Fukitol

Notes and Notices: Now with more sexual tension… I just hope I didn't take away Shepard's bad-assery. D: Liberties taken with in-game dialog… as if it weren't obvious by now… heh Also, Dr. Michel's appearance has been changed. For this story, she's full-figured. It just came out like that for some reason. Here's where I beg for more suspended disbelief. Let's play pretend, okay? Plus, full-figured women are gorgeous. :P

AND Thank yous: Thank you, each and every one of you, for reading and following this thing. Thank you, gals/guys, who have been kind enough to review. Love you to pieces.

Shepard and Alenko were stepping off the elevator when Williams entered Hawksmoor—sea bag thrown over her shoulder, looking pissed. Shepard studied her subordinate. Wearing the standard issue Blues, Williams appeared shorter than she really was; the top of her black-haired head came to Shepard's brow. Her manicured eyebrows were drawn down into an impressive frown, her lips pinched into a snarl.

"What got your panties in a twist, Chief?" Shepard asked just to see her subordinate's reaction. It did good to keep the younger woman on her toes, and besides, the Chief had been giving Shepard and Alenko knowing looks since Eden Prime. All's fair in love and war.

Williams' scowl evaporated and she tilted her brow, looking at her commanding officer uncertainly, but one look at the grin stretching over Alenko's lips relaxed her somewhat. She gave an exasperated sigh, bunching her fingers together and pointing back over her shoulder with her thumb. "Jerk at the door," was all she said forcing remote dignity into her voice. "Heading to the Embassies, ma'am?"

"Ambassador Udina has called a meeting," Shepard affirmed with a frown. "We'll meet you at the Lounge when we get done."

Williams snorted. "If you two don't show up, should I grab the krogan and come in guns blazing?"

"Sure, why not?" Shepard laughed. "Just be sure to tell them that humanity's first Spectre gave the order."

"Aye, aye, Commander," the Chief said with a laugh of her own before excusing herself and stepping onto the elevator. "I'm sure that will go over just as well as a volus skin vid featuring Blasto the hanar," she chortled as the doors closed.

Tayseri Ward was just as busy and crowded as Bachjret Ward when Shepard and Alenko stepped off the transit by the med clinic where Shepard had told Dr. Chakwas she would check on—and possibly pick up—an order of candy sticks for the dispenser in the infirmary before Rear Admiral Mikhailovich's crew went through everything with a fine tooth comb. Normally, such trivial items were left up to the ship's quarter master, but the Commander had needed to purchase a few medical mods for her armor anyway, and since the access to Tayseri Ward was closer to Bachjret Ward than to the Embassies on the Presidium Ring, it was decided that she and Alenko would stop by Dr. Michel's clinic first and then continue on to meet with Ambassador Udina.

Now, Shepard had known that traveling with an all elcor tourist group was going cause havoc with her olfactory glands but she had no idea it would be this bad. It wasn't quite eau de week-old dead body, but it was pretty damn close. If she had to label the stench it would be something like: Sulfuric, rusty arm pits with a touch of mission socks after wearing them for six missions straight. Just strong enough to knock out the wind but not strong enough to gag her.

Shepard studied her companion, his profile, under the blue-tinted light of Widow as they waded through alien and a few human pedestrians. She found that she liked Alenko's straight nose and the shadow of stubble on his face that stood out under the blue light. She knew what it was like to have beard burn during sex and wondered what it would be like to be with him—if he were an aggressive lover or a tender lover. Or if he were seeing anyone back home. That thought cooled her jets somewhat. After she and, and Gerry had split—she quickly brought her mind to other things with a mental shake of her head. Why was Gerry suddenly back on her mind? That was two years ago. She mentally kicked herself for even bringing up dating an infiltrator in front of Alenko.

She was aware of her lieutenant as the capable man she knew him to be. They were mere inches apart. Heat radiated off the man in waves. She found his nearness both disturbing and exciting. But after seven minutes of elcor pheromone transit hell, the poor biotic looked ready to pass out or vomit. She hoped her detail commander wasn't on the verge of a headache. She needed him, his support—for him to be there when she met with the damn ambassador and Kahoku.

