A/N: Thank you ela11, Vorcha Girl, MizDirected and mattgerrard for your reviews! They make my day. And as always thank you Vorch Girl for being my awesome Beta!

Bioware owns Mass Effect.

Chapter 18. Agebinium

"Fuck this shit," Shepard mumbled, wincing as she lowered herself carefully onto her knees, despite Kaidan's objections, and felt for a pulse. Nothing.

She rolled the admiral's body over, examining it for wounds. There weren't any, at least none that were visible to the naked eye. She looked back at Kaidan over her shoulder. "Lieutenant? Can you run a medical scan? There aren't any wounds and," she felt the back of the admiral's neck, "I don't think his neck is broken." She grunted as pain seared through her leg and swore before looking at Kaidan sheepishly. "And, uh, can you help me up?"

"Commander, I think you should sit down. I'll help you up when we're done here." He ran the medical diagnostics program on his omni-tool as he scanned Admiral Kahoku's body.

"Damn medics." Shepard scowled at him, but complied. Kaidan arched an eyebrow in return and then returned his focus on the scan, trying not to think about how ridiculously adorable that scowl was.

He cleared his throat. "The only thing I can find is the mark of an injection at the base of his neck. There are no other wounds. I guess he was was dead already before the Creepers were locked in the containment field with him."

"Okay. I thought as much. Or, hoped. And now, help me up. We're done here."

With a smirk Kaidan wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up carefully. They heard a quiet laugh from Ashley, who had been hovering in the background. Blushing Kaidan released his hold on Shepard's waist, moving his hand to her elbow instead.

"I don't want to interrupt you two lovebirds, but there's an encrypted console here. Might be worth a look." Ashley's comment resulted in both officers blushing even harder. They pulled apart completely and Kaidan went to the console Ashley pointed at. He felt almost grateful for her interruption. Being so close to Shepard was … distracting.

A minute later he looked up from the terminal. "I've got it. It's the location of the Cerberus' main base of operations in this cluster. It's on Nepheron in the Columbia system."

"Well done, both of you. That's our next destination then. Let's get back to the Normandy."

They walked slowly back to the Mako and signaled Joker they were ready for pick-up and he sent them the coordinates for the rendezvous in turn.

"Should I drive?" Kaidan asked as Shepard grimaced.

"My leg is fine, Lieutenant. I can drive," she answered sharper than she had intended and she instantly felt a pang of guilt. Kaidan only wanted to help. Thankfully it wasn't all too far, but she was not going to admit her leg hurt like hell. To take the sting she turned her head and smiled. "But thanks for the offer."

Back on the Normandy Nick told Joker to set course for the Columbia system as she limped over to the lockers and sat down slowly. Maybe she should have let Kaidan or Ashley drive. She laid her weapons beside her and began unclasping her armor.

"We'll take care of this, Commander." Kaidan had come up next to her and took the armor piece out of her hand. "You go and see Dr. Chakwas."

"Are you ordering me around, Alenko?" Shepard asked. He returned her gaze unabashed.

"As your field medic – yes." He didn't blink an eye.

"And you're enjoying it yet, too," she went on. Nick wasn't sure if she should be annoyed or pleased. The lieutenant often seemed shy and many people tended to underestimate him, but he was firm in his demeanor when he was in the right. His main problem was being overly analytic.

"Maybe." There was almost a hint of smugness in his voice.

Shepard nodded. He was right, she knew that. With a sigh she got up and walked slowly towards the elevator. When she turned around she saw Kaidan and Ash standing at the weapon's bench together, watching her. She couldn't help but wonder if Ashley was going to pester Kaidan about them.

Dr. Chakwas was already awaiting her.

"Let me guess, Alenko ratted me out," she observed drily.

