Finding a way: Mass effect 3

Mars - part 2

They got into position and it wasn't long before they heard the tram pulling up. Aubrey stood in the middle of the room at parade rest, relaxed and with her weapons holstered. What the hell is she thinking?! he griped in his head as a dozen commandos filed out of the tram and surrounded her with their weapons up.

"Well, I'll be damned," their commander said, walking forward to stand in front of her. "Commander Shepard. The Illusive Man will be extremely pleased we recovered such a valuable... asset." Kaidan's blood boiled at the way the man's eyes roved over Aubrey's body appreciatively as he spoke.

Get a grip Kaidan, he scolded himself. Not like you have any claim to her heart or body right now. So why the hell did he want to rip that guy apart for daring to look at her that way? Because you still want that claim, a small voice in the back of his mind answered him.

"I don't know for the life of me why he wants you back after that stunt you pulled surrendering to the Alliance," the Cerberus commander said, grabbing her arm and pulling her against him with his pistol aimed under her chin.

"Maybe because he knows I get shit done," she finally spoke, staring into the guy's face defiantly.

He smirked at her and said suggestively, "Oh we'll have the whole trip back to see what you can get done, sweetheart." He took half a step back from her, "I'd say drop your weapon, but since you don't have one..." he trailed off, gesturing for one of the other troops to come cuff her.

Aubrey's smile was downright predatory as she replied, "Oh, I don't need a weapon...I am the weapon."

That quickly her biotics flared as she threw the commander back into the wall and simultaneously brought up a barrier over herself, dropping a singularity over several of the other troops a split second later.

She had told him and Liara to wait for her signal...guess that's it, he thought, opening fire on the ones caught in the singularity.

Shepard continued to fight with only her biotics. One of the commandos finally got smart enough to realize his bullets weren't getting through the barrier, so he charged her with his omni-blade out to get inside of it. Her right arm snaked behind her, drawing a short sword from a sheath at the small of her back that he hadn't noticed. She held it in a reverse grip with the blade down the length of her left arm as blue waves of dark energy spread from her hand along it. He watched as the blade came up and deftly deflected her attacker's wide before coming back across his throat.

He continued firing at other troops, but kept half an eye on her, watching as she pushed the sword out from her hand biotically, shooting it across the room and into the upper abdomen of a commando before pulling it back to herself the same way.

Liara's warp took out the last hostile and Aubrey finally dropped her barrier and re-sheathed the sword. She was panting from the exertion and blood dripped from her nose and ears. He saw at least two places where blood was staining her armor on her side and shoulder from bullets that had managed to sneak past the barrier. He hurried over to her to start assessing the wounds, saying, "Of all the reckless things, Aubrey..."

She rounded on him, anger blazing in her eyes, "That is not how you address your commanding officer, Major. You may out rank me, but I am still in charge of this mission until Admiral Hackett says otherwise. Are we clear?!"

He managed to keep his jaw from dropping open in surprise. He'd seen her angry, but had never been on the receiving end of that anger before. He quickly composed himself and replied, "Crystal, ma'am." He had kept pushing her away, not trusting her, and she had finally accepted it, relegating their relationship to a professional one. He knew he shouldn't be, but was surprised at how much that hurt.