He knew everything there was to know about Commander Jane Shepard, his expertise seconded only to Miranda Lawson who had headed the Lazarus project. There was something about the commander that enraptured the galaxy as a whole. Even as the Council tried to deny the existence of everything she'd warned would be coming for them, Shepard was still one of the most influential people alive.

Personally, he didn't see what all the fuss was about. The commander was just a street urchin from Earth who'd joined the Alliance to avoid jail time. She had led her whole team to their deaths on Akuze, and it was by pure luck that she defeated Sovereign on the Citadel. If the Illusive Man had just let Kai Leng handle the Collectors he could have dealt with them with twice the finesse at a quarter of the cost.

Even though he could understand the general fascination with her, what he couldn't understand was how a single person could hold so much influence in the galaxy. Against his council, the Illusive Man had spent an exuberant amount of credits just to bring her back from the dead. Kai Leng didn't get it. He didn't understand how one woman could decide the fate of an entire galaxy, but he was determined to find out by any means necessary.

According to his contacts the Normandy and her crew were dry docked on the Citadel. They were between assignments, which meant that they had some time to spare. If Kai Leng could find Shepard then maybe he would be able to find out what exactly it was about her that demanded so much praise.

On the occasional visit he had made to the Lazarus Project, he and Shepard had never met in person but, be that as it may, he'd taken extra precautions to make sure that he wasn't recognized. Staring himself in the bathroom mirror, Kai brushed back his freshly cut hair, the obsidian black strands shortened to just medium length. His civilian clothing was semi casual, business appropriate, and were made of soft tones that brought out the color of his skin. Even he had to admit that he cleaned up nicely.

The bathroom door parted with his approach, revealing an avian-like turian standing on the other side. Not bothering to wait for the alien to move aside and let him pass, Kai pushed past the turian and ignored his responding grumbled protest. According to his sources, Shepard had last been seen entering Flux, and he didn't have time to dance around the bathroom exit with an alien.

Luckily he wasn't too far from the nightclub that doubled as a casino. If the commander wasn't in a bar hopping kind of mood, he would make it there in time to see her. Kai kept his attention forward as he strode through the Citadel's streets, aware of everyone and everything around him. If anyone recognized him and retaliated with violence, he was confident in his abilities to stop them. He had left his sword behind, safely hidden under his hotel bed, knowing that it would collect unwanted attention, but it was only one of the many weapons in his arsenal. There were hundreds of other way he knew how to kill a man, and a majority of them only required his body as the weapon.

Cutting through the markets on the Upper Wards, Kai turned a corner and climbed the set of stairs that led to the nightclub's entrance. House beats rumbled through the bulkheads, vibrating the ground beneath his feet and filling the atmosphere with a seductive kind of energy. He entered the club and stopped a few paces in. The flashing lights were bright, pulsating, dancing to the music without the restrictions of flesh or inhibitions of sentient life forms.

Flux had been a popular nightclub upon its opening, and had only increased in popularity in the last three years. The dance floor was littered with swaying bodies of all races. Up on the mezzanine people were laughing and cursing, their moods varying depending on their luck on the quasar machines. Kai shifted his gaze from the balcony to the bar and his chest immediately tightened.

Commander Shepard was still here after all, and she looked… he had no words. She should have been the first thing he noticed, and Kai was surprised that he hadn't zeroed in on her immediately. Shepard was fire incarnate. Her red hair captured the club's lights and reflected them like a beacon. Beautiful snow white skin was covered by a form fitting black dress, the fabric flattered her pale complexion in a way that neared mesmerizing.

Seated at the bar, her attention was on the magenta skinned asari leaning beside her, trying to make conversation. From the other side of the club, Kai could tell how disinterested Shepard looked by the unimpressed quirk of her eyebrows. Her vibrantly green eyes were watching the asari patiently, a semi-apologetic smirk on her darkly painted lips.

Curious as to how the alien loving, galaxy saving, renown Commander Shepard would handle rejecting her oblivious asari pursuer, Kai Leng moved to the far end of the bar and slid into one of the few available seats. He waved for the stout volus bartender to pour him a drink, and watched as the asari laid out her best moves for the commander. Stirring the contents of his mojito, Kai wished that he could hear exactly what was being said between the two women.

