and writing all over it, the most notable one read 'James Vagina'.

"Where did I get that outfit?" Ken asked no one in particular.

"I mean, what was in that bottle?" Miranda asked.

"Water don't work, scrubbing don't work..."

"Did I buy it somewhere? It seemed to fit really well..."

"I'm never drinking again."

"James Vagina, that's not even funny."

"I mean, the skirt is one thing, but where did I get the underwear?"

Casey continued on towards the elevator, taking it up to the command deck. Things were much more normal there, and she decided to pay a visit to Mordin in the lab. He was leaning over a tank containing one of the Seekers the Collectors sent out, and muttering to himself. In fact, he looked to be no worse for wear, but Casey noticed him grit his teeth slightly as she dragged a stool heavily across the floor. "Morning professor!" She said brightly.

"Yes, yes, morning. A little quieter please."

Casey played dumb, "My word professor, you're not...hung-over...are you?"

Mordin shook his head, then clasped his hand to it. "No, not at all. Salarians very good at handling their alcohol. Just have...unrelated migraine."

"I see." Casey made a big show of moving some heavy books around, accidentally on purpose knocking a few over.

"Casey, please!" Mordin cried, and Casey tried not to giggle. Ok, so she was a little vindictive. She was used to people making fun of her reactions to alcohol, it was kind of fun for the boot to be on the other foot.

"Sorry professor," she said, putting the books down. Mordin turned away, peering back into the tank.

"So...good party?" Casey asked.

"No, yes, fine."

"Any stories to tell? Drunken antics I might've missed?" Casey put on an innocent tone, and tried not to laugh when Mordin froze.

"No." He replied.

"That's good. I hear that when people get drunk, they do stupid things..."

"Ah, must check results of latest test-"

"You know, like, fool around with squadmates on kitchen floors..."

"Alcohol! Alcohol may be the key to slowing the seekers down. Should test this hypothesis, talk later Casey."

Casey grinned, but headed for the door. Mordin's voice slowed her. "Casey, please tell Ms Goto that while I enjoyed her company, what we did would be considered an abomination for both species, and must never happen again." He paused for a moment. "...Say it, kindly."

Casey put on a serious expression. "I'll break it to her gently."

She left the lab, watching as the unknown Quarian man gave advice to a clearly hung-over crewman about the best way to mop the floor. Is everybody on this ship crazy?

After a little more aimless wandering, Casey headed back to her room for a nap. Kasumi was still there, so she simply lay down beside her. She slept for a couple of hours, before being woken by Kasumi's Omni-tool beeping. "Get that," she mumbled.

"You get it."

"It's your Omni-tool."

"Then get out of my room."

"This is my room."

"...Shut up."

Casey kicked Kasumi gently until she finally read the message. She groaned. "Team briefing."

"They don't need me?"

"Don't think so. But if they need someone to dress like a hooker or get beaten up by an Asari I'll let you know."

Casey aimed a second kick, but Kasumi managed to dodge it. She blew her a kiss as she left the room, "Enjoy your beauty sleep."

When Casey woke up, she was overcome by a monstrous thirst. She left her room and headed for the Mess which, she was now surprised to find, was completely spotless. She poured herself a glass of water, and noticed several people sat at the tables. She saw Garrus, Shepard, James, Grunt, and Mordin. They didn't look like they were talking too seriously, so she went to join them. Most of the pen had now been removed from Shepard's and James' faces. Shepard now just had a few black marks, which could easily be mistaken for dirt gained from a mission. James still had most of the word 'vagina' written across his forehead, but nothing else.

Casey took a seat opposite Garrus. "Mind if I join?" She asked.

"Go ahead," Shepard replied. He continued to tell the group what they'd be doing for the next mission. Apparently they would be landing on Horizon, where a colony had just gone dark. They were investigating what had happened, and hoping to find survivors before it was too late. Shepard was leading this team, Miranda was leading another. Casey tried to pay attention, but it was hard when she felt Garrus' eyes burning into her. They hadn't spoken since the early hours of the morning, which felt so long ago now. Every now and then she chanced a look at him, which was a mistake. He was looking at her with such a hunger she was surprised the others on the table hadn't noticed it. Yet he was still participating in the conversation at the same time. How does he play it so cool?

