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[She nods numbly, still looking elsewhere.]

Sundance, could you please...

[She doesn't bother to finish, instead bringing Cayde's hand to her heart for a moment.]

'Least we both found out from you, instead of me running into him and giving him the shock of his life.

[It's brittle, almost a thank you or acknowledgment of his empathy rather than an actual bright side.]

[Sundance wordlessly transmits Shepard's contact details. As she does so, Cayde's fingers curl around Ashley's]

"That's what a good scout's for," he says. Not an intentional intel-seeking mission—but the run in effectively worked out that way.

Thanks.

[When she nods again, this time it's steadier, more able to look at him. Her scout - always an important role in the military as well as with Hunters.]

I might not even have recognized him. [It's a sudden realization.] There used to be a guy Shepard here - I saw one of Jacob's memories of him, and Jacob put up a photo in the memorial, but he was before my time.

[So that surely would have been weirder for this Shepard, a dead friend who doesn't know him.]

[Sundance nods her shell and settles into a lazy orbit around the two of them.]

Huh, that's the part I thought was gonna weird you out more, to be totally honest. Alternate timelines I get. Sorta. In concept. But the fact that someone can be like, an entirely different person entirely? That's super-weird. I dunno what I'd do if some blue-eyed blonde-haired lady came waltzin' in, claimin' to be Andal. That's—yeah, can't even think about it. Brain starts hurtin'.

[A rueful smile.]

I got the weirded out over with before you Ported in - Jacob's from a different timeline from me too, his Shepard's a different woman from mine. And, well, if there was a Kaidan here earlier... it makes sense for there to be a Shepard from a timeline where I'm dead.

I just didn't expect one to be here.

And now there is one. I uh ... I don't know what the play is here for you but just remember? I got your back. And about what I said earlier—about old friends coming back as Guardians, not bein' able to remember you? Doesn't mean you can't become friends again. There's just ... a little weirdness.

Thank you.

[The way she says it, it's not just a "thank you", it's an "I love you".]

I guess I'll... call him, see why he wanted me to have his ID... It's nice that there's someone else from my world here again.

[She makes no moves to her phone or even the telepathic network, however, instead lingering with him.]

... do you... want to come to the memorial with me? See the photo of the last Shepard who was here.

[He reaches an arm over her shoulders, pulling her close to him in a sideways hug. If she wanted to go off on her own at this moment to find Shepard, he wouldn't have blamed her; the fact that she's lingering here with him ... it feels special.]

Yeah, I can do that.

[He's been to plenty of memorials, but none for a living man, but stranger things have already happened today.]

[For a moment, she snuggles into his side, enjoying his closeness. The first person from her world here in months and it's a version of one of her best friends who may have left his version of her to die - yeah, she'll come to grips with that with the support of someone who chooses her every day.

[Then she stands, pulling one of her gloves off.]

Okay. Let's go.

[She leads him to the nearest shadow they can both stand in, then puts her bare hand on his face and Shadow Steps them to just outside the Ted Kord Memorial Centre in Heropa.]

[The world spins as they emerge in Heropa and Cayde feels the phantom churning of a stomach he doesn't have anymore. He reaches for Ashley's hand and places his other over his chest.]

Alright just gonna ... try not to lose my breakfast. Gimme a sec.

[There's a few moments of him staring blankly at the ground before he decides to properly get his bearings. He's never been to the memorial before—besides not being fond of these kinds of things in general, he doesn't see much point in memorializing folks who strictly speaking didn't *die* they just ... left. Still, he cranes his neck, flicking his eyes over the public-facing photos, recognizing a few lost acquaintances.]

Huh.

[Ashley tears her gaze away from some photos and flowers someone's left for Iris to look over at him with concern.]

You good? Do I need to go grab a bucket?

Nah, nah, I'm good now.

[He flashes her a cheeky robotic grin.]

Now let's find your not-dead not-friend friend.

[She can't help but smile back, partially out of amusement at that turn of phrase. With a nod, she holds her tattoo to the scanner to get them inside, then leads him through to the digital photo wall.]

It's on here somewhere...

[Her eyes unfocus, and photos start to move to the edges of the wall as she looks for the right one.]

[This, he's good at—finding things, finding people. He puts some distance between himself and the wall to get a wide angle, taking it all in at once. With Shepard fresh in his mind it's as easy to pick him out from a wall of photos as it would be to spot him in a crowd.

It starts to dawn on him how many photos there are, that the turnover here is, all things considered, rather high. That this won't last forever. He flings that thought as far away as he possibly can and instead focuses on finding the chiseled features of the man he met earlier today. I mean, if you're into that sort of thing.]

Found 'im.

[Cayde snaps his fingers and points at a portrait of a man who is very much Not Ashley's Shepard, but definitely the guy he scammed a muffin out of.]

[Ashley, who quietly is indeed into that sort of thing, is enlarging Jacob's party photo with Jacob, a male Shepard, Kaidan, Thane, EDI, Samara, and Kasumi when Cayde snaps his fingers. Surprised, she looks between the photo he's pointing out and the group photo.]

Same guy? ... Did he mention being here before?

Same guy. Seemed totally new to the whole thing, was surprised when I said Jacob'd been here.

Huh.

[She starts counting off Shepards on her fingers as she speaks.]

So there's my Shepard, Jacob's Shepard, this guy [a wave at the photo], and the one you met...

[Four Shepards. Four Ashleys. Suddenly tired, she leans against Cayde.]

I did not watch enough scifi vids in my life to end up this tangled up in the multiverse.

[He sighs, and drapes an arm around her waist.]

Y'know, if I paid attention to anything Lakshmi, Ikora or Osiris ever said I could probably give you some insight but um ... I didn't. But I can agree with you that it's exhausting and weird?

[She nods, and puts her hand over his. On the photo wall, the photos begin rearranging back to normal.]

Maybe somewhere out there, there is a Cayde who listened... But he wouldn't be my Cayde.

[He sometimes forgets how smooth she can be. He's so broadsided by my Cayde that there's no room in his mind to ponder what other Caydes are out there, ones with living friends and futures and second Golden Ages to enjoy.

He shifts his hands beneath hers so he can clasp her fingers with his.]

Y'know ... I like bein' your Cayde.

[Her heart warm, she turns her head just enough to offer him a smile.]

Good. 'cause you probably didn't expect it to come with the exhausting and the weird.

Wouldn't want it any other way, darlin'.

[And he leans in to kiss her.]

[Her lips curve against his mouth as she kisses him back. This feels more manageable with him at her side, even more than the other hard times that weren't as personally painful. He gets her, gets how big a deal this is, likes being hers problems and baggage and all.]

[It doesn't occur to him to think of this as baggage; he doesn't know how to quantify the situation, really, but he's pleased with going with his instinct to give the heads up. Dealing with the fallout of this totally blind would probably have gone worse, all things considered.]

[He cups her cheeks in his hands and presses his forehead against hers.]

Just remember: I got you.

Right back at you. If blonde, blue eyed Andala or anyone else from your world shows up thinking you're dead or something, I've got your six.

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