Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or any other characters. Although... I guess I partially own Molly Shepard and a couple of very minor characters ;)

I didn't have a beta for this so sorry in advance for any mistakes. Please review. I'd love to hear what you think and it will only help my writing get better.

An Honor?

Shepard walked down the stairs leading to the lower deck rubbing at her temples in an attempt to alleviate the pulsing headache that seemed to be a hallmark of so many of her conversations with Ambassador Udina. With her eyes half-closed and not paying particular attention to her surroundings, she collided with another body coming up from the opposite direction.

She felt herself stumble and would have fallen quite gracelessly down the stairs if not for a pair of strong hands that shot out and grasped her by the arms, steadying her.

So much for my great sense of balance,she thought wryly. Mother would be disappointed right now seeing all those credits for dance and movement classes going to waste.

"Commander, are you alright?" a voice said, breaking in upon her thoughts.

Shepard became acutely aware of the hands still holding her and of the closeness of a distinctly male body. Involuntarily, warm tingles began spreading out throughout the surface of her skin making her flush.

For all of their talks and subtle flirting, she rarely had the opportunity to be so close to Kaidan outside of the battlefield. They both recognized the obstacles, not including broken regulations, that would be present in a relationship between them and so by unspoken consent had kept physical contact to a minimum to avoid temptation.

As if catching a hint of her thoughts, Kaidan had also become aware of the proximity of their bodies. She felt, more than heard, the smallest of sighs from him before he gently removed his hands and moved down a step in order to give them some much needed space.

If only this mission would be over, maybe then..., came wearily to her mind.

"I'm alright. I just came back from a meeting with the Ambassador..." she trailed off.

"That bad, huh?"

"Surprisingly no," she answered with a small laugh. "I think this was the first time he didn't berate me for one thing or another. Still, that doesn't make conversation with him any easier."

No wonder that the galactic community considers humans spoiled and pushy when looking at him, Shepard silently added to herself. Although most of the crew shared her opinion of Udina, she tried hard not to criticize him openly. Matters with the council were difficult as it were and she wanted to present some kind of unified front.

"I, um, have a break right now," Kaidan ventured, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "We could go down to the mess and talk about it over some coffee."

"You always know how to cheer a girl up, Alenko," she replied eyes twinkling. "I wanted to talk to you about the meeting anyway."

She watched him give a little start before turning to head towards the mess. This was the first time that she was seeking him out to privately discuss Citadel issues.

--

Sitting down at one end of the long mess hall table, Shepard watched as Kaidan prepared two mugs of coffee. She smiled as she realized that they had done this same kind of thing enough times in the past that it seemed like a comfortable routine.

Kaidan set a steaming mug in front of her while sliding into the opposite seat and now looked at her with curiosity.

"So what's the big secret?"

Now that she was faced with the reality of having to talk about the meeting with him, she suddenly grew shy.

Kaidan continued looking at her patiently, if somewhat askew. He certainly wasn't used to his commanding officer hesitating, at a loss for words.

"Shepard?"

The silence was definitely becoming awkward.

Oh, for the love of... You aren't some gawky adolescent anymore. Just spit it out.

Taking a deep breath, pushing her chin length red hair behind her ears, looking straight into his eyes she blurted out-

"Kaidan, will you be my date tonight?"

She watched as his whole body went still and a blank look descended upon his face. Even the two crew members sitting at the other end of the table had stopped talking and were staring in her direction.

One scowl and a nod of the head from the Commander was enough to send them off to another part of the ship.

Shepard turned her attention back to the lieutenant and watched him visibly swallow before he said, "I'm not sure I understand. Maybe you could start at the beginning?"

"Yeah, okay. That did come out sounding a bit strange," all the while thinking, Yet again we can see the result of credits well spent on speech and elocution classes.

"The Ambassador called us back to the Citadel because he wanted to talk to me about Feros. It appears that ExoGeni is very pleased by our handling of the situation with the colony and the subsequent influx of investors."

"You mean your handling of Jeong, right?" Kaidan interrupted. "The rest of us just stood around with our mouths hanging open. If I ever get a speeding ticket I want you to be my advocate." he finished with a grin.

She returned his grin relieved that the awkwardness had seemed to pass, and continued on.

"So the Senior Vice President of ExoGeni Colonial Affairs decided that some sort of celebration or what not is in order and has organized a dinner banquet tonight," she paused, "with me as guest of honor," finishing with a slight cringe.

A flicker of comprehension showed in Kaidan's eyes before saying, "Well, that's good isn't it? You deserve recognition for your hard work."

"I have enough of recognition," she grumbled testily. "All I really want is to stop Saren and finish this mission without all of these interruptions. I won't turn down anyone who needs help, but this dinner banquet is certainly not one of those cases."

"I know what you mean, Shepard. It does seem to be getting a little ridiculous - all of these interruptions, distractions, when the real threat has free reign in the galaxy. Ambassador Udina, of all people, should know that."

For a few moments they just sat there, each lost in their thoughts. It was a comfortable silence. Just one of the many reasons why she valued Kaidan so much. There never seemed to be a void that needed to be filled.

