A/N: Last half. Rejoice, it's short and sweet and slightly incoherent. Again, written at 2a.m.

2:40 for this part, actually.

Disclaimer: Again, there would be no Jacob in the Armory, but Kaidan instead if I owned Mass Effect.

Shepard Has a Hangover:

Owwwwwwwwwww.

Pain. Jo clutched her head in agony as she tried to remember where she was. Quick! Assess the situation! Like a ninja!

...

Ninja? Where the hell did that come from?

Then she noticed that her dress and boots and weapon-for-killing-annoying-things were gone, and all she was wearing was a t-shirt that was most definitely not hers. She jerked upright in bed, then clutched her forhead again and collapsed back on the pillows. Where was she? Oh, god, one-night stands were awkward. But wait! Underwear was still intact!

I'm in some man's shirt, in his bed, after dressing like a high-class hooker and gettign drunk off my ass, and I didn't have sex last night? Now I'm confused.

All was forgot as the heavenly smell of caffeine floated into the room (coffee, it would seem, though any form of the blessed stimulant would work for her). This time, she got up carefully, easing herself out of the bed and looking around curiously. Her dress was hanging in the closet, which was full of Alliance uniforms for the most part. There were some civvies mixed in. It all looked vaguely familiar, but she'd been in the Alliance since her eighteenth birthday, so their uniforms should look familiar. With careful movements, she tried to walk to the door, and promptly fell on her ass. "Ow!"

A clunk of somebody dropping something in the next room, then hurried steps.

Kaidan. Oh dear, what did I do last night?

"Jo! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Let me help you," Kaidan scooped her up in his arms while she was still gaping at him. She had some strange dreams last night, because surely she didn't call him a meanie-face poo-head.

Right?

"Here, stay there and I'll get the coffee, hangover meds, and your breakfast. Just relax," Kaidan was out the door and out of sight before she could form full thoughts, nevermind words and sentences. She had been drinking last night, she knew that. Why was she with Kaidan? People had told her not to drink a lot of vodka before, and usually she didn't, but it got her drunk so quickly, and with minor hangovers compared to other drinks. No alcohol without supervision, ever again.

Kaidan re-entered the room carrying a tray which he placed on her lap. Downing the hangover meds quickly, she gazed in rapture at the chocolate chip pancakes heaped before her, with whipped-cream smiley faces and everything!

Turning adoring eyes on Kaidan, who was still hovering slightly, she exclaimed, "I love you!" before digging into the food. She could interrogate him later, but it had been ages since she had food this good. He always was handy in the kitchen.

"I put some clean towels in the bathroom for you, the showers all yours when you want it," he said, with a slightly dazed look on his face, before retreating back to the kitchen.

One hour later:

Feeling incredibly refreshed, and much more human, Jo stepped out of the bathroom, wearing Kaidan's shirt again. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, looking incredibly nervous. She was too embarrassed to go through his drawers for pants, so she was careful not to flash her thong at him as she sat down.

Alright, maybe she just wanted to torture him, but he deserved it!

"So, why did I wake up in your shirt in your bed, Kaidan?" Jo asked casually, sitting down next to him.

"You showed up in a tiny dress and stripper boots and called me a meanie-face poo-head last night. Then you passed out on my couch, and I thought you wouldn't want your clothes ruined by sleeping in them and I was careful not to look too much," Kaidan answered quickly.

"You're a bit of jerk, that's true," She responded, looking thoughtful.

"Look, I'm really sorry about Horizon, Jo. I was in shock, and angry, and dammit I thought the woman I loved had been dead for two years and then you were in front of me, wearing a Cerberus uniform!" Kaidan jumped to his feet and started pacing, a barely noticeable aura of biotics surrounding him. Jo had always thought it incredibly sexy when he did that.

He stopped moving, and looked at her for a moment, his eyes devouring every facet of her being. It was his Jo, his love, sitting on his couch in his shirt, looking adorably disheveled. Maybe groveling for forgiveness wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I was dead, Kaidan. If I could have contacted you sooner, I would have. Timmy wouldn't tell me where you were, Anderson wouldn't tell me. Then the Collector's went after you, not some random colony, buy you!" Shepard looked back at him, admiring the slight blue aura still gathered at his hands. So nice of him to match her eyes like that. She'd forgotten how sexy his arms were, too. In fact, he looked like he was in even better shape now than two years ago. "It's up to you what you want, here. I love you. I want to be with you, and haul you of on the new Normandy and tell the Alliance to find a new damn biotic officer sex god. You're mine. At least, that's what my heart and mind and body say. But you have to make a choice."

Kaidan nearly laughed at that. A choice? To hell with the Alliance, those assholes could send some other flunky to terrorize Cerberus cells.

"I love you, Jo," He said, before grabbing her in his arms and kissing her.

A/N: WOOOOO! Corny lovey happy!

I love love. It's a nice emotion. I too get ridiculously giddy and out of character over my love. It's very enjoyable, and I feel that Kaidan and Shepard have the right to act silly and strange and mildly disconcerting. Yay. Done now.