Kaidan didn't know what this terminal's problem was, except that it really, really wanted to be broken. It had probably worked long enough to not be a problem before the Normandy started her shakedown run, before breaking and staying broken ever since.

The biotic sighed as its flickering orange screen held the ever familiar error messages, this time complaining that the extranet adapter didn't have the required network protocols. Still, it made a change from the previous 'cannot locate extranet adapter' message.

Everyone else had given up on it, except Kaidan, who was just as stubborn as the terminal, which was why he was fiddling with it in his evening break, instead of catching up with his sleep. His mind was a constant chatter of thoughts anyway, especially those about the recent mission.

There'd been an issue with a VI on the Luna training base, and Admiral Hackett had requested that Shepard and her crew to go out and neutralise the problem. Of course, there'd been a wave of excitement travelling through the ship that they were going to Earth, with the aliens arguably being the most interested (although Wrex was trying hard not to be). It had been then when Kaidan wished there was an observation deck on board; he'd always wondered what it was like to be on a darkened ship, staring out into the vastness of space, lit only by the stars.

That thought reminded him of something that occurred on the mission, when he, Shepard and Williams were travelling the Moon in the Mako, making their way through the individual facilities to shut the VI's systems down. He remembered Shepard pausing a moment after clearing the final compound, parking the Mako onto of a high plateau.

"Do you want to see our home, Ash?" She'd asked, and Williams had agreed, the squad disembarking to gaze up at the Earth.

The Earth. The small, almost fragile white, blue and green sphere against a background of black with white, pinprick stars. His home. Shepard's home. The feeling was...indescribable, to see the planet he thought so large as a child now to be almost big enough to hold in his hands.

Was that how it felt back then, in 1968? he'd wondered.

"It's so beautiful." He'd murmured, almost unable to look away from it.

"Yeah, it is." Ash had agreed, and when he'd looked over to Shepard, she'd nodded too.

"When you look out and see something this beautiful," he'd said, Shepard turning her head to look at him properly, "well, it really helps you understand what we're fighting to save."

She didn't say anything, but the look she gave him was very enigmatic. He didn't have long to ponder it though, as she'd slipped back into her Commander role, telling them to get back in the Mako to wait for pick up.

Kaidan paused a moment in his troubleshooting, watching the diagnostics run for the umpteenth time. He'd always held Earth in a special place in his heart; his parents were there, after all, and he couldn't resist messaging his mother after they got back, telling her one of the bright spots of light above her was him.

But Shepard...From what he knew of her background, she grew up in the slums in one of the cities, desperate to escape any way she could. Yet she'd regarded the Earth with just as much wonder as he did. Could there be something about the Earth that was special to the Commander? Of course, it could just easily be the fact she'd never seen the Earth that way, though.

The biotic sighed, shaking his head. He was spending too much time thinking of the N7 soldier. Like the night they'd chatted together and he'd made that promise to read to her if they were ever up together again. Or when he'd pretty much flirted with her that other time, after bringing Rahna up.

But he was being truthful when he said she was charming, right? Shepard seemed to have the uncanny ability to talk her way out of situations and into people doing what she wanted them to do. Not nastily, mind; she always did it in a really nice, reasonable manner that made him glad she wasn't a politician so she couldn't use her powers for evil.

How about you remember that there are fraternization regs and stop thinking about like that? Kaidan admonished himself. She's way out of your league anyway.

Deciding that it was high time to focus back on the task at hand, the sentinel filled his thoughts of possible solutions that could bring this unruly terminal back to normal...whatever that had been to start with. Even he wasn't sure what the terminal's exact function was.

As he worked, he felt his mind drift again, back home to Earth, when his dad was home, and playing really old Earth songs that would have made most teenagers his age roll their eyes and complain about his old fashioned tastes. Kaidan had liked them, however, listening to them himself on occasion; he'd never been terribly fashionable.

One of the songs came back to him as he worked, no doubt inspired by his less-than-appropriate thoughts about Commander Shepard, and despite himself, Kaidan began to sing softly to himself.

"I've been waiting, waiting here so long,

And thinking that nothing, nothing could go wrong,

But now I know,

She has a built-in ability, to take everything she sees,

And now it seems,

I'm falling, falling for her."

He smiled, even as the terminal threw up another error message, setting it to run an anti-virus scan.

"She seems to have an invisible touch,

She reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart,

She seems to have an invisible touch,

It takes control, slowly tears you apart."

Kaidan sung a little louder, getting bolder at the lack of people around to eavesdrop.

"Well I don't really know her, I only know her name,

But she crawls right under your skin,

You're never quite the same,

But now I know,

She's got something you just can't trust, something mysterious,

And now it seems, I'm falling, falling for her."

The biotic's smile widened at the thoughts of Shepard the song brought forward, his finger tapping out the beat on the terminal's frame.

"She seems to have an invisible touch,

She reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart,

She seems to have an invisible touch,

It takes control, and slowly tears you apart."

"Hey, Lieutenant."

The soft feminine voice behind him almost made Kaidan jump out of his skin, his biotics sparking and making a popping sound in his surprise.

"C-Commander!" He stuttered as he spun around to face her. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come over." He rubbed the back of his neck, his face boiling hot. A quick glance over the soldier made his blush worse when he saw she was in sleepwear; a black shirt and trousers, an N7 logo neatly embroidered on the corner.

"Do your biotics always do that?" Shepard asked.

"D-Do what?"

"That flaring thing when you jumped." She elaborated. "Does that always happen?"

"Oh." Kaidan rubbed at his neck again. "Not, not always. Only happens if I get a big shock," and I can't control them, but he left that part out.

"Ah." Shepard's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry, Kaidan, I didn't mean to scare you that much. I was just..." She looked away, ducking her head in embarrassment. "I, I'll just leave you to your work." She began to turn away.

"Wait," the word was out of his mouth before he knew it, making Shepard hesitate. "It's alright, ma'am. You just caught me by surprise," he said, a half-smile on his lips, "I don't mind."

She looked up at him, a shy smile of her own appearing.

"I don't doubt your work ethic, but, uh, aren't there better ways to relax?" Kaidan gave her a look. "I-I mean, surely trying to fix something is not exactly relaxing and that..." She added hurriedly, and he could have sworn she was blushing. It was hard to tell though, with her bronze skin and the Normandy's lights.

"No, but I wanted to give it a go." Kaidan admitted. "Seem to solve one problem and get another."

"Your dedication is an inspiration to us all." Shepard said, a teasing lilt to her voice. "But what would be more inspiring is our Head of Marine Detail actually getting enough sleep."

Kaidan raised an eyebrow.

"Respectfully, ma'am, the last mission wasn't particularly difficult."

"Says the biotic." Shepard replied. "You might be able to fling combat drones around with a wave of your hand, but we grunts here have to shoot things until they stop moving."

"Point taken." Kaidan chuckled. "It is getting late."

"Exactly. Best to catch as much sleep as possible too, right?"

"Right." He nodded. "Can work on it tomorrow."

"See? I have the best ideas." She chuckled. "Alright, goodnight Lieutenant."

"Goodnight, Commander." Kaidan said, watching her go, before he realized he'd missed his chance to say something to her. You're not a grunt, Commander. You made N7 and became a Spectre for a reason.

He shook his head. Ah well. He better get some rest, and put these thoughts about the Commander behind him. After all, the mission wasn't even close to being over.