A/N: Thank you Vorcha Girl, ela11, tlcinbflo, jediserenity82 and Vicky for your Reviews on the last chapter! Vorcha Girl, as always a huge thank you for being my beta. You are the best! Now, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! There is some Shenko goodness ahead. :)

Chapter 24. Citadel III

Kaidan considered what Nick had told him as he left her cabin and realized she was right; he had neglected his duties as head of the marine detail. He'd let too many remarks of Ashley's slide and that should not have happened. Friend or not, he was the superior officer. And it was embarrassing that he'd had to be reminded of it.

He headed down to the cargo hold to chat with Ashley about refraining from comments about Shepard and him before going to dinner. Again, Shepard had been right. He should have set Ash right in the comm room.

She wasn't at her work station, so he didn't even bother getting off the elevator as Garrus wasn't to be seen either. Instead he took the elevator back to the crew deck and continued up to the command deck.

As he came closer to the helm he heard Ashley talking. She turned her head to look at him when she heard him approach.

"Kaidan, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to get you into trouble with Shepard." Ashley sounded worried.

"Don't worry about it, Ash. She barked, but didn't bite." He waved her apology aside. "But keep your teasing to off-duty hours from now on."

Ashley snorted. "Well, alright. But you two really should get it over with and kiss. If somebody on this cruise hasn't noticed something going on between you two they'd have to be blind or have the emotional range of a spoon. Seriously, the sexual tension is thick enough to cut with a knife."

Kaidan let himself fall onto the vacant co-pilot seat. "Ash … ."

"We're off-duty," she remarked in a sing-song way before he could say anything else.

Joker laughed and Kaidan watched as his friends high-fived each other.

"She got you there, Alenko." Joker smirked at him.

"Shut up, Moreau." Kaidan powered up the console in front of him, looking up as his friends cast sideways glances at him. "What?"

"Ash just said you're off-duty. Why turn on the console?" Joker sounded puzzled.

Kaidan shrugged. "I … find it relaxing?"

Lame, Alenko.

"You find watching the diagnostics systems relaxing? That's a lame excuse." Ashley teased, unknowingly using his own words against him. "I think you need something completely different to relax." She wriggled her hips and winked. Kaidan shot her a warning glance and was just about to comment, but Ashley continued undeterred. "We're heading to the Citadel, right? Ask her out for a drink."

She crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back looking pleased with herself. Kaidan returned his gaze to the console and watched for anomalies in the diagnostics system. He felt Joker and Ashley looking at him expectantly. He would be lying if he said he hadn't considered it himself. And these were his two best friends; he could go ahead and admit it. He took a deep breath.

"Maybe," he heard himself answer.

No good denying it, eh?

Ashley leaned over and punched him on the shoulder with a grin. "It's about time!"

Kaidan and Garrus accompanied Nick on her report to Anderson about the Noveria mission. Yes, she had sent a mission report to the Alliance Brass and the Council, but she wasn't sure if Anderson had been informed. He may not be their CO anymore, but, she told them, she'd much rather report to him than to Udina.

Much to her obvious chagrin the ambassador was also present. Kaidan could tell by the change of her posture. She had seemed almost relaxed when they first walked into the human embassy on the Citadel, obviously expecting Anderson to be alone. The moment Nick heard Udina's voice Kaidan saw her shoulders tense. Calling the relationship between Shepard and the human ambassador chilly was an understatement - it was more a question of who brought out the heavy weapons first.

Afterwards they made their way to the wards as Nick wanted to check some of the local vendors. She walked briskly ahead of them with a look on her face that could have curdled milk, muttering strings of expletives that were too quiet to catch. Among the snippets Kaidan heard were the words "fucking asshole" - and that was one of the friendlier ones.

As they walked through one of the hallways a voice hailed Shepard.

"Commander Shepard?"

Nick slowed down a fraction, but did not stop.

"Veronika?" the voice continued. "Nick?"

They turned in unison to face a human male, maybe ten years older than Kaidan. Slowly, Nick approached the man, furrowing her brow in concentration.

"I am sorry, but do I know you?" She sounded genuinely confused and there was more than a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Ah, you probably don't remember me. I'm Lieutenant Zabaleta. Or maybe you remember me as Ernesto. Haven't seen me since you were a kid, well, teenager. I served with your mother." The man had a slightly haunted expression as he tried to convince her.

