The first encounter was brief.
Shepard led him into the CIC, fingers biting into his wrist. Kaidan double timed to keep up with him. Details were given out in staccato bursts. Collectors, Reapers, human Reapers, AIs-overwhelming didn't begin to describe it.
He almost didn't notice the redhead waiting by the map.
"Commander, you have..." she began.
Shepard raised a hand. "Can it wait? I'm not done debriefing the LT..."
Kaidan coughed into his fist.
"Staff. Commander." Shepard ground out, nose scrunched. "I'm not done debriefing Staff Commander Alenko."
"Sorry, Commander," she said. She smiled at Kaidan, "Nice to finally meet you, sir."
He bowed his head in her direction. "Good to meet you, too, Ms..."
"Chambers!" Shepard snapped, "Chambers, Alenko. Alenko, Chambers." He forced their hands together and then yanked them apart. "There, we're all friends now. Done?"
"Yes, Commander."
And she was off, into the elevator. As the doors cycled shut, Kaidan thought he saw her wink.
The second encounter was in the mess hall.
New faces everywhere. A krogan, a drell, an asari in red. The ones he knew no longer felt familiar. Chakwas was in Cerberus colors. Garrus's face was a ruin—rough and raw with scars. Joker hobbled by unaided by crutches. Tali had...grown, for the lack of a better word.
The salarian was talking to him. More like at him. L2 implants. No outward signs of discomfort. Migraines? Yes? How common? What medications are you taking? Don't talk much, do you?
So this is where Shepard picked up his new speaking style.
"Not when I'm eating, Professor," he said.
"Ah, yes. Human dining customs," A long sniff and then a quick, "Apologies." The salarian clicked his tongue a few times before adding,
"Noticed that you favor carbonated beverages with large amounts of caffeine..."
"Professor Solus," It was Kelly, out of nowhere like an apparition. She leaned down to touch his shoulder. "Dr. Chakwas wants to speak with you."
"Thank you, Ms Chambers," he sprung to his feet, "You." Kaidan bent back to avoid being hit by the Professor's pointing hand. "Advise reducing caffeine intake."
"I'm sure he will. Goodbye, Professor."
"Professor." Kaidan raised his cup in salute.
"How are you?"
"I'm doing well." That was where he wanted to leave it. Not that he disliked the young woman; he just needed some quiet after all that noise.
"Are you sure?" She sat next to him, resting her hands on her lap.
"You're the ship's counselor, aren't you?"
Kelly's mouth formed a small "oh!" "How did you know? Did Shepard tell you?"
"Just a guess."
"You're a good guesser."
"Guess so."
"You 'guess so'?"
"I do."
"You do?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I do." He repeated, unsure if he really did or not.
"Just wanted to make sure." She laughed.
Kaidan drank from his cup. The soda was flat. How? The salarian didn't talk to him for that long, did he?
"I can get you another, if you'd like."
He shook his head. "No. I probably should cut down."
"You probably should," Kelly perked, head craning to look at something over Kaidan's shoulder. "Excuse me."
This time, she left without a wink.
The third encounter was during an argument.
Not one that he was involved in, but witnessed.
Shepard was livid. Face deep red and voice hoarse as he screamed at the holographic councilors. Kaidan stood at Liara's side, both quiet as the Commander raged. Earth was burning, but there would be no aid. Not when older, more established planets were in danger.
Kelly slipped in, taking the spot at Kaidan's right. She pressed her back against the wall.
"This isn't him," she said, "Shepard-this isn't him."
"No, it isn't."
"Then stop him."
Kaidan jerked his attention from the Commander to her. "What?"
"You heard me," There was a smile on her face. Bright and wide, much too joyous for the end of the world. "Stop him."
"Shepard!"
The Commander cut off mid curse to glare at Kaidan. The Staff Commander didn't back down. He just cleared his throat and then said, calmly, "If they're not going to help us, then we need to think of a new strategy. Insulting their ancestors isn't going to get us anywhere."
"Yeah, but it makes me feel a hell of a lot better," said Shepard. He glared at Kaidan, a look the Staff Commander returned full fold.
"You're right," laughed Shepard, shaking his head. "New strategy. First off-Joker shut this thing off!" The lights flickered on as the comm shut down. "Let's go find us some bugs."
Kaidan let his breath out slowly. That was fun. He looked to Kelly to find her still smiling. Unable to help himself, he smiled right back.
The forth encounter was by his design.
He waited for her in the mess hall, ear to the crew's quarters. Much to his surprise, she came out life support. No one had been in there since the drell died, according to Liara. Was she close to him?
"Hello."
Kelly froze mid step, eyes wide as if caught. "Oh..." she smiled, "Hello, Kaidan."
