Chapter 12
Casnar gazed at Kaidan looking down at them with his barrier diminished, and Casnar's smile gave Kaidan a chill, "….Fair….You do anything to hurt her, I'll kill you."
Kaidan thought he heard some promise in that, and as he studied the sincerity in Casnar's face, "….What exactly makes you think you could."
"I'm trained to fight," Casnar curled his hand around Braith's shoulder, "….and if I don't fight you because of your biotics, I can select someone who can….who'll win."
Kaidan watched Casnar's eyes….Braith's hand waved into the air, collecting the bottle from Casnar's grip and using it to block the staring contest, "….I'm better…." Her eyes were opened, and she was looking at Kaidan from aside Casnar's shoulder, "….Sorry….I guess we'll be leaving now instead of scaring the business out of Verne's," she tilted her head back to look up at the salarian leaning over the counter to see her.
Verne shook his head at her, "….And here I thought you were trying to kill yourself, drinking that garbage for five years straight…." Braith gave him a weak smirk, Casnar rocking to start them getting-up from the dirty floor.
Braith stood easily enough, and everyone seemed to lean back a little uneasily, except for Kaidan and Casnar, who stayed near her as Braith got her legs and balance….The door opened, the bell jingling, and a new Alliance "uniform" appeared at its widening, "….Commander?"
Braith and Kaidan both looked at the officer, but the man was speaking directly to Kaidan, "….We're coming out," Kaidan nodded to Braith, "….You have a gurney for her ready?…." Braith turned her face to look at Kaidan with some surprise—and admiration….He saw her expression, "….What," he grinned, "….You didn't expect I'd be promoted?"
"Congrats," she half-grinned back, "….again….This time—"
"No," Kaidan cut her off, "….I would have told you….if we'd known you survived and were located…." Kaidan looked at Verne, "….I'll settle-up with you," and he went to the bar to pay for his drinks, which he'd consumed a few of while he had been waiting….One of the benefits of being a biotic, he could handle his alcohol for a few rounds—six or seven….Casnar helped Braith head to the doorway and the junior officer waiting there….Braith was walking on her own for the most part, and she nodded to the man as he was staring at her and Casnar, then looking to Kaidan for a word on what to do with them….Kaidan looked over as he did, "….Let them out. They're together….Commander Shepard needs the gurney—"
"I don't need—"
"She's going to sit her ass on it and go see our doctors, Lieutenant….and if the big guy accompanying her on my 'good will' gives you a problem, you have my permission to blow off his kneecap."
"Perfect," Braith grinned at her luck, "….Just wonderfully smooth as always, Kaidan…." Casnar stayed close to her, and gave the junior officer an intimidating glare before ducking his crests under the doorframe.
"I thought Drells were smaller," the younger officer passed a whisper out the corner of his mouth as Kaidan came over to stand with him at the doorway, both looking out into the lot before the street where six shuttles, one marked with a cross for medicinal purposes on its side, disbursed of the armed Alliance soldiers who now waited and observed Braith and Casnar leaving the bar towards a pair of medics guiding a floating gurney over to the pair, coming from the cross-bearing shuttle.
"He's different, I gather," Kaidan watched Casnar step away as the medics held the floating gurney with their hands and stabilized it for Braith, who sat herself on it and laid back, "….He seems to know how to deal with her." Kaidan gave Braith an assuring nod as she turned her face over to look at him from the gurney-bed, "….He also might be able to fill in any gaps we can't get her to answer about….." Casnar walked behind the gurney at Braith's head-end as the medics floated it back towards the cross-bearing shuttle, his shirt tight about his V-tapered physique, pants loose about his long, thick legs.
They stopped just at the entrance to the shuttle, the medics elevating the gurney with Braith on it to get inside the entrance, and as Casnar stood waiting, Alliance soldiers on high alert, Kaidan and his officer started walking out the doorway….Verne ran over, catching the door as it closed and causing them to stop—The officer grabbed his pistol's handgrip as the salarian pushed a clear bottle of Stolych's Moonshine at them, "….At ease, Soldier," Verne looked from the young officer to Kaidan, "….Take this for the flight….She'll maybe need it," Kaidan accepted the bottle from his three fingers, the other officer removing his hand from his pistol-grip….
"Thanks," Kaidan turned the bottle in his hand, reading the label and frowning, "….Charge me for it by the chit-code I gave you…."
"On the house," Verne pointed towards the shuttle, "….It's for her, and him," he indicated the golden drell disappearing inside with Braith and the medics by a flick of his fingers, "….Make sure you treat both of them decent….She's a war hero, and he's royalty."
"You feeling okay?…." Casnar was harnessed into his seat on a bench across from Braith, alongside her gurney which was anchored by tight straps tethered from the gurney's sides to holders in the floor and ceiling of the shuttle's main-passenger compartment.
"I'm better," she looked at him, ignoring the odd stares and the tinkering of nodes and IV lines due to the medics, "….Thanks for what you did back there….I'm not sure why it triggered that way, but it would have been worse had you not known what to do."
