Parallax

A/n: HI CAN WE HAVE SOME DLC NOW? DO WE REALLY HAVE TO WAIT TWO YEARS FOR MORE KAIDAN?????

*sobs into pillow*

Apologies for the micro-chapter. I'm not quite satisfied with it, but I needed to get the plot-ball rolling again. :(

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It was surprising how easy it was for them to slip back into business mode; somehow, waking up next to each other hadn't been awkward in the least.


Kaidan told her, “good morning,” and cuddled with her. After a while, he kissed her on the cheek, put his clothes on, and left with the promise that he was fit to go on the mission.


Shepard stretched lazily, her toes gripping the sheet and sliding it down her body. Simon lay at the foot of the bed. His gigantic, sleepy eyes seemed to question her as to why Kaidan had left.


“We have a job to do today,” Shepard smiled, “you'll have to stay here.”


Simon hooted and cocked his head to the side. Ignorance was bliss, and she wondered if he'd give the crew trouble when she left. Shepard opened and closed her mouth a few times, smacking her tongue around.


“My mouth tastes like a stale cock,” she murmured.


Simon blinked at her, his head drifting to the side.


“Trust me, you don't want to know,” Shepard chuckled, “but it was worth it.”


She stepped into the shower and felt renewed. They didn't have sex, but just a little bit of fooling around was worth it. Admittedly, the Commander was quite proud of herself; in the past, she'd been the kind that was willing to have sex on the first date or even have a random encounter with a handsome stranger.


But this time, everything was different. They were moving slowly and it was just what Shepard needed. Sure, he could have had sex with her much sooner; the way she flirted with him was rather obvious. Maybe there was something more there, but Shepard couldn't quite figure it out.


She didn't know what she had with Kaidan, but it had slowly gone in a direction that she approved.

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Kaidan meticulously ran a razor down the side of his face. Satisfied by the stroke, he repeated the process as Corproal Murray entered the bathroom. In his hand was a pair of clippers . The Corporal sneaked nervous glances in his direction.


“Don't clog up the sink, please,” a towel-wrapped Kaidan murmured.


“Yes, sir,” Murray replied, lining the sink with paper towels.


Satisfied that the he'd be able to prevent clogging the sink, the Corporal turned the clippers on and began his haircut.


“Yes, I know what you're doing,” Kaidan sighed.


Murray jumped, the clippers almost lopping off a large chunk of his sandy hair. He turned to his superior officer, his eyes wide.


“You're buzzing your hair without being asked because you hope Shepard will notice you're putting in more effort,” the Lieutenant shrugged.


“I...” Murray began, unable to find a respectable answer.


Kaidan finished shaving and splashed water on his face. Sighing, he turned to the younger man.


“Look, just do your job the right way and be confident,” he offered a half-smile, “Shepard senses worry very well.”


The Corporal's eyes widened in panic.


“Yeah, like that,” Kaidan chuckled, “you'll be fine, kid. Finish your haircut.”


Murray replied with a 'yes, sir' as the Lieutenant put on his uniform and headed out of the bathroom to the mess hall.


Shepard was already at the table, feeding bits of her breakfast to Simon.


Kaidan grabbed a tray of food and sat down next to her. Leaning over, he gave Shepard a quick peck on the cheek. A comfortable silence settled over the pair as they ate.


In the time that Simon was content to lick some pancake syrup out of a spoon, Shepard studied the man next to her. Her hand reached over to cup his cheek. Before she knew it, she was kissing him.

After a moment, Shepard pulled back and peered into his eyes.


“I might be falling for you,” she smiled, “then again, it might be gas. It's been so long that I can't tell the difference.”


He laughed, the sound delighting her. She put her hand on his arm to get his attention; they had to talk. She was tired of games, tired of flirting and kissing and not knowing what it meant. But she knew how she felt and needed to let him know.


“Kaidan,” Shepard mumbled, “I....”


Oh God. This was tough.


He grabbed her hands and stared intently into her eyes.


“I love you, Shepard,” Kaidan murmured, his thumbs rubbing circles on the backs of her hands.


“I was gonna say that, you know,” she chuckled, “I love you.”


“Well, I didn't know that,” he replied, “but I'm glad. One of us had to say it.”


For a moment they simply sat there, amazed that they'd finally come to admit their love for each other. It struck Shepard how completely normal the whole thing was; the confession of their feelings didn't involve explosions or a sudden rush of adrenaline from danger. It wasn't broadcast to the galaxy in some flowery admission of passion. It happened over breakfast; it was mundane and wonderful all at the same time.

“Entering Ontarom's orbit, Commander” blasted from the Normandy's comm system, startling the newly-formed couple.


“See you in the engineering bay, Lieutenant,” she smiled.


Loving and being loved was sure to be fun.

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The mission had gone from bad to worse from the moment the mako malfunctioned upon landing. It was one thing to have to drive in reverse the whole time, but was it was a whole different problem when they learned the truth behind the missing scientists.


The Commander stood with her Lieutenant in the middle of an isolated bunker, trying to negotiate with a jumpy Corporal Toombs.


