Story Title: A Touch of the Past
Chapter: 5/18
Chapter Summary: Stay safe…

Chapter 5: Searching

As quickly as the news of the stolen files and the reminder of what had been done to him at BAaT had hit, once it had been addressed with Hackett that early morning, the case pretty much got passive attention from Kaidan. There were just too many other things for him to focus on that were much more important to the galaxy's survival than someone targeting biotics from the training facility he had attended and ultimately shut down. It certainly wasn't a lack of caring, just prioritizing his workload.

A war against a race that wanted to wipe out the galaxy gets top billing any day in Kaidan's book.

He wasn't ignoring it either. Hackett had confirmed Kaidan's theory a few days after their early morning vid call: nearly a dozen BAaT brats were now missing, a few of their homes overturned with signs of struggle but there was no indication that they had been killed.

So someone was rounding them all up. And they were being careful enough that they hadn't done anything to expose their identities.

So Kaidan was now stuck waiting for them to screw up and reveal themselves.

Or he was waiting for them to come for him.

Either way, he would get answers.

Not that he wasn't trying to find answers without error on their part. Kaidan had tried to find something else to give Hackett, checking into known biotic extremists and cultists to see if any of them seemed to have some connection to what was happening. So far he had come up empty though and he was running out of leads.

He had even, following some random whim, sent a message to Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson, asking them if they thought this was something Cerberus would be behind. He hadn't revealed any details beyond relaying that trainees from the Biotic Acclimation and Temperance facility were being targeted and disappearing but he suspected at least Miranda knew exactly why he was involved in the investigation. Not that it mattered since they both had responded that while it wasn't outside the realm of possibilities for Cerberus to go for, they didn't know of anything of the sort or felt like Cerberus was behind it. They agreed that it was too far removed from the issue of the Reapers for it to be given as much resources as it would take to round up and contain so many biotics.

While Kaidan accepted their opinions and tried to not get caught up in his feelings against Cerberus, he didn't completely dismiss this as a possibility. After all, Cerberus had already targeted the biotics at Grissom Academy. What was to say they wouldn't expand their focus even if that had been a strike against the Alliance more than anything?

Either way, they had a war to fight and if some idiots wanted to come after Kaidan and try to get him to join up with some cause then that was their problem. Kaidan knew who he was loyal to – always had – and he couldn't be bought.

Hackett had sent him a status report compiling all current information available of all potential targets. Only a handful had joined the Alliance and continued to use their abilities as they had initially been taught: as a weapon. And while most of those were fighting on Earth, they were all reporting in. Most others had simply pursued fields of interest having nothing to do with their status as a biotic. In other words, most of them hadn't continued to develop their biotic abilities like he had. And even without his biotics, he was a trained soldier, proficient in hand-to-hand combat, firearms, and battle tactics. His abilities as well as his mind had been honed for combat efficiency. While the lessons they had learned at BAaT had been designed by a soldier and meant for battle, if the biotic didn't continue to develop their control, they couldn't accomplish anything past Lift or Throws. Anything more than that held a significantly higher risk of tearing organics apart.

Major Kaidan Alenko was a biotic combat specialist. Anybody targeting him would have a fight on their hands and were more likely to fall than take him out.

No matter though, because at the end of the day Kaidan was stuck with another set of files taking up a portion of his work station that was staring back at him unsolved.

And it was that unsolved status that had given Shepard cause to keep from easing up on Kaidan. While the Commander hadn't gone so far as to not assign Kaidan to shore parties, there had been a few where he avoided giving orders that would send Kaidan too far from him. There had even been a few investigations – secondary scouting missions he would usually send Kaidan as the leader of the shore party – where he had still taken command and accompanied.

Kaidan had finally confronted Shepard about it, reminding him of the promise they had made each other when they had first gotten together three years ago: what was between them wouldn't affect their work. Shepard had somewhat backed off when Kaidan pointed out that he was acting like his partner instead of his Commander.

