LiskaDe

Written by @sanguinemoonglitch

Part 1 by @chalkituptofate Part 2 by @spacevixen2024 Part 3 by @reformingclock

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Kaidan walked over to Shepard and helped her get rid of the glass. His eyes kept meeting hers, amusement dancing in them. "You attract chaos, Shepard," he finally said, unable to keep the laughter out of his tone.

She sighed heavily. "Apparently so."

She looked regretfully up at him and in response he reached for and squeezed her hand before swinging an arm around her shoulders. "Come on," he said, "let's get out of here. I'm sure we can salvage what's left of the night."

As they walked, Kaidan could feel the tension gradually bleeding away from Shepard and he grinned. "I think I know exactly where we can go."

Shepard looked up at him skeptically. "Where?"

"You'll see," he replied.

He led her through a maze of a route. Shepard was pretty sure that if the Keepers had it in them to be looking at them askance they would be. But they didn't so she gave Kaidan the look instead. "Are you sure we should be here?" she asked.

"Spectre privilege, remember?"

Shepard had her doubts on that one, but continued to follow him until he finally led her to a door where he stopped. She glanced dubiously at the lock. "It's locked."

He shot her an amused look. "Yes—and I can unlock it. So can you for that matter." He pulled out his omni-tool and waved it in front of the door.

The door unlocked.

Shepard blinked. "That worked."

"I told you so," Kaidan replied with a laugh. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him through the door."

The hallways they'd gone through had been tight and increasingly dark, so when they stepped through into a room so large Shepard couldn't even see where it ended, she couldn't help the surprised gasp that left her lips.

"Did you know the Citadel actually has a lot of hydroponics gardens?" Kaidan murmured into her ear.

She turned and looked at him. "No, not at all."

He smiled. "The Citadel isn't exactly self-sustaining, but it's surprisingly close. I don't know if it has a larger population than previous cycles or if it's our combination of species or—"

Shepard leaned in and kissed him, having discovered that it was the most effective way to interrupt him when he really got started on a subject.

Kaidan laughed gently against her lips. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to when you do that," he replied.

She pulled back and grabbed his hand again. "Well, you can talk while we walk, since I assume that's why you brought me here," she replied as she started doing just that.

"How did you find this place?" Shepard asked as she took in the sights.

"I got a little bored in the hospital," Kaidan explained. "I'm still sure the docs could've let me go earlier. But, well, they didn't, so I did some digging in the Citadel's files."

Shepard stopped short and yanked on his hand to get him to face her. "You what?" she exclaimed with an incredulous grin. "Kaidan Alenko, of all people, digging around in files that he shouldn't?"

Laughter danced in his eyes. "I have my moments," he said. "Remember that time we stole the Alliance's cutting edge frigate?" He paused and looked around. "Besides, after all the things we've learned—about the Citadel's history, I wanted to see what else we didn't know about it. Just in case."

Kaidan pulled his hand free from hers and stepped back to have room to open his arms and gesture at their surroundings. "Isn't it reassuring to know?"

"You looked like you knew what you were doing—how many times have you been by?"

"Just once before," Kaidan admitted quietly. "After the coup."

"No wonder I couldn't find you," Shepard murmured to herself.

He heard her, though, and nodded silently before taking her hand again. They walked on in silence for several minutes. Memories followed them and Shepard decided she wasn't ready to deal with them just yet.

"So tell me more about this place," she finally said.

Kaidan glanced at her. "There's an extensive array of environmental emitters and filters designed to allow each of the major species grow the foods they need. It's not a perfect system—I doubt there's space for every single species. In fact, they had to make room when humans came along. I found the debates about how much we should be allowed to have."

"You really did dig deeply," Shepard replied.

Kaidan grinned sheepishly but began to warm to the topic. As they walked, he pointed out the various features that enabled such a variety of plants to grow in the same place. Shepard felt herself relaxing further as they walked, her worries fading entirely into the background.

Finally, she spotted a bench. "Let's sit," she declared, shamelessly interrupting him.

Kaidan couldn't even be annoyed. He allowed her to lead him to the bench and sat beside her. They looked around the garden and he felt as though Shepard had something she wanted to talk about but couldn't bring herself to do so. He took her hand in his, threading their fingers together.

"We've really been through it, haven't we?"

A smiled tugged at Shepard's lips. "Yeah. We have."

"And yet we're still here."

She looked at him, her eyes roaming over his face. "We are," she said after a moment.

Kaidan suddenly chuckled. "You're the only person who can say she's survived dying. That—well, that's a hell of a thing, Shepard."

