A/N: This work was a piece I had been working on several months ago, promptly abandoned, then picked pack up when progress on my main story was slow going. I have most of it written, so I expect this to be updated fairly frequently. I hope you enjoy it. Many, many thanks to the incomparable Dr. Jekyl for beta reading and rescuing my ass when it was clear I had no idea what I was doing.

(And if you people aren't reading "That Which Was Lost" I seriously don't even know what to do with you.)

Best,

-jt-

The Immortal Game

Part I: Opening

"In choosing an opening plan players think most of all of harmonious development for the pieces, but sometimes leave the development of the queen out of their considerations. Yet the Queen is the most valuable and important piece and the whole outcome can depend upon how successfully she plays her role."

- Alexander Kotov

Aria T'Loak wasn't even slightly surprised when Shepard strode into the VIP area of the garish club the Citadel's sheep called Purgatory and she called Hell. She'd known that the human had been onboard the station for a few hours now, drumming up what support she could for the war, and probably making as many enemies as she was allies. It really was only a matter of time before she sought audience with the Queen of Omega. Everyone came to her eventually. Even here.

She took the same disaffected air that she did with everyone, even though Shepard was not like most people. Aria had always been intrigued by the Spectre, whether she cared to admit or not. Shepard had breezed onto Omega with an ease and confidence that Aria had originally mistaken for typical human bluster. However, Shepard quickly proved herself to be rather at home in the slums of Aria's de facto kingdom, and Aria had quickly realized that, while the human did possess an irritating cockiness about her, she was also immensely capable and could be downright nasty. She appreciated the moral grey area that Shepard so comfortably resided in, and, although she wouldn't go so far as to say that she admired the human, Aria definitely had a healthy respect for her.

The human hadn't changed since Aria had last seen her on Omega - same shock of cropped red hair, same smoldering eyes, same fucking smirk. Aria remembered the eyes more than anything, but she decided that was only because it was rare to see those types of implants in a human.

The atmosphere seemed to crackle as Shepard sat down on the couch, even though the human knew enough to keep a respectful distance. Aria dismissed the bothersome immigration agent and turned to her visitor.

"Guess there's one rule on the Citadel, huh?"

Same fucking wise mouth.

"I guess so." Aria gestured at the burly batarian next to her, who in turn waved over an asari server. The maiden gracefully walked over with a tray of drinks, and Shepard's gaze lingered noticeably on the asari's lithe form as she placed two on the table in front of them. Aria quickly suppressed a smirk.

Same fucking tastes.

They spoke of Omega, the Illusive Man, and her hatred of the damn Citadel. Shepard's interest was piqued when Aria informed her of the merc army just at her fingertips, and what she'd need to do to get it. She agreed to the plan without much discussion, then leaned back to finish her drink.

Aria always did enjoy conducting business with the human. She was brusque and to the point, with little patience for wasting time. It was a trait Aria appreciated, and one that was surprisingly rare, even in her line of work.

Aria watched Shepard's eyes rove over the club as she drank. Even though the human's gaze was cool and detached, she lingered on the occasional waitress or dancer that drifted into view, and it soon became apparent what Shepard was looking for. Aria inclined her chin slightly. She had assumed a certain asari on the Normandy was meeting those needs.

"What's the matter, Shepard? Your little girlfriend cut you off?" She couldn't resist needling the human, especially if she was going to be so damn obvious about it.

Shepard tensed, and those eyes flashed red.

"Liara and I aren't together. Haven't been for awhile." She made a face and put down her half-empty glass. "You're right; the drinks here are shit."

Aria arched a brow, ignoring Shepard's thinly veiled attempt at a subject change. That was interesting. Apparently the young doctor's devotion to the commander was not as deep as she originally thought. It also appeared to be a sore subject, something that Aria would definitely file away for future use.

"I know several upstanding young ladies who would be willing to help you with that," she offered grandly, making a broad, sweeping gesture with her arm towards the rest of the club.

Shepard shook her head. "No. The last thing I need is to owe you any favors."

