Chapter 3

Eden Prime wasn't supposed to be a complicated mission. Anderson's squad was simply supposed to get information on an excavated prothean structure. She was simply supposed to escort Nihilus to the planet. How something so straightforward could blow up into an absolute clusterfuck was beyond her.

Hundreds of people were dead on Eden Prime and her brain was fried from a prothean beacon.

Not a good day.

And Nihilus had to go and get himself killed. The one who would've had any knowledge about what the hell was going on was now dead and now everyone was stuck pawing around in the dark.

On the positive side, the gunnery chief they rescued down on Eden Prime could hold her own in a firefight. Ashley Williams was hard, abrasive, and would put a gun in your face before you can say an 'excuse me'.

She liked her.

The Normandy was now on its way to the Citadel. Anderson was being evasive on the reason why they were being summoned to the Council. Maybe they wanted her to answer to them for allowing one of their Spectres to die.

It would be a few hours until they arrive at their destination. It's been over two days since she got some rest. Her body was still jittery from all the stims she had injected into her system. She decided to go down to the med bay and see if Doctor Chakwas had anything that could counter the uppers in her body.

The doors to the medical room swished open as she approached them. The lights had been switched off and the only source of illumination was coming from the Doctor's computer panel on the far side of the wall. She stepped inside and the doors quickly shut behind her. The med bay appeared to be empty.

"Doctor Chakwas?" She called out.

"She's not here."

Shepard jumped at the response and looked around for the source. In the corner of the room behind a counter, was Kaidan, who was sitting against the wall and slouching over his drawn up knees.

"Alenko!" Shepard quickly stepped up to the lieutenant and kneeled down beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just another migraine attack." His eyes were squeezed shut, fighting off the pain. "Doctor Chakwas is down on the engineering deck, checking up on the new gunnery chief."

"Oh no. Don't worry, I have some pain killer right here." Shepard reached into her breast pocket.

Kaidan's hand shot out and grabbed Shepard's wrist. She paused as he shook his head vigorously at her. "No pain killer. I'm fine. I just want to wait this out."

Shepard hesitated but then gave a reluctant nod. "All right. But say the word when it gets unbearable." She sat herself beside him so they were shoulder to shoulder.

"I will." He lifted his head back against the wall, staring at the ceiling.

Together they sat in the dark in comfortable silence. The computer panel on the wall across from them continued to glow softly, covering them in a faint blue light.

"Doctor Chakwas told me that your migraines weren't frequent." She murmured.

"They're not. Two migraines within a week are rare." He replied. "It's probably from…everything that's happened."

"Yeah. I'm sorry about Jenkins. He was a good guy." She said softly.

Kaidan continued to stare up at the ceiling. "Yeah, he was. A lot of people are going to miss him. I know this is all part of being in the military, but…"

"It still sucks." Shepard finished for him.

"That's a very PG way of saying it." Kaidan gave a short laugh. "He was a good soldier and an even better friend."

"Sorry if this offends you, but…you're taking his death really well." Shepard said quietly.

Kaidan turned to her with a small smile. "Jenkins and I already spoke about this kind of thing…you know, if one of us survived the other. He told me no mourning, no crying, and no suicidal thoughts. As soon as I get back to the Citadel, I'm going to give him a soldier's toast and drink down a mug of lager in his honor. If I was the one who died back on Eden's Prime, I'd be pissed off if he mourned me by living with pointless guilt for the rest of his life."

Shepard felt a twinge of jealousy. She recalled how she felt after her entire squad was killed by the thresher maw on Akuze. She cursed the Alliance, the Council-hell…the entire galaxy. Most of all, she had blamed herself.

As if he could read her thoughts, Kaidan asked, "If you don't mind me asking…how did you deal with yourself after Akuze?"

Shepard turned her eyes downward. "I didn't take the noble route. I was a mess."

"What happened?"

Shepard frowned. "After Akuze, I spent all the time drowning in alcohol and survivor's guilt. Went on like that for a month straight. Long story short, Anderson and Hackett saved me. Anderson got me to talk to a shrink who's a friend of his. Hackett set it up so I was kept busy by being carted around to morale shows on my down time between assignments."

Kaidan nodded. "So that's why you've been going from base to base doing those ceremonies."

"Yeah. Apparently Hackett can't see that his shows are now becoming a new reason for me to drink." Shepard sighed.

Another moment of silence passed between them. Kaidan commented quietly, "Thanks for telling me, Commander. I feel better knowing that you're human like me."

"Don't let it get around, Alenko. I still have an image to keep." Shepard grinned wryly. She nudged him with her shoulder. "Your turn."

He blinked. "My turn?"

"It's your turn to tell me something about your past. Fair is fair, Alenko."

Kaidan began to tense. He didn't like discussing his past very much. There were things that were always best forgotten. Conatix coming to his parent's house to cart him off to BAaT. The friends who snapped from the intensity of the training. The turian teacher he had killed.

Rahna.

"If you were really curious, you have access to my files, Commander." He said cautiously.

Shepard didn't notice the stiffness in his voice. "Then tell me something that wouldn't be in your files." She suggested.

"Like what?"

Shepard took a second to mull it over. "Tell me about your family."

"Oh…" He almost let out a sigh of relief. That he could do. "I don't think there's much to tell. My father served in the Alliance Military for decades. He and my mom now spend their days taking care of their nieces and nephews back at their place in Vancouver."

"You're an only child, huh?"

"Yeah. You?

"Same. I guess your parents are really proud about your career choice."

"My dad, yes. My mom…a reluctant yes." Kaidan chuckled.

"Why is that?"

"The usual mom stuff." He held up his hand to tick off his list. "Doesn't like the idea of me going off-world. She only sees me once a year because of my duties. She also really wants me to settle down and give her a mess of grandchildren to spoil."

Shepard laughed. "Her nieces and nephews aren't enough?"

"Apparently not. I told her I need to find a woman first." He said cynically.

Shepard tilted her head. "Was there anyone who came close to becoming a Mrs. Alenko?"

Kaidan paused. "There was one…" He said slowly. "But it was a long time ago, back in my BAaT days. We don't even talk anymore."

Shepard caught the unhappiness clouding into his eyes. Apparently she touched on a sore subject. She decided to change the direction of the conversation. She cleared her throat. "How's your migraine?"

"Ah." Kaidan lifted his hand to his temple. He had completely forgotten about it while he was speaking with Shepard. "Better. Maybe you have this effect on me, Commander."

"Good. I'll send you the bill for the treatment." She joked.

"So why did you come in to the med bay anyway?" He asked.

"Oh, I was hoping Doctor Chakwas had something to help me sleep. I've been awake on stims for the past forty-eight hours." Shepard said wearily.

"Are you serious? Why don't you lie down in that bed over there? Chakwas will probably be coming back soon."

"No thanks." She gazed into Kaidan's eyes. "I'm pretty comfortable where I'm at right now…unless you want me to move."

Kaidan felt his pulse quicken and shook his head. "Uh…no. You can stay like this as long as you want, Commander."

Shepard dimpled. "I'm going to take you up on that, Alenko."

Without anything clever to say, Kaidan simply nodded. For a while, they sat shoulder to shoulder in silence.

Then peace.


Chakwas stepped into her medical bay and paused at the sight before her.

Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko were sitting up against the wall, her head on his shoulder and his head resting on hers. Both of them were deep asleep.

The doctor smiled knowingly and retrieved a blanket from the bed. She covered the couple neatly with it.

Now would be a good time to go around and do some surprise personal examinations. She thought as she quietly left the med bay,