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Kaidan was practically whistling as he came in the doors of the Vancouver facility. Breakfast with his parents, pancakes and bacon and really good coffee, the prospect of dinner with some old friends of the family later, and just the smell and feel of Earth all around him had made for a very pleasant day so far. He would get his new orders after he gave his deposition, but he was hoping for a bit of R&R before he had to go back to space.
The fact that he might see Shepard didn't concern him. He had been told the tribunal was sealed, that she wouldn't be present for his questioning, and that it would likely be brief since he had not been in contact with her while she worked for Cerberus. So if anything it would be a brief glimpse, nothing more, he was sure.
All things considered, he would have preferred not to have even that much contact. It was still so hard for him to imagine her working with Cerberus, commanding a Cerberus ship. Had she been indoctrinated? Had whatever they had done to rebuild her brain after she was spaced changed her in some fundamental way? The few emails he had exchanged with Garrus and Joker had indicated that she was still herself … but after all, they'd been on the Cerberus ship, too. Who was to say that they were willing or able to tell the truth?
Still, any chance to spend a little time on Earth and check in with his parents was a good thing, and he intended to enjoy the opportunity.
He had just finished his deposition and was greeting Admiral Anderson when a messenger came out of the conference room where the tribunal was meeting and hurried over to them. "Sir," she said, saluting Anderson nervously.
"What is it, private?"
"Message, sir, for your ears only."
Anderson cast Kaidan an apologetic glance and moved away a few steps, leaning over to listen to what the messenger said. Whatever it was, his face paled, and he wheeled around and hurried down the hall, while the messenger darted back into the conference room.
Kaidan wondered what could be so important. Another threat from the batarians, one more credible than most?
And then he forgot to wonder, because Anderson reappeared on the other side of the sliding glass doors with a very familiar person at his side.
Juniper Shepard. She looked good, Kaidan had to admit. Fit, strong, determined … every inch herself, only more so. Apparently Cerberus had been good for her. Cerberus—or the new guy rumor said she had. Kaidan didn't want to be jealous, but he couldn't help wishing he could have found someone who made him feel as confident as Shepard looked right now.
James Vega, a tough but entertaining grunt Kaidan had met in a card game on the Citadel a while back, was accompanying Shepard, and he shook her hand before she turned and came through the doors. So, she had charmed Vega, had she? No surprise there. She always could charm her way through any situation.
Kaidan had been telling himself to play it cool with her ever since the possibility that he might run into her had come up, but he couldn't help himself. He called her name.
She spun around, surprise on her face. Really nothing but surprise, much as Kaidan would have wanted to see more, for his own satisfaction if nothing else.
"Kaidan," she said in acknowledgement.
"How'd it go in there?" Anderson asked him.
"Okay, I think. Hard to know. I'm just waiting for orders now." He hoped they wouldn't hurry. He was looking forward to some time on the beach before he was called back.
Shepard was standing next to Anderson, looking at Kaidan's collar. "Major?" she asked.
He wished she wouldn't sound so surprised.
"You hadn't heard?" Anderson asked her.
"No, I hadn't." Shepard was looking at him like he should have told her.
Maybe he should have. He wasn't certain anymore where they stood. But if she was going to be Alliance again, he had to be comradely, at the very least. "Sorry, Shepard. It's been—" What had it been? A long time? Hard to know what to say? Too long since they'd had a chance to catch up? "Um …"
"It's okay," she told him. "I'm just … glad I bumped into you, Kaidan."
"Yeah. Me, too." And he was. He truly was. The chance to look at her face again—well, it felt right.
The messenger reappeared next to Kaidan. "Admiral."
Anderson glanced at Shepard. "Come on."
Shepard looked at Kaidan, and he nodded at her, a reassuring smile coming to his lips without thinking. She went on into the room after Anderson without another word.
Vega followed behind her, stopping next to Kaidan. "You know the Commander?"
"I used to." Kaidan would have been content to have left it at that, but of course, Vega couldn't resist pushing it.
"What was she like?"
"What's she like now?"
"Tough. Strong. Mad as hell that they grounded her ship."
"The Normandy's here?"
"Yeah, being refit over at the docking bay. Shepard's itching to get out of here and go do something about the Reapers. What do you think, is she crazy like they say, or are the Reapers real?"
Kaidan remembered Sovereign. "Oh, they're real. She may be crazy, but the Reapers are out there. And one of these days they'll be coming. Let's hope we're ready."