"You know Gabby is still buzzing about going out in the field with you." Kaidan grins as he hands Shepard a thermos. He had managed to track her down to a small overlook they had discovered halfway up the mountains where she had started reading some more of her data logs several hours ago.
Shepard looks up with a wry smile and accepts the mug gratefully. Her eyes were rimmed with red from staring at the screens to long and Kaidan congratulated himself on knowing she would need a break before she ripped her hair out of her head in some secluded corner of the planet.
"She's cute and if we take Tali out with an envirosuit I figured it would be good for her."
"But Tali uses a shotgun." Kaidan chuckles, wrapping his arm around Shep's waist. She leans into him and he waits for it. She takes a sip of the thermos and a surprised grin spreads across her face.
"Oh my God Kay. Where did you get hot chocolate from?!"
"It's only half chocolate. I wouldn't dare deprive you of your coffee."
"So it's an orgasmic Arnold Palmer."
"Well we are in the mountains. You are supposed to have hot chocolate in the mountains. And when you get back you can have the other half." He takes the thermos from Shepard and drinks the rest with a smirk.
"Oh you evil, evil man." She laughs. "Where did you learn such bullshit tactics?"
"Only from the best Ma'am. "
He dodges a half-hearted punch in the arm but he loved seeing the bridge of her nose crinkle as she laughed. Her cheeks pink from the cold and occasional snowflakes taking residence in her windblown hair. This was the Shepard he knew, that few others in the galaxy were allowed to see.
"Oh god you are going sappy on me again Alenko. I can read it all over your face." She pretends to look annoyed. Rolling her eyes and turning away from him, back over the mountains that they had claimed for base camp.
"And here I was ready to tell you how beautiful and stunning you look with your hair covered in snow. That I can't wait for all this to be over so I can take you to Earth and show you what real mountains look like. The Canadian Rockies wouldn't be on the Reapers radar."
"Sounds like you are making some serious plans Kaidan. "
"If it gives you something to look forward to besides kicking Harbinger back to hell why not? Seeing your face light up when we landed in the mountains made me realize there is a hell of a lot more than being a solder that you need to experience."
"I don't think I know how to be a civilian Kaidan. It always seemed like on to a bigger and better mission. If we get through this what do you think will be left?"
"When we get through this I will teach you how to ski and find some secluded place to teach you about downtime where you can be Jane or Shep or PJ and not The Commander Shepard all the time. " He pauses thoughtfully and runs a finger through her hair feeling the snowflakes melt on contact.
"Maybe even grow your hair out."
"Now you're going too far!" She says with a grin.
"So when do you call Hackett?"
"First thing in the morning. Well 0300 actually. Aria's got a small ship en route but it has to jump four times before heading here to avoid tracking. In the meantime I got plenty of nightmare material to keep me up." She motions to the datapads.
"The stuff Dr. Sanders gave you? I thought you knew about the stuff from your friend Jack?"
"Jack is not exactly a R&D kinda girl. And some of the stuff Sander's passed on is highly classified. We shouldn't even have our hands on it except for the whole chain of command kinda being shot thing."
"Forget that. We both know you are owed a few promotions let alone Alliance keeping everything deniable is what got us so screwed over when the Reapers hit Earth. So anything actually useful?"
"If we had months and scientists with labs to look into it maybe. Cerberus was throwing all they had at it and they figured out how to make their own people into husks." She shivers. "But there was one case Kahlee and David found. A former cerebrus agent that they tested on. He became indoctrinated to the Reapers but he also developed biotics. The Reapers were looking into biotics and human variability. That might be our clue."
"And what about the stuff Cerebrus brought to Omega? Any idea what you are dealing with there? The reports coming ou, what little there is don't match anything we have seen before."
She shakes her head. "Plava, the older Asari fought them before Aria ordered the evac. She gave me a briefing."
"Yea she seems like an….interesting one."
"I heard about her little dare devil act. She is alright as far as Aria's cronies go. The other one I would keep an eye and a tracker on."
"Is that were Samara is? I haven't seen her back at the Normandy yet."
"I had a feeling so I asked her to swing around. Turns out our Commandos don't trust each other as much as we don't trust them."
"Oh great. This is what you are leaving me with?"
"Welcome to the joys of command Major. You remember Williams and Pressley watching Wrex and Garrus when we brought them on board?"
"Fair point. How long before any other ships start showing up?"
"A day at the earliest and that will just be supplies before the people start coming in. Falare said most of the monastery is gone but with so many hands on deck you will at least have a head start. You still are going to have to keep populations of refugees small and spread out to avoid notice."
The sun dips below the mountains changing the sky to shades of purple as night fast approaches. With one last lingering sigh Kaidan pulls Shepard against him and waits for the first few stars to appear in the sky.
A/N Ok so this is not the whole chapter I had planned out but it turned out a bit more fluffy and a little less informative than I planned on it being. Also the rest is not edited anywhere near decent so expect an update this weekend!
Welcome to all the new readers, followers and lurkers. You guys have been so quiet with reviews I am beginning to wonder if I have just totally jumped the shark and everyone is just humoring me :)