1.5 Miss Chambers

Normandy SR-2, on route to Horizon

Vince reclined on his couch, in his cabin, sliding his arm along the ebony leather. Close by sat Kelly Chambers sat in his cabin. Close by, sat Kelly Chambers sat in his cabin. The wine bottle was nearly empty but their glasses were both full.

Kelly's emerald eyes sparkled with unmasked intrigue, her freckled face flush with laughter. Her scarlet hair framed her face in neat strands. Her silver earrings shimmered in the wavy light of the fish tank. She picked up her glass and sipped it again. "I thought I'd heard all your stories, but you always hide some secret details don't you?" She poked an accusatory finger at him. "You welcomed the wildest of the bunch on board right from the start. Choosing a prison, and Purgatory of all places, to start? Then you braved Omega – once in a quarantined lockdown and again right in the middle of a gang war."

Vince reached for his glass. "The Illusive Man wanted these people and I got them all to sign up." He took a slow sip. "This ain't my first rodeo."

"You do have a way with people," Kelly admitted, sipping a little too quickly and a little spilled down the corner of her mouth. She wiped it with an embarrassed smile.

"Do I?" Vince observed his assistant.

"You certainly do with me."

"I'm not so sure," Vince grinned, "After you invited yourself up here, I was just being a good host."

"Invited myself?" she feigned insult. "I seem to remember you saying that I was prettier than Samara."

"You are," Shepard admitted. "She acts all high and mighty, but she's just a cold-blooded killer. I watched her crush a girl's neck… twist it, real slow. Then she looked at me with those bright alien eyes. She knows exactly what she is and she flaunts it in my face. Like she somehow gets to kill and do what she likes and I'm somehow a rogue because I don't follow any code…"

"After you said I was cuter than her," Kelly returned to what mattered, setting her glass down, "You agreed we should spend more time together."

"For the crew's sake," Shepard clarified. "So you could give me frequent updates on their status."

"Of course," she nodded gravely, sliding toward him, "The crew is always on my mind."

"Yours is a very helpful mind," he teased.

"So, Commander, what about that big krogan tank you have sitting in the down in the engineering storage spaces? Are you going to let that big guy out?"

"I figure we'll wait till after this Horizon business. For now we've got everyone else, though." He grabbed his glass again.

"Garrus is carrying something around," she recalled. "I think it might have to do with his old team. He's been getting updates from somewhere and he recently got one that set him pacing more than usual."

"I'll talk to him," Vince finished his wine. He followed the gleam of the silver necklace she wore. He'd found it left somewhere on Illium when they were breaking into a crime scene to find Samara. He had quickly discarded the chip and its previous owner's hologram. When she saw there was no picture yet, she'd asked for one of his spectre inauguration but he deftly avoided that by giving her a brilliant image of the Illium skyline.

She continued. "Mordin creeps me out, to be honest. But once he finished his research on the seeker swarms, he hasn't stopped bustling about getting to Horizon to test it. I think he actually wants to go out into the field with you. He's overly excited…" Her red lips frowned. "He cured that plague on Omega, so if anyone could figure out a solution to the swarms, it'd be Mordin." Her eyes looked back to his, a bit of concern welling up. "We don't know for certain yet. This Horizon mission will be a real gamble. I'm afraid for you. I think he might be useful to have with you."

"I'll bring him along then," Shepard set his glass down and stretched out both arms, one hand brushing her shoulder. He smiled, his yellow-green eyes watching her calmly. His fingertips began grazing her bare skin and she shivered and scooted closer. He could smell her perfume now and see the faint traces of freckles on her flush cheeks.He could smell her sweet perfume now and see the faint traces of freckles on her flush cheeks.

She placed her delicate hand on his knee, almost hesitantly. "Jack's tattoos are beautiful. She's as complex as they come… there's a lot of dark there." She looked worriedly into Shepard's eyes, hovering close to his face so he could smell the merlot on her lips. "She's a deep person but she may be surface level when it comes to sex. She might approach it casually. But you shouldn't do that… if you care about her."

That caught Vince's attention, his hand gripped her shoulder tighter and he pulled in, his face inches from hers. "Don't worry about me." He leaned in, even as she began closing her eyes and took her mouth into his. Her lips tasted of cherries and he tasted the strong wine on her tongue and she moaned gently. He pulled away and smiled. "I've got you to keep me safe."

"That's right," she poked him on the nose, "And to feed your ever-growing fish collection. I should get a raise for coming up here all the time."

He tickled her and she giggled in his arms, "Don't forget Dumptruck."

"How could I forget Dumptruck," she squirmed playfully in his grip. "He's the most important space hamster in the galaxy."

Vince gave her his wolf grin and rolled her onto her back on the couch. He looked down at her cute green eyes and flush, out-of-breath face. "Damn straight."