The Renegade Adored

Hayden sipped at her tea, and listened to Garrus rave about the food with a pleased smile. Some more Turians entered the restaurant, and Garrus looked up in surprise. "Do you know them?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah," he said absently, "I'll be right back, I'm just going to go say hello."
"I'll be here," she grinned, and watched him walk away. Loud, surprised greetings were exchanged between Garrus and the crew, and Hayden looked away. She looked down at the table. Her bowl and utensils had been taken away, and she carefully pushed the unused chopsticks to the other side of the table.
"Hello, Hayden," said a friendly voice.
Hayden looked up. "Hello, Doctor. How are you today?"
The doctor smiled politely. "I'm doing well. I was rather surprised to be called out here."
She looked up at him. "Really? Why?"
"Why am I surprised? Because I don't think this is going to work out the way that everyone expects."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
The doctor smiled again. "You said you would come quietly once they got your friends away." He readjusted his glasses, calmly watching Garrus' back. "And if your friends refuse to leave?"
"Well," said Hayden nervously, "they wouldn't hurt them, would they? But – why would – it's for the best, right? I mean - if Kaidan goes, Garrus will go. It shouldn't be a problem." She looked at her cup of tea. "Would it?"
"That depends on a lot of variables." The doctor looked down at her, still standing by the side of her table. "I think I'll sit down over here." He crossed the aisle and sat down calmly at an unused table.
Hayden twisted in her chair, in time to see Garrus pull out his assault rifle, covering the Turians who had greeted him.
"Hayden! Get to the door! Kaidan's outside!"
Hayden made a small noise of surprise. She looked over at the doctor, who was reading the menu with apparent unconcern.
"You should probably get going, Hayden." The doctor smiled.
"Really?" she asked doubtfully.
The doctor nodded. "Yes, really."
She grabbed their bags and sprinted for the door, heard Garrus behind her. They raced into the street.
"North," said Garrus, and took his bag from her so they could keep running. They turned, and saw Kaidan.
Hayden being Hayden, said the first thing that entered her mind. "You can't park that here."
"Get in here," he shouted, and practically threw her into the drop shuttle. "Garrus, we have to go!"
Garrus jumped in, and shut the doors. "Ready!"
"Kaidan, are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Hayden uncertainly. "I mean, really sure?"
"What am I doing?" he shouted as he sent the shuttle flying up. "What the hell were you thinking? They were going to kill you, and you were just going to let them?"
"What?" Garrus said sharply. "What do you mean, kill her? What are you talking about?"
Hayden sighed. "I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to do the right thing. I don't think they would have killed me, though."
"Trust me, Hayden, they were willing to kill."
She flopped back into her seat with a sigh. "Well, at least I know the answer to my question. You should let Garrus pilot so you can claim you were kidnapped."
"I swear, Hayden, if you try to get rid of me one more time, I will slap you." Kaidan was practically shaking with rage.
"Kaidan. Go sit with her, I'll get us out of here." Garrus took the controls.
"Where are we going?" Hayden asked calmly.
Kaidan moved to one of the cabin seats, and buried his head in his hands. "I don't know. I just wanted to get you away from them. Hayden, what… I don't even know where to begin."
Hayden looked at him. "I think we should go to Jupiter."
"Good idea, we can hide out for a while." Garrus entered the destination.
"I have such a headache from dealing with you," Kaidan snarled. "I have to replay every single conversation in my head a hundred times to figure out what the hell you are trying to do, and I still don't have any idea why you would basically tell the Alliance that it was okay to kill you."
Hayden looked at her toes, and didn’t answer.
Garrus shook his head. "What? Hayden, what is going on?"
Kaidan rested his arms on his legs. Suddenly he raised his head, and looked at her. "What question? What question did you need the answer to that was worth all this?"
Hayden looked at him, and just smiled. "I don't think I can answer that in a way that makes sense to you."
"Hayden! I deserve better than that," he snarled.
"Well, I'll try," she said sweetly. "I just don't know if it will make any sense." She stepped forward and took Kaidan's head in her hands, and bent down to him for a kiss. It took him an instant to realize what she was doing, and he surged up to take her in his arms, to pull her close and draw her into a soul-searing kiss.
She buried her hands in his hair, held him close, kissing him with her lips and every part of her body that she could press against him.
"Hayden," he whispered, "Hayden, I missed you so much." He kissed her again, drinking in the taste of her lips, the love in her embrace. "I love you, Hayden. I can't live without you."
"Oh," she said in surprise. "It did make sense!"
Kaidan laughed, and kissed her one more time. She seemed so absurdly small, looking up at him, her lips curved in a half-smile, bright blue eyes shining.
"I love you, and Garrus, and I need both of you." She looked over at Garrus, who grinned. "I get unbalanced without both of you."
"You don't say," Garrus smiled.
"I thought I would be okay just knowing you were somewhere out there, but it wasn't working. I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to tell you things, and I couldn't." She shook her head, trying to clear it. "I wanted to kiss you, and ask you about things, and I wanted to tell Garrus but I couldn't find the words," she sighed guiltily. "Everything was going fine until Charlie called me home, and I had to think about things I hadn't thought of in a long time. Nothing made sense anymore. I wasn't sure what was right, or if I was being fair. To either of you. Or to me, for that matter."
Kaidan kissed her again. "So, is it all cleared up now?"
She nodded happily.
"That's great," Kaidan smiled at her. "We can all sit down and talk, just like old times. As soon as we get out of this mess, anyway."
"Oh," she said simply. "Right." She moved up to the pilot's area and sat down on Garrus' lap. "I need to check something." She pulled up ColonyTown, and the little Mayor avatar skipped happily down the main street.
"Hayden, what are you doing?" asked Garrus. "Oh, you just love making me feel stupid, don't you?"
"What? No," she shook her head, "it's just…planning, and thinking. Taking risks. I see different things than you do." Her avatar danced happily with the Village Sage. "So, where are we right now?" She looked at the map, and then sent the information through the game to EDI. "She'll be here in a few minutes." She sent her avatar skipping back to the Mayor's house, and looked at the building critically. "She wants Kaidan to be a chaplain so we can build a church and have weddings."
Garrus burst out laughing. "I'm infected. My first thought was wondering what gifts I could give him."
Kaidan raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Come here, I'll install the game so you can get set up." Garrus held out his arm to Kaidan, and Hayden moved slightly so that Kaidan could lean against Garrus, and they could all see each other's omni-tools. It should have been stranger. Humans, dark and light, resting on an alien, their arms around each other, their faces lit up by the orange glow, against the backdrop of space. But they were friends, and lovers, and in the end, nothing else mattered.