This brought them to the mission they were currently preparing to embark upon: an emergency signal had been sent from a colony in the Hades Cluster before communication failed and the colony went silent. It was greatly reminiscent of what had happened to colonies attacked by the Collectors, but there was no Reaper activity in that system that they could find in long-range scans. The mission had come through the Council to the two Spectres and they had headed that way at once, having just finished up with a few other assignments from Hackett concerning Cerberus.

Kaidan and Shepard were in the conference room, each with a datapad displaying mission details and figuring out final details before they arrived in under an hour to the planet.

"The colony isn't that big. A simple jamming device would get the blackout we're seeing. And the transmission doesn't give any indication that there were any explosions so the gear is likely still intact, just under someone else's control. It's more likely to be pirate or gang activity than anything to do with the Reapers," Kaidan mused as he looked over the readings from the signal that had been cut.

Shepard nodded agreement. "Tali or EDI make a good third member?" As the order had come from the Council to both of them, there was no question that Kaidan would be on the shore party.

Part of Kaidan wanted to point out that he could handle getting the comms back up but he also wouldn't mind not being designated to tech on this one. "Either one if you want me for any fighting. I can get comms up just as easily as they can so Garrus or Vega aren't out. Biotics shouldn't be too high of a priority on this one so we shouldn't really need Liara or Javik."

"You just don't want to deal with Javik if you don't have to," Shepard accused in jest.

The corner of Kaidan's mouth lifted slightly, "The guy spends half the time I'm around him insulting me for being a lowly human and the other half accusing me for being a biotic. Our ability to work together ends at me throwing a barrier over him so he doesn't lose his superior Prothean head."

Shepard let out a short chuckle before continuing. "Anyway, if biotics comes up as a necessity, you've got us more than covered on that front," Shepard responded and Kaidan glanced over to catch the smirk turning up the edges of Shepard's lips. Kaidan rolled his eyes and gave a slight shake of his head. Shepard seemed incapable of letting an opportunity to praise Kaidan pass him by, no matter what the situation was. And Kaidan knew his lover did it just to see if he could get the biotic even the tiniest bit flustered and blush even though he did believe what he said. Thankfully, Kaidan was getting somewhat used to his lover's manner of teasing him and he was more likely to get annoyed than he was embarrassed.

Though now he was concerned that Shepard would start dropping more suggestive and crass comments and Kaidan was pretty sure he would never get to the point of not turning red at those.

"We could always go for a four-man shore party."

Shepard scoffed at that. "Well that's not worth the paperwork," he replied to shoot down the idea. "We'll take EDI along on this one. She's been holed up on the Normandy for the last few missions and could use a chance to get out besides shore leave at the Citadel."

"Joker will be devastated," Kaidan quipped as he turned off his datapad and set it down on the table. "I'll let her and Cortez know to get ready for departure."

Kaidan straightened his posture and turned toward the door. He was halted though as Shepard's hand touched his right arm. Brown eyes looked over his shoulder to his lover. Shepard stepped in close to the biotic, his other hand coming around the back of Kaidan's head and pulled them together, Kaidan's shoulder pressed against Shepard's chest. Shepard leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kaidan's in a firm kiss. Kaidan's left hand lifted and took hold of Shepard's, which had come to rest of the biotic's cheek, their fingers intertwining automatically.

Once they separated their lips, Kaidan leaned forward enough to touch their foreheads together.

"Watch your back out there, Kaidan," Shepard said in a hushed tone.

"Stay safe, John," Kaidan replied in a similar manner.

It was a familiar exchange between them. Regardless of who was going planet-side, they would embrace and promise safety to each other. It wasn't done out of fear or doubt – they were both talented soldiers who were completely aware that every mission may be their last – but rather just a confirmation that they had something personally driving them to come back alive. They had something to fight and survive for: being with each other.

Kaidan took in a deep breath, his body relaxing at the familiar scent of his lover, before he placed one more kiss on the side of Shepard's mouth and pulled away. He left the conference room as he had intended and walked to the lift and took it down to the Shuttle Bay. After briefly talking with Cortez about the planet they were headed to, he got started on his final preparations for the mission: checking his armor and weapons before getting changed, and then met with the team at the shuttle just as they came into orbit of the planet.