Something cautioned her not to inquire into the lieutenant's health. For the short time she'd known him, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko had remained aloof around her, especially when it came to his implant and his migraines. With the exception of sticking his foot in his mouth at odd times and her singling him out after debriefings, Kaidan continued to keep to himself while off duty. She'd noticed right away that he appeared to be noticeably uncomfortable when eating around others, and beside the one time she had asked him to eat with her, she left him to his own devices at meal times.

His offering to buy her a drink on their liberty was a surprise. He had appeared just as surprised as she when he'd asked. She doubted it was planned. Another insertion of a foot, perhaps?

Or was he smoother than he appeared, and she was falling for the act, a nagging little voice questioned from her mind's eye.

She swallowed. Surely not. She was more observant than that, wasn't she? An old insecurity surfaced and stabbed at her heart. Not Kaidan. She wasn't just a bottle full of hormones, she affirmed to herself as she studied him as they pushed their way through the crowd. She could trust him, right? For a split second, she felt just as vulnerable as she had on Akuze. For a split second she felt a paralyzing realization. No amount of mods or an upgraded amp could protect her from Kaidan.

Wait.

What was she doing? She wondered suddenly, firmly bringing the subject to a close. Where were these thoughts coming from? Alenko was her subordinate. It didn't matter what he thought of her or what she thought of him. He was safe because he was off limits. No matter how much they flirted on the battlefield. Off limits. Off limits was good.

Thinking about it, Shepard realized that had Williams not spoken up when she did, Shepard was certain it would have just been herself and her detail commander and an air of awkwardness. Now their get-together was a foursome as Alenko had asked Joker to join them. And the Commander would use that opportunity to her advantage. It would give her a chance to get to know her crew better. And it might keep Alenko and her out of the lower deck rumors. That was the idea anyway.

As Kaidan and Shepard walked the short distance to the entrance of Dr. Michel's clinic from the transit terminal, Kaidan felt wave after wave of nausea. Elcor stank. There was no nice way to say it. Stinky elephantine sloths with no discernible mouths and with nostrils on the tops of their heads. And having been crammed into a transit with a tourist group of fourteen was too much. This was how they communicated? He swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat and followed his commander to the med clinic as he wondered how Shepard could ignore the odor so calmly.

He side stepped a rushed salarian and a gaggle of hanar as they floated by, their bioluminescent speech causing havoc with his retinas. He thumbed off his translator and ignored them. The tale-tale sign of a migraine was beginning in his shoulders. He knew that the discomfort would climb up his neck and turn into pain if he didn't do anything about it. Hopefully, Dr. Michel had cheap pain killers for sale without an exam.

He wished he were wearing his gear. But right now, in only Blues, he knew he was going to be in for a world of hurt later. At least his gear had a medical interface. He had tweaked the interface to distribute loxal, a generic beta blocker, whenever the processor detected an increase in the constriction of blood vessels around his brain. The interface was also configured to detect the pulses the implant gave off whenever he marshaled his nervous system to initiate a barrier and compensate with another beta blocker and pain killer automatically. Putting up a barrier was always worse; the amplified dark energy was put into a constant feedback loop. The most important aspect of combat was defense. Without the pain killer and other beta blocker, he'd be screwed during combat. Oh, the irony, Kaidan thought derisively, then realized that was how Shepard had burned out her amp.

A flash caught his eye and he turned to find Shepard studying him. Fortunately, the flash was only Widow reflecting off an air car and not a tracer against his retinas, but his belly did a flip when their eyes met. His lips quirked of their own accord and for a moment, something flashed in his commander's eyes. The very air around her seemed electrified and for the briefest of moments, Kaidan thought she might shove him against the wall and kiss him. His heart lurched madly, knowing he was in trouble and loving it anyway. Then Shepard's eyes slid away, and she strode purposely towards the doctor, the moment ended.

What the hell was that? he wanted to know. Was he reading her wrong? He took several calming breaths before setting his mind back to the task at hand.

