Disclaimer: BioWare's game, I'm just messing around with it.

Rating: As of right now, M for language, violence, and forthcoming adult situations.

Pairing: F!Shenko, all the way. Definitely fluffy in some places and angsty in others. I told myself I wasn't going to fall for Kaidan during my first ME playthrough, and what did I do? Yeah. Still not regretting it.

Note(s): For this, I basically asked myself, "What if I just throw post-Horizon Shepard and Kaidan on a planet to work out their troubles?" and if that planet just happened to be a dangerous mutant-plant planet, then so be it... It's really just my take on what I think should have happened after Shepard's return from death, and just a lot of the tension surrounding their relationship during ME2, so expect a lot of flashbacks to the first game and in-between. Cover picture is art by Aameeyur Deviantart. I hope you enjoy!

Will we accept the things we must?

The world will now learn of change to come

or no world

-Coheed & Cambria

The air was still in the wake of what the Citadel Council had just said. Most eyes were on the woman standing at a lower podium before them, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. Her head was down, her eyes hidden.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, but with enough authority that her voice carried. "I must not have heard you correctly. Councilors, will you kindly repeat what you've just said?"

The members of the Citadel Council - turian, asari, and salarian - exchanged glances. Councilor Anderson, however, did not. He was frowning down at his podium, refusing to make eye contact.

The asari, Councilor Tevos, spoke. "Of course. In light of recent events, we have concluded that the attack on the Citadel was the result of the geth, manipulated and controlled by the rogue Spectre known as Saren Arterius. As he has been taken care of, we expect this to no longer be an issue. There are, however, the reports of ships missing in the Terminus Systems to address. We believe there are pockets of geth resistance there, the remnants of Saren's followers, and we'd like you to neutralize them. The Council-"

The woman spoke again, her voice louder this time. "Excuse me, Councilor. But what about the Reapers?"

Some of the associate members nearby, standing on balconies and in alcoves, paused in their hushed conversations. Every eye turned on her.

Again, all the Councilors, save for the human, exchanged equal looks. "What about them?" the turian, Councilor Sparatus, asked.

"Have you just forgotten that one of them attacked the Citadel and nearly killed you?" Her voice rang with anger.

Tevos spoke up again. "Despite your claims, we have no evidence proving that was indeed a Reaper, if such a thing even exists. What we do know is there was an invasion of geth, and Saren was at the helm of their forces. As Saren is dead and the geth scattered, the public has no more reason to fear a so-called 'Reaper attack' then they do another by the geth, so long as you do as we request and investigate the Terminus Systems."

The woman's head snapped up, revealing blazing green eyes. "Saren wasn't leading them," she shouted. "He was an instrument, indoctrinated by the Reaper, Sovereign!"

Whispers filled the Tower, associate members abuzz at the woman's claims. The members of the Council glanced around, each of them looking both dismayed and annoyed, save for Anderson. If anything, he seemed just as defiant as the woman below.

"This is a Council meeting," Sparatus blustered. "We will not be spoken to in this matter, regardless of who you are!"

"Quiet while a meeting is in progress, if you please," the salarian Councilor, Valern, said to those gathered. To the woman, he said, "If you would like to rephrase your claim, you may."

"Thank you, Councilor," the woman said through clenched teeth. "I apologize for my outburst, but with respect, I simply do not understand how you can dismiss the presence of the Reapers. They are real, and, if I may be so bold, you believed me quickly enough when your lives were at stake."

Someone gasped, and the whispers grew louder. Sparatus pounded on his podium. "You go too far!"

"I go as far as needed!" The woman took a step back. "You were there, all of you. You saw what happened right before your very eyes. Deny and lie to the people all you want, but you know what happened, and you know I'm right."

None of the Councilors said a word.

The woman looked around at the assembly gathered, at the aliens and humans alike, staring down at her in confusion, disbelief, outright mockery. A month ago, they were begging for her help, their lives at stake as their beautiful station was threatened, and now they were taking everything she had told them and throwing it away, just to live in ignorance. Well, she was finished.

"The Reapers are coming," she said, her voice echoing to the highest reaches of the Tower. She gestured at the Council. "These people would have you believe the threat is over, but it's not. It hasn't even begun. Prepare yourselves, because when the day comes and the Reapers arrive to wipe out everything we know, you will regret ever imagining you were safe."

There was a long pause.

"I think that is quite enough," Tevos said. "Now, will or will you not investigate the Terminus Systems, and eradicate what remains of the geth?"

"Yes, I will. But not for you." Her eyes flicked to Councilor Anderson. "I will do it for the people who have disappeared."

"Something I'm sure they will be grateful for," Anderson said quietly. "Thank you."

She nodded tersely. Her emerald eyes held the Council for a long moment. Then Commander Shepard - war hero of the Alliance military, first human Spectre, savior of the Citadel Council - turned on one heel and stalked down the stairs.

When Kaidan Alenko found her an hour later, she was decimating a paper target with a semi-automatic handgun. Having seen her possessed by that deadly focus before, he kept quiet and waited for the moment to pass. It was better not to disturb her when she had killing on the brain, regardless of whether or not he was the object of her rage.

