Finding a Way: Mass Effect 1

Chapter 3

They had to dive for cover as soon as the tram pulled up to their destination and the dozen or so Geth present opened fire.

"Ashley, focus on the little ones," Shepard ordered, "Kaidan and I will take the big one."

"Overloading its shields in 3...2...1," he said, hacking the machine's system and then nodding at her. She came up at the time he did, both flinging a warp at the giant Geth and getting off as many shots at it as they could before they both dropped back behind cover.

"My clip's empty!" Ashley called from their right.

"Here," Shepard called, tossing her a spare thermal clip and slamming a fresh one home in her own rifle.

"Where exactly are you keeping these spare clips, Shepard?" he asked, using the question as half an excuse to run his eyes down her body.

She smiled and fired another burst down range at the Geth. "I think you need to take me to dinner first before I tell you that, Alenko," she flirted.

He huffed a laugh as he warped one of them, "Well, are we talking a pizza and beer kind of dinner, ma'am, or a home cooked meal and fine wine kind of dinner?" he flirted back, surprising himself at how easy it was to do with her.

She threw one of the smaller Geth over the railing with her biotics and tore through the chest of another with her rifle as she chuckled at his response.

"That depends. How badly do you want to get me in bed afterwards?"

He was fairly certain the shade of red he turned couldn't be masked by the helmet this time, and try as he might he had no come back for that.

"Ooooo," Williams teased, laughing. "Let me guess, Shepard, the home cooking and fine wine are more likely to end in the bedroom?"

She slid across the platform to the next area of cover. "Nothing like some good Italian and a nice Bordeaux," she grinned at Ashley.

"I'm more of a Cab Sav girl," she replied, blowing the head clean off another Geth.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Williams, seriously?! We are gonna have to up your wine game."

Shepard formed a singularity over several of the smaller Geth giving him and Williams the chance to pick them off.

"What about you, LT?" Ashley asked him, "What's your poison?"

He threw the last Geth into the wall, turning it into scrap metal. "Not much of a wine drinker. More of a beer and whiskey kind of guy."

"Well if we're talking liquor then mine's Tequila. Does that get me back in your good graces, Commander?" Williams asked, as they moved up, weapons ready, until another squad of Geth forced them back into cover.

"Nope. Tequila and I had a fight during basic and we broke up. I've been going steady with whiskey ever since, though, so I'm with Alenko on that one."

As he shook his head at their banter, his eye caught a crate-like object between two struts against the wall about ten feet back from where they were crouched.

"Uh, Shepard, we have a problem," he said, realizing what he was seeing.

"I've got about half a dozen problems in front of me, Kaidan," she replied, popping up and firing off several more shots. "To which one are you referring?"

"The one behind us," he grabbed her upper arm to turn her toward the bomb.

"Fuck me," she groaned. "This day keeps getting better and better. Please tell me you can disarm it?"

"That's the good news – I can," he said, half paying attention to the readings on his omni-tool display.

"And the bad news?"