Her head pounded and spun, she felt dizzy and nauseous with it. The sudden return to fresh air, clean, cold sea air, ought to have helped but the contrast between up here and down here was too sudden, too sharp, and rather then inhaling gratefully it stung her lungs and increased the feeling of light headedness. Tumbling out the mech she hit the ground with a thud and an involuntary moan escaped her. Even in this state, she was aware of fighting around her. Her arms shook as she tried to push her weight up, she was trembling and on the verge of being sick, all her limbs felt like cotton wool, weak – and her vision was blacking around the edges.

Aware her name had been yelled she tried harder, crawling with less certainty then a baby just learning locomotion. The ground seemed to be moving – had it been moving before? Was that the sea, or footsteps, was the Leviathan making its presence felt? Shepard couldn't be sure of anything, thoughts were almost painful. The creature of the Deep had left her in pieces, ripped through her brain curious as to what it would find, and a fire fight was not a good place to put yourself back together.

A hand on her shoulder, an arm around her waist. Voices yelling, gunfire, roars, the wind and the waves – it felt like a sensory overload that meant nothing made any sense. Then darkness.

"Shepard? Shepard, wake up! She's freezing, her hands are like ice – we don't have a blanket or anything abroad this shuttle do we?" Rough skin, chapped, calloused hands grabbing her own and rubbing warmth into her pale fingers – that made more sense to her then the rush from before, and opening her eyes, the room swam for a moment but images were clearer now. Kaidan knelt at her side, looking concerned, James gripping an overhead handle and frowning at her. Lying prone on the floor always felt vulnerable and she tried to sit up, rapidly – and that did not help her pulsing head.

"Hey, slow down there – you OK?" Kaidan asked, his tone slightly relieved as he slid one arm around her back to support her.

"I've been better" she said, trying to sound unconcerned and still insisting upon attempting to pull herself upright, one hand reaching out to grab the edge of one of the shuttle seats to help. The Major, used to her stubbornness, elected not to try and stop her and instead offer any support he could to get Shepard off the floor and onto a seat, perching beside her with one hand gripping hers.

"Never do that again" he said, his voice a little shaky. "You had me worried then, Shepard" Kaidan added, shaking his head slightly.

Leaning back – her head spun less when it wasn't wobbling on her neck – the blonde squeezed his fingers reassuringly, but her tone was teasing as she spoke.

"I'd have thought, by now, you'd have given up worrying" she said, trying to swallow back the nausea. "I mean, c'mon – diving down in a rusty old mech to talk to a Reaper killer can't be the worst thing I've ever done. I had half of Sovereign fall on me and crawled out alive, I flew through the Omega-4 relay. Took on the Shadow Broker. Destroyed a Collector Base. Pissed off the Illusive Man. Fought a Reaper from the ground on Rannoch. Was patched into the geth consciousness-"

"Faced down Wrex in a bad mood" James chipped in.

"Not to mention repeatedly blows things up without letting me know she's got a plan for getting out safely" Cortez added.

"You should know by now, I always get through this shit in one piece" Shepard explained, trying to offer Kaidan a smile. The Major shook his head.

"I'll always remember when Joker's escape pod opened and you weren't there. I remember the time you didn't come back" he pointed out, his voice filled with grief at the memory. Shepard bit her lip before reaching for him, her other hand moving to take his hand.

"I feel nauseous and I have a headache like you can't imagine...but I'm alive. I'm here. We're fine" she assured him, closing her eyes after a moment. "And I may have just gotten us some more help against the Reapers...so now is a moment for being glad another day's shit is over. Not for worrying, yeah?"

"I hear you" was the quiet, sombre reply, but she felt her hands being lifted and the warm touch of his lips against his fingers. "I love you" was the next comment and Shepard forced her eyes open.

"I love you too Kaidan".

"Enough to stop scaring me like this?"

"Enough to be sorry that I have to".