Bethany tapped her chin, leaning against the door she so faithfully guarded on a daily basis. Private Campbell was off on a late dinner break. Shepard had given them permission to arrange breaks and shift changes as they saw fit. Not many clamored to join them for door duty after all. "Are you...something blue?" Bethany asked.

Samantha looked up at Bethany. Apparently sitting on a cold, metal deck had been her interpretation of the invitation to "make herself comfortable." "Yes."

"Are you...alive?"

"Yes."

"Are you...Dr. T'Soni?"

"No."

"What the hell else is there?"

"There is something else. Think."

"Samantha. You said it was alive, it was blue, it was on the Normandy...Garrus?"

"Garrus is more of a mottled grey, not blue, wouldn't you say?"

In addition to playing a silly guessing game, Bethany was trying to figure out where she and Samantha stood in terms of their relationship. Samantha had been using her occasional evening off to spend time with Bethany-who had tried to convince her to go enjoy her freedom playing cards, reading-but Samantha had insisted on spending time together not "in a moment of crisis." Two minor incidents-okay, Tuchanka might have been a bit more intense than a scuffle-yet there had not been a genuine "crisis." And there had been the kiss, but Bethany had been so drugged up on painkillers from her run-in with the krogan she wasn't sure if it counted. Regardless, there had been more than enough gestures to indicate a formal relationship was desired on both parts, though neither of them had confirmed it.

Bethany frowned, trying to re-focus on the game at hand. "...Tali?"

"Do you think Quarians are blue under their suits? I suppose it's possible. But, no."

"I don't know! I give up!"

Samantha smirked. "Fish."

"Fish?"

"Commander Shepard has some exotic blue fish in the tank in her cabin. I thought everyone knew."

"She also has an exotic blue asari in her cabin, which would have made a much better answer than the fish."

Samantha arched an eyebrow. "Oh, eyeing Dr. T'soni are you?"

"I think we've both stolen a glance at the good doctor at one point or another, Samantha."

"Fair point. All right. I'm thinking of..."

"Oh, no you don't!" Bethany said. "My turn."

"Fine."

"Okay, I'm thinking of something...brown? Yes, a dark, rich, brown."

"My eyes."

Bethany felt a rush of heat run from her face to her toes and suddenly she was having a harder time standing still than usual. "How did you know?"

Samantha stood, moving to stand arm's length away from the private. "You've been staring into them all night. Not that I mind in the slightest."

"Still. I could have been thinking of something else. Like, chocolate."

Samantha took another step forward. "Right."

Bethany licked her lips. Okay, maybe this was the answer to the very question she had just been pondering. They'd already kissed once. This should be easy. No surprises here. Though the other kiss had been very quick. Barely there. This one would likely be longer, more drawn out. And she wasn't under the influence of drugs. What if she did it wrong? Or not to Samantha's liking?

The doors slid open and Garrus stepped into the room. "Shouldn't you be minding that door, Private?" His tone conveying more than the slightest bit of amusement.

"I'll see you later," Samantha said, shooting an annoyed look at the turian before walking back out to the CIC.

Bethany refrained from banging her head on the wall in frustration.

#

It was early, far, far too early for any sane person to be up and about. Yet, there Bethany was, standing over the stove in the mess hall, cooking. Samantha normally was in the CIC by 0630, it was nearly 0600 now and Bethany was almost done with her work. Thus far, the specialist had been the one making all the moves. If they wanted to try and push forward with the relationship, Bethany decided she needed to make an effort to reciprocate. It had taken more than a few credits, and agreeing to a shift of cleaning a bathroom, but Bethany had managed to get her hands on some decent rations. Various people had non-standard issue items stashed throughout the ship apparently.

"What have you got there?" Samantha said. Bethany looked up to see a bleary eyed specialist standing next to her.

"Your breakfast."

"Oh, really now? And here I was so looking forward to consuming my 'nutrition' bar as I hunched over my monitor today."