"Sorry to disturb you," He scratched at the back of his neck. "but there was something I wanted to ask you."
"Okay."
"How did you know that Shepard would listen to me?"
She tapped the bracelet on her wrist. Her omni tool popped open, bringing up a text heavy screen. "By studying his psych reports. Out of all the old crew, he was most eager to find you. That showed a connection."
"Friendship."
"More than that."
"What?" She didn't mean, did she? No. She couldn't. "Could you please clarify?"
"Clarify? Oh." She thought for a moment and then went bright pink. "Oh! No! I didn't mean it that way! I meant as a brother! Oh, I am so sorry."
The giggle she snorted back told him otherwise, but he couldn't help but be amused, too.
"It's okay. This isn't the first time people have implied, er, that about the Commander and I."
"Really?"
He patted the empty bench beside him. "Want a seat? We've got time before we reach the relay. I can tell you about it while we wait."
"I've got to get back to Shepard," she pointed to the Life Support door.
"Shepard's in there?"
With a nod, Kelly shut off her omni tool. "He is. That's why I can't leave him alone."
"Then some other time maybe?"
"Yeah, I'd like that."
The fifth encounter didn't happen as planned.
The Normandy was dying. A new Reaper slave, a horrid amalgam of flesh and metal, was eating the ship alive. Joker was the first in the pods, much to the pilot's protest. There would be no reenactment of the first crash, Liara made sure of that.
EDI had the helm, calm as she droned emergency instructions. Shepard was...Kaidan couldn't find him. He tore through the corridors, shouting.
"Shepard! Shep-" A burst of sparks shut him down. He fell, head hitting the wall hard enough to scramble his vision.
Grunting, he pushed himself onto his knees. Hands, soft and small, took him by the arm and pulled. He moaned, dizzy from the sudden change in height.
"I saw him go this way!"
The world stopped swimming long enough for him to tell it was Kelly. She looped his arm over her shoulder and nudged him forward.
"Life support! Come on!"
He limped beside her for a bit, taking the seconds to regain his senses. When they reached the door, his head was close to clear. Close being seeing in doubles, not triples. Not perfect, but it had to do.
Metal sparked as the hydraulics tore the door open. At the bed stood Shepard, head hung low. Was he praying?
"Shepard!" Kaidan called.
He turned to them, "Yeah?"
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Shepard, please! We've got to go!" Kaidan didn't get it; neither did he feel like there was the time.
Shepard didn't move.
"Can you make it to the pods by yourself?" Kelly asked.
"I can feel one hell of a migraine coming on, but yeah, I can."
She let go of him. "Then go, I'll take care of Shepard."
"What?" Not this again. No way in hell was he going through this again. "No. No way!"
She pushed him, hard, out of the room. This time he knew he saw her wink as the door shut.
The best encounter was on Jump Zero.
It had seen better days. The gateway to the universe had become the biggest refugee camp ever seen. Kaidan watched people pour in and get sorted. Each new pod, each ship, brought and dashed what hope that dared to grow in his heart.
Shepard had done it again. Died and left him alone, this time taking a young woman with him. A young woman that Kaidan had barely known. And he felt poorer for it.
He sat on the floor, head resting in his cupped hands. Professor Solus was talking at him again. Wanted to know if he was experiencing a migraine.
No, but it was coming.
Had he drank anything since arrival? Eaten anything?
No, nothing will stay down.
Are you feeling nauseous?
"Will you shut up already?" The words were supposed to be shouted, not whispered, but Kaidan didn't have the strength in him.
"Apologies," Solus stepped back, "Just concerned."
"I know you are," A moment of silence preceded a very tired, "Thank you."
"Need to talk?"
Kaidan shook his head, slowly. "No. No, thank you."
"Understood."
Relaxing, Kaidan leaned back and lifted his head to stare at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, willing back the dull pain creeping into his skull. A migraine really was beginning to form. Made sense, he had one when Shepard died the first time, why not have another to celebrate the second?
A hand brushed his shoulder. He opened his eyes, ready to see the impossible. What he got was an Alliance soldier.
"Sir, we need you to clear the floor."
"Sure," he said. The soldier stood back, not offering a hand when Kaidan stumbled a little when he got to his feet. He probably didn't recognize him. It didn't really matter, because Kaidan didn't really care.
He wanted to get the hell out there and onto another ship. Shepard maybe dead, but the fight wasn't.
"Excuse me?" Someone asked. Who? Kaidan didn't care. He pushed past, not bothering to look at the person.
A soft, small hand gripped his.
"Excuse me," He looked, this time, finding the impossible. Scuffed up and limping a little, but there.
"I was wondering," Kelly Chambers winked at him from behind the visor of a cracked helmet. "Could we talk?"
"Yeah. I'd like that."