The med clinic was operated by Dr. Chloe Michel. She was a short, stout woman with short auburn hair interwoven with silver strands and piercing green eyes. The marines had met her once before when they were searching for evidence against Saren. It had been a big break that Dr. Michel had patched up Tali and learned that Tali had information about the geth.

"I can't," Dr. Michel was telling the comm on the wall. "I need those supplies for my clinic."

"You can and you will, doc, or your little secret will be out," a menacing voice growled.

Shepard and Kaidan shared a look—one without heat. This was the second time they had been here and the second time they had found someone threatening her. The doctor flipped off the comm in disgust then turned to find them. Surprised, her hands flew to her throat.

"Commander, I didn't see you come in." She walked to her desk and picked up a data pad. "I assume you're here for the medi-gel. Your medical officer didn't tell me that you personally were coming. I thought perhaps your logistics officer was picking it up."

Shepard studied the doctor closely. "Every time I come in here, someone's threatening you. Who was that?"

"Oh, just someone from my past," the doctor said, replacing the data pad on the desk and wringing her fingers.

"Sounds like he doesn't like you," Kaidan commented.

"They want over twelve thousand credits worth of medical supplies." Dr. Michel sighed and paced as she spoke. "They're blackmailing me."

Shepard said nothing, only crossed her arms over her chest.

When it became obvious to the doctor that the Spectre was waiting for her to continue she sighed again and elaborated, "I was fired from my old job for giving medical supplies away to clinics like this one. No charges were ever filed. I was just asked to leave quietly."

Clinics like this one? Kaidan wondered. Then it dawned on him. Dr. Michel didn't ask questions. That was why Tali had come to here to get patched up. That was why Garrus and a crime lord had known her. He looked at Shepard, studied her profile, her pert nose, her plush lips. As unreadable as ever.

The Commander cocked her head to the side. "If no charges were filed, how are they able to blackmail you?"

Dr. Michel frowned, putting a hand in her short graying auburn hair. "I never reported it to the board. If the board were to find out now, I could lose my license. They would shut my clinic down." The doctor shook her head, looked desperate. "I have to give them want." Her voice was tight and drawn.

"I'll help you," Shepard spoke up after a moment of thinking about it. Kaidan really wasn't surprised. Hell, she'd helped the Consort and a C-Sec officer tame an unruly hanar. Why wouldn't she help a doctor of an almost-illegal clinic?

Dr. Michel was surprised though. Her thin brows rose. "Really?"

"Who's your contact?"

"Welcome to Morlan's famous shop," the salarian behind the counter greeted with exuberance. "You want great many things, yes?" Kaidan blinked. It was surprising when an alien spoke Galactic and not their own language for the translator to pick up. Sometimes, it was confusing.

This being was short for a salarian – as tall as the Commander – and his toothy smile and filmy eyes were unsettling. Kaidan assumed this was Morlan. There was no other salarian at the shop. The cadence of Morlan's speech grated on the biotic's nerves, the pain in his shoulders stabbing its way to the base of his skull where the demon of an implant sucked it in and seemed to amplify it.

This was going to be a bitch of a migraine. Kaidan wondered, apprehensively, if he would be able to function properly for very much longer. In a few minutes he expected to start salvating when his body would start to react to the pain.

Shepard wasted no time getting to the crux of the matter. Leaning against the counter, she cast her copper-colored eyes about the establishment, noting the exits, the patrons, the weapons. Everyone was armed to the teeth. It didn't get past her that her lieutenant was looking pale. A fine sheen of perspiration was visible above his upper lip, a bead of sweat dripped down his brow. He would fight if he had to, and she knew he would do his job properly. But as much as she wanted to grab the salarian by the throat and threaten him, she wasn't about to risk a fire fight when her backup might not be able to back himself up.

"Looking for Morlan," she said casually unclipping her pistol and placing it on the counter, fingers in the grips, nodding for Kaidan to be ready.

The salarian, in typical salarian fashion, was ever so pleased to be of assistance.

Brief note: If there is really a drug called loxal, I apologize. I was really just throwing together letters and didn't bother to look it up. I did however look up beta blockers and other preventative migraine words.

Updated the Ward names to those featured on the Wiki.