"Hey, I've been up since zero dark thirty, slaving over a hot stove. The nutrition bar can wait till later."

Samantha saluted, a smirk on her face. "Yes ma'am. What are you making?"

"An omelette! I have gathered the finest powered eggs in the universe, freshest cheese; and yes, it is real cheese, unlike the eggs."

"Impressive."

"People have a surprising amount of food stashed away on this ship."

"What kind of cheese?"

Bethany grinned. "That's a surprise. So, go get your coffee, have a seat, and prepare to be amazed."

Samantha chuckled and did as she was told while Bethany finished cooking the "eggs." They didn't look...too terrible. Hopefully the gesture would be appreciated even if the food was lacking in terms of taste. She gently transitioned the omelette from the skillet to a plate, which also bore some toast, and brought it over to the table where Samantha sat in the otherwise empty room. She smiled as Bethany placed the food in front of her. "Aren't you having any?" Samantha asked.

"Nope. It's all yours."

"You're very sweet." Samantha picked up her fork, cut off a good sized piece of omelette, and popped it in her mouth. "Best powdered egg I've ever had," she said with a grin.

Bethany laughed, but she all but beamed. Not in pride over the cooking, she could have done better, but over the reaction her gesture elicited. "And now you'll never be able to enjoy them prepared by any other person ever again."

"What a dastardly plan! It's like you're holding my taste buds hostage forever!"

"I'm an evil mastermind, what can I say?"

"Thank you, Bethany. Really, this is lovely."

"You always go out of your way to do nice things for me. You know, saving my life, twice. This is the least I can do."

"I am quite fond of you, seems to be in my best interests to keep you alive."

Bethany felt her throat get tight and her mouth go dry. "So, while we're on that subject, you being fond of me..."

EDI's voice cut in, echoing through the room. "Specialist Traynor, report to the CIC, immediately."

"Gotta go. Can we talk later?"

"Of course."

Samantha finished her coffee in a gulp and hurried towards the elevator, leaving Bethany alone.

#

Bethany sat in the lounge, trying to focus on the book she had downloaded off the extranet. Between the engineers squabbling at the poker table and the rumors circulating Bethany wasn't having much success in reading. Rumor was spreading the mission on Thessia to recover a Prothean artifact was not going well. Shepard was two hours overdue and, given the commander's proclivity for attracting trouble, their delay could be anything from a lone volus to a Reaper. There was one person who would know for sure though and, admittedly, Bethany did not need much of an excuse to go see Samantha.

Bethany left the lounge and stepped onto the elevator, tapping the panel indicating a destination of the CIC. She was almost knocked on her ass by one of the bridge crew as she stepped onto the deck. It was quiet, but tense. People were moving quickly and with purpose. Samantha stared intently at her monitor, one hand touching her ear piece, the other tapping buttons which projected various maps and pinpoints on the screen. Samantha looked up at Bethany briefly and nodded before returning her attention to the console. The specialist's brow was furrowed and she was bit her lower lip from time to time. A point on the map flashed and Samantha exhaled, looking slightly relieved. "Bethany. I'm sorry, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"What's going on?"

"Full scale Reaper invasion of Thessia. We lost contact with Shepard, just re-established communications. She's almost to the temple."

"That's good, right?"

"Theoretically. Except for the fact there are Reaper forces along her projected path. I'm trying to find a more feasible way around them," Samantha pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers "Damn it. I don't know if I can."

Bethany felt guilty. There was nothing she could do to help Samantha, or more importantly, Shepard. "I'll leave you to it then."

"...no. Please. Please stay."

"I don't want get in your way."

"Just...just sit there," Samantha said, point at the steps leading up to the galaxy map. "Please."

Bethany did as she was asked, despite a few odd looks from passing crew members it earned her. She'd barely settled down when Samantha returned her full attention to the task at hand. The specialist began to request positions, adjust frequencies, and re-route transmissions. Bethany tried to peek at the screen, she could see the blip which had appeared earlier moving. Samantha stared at it intently. "Yes, Commander. I read you. You're headed away from the main body now based on the asari transmissions." There was a pause. "Some resistance, yes. They're saying ravagers and husks. Good luck. Traynor out." Then the specialist closed her eyes, leaning against the console.

