A/N: The big 50! I can't believe I made it here. Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, follows, and favorites! It keeps me writing and inspired to do so!
Disclaimer: Mass Effect is copyright of Bioware. Ci-Ci is mine.
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Thank you for reading. Enjoy!
7 July 2185—Presidium Ward, the Citadel, Serpent Nebula
Shepard and Corinthia arrived at the restaurant. Shepard was glad he'd worn the tux. Like most anything that Corinthia tended to get herself into, the place oozed money and wealth. He recognized some of her paintings on the walls, which were white marble and decorated like the Council Chambers. Well-to-do beings of all species sat at tables, talking in hushed voices.
"I don't belong here," Shepard whispered.
"It's alright." Corinthia boldly walked to the hostess, an asari with a false smile and no patience.
"Ah, Ms. Enig. It's good to have you back," the hostess said breathlessly. "Your usual table?"
"Please," Corinthia answered.
The hostess did a double-take. "But I thought... Your accent..."
"Ariadne is an alternate identity. I assure that I am her. The reservations' for Cassiopeia Corinthia-Imreas."
Shepard noticed Emily Wong, one of the only reporters he'd met that he didn't want to strangle, sitting nearby. The reporter perked up her ears.
Shepard moved closer to Corinthia. "People are listening..."
"Let them," Corinthia answered. "I'm allowed to be alive."
"What about me?"
"I thought people knew that already..."
"Not so far as I know." He eyed Emily Wong, who was surreptitiously following them to their table. "Get ready..."
"What? Why?" Corinthia asked as they sat down. She spotted Emily. "Oh..."
Emily smiled. "Commanders. I can't thank you enough for the help you gave me two years ago."
Shepard had helped her discover some injustices in the Citadel traffic control system. She'd also interviewed him without any kind of angle, which he greatly appreciated, considering that most reporters tried to skew his responses.
"You're welcome," Shepard answered impatiently, taking Corinthia's hand in his.
Emily eyed them. "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."
"It's alright. You're a reporter and this is a scoop isn't, it? Two people back from the dead..."
"You... You don't mind if I write a story, do you?"
"As long as you keep that Ci-Ci and I are together a secret, I couldn't care less."
"Of course." Emily giggled. "It's cute, really, but I know how much trouble you'd get in."
"And what kind of publicity you'd get talking about us," Shepard growled.
Emily crossed her arms. "I'm not out to ruin people's lives, Commander. If you want to see every single draft of my articles, I'll make sure you get them. You're a hero in my books and I'm not going to go spreading rumors about your love life, even if they are true. This is your private life, so that's how it's going to stay."
"I... Thank you," Shepard answered, flabbergasted. "Look, I'm kinda busy, but send me your questions and I'll answer them."
Emily grinned. "Great! Great... I already know where to find you."
Corinthia nodded. "One last thing: If I send you an article, will you publish it?"
"I'll see what I can do. Can you write?"
"Well enough. You can edit, if you'd like, but only for style, not content."
"Got it. You don't have to worry. I'm not going to go behind your back."
"I know. Nice to see you again, Emily."
"Commanders." Emily left, a big grin slapped across her face.
Shepard turned to Corinthia. "What the hell was that about?"
"Ariadne is going to have to become Corinthia eventually. I thought I'd just... speed things up."
"I thought people were trying to kill you."
"Cerberus won't, we're already fighting the Collectors, and the Shadow Broker's too distracted by Liara. Besides, having a Spectre on your side's going to be a good thing, right?"
"I'm already one..."
"Another one, then."
"I'm just glad to have you." He kissed the back of her hand. He looked around, unnerved. "I feel really out of place..."
"You look like you belong. You're getting more use out of that suit than most other people do."
"The last time I was in civs was... Well, when we went to Flux to meet Anderson. I'm definitely more comfortable in that kind of thing."
"It's okay, Shepard. If you want to go somewhere else, we'll go somewhere else. A bar, club, whatever. I just wanted to go somewhere nice, that's all."
"I guess it's not my style..."
"I know. We can go to a rock concert next time. How's that sound?"
"How do you even know what kind of music I like?"
"I remembered the stuff you didn't yell at me to shut off in the Mako."
He shook his head. "It's weird..."
"What is?" she asked curiously.
"I know you, how you fight, your past... Hell, I fell in love with you without actually knowing anything about your interests or hobbies or anything."
"It's okay, John. You've been through every major event in my life. I mean, you are the major event of my life. You've been beside me since I walked into that stupid recruiting station..."
"Stupid?" Shepard repeated. "I thought you liked it..."
She shook her head and took a sip of water. "Let's not get into an argument."
"I didn't mean to sound like... Cassie, I want to know about you. Your hopes, dreams, fantasies..."
She giggled. "I get that whenever you take off your shirt."
"Not funny."
"What?" she asked innocently. "I bet you're thinking the same thing about me."
"Well..." He turned red. "I've seen most of you before... I'm sorry, but the second you start taking off your shirt, I keep telling myself that I can't..."
