Garrus sighed, wishing the Council was not so openly...hostile...toward the first human Spectre. He realized circumstances dictated they promote Shepard to the position before they wanted any human in the Spectre corps, but once they accepted that as a necessity, did they really have to question literally every decision she made? "Councilors, as I told you at the start, Commander Shepard is still in her mandatory medical rest period as prescribed by Dr Chakwas. The remaining two hours of that time have not passed in the seven minutes we have been conversing, so yes, she remains still unavailable to answer questions."

The Turian councilor, Sparatus, was clearly agitated. "We simply must know if she gleaned any pertinent information from the Asari released by the Thorian...this, Shiala, and why Shepard chose to leave her with the colonists and not take a known, willing, conspirator with Matriarch Benezia, into custody!"

This statement got Tevos, the Asari councilor, into defensive mode. "Now, Sparatus, the report just provided by your own Turian agent clearly indicated that Shiala was repentant and no longer under the influence of Saren nor the Thorian. Let it be, and let's move this session onto the true reason we contacted the Normandy in the first place." Sparatus grumbled an unwilling acquiescence, so Tevos continued, "Now, we have other...agents... in the field trying to track Saren's movements and have gotten reports from a Salarian Special Tactics Group on the planet Virmire. I believe Councilor Valern prefers to speak on the details of this matter."

As much as he disliked the Salarian councilor, Garrus politely directed his attention to the Salarian, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. Valern started slowly, as if to emphasize every word, "Yeeesss... we've had a team shadowing Geth movements and they ended up on Virmire, in the Hoc system of the Sentry Omega Cluster. Unfortunately, their report transmission was garbled, and we have been unable to reestablish contact."

Garrus nodded his head, anticipating where this was leading. "So, you want us to go pull their asses out of the fire and salvage any intel they may have gathered."

Valern stood tall and glared at the Turian, speaking more quickly. "They are most capable, and I'm sure this is merely a failure of communications. You are to go and collect the intel and follow any leads the team will undoubtedly provide you!"

Garrus softly chuckled. It was almost too easy to get under the skins of the councilors, especially since Shepard already had them on the defensive, absolutely enjoying any opportunity she got to ...ummm...cause a faulty connection and...hang up on them. They really didn't like that much, and Shepard, as good a person as she normally was, seemed to get a perverse pleasure out of it. Garrus thought that given Shepard's capabilities and the level of respect and loyalty she evoked in her crew, the Council should count themselves lucky if that was her only form of rebellion against them. He looked to the group of three before him, "Is there anything else you need, Councilors, or any additional information you wish me to pass on to Commander Shepard?"

The councilors glanced back and forth among themselves and upon receiving confirmatory nods, Councilor Tevos concluded, "No, that will be all. Please have Commander Shepard get in touch with us once you collect the data from Virmire." Her hand then flicked to the holographic panel in front of her, and the councilors vanished from view.

As Garrus stepped out of the conference room, he gave a shout, "Joker! New destination. Citadel will have to wait. Point us at Virmire, if you please."

After a brief pause, Joker piped over the comm, "Roger that, new course laid in, Garrus."

Shepard was sure she was dreaming, yet couldn't quite place what or where she was dreaming about. The bed seemed smaller than hers on the Normandy, and the sheets thicker and heavier somehow. She felt warm and comfortable, snuggled in... and in some way...safe. She hadn't had that sensation since moving onto the Normandy...not yet anyway...especially since her forced move into the Captain's quarters. As she gradually woke, she realized she was not at all dreaming, and with eyes still closed, moved to roll over...and felt resistance. She instantly froze, her eyes popped open, and with a grin her memory flooded her consciousness as she ascertained the reason for the resistance. There was a beautiful Asari stretched out beside her, an arm possessively curled over Samantha's midsection, arresting her movements. A quick glance at her chrono told her seven hours had passed; she marveled at her best night of sleep since the beacon, which she attributed fully to the being beside her. Sam eased her way onto her side, actually moving closer to Liara, and with her free hand, gently cupped Liara's face, her thumb gently caressing a smooth blue cheek. Liara murmured in her sleep, an unintelligible noise, but it made Sam's heart skip a beat as she pondered her amazingly good fortune to have this beautiful creature enter her life.