Kaidan sized Zabaleta up. The veteran had a run-down look to him and smelled of stale alcohol. He wondered what brand of hell had made the lieutenant seek solace in a bottle.

Nick crossed her arms. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. Back on the Einstein. Twelve, thirteen years back."

"I take it you're not in the service anymore?" she inquired.

"Heh." A strange look crossed Zabaleta's face. "Yeah, retired. You know how it is. Times are tough," he added in a quiet tone.

Kaidan watched Shepard's expression soften just a little. "I didn't see much of her on that tour. The ship was on patrol most of the time."

"Listen, kid. I don't expect you to believe me right away, but ask your mom the next time you talk to her." Zabaleta wrang his hands, obviously desperate for her to accept his words. "She'd vouch for me."

Shepard looked at her mother's former crew mate for a moment before nodding her head. "I will ask her next time I get the chance."

"Thanks." Relief flooded Zabaleta's voice. "I'll be here. Can't afford a ticket home anyway." He glanced away looking shamed. "One more thing … I really hate asking, but … can you maybe spare a few credits? Just twenty or so?"

"I'll give you some money," Nick answered. She stepped closer to Zabaleta and looked at him sternly. "Use it to buy food. No booze. I will find out." She gave him some credits and held on to his arm before he could pull away. "If my mother vouches for you I will try to help you as much as I can." She released him, turned, and walked away, leaving the perplexed veteran behind.

They went on. After checking the vendors Shepard turned to Kaidan and Garrus. "You two remember that salarian, Chorban? The one that asked me to scan the keepers? I want you two to finish that for me. If anybody gives you a hard time tell them you're doing it on behalf on spectre authority." She opened her omni-tool and typed a message. "Kaidan, I sent you orders from my spectre account as well as a map with the location of almost twenty keepers. That should be validation enough."

Kaidan's omni-tool plinged as it received the message. He accessed his account, marking the message as read. "Sure, Commander. Uh, where will you be?"

"I'm heading back to the Normandy for a chat with my mother. We'll all meet at Flux later."

"Of course, Shepard," Garrus told her.

Nick nodded to both and watched the Alliance marine and the turian walk off together before she went to the next Rapid Travel terminal to summon a cab back to C-Sec.

Nick returned to the Normandy and went to the comm room, ignoring Joker's inquiries on her returning without the other two.

"Establish a real-time connection with the dreadnought SSV Kilimanjaro. I need to speak to XO Shepard."

She waited for the call to go through, feeling oddly nervous. This was the first time she had talked to her mother since being assigned to the Normandy, and Hannah Shepard had the uncanny ability always to know if something was up.

"SSV Kilimanjaro, XO Shepard speaking." Hannah Shepard's voice answered the call.

"Hey mom. Do you have a minute?"

"Veronika, honey! What a lovely surprise, but I don't have much personal time right now. I'm on duty," her mother replied.

"Yeah. Tell me about it. I know what that's like." Nick let out a short laugh. "It won't take long. Do you remember a Lieutenant Zabaleta? He claimed to know you from your tour on the Einstein."

"Ernesto? Have you seen him? How is he?" Her mother voice indicated honest interest. "We shared a watch. He was one of the marines that guarded the CIC."

"I don't think he is too well. He appears to have some problems. He asked me to help him out a little money-wise, but I think he was ashamed of asking."

Her mother sighed. "Yes. You see, there was an incident. Do you remember the batarian raid on Mindoir back in 2170? Our task force was one of the first ones to respond to the distress call and Ernesto was among the first ones groundside. We heard about the corralling and the culling. They shot the people they couldn't use and implanted control devices in the skulls of those they could. Without anesthetic." Hannah paused.

"So he suffers from PTSD?"

"Yes. He tried working after that, but it rode him. He showed up drunk on duty more and more. We couldn't always cover for him." Nick's mother sighed. "The Alliance discharged him. Everybody knew he drank because of what he had seen on Mindoir, even though he never talked about it. He was always so sensitive. If you see him, tell him we still worry about him. Tell him to go to the Veteran's Affair Office. I have to go. Stay safe, dear. You are making us so proud."

"Thanks, mom. One more thing? When does your shift end? I … want to ask you something else." Nick held her breath as she waited for her mother's response.

"Maybe I can squeeze in one more minute. What is it you want to ask?" Hannah asked.