They loaded onto the shuttle and were launched into the atmosphere as soon as they were settled. "Joker, what readings are you getting from the colony?" Shepard questioned as they made their approach.

"I'm already having trouble keeping our comms operational. You guys are going to be on your own on the colony," Joker's response came through their earpieces with interference already coming through.

"That's a powerful signal to be cutting us off from the Normandy already," Kaidan pointed out. "Keep scanning on all frequencies, Joker. We don't want to miss an extraction because you weren't watching the right comms."

"Are you going to let him talk to me like that, Commander?" Joker demanded in a faux offended tone.

"Of course I am. What else am I supposed to do when he pulls rank?" Shepard responded with a grin towards Kaidan.

"Go all Commander on him. Just because he can wave those pretty Major stripes in your face doesn't mean you have to take it."

"I don't need to go all Commander on him when I agree with the order. And even you admit you need to be ordered around every once in a while to remind you that you aren't actually in charge."

"Well that just sounds like a lot of work, keeping Joker's ego in check like that," Kaidan rejoined the conversation with a smirk. It was just impossible to let an opportunity to pick on Joker pass by.

"Our CO and second-in-command are assholes," Joker mused with a disbelieving sigh.

"Commander, we're making our final approach to the colony. We won't have comms with the Normandy for very much longer," Cortez relayed back from the cockpit.

"Stay nearby, Joker and be ready to make approach as soon as we restore communications," Shepard relayed final instructions before the comms cut out.

Kaidan stepped up next to Shepard. "Even short range comms are likely to be affected. We will probably lose contact with Cortez as well," the biotic pointed out. Shepard nodded slightly.

"Won't be the first time we've gone in blind without a sure way out. We'll be fine," Shepard responded. He turned to address both of his teammates. "Until comms are back up stay within sight and sound. We still don't know why the colony went silent and we should expect resistance."

The shuttle moved into position over a landing pad and the doors slid open, the three stepping out with ease, weapons drawn and alert.

"Cortez, stay close," Shepard called out to the Lieutenant before closing the hatch and they stepped away as the shuttle took off and moved further out to the perimeter of the colony, staying where he would be able to catch a visual call.

There was nothing particularly unique about the colony, the team moving through deserted housing structures as they made their way to the main facility where they would find the comm controls.

"Where is everyone?" Kaidan questioned in a hushed tone at some point. "There's signs of recent inhabitance but nothing indicating they left in a hurry."

"Life signs are present, however with the interference I am unable to pinpoint a location," EDI responded.

As they approached the facility, Kaidan allowed EDI and Shepard to get ahead of him, taking the rear position without being told. It gave him the best vantage point to catch a threat and bring up a barrier if needed. They had been in enough facilities like this so they were able to move through with reasonable confidence of where to find the communications room, finding and following a map after some time.

They took the elevator up to the top floor where the comm room was and it was in that assent that they came to their first signs of hostile forces: the radar on their omnitools showed interference. Raising their weapons to a more alert level, they crowded to the sides of the elevator as they arrived at the destination, Kaidan's body humming with biotics as he prepared to use Stasis immediately if there was any movement outside the elevator. The doors slid open and he looked around the corner of the doors before signaling the all clear and Shepard and EDI came out from their cover and moved forward.

They came to a large room, one full of servers and crates, not unusual for a floor dedicated to the functionality of a colony, and spread out a little more to remove the risk of being flanked. Kaidan moved left as Shepard remained in the center and EDI took the right. Kaidan's path took him along a wall lined with windows overlooking the colony and the landscape beyond.

He was about to check the windows for signs of threat when EDI called out a warning of enemies and Kaidan turned his focus back to where the AI was opening fire on the doors on the opposite side of the room from him.

"Damnit," the biotic exclaimed before he moved to get into position to fire on the forces flooding into the room. As he moved away from the window he heard a door across the room open as well and even more footfalls sounded. "Hostiles coming in the front," he called and turned his attention to that side, his position putting him closer to that threat than the other wall and took cover behind a large storage container and took a quick glance around the corner as the first attacker came into view. They were Batarians. Well-armed and pissed looking Batarians.

