I thought it might be fun to get some stories of Kaidan out that don't involve Shepard or romance. So, if this teaser interests you, send a review and I will write some longer, more interesting stories about Kaidan before he was assigned to the Normandy. I currently accept anonymous reviews.

Sixteen-year-old Samantha Keller stood at the door to Kaidan Alenko's room. Or, at least, what had become his room after the Alliance had ruled Vyrnnus' death a "training accident." Kaidan was two years older than her, and they didn't run in the same circles, but Sam had heard that Kaidan was barely eating and not really talking. She knew his friends were avoiding him. Now that they had seen the death biotics could cause with their own eyes, they were not dealing with it well. He needed to talk to someone, though. Sam decided she just wouldn't take no for an answer.

Sam hit the door chime. Nothing happened.

"You can let me in or I can hack the door, it's up to you," Sam said. "But I'm not going away."

There was a long sigh over the intercom. "Sam, do you even know how to hack a door?"

"It will probably take me a while," Sam admitted, "and I'll probably make a mess of it. They might have to cut it open if I mess it up too bad, right? Easier if you just open the damn door."

"I have a migraine."

"The hell you do," Sam retorted. "I'm getting my omni-tool out. Last chance."

There was no response. Sam actually wasn't the best at bypassing door locks, but one of her trainers had insisted they all learn the basics in case they were ever captured or something. It took her a bit, but she eventually got the door open. The room was dimly lit, and Kaidan was sitting on his bunk, knees to his chest, staring blankly at the wall. Sam pulled over a desk chair and sat next to his bed.

"Congratulations on getting the door open," Kaidan said. "Now please, just leave me alone."

"You've had enough alone time, Kaidan," Sam said. "I'm not going anywhere. I know we aren't exactly the best of friends, but I care about what happens to you, and you are having a major freakout. You need to talk."

"No, I don't. He's dead, and I killed him, and I don't want to talk about it. Or anything else."

Sam didn't say anything, but she didn't make any move to get up, either. After about five minutes of silence, Kaidan spoke up.

"The psychologist already tried this trick," he said wearily. "It didn't work."

Sam didn't say anything. Another ten minutes went by.

"All of my friends are avoiding me," he said finally. "Why are you here?"

"You want an honest answer? Because I'm grateful."

"That's pretty bloodthirsty," Kaidan said bitterly.

"I don't mean I'm grateful that Vyrnnus died," Sam explained. "I'm grateful you stood up to them. I'm grateful the program will be shut down."

"Well, my friends aren't grateful. They're just freaked out. And Rahna… Rahna is afraid of me now," Kaidan whispered. "She's as afraid of me as she was of him."

Sam bit back on her initial response. Rahna was afraid of everything, except letting other people take punches for her. Kaidan had it bad for her, though, and he was hurting.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Kaidan," Sam sighed. "I hope she gets past it. But even if she doesn't, the fact that you stood up to him will make all of our lives better. Including hers, whether she can see that or not."

"There must have been another way for me to stand up to them."

"Yeah, Kaidan. I tried that." Sam looked over at Kaidan. "I asked a couple of the doctors to file a report with child services. It got me a lot of alone time with Marshall Nash."

For the first time, Kaidan looked her in the eye.

"I didn't know that," he said softly. Marshall Nash was the primary hardware researcher for the BAaT program. He handled the kids branded as troublemakers personally, and all of them came out of his room quieter. Rumors of what happened when kids went off alone with him were whispered, and even the mildest ones were pretty bad.

"It wasn't pleasant. I didn't want anyone to know. A couple of my friends suspected, but…I didn't want to talk about it," Sam said. "I was afraid they wouldn't understand, or would think I was lying, or that they would crack if they knew about it."

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of," Kaidan said. "If he hurt you, it wasn't your fault."

"Just like it wasn't your fault that Vyrnnus lost his mind and tried to kill you."

Kaidan looked away.

"I'm not asking you to tell me your big dark secret just because I told you one of mine," Sam sighed. "I'll settle for some normal conversation, and maybe you eating a little bit of food before they put an IV in you. Please."

There was a long silence before Kaidan looked back at her.

"Yeah, okay. I guess I could tell you how to bypass a door properly."

Sam stopped by every day before he left, making sure Kaidan had company. Eventually, she didn't have to talk him into eating or leaving his room anymore. When he was packing his bags to leave the station, he asked her why she'd done it. She just shrugged and said it seemed like he needed a friend.

Kaidan told her then that if she ever needed a friend, he would be there. They stayed in touch. They didn't message often, but every time they did the friendship picked right up where it left off. In a way, they were like brother and sister, bound together by shared experience. Some things, you couldn't understand unless you'd been there.