The asari hospital ship was beautiful, of course. Still, though, it was the aftermath of a war, and the Athame was full of screams, moans, and sobbing. People had been shuttled up from Earth ever since Operation: Hammer had begun. Kaidan bobbed and weaved his way through the crowed halls until he reached Shepard's room. Upon entering, he was face-to-face with Admiral Shepard and her husband, Nathan's father. Kaidan greeted them with precision, though his eyes drifted often to the Commander.

"Major Alenko," Major Jonathan Shepard said. "Were you with Nathan during the mission?"

"Yes, sir, right up to the point that he took the Conduit to the Citadel. We made a mad dash for the Conduit and then... he evacuated us. We watched him take a blast from a Harvester. Nathan got back up," he said with a soft awe in his voice. "He wouldn't let almost being vaporized hold him back from stopping the Reapers."

A look and a smile passed between the Shepards. It looked like they were about to say something when one of the asari doctors approached their group.

"Admiral, Major Shepard. Major Alenko, there is remarkable damage to Commander Shepard. I hope you understand when I tell you, no human should still be alive. I doubt an asari would still be alive with what he's been through. That he is should be s a testament to his strength and will. Be that as it may, the head trauma is going to be a problem for a little while, but he will recover. Amazingly, he's awake. We're about to put him in a healing coma, but he insisted on speaking with you first, Major Alenko."

Shooting an awkward and apologetic glance at Shepard's parents, Kaidan moved to his partner's bedside. Shepard looked like a blackened wound, but his blue eyes were open, and Kaidan couldn't remember seeing anything as beautiful in his entire life.

"See what happens when I leave you behind," Shepard asked hoarsely.

Kaidan pursed his lips in reply.

"Did we get them?" Kaidan smiled indulgently.

"Hey, you bet you did. No stinking Reaper is going to stop Nathan Shepard."

"Good. Now you can marry me."

Kaidan blinked rapidly in surprise. "Only because you got them, though, huh?"

"Well, I couldn't very well ask the second human Spectre to marry me if I was a failure, could I? People would question your judgement."

Kaidan seized Shepard's hand and kissed his blackened knuckles. "I'd marry you if you tripped and fell in front of Sovereign himself."

"Good. That's settled. Now get out of here. They tell me they have to put me to sleep. I need it."

Kaidan chuckled. "Yes, Nathan, you do. You deserve it. While you're asleep, can you plan the wedding? I've got to clean up a mess made by this Shepard guy. Took down the biggest threat the galaxy has ever known, but didn't think about all the flowers he'd be stepping on to do it."

"Quit whining and get back to work. I'll be here."

"Do you want to talk to your parents? They're both here."

"Jesus, Kaidan, I'm just a little burned and banged up! What'd you have to call them for?" He gave an aggrieved sigh. "Send 'em over, I guess."

Kaidan motioned them over, and stepped back a discreet distance. Admiral Shepard squeezed his hand as she passed him, but said nothing.

Marry Shepard. He was going to marry Shepard. The best he'd ever hoped for was the chance to love Shepard as long as he could. Even though he had always believed they'd defeat the Reapers, he'd never given much thought to what would come after. Sure, there'd been daydreams, a family, a nice place of their own, but they'd just been daydreams, fantasies. Now he would be able to do those things, and the future was wide open.

He was so lost in thought that he jumped when a hand touched his shoulder. It was Admiral Shepard.

"Major Alenko, I believe there's something you didn't mention when we spoke earlier."

"Ma'am? Or, sir?"

"How long have you and Nathan been together?" There was no hint of malice, nor anger, nor anything other than a mother's joy.

"Just after the Cerberus coup, Admiral. We served together on the Normandy SR-1, and..." Kaidan gestured lamely, not sure how to explain all that had happened in between.

"And now I hear we get to call you son. Congratulations," Major Shepard said kindly. He put a hand on Kaidan's shoulder and stuck out his other for a handshake. Kaidan took it, somewhat bewildered by the rush of events.

"I fussed at him for you," she said. "That's no way to propose to someone."

"All I need is Shepard, Admiral. Anything else is..." Again, he made a vague gesture to encompass frivolity.