"But the hero always peeks," she answered with a snicker. "I'm a little embarrassed, but not extremely. Just let me know if there's something I need to work on before you get the whole view."
Shepard nearly spat out his mouthful of water. He hadn't expected her to be so bold (or for her to know that he'd stared at her enough to know what she looked like naked, anyway). "Wha... What?"
"Hah! Made you blush!"
"Don't do that to me!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, darling." Her next phrase was cut off as the waiter came by to take their orders. "So... my dreams?" she continued.
"Sure," he answered.
"Other than absolutely insane, I'd say retiring from this life."
"Which one?"
"You know... Fighting. Battles. Everything like that."
He toyed with her fingers, not answering for a long time. "Oh..." he breathed.
"I'm sorry, Shepard, but after everything we've seen, I just... I like being Ariadne."
Shepard dropped her hand. "What?"
"I like being her. The life, the fact that no one's trying to kill me..."
"What about me?"
"You think I want to give you up?" she asked, shocked. "Of course not! I'd miss seeing you every day..."
"We'd never see each other. I'd be half-way across the galaxy on a mission and you'd be selling shitty art to gang lords and rich bastards."
"Shitty?" she repeated hotly. "Shitty? You know I made almost half of the stuff in there!"
"So I don't like art! Big deal."
Corinthia swallowed an angry answer. "You should've just said that..." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not about to leave you in the lurch, Shepard. I'll stay with you until the end. If you ask me to fight, I will. I'm not going to stop now because I know you need me. I'm talking about the future, when there isn't a galaxy to save, when we aren't trying to hide that we're together."
"You call this hiding?"
"From the Alliance. Even though you're with Cerberus and acting as a Spectre, they can still court martial you."
"You'd think they could find a better accusation that fraternization..."
"Same, but they're going to throw everything at you if you piss them off enough."
"What are you talking about?"
She leaned in. "You remember how I left the Alliance? It wasn't really a decision... It was an order."
He narrowed his eyes. "Explain."
"Anderson and Hackett didn't the brass to screw things up for you. They knew that they needed you to keep fighting. They sent you after the geth to keep you out of the discussion and make sure that you wouldn't get destroyed in the arguments. Everything went wrong. You were killed, I was supposed to find Vigil on Ilos... I got to Vigil, but we couldn't really recover anything. So, they glossed the whole thing over. I was ordered by the Council to stop investigating the Reapers, so I moved on to Cerberus... and then back to the Reapers as well. It was horrible and nothing made any sense, but I'm almost positive they're going to do it again."
"So they ordered you to resign to protect me?"
"Something like that. I created Ariadne to give me a source of money as I worked, but when I faked my death, it had to become my life... I liked it."
'Hence the stunning wardrobe..." Shepard murmured, looking her up and down. "God, you're beautiful..."
She blushed. "Downgraded from sexy, have we?"
"Upgraded. You are the sexiest creature I've ever seen, but I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, so I'm going to have to get beyond that, right?"
"And you're adorable."
"Adorable?" he repeated. "That's it?"
"Well, 'cute' is an insult to guys, isn't it?"
"It's not in our vocabulary... But I know you better than that."
She smiled. "You're handsome, cute, smoking hot..."
He smirked. "That's more like it."
"Someone's needy."
"Well, I had started wondering if I was your physical type..."
"Did you forget how I say 'oh my God, it's so shiny' every time you remove your shirt?"
"No, though I don't really get it. I have chest hair..."
"Should I say 'fuzzy' instead?"
"No. That's worse."
"Then 'shiny' it is."
"I can't decide if I hate or love you right now..."
"The latter."
"Says who?"
She winked. "Says me. Besides, we're going dancing later."
"You can't be serious..."
"Like hell I'm not."
He looked around nervously. "I can't dance, Ci-Ci, you know that! Last time I passed out in your arms!"
"Well, I'll make sure that you're just tipsy then, hm?"
"The best I can do is hold your hips and enjoy you moving against me," Shepard muttered, "and you aren't the type to do that."
"You never know..."
Shepard gulped. "Can we go back to talking about our hobbies?"
She shrugged. "If you want. I like art, designing programs, and playing games on my omni-tool. Your turn."
He scratched his head. "You know, I'm not sure I have any... My leaves were spent on base studying for promotions and training my biotics. When I'm not writing reports, I just go sleep... You know I don't really get a chance otherwise."
She blinked. "No motorcycles? Playing an instrument?"
He shook his head. "I used to have a bike, but I left everything behind when I joined the Alliance. The best I can think of is that I used to study in my spare time to get my GED. I thought about going to college once, too, but the military was the better choice was for me."
"I know. You're perfect for it, really, but are you incapable of fun?"
"I'm dating you, aren't I?"
She laughed. "Alright, you have a point. I know you like shooting..."
"Being with you."
She ignored him. "Yelling at the Illusive Man."
"Being with you."
She raised an eyebrow. "You saying I'm a hobby?"
"Definitely. Do you know how hard you are to figure out?"
"Alright, good point..." It took until they were half-way through their meal for her to continue, "Am I really that complicated?"
"Confounding," he corrected.