Continuing her tender administrations to Liara's cheek, Shepard studied every freckle and feature on the face before her; the crystal blue eyes slowly opened and sleepily looked back into Sam's pale greens. A small smile lit Liara's face as she tried to burrow into Sam's chest, mumbling, "Not. ready. to be up. yet."

Sam laughed quietly, flopped back flat on the bed and let Liara snuggle in, her warm breath feathery across Sam's chest. "We're not going anywhere yet. We have another hour before we're allowed out anyway, so might as well make the most of it." Liara's response was to stretch her hand and arm out, rotating her wrist, flex her fingers, and then pull them back in, hugging Samantha tightly to her. The strength and intimacy of the action incited a pang of want, which Sam quickly subdued. Too soon, too fast... I won't violate Liara's trust!

With the most honorable of intentions, Sam tipped her head to the side and kissed the crest on top of Liara's head; Asari have no hair, instead, they possess non-flexible cartilage-based scalp crests that grow into shape. While having worked with a few Asari, Sam had never been this close to these unique structures and started running her fingers over the folds and valleys formed by the crests, fascinated by the way they rose from the neck and base of the scalp and came almost to a point at the back of Liara's head. Sam placed her fingers at the base of Liara's neck and gently traced one of the folds up her neck to the base of her scalp. Unexpectedly, Liara trembled and quietly gasped, "Goddess, Sheppard! Please...don't..."

Samantha jerked her hand away like she had been burned. "I'm sorry, Liara! I didn't realize... never seen anything like these before. I find them... fascinating... so different from human hair. Are they sensitive? Does it hurt?" At this, Liara blushed, and Sam was intrigued as to the cause.

"Ummm, yes, and no. It is not painful, but Asari crests are most definitely sensitive. They... Goddess, how do I explain this? ...can be very...uh...stimulating..." At this point, Liara's blush was exquisitely dark, and Shepard could feel the actual physical heat coming off of the Asari's face.

"Oh God! I'm sorry! By stimulating, you mean like... sexually? As in arousing?" Liara's groan of embarrassment and her attempt to hide her face was all the confirmation Shepard needed to launch her out of bed and make her retreat halfway across the room. A quick, "uhhh... I'm gonna use the bathroom," and Samantha vanished from sight. The door closed behind her and Shepard leaned into the sink and turned on the cold water, splashing her face. Jesus, Sam, you really need to do some homework, you ignorant pile of horse shit! Sam was staring at herself in the mirror and wondering just how long she could hide before having to go back out into the room, when Liara knocked on the door.

Liara was a bit startled by Samantha's hasty retreat, and unexpectedly mourned the loss of the warm body next to her. She really didn't know! As that thought crossed her mind, Liara started to giggle. She slowly stretched and then rose from the bed, sauntered over to the bathroom door and knocked. After grabbing a towel and drying her face, Sam yanked the door open, her face an interesting mix of embarrassment, anguish, and reticence, retreating to lean back against the sink, to create a safe buffer of space. It didn't work, as Liara stepped up to her and wrapped her arms around a reluctant Shepard's shoulders, whispering, "It is ok Samantha, you didn't know..."

Sam laughed nervously, "And you thought you were the social misfit! I need to do some research if I want to properly court you! I really am sorry, Liara. I want to respect your wishes, and not push you...I certainly didn't intend to make inadvertent sexual advances on you!"

Accepting Liara's embrace, Samantha returned the hug, wrapping her arms loosely about the Asari and lightly massaging her lower back. Again, Liara groaned, "then you need to... move your hands...Goddess!..." Liara was almost breathless, burying her face into Shepard's neck, trying to finish her sentence, "move up to the center of my back and not... down...there!"

