LTIS - Chapter 8 - Psych Evaluations

by AlyaESayer

''We need to get her back to the citadel now'' said a medic

''My team, they...''

''We know Shepard, just rest now your safe'' said Hacket

Shepard couldn't help but smile at the thought of being safe and finally returning to Earth

The last thing she remembered was being hauled out of the kodiak by two men as the pain in her leg was too intense for her to stay with it.

Once aboard the ship Hacket got into contact with Anderson

''We found her Anderson, she's alive but barely'' said Hacket with a huge sigh of relief

''Where are you taking her?'' asked Anderson

''Back to the Citadel, it's got the best hospital there for her''

''I'll call the rest of her family as we'll meet you there, Anderson out''

Hacket walked away from the terminal and simply watched the woman lying on the hospital bed, he knew she had been born into the alliance, it was in her blood and soul. Yet looking at the woman lying on that bed in her burnt and fractured armour he almost feared that this would be the end of her career.

He was thankful he had a good pilot, as his and the ships the rest of her family were pulled into the citadel roughly the same time. Hannah broke down when she saw the state of her daughter and turned to cry into Anderson's arms. Karin stepped right into her medical role and made sure she kept up with the bed that had her god-daughter lying on.

''Captain Anderson where is she?'' asked Kaidan Alenko as he ran off his ship

''They've just taken her to the hospital, I need to warn you son it's not pretty'' warned Anderson

''You have a lot to answer for Steven'' warned Hannah

''I got to her as fast as I could, the moment I recieved the message the only thing I could think about was finding my niece so don't take that tone with me'' barked Steven

''If you two are going to kill each other over who's fault this is, we better not do it in public like this, we all know the press would have a field day knowing about Shepard's family history, plus she wouldn't be treated the same way with your positions in the alliance'' shouted Anderson

''Your so lucky I'm not armed right now'' warned Hannah as she stormed off towards the hospital

''We're all bloody lucky that psycho isn't armed right now'' muttered Hacket

Alenko was in shock at what he had just witnessed, Hacket was actually her uncle, he wondered how many hand outs she had been given throughout her training.

''Alenko are you coming?'' called Anderson

''Right there sir'' said Alenko where he took to a jog to catch up with the others.

They all stood outside Shepard's room waiting for news, Alenko didn't know what to make of the situation, Anderson got a call from Hacket the next thing he knew their course had been changed. Kaidan had gone to see Chakwas packing her medical bag and a few personal belongings when he asked for some help with a mild migraine. He had gone for a little shut eye to discover the Captain had already left as did Chakwas claiming a family emergency had come up to Joker. He knew there was only one person they would both leave the ship for and that was Shepard.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Hacket took a seat next to him

''At ease soldier, we're not on duty here''

Kaidan tried to relax but it wasn't easy for him

''So how do you know Alya then?'' he asked

''We went to BAaT training together, been friends ever since'' he sighed

''Welcome to the family then'' he smiled

''Is it always like this when she gets hurt?'' he asked

''The family coming together like this, yeah. Though she doesn't see much of me due to my assignments, I just wish I hadn't been the one sent to Akuze to find her'' Hacket answered

''That bad huh?'' asked Kaidan

''It'll be a miracle if she comes out of this without any scars'' said Hacket as he tapped his head to show he meant psychological scars

Kaidan looked at his superior officer and he could see the haunted look on his face, he could see that what he witnessed was rough, but knowing Shepard had to endure what ever the hell went on down there was something else.

''What the hell did you see down there?'' asked Hannah

''A lot of dead soldiers with my niece nearly kicking in death's door'' sighed Hacket

''Shit'' hissed Anderson

Hannah wanted to say something, but she was too upset over what her little girl had to endure, her whole body begun to shake, Anderson couldn't say anything to make her feel better so he wrapped his arms around her and that was when Kaidan finally saw what Alya had meant by them having feelings for each other.

The group spent hours there, Anderson left for only a few moments to tell his crew they were officially on shore leave for two weeks, before Anderson was back Kaidan got a message from Joker asking him to join him for drinks

''Can't family issue has come up, maybe another time''

''You should go and enjoy yourself we could be here for a while'' said Hannah as she finally sat down

''It's alright I want to be here when she wakes up'' sighed Kaidan

''I'm sure she would appreciate you being here when she does'' sighed Hannah

''I need to get some coffee'' said Hacket with a yawn. ''Do you want anything Hannah?''

''A large coffee, no milk and three sugars sounds perfect right now''

Once Hacket left Hannah looked at Kaidan and she knew there was something there, the way he was trying to will that door open in hopes of seeing that she was alright.

''You care about her don't you?'' asked Hannah

''We're just friends'' sighed Kaidan

''You have the same look on your face when someone who loved me found out I nearly died falling pregnant with my daughter'' sighed Hannah

''I assume it was due to being exposed to element zero'' said Kaidan

''Yeah, she had only just been conceived when a box of the stuff exploded on a shuttle before we took off, turns out that stuff can be really unstable if you don't store it properly. Not that me or her father knew that at the time'' sighed Hannah

''My mum was down wind of a crash when she was exposed to element zero, she had a difficult pregnancy as well from what my dad tell me, it's why he left the military''

''Well you must be the reason why she embraces them again, so thank you for helping her with that'' said Hannah as she nudged his shoulder to cheer him up

While Anderson and Hacket were away Helen and Kaidan just talked about being a biotic, it helped Hannah to understand her daughter a little better as she could never quite wrap her head around it, they would talk guns and tech to their hearts content but biotics was a no go area for them as she had tried to explain it but her mother just simply couldn't understand it.

