"So do you think you can do it?" Kaidan asked Liara as he practically bounced on the spot he stood in. Miranda was happy enough with the information that it should work. Javik stood by the door, not all that happy with the idea. Knowing Asari melding was usually an intimate thing.
"It should work, yes. It did with Shepard and the beacon," she replies as she reads the datapad. "Is Gemma willing to try it? Her biotics must be stable enough for this," she asks Miranda.
"I believe so. The cybernetics had shown promising results with the scans done on her implants. Whilst her biotic output is still the same, the Eezo fueled from it won't be so... blinding to deal with." Kaidan had heard enough, he moved towards the door.
"Well then what are we waiting for, let's get down there and sort it!" Javik growled at him. "What's your problem?" Kaidan quickly asks, turning to him.
"You are human. Asari's mind-melding is intimate. You cannot force Liara to do this!" he argues. Liara rushes over, putting her hand on Javik's chest to calm him.
"I've done this before, Javik. I helped Shepard when she first came into contact with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime." Javik looks at her, his brow bone drawn down very low in disapproval.
"You had your right to help the Commander. This human is only missing some memories." The words came out as a gust of breath as Kaidan slammed Javik against the door frame, dust fell from its frame and fluttered around them.
"Take that back!" he shouts. Javik shakes his head, Kaidan pulls him back and slams him into it again. Liara and Miranda were trying to pull them off each other. Javik used his biotics to force Kaidan off him, he fell onto the floor. Kaidan stares at him as he pulls himself up, wiping himself clean from the dust. "After all she's done for you, you still talk down on her and us!" Javik only quivers his lip in response.
"My mate should not be forced into such activities," he spits in reply. Liara scratches the back of her head as Miranda sends her a questioning look. It wasn't the way everyone should know about them being together.
"She is happy to do it," Kaidan argues. They both look at Liara, she was the tiebreaker.
"Gemma saved this galaxy Javik, none of us would be here without her. Trust me, this will work," she calmly speaks. Javik only grunts and leaves the room in a huff. Kaidan felt bad for causing trouble between them both, but it was Liara's choice to help her.
"You okay, Liara?" Kaidan asks her. Liara smiles and nods, she got used to dealing with Javik's temper. He'd cool down and come back in his own time.
"Yes, let's go see Gemma," she happily says as they all leave the room together.
Gemma laid in the bed with Thane holding her tightly. It wasn't in any inappropriate way, she just missed the physical attention of someone who cared so deeply for her. If only she could do that with Kaidan.
Thane told her stories of some of their missions together as he stroked her arm. She leant into his chest, trying to keep awake as he spoke softly to her. The knock at the door forced her wide awake as Kaidan, Liara and Miranda rushed in.
Thane went stiff as he and Kaidan locked eyes. "Ah, Major. I am sorry," he quickly resorts as he slowly gets up. Kaidan waves his hands at him to stop.
"Come on, Thane. You're the last guy in this whole galaxy who'd I'd think would overstep like that. You are comforting her, I get that," he says with a smile. Gemma looked at them both, seeing that Kaidan wasn't fully okay with it. He was obviously somewhat envious of them both. She got up, sitting up fully to let Thane climb down and seat in the chair next to her bed.
"We may have found a way to get your memories back," Miranda says with glee. Gemma quickly looks at her, not believing a word of it.
"What? How?" she says with joy. Liara came forward, passing the datapad that had been passed around to just about everyone involved in this.
"Asari mind-melding can pull memories. You got yours back through emotional contact with Thane and your biotics. If I meld with you as you use your biotics I might be able to force the memories out that you have forgotten." Gemma was astonished. She knew about mind-melding but not that it could pull memories out.
"Let's try it!" Gemma said as she got out of the bed just a little quickly, she fell over slightly. Thane caught her.
"Siha, slow down," he sternly says. Kaidan watched them both, at that point he was furiously jealous. He hated himself for it, but it wasn't fair she remembered her best friend and not her own damn fianc. He swallows his feelings and just offers Gemma his arm to get her back on the end of the bed. She smiled and took his assistance.
Miranda scans Gemma's implant, it was still working just fine. "You need to recover before we try this. We will see how you are tomorrow." Kaidan was gutted they couldn't do it now. But he didn't want to cause more damage than what was already present in Gemma.
