Parallax

A/n: So, here’s another chapter of Parallax. It’s funny how I have two chair scenes, one here and one in Conduit. Apparently making out in chairs is on my mind. And! I have less scene changes in this chapter! Go me!

“Oh my God!” was all the warning Kaidan had before he found himself enwrapped by a terrified Shepard.

The Lieutenant stumbled backward along the docking platform and hissed an unintelligible curse. All of his hair stood on end; Shepard had activated her biotic barrier, her eyes wide in terror. Kaidan looked all around the docking bay for the source of the Commander’s fear.

What was it?

A pulsing, dark blue glow formed at his fingertips. His eyes narrowed in the direction Shepard looked.

The Commander let out a fearful scream as tears began to form in her eyes. The object of her terror moved from its hiding spot in the shade of a shipping crate. It was so small that many would overlook it, but to Shepard, it was a miniature version of Sovereign itself. Its six legs carried it quickly across the synthetic floor and the Commander could swear that she heard its movement. Tiny, bristled feet skittered while the filthy creature’s wing-clad abdomen scraped across the ground.

“Oh my God!” she wailed, “It’s coming right for us!” Shepard sobbed loudly and increased her barrier.

Kaidan finally spotted the little black-winged problem on the lightly colored metal gangway. He cocked his head to the side. How did the little guy get so far? Did he come on the Normandy or from the shipping container?

It was a cockroach in space.

The Lieutenant shook his head at the roach’s valiant effort of colonization. It had been for naught. Kaidan raised his hand and released an excessively large wave of dark energy at the creature, shearing it into a small collection of floating insect bits.

“Ew, ew, ew!” Shepard cried, repeating her mantra until her Lieutenant used his biotics to throw the remainders of the roach off the platform.

Though Shepard’s biotic barrier disappeared, she still clung to her Lieutenant in fear. What if there were more? Where there was one roach, another was sure to be another lurking nearby. She whimpered and hid her face against Kaidan’s chest, her legs and arms tightening around him.

“Shhh…” Kaidan murmured, “the roach is gone. You can relax now.” His hand gently rubbed her back in an effort to calm her.

It had no effect. At the mere mention of the roach, Shepard whimpered and increased the strength of her hold. Sighing, Kaidan walked toward the ship, hoping that she’d relax with the added distance from the location of the incident. His feet crossed the threshold into the decon chamber, and still the Commander clung to him. The Lieutenant continued to soothe Shepard through the decon scan and felt her grip relax slightly.

“Are you okay now?” he asked. The scan was complete and they had to enter the ship. Kaidan felt her shake her head ‘no’ against his chest. “Shepard,” he sighed, “you know you can’t let the crew see you like this.”

She peered up at him, her eyes large and glassy. Realizing he was right, she gave her Lieutenant one last squeeze before sliding down to place her feet on the ground.

Kaidan gently grabbed her arms and kissed her on the forehead. The Normandy’s airlock door opened. Shepard put on her Commander face and grabbed her Lieutenant’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Together they entered the ship, the crew staring and whispering amongst themselves over this new development. It was apparent that the couple completely adored each other.

In an instant, bets were won and lost. The Commander and Lieutenant’s relationship was clearly not based on lust.

Shepard turned to Pressley and told him to set course for Eletania then opened the door to the second level. She wanted to get to her quarters as quickly as possible. Upon nearing Kaidan’s workstation, she felt him tug on her hand as if he expected to be allowed to go to work.

“No,” she tugged back and dragged him to her quarters.

The doors closed behind them and Shepard engaged the lock. Shepard led her Lieutenant to a chair and let go of his hand before gently pushing him to sit. She crawled into his lap and curled up like a kid. After a moment, she sighed and spoke up.

“It was a bad acid trip,” she said, leaning her head against his chest.

“Huh?” Kaidan asked, his expression confused.

“I had a bad trip once,” Shepard snorted, “I saw a bunch of roaches. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. The little fuckers still scare me shitless.” She brought her arms up to rest on his shoulders.

“That makes sense,” he replied, returning her hug.

For a few minutes, a companionable silence pervaded the room.

Shepard shifted to straddle his lap in an attempt to get more comfortable. Their eyes met and in a second, both were very aware of the position they were in. The Commander remembered the feel of his lips when he kissed her in the hallway. She didn’t remember how he tasted when they kissed drunkenly on Noveria. The Commander didn’t like not remembering things. She rationalized the matter:

It was just a taste.

Shepard leaned in and kissed him, her tongue immediately seeking his. Their tongues danced across each other and she sighed; Kaidan tasted so good. She felt his hands wandering down her back to grip her hips. Leaning in to the kiss further, Shepard scooted up his lap to draw closer to him. Kaidan groaned and thrust upward at the woman on his lap in an attempt to ease his burning lust.

The Commander paused for a moment then eased up on her kisses. Her insistent Lieutenant picked up the slack and began to increase his fervor; he wanted her here and now in the chair. Sensing this, Shepard scooted further back toward his knees and placed her hands on his chest, gently pushing him back. She couldn’t give it to him like this, her period notwithstanding.