Hacket and Anderson finally made their way back to see Hannah and Kaidan talking about being a biotic. Anderson couldn't help but smile at their conversation and Hacket was clearly trying to understand biotics himself, Anderson however was one of the few captains who had one serving on his ship. It was late in the night when the door to her room finally opened

''How is she Karin?'' asked Anderson

''She suffered down there, her right leg had significant fractures and acid burns running all down it, she dislocated her shoulder, not to mention she was dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia when she was brought in'' sighed Karin. ''She's awake but doesn't want to speak to anyone apart from Kaidan right now''

''Your up son'' suggested Anderson as he patted the marine on the shoulder

Kaidan took a deep breathe before he entered the room

Alenko clearly wasn't prepared for what he saw when he walked in as her face was slightly bruised, remnants of what was left of her armour were laid on a table. '''Als'' he called

''Kaidan'' she purred as she turned opened her eyes to the sound of his voice with a half smile trying to find it's place on her chapped lips

''I'm here Als'' said Kaidan as he pulled a chair to sit next to her, she tried to lift her hand to touch his face but she simply didn't have to strength to make sure he wasn't a figment of her imagination. ''Get some sleep, I'll be right here'' then he kissed her hand and stroked her hair in an attempt to settle her mind. Once he felt that she was resting well, he pulled a second chair and prepared to stay by her side as long as she needed him.

Kaidan found he couldn't sleep, not because there was doctors constantly coming in and out of the room to check Alya's injuries but because he was too worried about her mental state, he knew she had been through hell on Azuke, he just didn't know how to bring it up. Not to mention Alya could barely talk to anyone who entered her room about what happened and that included Kaidan, she was barely sleeping due to the flashbacks she kept getting and the constant pain she was in was doing her no favours either.

After three extensive skin grafts her leg was still bandaged up with splints and medical sutures to stop the hard work from the surgeons being undone. The pain medication helped a little but the skin grafts were itchy.

''Kaidan'' murmured Alya

''What do you need?'' he asked as he held back a yawn and sat up in the chair he had been using as a bed

''I need a datapad to write down what happened on Akuze''

''Get some sleep first'' he replied as he placed his hand on hers

''I won't be able to rest until I speak about what happened and for once I'm lost for words so I should write it down'' Alya said as she attempted to sit up on the bed she was staying in

''Alright then'' he simply nodded as he then reached for a pad, handed it to her and snuggled back down in the uncomfortable chair he had been using as a bed for the last few nights and went back to sleep as Alya begun to write down everything, every detail of how the ground team were ambushed, how each one was killed before her very eyes. She kept writing as various doctors came in and out to check on her injuries with Kaidan still asleep in the chair beside her bed. It took three hours to write down the events of the mission as well as each and every way it went wrong, the exact details of how her team died on the cursed planet. Step by step she wrote it all down, how the ground forces had died before her very eyes, the way the creature moved as it attacked, she made a point to make sure there was a special recommendation for Dobbs for the way he risked his life to save hers.

''Hey sweetheart can we come in?'' asked Hannah

''Yeah sure'' Alya replied sleepily, which forced Kaidan to sit up straight. She too sat up and placed the tablet on the bedside table, making sure she didn't move her leg or put pressure on her shoulder.

''Come on son, let's get some coffee in you'' suggested Hacket

Hannah took Kaidan's seat and made a point to cover her daughter's body with the thick blanket in order to help regulate her body temperature. ''How are you feeling?''

''Drained'' Alya sighed

''It's understandable from what your uncle told us of what the reinforcements found on Akuze'' said Anderson as he too pulled up a chair

Alya's eyes teared up as she reached for the datapad she had not long placed there, ''I know you guys want to ask me a thousand questions of what happened down there but... Right now I can't talk about it. If the higher ups need some form of record then give them this'' she finished as she passed the datapad to Anderson.

''Do you need me to check this over first?'' Anderson dared to ask

''Go for it, I just wanted to get the details down, and how everyone died over checking for spelling and grammar'' she sighed as she once again tried to keep it together.

Hannah knew her daughter was struggling with her grief, after all the last time this happened was the day it was discovered that she was a biotic and nearly took down a large section on the citadel after her father died. Her whole body was shaking as she tried to contain her emotions. Hannah got up from her chair sat at the pillow end of her daughter's bed and wrapped her arms around Alya, allowing her to cry over everything she has seen and heard on her last mission Anderson knew he wasn't wanted or needed and headed into the hallway where he meet a very sleep deprived Kaidan.

''What happened down there?'' asked Kaidan breaking the silence

''You better read this son, she wrote it all down as it's just too painful for her to talk about right now'' replied Anderson as he handed over a datapad.

''I don't think I can read this'' sighed Kaidan

''That's understandable, but you should know that if she doesn't start talking to someone about this soon, she may not be allowed back to active duty'' warned Anderson

Kaidan knew things must have been dire if Anderson was worried she would lose her post, after all they both knew that Alya's place was in the Alliance.

''She'll talk to me about it eventually, until then I'll do what I've always done for her'' he muttered as she handed the datapad back to his commanding officer