"If I may, I'd like to call you Kaidan. And unless I'm giving you an order, I'd like you to call me Hannah."

Kaidan thanked them and they spent a time chatting, getting to know each other. Suddenly, Kaidan sat bolt upright. A thought occurred to him for the first time. This was the first chance he'd had to sit down, to rest, to do anything other than find Shepard in over a day.

"Kaidan," Admiral Shepard inquired.

"If you'll excuse me, Admiral, Major, I need to call my mother. This is the first chance I've had to check on her for weeks. I need to find out if there's been news about my father."

"Of course! We'll be here."

#

He had to pull the Spectre card, since communications were unreliable and therefore restricted, but Kaidan got a hold of his mother. She was at one of the centers, volunteering, so he was able to get a visual link. Her warm face filled the screen, she always did sit just a little too close. Her hair was a little greyer than Kaidan remembered, and there were a few more wrinkles on her face, particularly around her mouth, they dragged the corners of her mouth down a little when she wasn't smiling, but the light in her eyes was undimmed. Her nose wrinkled when she smiled, the same way Kaidan's did. He felt calmer already, knowing that she'd survived.

"Kaidan," she said in greeting. "Hi, son."

"Mom," he breathed. The word was as much a greeting as a talisman against the anxiety building each second he didn't know his father's fate. "It's good to see you."

"You, too, son. I hear congratulations are in order."

For the briefest of moments, he wondered how she could have heard of their engagement, until he realized she was talking about the Reaper invasion.

"Yeah, we did it. Well, Shepard did it. We fought our way to the Conduit together, but Shepard defeated them by himself."

"Well, he couldn't have done it without you, Kaid. I hope he knows that."

Kaidan smiled to himself. "Yeah, ma, he knows that. Mom, has there been any word from dad?"

"Not in the last couple of days. He was alive before the fleets popped up around Earth, but he couldn't tell me where he was. I'm sure he's fine."

"You mean you knew he was ok, but didn't call to let me know?"

"Kaidan Alenko, you were busy mounting an attack to save the galaxy. I couldn't distract you. You can calm down right now."

He closed his eyes in relief. His dad was alright. Most likely. As an older soldier, he wouldn't have been on the front lines. His finger started worrying the skin around his thumbnail.

"Son? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, mom. Everything's just great now. There's something else I want to tell you, before you hear about it from anyone else."

She was predictably excited, swore that she'd contact Admiral Shepard, and promised to check back in to check on Shepard's progress. He signed off, then shot a quick email to Admiral Hackett to see if his father could be located. Then he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. He hadn't gotten any bunk time in... possibly two days. He'd lost track.

As he made his way back to the Shepards, the adrenaline that had been battling his fatigue began to fail. He could practically see it waving a white flag.

Admiral Shepard saw it as he approached, and she ordered him to find a bunk. She stopped an asari doctor, who directed him to the crew deck to find an empty bunk. Both Shepard's parents assured him they'd notify him immediately if there was any change with Nathan, but a healing coma was likely to last days, maybe weeks, but not hours. He thanked them and stumbled until he got to a bed.

It was only a couple of hours, but during the war (and wasn't it nice to think of the war as past tense?) Kaidan had gotten used to working on four hours of sleep or less. Though his sleep was fitful, when he rose, the edge of his fatigue was gone. This was the first time he'd slept without Nathan in about a month.

The Shepards were right where he'd left them, asleep, heads bowed in on each other, a datapad lying on the seat next to either of them. It brought Kaidan up short, this display of partnership. While both were military, and went long periods of time without seeing each other, this was a team, just as solid as he and Nathan were. They were lucky they both had such good examples in parents. Major Shepard woke first, with a rueful grin.

"Sorry, Kaidan. Just catching a little shut-eye," he said, with a bit of a Southern accent.

"Please Maj-Jonathan. Please sleep some more, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Oh, I'm up. We were just reading reconstruction reports. If that won't put you to sleep, I don't know what will. You were only gone for a couple hours, son. Do you need some more time? We'll let you know if there's any change."