“At ease, Lieutenant,” Shepard murmured.

Kaidan leaned forward and brought his head to rest on top of hers. Though frustrated, he was glad she cut the moment short. He was unsure of his feelings for Shepard and sex would only serve to confuse him more.

“I should go,” he gently grabbed her arms and held her gaze, “you know, mission reports, that kind of thing.”

There were no mission reports.

Shepard nodded her consent, stood, and watched him leave. The doors to her quarters closed quietly and she was alone to think. Earlier, she ignored the signals of sexual attraction between them but now she couldn’t deny it existed.

The Commander plunked down at her console, crossed her arms and legs, and began to make a mental list about her Lieutenant.

Kaidan was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. Marine training had whittled his body into one of the finest specimens of the male gender that Shepard had seen. His voice was dreamy as well. He was a biotic; they both were. Human biotics were a rare breed and it gave them a bond deeper than she’d had with her other non-biotic friends. And not only was he a stable L2, he was a strong one. His powers were supposedly on par with those of an asari and she was inclined to agree.

And he had some damn sexy brains to go with the whole package.

There was a mutual attraction between them and everyone already thought they were having sex. They were at the point where they could decide to be sex buddies. Shepard narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in thought.

No.

She shook her head and dismissed the idea. Kaidan didn’t deserve to have a woman that had lost the number of men she’d slept with pawing on him. Never before had her regret of her past actions stung as much as it did when considering her Lieutenant. Shepard felt ashamed that she’d even considered him for a random encounter.

Her best friend deserved the best woman in the world; she wasn’t even close.

Shepard logged in to her console and huffed. She threw out her line of thought altogether. They would be on Eletania soon and she had to keep her head in the mission. Hackett was counting on that data.


-------------------------------------------------------------


The Mako fell from the sky and landed with a jolt, the rover’s shocks absorbing the brunt of the impact. Gripping wheels kicked up chunks of moss and fertile terrain as pollen and various seeds floated throughout the clear, blue sky.

“You know, this is a lovely place,” Shepard smiled, “the rings add a nice touch too.” She nodded toward the thin, white band in the sky.

“Except for the deadly, microscopic creatures floating in the air,” Kaidan said, his voice devoid of emotion. He maneuvered the rover to head in the direction of the data probe.

“You’re always such a downer,” she quipped, rolling her eyes.

Tali just chuckled. She’d been with Shepard since the Commander had become a Spectre. And the Quarian knew why she’d been selected to go with them on this particular mission; she’d be leaving for the Flotilla soon and Shepard wanted to make sure that she spent time with her. Tali glanced between the Commander and Lieutenant and smiled. She hoped to find a love like theirs someday.

The rover stopped in front of the downed probe and the ground team hopped out. Tali approached the probe, ready to help the Lieutenant in extracting the data module. Her eyes widened in realization.

The module was gone.

Tali looked over at Kaidan. His eyes were closed, his body language tense. He took a deep breath and sighed.

“Shepard,” he hesitated then sighed again, “the module’s missing.”

The Commander looked at her Lieutenant, her brow furrowed.

“I’m sorry,” she crossed her arms, “it sounded like you said the module was missing.”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded, his expression apologetic.

Shepard sighed and rubbed her forehead. Nothing was ever easy. She motioned toward the downed probe with her hand, signaling Kaidan to inspect the empty module port.

Kaidan nodded. He and Tali approached the panel, examining it closely.

“See,” he murmured, “claw marks. Some kind of animal probably took it.” Kneeling down, he pressed two fingers into a suspicious indentation in the earth below the probe. “Footprints from some kind of animal, maybe half a day old.” It was impossible to tell what kind of animal had taken the probe based on the print alone.

Tali nodded and mentally filed the Lieutenant’s information away. The exiled Quarians didn’t have much time to learn about the tracking of animals; she would have to research this subject as well. Tali sighed, the sound lost in the confines of her environmental suit. Part of her didn’t want to leave. These humans had let her in and treated her like an equal. She would never forget their kindness.

“Well,” Shepard sighed, “we should probably start by checking out the Prothean ruins to the southwest. The animals may have taken shelter near them.”

Kaidan nodded in reply. He strode over to the Mako and opened the door, helping both Commander and Quarian get in before hoisting himself into the driver’s seat.

“You’re cute,” Shepard looked over at her Lieutenant and chuckled, “helping two very capable ladies into the rover like that.”

“It’s what I do, Shepard,” he smiled.

She leaned over and gently hugged him before sitting back to watch the scenery. It was quite a shame that Eletania’s very air was poisonous to non-natives. The planet itself was so gorgeous. But she wondered what kind of animal had taken the module. The evidence on the downed probe said that the animal was clawed.

In front of the Mako, a large, jagged foothill loomed. The Commander looked at the topography map, trying to find a way around the rocky area. To the south, there seemed to be small letup in the hill’s altitude and incline. She looked up just in time to watch the Mako slam into the near vertical hillside.

“Kaidan,” she said, her eyes huge, “there’s an easier way than just straight through.”