Aria felt strangely wounded by the comment, but quickly ignored it.

"Consider this one on the house. It looks like you need it." She peered over Shepard's shoulder at the lower bar, then raised a slender, elegant finger at a bored-looking maiden that had been cornered by an exuberant turian. "There. Her name is Alysia. A dancer here, just finished her shift. She likes poetry, long walks across the beach, and getting spanked mercilessly. Perfect for you."

Shepard looked over to where Aria was pointing, and nodded slightly in appreciation. "Speaking from experience, are you?"

Aria didn't answer, instead just giving a bored shrug. The dense turian had finally gotten the hint, and Alysia was now alone by the corner of the bar. Shepard stood and drained the rest of her previously abandoned drink.

"I'll see you around, Aria."

She gave Aria her usual smirk and left the VIP area.

The human moved remarkably fast. There were the cursory introductions, a few-well time jokes, then the slight brush of a hand against Alysia's lower back. The bill was quickly paid, and the couple headed towards the exit. Aria couldn't help but be impressed as she watched Shepard gently guide the dancer out of the bar. Just before they left, Shepard looked up towards the VIP booth and caught Aria's gaze, giving her that fucking smirk again.

Aria shifted in her seat, suddenly feeling oddly uncomfortable. But she told herself that it was nothing, and the feeling quickly passed.

Aria saw Shepard again a few days later. The commander had shown up at the club with a few of her crew, but quickly segregated herself, striding purposefully past the VIP booth and exchanging matching looks of disinterest with Aria as she headed towards the secluded upper bar. Aria thought that would be the extent of their interaction until about an hour later, when the massive batarian, Jerra, leaned over to tell her that Shepard had just put two turians and an elcor in the hospital. She sighed and rolled her eyes, then gave a slight nod. Jerra quickly left, followed closely by Grizz.

The human was deposited unceremoniously in the center of the booth a few moments later, bloodied, heavily intoxicated, and in a foul mood.

"What the fuck do you want?" Shepard snarled as she leaned precariously to one side. She swiped at her bruised lip and spat blood onto the carpet, barely missing Aria's very new, very expensive designer boot. She frowned. If Shepard dared ruin her shoes, she would damn well carve the next pair out of the human's hide.

"Sit down before you fall down, Shepard," Aria said, concealing her annoyance with a dismissive wave. She idly glanced over at a nearby datapad, deliberately ignoring Shepard for a moment.

Jerra grabbed Shepard's arm to force her to the couch but was roughly brushed off.

"Fuck you, Aria. I'm not some goddamn pet you can call down here whenever you want."

The pistol was cocked and jammed into Shepard's back before Aria even looked up. No one spoke to her like that, not even on the Citadel, and the ever helpful Grizz was sure to remind Shepard of that fact. But if the human was at all unnerved by the loaded weapon being pressed into her, she gave no indication. Instead, she glared at Aria with those eyes, tinged with that ever present red glow that made them look like smoldering embers.

"Really?" Shepard sneered. "You're gonna shoot me because I'm not bowing down at the Pirate Queen's feet?"

Aria didn't have the slightest idea what had gotten into the normally unflappable soldier, and while it was unusual, found she really didn't care as much as she should have. What did concern her, however, was her body's very sudden, very distinct reaction to the human standing before her. As Aria appraised Shepard as coolly as possible, taking in her fiery eyes, the thin line of blood running from the corner of her mouth, the way her fingers slightly hooked into the waist of her pants as she stood with her hands on her hips, she felt her heartbeat quicken, and a sudden flush of warmth raced through her body. Aria thought she knew her predilections quite well; she had never been into humans, especially the males, and preferred to stick to turians or her own species for recreational purposes. And so it came as quite a surprise when she realized that the sight of a righteously pissed off Shepard was, actually, kind of a turn on.

Aria looked at Grizz and shook her head slightly, and the turian reluctantly lowered his weapon.

"I'm doing you another favor. Sit down," she tried again, attempting to ignore her body's reaction to the angry human. "The last thing people need to see is the supposed Savior of the Galaxy fighting with a damn elcor."