"Oh... Yeah, that I can see." She licked off the back of her spoon. "So what do you want to do after we win?"
"If there's an after..."
"When we win," she pressed.
"You aren't going to give up, are you?"
"Nope," she answered perkily.
"I don't know... become an admiral? There's no way I'm becoming a civilian. Fighting's just in my blood. It's the only thing I know I'm good at. It's got all the right challenges... So... yeah. I'm not so creative as you and I'm just... All I can do is fight."
She touched his hand gently. "It's alright, you know. You're a natural leader and you've definitely chosen the right career path. If you hadn't, there wouldn't be a Citadel."
"You know I don't like being a hero..."
"Only when you're forced into the spotlight," she answered snidely.
"Point."
Flux, the Market Ward, the Citadel
Shepard felt infinitely better. Corinthia had let him take off his jacket, unbutton the top of his shirt, and put on his combat boots, cargo pants, and a leather jacket (which she said she had because she'd had to clean out his apartment on Earth after he'd died. He made a mental note to take his three outfits back onto the Normandy with him). At his request, she was still in her dark green dress and heels.
She glared at him. "You know, I like baggy clothing, too."
He chuckled, squeezed her waist lightly, and kissed her temple. "You look amazing. Besides, I thought you liked the dresses."
"I do, but not going clubbing in something that barely comes to my knees..."
"If anyone touches you except me, they're going to get their neck broken."
"I forgot... You're a living, breathing chastity belt. You've never even groped me!"
"Is that a request?" he asked, growling ferally and dropping his hand a little lower.
She turned bright red. "Shepard! You don't see me groping your thighs, either!"
He smirked, leaning in to swiftly and passionately kiss her on the lips, "As you wish, my love. No ass grabbing unless you ask for it."
"I'm glad that's settled," she muttered mutinously. She slapped his rump for good measure.
"Hey!" he gasped, startled. "That hurt...
"Hah! Vengeance is mine!" she pronounced dramatically.
He shook his head. "You're impossible..."
"I know. It's why you love me." She flicked his ear as they stepped into the club.
As per usual, Flux was throbbing with music and people. Shepard pulled Corinthia closer to his side as his level of discomfort heightened. If he'd been in the tux... He shuddered.
"Let's get some drinks," he muttered, dragging her to the bar and ordering two scotches.
The bartender looked him up and down. "You're Shepard, aren't you?"
"Yeah, what about it?" he growled.
"You saved my sister, Jenna, a couple years ago..."
He thought for a long moment. "Oh, right... No problem."
"These are on the house."
"Thanks," Shepard murmured.
Corinthia cocked her head to one side. "I don't remember that..."
"Don't worry about it," Shepard answered. "You weren't involved in that mission."
"Oh..." She kissed his cheek.
"What was that for?"
"You're a sweetheart, you know that?"
"Please don't start calling me that in public..."
"I won't, Shep. Promise."
He drained his drink and pointed to hers. "You going to have that?"
"Nope." She pushed towards him. "That enough to get you dancing?"
He knocked it back and grabbed her hand. "Hell yeah. Let's go."
He dragged her onto the dance floor, pulling her by the waist against him. This was probably the closest thing to sex he was going to get from her in a long time, so he was going to enjoy every moment of it. Corinthia curled her arms around his neck. For someone as klutzy as she could be, she didn't move like it. She probably even knew how to dance, but she was indulging him and doing a combo of belly and pole dancing against him. He put his mouth against her jaw and started kissing. He knew that he had to stay in control of himself, or else... Thinking was quickly exiting his list of options, though.
After almost ten minutes, he couldn't take it any longer. "Cassie..." he whispered hoarsely.
She stopped dancing. "John?" she asked, concerned.
He met her eyes, pleading. "Don't... I mean, if you keep going... But don't stop. Please..."
She took a deep breath. "Oh..." She glanced around and ran her fingers up the nape of his neck and into his hair. He closed his eyes and released a slow breath. "I'm willing," she said softly, kissing his throat.
"If you are... There's no going back."
"I know."
He met her eyes, searching to make sure that she was determined. She returned the gaze levelly, her eyes on fire just as much as his.
She smiled shyly. "I love you, John. You're my everything... My best friend..." She kissed his cheek gently. "My commander..." She smiled giddily. "My boyfriend..." She kissed his lips, lingering for a long moment. "My love..." She bit her lip and stood on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "My lover..."
Shepard cupped her cheek, running a calloused finger across her now unscarred skin. "Want me to make some kind of 'forever and eternity' vow?"
She grinned. "I already know that's how it is, but if you want to..."
He kissed her fingers. "Cassiopeia, I'll love you forever and for eternity. Don't expect anything more romantic. You know I suck at this shit."
She laughed. "Ditto."
He smirked. "You would ruin it like that..."
"We still have all the time to get to my apartment to re-set the mood, don't we?"
"Damn right." He seized her shoulders and kissed her with all of his pent up passion, catching her as her knees gave way. He never did know how they managed to make it out of Flux and back to her flat, but he did know that he was never, ever going to let her go again.