Shepard allowed the asari to prattle on for a minute or so before she lifted her hand to silence the other woman. Her features were polite, open and readable as she spoke. Kai was entranced by her lips, their size, shape, and how they moved. He imagined the voice that accompanied those full lips. Sure he had heard her speak on various news segments, and would know that smoky sound anywhere, but there was something vastly different about hearing her over a vid and listening to the thickness of her voice in person.

Whatever she had said, the asari's back went rigid with dissatisfaction and, muttering something to the commander, she turned on her heel and left Shepard alone at the bar. The first human Spectre watched her leave, unperturbed by the other woman's reaction. The corners of her mouth curled with an amused smirk before she shook her head and dismissed the interaction. Wrapping her long, delicate fingers around the glass of bright pink liquid, she took a sip of her drink before scanning the bar's inhabitants.

Kai Leng's heart leaped into his throat when her piercing green gaze landed on him, and it was like all of Flux faded into blackness. The thrum of throbbing electronic beats became white noise, and the flashing lights were no longer the attention grabbing beacons they had been mere seconds ago. Now there was only Shepard, seated all the way on the opposite end of the bar, watching him as he stared at her. He was caught and he knew it. Kai had to fight the urge to break her gaze and turn away like a blushing school girl. He wasn't the kind of man that backed away from anything, be it a fight or a staring contest with Commander Shepard.

Forcing the corner of his mouth to twist into a sideways smile, Kai picked up his mojito and raised it in her direction. Shepard watched him for a moment, raising her eyebrow in surprise of his bold and unabashed gesture. After a few seconds had passed she also lifted her glass, returning his greeting with a predatory purse of her lips. She was gauging him, judging his weight, his muscle mass, how much money he had, what kind of work he did; with a thorough once over she was deciding on the kind of person he was at first glance. Kai knew, because he was doing the same with her.

For the first time in a very long time, he was feeling relatively nervous. There was something about Commander Shepard that made him feel like he had to exceed all of her expectations, like he had to be better than what she could possibly imagine he could ever be. It was ludicrous. The only person that he had to impress was the head of Cerberus, and Kai Leng was the Illusive Man's best and most trusted operative. There was no reason for him to want to impress Shepard. If anything, it was she who had to work to impress him. Sure she was something nice to look at, but so far he didn't really count himself as impressed; not really.

Deciding that he had learned all that he could at a distance, he picked up his glass and started for her side of the bar. He swallowed hard past the mass of nerves growing in his throat. As he approached he considered what he could possibly say to her. Kai Leng had been with plenty of women before, but he found so many of them so incredibly undeserving of his time and efforts that he never truly approached one with the intent of conversation. He hadn't lurked around Flux just for the sake of fucking Commander Shepard. Curiosity of who she was as a person, of what she was made of, that was what had brought him to this drab nightclub. And he hoped that she wouldn't disappoint him the way so many other women had before her.

Her whole body turned in her seat as she watched his casual approach, the expression on her features was of open curiosity and mild interest. Tapping a finger against his glass, Kai couldn't help but admire her body in that tight, short dress. The muscles in her long pale legs were impressive, defined and strong, they looked like they could kick a skull in with little effort at all. Though covered up, there was no denying that the rest of her body was just as impressive. He could tell by the thickness of her arms that the muscles underneath were nothing to scoff at. Shepard was thin, but had womanly curves that were surprising, considering that she was comprised primarily of muscle.

Sliding into the seat beside her, Kai put his drink down on the bar and offered Commander Shepard the most charming smile he had in his arsenal. When she returned his smile with a challenging quirk of her eyebrows he noticed that her glass was empty. Holding the commander's green gaze, he wondered, "What are you drinking?"

"Water," she supplied with a devilish grin. When the bar tender meandered to their side of the bar, she gestured to her glass and wordlessly placed another drink order. The bartender nodded and turned around to prepare her beverage.