"You can do this," Bethany said.

"And if I'm wrong they could die."

"Are you often wrong?"

"No."

"Then they likely won't die."

Samantha smiled for a brief moment before her thoughtful frown returned. Her fingers began to drum on the panel. The silence seemed to last forever, then Samantha cocked her head, her fingers flying up to touch her ear. She exhaled, but her expression became grim, the blood draining from her face. "Yes, Commander. I'll dispatch the shuttle for extraction now," Samantha said, slumping against the console.

Bethany leapt to her feet. "What happened?"

"They...they didn't get the artifact. Cerberus beat them there. Wait, wait, I might..." Samantha straightened and quickly brought up a new layer of data onto her screen. There were various lines, mixed amongst large menacing red dots. She was tracking ships. Samantha zoomed in, focusing on a handful of blue dots, then three, then one, a dotted white line indicating what appeared to be a projected path, she zoomed out, plotting a course through the mass relays.

Samantha rubbed her forehead. "I...I think I may have found the Cerberus shuttle. I hope, God, I hope so. It should be enough to figure out where they went, it needs to be enough. I'm...I've been at this for hours. There's been so much information, all coming in so fast. I'm so tired, I can barely see straight, my hands ache..."

Not sure of what else to do Bethany stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Samantha, pulling her close for a hug. The specialist tensed for a moment, and then relaxed, her head eventually resting on Bethany's shoulder with a heavy sigh. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity; they could have stayed that way the rest of the night as far as Bethany was concerned.

"Thank you," Samantha said quietly.

"For what?"

"For being here. It means, well, everything, right now." Samantha looked into Bethany's eyes for a long time and then she abruptly pulled away, heading back to the console. "Yes, commander," she said, then mouthed 'sorry' to Bethany. "Yes, ma'am. I'll call everyone to the war room for you."

Feeling staying longer would mean only being in the way, Bethany summoned the elevator, heading back for the crew deck.

#

Bethany scowled, wiping away the last bit disinfectant spray from the shower stall in the captain's cabin. One would think in this day and age they could have some kind of laser, or space magic, to take care of cleaning. As obnoxious as scrubbing was, she still felt the trade for the cheese had entirely been worth it for the look on Samantha's face when she had been presented with the omelette. Who would have thought Shepard, of all people, would have had a secret stash of cheddar cheese?

"Well, well. Cinderella, I presume."

Bethany turned around to see Samantha standing in the doorway to the bathroom, grinning. "Yes, I'm looking for my glass slipper so I can meet Prince Charming. Have you seen it?"

"Afraid not. Glass is against regulations on an Alliance vessel. You'd put us all in danger if we brought every stray glass slipper on board. Glass splinters, very deadly."

"Damn. Now I'll never get my tiara and castle."

"You'll just have to settle for me then."

Bethany blushed, setting down her cleaning implements. "I wouldn't call it settling at all. I'd still like my tiara though."

Samantha crossed the threshold, joining her in the bathroom. "I'll see what I can find."

"So, about us. We're...together, right?"

The specialist tilted her head to the side. "Yes. Unless you've...changed your mind?"

Bethany stepped forward and kissed Samantha then, properly. If she was doing anything wrong, Samantha didn't give any indication, in fact the specialist pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around Bethany's neck.

"We should take this some place else," Bethany said somewhat breathlessly.

"Why?" Samantha asked. "EDI, where is Commander Shepard?"

"Shepard is in a meeting in the war room," EDI replied. "She's supposed to be in there for at least another hour."

"Would you mind making sure we get a half-hour in here, alone?"

"Happily, Specialist Traynor," EDI replied.

"Now, Private Westmoreland," Samantha said, starting to undo the buckles on her uniform. "I'm feeling like a shower, how about you?"

###