Private Practice, by potionsmaster

Rating: T for language

Summary: Cat's out of the bag, as it were

A/N: Poor Shepard. AND! Shout-out to tattoodaffodil, who let me know that I am not, in fact, watching my words float off into the abyss. Probably will post the next story in the series just for you, since you're interested in what happens next.

Chapter 10: Doctors Play Video Games, Too

Kaidan bit his tongue as Miranda droned on about the potential merger with Cerberus as they rounded the corner from the boardroom, pulling out his cellphone. He had refilled the travel mug and was carrying it everywhere with him today, too. When he had a spare moment, he liked remembering the circumstances of getting it from Shepard. Biting back a sigh, he made himself pay attention to what Dr. Lawson was saying; she was the president of the practice after all. She seemed to be coming around to the idea that there was something going on their CEO wasn't telling them about the potential merger with Cerberus. Dr. Massani had staunchly folded his arms and said in his rough, British accent, "Abso-fucking-lutely not. Are we done? Because I don't have all goddamn day to debate this…" Dr. Hackett had glanced at him, then expressed the same sentiment in a more dignified manner. Dr. Anderson was adamant about getting more information before making any kind of decisions. The doctors were split pretty evenly on if they should proceed or not, much to their CEO's frustration. Anoleis had produced some fancy charts and graphs, but Kaidan was still uneasy about it.

They turned another left around the corner and found themselves in the lobby of the business floor in front of the bathrooms, elevators, and break room. He felt another flutter in his stomach as he thought he caught a whiff of Shepard's aftershave. Maybe it was in the shirt he borrowed.

Kaidan 12:22: How's it going? I got stuck in a meeting and I'm starving. Boss-lady seems like she's listening, though, so that's good.

Shepard 12:22: :( Just finished mine; gotta clock in by 25 after. Maybe it'll be dead later today in the crow's nest and I can text more.

Kaidan 12:23: Aww. Hopefully so. Sorry it took so long for me to get back with you

Shepard 12:23: I know you're a workaholic, it's ok. You'll just have to make it up to me later

Kaidan 12:24: Count on it ;)

He held back a smile and glanced at Miranda while he put his phone back in his pocket. She didn't seem to notice or care he wasn't paying his full attention to her.

"Dr. Alenko, I'm rather happy you were able to bring some of those issues to light with Cerberus; it seems there's a bit of a lack of communication between -"

"OOOF!"

"OH, my god, I am so sorry…"

A solid shoulder collided with his own and he staggered backwards a step, coffee sloshing in the mug. Luckily the lid stayed in place. He grabbed onto the other person's arm to stabilize himself and did a doubletake; that voice was-

"Shepard?"

Wide blue eyes locked with his in shock. Shepard's face drained of all color and he bolted through the nearest door. Miranda wrinkled her nose.

"Did he just...dash off into the women's loo?"

Kaidan nodded, speechless. He couldn't believe it. A disgusted snort broke his concentration as Miranda tossed her glossy hair over her shoulder.

"I take it you weren't expecting to see him, whoever it was. Find me later after you sort it out; I want to hear more of what your nurse has to say about working for Cerberus. Uncouth as she is, I would still like to hear examples." Her sharp heels clacked down the hallway towards her office, leaving him blinking in disbelief.

Shepard smiled to himself as his phone pinged with another text from Kaidan. It was too bad he was at the end of his lunch break already. He texted back as much and got an immediate response as he left the lunchroom. Murmuring voices and the sharp sound of heels came from the opposite end of the hall, heading towards him. He didn't pay them any mind; he was too busy trying to come up with a cheeky response to Kaidan's winky-face and promise to make the lack of texting up to him somehow. He could think of a few suggestions. The voices got louder as they all passed in front of the elevators.

"Dr. Alenko, I'm rather happy you were able to bring some of those issues to light with Cerberus; it seems there's a bit of a lack of communication between -"

Shepard still didn't look up until his shoulder smashed into something very solid. He staggered backwards, clutching at his phone.

"OOOF!"

"OH, my god, I am so sorry…"

He snapped his gaze to the person he ran into and started babbling an apology. Figures that he would run into a doctor, of all people. Dr. Lawson, specifically. President of Normandy Orthopedics. And another doctor.

…who was wearing his blue shirt? And carrying his travel mug?

A warm hand grabbed his arm to keep them both upright and familiar, surprised brown eyes locked on his.

"Shepard?"

Kaidan. Sudden realization hit him and he couldn't breathe. Fuck. It all made sense now: "I like fixing things." "I like to help people." The Porsche. "I have a good bedside manner." The Infiniti. "Let me write you a doctor's excuse." Odd work hours he was able to set. How could he have been so stupid? Bile rose in the back of his throat and he bolted, smashing through the closest bathroom door on his right.

Thank god no one was in there to hear him dry heave.

He wet a paper towel and wiped his face with it, breathing heavily.

"Oh my fucking god...I fucked a doctor. That I work for," he said to his reflection. "How could I not know I was fucking a doctor?" His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Kaidan.

Missed call. Two missed calls. Voicemail. Shepard's hands shook. He said his name was 'Kaidan', but that didn't make sense; Dr. Alenko's name was 'Michael'. Was he lying? Getting sick to his stomach was still a distinct possibility. He fought to control his breathing.

The phone buzzed again. Three unread messages.

He wiped his face with the moist paper towel again and dried his hands, still shaking. He didn't want to go out again until he knew for a fact Kaidan wasn't waiting for him. If that was even what his name was.

An idea struck him. He called Joker.