"Kaidan did his duty as field medic. If there is a serious injury inflicted on one of the shore party then he has to report it," the doctor began her examination. "Kaidan's report was accurate, but that was to be expected. Your shoulder didn't take any damage, bruising shouldn't be too bad. Now let me have a look at that shot wound on your thigh." Nick pulled down her uniform pants and laid down on a bunk, waiting while the doctor undid the bandage and ran another scan. After a few minutes the doctor straightened up. "Well, there is nothing left for me to do other than dress the wound again. The Lieutenant did an excellent job. Nonetheless, you will be in pain for a few days. I recommend you take it easy."

"Until we reach Nepheron," Nick said. Dr. Chakwas gave her an inquiring look.

"There was evidence that the Cerberus' main base of operations is located there. We're en route now."

"Commander," Joker's voice rang out over the comm, "there is an incoming call from Admiral Hackett for you, marked priority: high."

"I'm on my way," Shepard replied and looked at the doctor with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, doctor."

"No, you aren't," Dr. Chakwas retorted, not buying it for a second.

Nick laughed and made her way to the CIC, glancing over at Kaidan's work station to see if he was there.

A short while later she found herself sitting at the mess table contemplating the conversation she had just had with Admiral Hackett. An Alliance espionage drone with a nuclear payload from the days before the First Contact War had suddenly started emitting a signal – from within the Voyager cluster. Nobody knew how it had gotten there and of course it would be bad for the Alliance if anyone found out. So now they had altered their course and were headed for the Amazon system instead of the Columbia system, so the Normandy's crew could deal with it. Nick had not been happy and she had told Hackett as much. There were specialists for this kind of thing and none of her crew had the expertise of disarming a bomb that was almost thirty years old. Hackett had just replied other ships were too far away. This was supposed to be taken care of ASAP.

Not quite two days until they reached the Amazon system, Joker had said. That's how long she had to prepare her team for the mission. She sat there thinking about the best squad mates to bring along. Kaidan, for one, as he was a techhead. And Ash? Yeah, Ash, was probably a good choice.

She took a sip of coffee and grimaced. Whoever brewed this coffee ought to be shot, she thought, I am never going to drink coffee again unless Kaidan made it.

"Shepard?" Liara asked as she walked toward the table. "Do you have a moment?"

"Yeah, sure." Nick pointed at a chair. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Liara looked almost bashful. "I am not sure how to say this. Uh, would you mind if we talked in the med bay's storage room?"

Nick tilted her head slightly to the side, her eyes narrowed. Then she nodded slowly. "Okay. If you feel uncomfortable talking about in the mess hall, sure we can go to the storage room."

Nick got up gingerly and followed Liara. What was this about now?

She crossed her arms and leaned against the closed bulkhead once they had entered the storage room. "Okay, Liara. What do you want to talk about?"

The young asari wrung her hands and glanced at the desk before looking at Shepard again. "Last time we talked I said that there was something compelling about you. But, I am still not sure if it is appropriate to act on my feelings. I was wondering if there already is a relationship between you and Lieutenant Alenko.""

Realization dawned on Shepard. "Wait, let me guess. You are romantically interested in me?"

Liara blushed and nodded. "Of course, if you already are in a relationship … ."

Shepard rubbed her face. Maybe she should have seen this coming. Kaidan had told her that Liara was interested in her and she had just dismissed it. Ash had also mentioned something along that line and Nick had ignored that as well. She could have avoided this. She would at least try to let Liara down as gently as she could, for she liked the young asari. But not like that.

"Listen, Liara. I am not in a relationship," the asari lifted her head with a hopeful gleam in her eye until Shepard continued, "but you are right. Kaidan is special. I care about him. A lot. It's just … complicated."

"I am sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. I am just trying to be honest. Is it because asari are viewed as female by humans? I feel as though we share some kind of connection," Liara asked in a small voice. "Don't you feel a connection between us, Shepard?

"Not in a romantic way, no. I am not romantically interested in females. Been there, done that. It's not for me. I am sorry, but I just want to be friends." Nick felt genuinely sorry for Liara, but sweet as the asari might be, she would never be more than a friend.