"When you and dad met, how did you manage? Did you ever serve together on a posting?" Nick blurted out. Shit, so much for being subtle!

"Nick, did you meet someone?"

"Uh, maybe?" I shouldn't have asked, she thought. I shouldn't have asked.

"Veronika Mae!"

"Okay. Yes. There is someone very … interesting aboard." Heat crept up her face.

"Alliance?" came the curt inquiry.

Nick had been dreading that question. "Yes."

There was a longer pause. "How serious is it?"

"It's nothing at all yet, mom. We've talked a lot. And we're both interested in … getting to know each other better, but we both agreed to wait until the mission is done." Nick downplayed her inner turmoil, hoping her mother would buy it.

"I see," her mother was obviously not fooled by the attempt. "Nick, I won't talk you out of this. Your father and I are the last people that have the right talking you out of a realtionship with a fellow soldier. But I suggest you have him transferred to another posting. If you're both serious, then that shouldn't prove to be a problem. And you won't be accused of fraternization then. The Alliance may complain, but they won't do anything else." Hannah Shepard implored.

"I've already put his name forward for a promotion. And before you ask, yes, he deserves it. He's a good soldier. He thinks on his feet, he just has to become more assertive. He was being evaluated for a promotion anyway and I guess it should come through within the next few weeks." Nick shrugged.

It was as though she was trying to shrug off the unease she felt. She didn't want Kaidan to be assigned to a different posting, but she knew it was the only true possibility for their relationship to progress without being accused of fraternization. But the thought of going into combat without having the choice to bring him along was not a happy one.

"Good. I am eager to hear more about this soldier, but now I really have to go. Maybe I'll do some research of my own."

"Mom! No!" There was no response - Hannah Shepard had already cut the connection, leaving her daughter staring at the communication terminal in horror.

With a curse on her lips Nick turned around and returned to the lower Wards where they had met Lieutenant Zabaleta. With some effort she managed to convince him to visit the VAO. Zabaleta didn't believe they would be any real help, but was willing to go there as a favor to her mother.

"All they do is pump you full of meds, but if your mom wants me to go see them, I will. She always was good to me," he told Nick.

"Ernesto - may I call you Ernesto?" Nick asked.

He nodded.

"Counseling is a pain, but if you tell them you want to try therapy without medication first they will agree." She paused. "Believe me. I know what I'm talking about."

His eyes widened as he understood the hidden admittance in Nick's words. To her astonishment he drew himself up and saluted.

She watched him walk away slowly feeling a tinge of sadness. She was well aware that the Alliance didn't do as much as they should for their veterans. She truly hoped the VAO would help him. There were too many vets left alone with their troubles; many of them might have been fit for duty yet if they had received proper counseling early on. Just as she had.

Sometimes she wondered if the quick help she had received after Elysium and again after Akuze had much to do with the fact she came from a high-ranking military family. She hoped not, but suspected otherwise. Nick clenched her fists and forced herself to breath in slowly.

With a sigh Nick exhaled. She pulled up her omni-tool and searched for Kaidan's Alliance extranet address. She mentally ran through the errands she had to complete yet as she went to the elevator and messaged Kaidan.

VMShepard: Lieutenant, where are you and Garrus?

KAlenko: Near Barla Von's.

VMShepard: Stay there. I'm on my way.

She hurried across the Presidium to the financial district and was slightly baffled by the sight of Garrus and Kaidan laughing heartily when she arrived. She slowed to a halt, watching the two men from a short distance as they clapped each other on the back. A gleam of light reflected off Kaidan's eyes as he looked at her. Her breath hitched as they twinkled brightly.

Veronika Mae, stay professional!

"What's so amusing?" Nick asked as she stepped beside them, puzzled and irritated with herself.

"Oh, nothing much," Garrus replied nonchalantly. "We were scanning a keeper at Flux when Alenko's omni-tool picked up a strange signal. So we decided to track it."

"Yeah," Kaidan grinned. "First it lead us down near where we met LT Zabaleta, then here to Barla Von, and finally down a small back alley of the financial district."

"And?" Nick wondered, looking from one to the other. "I don't quite understand what's so funny about this."

"That's because Kaidan hasn't mentioned the best part yet. The part with the murderous AI," Garrus added.

"We thought we were following a trail of unchanneled credits. Then it turns out it was a false lead. Instead we found ourselves dealing with a rogue AI that activated a self-destruct sequence as soon as we were done talking." The lieutenant looked smug. "Not that it proved much of a problem."

