Kaidan was confused about his commanding officer. He knew he had a crush on her, there was no doubt about that. In fact it was probably a good thing she didn't wear her dress blues around the ship as much as she was supposed to, the one time Anderson had ordered her to wear them Kaidan's brain had nearly short circuited, his mouth issuing a compliment completely of its own violation and without permission from the rest of him.

He had fully expected a reprimand for that, but instead the commander had chuckled, winking as she responded: 'Thanks, you scrub up well yourself Lieutenant'. Anderson had simply shook his head, walking away with an: 'I give up'.

What the captain gave up with Kaidan didn't know and didn't dare ask, but it had been the start of their light, playful conversations.

He'd always been a bit of a loner, his migraine's keeping him away from the more boisterous parts of the mess, but he liked to think he was reasonably well respected by both his superiors and subordinates alike. His friends group may be small, but there weren't that many people in his career who he hadn't been able to get along with.

He'd never had a CO quite as approachable as Shepard though. Seemingly so casual and laid back. He'd even started telling her stuff about his past that he'd never told anyone before.

No, there wasn't any doubt he was falling for her. What he couldn't work out however, was whether or not the feeling was mutual.

It was far too risky to come straight out and ask his superior officer of course, but he'd tried to gauge a response from more innocent questions.

He asked if she got this informal with everyone and she'd answered: 'yes, but I don't enjoy it with everyone'. How was he supposed to interpret that?

Then one day Williams had excitedly pulled him aside to tell him Shepard had approached her in the cargo hold and asked outright if the chief had any intentions on him.

He wasn't a fan of scuttlebutt, but the way Ash told it made it sound as if the spectre was checking the path was clear for herself or warning the other woman off or something.

Mind you, you never knew whether or not you could trust lower deck rumours, there were more than a few about their CO and the asari.

Of course you'd have to be blind not to notice Liara's infatuation with the commander, but whether or not the feelings were reciprocated Kaidan was less sure about.

Shepard certainly hadn't shot the asari's advances down, and she was always going into the small private room behind the med bay, who knew what they were up to in there?

Maybe he should just follow the commander's lead and ask outright if she was interested in him. He'd have to find out soon, he was finding it harder and harder each day to concentrate and distractions could be deadly in their line of work.

If Shepard truly wasn't interested in him then it would hurt, but he'd get over it. Surely it had to be better than this horrible limbo of not knowing.

...

If Liara was being honest she'd have to admit that secretly she'd always wanted to meld with Shepard.

Not like that of course!

Just to be able to see the visions from the prothean beacon herself.

The commander had warned her they weren't particularly pleasant, but she was morbidly curious and it certainly wasn't the graphic content that had prevented her from asking before.

No, it was the risk of creating a misunderstanding.

Far too many aliens thought of her species as being overly promiscuous. They associated the meld with sex and didn't understand that there were different types.

She did try to discuss it during one of their talks about asari culture, but she became flustered and while she managed to answer all of Shepard's questions, when the door slid shut behind the human at the end of the visit she suddenly realised they hadn't covered any of the information she'd hoped to impart.

How was one supposed to ask a human to share minds together without them thinking she was asking them to do that?

Especially when there was a tiny grain deep down inside that she barely acknowledged, even to herself, that was rapidly growing ever more curious about what that would be like with the commander.

The thought was somewhat scary and definitely nerve-wracking but not entirely unappealing. Quite the reverse in fact.

Liara knew the humans called people like her 'virgins', but she still couldn't work out whether the term was supposed to be good or bad.

In human stories they had a habit of being sacrificed to gods or offered as the preferred food choice of monsters, which kind of made it sound like you'd be better off not being one, but then they were also rescued by handsome princes and dashing heroes, getting to live happily ever after.

Although there was never much explanation about what happily ever after actually entailed, except that they got to be with the hero.

Shepard was certainly a hero.

The commander had saved her life the first time they met. She was kind and brave and goddess that smile... All of which was beside the point.

She'd been touched by a prothean beacon and the strength of mind to not only not become a gibbering wreck, but also to keep going with such a high intensity mission was amazing.

Everything about the woman was amazing.

Of course Shepard hadn't been completely unaffected by the beacon. Liara had overheard a few conversations she probably shouldn't have while in her room behind the med bay. The spectre not only confiding in Doctor Chakwas, but also requesting the older woman keep an eye on her. To act if she became mentally unfit for command.

Liara almost volunteered her services then and there but she was still wary of triggering a misunderstanding.

Not to mention the potential fury from the commander learning she'd been eavesdropping on confidential conversations.

She couldn't bring herself to do it.