“If you shoot him, you will be tried as a murderer,” Shepard narrowed her eyes, “let me shoot him; I'm a Spectre, and I can shoot Cerberus pieces of shit like this one.”


“Commander,” Kaidan interjected, “he could stand trial and we could have Cerberus exposed.”


Toombs looked between the officers in front of him, panic written across his face. What would they do?


“If Cerberus is behind this, then we don't know how much of their grubby mitts will be in the trial,” the Commander replied. She paused for a moment in thought.


“I'll tell you what, Wayne,” Shepard narrowed her eyes, “if you live long enough to become a prisoner, then use your second chance to do the right thing. If you bleed out, then it was supposed to happen.”


The scientist's eyes widened in panic. Before he could protest, a gunshot rang out. Wayne crumbled to the floor, clutching his leg.


“So that's it?” Toombs asked. “It's finally over. Maybe the screaming will stop.”


Shepard sighed and holstered her weapon.


“It won't,” she shook her head, “but with time, you learn to live with the past. Just know that you will never be left behind.”


“We're marines,” Kaidan nodded grimly, “we stick together.”


They ushered Toombs out to the mako; Shepard signaled the Fifth Fleet to take care of the bleeding scientist. Toombs would be coming with them. His emotional state was such that he needed to be in the company of others. The Commander intended to make good on her promise that he would never be left behind.


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As Joker reviewed the previous day's security footage, he was able to conclude one thing:


Shepard knew how to suck a dick.


It had only been a matter of time until such footage made its way to the pilot's collection of interesting things that he'd found on the security cameras. Joker liked knowing everything he could about the crew, for better or for worse. It was especially fun to watch Alenko and Shepard's interactions; if their outrageous flirting was to be any indication, it was safe to say that they'd be having sex sometime soon.


Joker was surprised that they hadn't had sex yet.


Admittedly, he'd felt bad at first when he saw Shepard having private time in her quarters. But after a while, he'd grown accustomed to his little peep show. Shepard was gorgeous and nobody would know what he was up to. Joker could even ignore that she began to moan Kaidan's name every time she used that glass dildo for the past three months.


“Good morning, baby,” drifted into his earpeice. He watched Kaidan roll over and kiss Shepard on the cheek.


Joker sighed and turned the video off. The fact that his friend was madly in love with the woman that he liked to watch put quite a damper on his voyeuristic fun.


He'd be back to watching when they quit being mushy and started the good stuff.


Liara sighed and held Simon closer to her body with her free arm. He was such a needy creature; upon entering Ontarom's orbit, he had to be pried off of Shepard so she could complete her assignment. When he saw that Shepard would indeed be leaving without him, he latched on to his next favorite person, Kaidan.


And oh how the creature wailed when he was separated yet again.


Simon had been entrusted to the care of Corporal Murray, but he wasn't able to console the monkey. Like a distrustful toddler, Simon hid from the person he didn't know. It took many bribes and sweet words to get Simon to reluctantly follow Murray.


He didn't know where the idea to visit Dr. T'soni came from, but Murray was glad he'd thought of it. Simon took to Liara instantly. He watched the asari pet Simon as she browsed the extranet.


“Pyjack,” Liara nodded at the monkey, “you are a pyjack, Simon.”


Her eyes rapidly scanned the page, soaking in the information instantly. Shutting down the browser, she turned in her chair.


“Apparently, he'll adapt to almost any environment and can eat almost anything,” Liara said.


“So,” the Corporal replied, “I take it that Commander Shepard will be happy with this information?”


She nodded and Murray sighed in relief.


“I'm glad,” he murmured, running his hands through his shortly cropped hair, “I want her to approve. I want to be the best.”


Liara smiled at the young human in front of her.


“Shepard may be gruff but she cares,” she said.


The Corporal shook his head in disagreement. Commander Shepard was completely ruthless and took no pity on anyone.


“No ma'am,” Murray sighed, “if it weren't for Lieutenant Alenko, I'm positive that she would have dumped me off somewhere as quickly as she could.”


“I promise you,” Liara smiled, “Shepard cares a lot for her crew. She sees something in you; that is why she chewed you out.”


“You know her well, then?” he asked.


“I-I try to, yes,” the asari responded, her face flushing.


“Maybe it's just her Commander face that I'm seeing,” Murray sighed, “It's tough having a female CO, especially a pretty one like her. If she wouldn't kill me for saying that, I'm sure Lieutenant Alenko would.”


“Tell me about him,” Liara said.


She wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Why was Shepard so madly in love with him? She understood the physical aspect well enough.


“Um, well,” the Corporal shifted in his seat, “he's the kind of CO that everybody wants. He's tough, but very fair, the kind of guy everyone looks up to.”


Liara nodded slowly. She knew these things. What she didn't know was how it transitioned into Shepard loving Kaidan.


“But isn't it strange about him and Shepard?” she asked.


“Eh,” he shrugged, “It's not really my place to say.”


Liara sighed in frustration. She wouldn't get anything out of him.


But, she was a scientist and a researcher at heart. Maybe it was time that she had a talk with Shepard.