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On her way through the hospital entryway, Shepard stopped at the gift kiosk. She frowned at the options. Flowers, books … none of it seemed like Kaidan.

"Commander Shepard!" The asari staffing the kiosk bustled toward her. "Are you not finding everything to your satisfaction?"

"What? Oh. No, there's quite a selection. Just not quite as … Not quite right for the person I'm visiting."

"Perhaps you'd like to look at a more varied selection of items."

"You have more?"

"Certain items that are not called for by just anyone."

Expensive, then. What the hell, Shepard thought. Might as well go for it. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to bring Kaidan a gift, but she did. She took a look at the asari's kiosk as a new menu popped up. Whiskey. Yes, that would work.

Bottle in hand, she made her way to Kaidan's room, finding that Udina was there, standing over Kaidan's bedside, as she walked in.

"The galaxy has need of exceptional soldiers like you, now, more than ever," Udina was saying.

"You'll have my answer soon, Councilor. I promise." Kaidan still looked pale, his skin marked by bruising, but his voice was strong.

Udina nodded, first at Kaidan and then at Shepard. "Commander."

"Councilor."

When the doors slid shut behind him, Kaidan and Shepard looked at each other and smiled, memories of dealing with Udina back before the battle of the Citadel, back when all of this had barely begun, hanging between them.

"Hey, Kaidan."

"Hey, Shepard. You just missed snack time." The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. "Actually, you didn't miss much. Hospital food, never changes."

"Sorry." She proffered the bottle. "Contraband for you, should help a little."

He looked it over. "Oh, hey, thanks, Shepard! You didn't have to do that."

"Well, I wanted to." She gestured with her head toward the door, wanting to change the subject. "What did Udina want? Still pressuring you to take the Spectre position?"

"It's a big honor—and a bigger responsibility. I just … need to be sure." He sighed, shifting in the narrow bed. "I am so ready to get out of here, Shepard. You can't tell, but I'm tied to this bed by red tape. Doc keeps saying I'm good to go, but then she always adds 'after one more test'. I'm beginning to be afraid she'll never run out of tests."

"You're all right, though, aren't you?"

"Nothing to worry about. My implant got a little … rattled, so Doc wants me to keep the biotics offline for a bit."

Shepard couldn't help seeing him as he was on Mars, held in the air by the Illusive Man's robot, choking, having his head bashed against the side of a shuttle. Over. And over. She shivered.

Kaidan reached out, grasping her hand. "Hey. Shepard. It's really no big deal. I'm going to be fine."

She clung to his hand, trying to force the images back. "You almost died on my watch, It was horrible to see."

"I'm okay now, Shepard. And if it hadn't been me—well, it might have been you. I couldn't have lived with that."

"Part of me might have preferred it. I could use the rest." Gently, she disentangled her hand and gave him a smile. "You need me to break you out?"

He laughed. "I'll let you know."

"Anytime. Joker would love to help. He hasn't been in trouble with the Alliance in weeks, at least."

"It would be nice to be back with the old crew." He took a deep breath, looking at her seriously. "Shepard. Be straight with me."

"Always."

"I just want to make sure—after Horizon, and Mars … You and me, we're good?"

She nodded. "I wish you could have trusted me more, but I know where you were coming from. And we've been through hell together, had each other's backs. That kind of bond is hard to break."

"Not just that." He reached for her hand again. "You were my Commander, we did have each other's backs … but you listened, too. When I told you about Rahna, how she broke my heart, you didn't judge me. You knew I needed that. We went through Ash's death together …"

"Yeah."

"So I'm asking—are we good?"

"We're good. It was good to have you back on the Normandy. It felt right."

"Thanks." He let go of her hand, shifting again in the bed so he was sitting up straighter, and cleared his throat.

"What's going on, Kaidan? Is there something else?"

"Maybe. I, uh, I heard something about you and some assassin …"

Shepard clasped her hands in front of her, looking down at them. "What do you want to know?"

"How— I mean, do you— Is it serious?"

"Yeah. Pretty serious." She reached inside her shirt and tugged out the chain she wore her wedding ring on.

Kaidan's eyes widened. "You married him?"

Shepard nodded. "We weren't together, after Horizon, you made that pretty clear, and I—"

"I'll own that. Seeing you alive—man, that sent me spinning. And I handled it badly. You had every right to move on."

"What about you?"

"No one serious. No one— There isn't anyone— There couldn't be …" He let the words trail off. "Tell me about him."

"He's—" To her horror, Shepard felt her eyes filling with tears. "He's dying. His lungs … It won't be long now. We had such a short time together, and I spent so much of it doing the galaxy's bidding instead of …" She bit back the tears. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. We're friends. You can talk to me."

"Can I?"

Kaidan nodded. "Look, I'm not sure that I've been wrong about Cerberus—but I know that I've been wrong about you. I won't make that mistake again. I'm in your corner, from now on. I promise."

"Thank you. That means a lot."

"And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. If you married him, he must be quite a man."

"He is." Shepard tucked the ring back inside her shirt.

"Well. I'd better let you get back to the Normandy. Wish I was coming with you."

She smiled, getting to her feet. "Take care of yourself. We need you back at a hundred percent, soldier."

"Will do, Commander."