Shepard tilted her head, examining the simple but elegant white gown she wore.
"Wow. That's not bad. I have good taste." She said with a nod, twisting slightly, the skirt flowing about her ankles.
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far, dear." Mrs Alenko said with a harmless smile. "Once I saw what you had selected for your wedding gown, I knew corrections needed to be made."
Shepard blinked at the older woman. "What if it wasn't what I wanted?"
Mrs Alenko smiled. "We would have discussed the matter, then."
Wary, Shepard pulled back, searching the other woman for signs of a threat the way she would any mercenary she stumbled across. After thinking about it, she closed her eyes and shook her head. It was a good thing she and Kaidan had no plans to settle down on Earth any time soon.
"Twenty minutes, Commander Shepard." A harried looking adjutant called before rushing past on some other errand.
Shepard smiled. "How do I look?"
Mrs Alenko curved her lips. "Beautiful, my dear. I knew you would look lovely in a dress. We should go shopping together and buy you more outfits."
Fear had Shepard's eyes going desperate. "How soon after the wedding are you leaving? Can the Normandy drop you off?" The words were rushed.
Mrs Alenko laughed softly. "You'll do, my dear. You'll take care of him the way he needs to be taken care of and you love him the way I have always wanted him to be loved."
"I haven't treated him very well this last bit." Shepard murmured, her gaze falling with shame.
Kaidan's mother touched soft fingers to Shepard's chin and lifted her face until their eyes met. "I never doubted that you would marry him. I never doubted your love for him. I can see it every time you look at him. I knew that if you let him, he could help calm your fears."
Shepard made a noise of comprehension. "You sent him after me."
Mrs Alenko smiled and laughed softly. "The day before I married Kaidan's father, I booked passage on the quickest freighter headed anywhere else. I had boarded and stowed my luggage when Ken sat next to me, as calm as you please and asked where we were heading. He had his own bag with him and acted as if he had planned the entire matter before hand."
"Of course he did." Shepard muttered. "I'm sure the Alenko family motto is Be Prepared and Always Leave a Way Out."
"Close…it's perge sed caute." Mrs Alenko responded with a slight smile. "Before the freighter departed, Ken reminded me why I was marrying him. Reminded me that it didn't matter where we went, what kind of ceremony we had, so long as the finished bit was us together." Mrs Alenko let her hand drop. "You aren't who I would have chosen for him. You are strong willed, stubborn completely past the point of fault, thoughtlessly selfish when it comes to things you don't want to do and there is a lot of old pain in your eyes."
Shepard refused to duck her head, instead lifting her chin as if daring the other woman.
"But you are who he chose." Mrs Alenko smiled and patted her arm. "I find you acceptable and there is a lot of potential to work with."
"You keep saying things like that to me and I am never coming to your place for the holidays." Shepard informed her in arched tones.
"Don't worry about it now, dear. We'll discuss the matter after you have less on your mind." With those words Mrs Alenko gave her a final pat on the arm and departed the room leaving Shepard alone with the Asari woman who had been assigned to make certain the bride's appearance was timed exactly right.
"I am not scared of my mother-in-law." Shepard muttered to herself in affirmation, her fingers nervously patting at imaginary wrinkles in her dress. "I am not terrified that she can talk me into doing things I don't want to do. I do not believe that she could turn the Krogan into a pacifist society simply by 'discussing the matter' with them."
The Asari standing very close behind Shepard gave an involuntary small giggle.
Instinct had Shepard frowning as she met the gaze of the alien in the mirror before her and watched the genial expression fade to malicious intent.
Shepard was already diving to the side when the weapon went off and incendiary ammo began burning several paths through her beautiful dress.
Scrambling to get to her feet, Shepard swore as her legs tangled in her skirt and she ended up rolling to snuff the flames even as her left hand braved them to snag the black knife she'd strapped to her thigh. The first thing she slashed was the skirt of her dress, ripping it from her legs even as she ducked down behind a decorative wall holding delicate art figures made of glass and porcelain. The assassin continued to shoot and shards rained down on her.
"I knew I should have told everyone to go to Hell and kept my Widow with me." Shepard muttered with all the self-righteousness of a wronged victim. "'A bouquet of thermal clips is just silly and disturbing, Shepard.'" She mimed in a high pitched and very pissed voice.
"The Blue Suns wanted to give you a proper wedding gift." The Asari called. "A thank you for how you've reduced our ranks over the years."
"I do accept chocolate, you know!" Shepard snapped back and heard the click she'd been counting shots and waiting for.
The Asari's weapon was out of clips.
Shepard rounded the wall still half crouched, her knife firmly in hand, charging the mercenary. She slammed her shoulder into her attacker's gut, slamming her to the floor strong enough that the blue head bounced. Dropping the knife rather than incur any blood spatter, Shepard quickly snapped her neck.
"Shepard!" Councilor Anderson…the one assigned to walk her down the aisle against her objections that she had been walking just fine on her own for years…burst through the door.
"Time?" Shepard demanded stepping over the dead body at her feet.
"You have five minutes." Anderson answered already summoning security.
Shepard looked at the remnants of her beautiful dress…skirt missing, entire swatches of material burned from the bodice. No way could she wear this out there.