Kai watched as the volus supplied her with another bright pink drink, feeling as though his opening line was a complete disaster. He'd used it before, many times before, and it had always worked. Then again, every woman he had ever used it on he'd had next to no interest in actually speaking with. If he wanted to talk to the commander then he was going to have to step up his game.

Feeling a bit flustered and unprepared, Kai reached for the first question that came to him. "What's your name?" he asked, and wondered if it was cheating since he already knew all there was to know about her. Kai reminded himself that there was no such thing as an unfair advantage; people either measured up or they fell short, and he wasn't going to understate himself for anyone, not even Commander Shepard.

"Jane," she answered, her voice thick and smooth like smoked honey. The smirk hadn't left her features since his arrival, like she found something about him amusing, and Kai struggled not to feel self-conscious about that smile.

"Jane what?" he prodded, curious as to why she'd given him her first name at all. The commander's closest friends and confidants called her Shepard, most everyone in the galaxy referred to her by her last name; Yet she'd introduced her self to a complete stranger with her first. Kai was fascinated.

Smirk growing into a smile, she provided, "Doe." and took a sip from her drink.

Doe, not Shepard. She would rather introduce herself as anonymous than as the renown Alliance commander that she was. When she refused to be associated with her accomplishments and title, that was when Kai found himself really appreciating all that she'd done. He was seated beside Commander Jane Shepard, first human Spectre, hero of the Citadel, destroyer of the Collector base, the 'last hope' for all organic life. It should have been the source of great pride, but she'd curiously introduced herself as someone she wasn't. And since Kai Leng was pretending not to know her, he supposed that he could play along with blatant denial as well.

"What about you," she asked. "What's your name?"

"Kai Leng," he answered, not even slightly concerned that she might have heard of him and would recognize him, or who he worked for. Kai was a damn good Cerberus Operative, the best, and he hadn't climbed his way to the top by slipping up and distributing his name across the galaxy. He was good at what he did, he wasn't famous for it; not yet at least.

The smile on Shepard's lips was scheming. She was eyeing him as though he was her newest toy and she was determined to have her fun. His heart beat picked up with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. It had been a very long time since a woman made him feel evenly matched, and that look made him think that maybe Shepard could finally give him a challenge.

"So," her smoky voice reached out to him, caressing his ears with the fullness of her tone. "Kai Leng, you come here often?" Shepard's smile quirked teasingly, as though she were making fun of him with her lame pick up line.

He straightened his shoulders, refusing to allow himself to feel even the slightest bit intimidated by her. It didn't matter who she was, he was Kai Leng and that made him a force to be reckoned with. Returning her teasing smile with a confident one of his own, Kai replied, "No. I came here on business and thought I could use a break."

"So you came to Flux," commented Shepard, her head slightly tilted with curiosity. "You should have tried Chora's Den if you were looking for a proper distraction."

Kai shrugged indifferently. Chora's dancers were comprised mostly of asari. When he gawked at a woman he preferred them to be of his own species. "I thought I might try my hand at quasar."

"Yeah?" the commander rebuked with a chortle. After taking another sip of her drink, she asked, "And how's that going for you?"

His lips stretched upward at the sound of her snickering. Her eyes brightened when she laughed like that, her whole face lightening up as her spirit shined through. Blinking himself back into the conversation, Kai supplied, "I'm not much of a gambling man. In my line of work, if I do my job right, my likelihood of success far outweighs the improbability of failure."

The commander's darkly painted lips twisted, the quirk of her brow was challenging. "That doesn't sound like much fun."

"You don't think succeeding is fun?" he inquired, taken aback by her response.

Shrugging, she agreed, "Of course it's fun." only to argue the validity of his statement. "But success without challenge is nothing more than doing exactly what's expected of you." When Kai arched an eyebrow in surprise, Shepard continued with her statement. "In my line of work the probability of success are as minimal as it gets. If you're not willing to risk life, limb, and everything you hold dear, then you've already failed. Success, in my opinion, is earned when the odds are stacked so highly against you that the whole galaxy expects your failure."

For a moment all Kai could do was stare at her. She was right, of course. Her interpretation of success was something to strive for, the ideal definition for anyone who demanded more from themselves than the average person.

