AN: Hello dear readers, it's been many years since I've written fanfics, one-shots, or even drabbles. Mass Effect Andromeda has spurred a new flame in my conscience that I couldn't ignore.

For clarity, this is based after meeting Reyes but before the Precious Cargo side quest with his ex-lover.

Edit: I've been slowly working through and fixing typos/grammar, as well as attempting to flesh out the story a bit more. Please bear with me as I get back into writing after years of not writing really at all XD

Disclaimer, I own nothing other than my mind

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First Shot

Ryder could feel the sweat trickling down the small of her back. Crouched on a rocky outcrop overlooking an outlaw encampment, the heat of Kadara didn't compare to Elaaden's sweltering temperatures, so Ryder didn't worry as much about her gear.

"Vidal better be right about this..." Vetra mumbled, positioned a few yards down the rocky terrain, ready for the first shot. Shifting his massive weight Drack grunted, "Doesn't matter to me, I still get to crack some skulls." Ryder could hear the grin in Drack's voice.

"Pathfinder, the outlaws are switching guard shifts. Now is the appropriate time to infiltrate."

"Thanks, SAM."

Adjusting the scope of her Black Widow sniper rifle, the crosshairs set on an outlaw below, she said, "Alright, let's do this. Could get messy."

Two empty magazines later the encampment was quiet and still, except for Ryder's team, who were searching through the prefabricated buildings for intel and any gear or supplies worth taking.

"Find anything yet, Vetra?" Ryder said with a look of disappointment, sifting through a storage container. It was filled with spare parts, along with a few discarded food containers. With a quiet sigh, Ryder let the lid of the storage container close.

"Not yet mostly useless-oh, yeah, here." Vetra tossed the datapad to Ryder, then the smuggler continued to search the desk drawers for anything else that might catch her eye. Drack was in another room searching through the outlaw's weapon cache, grumbling to himself as he went.

"SAM, a little help, this thing is past my skill of decryption."

"Of course, Pathfinder."

Seconds later the datapad unlocks and Ryder is overwhelmed by the number of correspondence between the two outlaw gangs she had been hunting for days.

This is everything I need to track these guys down. Once we get this done we can all take some downtime. A shower sounds nice, right about now.

Stashing the outlaw datapad, Ryder glanced up at her teammates, "I do believe this is all we'll get from here, let's get back to Kadara Port."

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A few hours later, Ryder stood impatiently in the empty private room of Reyes Vidal in the Tartarus bar. Reyes hadn't responded to her comm attempts during their trip back to Kadara Port.

She was seconds away from walking out of the club, back to the Tempest to get herself and her gear cleaned. Vetra and Drack had already excused themselves from the meeting, opting instead to refresh themselves back on the Tempest.

Her thoughts were drawn inward as she paced the room. She needed Reyes Vidal, as much as she didn't want to admit it, to gather intel Vetra couldn't, and to help her solidify Initiative influences on the chaos-filled Kadara. The outlaws and exiles of Kadara weren't trusting of one another, even on a good day. Expecting them to trust a Pathfinder easily was wishful thinking.

Ryder found herself inadvertently relying on the spy to help her engage and sort through intelligence on the various factions in the port. A day after landing on Kadara, she had been emailed by Angaran Ops about the sly Reyes Vidal and how to reach him. The moment they met in Kralla's Song he was openly flirtatious and Ryder was unsure of how to handle it. It had been a long time since she let herself slow down from the constant grind of being the Pathfinder. An even longer time since she had allowed her personal life to take the forefront of her attention.

"Ryder," An unmistakably accented voice said behind her, "I was sure you would have left by now. I am too irresistible, hm?"

Ryder spun around to face the doorway. Reyes was leaning against the frame, a smirk growing on his face, as his hazel eyes danced with amusement. Thumping music and the din of voices flooded into the private room, before dropping to muffled background noises as Reyes stepped further into the room, allowing the doors to slide closed behind him.

"I've been waiting for well over thirty minutes, Vidal. What in the cluster was so important you couldn't at the very least-" She stopped herself and ran her gloved fingers through her hair, letting out a frustrated sigh, "Look, I've not got a lot of time for myself, so if we could just get down to business, that'd be wonderful."

Stepping closer to her, Reyes smiled softly, "Apologies, I had an emergency with one of my contacts. Allow me to make it up to you, Pathfinder." He leaned imperceptibly closer, his breath ghosting by her cheek those amber eyes dancing, his smile turning coy.

Unable to help herself, Ryder's eyes flickered to his dark lips as he spoke. She could feel the blush spreading on her cheeks as she looked back up into his eyes.

"Let's focus on the task at hand. I have enough distractions as it is, Reyes." She said, pulling out the outlaw's datapad, and pressing it to his chest while fluidly taking a step back to distance herself from such temptation. "I found a very informative datapad during my time in the backcountry," she said glancing away from him and down at her omni-tool, to keep herself from drowning in his gaze, so she missed the disappointed look he gave her.

Reyes glanced down at the datapad in his hands and swiftly scrolled through the messages, a soft crease forming between his eyebrows as he read. "This is good intel, Ryder. We could use this in a variety of ways," he looked up a grin spreading on his face, "So, what's the plan then?"

Ryder walked over to the couch, sat wearily down, and without realizing it she found herself reacting to his excitement, a small smile forming on her lips. She gestured for Reyes to join her, and as he sat down, he handed her the datapad back and watched her scroll through to specific messages. After a moment, Ryder pulled out her datapad and pulled up a tactical map of Kadara, pinpointing locations that coincided with the outlaw camps from the once-encrypted datapad.

"I was thinking if we hit here and...here, I may be able to break the blockade they have set up. Then with your help and with the help of some of the operatives in the Angaran Resistance, we can seize control of the area. After that, the Initiative can start helping the region stabilize and be able to get critical supplies out for other operations and key outposts."

Reyes leaned back his fingers stroking his chin, a faraway look in his eyes. "That could work. Yes, I believe I have a few connections that could help destabilize the blockade for when you strike. I will contact them."

"Now that all of the business has been settled, let's talk about my repayment to you, " he said, shifting his body closer to Ryder as he spoke, "How about I take you out for drinks soon?"

Ryder looked at him as he spoke, feeling need and duty warring within herself, "I don't know, I'm always quite busy while on Kadara, Reyes. Plus I'll need to head back to the Nexus if this operation goes smoothly."

Seeing the uncertain look on Ryder's face he clarified, "I promise to be on my best behaviour Ryder. It'll be nothing more than two people enjoying drinks and conversation and will allow you to lay aside your burden, if only for a few hours."

Hearing this Ryder felt the tension ease from her chest as she stood from the couch to leave, "I...look forward to it, Reyes. Thank you." As she departed the room back into the din of the Tartarus, she looked back right as the doors slid closed on the scene of the suave smuggler, who winked mischievously at her as he poured himself a drink.

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As a side note, I have finished Andromeda and my character romanced Jaal in the end but I got really attached to Reyes and I believe that is what caused this idea to blossom in my head. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know how I did in the comments.