Samantha jerked her hands up and planted them firmly at the base of Liara's shoulder blades, her blush now surpassing Liara's.

"By the Goddess, Shepard! Are you sure you haven't read a book on Asari physiology? If you are this good by accident, I hate to see what you will be capable of once you really learn what you're doing! I won't be able to think!"

"Geez!" Sam removed her hands from Liara's back and cupped her face, separating their upper bodies enough where they could look into each other's eyes, but still hip to hip. Liara placed her hands on Samantha's arms, hanging from the crook of her elbows, and studied the face before her. It amazed her, how expressive Samantha's eyes were; if Liara could see her eyes, she could read Sam's mood like an open book. Right now, they were a bit cloudy, so Liara was sure she was apprehensive about the string of sexual miscues. Liara was afraid this uncertainty would become a relationship roadblock for Shepard, too worried about doing the wrong thing that she would fail to do anything at all, so Liara performed probably one of the boldest moves in her young adult life. She dropped one hand to Shepard's hip, and the other reached up and brushed some errant strands of hair up behind Samantha's ear. Her hand then traced down Sam's neck, and Liara cupped the back of her head and leaned in for a kiss.

As their lips touched, Liara closed her eyes and whispered, "Samantha, kiss me...please." Samantha groaned, echoing Liara's posture, one hand to a hip, and the other cupping the back of Liara's neck, responding enthusiastically to her request, kissing her deeply, probing, feeling the fire of passion ignite deep in her core.

With a ragged, husky voice, Samantha broke the kiss and spoke, "God, Liara, do you have any idea what you do to me?"

Leaning her forehead against Shepard's, Liara whimpered, "I'm sure it's the same as you do to me, Samantha Shepard. However little sense it may make, I love you like I have never ever loved another."

Samantha pushed herself up, off the countertop, and placing her hands on Liara's shoulders, physically separated the two bodies. "Liara..." The breathy name hung in the air between them like a promise, full of restrained desire. "I don't...We can't...God, why is it so hard to tell you how I feel? I want you, Liara, more than you can know, but we can't right now... can we?" Liara went to answer, and Samantha quickly raised fingers to her lips, stopping the words before they came. "You don't have to answer that. Rhetorical question. I know how you feel, and I understand we have to put the mission first. Our timing couldn't be worse, but we can't control that, and I have no regrets. I want this to happen, and it will happen, just not now. But rest assured...there will be no one else but you, I give you my word. Nothing has changed, I will wait... for us." Samantha smiled at the Asari, a tender, loving smile that reflected in her now piercingly clear green eyes.

Liara took Samantha's hand and tugged her out of the bathroom, walking back toward the center of the room before turning back to her and surrounding her in a hug again, resting her head on Sam's shoulder, whispering into her neck. "Oh, Shepard...I love being near you, close enough to absorb your warmth...and now that I've felt it, I can't give it up...I... I know I will worry about you on every mission, I won't be able to help myself, but it is too late for me to go back now..."

Additional conversation was cut off by a chime from the door. Liara and Shepard separated, grinning sheepishly at each other, both self-consciously straightened their clothing. With one last meaningful glance at Liara, Shepard swept her fingers through her hair and turned to the door, saying one word. "Come." The door opened to reveal Karin Chakwas. Shepard glanced at her wrist, amazed that her chrono indicated their remaining hour had come and gone. When had that happened? Time flies when you're having fun! "Morning, Doc!" said a smiling Shepard.

"Commander...Liara...You're both looking rather chipper, especially compared to last time I saw you. How are we feeling this morning?"