"Now maybe, on the positive side of things," he shrugged, not bothering to indicate the armed soldiers seated at his sides, harnessed in as well, "….we can get some answers for what's causing these episodes in you."
Braith raised her eyebrows at him, then turned her face down a degree to look at the soldier at his right, "….What's wrong with you….You never seen a walking 'dead' woman before?"
Casnar looked to his right, seeing the wide-eyed soldier sitting next to him, staring at Braith, "….Are you really the Commander Braith Shepard?"
She and Casnar shared a look, "….Are you going to answer him, or should I," Casnar grinned.
She looked away from his roguish smile to the soldier again, "….You want, you might have to go to my house, 89—"
"We're going to turn that place inside out," Kaidan had come to the shuttle entrance with his lieutenant and overheard, "….if there is anything worth bringing with us, it's coming, too—"
"I hope you don't intend to go over everything, particularly my laundry…." Braith glanced at Casnar, his tebris lifting a little at a stir of "fond memories" from earlier in the day. "You might want to ask me next time, first," Braith was a little disgruntled, "….I would tell you where to look for objects proving my—"
"We're interested more in any alien tech you might have in your home, Braith, or weapons, Reaper items, stuff of that nature."
Casnar shot Kaidan a rude look, "….You mentioned something about 'friends'….Do your friends break into your home, tear down the walls, rip up floors, search and take without asking?"
Kaidan turned his face towards Casnar—least in his expression was that of pleasure, "….Friends, yes—That's why I'm here giving her the option to leave with me, no hassle."
Braith rested her head on the padding in the gurney's head-trap, "….So much for 'no hassle'….Where we heading, 'Commander'?"
She heard the shuttle ramp make some noises as he stepped up into the space, she assumed, and someone started talking about the lights being too dim in the rear of the shuttle, "….You'll see when we get there…." She looked up as the lights in the ceiling of the shuttle flickered on and off, distracting she and Casnar, and there was a sudden sharp pinch to the skin of her neck.
With a hiss, "….What was that, Kaid—" Braith heard Casnar curse out loud as her vision furred at the edges….and she was out.
She had strange dreams again….Dreams of her ceilings and walls, of walking into those scenes she had painted, but in her dreams, those "pieced-together" scenes were vivid and alive.
She felt the place in which she walked while dreaming, calling to her.
Braith struggled to stay in that dream, a light pulling her from the strange city of singing streets and silver metal….She came through darkness into a room with lights overhead of a medical quality….Braith jerked forward on whatever she was tethered upon, rocking the contraption nearly off its wheels….The room was blue, lit dimly and sterile. "Kaidan…." A dry growl dragged from her throat, and then she remembered, and with some panic, "….Casnar….Where are—"
"Calm yourself, Shepard," a voice rang familiar—a gentle, matronly accent to it, and it hailed down from a speaker-port in the ceiling over Braith, "….You had to be sedated for the flight, considering your medical condition and….Your….mate….is in the next room over from you, look towards your feet and I'll show him to you through the mirror-window….He is taking longer to recover as we had to prescribe him a particular cocktail for his species and weight," Braith twisted her head around, and looked finally towards a "lightening" she noticed in the mirror at the foot of her bed a few feet away across the room, and a window was revealed to give her view of Casnar, laid supine on a table that was perpendicular to her, but in a neighboring room separated by wall and one-way mirror….
"Is he…."
"He's doing well, Shepard, I'm monitoring his stats and he's going to wake soon, there's R.E.M. and all," the voice paused….Braith couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard a sound—some crack of emotion, like a swallowing, or an irregular breath, "….My name is Karin Chakwas….Do—Forgive me….I need to collect myself…."
Definitely some tearing-up….Braith waited, listening, really unable to do anything or go anywhere, but she stayed respectful….for an old friend.
"Do….Do you remember who I am, Shepard?"
"Of course, I remember you," Braith wriggled her body against her straps holding to the table, "….You've only patched me up throughout my career as an N7, SpecTRe, and a rogue Cerberus agent."
There was some relief with knowing she was talking to Karin on the other end of that speaker-port, "….Oh, good….Shepard, I'm running a few tests….Please don't move while you're lying there on the table, it's not meant to imprison you….I'll require some minutes more…." Braith laid her head back after checking Casnar again, and as she lay looking up at the ceiling, the room suddenly turned on in a yellow glow….Braith felt uncomfortable in the lighting, as though she were starting to sweat though the color was more like a "food dye yellow" than it was anything remotely "sunshiney"….Her skin began to feel clammy.
Braith witnessed the room turn to "food dye blue", a different blue from what she had woken into….She even felt the difference, the actual moment when the color changed from the prior yellow….Her body felt better and she lost the uncomfortable feeling as though she had been sweating….She looked down at her wrist, saw no sheen of wetness that might indicate that had actually happened, and then Braith noticed the wall to her left….She looked further and saw multiple little bulbs in the wall, all these casting the unique "blue food dye" lighting over her. She turned her head to the right, and saw the same setup on the right wall.
"What exactly am I being tested for….with?"
