This is a small piece to a bigger story I have been working on. Please let me know what you all think! I'd greatly appreciate any and all comments. Thanks!

And of course, Bioware owns all.

-AN

A light gush of wind blew past his face as he sat waiting on the stone bench overlooking the glistening lake. The suns glow of orange and red was basking on his face as he took in the gorgeous view. He heard footsteps coming from behind him, they were light but firmly placed upon the ground with each extend. He didn't need to turn around to see who it was; he knew exactly whose lighthearted steps they belong to. A gentle hand snaked around his waist and rested on his right side, he closed his eyes at the sudden touch. He felt her slide right next to him and within seconds her head lay in the crook of his neck. A small comforting sigh slipped through her lips as the scent of him filled her nose. Musky cologne with a hint of spice from his aftershave, she'd never forget the smell of him, it was unique to her like nothing she's ever quite smelt before. His hand smoothed up and down the spine of her back as he sat there completely at ease, forgetting all of his worries, all of the problems circling around the two and simply enjoyed the moment. A small whimper came out of her mouth and he jumped slightly at the sound. He placed his hand gently underneath her chin and lifted her face up to his; his eyes searched her features for any sign of distraught. He wouldn't have seen anything if not for the single tear that begrudgingly left her eye. Instantly she grabbed her side and looked to the ground. Another louder whimper escaped her lips, this time pain was laced through the outcry. She tried slipping away from him but that just reaffirmed his grasp on her, he noticed her right hand placed firmly upon her left side in an attempt to ease the pain. He slid off the stone bench not taking his hands off of her and gently lifted her right hand away from her side. A small blood stain seeped through her white shirt and within seconds it began to increase in size rapidly. Panic raced through his veins as he turned to his left to reach for his medi-gel within his picnic bag, but as he turned the bag disappeared, along with the lake and the distant forest. The only thing that remained was the stone bench; they were surrounded by a vast emptiness, no colors, no figures, no edges, just a dull grey surrounding.

"Kaidan." A small whisper escaped her lips; this drew his attention back to her within a millisecond.

"Don't talk my love, you're badly injured, I need to find you help." His heart beat rose steadily as the stain continued to increase in size, she was losing a lot of blood, and fast.

"Help, from where? Do you even know where we are?" She glanced around her taking in their surroundings; there was nothing, absolutely nothing aside from the grey stone bench. "Everything is gone, all of it is gone. No lake, no house, it's just us and this bench."

Realization began to hit him, he quickly took off his black V-neck shirt and lifted her blood stained top and placed it against her large wound. A small desperate attempt to keep her alive as long as possible, he couldn't lose her.

"Kaidan, look at me." He ignored her plea. "Kaidan, I need you to look at me." The desperation in her voice seemed to catch his attention as his eyes reluctantly left the wound and found hers. She took in a deep breath and continued, her free hand finding his. "I need you to keep fighting no matter what happens to me." She paused and took in a breath, her eyebrows furrowed as the pain began to increase, knowing she had little time. "You're of no use to anyone mute and emotionless, a lot of people will be depending on you to help get them through this-"

"Wha-what are you talking about? What people? It's just us here, there's no one that needs to be saved a side from you. I need to find help, I need to save you!" He started to rise up to search for something anything to help the love of his life to stop from bleeding out. But she stopped him, her grip on his hand stronger than ever.

"Kaidan, think. You know what I am talking about. I need you to be strong not for me or you, but for our crew. There distraught, unfocused, scared, and lost and I need you to fix that." Her voice began to slightly waver from the intense pain of her injury.

Kaidan shook his head, reluctant to listen to her pleading. "Shepard, you're losing a lot of blood, you don't know what you're talking about. We need to stop the bleeding before it's too late."

"It's never too late, Cerberus proved that." She glanced into his eyes and waited for the change in focus. Just like that his expression turned from soft and loving to betrayal and hatred.

"Cerberus?! They are a bunch of terrorists that harmed and killed thousands of people and for what?"

"They are the ones that brought me back; they are the ones that granted you a second chance at us." She exhaled a large breath glancing at their hands. Nerves getting the better of her, how was she going to get him to see what she was trying to say? She looked up into his eyes and tried to change the course of the conversation. "Kaidan, listen to me. I need you to listen to every word I'm about to say." She paused, waiting for his protest, but he just sat there patiently on both of his knees. His free hand rested on her upper thigh as his eyes focused completely into hers. She continued. "I love you, I love you so much, kay? I need you to be strong for the both of us. The road ahead of us is far from smooth, but I need you to never give up on us. I promised you that after this war was over, I'd be waiting for you." A single tear trickled down her cheek which was previously clean and smooth, but now it was coated in layers of dirt, blood, and filth. Kaidan blinked a few times, thinking that his vision was blurred, but realized that everything around him was changing. It was changing from the fantasy that he desperately was holding on to for his own brief sanity, to the awful reality that was poking at him repeatedly. The lake was replaced by the broken buildings of London; the house was replaced with the multitude of rovers surrounding them. The only thing that remained the same was the stone bench. But he realized that there was no stone bench in London before their last raid together. His hand slid from atop her thigh to the bench, tracing it slowly, trying hard to remember where he's seen the bench before. Shepard's hand slid on top of his as their fingers laced together, like two puzzle pieces.