Samantha looked at Liara, who did nothing but acquire a light blush, so Sam rolled her eyes and looked back at the doc. "We're doing good, Karin. I had the best night's sleep since the incident with the beacon, and I believe..." Sam glanced sideways at Liara, "Dr T'Soni was very comfortable here and also slept restfully. No reports written, no research attempted before bed, no nightmares to interrupt...a solid seven hours before either of us stirred."

Karin noted Liara's discomfort before responding, "Very good, though seven hours, given your workload, is still not sufficient, especially with your backlog and level of sleep deprivation." Her eyes picked up an almost predatory twinkle, smiling as she seemed to think aloud, "Perhaps I need to prescribe a similar treatment, every night for the next week...or at least until I see a marked improvement?"

A brief flash of panic crossed Liara's face before she blurted out, "Karin! I cannot sleep here every night! I... I have my work, my research...and Goddess, what would the rest of the crew think?"

Samantha, having caught the teasing tone in Karin's voice, laughed at Liara's outburst, but receiving a lancing glare from Liara, quickly followed up, "Karin, you should know better than that! You know Liara still has a hard time picking up on our humor. It's not very kind of you to tease her so..."

At this, Liara's face turned a wonderful shade of purple and her hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose as she bowed her head. "By the Goddess, I do not think I will ever catch on to human joking. You all seem to do it at the most inappropriate times!"

Karin chuckled, "I suppose you are correct, Commander, though I don't often see you refraining when the opportunity presents itself!"

Shepard beamed, and reaching around Liara's waist, pulled her tight against her side, "Stick with me, kid, and you'll have it down in no time...either that or you'll quickly die of embarrassment!" Liara stiffened at the pseudo-hug, but seeing the smiles on both Karin and Samantha, just surrendered to her unease with the brash display of intimacy without further comment, relaxing slightly and leaning into Shepard for support.

Karin admired the duo, surprised at how much could change in just 12 hours time. The shift in demeanor for both of them, from when Shepard stormed back aboard the Normandy, to the seemingly contented, albeit reserved, couple in front of her now, was positively amazing. They both still looked a tad bit tired, but with what still loomed in the Normandy's future, she didn't really expect that to change too much, though she could hope. She would monitor them both a bit closer from this point forward and do her damned best to insure they ate right and got as much sleep as was possible under the circumstances. "Right then. All things considered, I guess I have to let you return to duty...Commander, I believe Garrus needs to see you, and neither of you can be skipping meals, so be sure you both eat in the next hour, before we arrive at Virmire." Liara felt a quick stab of tension, and Samantha released her waist and stepped away, creating distance.

Commander Shepard's head snapped up. "Virmire?"

"Yes, Commander. Go talk to Garrus... and don't forget breakfast!" Karin pointedly looked at each of them to reinforce their need to eat, and then retreated from the room to head back to the med bay.

Sam started walking and talking at the same time, going to her closet and grabbing a fresh uniform to put on. "Sorry, Liara, I was looking forward to having breakfast with you but..."

Liara finished the sentence, "...duty calls. I know. I'll see you soon, Shepard." Liara flashed a smile and quickly left the room; she did not notice the look on Kaidan's face as he watched Liara cross the mess hall from the Commander's room to her little space behind the med bay. Kaidan put his dishes on the counter and walked directly to the Commander's door, tapping the panel for entry.

Sam grimaced after Liara left. She had gotten so caught up in events, she hadn't cleaned her armor from the day before, and it was still piled in the corner. She sighed, picked it up, and got to work cleaning it up and doing necessary spot repairs. She had just sat down when the door chimed. She shouted, "Come!" and with a smile glanced over her shoulder as she started speaking. "What's up, Liara, forget..." Her words died as she realized it was Kaidan standing in her doorway, not Liara. "Whatcha need, Kaidan?" She could see something was not going well for the Lieutenant; he had a habit of wearing all his emotions on his face. I guess he's too inexperienced yet to know how to school his expressions. "Well, come on in, you obviously have something on your mind. We'll chat while I prep my armor."

