Author's note: Mass Effect and all licensed characters are property of Bioware. No infringement is offered or intended by this work of respectful fanfiction.

Intermission

Aboard the SSV-Normandy

En route to the Citadel

Strictly speaking, there was no real reason for him to stand a bedside vigil for the commander. Dr. Chakwas was by far the better doctor, and she'd assured Kaidan that Shepard was physically all right. She just wasn't waking up.

With the quiet bullheadedness that had gotten him through the hell of Brain Camp, Kaidan simply refused to leave the dimly lit medbay when he wasn't on duty. He wasn't a doctor, just a combat medic, but surely there was something in the medic's code of ethics about being there for your patients? Only, it was taking so long...

"Lieutenant." Karin Chakwas' green eyes were kind, and she leaned over his chair to put a hand on his shoulder. "You look exhausted; you can leave, you know. I promise the commander will be all right. I even promise not to paint her toenails an embarassing shade of pink or tattoo anything rude on her bicep while you're gone. "

Kaidan chuckled, a small huff of sound that nonetheless made the older woman's smile turn genuine. "There now. See? I even fix melancholy spirits. Now, your shift is going to come around again soon, and you need to eat. I won't have any biotic under my care missing any of their meals."

"Sorry, doctor. I just... it's hard to leave." He scrubbed his hands across his face, feeling the rasp of beard stubble against his fingers. "I just need to be here when she wakes up."

"Something tells me more is driving this than medical ethics." Dr. Chakwas' tone was light, but her eyes were shrewd. "The commander has been on board the Normandy all of forty-eight hours; don't tell me you two have been flirting with the raw edges of the fraternization regs already?"

"What?" Kaidan started, his head jerking up and his eyebrows shooting for his hairline. "It's not like that!" He was going to sputter more denials when the doctor laughed softly.

"Relax, lieutenant. I would have been surprised if you'd given any other answer. You are a man who abides by the rules, possibly too much so for your own good." Chakwas settled one hip on an empty bed and pushed back the sleek, silver sweep of her hair as she observed him. "No, this looks like a raging case of guilty conscience to me."

"I'm the one who triggered that damn beacon," he muttered, scrubbing his hands over his face again. "You tell me why I shouldn't have a guilty conscience."

"From your report, it sounded like the beacon was already active and you just stepped too close to it." Chakwas was frowning. Never a good sign. "Unless you've added "precog" to the long list of credentials on your personnel docket, there was no way for anyone to know what the thing would do."

"I suppose you think I'm being an idiot." Kaidan got up to pace.

The doctor sighed. "No, lieutenant. I think you're being a good man. But beating yourself up over something you had no control over isn't helping your own recovery, and I don't like it when my patients deliberately ruin my hard work. It took five whole minutes to inject you with that bone-mender and start setting your ribs to fusing all those little cracks they had."

Kaidan stopped his pacing near the commander's bed and offered the older woman a small, respectful smile. "Thank you, doctor. I appreciate the talk." Then he caught the barest flicker of movement to his right. "Doctor?" He moved to Shepard's bedside, automatically noting the fluttering eyelashes, the increased respiration. The commander's head rolled on the pillow. "Doctor Chakwas? I think she's waking up."

"Well now." The doctor moved to the other side of the bed. "Welcome back, Commander Shepard."

Kaidan stepped back, regaining the physical distance his emotional state required. This was Chakwas' territory, not his, and he was suddenly, acutely aware that the commander might well ask what the hell he was doing there. He squared his shoulders, preparing for... he didn't know what he was preparing for. But he was ready for it. Whatever it was.

Shepard sat up slowly, her straight hair slithering down her back in a burnished gold waterfall that fell to her waist. Kaidan tried not to gape. Intellectually, he'd known the commander's hair was probably long; she wore it pinned into a bun drawn onto the crown of her head, as per regulations. But this... there was nothing intellectual about this. It was a straight punch to the gut of any red-blooded male in visual range. It was an unabashedly Shepardesque statement that communicated very clearly without a single word that though she might wear a combat-spec hardsuit as easily as some women wore an evening gown, though she might carry a full complement of weaponry that could fell a charging krogan, though she might be an officer and an N7 at that, dammit, she was a woman, and woe betide any man who forgot this fact.

Kaidan didn't think he'd ever forget. Even if he wanted to. Which he definitely should. It was his XO he was borderline gawking at, after all. It took a surprising amount of discipline to rip his eyes off Shepard and put them safely on that middle distance all military recruits learned in the first week of boot camp.

A few feet away, Dr. Chakwas was checking the commander over with brisk professionalism. "How are you feeling?"

Shepard leaned over, propping her elbows on her knee and just breathing. "Like the morning after shore leave." She winced. "What happened?"

Kaidan cleared his throat. "When I approached the beacon, I must have accidentally set off the security field. You had to push me out of the way."

Shepard angled her head to look at him. A skein of her hair slid over her shoulder to pool in her lap, and her gray eyes were intense. "You all right, Alenko?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kaidan stood at strict attention.

HIs guilty conscience must have showed on his face. "Relax, lieutenant. It wasn't your fault. You had no idea what would happen." She rubbed the back of her neck and grimaced again. "How'd I get back on the Normandy?"

"Williams and I carried you, ma'am."

This time, when she looked at him, she smiled; the expression did interesting things to her eyes, making them crinkle at the corners and go from gray to a bright silver. "Thanks, Alenko. I appreciate it."

Dr. Chakwas chuckled, entering notes into an open medical chart. "Sorry about taking your hair down, Commander, but the regulation hairstyle was getting in the way of my examination. You had a bit of a lump on your head from meeting the ground with unseemly speed. I'll get you a fastener in a moment."

"Uh, here. Commander." Kaidan picked up the clip Chakwas had laid on her desk and handed it over. He was very, very careful to keep a neural expression on his face, to keep his fingers from brushing hers, but he still caught a whisper of biotic static from her. It was annoyingly, maddeningly attractive. Screw attractive. It was erotic. He started mentally going through FTL calculations and docking protocols to keep himself from groaning out loud.

"Thanks." Shepard busied herself twisting her hair into a knot and fastened it on top of her head. "What's the damage, doctor?"

"Physically, you're fine." Chakwas frowned slightly, consulting her notes. "But I did detect some unusual brain patterns and alpha wave spikes while you were unconcious."

"I was dreaming. I think." Shepard slid off the bed, but leaned against it, as if she wasn't too sure of her legs yet.

"Hmm." Chakwas' silver brows furrowed. "Perhaps I should put that in my final report.

The medbay door slid open. "Doctor." Captain Anderson's deep, rich voice preceeded him as he strode across the room. Both marines snapped to attention. "How's our XO holding up?"

Dr. Chakwas consulted her datapad briefly. "I think the commander can return to duty, sir. "

"Excellent. Commander, may I speak with you alone?"

Kaidan knew when he was being politely dismissed. "Aye aye, sir." His salute was textbook perfect. "I'll be in the mess if you need me."

"Make certain you eat, Lieutenant," Dr. Chakwas called after him.

Kaidan looked back over his shoulder and nodded. "Aye-aye, doctor." Just before the medbay door cycled open, he caught Shepard's eye. She gave him a quietly friendly nod before giving all her attention to the captain.

Kaidan escaped as quickly as the door mechanism would let him. Oh, man. I am in trouble.