"I remember you'd always talk to me about your house in Vancouver, and how you'd like for me to meet your parents one day." She looked off into the distance. "You briefly mentioned a stone bench that you had in the backyard, one that you'd always see your mother sitting on. You told me that she only sat there very early in the mornings, overlooking the grand lake." A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips. "I don't know why, but I kept that with me. The thought that one day me and you could come and visit your home in Vancouver, and that I'd wake up early in the morning one day and see you sitting here on this stone bench overlooking the lake like your mother used to do. I held on to that because it was the only thing that kept me going, kept me fighting when all I wanted to do was give up. Toward the end, the nightmares, Cerberus, and the Reapers were taking a huge toll on me, and I could feel myself slowly giving up hope, but I had this," Her hand slid from the bench up to his heart, "to keep me going." Another tear slid down her cheek. "I love you, and I need you to keep fighting. I am waiting Kaidan; I am waiting for you like I said I would." She kissed his hand and placed it on her cheek.

He closed his eyes at the touch of her lips on his hand. He missed her and he didn't realize how much till this moment. As he opened his eyes he noticed that she was beginning to fade away, the small smile frozen on her lips. He reached out to her in a desperate attempt to keep her there with him, but she was gone. He fell forward from the momentum onto the stone bench, tears began to run down his face, and he knew. The dream, the fantasy world that he drew up for himself disappeared, and reality hit him harder than before.

He shot up from the medical bed and took in a sharp breath. He felt something yank at his arm, leaving a slight sting. He glanced down and saw the needled lodged into his vein feeding liquid into his body. He pulled it out with ease. He felt something heavy placed on his chest, he glanced down and noticed a medi-pad stuck there, he ripped that off in one swooping motion, taking a few chest hairs along with it, he winced. Instantly the heart rate monitor blared at him angrily. He reached for his Omni-tool reflexively to shut off the machine, but it was missing. The doors to the med-bay slid open with a mechanical hiss, Chakwas and Garrus quickly rushed in. Panic was strewn across the doctor's face and Garrus's mandibles were clicking repeatedly. How long was he out for?

"Oh thank heavens! You're awake. I thought we may have lost you." The doctor rushed over to his side and ran a diagnosis test over him like a protective mother. "Everything seems to be fine, your vitals look strong, and your injuries are healing promisingly. With a lot of rest and fluids, you should be good as new within a few days, Major." A broad smile came across her face. To his surprise she wrapped her arms around him in a tight caring hug. He was naturally shocked at first but the comforting feeling overcame him and he gave in, hugging her back. A small smile stretched over his face, remembering his dream and the silent promise he made to the love of his life. His reverie was interrupted.

"How long was I out for?" His voice came out hoarse, like it was unused for months.

Garrus answered his question, "You've been out for almost 1 week. You were in a coma for the majority of that time. I took control of things while you were out." Kaidan suddenly felt sick to his stomach, a coma?

"The other part of that week you were awake, but it was strange. Nothing like I've ever seen before. You were responsive, but it was as if your emotions, personality, everything that made you, you, was gone. Vanished, and no matter what I did, or said, nothing seemed to bring that part of you back." Chakwas was holding a data pad, inputting results from her scan into a data base.

"Then what happened? You said I was in a coma." Kaidan questioned.

"Yes of course. Shortly after all my attempts at bringing your personality side back, you had a seizure. Your brain was swelling with liquid at a rapid rate, I had to drain the liquid out quickly by drilling a small hole and inserting a tube." She paused for a second, seeming to drift back in time. "Garrus and Liara had to hold you down while the liquid drained. Surprisingly there was no screaming on your end when the drilling occurred... Like I said, nothing like I've ever seen before." Chakwas continued her report while slightly shaking her head.

"We were all scared that you wouldn't make it. Right after that you slipped into the coma, the fluid was drained and the hole patched up, and now here we are." Garrus added.

Kaidan's face paled three shades. If it weren't for the previous scan Chakwas did she would have thought he would pass out right there. He remained motionless, the only thing moving was his chest. Out then in, convulsing on the large flow of air coming and going. He tried grasping everything that was told to him, but it was all just so freakishly strange. Why would that happen to him? He wasn't that badly injured when he dodged the flying Mako. Just the single deep wound at his side. Then it all hit him, Shepard's goodbye, her running toward the beam, the dream. Suddenly, he felt like no matter how big of a breath he took in, the air surrounding him was dwindling away, scarce.

He slowly got up and moved over to the edge of the bed, feeling stiff as ever. The pain at his side where he sustained his injury was slightly stinging as he attempted to slide off the bed. He was grateful that Garrus was there with him, for he was sure that he'd knock the doctor off her feet as he stumbled trying to get up.

"What are you doing? You should be resting; Sit back down, you need some food." Chakwas tried pushing the Major back onto the cot but he gently refused, pushing her hand away.

"I need to get off this bed; I need to see the crew." His voice came out raspy, he tried clearing his throat but that didn't help. He needed water.

"You'll see the crew soon enough, they can wait. You on the other hand need your rest. You just woke up from being comatose for almost a week, you are in no shape to get up and walk around." She ignored his resisting hand and again attempted to push him back into the bed but his stubbornness wouldn't prevail.

He paused and looked the doctor in the eye. "Chakwas, I need to see the crew. I need to apologize, set things straight… especially with Liara." He glanced down at his hands, baring slight shame at the way things went down last time he was with her. The doctor saw the remorse within him and slightly backed away, silently allowing him to rise. He tried standing up on his feet, but he stumbled. His muscles were weak and tired from the exertions they previously went through for weeks on end.

"Easy, easy there buddy, we don't want you ripping your healed stitches." Too tired to respond he simply smiled weakly and leaned his arm around Garrus's shoulders. He led Kaidan into the mess hall where half of the crew was waiting patiently for their Commanding officer to arise.

To his dismay, he was surprised to see how much of the original crew made it and how many new faces were around. The sight was humbling and he knew exactly what to do. He managed to push himself away from Garrus and stood up as straight as he could. He raised his hand slowly to his forehead in perfect form and gave off the best damn solute that he could manage.