"I understand. I am a little embarrassed that I misread you. You reached out to me as a friend and I hoped for more." Liara cast her eyes down, looking at her hands. "Can we just forget this whole incident?"

"Already done," Nick smiled. "I won't mention it again."

They talked for some time yet about Liara's mother and asari culture before Nick went back to the mess. She was relieved she had cleared the air with Liara. Now, all she had to do was figure out how this whatever-it-was between her and Kaidan was supposed to go on. And disarm a nuclear espionage drone. And stop Saren and the geth.

Her coffee was cold by now, so she dumped the remains in the sink and went back to the coffee machine to get another cup, feeling in need of caffeine. She heard a firm footfall and knew without turning around that it was Kaidan.

"Commander," he greeted her, heading toward the sleeper pods. She watched him walk to his pod and put something in his locker. His shaving kit, she realized. He returned, grabbing a mug on his way and pouring himself a coffee as well. She smelled the warm, spicy scent of his aftershave, mingled with the light smell of ozone that always surrounded him. She wanted to inhale deeply. Instead she took a swallow of coffee.

"How is your leg? What did the doc say?" he asked quietly.

"Everything is fine, Kaidan. She said you did an excellent job," Nick answered just as quietly. He simply nodded. He knew he was a good field medic, but he felt an urge to protect Shepard that surpassed anything he had felt before. Not that she needed anyone to protect her.

For a moment they stood next to each other, shoulders almost touching, drinking their coffee in companionable silence. She cast him a sideways glance, only to see him doing the same thing, his typical half-smile playing on his lips. Some of the crew walked into the mess, breaking the intimacy of the moment. Shepard cleared her throat. Time to be professional again.

"Lieutenant, do you know anything about bombs used before or during the First Contact War?" she inquired.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Uh, only a little. They weren't rigged that much differently from current explosives. Why?"

"Then I suggest you dig out some old Alliance blueprints and take a good look at them, because you'll get to defuse one sometime in the next two days."

She nodded towards the table and they sat down together, while Shepard filled Kaidan in on the mission details.

Roughly forty-two hours later they were preparing to drop onto Agebinium. Kaidan and Ashley had both finished gearing up already when Nick joined them in the cargo hold. She just saw Kaidan giving Ashley a pat on the back. He had probably just checked her armor and given her the all-clear. Ashley said something and Nick saw Kaidan roll his eyes and shake his head.

Shepard wasn't sure why, but for some reason she had an ominous feeling about this mission. Something about it just rubbed her the wrong way.

She quickly stripped down to her skivvies and suited up, turning to Kaidan with a smile when she was done. He returned the smile, knowing what she was waiting for and began checking the closures of her armor. Every time he got to do this – check Shepard's armor – he felt a warm, pleasant feeling sweep through him like a wave. Yes, he did the same for Ashley or any other squad mate, but with Shepard it had a special quality to it.

This time he let his hands linger just a fraction longer than usual, but he knew Nick was aware of it.

They landed on the surface of Agebinium and stared at the barren rock illuminated by the humongous Red Giant bathing the planet in blood-red light.

"How inviting," Ashley commented drily. "I think I'll spend my next shore leave here."

"Yeah," Kaidan said sarcastically, "looks like the perfect place for a vacation. Not too overrun, a scenic view, what else could you possibly ask for?"

"You got it, LT." Ash grinned.

"You two have crap taste in vacation spots, let me tell you." Shepard shook her head in mock disdain and drove the Mako around the face of a cliff.

Kaidan dropped the sarcasm to inform Shepard of the location of the beacon. "Commander, the signal is coming from north of us."

"What, you don't want to join us here?" Ashley asked. "You'll hurt the LT's feelings yet."

"We're getting close to the signal," Kaidan observed, ignoring Ashley's grin. Outside they could see an entrance to a mine as well as a number of crates. Kaidan frowned at the console. According to his display the signal was being emitted from inside the mineshaft.