"Search the room!" Anderson ordered the Alliance Military security team entered.
Shepard scrambled across the room, her hands frantically searching. Sweats? Mrs Alenko would kill her. Her BDUs from last night? They smelled like beer and piss from being in a C-Sec holding cell and there was blood on them. Maybe as a last resort.
"Anderson, I need a dress!" Shepard snapped at him as he tried to ask her if she was okay.
She had to get out there. If she were late…after everything she'd done to freak Kaidan out, he'd think she had bailed and left him standing at the altar alone. She couldn't do that to him. She would be walking to the altar in the next five minutes even if it meant being stark naked.
"There are no dresses." Anderson reported grimly. "I can have something here in fifteen minutes…"
"No! Kaidan will think I skipped out." Shepard started to run her hands through hair so carefully coiffed that not even rolling on the floor in flames had managed to stir a single strand and quickly remembered, leaving it alone.
"Hastings, here." Anderson ordered the nearest member of the Military team sweeping the room. "Next to Shepard."
Shepard blinked. "Oh, Hell, no." She moaned.
"She's the only one near your size, Shepard, and the tech will heal your burns." Anderson advised. "It's either this or wait for something I can replace it with. You have three minutes."
Delay the wedding…causing Kaidan to freak…or wear armor down the aisle?
Swearing viciously Shepard stepped over to the body of the Asari she'd killed and gave the corpse a vicious kick.
"Karma you are such a bitch!" Shepard hissed and resisted rubbing her eyes. "Alright, trade me. Quickly!"
Kaidan could swear he could feel the seconds ticking by like the sweat that was beading at the back of his neck and being absorbed by the decorated Dress Uniform Udina had been insistent he wear to represent the Alliance Military's contribution to the Universe.
He knew exactly when the large doors at the back of the room were supposed to open. He knew that Shepard was punctual to the point of obsessiveness and had been known to shred junior officers who showed a tardy tendency.
The doors remained closed as the time came and passed.
Maybe something had gone wrong, he said to himself as his stomach dropped in despair. She'd seemed fine as they'd entered the Presidium after their escape from the horde of women who seemed to have an unhealthy focus on him. Well, he was reasonably certain none of them would have deserted him on their wedding day.
Was being married to him really so terrifying? This was a woman who had faced down an army of Reapers and she was scared of being his wife?
"Kaidan!" Joker hissed from his position next to Kaidan.
The doors were opening and Kaidan's knees nearly buckled with relief as he saw his bride walk determinedly forward…
Dressed in pink Phoenix armor.
"Oh, very funny, Joker." Kaidan hissed at the best man. "A fake Shepard walking down the aisle in Phoenix armor. If she starts stripping I am going to sic my mother on you."
"Hey! Innocent here!" Joker retorted through his laughter.
"I think that's really Shepard." Garrus said with stunned wonder from his place next to Joker. "And isn't the bride supposed to walk down the aisle? That's how she moves when she's stalking something to kill it."
Kaidan looked again. It was Shepard and she looked pissed and upset and determined.
"Anderson was supposed to be with her. Something happened." He murmured stepping down from the dais.
Shepard stopped mid-stomp and snapped her fingers at him, motioning him back to his position. He ignored her and continued until he reached her side.
"Dammit, Kaidan, we are getting married…" She hissed at him.
"Are you hurt?" He demanded. Up close he could smell burnt cloth and singed flesh.
"I am fine, now get back to your place…I see that smile." The last was said with deadly intensity as she narrowed her eyes at him.
Kaidan licked his lips, a full blown grin lighting up his face. "You're wearing Phoenix armor, Shepard."
"Which means for the rest of our lives, any fight we have I win because if this doesn't prove how determined I am to be your wife, nothing will." She snapped as he started to laugh. "As soon as this ceremony is over, I am going to kick your ass."
Laughter exploded from him, a product of nerves as much as amusement. Before she could deliver her next threat, he cupped her face in his hands and gave her a slow, deep kiss.
"I love you, Kaet." He said reluctantly pulling back from her lips. "And isn't karma a wonderful thing?"
"No. She's a bitch and I hate her." Shepard sniped back.
"If it makes you feel better…I looked better in it than you do."
Shepard laughed as he intended and rolled her eyes, but the anger in her faded. "You can have it when we're done with my blessing." She leaned into him, just enjoying the feel of his arms about her, the musky scent that was uniquely his own.
For a moment, they just stood there, wrapped about one another, simply taking in that for all they had gone through they had both finally ended up exactly where they wanted to be.
As if by mutual decision, they laced their fingers together and proceeded up the aisle together.
News report heard in an elevator on the Citadel sometime later…
"And in other news…Phoenix Armor has announced plans to open a new division devoted strictly to their new wedding line of armors. This comes as no surprise after Commander Shepard's bold decision to wear Phoenix Armor in her own wedding inspired grooms and brides across the universe to do the same. Sirta Foundation stock rose dramatically at the news leaving shareholders enthusiastic at the sharp turnaround from a company in danger of closing just a year ago. The company officials credit Commander Shepard's endorsement of the armor as the sole reason for the change. Commander Shepard could not be reached for comment."