It wasn't until after Feros, the unexplainable spark of jealousy that ignited in her when Shiala melded with Shepard and the confirmation that the commander knew about knowledge melds, that she was finally able to find the courage to ask.

And now, finally, several days later, they were sat together in the med bay. Doctor Chakwas unobtrusively keeping an eye on their vital signs from a monitor in the corner.

Shepard still seemed a little uneasy so Liara did her best to hide her excitement and eagerness as she prepared herself.

"Embrace eternity."

The inside of Shepard's head wasn't like anything Liara had expected. She might be a virgin but she'd had experience with knowledge melds, she was an asari after all.

Normally the exchanging of information took place in either a relaxed or professional environment, a mental parlour or drawing room, an office or board room.

Of course she knew that non-asari weren't used to creating such fabrications in their minds, having no previous need for the skill and had been told by more experienced asari that alien minds were often chaotic, unorganized.

Shepard's mind was none of these.

She found herself standing in what reminded her of a police interrogation room, not that she'd ever been in one of course, just seen them in vids.

Her confusion and slight apprehension must have bled through because the commander shrugged in that human gesture of apology before attempting a rough mimicry of the asari gesture of trust, openness and nothing to hide.

She didn't quite pull it off but Liara appreciated the effort, even as she worked to regain control of what thoughts and emotions she let through the meld. She certainly didn't want anything embarrassing to slip through.

"Sorry about the decor, I'm not used to welcoming people in here and I'd rather keep the mental energy needed to create a room from scratch in reserve for later. Trust me, this is much nicer than the other room they left me with."

Shepard's words came through clearly, but with no emotion attached and Liara tried to do the same, hiding the rising horror as she processed the words. If someone had left something in the commander's head they would have to be asari, and if this was the nicer of the two rooms then...

"You were meld tortured?!" It would certainly explain why the commander had been hesitant to agree to a meld and wanted the doctor present.

Shepatd shrugged again, but this time it wasn't apologetically.

"More like given a demonstration of what it's like to be meld tortured and taught to build mental defenses. They had both asari and human shrinks present to make sure we didn't get permanently fucked up. In fact it was the most supervised module in the whole course. Anyway it was all about repressing and protecting information, they never taught us that trick you asari have for summoning a particular memory in order to share it. I'm afraid we're going to have to walk."

With that the commander stood and headed for the door, Liara followed her, gasping in surprise when it opened directly out on to the edge of a cliff face, waves crashing violently far below, a small island with a fortress on it barely visible in the distance through the storm.

"We have to get over there?"

"That's certainly what it looks like." Shepard agreed solemnly before smirking and pulling her to the side, around the door for the interrogation room.

Just the door.

For some reason there didn't appear to be a wall on the outside.

"Come on, I left myself an easier way." With that she rooted around on the ground finally finding a hidden trap door and lifting it up, gesturing for Liara to proceed her down the ladder. Once her feet touched the floor at the bottom the asari looked around to find herself in twisting catacombs that seemed only too easy to get lost in.

"This way." The human led her confidently through the tunnels and soon they started passing doors on either side.

At first glance they were stout but basic heavy wooden doors but as soon as Liara looked specifically at one then locks would slam visibly into place. While clearly a defensive measure, she wasn't sure if the commander was consciously doing it or if it was subconscious.

After what felt like eternity, they stopped outside a door that looked identical to all the others they'd passed. Shepard pulled a large jangle of keys out of nowhere, unlocking several padlocks and the main lock of the door itself before vanishing the keys, typing out a long string of numbers in a haptic interface and stepping up to a retina scanner.

Liara held her breath in anticipation as the door finally creaked open, only to be disappointed by the seemingly empty room, another door on the far side.

"Last chance to change your mind. There's no unseeing this and it's rather horrifying." The commander warned once more, but Liara had come too far to turn back now, her passion for the protheans and thirst for knowledge far out weighing any lingering safety concerns.

"I'm certain, I'm ready."

Shepard nodded with a sharp exhale, rolling her head and shoulders as if to psyche herself up before slamming her palm against the final door. It faded away, allowing Liara the faintest glimpse of prothean technology that she assumed must have been the Eden Prime beacon before she was enveloped by the vision itself.

...

"How did it go?" Kaidan asked as the doctor left the med bay, the commander still inside with Liara.

"You'd have to ask them." She responded rather unhelpfully. "Physically they're fine, just a little tired. You can go in and see them if you want."

Kaidan nodded as the woman made her way to the kettle and drew up his courage. This probably wasn't the best time to do this but they were together and away from the prying eyes and ears of the crew, if he was to do this it needed to be now before he lost his bottle and changed his mind.

He quickly crossed the mess hall in long, easy strides, the med bay door swishing automatically open as he approached. The eyes of both occupants jumping to him.