Kaidan approached slowly and stood at parade rest, his feet separated and his hands clasped behind his back as he started to speak. "Permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

Sam narrowed her eyes, wondering what this was all about. "Absolutely, LT. You know I value your input on ship ops. What's going on?"

Kaidan scowled. "I'm here to ask you that very question! What are you doing? Did Doctor T'Soni spend the night with you?"

Samantha raised her eyebrows, slightly taken aback by the hostility in Kaidan's voice, and responded, speaking slowly. "Yes... Under order of Dr Chakwas..."

Kaidan grumped. "Please! You expect me to believe the Doctor ordered her to sleep with you?"

Samantha dropped her armor and stood up, taking a step up to Kaidan, her eyes flashing in anger. "I resent the implications of that statement, Alenko. Number one, what purpose would there be in my lying to you? Number two, Dr T'Soni is not some Asari entertainer on board for sexual pleasure, and I can't believe you would think I would sleep with someone just for that purpose, not to mention the fact it also assumes Dr T'Soni would agree to it! And number three, even if I was that type of person, I didn't realize I would need your permission to do so!" She continued, giving Kaidan no chance to respond. "The good Doctor ordered we spend the night in the same room; the reasons for which I am not inclined to share with you at the moment. Does that meet with your approval, Lieutenant? What's the problem? Am I infringing on something? You have intentions on the Asari, Lieutenant?" Kaidan opened his mouth, and then closed it again, saying nothing, his neck and face growing more red by the moment. The commander barked out a hard laugh, the sound lacking any hint of humor. "Come on, Lieutenant. I gave you permission to speak freely. Let's hear it!" At that, Samantha stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Kaidan, waiting for his response.

Kaidan visibly gulped, then took a deep breath before responding, "Sorry, Commander. I guess I didn't think it through. I was just surprised to see Dr T'Soni leaving your quarters so early this morning, and if I saw it, I'm sure lots more of the crew did as well..."

Samantha didn't buy it. "Oh, that's bullshit, Alenko, and you know it! The look on your face when you came in the door? You have a personal stake in this somewhere. Don't use 'crew morale' as a shield. Give me a break. You interested in Liara?" She stared at him, making it very obvious she was awaiting a response.

Kaidan stammered, but managed an answer. "No...Uhmmm... No, I am not interested in Liara... I...uhmm...oh, hell. I'm actually interested in you, but I know with us both being Alliance, it's not possible. And now, if you know... I know I should transfer to another ship and not be under your command... then ... maybe...?"

Sam was shocked and not quite sure what to say. She sat back down and glanced at her armor before responding. "Well, shit, Alenko. I appreciate the compliment, but us being Alliance doesn't matter one way or the other." She saw the crestfallen look run rampant across Kaidan's face, and she continued, "Kaidan, it's not you. I know that's one of the oldest put-downs in the book, but it's the truth. Kaidan, you're just not my type. I'm a lesbian. You're a great guy, and I respect you and like you a lot, but... guys just aren't my thing." Kaidan shuffled his feet, looking undecided as to whether he would continue the conversation or bolt from the room.

Sam wanted to make sure Kaidan understood something else before he escaped. "Listen. To address the elephant in the room, yes, I do have feelings for Dr T'Soni, and they are mutual. I figured most people had that figured out by now, and I'm sorry if you didn't and it's caused...this. But to make things perfectly clear, nothing happened last night. It really was medical necessity, and Dr Chakwas did pretty much issue us an ultimatum. You saw Liara leaving; did you not also see Dr Chakwas going in and out checking on us? Chakwas was here last night and again early this morning. I'm sorry. I wish this wasn't so awkward. I need you, Kaidan. You're an excellent officer. No hard feelings?"

Kaidan hung his head, contemplating for a moment before he stood up and squared his shoulders. "Yes, ma'am. Understood. You won't hear another word about it from me."