"Shepard!" one called out and that was all Kaidan needed to know that this was a hostile force, probably jammed the signal so that Shepard would be sent to investigate. While many Batarians had moved past wanting revenge on the Commander, there would always be ones holding on to grudges. Kaidan ducked out from his cover and fired several rounds, taking out three Batarians visible to him before their attention turned to him and he had to take cover again, the crate reverberating against his back from the impact of many bullets.

He listened for the familiar sound of EDI's heavy pistol and Shepard's semi-auto rifle to check their positions, noting that there was quite a bit of distance between where he was and them. He had probably moved further across the room than they had. He would have to close some of that distance if he was too keep them from being flanked. He kneeled and ducked out from his cover and took out a few more Batarians that had been moving up on him and took a quick view of the layout his enemy had to work with to get to him. His position wasn't bad, the crates set side by side all the way to the wall and high enough that they couldn't be climbed onto. Between him and the Batarians were other smaller crates and containers before they started into the servers which continued to the opposite wall.

Getting an idea more for sake of intimidation and getting the time he needed to get closer to Shepard and EDI, Kaidan stepped away from the container and his biotics flared around him as he activated a Lift on both ends of the container, only needing those points to pick the large container from the floor. Once it was levitating, he moved his hand back and used the biotic energy flowing around him to Throw the container at the Batarians. The thing responded as intended and surged across the floor toward the enemy.

Kaidan took a little joy out of the exclamations of surprise from those who had been advancing on him before turning to figure out if Shepard and EDI had moved. He was just turning to start closing distance when he heard the near Batarians calling out orders.

"It's the biotic. Take him out!"

That was different. A biotic in the fight didn't usually change tactics too much. He didn't have much time to think about it though as there was suddenly a wave of rounds coming at him from his right, where the container hadn't affected. He brought up a Barrier as he moved back towards the windows and ducked behind one of the smaller containers.

"Kaidan!" Shepard's voice called out to him.

"I'm alright!" he responded. He listened to the approaching footfalls and stepped out with a Singularity ready, shooting the ones who got caught up in it before moving closer to the windows. He would have a straight shot with cover to Shepard if he could get close to the walls.

He fired off a few more rounds on the Batarians still coming up on him, bullets impacting his Barrier constantly. The Barrier would be dissipated in only about ten more seconds so he moved back smoothly as he took a few more enemies out, ducking behind a crate right next to the window when he reached it, letting his Barrier subside and his vision readjusted to not having to focus past the distortion. He didn't need to pause, having learned long ago not to be distracted by the sight of his biotics between him and his targets. It just helped delay some pressure if he could afford to close his eyes through the adjustment. Opening his eyes after just a few seconds, he turned and ran along the windows to where he had started. He was in line with Shepard and EDI's position if the sounds of their firearms was accurate.

"On your six," he called his position to Shepard, knowing that neither of his teammates would miss his voice. All of the crew of the Normandy knew and could pick out each other's voices in any situation to the point of not even hearing any other voices.

He was about to turn to close the last remaining distance when he caught movement off to his right. Reacting on instinct, he brought up his Barrier again, the field surrounding him just in time to catch the round aimed for his chest. He retreated back toward the windows again and let out a quick curse as he caught sight of the rocket launcher now being aimed toward his position. He turned to retreat away from the blast zone – his barrier wouldn't keep him from being knocked around by the blast. He had only moved back a few steps when the blast hit the crate he was behind and it slammed into him, forcing him against the windows behind him. The impact was enough to disperse the biotics as well as his armor's kinetic barrier. He shook his head to try and get rid of the daze as he moved to stand, not allowing anything to keep him vulnerable for long.

He was about to regain his footing when he caught the flash of a second rocket being fired out of his peripherals and again let his biotics flare on instinct. Instead of a Barrier – that would only knock him back – he created a Stasis field in the space in the path of the rocket. However, there wasn't enough time for it to take form and the projectile blew on impact, the force again slamming into Kaidan.