Shepard sat down with a huff."I didn't mean to hit him with that bottle. That turian ducked too damn fast."She leaned forward and loosely intertwined her fingers in front of her, then began bouncing her foot on the carpet. Aria gaze was drawn to Shepard's sinewy forearms and lean, muscular hands.

"For future reference, I would avoid very public, very noisy bar fights from now on. It doesn't look good on you," the asari said, even though a part of her had decided the fight had looked very good on Shepard indeed. What the hell had gotten into her? She must be in a longer dry spell than she originally thought if she was being tempted by a damn human.

But, this wasn't just any human.

She frowned slightly as she again looked Shepard up and down. She'd never seen someone so tense; the human was a ball of tight, chorded muscle that looked like she was about ready to jump out of her skin. Shepard wore the same darkly hungry expression on her face she had the last time they'd spoken, and it was clear that the young Alysia's charms had done nothing to alleviate her tension. The commander glanced over, their eyes met for a brief moment, and Aria saw that the hunger in the human's only intensified as she looked at her, and again as her eyes dropped to rake unabashedly over her body.

Sleep with Shepard. Why the hell not? Besides, if she had to fuck another one of those vacuous, bubble-headed dancers she would probably explode. And not in a good way.

With a graceful flick of her hand, Aria's omni tool came to life. She made a few taps, and then Shepard's wrist began to beep. The human scowled at the incoming message.

"What the fuck is this?"

Aria stood to leave. "My last favor. Sober up and meet me in my apartment. One hour." She turned and sauntered away before Shepard had a chance to respond, making sure to add an extra sway to her hips as she walked towards the private elevator. Aria felt the heat of Shepard's gaze on her the entire time, and allowed herself a cocky smirk of her own as the doors closed behind her.

Aria sat back in thick cushions of her couch, nursing a brandy and casting the occasional glance towards her omni tool. She knew Shepard was deliberately making her wait, but was only mildly annoyed at that fact. Aria knew how the game was played, and, honestly, part of her would have been disappointed if Shepard didn't understand the rules as well. Show up too early and you'll look desperate; show up too late and you'll look like an ass. Aria swirled the liquor in her glass and began a silent countdown. The door chimed just as she hit zero, at precisely one hour and twelve minutes since she'd left the club.

Shepard entered silently and stood just at the entrance to the luxury apartment, her eyes sweeping across the living area from left to right, then back again, before finally coming to rest on Aria. The redness in the human's irises had dimmed, but the deep, dark eyes were still smoldering and her gaze was sharp and clear. Aria felt that same rush of warmth shoot through her as their eyes met.

"I'd offer you a drink, but I'm sure you've had enough," she said, swirling the liquor in her glass. She took a very deliberate sip, looking at Shepard from over the rim of the heavy tumbler. The commander didn't respond, instead just taking two tentative steps into the apartment, still furtively glancing about the room.

Aria rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Really, Shepard? If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already."Shepard's head snapped over to look at her, and Aria saw that bright flash of red again. She wondered, for the briefest of moments, what the human's eyes had looked like before the implants.

"What's your endgame, Aria?" Shepard asked, apparently unmoved by Aria's assurances.

The asari heaved a sigh and stood up from the couch. She wasn't opposed to making the first move, but Shepard's hesitation was starting to piss her off. It wasn't like she made offers like this every day, and certainly never to a human. This was either going to happen or it wasn't, and she was sick of waiting. Although, part of her could understand Shepard's wariness - in both of their respective industries, trust was a rare commodity.

"I'm looking to get laid. Which is something I thought you could appreciate." Aria slowly shrugged off her jacket and tossed it casually on a nearby chair. She walked around the couch and turned to enter her bedroom, pausing at the doorway and calling over her shoulder. "Now, you can either pull your head out of your ass and join me, or you can show yourself out." She went into the bedroom without another word.

The human moved remarkably fast.