Suddenly he felt as though he wasn't trying hard enough to the very best at what he did. Kai was no longer challenging himself to the extent that he should have been. As he decided that he was only going to accept high risk assignments, he came to the realization that even in casual conversation Shepard demanded nothing but the best in people. Perhaps he was starting to see the commander's appeal.

Drinking from his mojito, Kai looked up at the woman beside him and allowed his smile to turn flirtatious. If she was willing to hide her real identity, he wanted to find out how far she would go to keep up the charade. "What kind of high risk job do you have anyway?"

"Military," she vaguely supplied with a dismissing shrug. Before he could pursue her answer, she returned his question. "What about you, Mr. 'no risk, more reward'; what do you do?"

He allowed his grin to grow in response to her evasion of further questioning. Deciding not to hound the topic he already knew all about, he answered her question. "I work for a private philanthropic organization."

"Sounds like a big deal," she commented with a jibing laugh.

When Kai responded with a confident, "It is." she observed, "No disrespect, but you don't really seem like the humanitarian, bleeding heart, kind of guy."

He smirked, "That's because I'm not."

Shepard's green eyes brightened with intrigue. "Oh?" she sang, waiting for him to enlighten her. "And what kind of man are you, Kai?"

"The kind who gets the job done, no matter the cost." he answered. To the impressed arch of her eyebrows, he drank the last of his mojito and asked, "Does that bother you, Jane?"

It was strange being on a first name basis with the commander. So few people had the privilege, and all he'd done to earn it was approach her at a bar. A part of him was flattered by the honor, another part of him was outraged that he considered it to be an honor at all. She was just a woman, nothing to be excited about; though the longer he spent in her company the less he believed that to be true.

Before she could answer his question their conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone calling for her attention. "Oh. My. God." said a young human girl as she slowly approached them at the bar. Her face was bright with amazement, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"You're Commander Shepard!" she squealed before rushing over and fawning over the red haired woman. "You are like the most bad ass woman in the entire galaxy. I was sixteen when that Reaper, Sovereign, attacked the Citadel. Seeing you in action," she paused, shaking her head as though the words had escaped her. "I swore that the second that I turned eighteen I would enlist in the Alliance. Can I have your autograph? Can I take a picture with you? Is this weird? I feel like it's weird."

Shepard hid her grimace behind a hand before tucking her bangs behind an ear and offering the young woman a smile. "It's not weird at all," she replied in a friendly tone. "I'm flattered to receive such high praise."

Asking the bartender for a pen, Shepard turned to Kai Leng and smiled apologetically at him before wondering, "Do you mind taking our picture?"

"Not at all," he replied with a wolfish grin. Shepard was embarrassed to have been caught in a lie. Technically she hadn't lied to him about her identity, but she hadn't been straight with him either. And that now he knew who she was she would have some explaining to do.

Holding up his omni-tool, Kai counted to three before snapping the picture and sending the file to the young woman. Shepard accepted a permanent marker from the bar tender and, when they realized that the young woman didn't have anything for Shepard to sign, she used it to sign the girl's collar bone. After receiving the tightest of bear hugs, Shepard patiently accepted the girl's praises and maintained her friendly smile until the girl finally left them alone.

She watched the girl leave the night club for a second before turing her attention back to him. Her face wrinkled with embarrassment as she handed the permanent marker back to the bar tender, before muttering to Kai, "There's no way that you could pretend like you didn't just see that, is there?"

"Not a chance," Kai rebuked with a grin, admiring how brightly her cheeks were burning. It was surprisingly endearing to see her like that, considering the unrelenting legend she was known to be. Taking advantage of the opportunity to poke fun of her, he said, "So you're the great Commander Shepard." He shook his head with the admission, "I should have recognized you earlier."

"I was glad you didn't," grumbled Shepard, dismally twirling the straw in her glass. "With everything that's going on, it was nice to just be Jane for a few hours."

Kai stared at her for a moment, taking in the sight of her as she gazed into her empty glass. Her shoulders were slumped and her posture was bent. Shepard was legitimately disappointed that her ruse had been ruined. She truly wanted to spend the evening as some Jane Doe whose main concern wasn't saving the galaxy from Reapers, but enjoying a night out on the town. The realization of how badly she wanted anonymity made Kai want to humor her for just a bit longer.