But with the biotics added, there was an additional discharge which also slammed into Kaidan.

And the force was enough to crack the windows behind Kaidan, making them shatter when Kaidan hit them again. He didn't have the chance to even realize he was through the window to try and grab the frame or sill on the way out and then he was falling.

They had been about forty floors up and below was the shipping yards next to a bordering forest so he was heading either for shipping crates or concrete or metal as a landing.

Turning his body so he was facing the ground, an image of a levitating Asari came to mind and he knew what he would have to do and he didn't have much time to do it or mistime it. He focused his eyes on one point of the ground where he was obviously going to impact. His biotics activated around him and he aimed a Lift about what he guessed was ten feet above the ground. He hit the field and his momentum was greatly decreased in a way that wasn't sudden impact, and as the field dissipated from his impact, he positioned himself for a safe fall.

It was still rough though when he did hit the ground, the sudden impact with the concrete landing pad knocking the breath from him and he rolled a few times before coming to a stop a few feet away. He regained enough control to stop on his back so he could relax back and do a quick check for injuries.

He was probably going to be one big bruise once he was out of his armor - and wouldn't that just thrill John – but nothing immediately jumped out at him as a serious injury. He shifted his legs, then moved to his arms, wincing slightly when he tried to move his right arm. Probably dislocated from either the impact with the window or the ground by the feel of the pain. He could fix that easily enough and have Chakwas check it when he returned to the Normandy. He took in a deep breath and while his chest was sore, nothing appeared broken and he at last moved to sit up, circling out his neck. He winced at a sudden pull on the back of his neck and reached his hand to touch the point of tension and winced at the sharp pain from the contact.

Bringing his hand in front of him, his eyes narrowed at the blood staining his armor. He must have cut it when he went through the window.

Shit that was close to his port.

He stood easily and moved out of the open, just in case there were enemies around watching for people to come flying out windows, he kneeled down next to one of the crates. Releasing the lock on his gauntlet, he brought his bared fingers to his neck and felt at the cut. He went first for the site of his port, concealed just within his hairline and let out a sigh of relief when he felt no break in the skin there. A damaged port would very likely mean surgery and any surgery meant a possible increase in complications with the L2 implant.

But he wasn't in the clear yet. He found the top of the cut, more a gash by the depth, and took in a deep breath as be pressed against it and followed the length of it. After all, his implant wasn't the only concern for damage: his amps and the lead between them and his implant were all subdermal and ran along his spine just beneath the skin, right where the gash was.

And the gash ran across where the lead was and he could feel where the line was split, if not completely severed.

So most of his biotics were out until they got back to the Normandy, if not the Citadel.

He was surprised the Lift had formed as well as it had without him consciously compensating for the damage to the lead. Either the lead hadn't separated yet or it came down to how it was one of the easier skills and didn't take much biotic talent – and it had been the first thing he learned even before he had an implant so it took no effort for him to execute - to pull off but did explain why it had dispersed like it had when he had impacted it.

Pulling his fingers away, he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out an adhesive gauze. He wouldn't bother with medi-gel on this one but he had to keep it clean or risk infection of the sensitive area. Reaching back into the pocket for some antibiotics, he cleansed the area and pressed the gauze into place.

He reached for his gauntlet and was about to pull it back on when he remembered that his right arm was still in need of attention. He sighed at the thought of having to set his shoulder while in armor but if he wanted to be able to use his arm then it had to be done.

And it would have been worse if it had been the heavier blue armor he had been given when he was promoted to Major instead of the light armor he had acquired when he returned to the Normandy.

He took in a few deep breaths as he started feeling around the shoulder joint to determine what way he needed to knock it to put it back in place, feeling appropriately grateful to be a trained field medic. Determining quickly that he had to snap the joint backward he turned around and faced the crate, lining his shoulder up with the corner before ramming into it. He grit his teeth to keep from exclaiming from the impact as he felt at the joint. Letting out a curse as he realized he would have to do it again, he repositioned and tried again.