"Cerberus really believed I was the only one who could defeat the Reapers," she replied. She turned away and looked out over the garden. "And here we are—where I think Hackett agrees with them in a way."

Kaidan was silent as he considered what she said. To his distress, he found he couldn't dispute the notion. He turned towards her and brought up his hand, gently turning her face to his, cupping her cheek. "We're all here with you," he said. "And I've got your back." He leaned in and punctuated his declaration with a kiss.

One that she happily returned, and they sat together like that, enjoying the moment, the exchanges of gentle kisses that conveyed a depth of feeling that words never could.

They could have carried on so all night, but they were eventually interrupted by the arrival of a gardener. Shepard had questions about the heavy sigh he let out upon seeing them, given how very locked the the gardens had been.

She looked up at the man who was frowning at them. "Aren't you two the human Spectres?" he asked. Then he shook his head. "Can't be. Everyone knows you two barely tolerate each other."

That was news to Shepard and she rolled her eyes, prepared to protest, but the man continued—

"We're about to spray all sorts of mysterious substances around here," he announced. "Stay if you'd like, but I suggest not," he added dryly.

Shepard looked at Kaidan and giggled. "I guess we should get out of here."

"Oh I don't know," he said, "I've always wondered—"

She laughed and stood up, pulling him with her. "I get quite enough of that out on the battlefield, thankyouverymuch. Hurry up." She took a few steps forward before she realized that she didn't know how to get out of the area. "Um, maybe you should lead us out of here," she said.

Kaidan chuckled and pulled up his omni-tool again. "Here. I've got a map."

Written by @ReformingClock

Following up on: Part 1 written by @chalkituptofate Part 2 written by @spacevixen2024

----------------------------------------------------------------- Kaidan and Shepard picked a back corner where the shadows gave them a little bit more privacy. A Turian waiter appeared almost immediately to tell them about the menu.

Shepard marveled at the atmosphere: So calm, so dark, so…unlike the Normandy. “I’ve never been here before. Looks fancy.”

Kaidan smiled. “So do you, by the way.”

Shepard felt the heat rise to her ears. The last time they went to a ‘fancy’ restaurant together was almost 3 years ago. She’d been in a coma for most of that but… “How many times have you been here?” She blurted out. And instantly regretted it.

Kaidan looked down at his hands. He knew what she was really asking. “You know, I have been here once before.” She couldn’t see his face but could tell his voice sounded strained.

“You don’t have to…”

“The second anniversary of your death I came here and tried to imagine what a date would be like. So I could say goodbye.” A shadow passed across his features. “It had mixed results.”

“Really, you don’t have to talk about it.” She felt a pang of guilt lance through her core, right past her heart.

He put his hands on hers and raised his eyes. “I want to. I want to replace that weird mournful memory with one of us actually being together in the same place without any armor or weapons or enemies. I wanted to come here with the real you. Not the one I imagined.”

Immediately she felt the guilt replaced with a coil of desire. The familiarity of her love for him mixed with the sweetness of their reconciliation. When did it get so warm in here?

Kaidan got the fairytale dinner that he’d wanted for so long. They savored some Illium seafood and a dense dessert invented by Chef Urun, the famous Volus. The low tones of their conversation never stopped; the ease of their friendship falling back into place effortlessly.

Shepard closed her eyes, savoring the last bite. “So good,” Shepard fluttered her eyelashes. She found Kaidan gazing at her with burning intensity. “What? Is there something on my face?”

Kaidan reached toward her and brushed a thumb across her lips. He lingered on her cheek. Then he gave her a mischievous wink. “No,” he said.

Shepard reached up to cradle his hand against her face.

Kaidan continued, “I just really need to ask you for something.”

Shepard knew he could feel the blush radiating across her cheek. “Oh?”

“Please….” He took a deep breath, “Please. If you ever need to leave again, please, Shepard… Give me a chance to come with you.”

Shepard’s breath caught. The few moments they shared on Horizon & Mars playing back in her head involuntarily.

When she remembered to breathe again she said, “Are you sure about that, Kaidan?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my entire life.”

Shepard closed her eyes and turned into his hand, landing a soft kiss against his palm. “I promise.”

****

Right as they stepped out onto the walkway, a shiny new skycar dropped from the top lanes through the traffic. Shepard & Kaidan heard honks and scrapes as cars tried to avoid the falling vehicle.

They both clocked the trajectory of the smoking car. It was headed for the restaurant they just left.

“Kaidan!” Shepard squeezed his hand.