"Exactly," Garrus agreed. "We disabled the AI, got a load of credits and scanned almost all keepers on the map. Not bad, if you ask me."

"Yeah. And the last keeper should be just around the corner. Towards the consort's place." Kaidan informed them.

"You two appropriating credits?! I don't believe it. That's pretty shady, isn't it?" Nick stopped, throwing a disbelieving look from one to the other. They looked at each other and then back at Shepard.

Garrus let out an incredulous huff. "Come on, Shepard! You do it all the time."

With as much dignity as she could muster, Nick threw her head back. "That is something completely different!"

"Of course it is," Kaidan murmured to Garrus with a grin, winking at her when she glared at him.

"Yes, Lieutenant, it is!" she replied as she walked towards the location of the keeper.

The bass pounded unrelentlessly at Flux. The crowd on the dancefloor was a mass of gyrating bodies, illuminated by flashing strobe lights. Kaidan wasn't fond of clubs, although he had to admit Flux wasn't that bad. He could at least turn away from the brightest lights that tended to trigger migraines. All in all, it wasn't the worst place to blow off some steam. But he preferred other ways to spend his off-duty hours.

Kaidan threw a quick glance at the timestamp on his omni-tool and back at the cold beer Ashley set down in front of him. There was a game on soon and he wondered if he should ask Shepard if she wanted to watch it with him. He looked up, searching for her small figure and saw her standing just beside the dancefloor.

"Why aren't you out on the dancefloor, LT? Even Shepard is dancing - with Vakarian." Ash nudged him with her elbow as she sat down next to him. "Liara is also there - keeping close to our commander as always. Maybe she wants to dance with her too."

Kaidan rolled his eyes and looked around. There were a number of Normandy crew members dancing. "Tali is there as well, Ash. The only ones that aren't dancing right now are Joker, you, Dr. Chakwas, Adams, Wrex and me."

"Aren't you worried?"

"About what, Ash? She told me that she's in no way interested in Liara and I believe her." Kaidan looked past Ashley at the dance floor and his eyes settled on Shepard who was vigorously shaking her head as Garrus dragged her to the middle of the dancefloor.

Ashley followed his gaze and when Kaidan looked back at her he saw a scowl on her face.

"It doesn't bother you at all?" She gestured toward the dancefloor, where Liara was dancing next to Nick. "Knowing you have a crush on the same person while Liara is over there sexily dancing next to Shepard? And you, "Ashley waved her hand at him, "you're sitting here staring at your omni-tool!"

Sexily dancing?

Kaidan cast a puzzled look at Ashley; she was looking at the others again. There was an irritated look on her face which he couldn't quite place. He followed her gaze and was mildly surprised when he realized she was watching Liara. There was no reason for her to be upset about her dancing so close to Shepard. Unless … no. He tapped his omni-tool. "I have a plan. Don't worry."

Ashley snorted. "C'mon Kaidan! A plan? I don't see you moving your ass over there."

"There's a hockey game on soon. I'll just ask her if she wants to watch it with me," Kaidan answered with a shrug.

Ashley whipped her head around to stare at him. "A hockey game? You have the chance of dancing with your crush and you want to watch a hockey game on your omni-tool instead?"

He was just about to reply when Nick came back to the table. She fell into to seat next to Kaidan, throwing him an exasperated look. "Thanks for the rescue, Alenko."

"I can make it up to you, Shepard." He waved his omni-tool. "Canucks against the Blackhawks in about five minutes."

Nick gaped at him and then grinned slowly. "We need more beer. And Alenko? Your Canucks are going down." Kaidan shook his head as she turned toward Ashley. "Chief, get us some more beer, would ya?"

Kaidan activated his omni-tool and they scooted closer together so both had a good view of the game. Luckily they were already sitting in one of the darker corners of Flux.

As the game progressed they moved closer together yet. Their heads almost touched and the soft glow of the omni-tool bathed them in orange light. Kaidan inhaled and caught a scent of oranges and spices. He closed his eyes briefly, focussing on the fragrance that surrounded Nick.

It was warm yet sharp and it fit her personality perfectly.

Kaidan looked up and saw Garrus, Joker and Ashley grinning at each other. He couldn't suppress a smirk as he returned their gaze.

Suddenly Nick exclaimed, "What! Is the ref fucking blind?!" She pulled Kaidan's arm closer to get a better look.