"Sir, I appreciate that. I can't sleep much, still too wired. Besides, I lost two years with Nathan, and now that I have him, I just can't leave him."

Jonathan gazed down at his wife with a secret smile. "I know what you mean."

#

Taking a moment to get some coffee, Kaidan heard the dulcet exotic tones of Miranda Lawson. It's not that she was being mean, she was just... forceful. He pushed past a couple of nurses tending to a turian and saw her, raven hair and impossibly tiny body oozing a haughty demeanor. Bless them, the asari were keeping the fact they had Commander Shepard under wraps, which was the cause of Miranda's delay. If they weren't, this whole area would be bombarded with press. Seeing Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani might ruin the calm he'd found in sleep.

"I know Commander Shepard is here. I was summoned by Spectre Kaidan Alenko to assist in his rehabilitation. If you can't help me, get me someone who can-"

"It's alright," Kaidan jumped in. "I did send for her. Thank you," he said to the asari nurse, who had been beginning to look put out. "Miranda, thanks for coming. Shepard's this way."

Her white and black outfit, which once bore the Cerberus logo, looked a little singed in places.

"Are you ok," he asked.

"Is anyone, these days? I had one of those modified turians on me. Someone in my squad finally decided to get him off me. It was a little close. You?"

"Had a tank thrown at me. Just got a bloody nose."

"Show off."

Even though they'd never served together, and had only met briefly at Sanctuary, there was something about serving with Shepard that made you develop a shorthand bravado. They fell into it easily.

"How bad is it?' She looked a little apprehensive. Kaidan had taken Nathan at his word that there were no feelings between the two of them, but Kaidan wasn't so sure that Miranda didn't have any for Nathan.

"It's bad. They put him in a healing coma. He's got burns and cuts, breaks..."

"How's his memory? What happened?"

"I have no idea. I didn't ask."

"You... didn't ask Commander Shepard what happened when he defeated the Reapers?"

"I was more worried about how he was doing, not what he did," Kaidan replied testily.

She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again. "Of course you were," she said with a little shake of her head. "Lead the way, I'll see what I can do to help."

She greeted both Shepards, but kept things short. Kaidan got the feeling she didn't want to give them a chance to question her too much. She disappeared with the asari doctors and scientists into Shepard's room. Kaidan excused himself again to go the comm room, deciding he'd try to get his father. Unlike his mother, he was only able to get voice communication. Their conversation was short, as Kaidan would expect. His father was military, and while there was great love and respect between the two of them, and a closeness after a fashion, his father was more reserved than his mother. Kaidan told his father of the upcoming wedding, and his father went silent for a moment.

"Dad?"

"I'm just so damn happy for you, son. We were so worried about you, never seeming like you wanted to settle down with anyone." The elder Alenko's voice was thick with emotion, which made Kaidan's eyes water a little.

They signed off shortly after that. Sargeant Alenko informed Kaidan that he was headed to Vancouver shortly, having finished his tour. Kaidan felt better, knowing that everyone at home would be ok. He returned to his new family, where he saw Miranda speaking. As he approached, Hannah touched Miranda's arm and nodded in Kaidan's direction.

"Major, I was just informing the Shepards that I was able to provide the asari with more information on the limits and functions of the implants Cerberus used when we brought him back to life. That information has changed their treatment, and they expect to be able to pull him out of the coma in the morning. "

At that point, the asari doctor came over to them. "He'll be awake, but he won't be going anywhere. Not for a while. Cybernetics be damned, he's still human, and it will take him some time to recover. I'm sorry, but you're in for a long road.'

"We'll need to get Hackett up here, to debrief him," Major Shepard said. "They'll have questions."

"I can think of a few people who will want to see him," Kaidan said. "They'll have to wait. I understand Admiral Hackett, but we need to keep this as quiet as we can. Press, old teammates, general well-wishers..."

"It'll be a circus if it gets out," Miranda agreed.

"I'll contact Hackett. Kaidan, maybe you'll want to contact some of the squad?" Admiral Shepard was the picture of steely resolve. She seemed to grasp that her son was bigger than any one of them, he was a symbol now, but she was his mother, and she was going to make sure to protect him as much as she could.