"Commander, we need to talk."

Shepard nodded and Liara slid off the bed she was sitting on in order to leave but Kaidan quickly forestalled her retreat:

"The three of us."

...

"I'm sorry Commander but you need to make a choice, me or- Stop laughing Trish, it's not funny!" Nikki buried her face in her hands with a groan, unable to even look her partner in the eye over the vid screen.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but it's hilarious! Not just one, but two people, falling over themselves to get at you and you didn't notice a thing. You're hopeless! Even I noticed the asari was crushing on you big time and all I ever saw was news reports."

"And you didn't think to tell me?"

"What, I trust you. I knew you wouldn't cheat on me so why bring it up and risk looking jealous? I didn't want to make things awkward between you."

"Because this isn't awkward at all... How? How does this even happen? We have fraternization regs for a reason."

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure this isn't the reason. Besides even you must be aware that's one of the most commonly broken regs around." Trish sassed before deciding to be nice and explain a few things to her idiot. "Look, I wasn't there so I don't know for certain, but if I had to guess Nick? I'd say you were probably being your usual self."

Nikki looked at her in confusion.

"Charming, gorgeous, courteous, funny, caring... the list goes on. In fact I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. You're always being hit on in the streets."

"I am?"

"Yes sweetie. Not so much at home because all the locals know you're mine, but elsewhere? All the damn time."

"Oh... Sorry."

"It's not exactly your fault. Well... other than looking too damn sexy for your own good, but I happen to like that."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Like what? If I was going to get jealous every time someone checked you out, I'd never be able to let you out the house. I mean sure, it gets irritating, but it's actually kind of nice sometimes. Knowing all those people are interested in you and you never give them a second glance. Knowing you've only got eyes for me."

"I, uh... might be guilty of the odd stray glance." Nikki stated hesitantly, sounding for all the world like she was confessing to some horrendous act of infidelity and Trish rolled her eyes.

"Of course you are. I'd be worried if you never looked at another woman. Plus it's kind of a requirement for when we play 'hot or not' while watching TV. Speaking of women I've only ever seen on TV..." A faux innocence overcame Trish's voice that was in complete contrast to the look on her face and Nikki felt a surge of apprehension course through her. "Liara T'Soni... Hot or not?"

The spectre groaned.

"We are so not going there."

"So... you think she's hot?"

"No."

"So you think she's ugly?"

"No! Urgh, I hate you so much right now."

"Do you hate me enough to jump into the arms of another woman?" Trish continued teasing.

"No, and technically Liara's not a woman because asari are mono-gendered and-... that's so not the point right now!"

"Well if you want to get hung up on semantics, I'm sure there are plenty of women on your ship who'd be willing to step in."

"Don't be silly- Wait, you're not serious are you? You don't really think there are others do you?" Nikki's eyes went wide with panic at the thought and, even though she knew she should stop, Trish couldn't help pushing a little further.

"I expect so. I mean, you didn't notice Kaidan and Liara and they were pretty obvious. Who knows how many of your crew feel the same way."

"Do you think I should make a ship wide tannoy announcement that I'm unavailable?"

For a split second the civilian was so tempted to say yes.

"That might not be the best idea." She managed to concede, but then the temptation became too much. "I mean... it's such an impersonal way to deal with such a sensitive issue and you could be triggering quite a lot of broken hearts. You'd be better off sitting them down one at a time in private to explain the situation. Have the doctor there in case they need someone to talk to."

Nikki was eating it up, nodding her head as she made a mental note of her partner's suggestions. After all, Trish was much better at this sort of stuff than her.

"Then film their reactions and send me the link."

Nick groaned in sudden realisation.

"You are enjoying this far too much."

"Yep." Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire cat had nothing on Trish's grin right now.

"You're never going to let me live this down are you?"

"Nope."

There was a thud as the spectre's head hit the table.

"Please just kill me now."

...

Author's note: Went a bit different on the meld, hope you didn't hate it too much, my inspiration for the idea of physical structures inside the meld probably came from 'Project Delta' by 5th Legion. I'm aware there's been a lot less Trish in recent chapters and I apologise for that, hopefully what there is has been enough, but I am working on getting them together in the same place for a chapter or two.

I'm also strongly considering speeding through ME1's priority missions as quickly as possible after that so the impending end of the galaxy is resolved and I can let them spend some time together without feeling bad that Shepard's ignoring important plot points to spend time with the missus. We would then have any ME1 side missions that I want Nick to have to deal with happen between games, in that time frame where she feels the council are just giving her insignificant tasks instead of anything important, before one of those dull routine jobs ends up being the prologue for ME2 and cue when the story gets really interesting. Any way that's all in the future, hope you're all still enjoying.