He merely shrugged and floored the accelerator. The Mako ground up the hillside, barely losing momentum. Shepard rolled her eyes and mumbled something about ‘stupid men’, her grumblings drowned out by the sound of the rover roaring at its maximum power.

Soon, all the passengers could see was sky. The Mako’s all terrain wheels desperately grabbed at the loose dirt on the hill and began to slowly roll backward.

“Everyone lean forward,” Kaidan directed, his hands gripping the rover’s controls tightly.

“Why?” Shepard crossed her legs and arms, “are you going to pop the left front tire again?” A smirk spread across her lips.

“Woman…” he warned, his eyes narrowing.

Kaidan’s hand shot out to poke Shepard in the side, the action causing her to jump forward with a squeak. With her added movement, the Mako slowly tilted forward then plummeted down the sheer face of the hillside to land with a jarring thud.

“Left front tire deflated,” Tali remarked, amused that the Lieutenant had succeeded in popping the combat grade tire once again.

“You know, Kaidan,” Shepard chuckled as he helped her out of the rover, “you always seem to turn mischievous every time you drive the Mako.”

“That’s not the only time,” he replied, leaning in closer to the Commander’s face.

“Behave, mister,” Shepard chided and turned to look at the ruin.

There were no signs of animals, which seemed strange. The ruins looked as if they were in a decent area that was sheltered from the elements, especially wind. Shepard’s eyes were drawn to a large, floating metallic sphere. It was familiar. Without examining the orb in detail, she returned to the Mako and retrieved the trinket that the Consort had given her.

“I’ve been here,” Shepard murmured as she approached the ruin.

Kaidan and Tali stepped back and watched Shepard place the trinket into a small slot on the side of the metal sphere. A flash of light momentarily blinded them and when their eyes adjusted, Shepard was out cold.

The Lieutenant hissed a curse and ran over to his Commander. Kneeling down, he checked her vitals; she was fine, but her eyes were rapidly moving under her eyelids. A memory of Shepard unconscious in the med bay after Eden Prime came to him; she was having another vision. Kaidan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Leaning down, he gently reached under her body to transport her to the Mako.

He froze when she began to speak.

“Oh, officer” Shepard whispered.

That was unexpected. Kaidan chuckled under his breath.

“Oh, please handcuff me,” she mumbled, her back arching slightly.

Kaidan scrunched his eyes closed, trying not to think about the dream Shepard was having. So she liked cops, eh? He could play that game. The Lieutenant filed the bit of information away.

Why?

It wasn’t like he’d hold that information against Shepard. And he wasn’t planning on having deviant sex with her anytime soon. Kaidan shook his head and looked down at Shepard.

She was awake.

“Hey,” Shepard whispered, squinting up at him.

“Hey,” he replied. His hand moved to brush her hair away from her face.

The Commander paused for a moment and blinked.

“You know,” she mused, “you have really nice breath.”

“Um…” Kaidan closed his eyes and chuckled, “thanks, I guess.”

Shepard reached up and wound her arms around his shoulders. For a brief moment, her lips brushed against his before he gently lifted her and carried her to the Mako. She didn’t need to be carried, but she wasn’t about to protest.

Tali followed the couple to the rover and shut the door behind her. Glancing down at the radar image of the planet, she blinked.

“We’ve picked up some new readings,” the Quarian said, “it looks like the systems have detected some colonies of animals nearby.”

“Good catch,” Shepard replied, “are there any structures near the colonies?” She smiled. They were back in business.

“There seems to be an anomaly to the northeast,” she pointed to the marker on the map.

“Alright, let’s go there,” Shepard directed.

Kaidan nodded, put the Mako in reverse, and stomped the accelerator. Shepard jerked forward, her seatbelt jarring her back.

“Dammit, Kaidan!” she cursed.

The Mako trekked backward up the hill, dirt flying in front of the windshield. For a moment, all motion stopped as the rover’s weight shifted. Suddenly, the hillside gave way and the Mako tumbled backward through the air and landed with a crunch.

“Right rear tire deflated,” Tali announced, “At least they still work when they’re flat.”

Shepard sighed. Every time she let Kaidan drive the Mako, things like this happened. Though it was fun to allow him to go wild while driving, Shepard knew she had to draw the line somewhere. Garrus wouldn’t always be around to fix the rover.

“So, what kind of animal do you think we’re tracking?” Tali enquired, sensing Shepard’s tension.

“Hm,” Kaidan tapped his fingers on the Mako’s controls in thought, “well, it was clawed and it had to have hands in order to get that control panel off.”

“It could have special paws,” Shepard said, “like a squirrel or rodent of some form. Those kinds of paws have good gripping capabilities, you know.” She crossed her arms, convinced that she was right.

“I’m not so sure, Commander,” Kaidan countered, “I think we’re dealing with something similar to a monkey.”

The worse-for-wear Mako rumbled toward the area marked on the radar. Shepard thought about her Lieutenant’s proposal of monkey-like creatures taking the module. To her, there was no creature more ugly than a monkey. She narrowed her eyes at the horizon.

“They better not be monkeys,” Shepard huffed, “I fucking hate monkeys.”