It took him four tries to actually get enough force into the impact to get through the armor and his thermal padding to finally hear the crack of the joint settling back into place and the relief spread down his arm. It would hurt to use it until Chakwas gave it a thorough check but at least he could move it now.

But now that he was taken care of, he needed to figure out how to regroup with Shepard, or at least flag down Cortez and get off the ground. He was in an exposed position, his biotics were out, and he'd lost his weapons in the process of getting blown out a window.

Though surviving a fall from the fortieth floor with nothing but a gash on the neck and a dislocated shoulder to show for it could probably contend with some of the shit Shepard had survived.

Sometimes Kaidan hated when the darker side of his humor made an appearance.

He pulled his gauntlet back on and then touched his fingers against the transmitter on his ear, activating the comm and hoping Shepard had been able to push through the Batarians and take care of whatever was jamming up the signals, switching through the channels after each failed attempt to make contact. "Alenko to Normandy. Can you hear me Joker? Cortez? Shepard?"

Quiet interference was his only answer and he sighed. Well, so much for the easy way out. He pulled up his omnitool and figured out his location. They had pretty much made their way to the opposite side of the facility so he would have to work his way back to get to where Cortez would be able to get a visual on him. He figured that would be the best course instead of trying to get to Shepard, especially when he wasn't armed.

Plotting out his route quickly, he stood and started back toward the facility. But just as he started to move across the open area, he heard doors opening and turned back toward his cover, ducking out of sight again behind the crates. He looked around carefully, and then retreated again when he saw about half a dozen humans emerge with weapons raised and scanning the area.

"He's here somewhere," one of them called out. "The Batarians said he was knocked out the windows along the western wall."

"Damn morons, how do they figure blowing him out a window is delivering him alive?" another snapped.

Well that cleared things up. This was a trap to get him planet-side and that could only mean he was done waiting. These guys had used the Batarians, probably with the promise of delivering Shepard so they could get Kaidan. Not too bad of a plan. They were as clever as Kaidan had been giving them credit for.

But they had been stupid enough to just outright say that they wanted him alive – confirming that they weren't killing the ones they captured – when they came into the area where he was supposed to be located. He knew there was a difference between the foot soldiers and those in charge and these were obviously the former.

Kaidan was done waiting. It was his turn to take a risk and test just how smart these guys were and bring an end to whatever they were trying to accomplish.

He activated his omnitool and typed up a message quickly, entering Joker as the recipient and setting it to continue retrying to send until it went through to make sure the pilot received it, then typed a second one out to Shepard.

He knew what he was asking Shepard to do would be difficult and would need something to remind him that Kaidan was acting as the man who had been put in charge of a Spec Ops division and had everything he needed to follow through on what he was planning.

Once the messages were complete, he removed the omnitool from his wrist and he slid it between two of the crates to conceal it. The Normandy would first try to track the device to locate him once the jamming device was down. These guys would certainly take it away and he liked this omnitool so might as well guarantee that he would get it back.

The men were getting close now, fanning out in a well-organized search pattern. He could hear one move closer to him and he shifted position so he could attack once the man came into view.

A few tense seconds later, the barrel of a rifle came into view a few feet away from the crate and Kaidan left his cover, grabbing hold of the muzzle and pushing it away, feeling the heat the weapon firing as he aimed a hook for the man's face, knocking him off his feet and to the ground as Kaidan kept a grip on the weapon. He shifted his hold smoothly and pressed the butt of the rifle against his shoulder and fire at the man he had just struck as he had been scrambling to stand.

Instead of a regular round though, the bullet burst on impact and a gas released, the man falling unconscious quickly. Smart move as biotic and kinetic barriers didn't protect people from breathing. Oh well, unconscious wasn't a threat and ensured he was right. He turned his weapon on the nearest target and fired off a few rounds, all hitting and another fell. But just as he was shifting to fire on a third before the man was able to turn on him, he felt the impact of a round hit his shoulder and he felt his body go numb at once as he inhaled.

The weapon fell from his grasp and everything went black.