Part 3 of "Nobody Believes They're Dating"
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.
“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.
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.
TO BE CONTINUED in Part 4!