A pair of strong hands were on her waist, pulling her a step backwards, and a warm mouth suddenly on the sensitive folds on the back of her neck. She inhaled sharply, and reached back to clutch at Shepard's hair as the human's arms tightened around her. She was struck not only by Shepard's strength, but her sheer mass, heavy fatigues and tightly wound muscle pressing insistently against her. Aria felt her belt being deftly undone, and slender fingers slowing moving down the front of her pants.

Not to be outdone, she flared her biotics briefly, just enough to push Shepard back slightly, and spun in the human's arms. Their mouths crashed together violently, and Aria dragged her fingertips through Shepard's hair and down her neck to the collar of her shirt. She grabbed hold fiercely, hands wreathed in sparking blue energy, and threw Shepard onto the bed.

The call came in a few days later. It was on a private channel, and had been encrypted and coded and scrambled in so many dizzying ways that it could only be from one person. Aria shot a look at Grizz, who silently stepped away to give her more privacy in the booth, then opened her omni tool. A familiar, husky voice crackled over the comm link.

"So, you want me to kill Oraka or what?"

Aria rolled her eyes. Apparently Shepard was finally getting around to dealing with the mercs. The asari sighed and shifted in her seat. Of course their first conversation since sleeping together would be about assassinating a high-ranking military official. The commander was the only other person she knew that could speak so causally about killing someone.

"I thought you might employ a little diplomacy first. Talk to him, see if you can get him to lay off. That's all Vosque needs."

Shepard made a strange noise over the comm, something akin to a strangled grumble, and Aria seriously wondered if the human was pouting because she hadn't been given permission to shoot first. "I'm not one for talking. All my negotiations seem to end in a hail of gunfire," Shepard said.

"Through no fault of your own, I'm sure." Despite her best efforts, the corners of Aria's mouth turned upwards into a slight smile. A bored-looking waitress ambled by, and Aria snatched a brandy off the maiden's tray without giving her a second look.

"What can I say? Chaos and destruction follow me everywhere," Shepard remarked dryly. "Why didn't you just tell me all this in the first place?"

"Because Vosque needed to realize who he was dealing with." Aria sipped at her drink. "And if I have to suffer that scumbag staring at my tits one more time, I might have to kill him."

Shepard laughed, a low, gravelly sound that rumbled through the comm channel. Aria felt her pulse quicken, and she quickly ignored it. "He is under the impression that you two have an arrangement," the human said.

Aria snorted derisively. "That idiot is delusional if he thinks I'm going to sleep with him."

"I wouldn't worry about it. He can't do much of that with a ruptured scrotum."

Aria immediately made a face. "That's disgusting," she said, blanching at the imagery. Leave it to human males to keep the most sensitive parts of their genitalia on the exterior of their bodies. Most other species had the good sense to keep it inside, at least when it was not being used.

"Hey, if anyone deserved a swift kick to the crotch, it was that asshole." Although Shepard kept her tone light, Aria thought she could discern a slight strain in her voice.

"So you're defending my honor now, Shepard? How noble of you."

"I think I'm way too late for that," Shepard said. The smugness in the reply was evident even over the command Aria could just picture that stupid, cocky grin plastered on the human's face as she spoke. "Besides, Vosque wouldn't know what to do with you, even if he did get the chance."

"And you do?" Her response came quickly and without thinking, before she realized what was happening. Was she...flirting? The notion was utterly preposterous; she never fucking flirted, and especially not with an irritating, obnoxious human. And yet, even as she thought about it, that slight smile kept tugging insistently at her mouth, and the warmth pooling in her lower abdomen that she had originally attributed to the brandy was becoming harder to ignore.

"I didn't hear any complaints the other night," Shepard said teasingly.

"You were the one begging me not to stop," Aria shot back.

Shepard didn't respond and a heavy silence fell between them, thick with innuendo. Aria was determined not to surrender, but the silence stretched on for so long it was nearly unbearable, and the rush of warmth she had experienced earlier began turning into a distinct throb. She finally opened her mouth to speak, but Shepard broke and was the first to ask the inevitable question.

"So what are you doing later?"