"We should be arriving within the next twenty minutes, get your gear," Shepard said, getting to his feet. The rest of the team, including Garrus, followed, though he gave her one final glance before he left. Casey finished her water and put the glass in the kitchen. "You're still here?" She asked the Quarian man, who began to wash the glass. "I thought you lived on Omega?"

"I do, but the ship took off and...well...I didn't want to bother anyone..."

"Hey, need some help with this garbage!" Another crewman called from across the mess.

"Right away sir!" The Quarian replied, before shrugging at Casey and leaving.

Casey shook her head, and walked to the elevator, hoping to perhaps catch sight of Garrus again before they left. When the doors opened, there he was, standing alone in the elevator. "I forgot something," he said, by way of an explanation. Then moved forward, taking her by the hand and pulling her in.

"What did you forget?" She asked, breathless at being this close to him, despite the fact that he was already in his armour.

"This," Garrus punched the emergency stop button, leaned in and kissed her, holding her in his strong arms. Casey went slightly lightheaded. When it was over, she kept hold of him, worried she might go all damsel-like and faint. Garrus raised an eyebrow, or the Turian equivalent. "Have you eaten yet today?"

"It's on my list."

"Uhuh. Well, like I said earlier, you need to keep your strength up. I've got some new moves lined up for later."

Casey laughed, "Moves?"

"Oh yeah, prepare to be impressed."

Casey took him by the hands, suddenly very aware that he was going and she wasn't. "Just...be careful, ok?"

Garrus gave her a final kiss, before starting the elevator up again. "With you to come back to, I can't fail."

He stepped out of the elevator, leaving Casey to ride it alone for the next few minutes, while she decided how on earth to keep herself busy until he returned.

Casey had been monitoring the mission with Traynor, and all in all it seemed to be going well. The Collectors were unaware of the team's presence, which was useful, because they'd bought a huge ship, and probably had enough soldiers to take out even the legendary Commander Shepard. So far both teams were focusing on finding survivors, while making their way towards the colony's defence cannons. Once those were online, they could (hopefully) tear through the Collector ship before it even had time to power up.

"How's it going?" Traynor asked.

"Good, no survivors as yet on our end: they've already been cleared out, but Miranda's group have found some. They're in stasis still, so they've had to drag them out of the way."

"The Seeker antidote working out?"

"I'll let you know when we get a chance to test it."

Casey was watching a digital image of the Collector ship, marvelling at the sheer size of the thing, when something happened. It changed colour, from blue to orange. "What does that mean?" She asked, pointing to the image.

"Huh?" Traynor looked up from her notes. "Oh...that's not good."

"What?"

"The ship is powering up, they must know Shepard's here."

"Do something!"

"Uh...right! Shepard! Shepard, come in!"

Nothing, just static.

"Shepard, this is Traynor, please respond!"

Still nothing.

"Comms are down!" Traynor said, pressing what seemed like hundreds of buttons on her console. "They can't hear us."

"Then how will they know the ship is powering up?"

"Well I'm guessing the noise from the giant gun will do it."

Casey's eyes widened. "What should we do?"

"I don't know! With comms down there's no way to contact them, and the whole team are down there, no one to send in!"

Casey didn't even need to think. "I'll go!"

"What? You don't have military training, or Mordin's Seeker repellent!"

"I can't do nothing! We have to warn them!" Casey cried, already running for the elevator.

Within seconds she was in the shuttle bay. "Cortez!" She yelled at the Pilot, who was leaning up against the shuttle.

"Hey Case, what's up?"

"I need you to take me to Horizon!"

"What? I just got back from there...What's wrong?"

"I'll explain on the way," she climbed in to the shuttle.

"Casey, I can't take this bird out without Shepard's say so."

"Steve, please trust me. Shepard is in danger, we need to warn him."

Cortez paused, then nodded. He disappeared from sight for a moment, then returned, throwing a footlocker inside the Shuttle. "Suit up."

Casey opened the locker, inside was some armour, a pistol, and a sniper rifle. She took a breath.

"I hope I don't get fired for this," Cortez sighed, and the engines of the shuttle roared to life.