“Go!”

They jumped away from the storefront as the luxury skycar careened into the glass. Smoke billowed out from the shattered picture window.

"I left my comm on the ship!” Shepard yelled at Kaidan, her eyes wide.

A goofy grin spread across his face. “Wowwww.” He drew it out. “No gun AND no comm. You must REALLY like me.”

Shepard smirked at him, “No shit, Sherlock.”

A small explosion went off inside.

“Everyone out!” Shepard dove back through the door, recalling the faces she’d seen as they left. The smoke was getting thicker, but her enhanced senses helped her find the coughing victims. She paired up stunned people with those who were more lucid and directed them to the door.

“Here! The exit is this way!” Kaidan bellowed from the doorway. Once the restaurant was clear, she turned her attention to the vehicle. Yes, there was fire, there was smoke, & the chasse of the skycar was twisted and bent; but there was a chance whoever was inside might still be alive. Gingerly she tried to touch the metal. “Ahh!” Her fingertips were burned immediately.

Kaidan yelled through the smoke to her, “Shepard? I think that’s everybody! You need to get out of there.”

“I have to check on the driver!”

She tried to see through the overly tinted windows but couldn’t make out anything. She didn’t hear anyone moving around. She folded up a tablecloth and tried to muscle open the emergency release for the car door. The latch wouldn’t budge. And then the tablecloth caught on fire. She threw it off to the side. “God, if only I had my armor!”

She bolted for Kaidan and pulled him out of the smoke with her. “The driver is stuck. I’m going to call Bailey.”

Shepard ran to a public comm access and dialed C-Sec. “Bailey, there’s a car sticking out of a building at this location. The driver could have survived, but there’s bound to be injuries.”

Sounds of alarmed people running and yelling came to him through the connection. “I’m sending a med unit and back-up. Can you get ‘em out of there?”

“Bailey, I don’t have my armor. This isn’t even my comm. We got the people out of the room, but the car is on fire and jammed closed. We need help to get the driver to safety. Not to mention the explosion and fires will spread through the building.”

“You don’t….you don’t have your armor?” He seemed to struggle with the concept.

“No. I’m on a date.” It still thrilled her to say so.

A beat of silence. Then: “With who?” suspicion in his tone.

“Oh my god Bailey! Send help! I’m with Major Alenko, and he doesn’t have his equipment either.”

Another long beat. “A date?” He seemed incredulous. “The guy who almost sided with Udina like, yesterday?”

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes!” She hissed, hoping Kaidan wasn’t hearing this.

Then she heard laughing. She looked around at the panicked crowd. It was the most incongruous sound to hear in this chaotic environment. Kaidan was valiantly trying to direct the crowds away to a safer distance. No one was laughing here. Then she realized: it wasn’t coming from the crowd.

“HahahaHAA! Is this whole call a prank? I already sent out the units, Shepard, but goddam… this is hilarious! There is no way you are on an actual date with that idiot HAHAHAHAWHOO…”

Shepard did not have time for this. “We are together!” She hissed into the comm.

Bailey’s laughter continued. “Sure. Sure! Look, whatever cover you need for whatever Spectre nonsense you’ve got going on…Just ask me next time. Hahaha…or, you know what? This has been delightful. Do this again! Pahaha…” The line clicked off.

She could practically feel the steam coming from her ears and not because of the fire she’d just run through.

Shepard looked down. Her outfit was a mess. Blood and soot were smeared across her, and the edge of her dress was singed. She picked a piece of broken glass out of her hair. “Garrus is going to have a field day,” she muttered to herself.

(via @currentlycreating )

i wanted to do a quick drawing of ro in her middle age (taking the extended human lifespans of mass effect into account)

i imagine that working as an instructor at ICT is her idea of retirement. she's a tough but fair teacher and enjoys designing complex field training exercises that can really challenge her recruits. maybe she even brings in a certain fellow sharpshooter in as a guest instructor from time to time.

in addition to the burns from harbinger's beam, she suffers from nerve damage as a result of her destroyed cybernetics. her right hand has a significant tremor and she has neuropathy. this significantly impacts her ability to hold, aim, and fire weapons until she creates weapon mods that can accommodate her disability - she doesn't really feel like herself until she can nail a target from a thousand yards.

after roughly fifty years, her skin grafts and other scars would probably be more healed than this, but i got a bit carried away lol. i like the idea of her having some kind of zuko thing going on with obvious facial disfigurement. she owns it

bonus under the cut because it came out a little wonky and i don't like it that much but i do want to share her jumpsuit