"I take it back." he stated, pulling her attention from the glass between her hands. When she looked back up at him, surprise in her green eyes, he explained. "Jane Doe, I believe that I was about to buy you another drink."

At the sight of her darkly painted lips pulling up into a grateful grin, he asked, "Water?"

"Margarita," she corrected, her voice thick with amusement and delight. "Strawberry margarita, Kai Leng; if that is your real name."

He couldn't help the chuckle that burst out of him then. Motioning for the bar tender to bring her another drink, Kai gave Shepard a sideways glance before shaking his head at her teasing question.

Entering Flux, he had no idea what he'd been expecting. Admittedly, a large part of him was prepared for her to be just one more great disappointment. He'd almost wanted her to be as dull and dim witted as he often imagined her being. But that wasn't Jane at all. She was sharp, charming, kind, and patient. Shepard was strong, and her personality was a demanding one; requiring both attention and respect. She was the kind of woman that could tear a lesser man apart limb by limb, and he was curious to find out whether or not he would be able to manage her for even a night.

When the volus bar tender placed a fresh glass in front of Shepard, he decided that if there was ever a challenge worth his undivided attention, it was spending the night with Commander Shepard. Kai answered her question with a taunting grin. "Of the both of us, I'm not the one trying to keep my identity a secret."

"And failing," she added with a laugh, before taking a sip from her freshly shaken margarita. "Don't forget that."

His grin remained as he agreed. "How could I forget? You fail with such grace."

Tucking her red hair behind her ear again, she murmured, "I prefer not to fail at all."

"Then don't." Kai provided with a lopsided grin.

Her green eyes narrowed on him, and her expression was of playful incredulity. Quirking an unamused eyebrow, she replied, "Just like that, huh? It's that easy?"

Shrugging, he tried to tone down his smile but there was something about joking with Shepard that made him feel more relaxed, like they understood one another on a level he didn't quite understand yet. "It is for me."

She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "You're an arrogant son of a bitch, aren't you?"

Kai shook his head in answer. "Arrogance implies an overestimation of my prowess as a fighter and an exaggeration of my overall skill set; which, I assure you, isn't the case."

"A fighter?" asked Shepard, blindsided by the admission. "Do you want to make this about weapons, Kai? Because if you're talking guns, I hope you're ready to get schooled by the master."

"Depends," he said with a nonchalant shrug. "Do you know anyone by that title?"

The grin on her lips was show stopping. Giving him a teasingly measured look, she inquired, "Tell me, does this usually work with the women you talk to?"

"Usually," Kai answered, fighting to keep his features from revealing how self conscious the question had made him. "Is it not working now?"

She shrugged, though her eyes admitted that he was having some sort of affect on her at least. "I'm not saying that your confidence isn't refreshing, but if you're so confident in your abilities, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind me putting them to the test."

He features widened with fascination. "What do you have in mind?"

The smile the coiled her lips was foxy, vivacious, daring him to deny her now and prove his cowardice. "There's a shooting range in the Spectre offices. Hows about you and I have a little shooting match?"

"Sounds like fun," he agreed with a grin, which fell a bit as he admitted, "Though I should probably warn you, I've never been commended on my sportsmanship."

Shepard snorted at that. "Don't lose with grace, do you?"

"Don't win with it either," his grin grew at the sound of her amused snicker.

"Let's make it interesting," she wagered. "Loser has to purchase the weapon of the winner's choosing."

Scratching his chin, Kai pretended to take a moment and consider her proposition. "I have been needing a new gun." He offered her his hand. "You have yourself a deal."

"I hope you're prepared to wait a bit longer for your gun, sweet heart." she took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Because, tonight, you are going to be buying me an early birthday present."

His heart was still racing from when she'd called him sweet heart. After waving for the bar tender's attention, he settled the bill and offered her a somewhat nervous, mostly challenging smirk. Trying to hear over the excited drumming of his heart beat, he countered with a lame, "We'll see."