"Good. Now get outta here. I've got to get this finished and get up to the CIC to see Garrus..." Sam hesitated for just a minute before continuing. "And Kaidan? Chin up. You're good ... The Alliance needs more like you." Kaidan just nodded and left the room.

Shepard strode purposefully onto the command deck and found Garrus standing at the navigation display, checking their progress toward Virmire. "Morning, Vakarian! Doc Chakwas told me to come talk to you...seems we have a change of destination?"

Garrus chuckled, "Hey, Shepard. So, you taking orders from the good Doctor now? Oh, how the mighty have fallen!"

The commander gave the Turian a sidelong glance and grinned, "You obviously have not had the pleasure of working with Dr Karin Chakwas once she's been pushed past the point of shipmate camaraderie. Not someone you want to cross once she is in full professional Doctor mode. Before you can blink, she'll have you in a full body cast and totally at her whim! Anyway... Virmire?"

"Yeah, the Council called while you were sleeping...sorry you missed the opportunity to hang up on them, but someone on this ship has to play the politics game once in a while so they don't totally hate us!" Shepard was in too good of a mood to be baited, so just grunted and waited expectantly for him to continue. Garrus complied, and filled her in on how they were... surprise, surprise... a bit peeved at the Feros report and the destruction of the Thorian, and how they had absolutely no helpful information on the Normandy's next task, other than the location of the planet Virmire. "Not surprising...they have yet to provide us with anything other than a location and a totally unenlightened intel summary. Why start now?"

Samantha paused, and turned to face her crewmember. "Hey, Garrus...I know we didn't have a lot of choice given the circumstances, but thanks for stepping up and...taking care of things while I was down. Nice to know someone on this boat can make a decision and go with it, without second guessing and having to check with me first."

Garrus shrugged, looked like he was going to ignore the comment, and then thought better of it. "No problem, Shepard. It's in my blood; Turians are raised that way, duty first, victory at any cost. We wouldn't know how to do anything else but step up to the challenge." His mandibles twitched. "Besides, you're not the only one who's afraid of Dr Chakwas!"

The two comrades laughed, and Samantha swung back into commander mode. "Alright, we're close, so guess we gotta hit it. You head back down and make sure the Mako is prepped to go dirt side. Since we don't know what's coming yet, let everyone know to be ready and I'll pick the ground team once we know better what we're facing. I've got to grab some chow, or the Doc will have my head."

Samantha grabbed some breakfast, then headed for the armory to don her gear and load up her weapons. She was just finishing when Flight Lt Moreau piped on the comm. "Commander. We're here, and you're not going to like it."

A frown creased Shepard's face, "What have we got, Joker?"

Joker's voice had no humor when he responded, "I've found the STG base of operations, but communications are being jammed, I can't reach them. To make things more interesting, there is a full battery of AA guns active and we can't even get close. You're going to have to drop in the Mako and take at least two down for us to have a clear flight path."

"Roger that, Flight Lieutenant. A full battery says there's something worth protecting. Whatever it is, we need to find it. Any indication of what's on the ground? Geth? Krogan?..." Samantha hesitated before the next question, and her face became hard as ice. "Saren?"

"Negative, Commander. A lot of jamming, probably the same as what's blocking the STG signal, but whatever's down there I'm sure it's not going to be pretty..."

Commander Shepard turned to the ground crew. "Tali, Garrus, with me...Alenko, have a second squad ready, you, Wrex and Ashley, in case we need back up. Let's load up!" Returning her attention to the comm, Shepard tapped Joker. "Moreau, find us a landing zone and map the route to everyone's omnitools... let's get this done!" As the crew started to move, Sam saw Liara drop her head. Unsure if it was from disappointment for not being on the mission, or plain concern for Samantha's safety, the commander offered what little public consolation she can. "Hey, T'Soni." Liara's head came up and cloudy blues met intense, focused greens. "See you dirt side!" Sam flashed her best reassuring smile, and climbed in the Mako.