"So, um, going back to your previous question..." he began nervously, again rubbing the back of his neck.

With something akin to butterflies in her stomach she proceeded to explain the situation.

"The Ambassador informed me that while he couldn't order me to go, my absence at the banquet would have several unpleasant consequences."

Kaidan nodded slightly, waiting for her to go on.

"Let's see, he said something on the order of 'As the first Human Spectre you have a responsibility to represent not only Humans, but also Spectres, in the best possible light-' and so on. I kind of tuned out the rest."

"In short, what he was really telling me was that he expected me to be there, grateful for the honor, smile plastered on my face and, of course, a date in tow," she said, looking at him sheepishly.

Now it was Kaidan's turn to be silent and she was becoming nervous again.

It was funny how she could handle belligerent people and furious enemies alike without hesitation, but when it came to her lieutenant, she became emotionally unstable. She was in command of herself enough to control her emotions so that their missions would not suffer, but..., this was not the mission. And so her emotions ran amok.

Pulling together the vestiges of her scattered nerves she broke the silence.

"Look Kaidan, this isn't a big deal,"she began, her slightly shaky voice belying her words. "I won't be upset or offended if you say no. Like you said before, we don't have a lot of down time these days and I know that spending an evening listening to a bunch of pompous executives and politicians make small talk is way down on my list of fun things to do."

She was hoping that maybe this would ease the growing tension by giving him the way out that she knew he needed. He had already several times explained to her the importance of that.

In a softer tone of voice she said, "It's just that I really like spending time with you and I figured that if anyone could make this fiasco bearable, it would be you."

He looked at her a moment longer before breaking into a wide grin. "Commander Shepard, it would be my honor to be your date tonight," he said with mock seriousness. "You just took me by surprise, that's all. I mean it's kind of hard to believe that you would want me by your side at a function like that."

"What do you mean?"she asked, somewhat perturbed.

"C'mon Shepard, I've seen the way people look at you and the admirers you have. You could have taken your pick. And I'm not just talking about humans either," he added, somewhat jealously.

"What...? who...,"confusion apparent in her voice.

"Never mind," he relented, shaking his head as if to clear it. "It doesn't matter. I'm flattered that you asked me. So what time should I pick you up?"

"A transport car should be waiting in front of the Alliance's residential complex at 2100 hours so I suggest we meet a few minutes earlier in the lobby," she answered deciding that now was not the best time to pursue his previous statement.

"I'll be waiting then," he said standing up with a goofy smile on his face. He picked up their completely forgotten and untouched mugs of coffee and moved to place them in the dish receptacle.

"And, uh, Commander, don't you have an announcement to make?"

Shepard stared at him in utter incomprehension. Announcement? What... about us?! Then it dawned on her and she broke into her own goofy grin. She would most certainly have a mutiny on her hands if she neglected to announce shore leave for the crew of the Normandy.

--

Not for the first time was Shepard thankful for her apartment in the Alliance's residential complex, her thoughts wandering as she stepped into the elevator that would take her to the lobby. Well maybe apartment is too generous. Let's say largish storeroom, she amended. Nonetheless, her rank was not sufficiently high enough to have even been put on the waiting list under normal circumstances.

By some quirk of fate, Alliance officials had decided that it would look good - And probably wanting to monitor my activities - if they offered the first Human Spectre living space in the building.

Naturally she had jumped at the opportunity. Of course the Alliance had their own barracks on the Citadel, but at times the need to get away from her crew was overwhelming. Earlier today being a case in point.

Her announcement of shore leave had barely finished before she began hearing the whoops and cheers of the crew. With a smile she turned to leave the cockpit, but before she could take two steps Joker's voice stopped her.

"Hot date with Alenko tonight, Commander?" came the teasing drawl.

"Are you spying on us, Joker?" came the reply, more than a little annoyed.

"No ma'am. Word just travels fast around here."

Damn it. She had forgotten about the two crew members she had chased from the mess. Of course word travels fast. The Normandy had a small crew, about thirty, and everyone usually knew what was going on with whom.

That doesn't mean Joker wasn't listening in though. Once or twice she thought that she had caught him listening in on other crew, but since he didn't spread tales, she wasn't concerned about it. It was harmless enough and everyone needed a way to cope with being on board a ship for long periods of time.

"So... is it?" he probed.

"Joker, you're such an ass," she laughed relenting. "No one is as blunt as you."

"Yeah, well , except for Williams or Wrex maybe. But that still doesn't answer the question ma'am."

"I am thoroughly convinced that you have all of the information you would ever need, Joker. But to answer your question, no, it's not a hot date. I have been invited to a dinner banquet and I asked the lieutenant to be my escort."

She saw him opening his mouth and cut him off before he could say anything. "That's the official story. End of questions".

"Okay Commander," he smirked. "Have fun anyway."

And with that she had gathered up her things from the Normandy and fled to her apartment as soon as decently possible.

Before anyone else could ask questions.

Poor Kaidan. I wonder how much teasing he had to put up with? He was good natured enough to take it all in stride, but even so, it must have sorely irritated him.