Instead, he wandered around the apartment she'd been given by the Council. She hadn't had much time to spend in it, and it showed. Though fully furnished, she'd hardly decorated it at all. There were only two indicators that it belonged to her: the bookshelf near the window, shelves sagging under the weight of dozens of novels, and the picture of her with her parents at her graduation from ICT. Everything else was strange, seemingly belonging to someone else entirely.

Kaidan was just flipping through one of the books stacked haphazardly on a shelf, reading snippets of it, when there was a sigh. He glanced over his shoulder. The automatic shields around her had come down, scattering the remains of rounds across the tile floor. She put her pistol back in its holster, before snatching up the target. She made an annoyed clucking sound.

Kaidan set the book down, crossing the room. "What, did you miss?"

"Not exactly." She held it out to him. There was a significant hole with ragged edges where the forehead might have been, were it a real person. Just one little hole strayed from the others, down on the right cheek.

Kaidan rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Well, I always knew it. You're a terrible marksman."

Shepard smirked, taking the target back. She rolled it up, plunking it into the trash compactor built in to the wall. Shoving her yellow protective glasses to the top of her head, she walked into the small kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "You want something?"

"Beer, if you've got it."

She pointed at the uniform he was still wearing. "You sure about that, Lieutenant?"

"Hey, I'm on shore leave until my commanding officer tells me otherwise."

"Well, your commanding officer only has…" she bent over, peering inside, "fuzzy cheese and some oranges, so beer it is then!"

She pulled out two bottles, kicking the door shut with her foot. Cracking them open, she handed one to him, and took a long pull on the other. She perched on one of the barstools, unzipping her boots with one hand and kicking them off. If he hadn't seen her in a similar pose of relaxation before, it might have unnerved him, her being his commander and all. Now that they'd passed that stage, he was relieved to see her let go, if only for a few minutes.

He leaned against the counter across from her. They drank their beer in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. He tried to think of a time when they couldn't do that, but it seemed - at least, in his mind - that they'd always been able to just sit back and let the quiet speak for itself. Of course, in the past, it was usually because Shepard had her nose buried in a book, but he'd never minded. The silence spoke volumes, and it was enough.

At least, for a time. "Music, on," Shepard said. "Mozart; Don Giovanni Overture." The music started with a crescendo in a minor chord, sounding dark, ominous, intense. Shepard closed her eyes against the swell of the music, sighing quietly as she finished the last swallow of her beer. She set the bottle down, picking at the label, eyes unfocused.

"That bad, huh?" Kaidan asked quietly.

"What gave me away?"

He pointed to the music sphere across the room. "Don Giovanni. You played it after that time you fought with your mother." And I know you.

The corners of her mouth barely lifted, as she met his gaze across the counter. "They all but publicly denounced me. Went back to that whole 'the Reapers aren't real, you have no proof' bullshit."

"Seriously? Even after Sovereign attacked and you saved their lives?"

"Yep. They're claiming it was the geth, led by Saren. I tried to get through to them, but they just won't listen…" Shepard shook her head, ripping the label off her bottle. It made a satisfying tearing sound, but she just crumpled it in her fist. "Eight cruisers. Eight cruisers full of people, good people, with lives and families to go back to. They're dead because I made the call to save the Council, and this is how they repay me. This is how they honor those who sacrificed their lives to keep them safe. Not that they'd care, I suppose, because they were just human lives," she said bitterly. Suddenly, she punched the counter, her knuckles smacking against the stone loudly.

"Maybe they'll come to their senses. They can't very well ignore a Reaper attack, can they?"

"Yeah, but if it happens - when it happens," she corrected, "they'll be so unprepared that…well, a lot of people are going to get screwed over."

"Hey." Kaidan reached across the counter, grabbing her hand, gently rubbing her smarting knuckles. "It won't come to that. We'll stop them."

She smiled slightly. "You think so?"

"Of course. With you leading us, there's no way we'll lose."

"You're sweet, Kaidan." She sighed again. "I just wish they wouldn't waste my time."

Kaidan frowned. "What do you mean?"

She explained to him about the so-called geth resistance and the ships going missing. The entire time, she squeezed his hand. He didn't think she even realized she was doing it.

"They're sending us to the Terminus Systems? But doesn't that seem like-"

"They're getting rid of me? Trust me, the thought has crossed my mind. But what can I do, just leave those people to whatever fate has found them?" She shook her head. "No way. So yes, we're going to the Terminus Systems." A shadow suddenly crossed her face. "I wish I could take everyone."

He knew she meant the crew that had been with her at the end, the crew that had helped her stop Saren, but after Sovereign and Saren both had been killed and the Reaper invasion temporarily delayed, they'd all gone their separate ways; besides Tali'Zorah, the quarian tech who'd completed her Pilgrimage, he didn't really know where anyone else had gone. Shepard would know, and if he had to bet money, he'd put it on her itching to contact them and bring them along. Unfortunately, this was Alliance business, but he knew she still missed them.

"Well, you've got Joker and the Normandy's crew, the finest in the galaxy. And me," he added as an afterthought.

She smiled, the look on her face reserved specially for him. "Yeah, and you."

The music swelled around them, and for Kaidan, it was more than enough.