"The call was fine, Shepard," Kaidan argued. "And the check was regular."

"Shut up, Lieutenant. No way that check was regular." She sat back. "We need a bigger screen. It's almost time for the first intermission. We can make it back to the ship in time for the second period." Shepard paused, tapping her finger on her pursed lips thoughtfully. "You. Me. Normandy comm room. Now."

Nick didn't wait. She got up and looked at Kaidan expectantly. "Are you waiting for a written invitation or do I have to order you to get your ass to the Normandy?"

She turned and headed for the exit leaving it to Kaidan to follow her. He stole a quick glance at their friends before getting up and leaving as well.

Ash held on to his arm as he passed her and whispered into his ear audibly, "Behave yourself. Or better yet, don't!"

Kaidan turned to look at his friend. Shaking his head with a grin and a roll of his eyes he shook her hand off of his arm.

He found Nick waiting just outside Flux. She was staring at the floor but lifted her head to look at him as he drew closer, a smile playing on her lips. He breathed in slowly and forced himself to look away from her mouth.

"Nice to see you decided to come along," she greeted him. "You know I could kiss you for getting me out of there."

"Was there any doubt about that? I wouldn't miss the opportunity of some time alone with my beautiful CO." Kaidan quickly shut his mouth, fearing having said too much but she smiled and his heart skipped a beat.

He couldn't keep his eyes from darting back to her mouth.

His heart pounded and blood rushed in his ears as Nick unabashedly hooked her arm around his as they walked to the nearest rapid transport terminal. Her words bounced around his head; 'I could kiss you'. Kaidan struggled to push the words out of his mind, but he wanted nothing more than to feel her lips on his.

The Normandy was deserted when they arrived except for a handful of marines on guard duty. Kaidan followed a few steps behind Shepard as they entered the CIC, struggling to keep his eyes from roaming over her body.

I could kiss you.

Those words still rang in his ears and, lost in thought, he absently saluted the marine guarding the CIC as he watched her swaying hips disappear around the corner to the comm room. Kaidan hesitated before entering the room, taking some time to get his emotions under control again. Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the comm room. Shepard had already powered up the console and the game appeared on screen.

Nick looked around the room and then at Kaidan. "Chairs or floor?"

"I ... what?"

"Where do you want to sit? On the seats," Nick stood in the middle of the room and pointed at the chairs they used during debriefings, "or on the floor?" She pointed at the floor.

"Uh ... floor?" he asked uncertainly. It didn't look like Shepard planned to sit on the seats.

"Perfect. This is perfect." Nick dropped to the floor, pulling him down next to her as she sat down with crossed legs. She looked at him with shining eyes, "Seriously, Kaidan. This was a great idea. Thank you."

Kaidan swallowed and tried to focus on the game, and after a few minutes he began to relax. He could almost ignore the fact that Shepard was using him as as backrest.

Until the Canucks scored a goal.

Nick sat up straight, cursing at the referee. Kaidan only felt the absence of her body leaning against his. Almost absentmindedly he argued that the goal was regular.

Suddenly she turned her head to look at him and she was so close. So close. His eyes flicked to her mouth only to see her tongue dart out to wet them. Before he knew what he was doing he tilted his head just a fraction and leaned closer, their noses brushing against each other lightly.

He could feel her warm breath on his face, smell her warm, spicy fragrance, and again his heart thundered in his chest. It beat so hard he was certain she could hear it.

Kaidan closed his eyes in anticipation of the kiss and felt her lips brush against his in a feathery caress when the Normandy VI interrupted their moment:

"Flight Lieutenant Moreau is aboard. Gunnery Chief Williams is aboard. Head Physician Dr. Chakwas is aboard. Garrus Vakarian is aboard."

They jerked apart as if they had been stung.

Kaidan glanced at the floor, cursing silently as Shepard scrambled to her feet. He swallowed hard and climbed to his beside her, shuffling awkwardly.

He felt her take his hand, giving it a squeeze. Kaidan looked up to see her smile at him with a light flush on her cheeks. She was gorgeous.

"We can still watch the game," Nick said quietly. "As for everything else," her smile grew wider, "We'll have more chances yet."

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he returned her smile. "I believe we will, Nick."

A/N: *sigh* The others could've returned to the Normandy five minutes later, don't you think? ;) Hope you liked it!