She reluctantly agrees and Miranda and Liara leave the room. Thane looks to Kaidan, he could see the two needed a moment together. "I will be leaving now, I shall visit you tomorrow, Siha. Goodnight, Major," he says with a smile as he slowly leaves the room. Kaidan watches the door shut before turning back to Gemma. They both glared at each awkwardly.
"I'll.. um, leave you be," he awkwardly says as he turns towards the door.
"No, wait," Gemma shouts as she holds a hand out to him. Kaidan looks back, wondering if he really just stayed or not. "Sit, I'd like to talk," she says with a small smile.
"Alright," he hesitates before pulling the chair out. "Only if you're sure," he adds. Gemma nods, nervously playing with her fingers. She'd only spoken to Kaidan a few times when they first met on Horizon just before the Collector attack.
"I know I only know you from the time you were stationed on Horizon... but, I wanted to know what our relationship was like?" Kaidan blinked a few times, not sure if this was a good idea.
"I don't want to put ideas in your head of what we once had, Gemma. It might hurt us both." Gemma almost quivered her lips at him.
"Please, Kaidan. Everyone walks around eggshells when I ask about us, you are the only person who can tell me from first-hand experience." Kaidan scratches his neck, feeling the small bump of his implant. He was distracted for a moment before Gemma cleared her throat.
"Okay, what do you want to know?" He wasn't about to go into full detail, but he didn't mind answering some questions.
"How did we first meet after you left Horizon?" Kaidan smiled back at that memory, she was a sore sight to behold when they first met.
"I won't go into detail but I found you unconscious on the Citadel. People surrounded you as if they thought you were some drunk or druggie. You woke up for a moment, freaked out about being on the Citadel and then passed out again." Gemma listened carefully, oohing and awing to some words. "I took you to the hospital and we got you treated. Though you had nowhere to stay, I offered my place until you got back on your feet."
"I see, thanks for that then. I can only guess what someone might have done to me if you'd not found me." She smiles when he chuckles, "what?" she adds.
"That was the same thing you said to me when we got back to my apartment for the first time. You also loved my cooking, you shovelled the food down," he laughs. Gemma went slightly red with embarrassment. She never did have good table manners.
"Food is the way to my heart, Alenko," she jokes.
"I know, why do you think I cooked all the time," he slyly adds. They both pause and start giggling like school kids. "You are also terrible at hiding your emotions."
"How do you know?" she asks, though, if she was once engaged to him. He'd ought to know that.
"You met Thane a few weeks after settling in, he was in the hospital due to his Keprels. He could see way before either of us that we both liked each other," he explains waving his arms around. Gemma remembered that, she remembers everything with Thane. But the blank parts were the moments when they weren't alone.
"So was that your place we had dinner at?" Kaidan raises a brow at her. "I remember mostly everything with Thane, but the blanks are when someone was with us. It was as if there was a ghost in their place.
"Yeah, we had dinner together. You gushed over him all night," he jokes. Gemma playfully slaps his arm.
"No I didn't," she laughs. She then went stiff for a moment, thinking to ask this next question. "Did we... have sex?"
"You and Thane?" Kaidan asks, Gemma quickly shakes her body in no. Using her finger to motion between the two. "Oh, yeah. Many times."
Gemma went even redder. "Really... What was it like." At that moment Kaidan's cheeks went red. It was disheartening to know she couldn't remember as he remembered every little detail.
"Umm... great on all accounts." There was a pause before he added, "you should have been there." Gemma laughs fully this time, her first laugh in a long time. Kaidan feels his heart beat faster.
"I'm sorry for shouting at you the other day. I just wish I can remember you," she grimly says. Kaidan looks down at his hand, he held the ring in it.
"You will remember soon and when you do. I'll be waiting for you." He stands up, placing the ring on her lap as he bends over to kiss her forehead. "Get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow," he whispers before leaving.
"Yeah," she mumbles as she stares at the ring. She missed being able to feel it on her chest. This time she took the chain off, placing it on the nightstand as she placed it on her ring finger. It seemed right to be put there. It was a new sense of determination to get better and remember the crew who cared so deeply about her.