She heard Chakwas, "….Just a few more seconds….Done….We've taken some images while we've had you here with us, Shepard….You'll be free in a moment, I'm coming in." Braith winced as the food dye lighting cut off and was replaced with the brighter version of "daylight" lighting….She heard a door behind her head open, shoes move with a scuff or two over the floor from an outside room or hall, and as Braith squinted, straining to see her, Karin's pale, aged face, white hair, grey eyes, and warm smile came into view. "Shepard," Karin blinked back tears as she started to remove the constraints on Braith's limbs and waist, "….I came as soon as I had word you'd been found," the straps fell with their brackets clacking loudly against the metal table, Braith moving her arms free, "….I admit, I'm in my own way of shock from it all, but I'm…." Karin released a shaking sigh, "….It takes me for a spin, Shepard….I didn't think you'd be alive….again."
Braith sat up, picking at the cloth on her thighs—a John she had been dressed into, and she crooked an eyebrow as she looked from the white fabric to Karin's relief-filled face, "….What, you didn't think I could have three lives by now?…." She smiled at her own joke, and Karin shook her head, her hair whiter than Braith had ever seen it, but full, jaw-length as always, and healthy….as were the woman's wrinkles at her smiling eyes.
"Oh, Shepard…." Standing in front of her but aside the table, Karin moved forward without warning and embraced Braith tightly….Braith was surprised by the woman's fierce hug, but then her closed-mouth grin returned as she brushed the older woman's hair down on the back of her head, and hugged her back, scratching her shoulder through the fabric of Karin's grey labcoat. Braith leaned away to look at her, still in each other's arms, "….You're confident I'm who I'm supposed to be….That's all you're saying."
"It's you," Karin's teeth were showing, and Braith could smell the woman's recent Earl Grey tea on her breath, "….and then some," Karin raised and dropped her grey eyebrows, her smile remaining though gentling in its exuberance, "….There's something we're trying to deduce from your….current state."
"Tell me 'something'." Braith waited, and saw Karin pass a suggestive glance to the window-mirror, the drell on the table in the other room. "What," Braith looked at him and then Karin again, "….'Something' has to do with Casnar?" Braith returned her puzzling gaze to him through the mirror-window.
"Shepard," she heard the delicate demeanor of Karin's posing the following question to her, "….when you were last with Thane….Bear with me, I know this is a long shot, but all things going the way they have been for you, I need to rule out the 'impossible but practical' first query before I conclude to my follow-up….Did you and Thane sleep with each other?"
"No," Braith dropped her eyes, "….He was too sick….Actually asked me not to try 'tempting' him," she lost her smile, staring at a clear button on Karin's labcoat, rubbing at the edge of the table and angling over the corner from the woman's weight pressing on it, "….but what does that have to do with anything."
"Shepard," Karin observed the woman's downturned expression going its way with thoughts of her former husband perhaps, "….Braith….It's not that I'm trying to be obtuse, or to bring up bad feelings….Knowing that you did not sleep with Thane, or….anyone else who might have been a drell?…." Braith raised her eyes and nodded towards Casnar in the next room, "….You've been intimate with Casnar in there?"
Braith saw Casnar's limbs and head starting to move—He stirred slowly, and appeared "out of it" at first, but he was coming to, "….Yeah, but I figure you'd just assume that…." She set her legs to the left of the table and slipped onto the floor, moving towards the window-mirror to stand and observe Casnar who bolted upright on his table, looked around him, his face the statement of upset and confusion, his lips moving, no sound to be heard….His tebris flared open at his jaw and throat, brilliantly revealing violet and silverish-blue tints of iridescence, "….He's not looking happy," but Braith enjoyed watching Casnar, feeling he had little to worry about and admiring the way his tebris shivered, lifted, fell….It's so expressive compared to Thane's….I wonder why….And then she heard Karin….
"Braith," Karin stepped closer to watch with her, next to the apparently one-way view, "….I'm unsure if maybe you shouldn't be standing for this, but I have something to tell you, something very extraordinary," she paused, thinking, and Braith remained standing despite her implication she take a seat, "….We drew samples from you….How long have you been intimate with him?…." Braith's freckles darkened on her cheeks….
"Literally today," she rolled her lips into each other and turned to Karin, "….Why?….And how do you take samples from him without his permission—He's not some agent or….Well, I should know better," she turned back to the window, "….I hope he doesn't get too angry when he finds out…."
"We had to monitor him by the samples we took, Shepard….Nothing insidious," Karin smiled and looked at Braith, "….Listen, Shepard, I'm your doctor….The results pending from what tests I've run for your seizures and some other unique exams, one has already been double-confirmed…."
"That I'm me, yes, we—"
"No, Shepard….That being true, what it is….is…." She opened her hands to the sides, shrugging her labcoat-shoulders, "….you're pregnant."
Braith blinked, long and slow, and turning her face clockwise towards Karin beside her, "….Ah-ha-ha-harr," Karin's eyes widened at Braith's, "….that's some funny 'Welcome Back' joke, right?"