Shepard became aware of his frown and furrowed brows. "Something wrong, Alenko?"

"Not quite sure, Commander." He checked the console again and then powered up his omni-tool. The signal was apparently coming from underground. And all evidence pointed at the mineshaft. Maybe something was distorting the signal?

They disembarked the Mako and examined the boxes scattered at the foot of the ramp leading into the mine. Kaidan activated his omni-tool again. No, there was no doubt.

"Shepard, the signal is coming from inside the mine," he informed them.

Ash turned around quickly to look at him. "Well, that just stinks."

"I agree. This thing didn't crash. Somebody moved it here," Kaidan replied.

"No kidding, but that doesn't change our objective." Nick told them. The strange feeling she had had all day intensified. She pulled her shotgun, gripping it firmly. "Our job is to find the probe and defuse it. Just stay on guard!"

The mine was eerily empty, not one sign of life showed on their HUDs.

"This is kind of creepy. Why would the active signal of a beacon come from inside an empty mine?" Ashley muttered.

Nick didn't answer. They had reached a large chamber with two passages at the far end and they advanced slowly. There was nobody there. When they reached the far end they had to discover that one passage was locked.

"The signal is coming from the other passage, Commander," Kaidan let her know.

The chamber was empty apart from the espionage drone laying at the far end and several crates. They approached the bomb warily when a sudden load rumbling made them all jump.

"What the hell?!" Ashley exclaimed, looking around bewildered.

"That was a detonator," Kaidan said.

Shepard was just going to comment, when the hologram of a man appeared.

"Shepard. At last," the man sneered. "I was hoping you would be the one they sent."

They spun around to face him and Nick took a few steps towards the hologram. She tilted her head to the side and observed the man through narrowed eyes. "At last? Have we met?"

"You don't remember me! Ah, no matter. I remember you. I never forget anyone I fought." There was a venomous note in the man's voice. "My name is Elanos Haliat, though I doubt you know it. Who do you think runs the Terminus clans, Shepard? Hm? Thousands of pirates, slavers, criminals of every stripe?"

Nick put a hand on her hip, cocking it to the side. "You assume I give a damn. That's cute."

"The strongest leads. The one who kills the most men. Seizes the most ships. Pillages the most colonies." The venom in the man's voice increased tenfold with every word he spoke. "Six years ago, I was the strongest. With my influence I assembled a fleet to drive your kind out of the verge!"

Shepard's voice was laced with ice. "You were behind the attack on Elysium, you sonofabitch!"

"I was the instigator. The one who promised glory and riches for sacking the largest human colony in the cluster! The one blamed when it failed," he spluttered with rage. "Failed because of you and your damnable holding action!"

"Aww," Shepard scoffed. "Nice try, genius! Well, if this is your way of trying to get back at me, good luck. My crew will come for me."

"Oh? Let them. We'll be ready. An Alliance warship will be a fine prize," the pirate said confidently. "And in case you haven't noticed, the ores in this mine are laced with heavy metals. I'm afraid your suit radios aren't powerful enough to transmit out." He grinned maliciously.

"Is that supposed to scare me, Haliat? Let me tell you something: Next time we meet you're dead. Count on it."

"I rather doubt that. Good-bye, Shepard." The former Terminus leader laughed and severed the connection.

"We've got air and light, Commander," Kaidan said. "We can look for another way out."

Nick stared at the spot where Haliat's hologram had been seconds before. "Yeah. And then someone needs my boot up their ass!"

Suddenly, they heard a ticking sound coming from the bomb.

"Alenko!" Shepard barked, but there was no need. The lieutenant had already pushed past her and was prying the cover off of the fusebox. He worked in record time, as the clock on the timer counted down the seconds.

Once the bomb was disabled, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Shepard nod at him.