"Hey...I need a favor…"

"I already told you, dude, Garrus does the printer jams. I'm the 'fix it from the control room' guy."

"Yeah, different kind of favor. I, uh...I'm trapped and I need you to run interference. Are you on the business floor?"

"Yeah. Where are you?" Shepard heard him gathering his crutches and hauling himself out of his chair. "Be right back, guys, I'm going on a search and rescue. Avenge my death if I don't return." Muffled sounds came from Tali and Greg in the background. "Shut it, Adams, even I need to get up sometimes…sorry, Shepard, you were saying?"

"I just need you to check out the hall in front of the elevators."

"Oookay…almost there," Joker said, panting a bit. "What am I looking for, exactly?"

"Just...if anybody's there, can you get rid of them? Please?" He paced in front of the sinks, stomach churning. The humiliation was overwhelming as an unbidden memory from the night before washed over him: his hands on Kaidan's hips, guiding their movement together, fingers digging into the dense muscle, Kaidan's head thrown back and moaning as -

"Oh, hey, Doc! What's shakin'?" Joker hung up.

"You've reached Shepard, leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Shepard...John, it's...it's Kaidan. Please pick up. I think we both need to talk. Just...call me back...please." He sighed as he hung up, staring at the screen. The laborious, slow sound of crutches came around the corner as he scrubbed a frustrated hand over his eyes; he didn't know what he should do. He needed to get back downstairs and start afternoon clinic, but he didn't just want to leave the situation the way it was.

"Oh, hey, Doc! What's shakin'?" Jeff said brightly. Kaidan gave him a tight smile, tucking his phone away. Now that he thought about it, he could hear the same speech pattern from the one they called Joker in the gaming group.

"Too much, to be honest. Hey, uh...you know Shepard, right? Next time you see or talk to him, would you ask him to give me a call? We've got some things we need to discuss."

Jeff arched an eyebrow at that.

"Yeah, uh, sure. What pod are you at?"

"I'm usually in 8, but don't bother with that. He's got my personal number. Have a good weekend, Joker." He gave one last look at the door to the women's bathroom, then shuffled off towards the east stairs. Jack would make it her mission to hunt him down if he were late for office.

Joker watched the doctor walk away, shoulders stooped. Once he was sure he was clear, he called Shepard again.

"So tell me. How do you have Dr. Alenko's phone number? Because last I knew, you were seeing this dude named 'Kaidan' and he had dreamboat eyes and was super into games like us and WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WE WERE GAMING WITH ONE OF OUR BOSSES, YOU CRETIN?" he whispered furiously into the mouthpiece, craning his head around. "And where the hell are you?"

The door to the women's bathroom cracked open and Shepard's pale, sweaty face peered through the crack.

"Because I didn't fucking know he was a goddamn doctor, alright?" he ferociously whispered back through the door. "It never came up in conversation and we didn't really talk about jobs other than generalities." He flicked off the light and cautiously came out, leaning against the wall with his head ducked. Joker shook his head, laughing.

"How do you even get yourself into these situations, man? I mean, it's one thing to wish you had a sugar daddy, but to actually get one and not know you work for him?"

Shepard shot him a dirty look, crossing his arms.

"He is not my 'sugar daddy', ok?" he sighed, dropping his head back against the wall with a solid 'thunk'. "And he never said he was a doctor. Ever. Just said he liked helping people and working with his hands."

Joker glanced at his phone.

"...might wanna get back to the crow's nest. Samara will have kittens at how late you are. Thank god it's Friday, huh? You won't have to deal with it until Monday again."

He pushed off the wall shakily.

"I dunno, Joker...can I even do that? I mean, it's not like there's 'no frat' regs here, but I haven't heard of anybody dating in the office." He started making his way around the corner towards the bullpen. Joker stumped after him.

"Yeah, I know. But there's a non-discriminatory clause in the handbook. No favoritism. He can't let you do whatever you want and you can't schedule appointments for just him."

"I know that," Shepard snapped at him, hand on the handle to the phone room. "I just...fuck, I can't be here right now." He pushed open the door and Samara immediately turned in her chair, concern furrowing her brow. Joker followed him in and quietly shut the room off from the bullpen. A mild cacophony of phones ringing and "Normandy Orthopedics, how may I direct your call?" swirled around them. He slunk over to his tiny cubicle next to Samara.

"John...you're a half an hour late. I'll have to use personal time to make up for it."

He nodded mutely and sat heavily in his chair. Joker observed quietly. Shepard rummaged through his desk and pulled out a calendar he'd been given in his cheat sheet notebook, he had stashed it in his desk and hadn't given it another thought. It had all the doctor's portraits on it. Sure enough, there was Kaidan. Dr. Michael K. Alenko: General, Joint Replacement, Sports Medicine. His ears burned again. It was right here in front of him, the whole time.

"John. Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, Samara, I...got sick in the bathroom. I don't know if I can make it through the afternoon. Jeff had to rescue me."

"Oh! Dear...log out and make sure your phone's on 'Do Not Disturb' so it doesn't ring once the phone line's put to the answering service at 5:00, please. Hopefully you'll feel better after the weekend," she said kindly, "I'll approve the sick time."

"I really appreciate it," he said, closing down his computer and shutting down his desk. "Thanks, man…" He nodded towards Joker as he rushed out of the room and down the east stairs to the parking lot. No wonder he never saw the Porsche or the Infiniti here, either. He always parked in the east lot. Kaidan's office was on the west side of the building; he probably always parked there.

He sat in the driver's seat of his Chevy, staring at his phone. Maybe he'd be brave enough to text Kaidan and break it off tomorrow.