"Well done," she said simply and gave his shoulder another pat. But her eyes … her eyes shone as she looked at him.

The cave-in blocked the way they had come from, but Kaidan short-circuited the door leading to the other passage and they continued that way discovering it indeed led to the surface. Apparently it was some kind of emergency exit, as there was just a small hatch to crawl through. Shepard was more than glad she hadn't brought Wrex along on this mission. There was no way the krogan would have fit through the emergency hatch.

Shepard signaled her squad to stay back while she crept towards the precipice. She took her sniper rifle off of her back and peered through the scope. Down below she sighted a number of hostiles and, to her surprise, the Mako. One of the pirates must have driven it around the to the back of the mine, probably seeing it as loot. She counted quickly and then crawled back several steps. When she was certain she couldn't be seen from below she got up and waved Kaidan and Ashley to join her.

"Okay," she told the other two quietly, "here's the situation; I counted at least eight tangos, two of them krogan and at least two with sniper rifles. There is no cover between us and them. That means we have to decimate their numbers before we can go in close. Alenko, I don't think your pistol has the reach we need. Maybe you can lob some tech attacks at them. Williams, you and I have some target practice waiting for us. Ah, another thing, they have our Mako down there."

"That just means we don't have to walk back, Skipper," Ashley commented.

"Damn right," Shepard agreed. "And now let's show these bastards not to piss off Alliance marines."

"Oorah!" both Kaidan and Ashley replied.

Shepard signaled Kaidan to go to her right and Ashley to her left. They dropped down and crept towards the edge again, Nick and Ashley both readying their sniper rifles. This was another one of those moments in which Kaidan regretted not being more proficient with a sniper rifle. Instead he pulled a tech mine from his belt and opened his omni-tool. As soon as the mine was primed he biotically Threw the tech attack, gaining maximum range. Shortly afterward he heard the characteristic sound of Shepard's and Ashley's sniper rifle.

Shepard and Ashley changed positions after every shot they fired, while Kaidan stayed in one spot. He was situated at the only spot that offered decent cover. While his omni-tool was cooling down he just slid back a step.

The resistance was heavy, but in the end the pirates stood no chance.

Once the snipers and both krogan were down Shepard took out one more pirate with her sniper rifle. Then she signaled her team to move in close. Ashley took one more shot with her sniper rifle before she switched to her assault rifle, while Kaidan threw another Sabotage before pulling his pistol.

Finally, there was only one pirate left. They advanced on him from three sides, weapons trained on the man laying on the ground, clutching his stomach.

"Haliat," Shepard said in a cordial tone that sent a shiver of apprehension down Kaidan's back. He shared a quick glance with Ash. If he were in Haliat's place he would feel terrified. It was soft, yet menacing and sounded more threatening than anything he had heard Shepard utter before. "I told you we'd see each other again. And I told you you'd be dead then. Now, if I were cruel I'd just leave you to die in slow agony from that stomach wound. But today is your lucky day."

The pirate leader tried to reach for a pack of medi-gel, but Nick kicked it away, shaking her head. "Uh-uh. I didn't say you get to live. I just said I wasn't going to let you die in agony." She hunched down next to the pirate, idly turning her pistol in her hand. "You know, I went through hell during the Blitz and I always thought it was the batarians that were responsible for the initial attack. To find out a human pirate sold a human colony out to the batarian hegemony makes me sick. I saw civilians die that day. I saw children die that day. I saw group of batarians attempting to rape a young girl. They didn't succeed. The first to pull down his pants died with my bullet in his head and the others scattered, but I took them all down. I don't want to know how many were raped and abused that day. So, you see, you are of no value to me."

She stood up and started walking away. After five steps she spun around and fired her pistol in rapid succession, until it overheated. She stared at the corpse of the former pirate leader and then ordered her squad to look around for any evidence of further pirate activity. There was none.

They headed back to the Mako and radioed the Normandy that they were ready for pick-up.

A/N: Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you!