Chapter 15: Decided

Shepard was beyond relieved to be back on the Normandy after everything he'd gone through on Omega. Sure, it was a huge accomplishment to have regained control of the station from Cerberus, placing Aria securely back in power and gaining additional support from her. But it had been stressful to be separated from everyone he knew with certainty he could trust instead of relying completely on his instincts to guess who wouldn't be shooting him in the back. It was like his early days with Cerberus before he had come to know his crew and earned their loyalty.

He was happy for those days to be behind him.

Again, he was back on the Normandy where he belonged and who he belonged with.

He had barely been back long enough to start his rounds, checking in with everyone and making sure everything needed by anyone was seen to. Aria had arranged transportation back to the Citadel for him so he'd met the Normandy there where they'd remained docked. And now they were stuck waiting until the asari councilor sent word that she was available to meet with Shepard about a possible lead on Thessia.

That was another relief: finally having something to get them back on track against Cerberus and the Reapers.

But Shepard wasn't expecting to hear back from her until the next day at least, as he hadn't been able to send any advance warning that he was returning from Omega and the councilor was plenty busy. He needed the breather anyway before he was forced into finding his limits.

He'd spoken with James and Steve, the Shuttle Bay being his first stop in order to stow his gear. James had went off almost immediately at being "outmaneuvered by a fucking biotic" as he told Shepard about how Kaidan had killed time two days ago with a sparring match. Shepard couldn't help but grin at James' frustration even as he wondered why Kaidan had even made the challenge. Kaidan usually stuck with sparring using biotics with Liara or even got into hacking contests with Tali or EDI. But when it came to physical sparring matches, he hadn't asked anyone but Shepard since they lost Ash.

"Ghost can move," James had groused, to which Shepard had just crossed his arms and gave the Lieutenant an incredulous look.

"How often have you been on missions with him? How could you not know he has you on speed?" Shepard asked. Armor didn't make that much of a difference, especially the lighter gear Kaidan had put together, designed for the necessary easy mobility of being a biotic.

Maybe Kaidan only sparred with Shepard because he was the only one who could really challenge him because of how familiar they were with each other. Sure, Shepard won most of their matches, but Kaidan made him work for it every single time. And when he was using his biotics heavily, it did somewhat change Kaidan's strategy in a fight, made him a little more stationary, so maybe James just hadn't had the chance to really see what the Major was capable of physically.

"Hey, how can I see how fast he is when I end up always having to just watch his back as he fixes things," James defended.

"And if you were any use at a console, he wouldn't automatically be delegated to tech and biotics and you might actually have an idea of what you were up against."

James scoffed at that. "I'll get him next time."

Shepard chuckled as he turned away with a wave as he called back, "Don't count on it. Just make sure I'm around next time. Wouldn't want to miss him wiping the floor with you."

Talking with Steve had been a little more routine, the man having spent the week going through supplies with a fine tooth comb – a.k.a. with Traynor – and had made sure they were completely stocked up on absolutely everything they could get a requisition order in for.

"Don't know when the next time we'll get the chance to restock like this will be. Figured we'd get it taken care of and be ready for your grand return," Steve had said with a shrug. And even though he didn't point it out, there was the undertone of Kaidan's touch with this as well; Spectre status was the best way to get everything they needed in the time Shepard had been gone.

The Major had kept busy while he'd been off ship if his first stop back on-board was any indication.

He stepped onto the elevator, but paused in selecting a destination. He had intended on checking in with engineering and Tali. But now he was finding himself unable to deny the desire to see Kaidan any longer. Usually he would seek out Kaidan last, a way to cut down on the chance of being called away once he was in the biotic's company. Instead he looked up to the speaker and called out to the AI always listening, "EDI, is Kaidan in the observation room?"

EDI's voice echoed through the small lift at once, "No, Shepard, the Major is in Liara's room speaking with her and Garrus. They have requested not to be disturbed."

That was different. What could those guys be working on that had them asking for privacy?

"Do they know I'm back on-board?" he asked. It was completely possible for Kaidan and Liara to completely miss it being relayed that he had returned. Garrus wasn't usually an issue with that but Shepard had long ago stopped underestimating the influence of Kaidan at work. It was completely within the realm of possibility that Garrus got sucked in to the others' head-space just by being in the room.

"Yes, Major Alenko acknowledged transfer of authority back to you. But he still insists that they are not interrupted."

"What are they working on?" he decided to just cut to the chase, hoping that Kaidan hadn't told EDI to keep what he was doing a secret. Chances were too good that she would actually listen to the request since she seemed to really get along well with the Major.

"He has forwarded a message to the Council and Admiral Hackett taking command over any further pursuit of Vincent Kami. He has been using Liara's sources to help in the investigation."

Once Shepard heard Kami's name, he pressed the button for the third deck, the need to see his lover much more immediate.

As the elevator started moving, a thought interrupted his rising emotions. "Wait, he just told Hackett and the Council that he was taking the investigation?"

"He merely pointed out that he was seeing an ongoing mission to completion in a more direct manner. The transfer of authority was approved as within the scope of his Spectre authority."

Shepard acknowledged that his lover was fucking brilliant in how he used his Spectre status before emotions came forward again as his barely forming thought of appealing to Hackett – who'd seemed ready to keep Kaidan away from Kami – was destroyed with EDI's information.

He was far beyond concerned over how long Kami had remained a part of their lives and he was just done with hearing about the bastard. And if Hackett wouldn't be of any use in this, he wasn't above pulling his own rank to settle this once and for all. He was the Commander of the Normandy after all and since Kaidan was serving on the frigate, he ultimately had to listen to orders from Shepard.

Though Shepard had never encouraged blind obedience from his crew and friends like he was thinking about now.

And this might be the first one Kaidan didn't agree with and want to follow and Shepard wasn't sure how his lover would take it.

He'd probably at least have to deal with the full brunt of Kaidan's temper, something he hadn't had to do since Horizon. Even the arguments they had when this whole mess first started were dispelled before they became full-blown fights. But if Shepard pushed this when Kaidan was obviously decided…

One of them would have to give…

Shit, this wasn't going to go smoothly.

And as Shepard stepped off the elevator and turned toward Liara's room, he realized he'd rather be back to coordinating peace between species who'd been at war for centuries. At least that only affected the future of the galaxy. This was his relationship with Kaidan, something he had a vested interest in maintaining for the rest of his life.

He let out a heavy sigh as he realized he'd been standing outside Liara's door, just staring at it blankly for possibly quite some time now. He took a final moment to consider whether it was really worth it to let it escalate as it likely would, but shook the hesitation off as his mind turned to the memory of Kaidan laying in the med bay after the last time he'd been within range of Kami.

Shepard was decided.

He palmed the controls on the door and waited for it to unlock and slide open. As Liara's room was revealed, he was met with Garrus and Liara standing next to each other in front of her wall of monitors, the pair glancing over to him before returning to whatever they were doing. He was somewhat thrown by the dismissal before he shook it off and focused on locating Kaidan. The biotic was seated at another console further in the room and didn't seem to register anything around him.

Shepard just took a moment to observe his lover as he stepped further into the room, taking in the details of his state with experienced eyes. Nobody knew Kaidan like he did – by the biotic's admission – and he would put that to use now.

The first thing he looked for was any indications of pain. The monitors he was working on weren't dimmed like all his personal monitors and datapads and that was asking for a headache, though it was probably also why he wasn't working with the larger display despite how it would make his work easier. Unfortunately, as Kaidan was mostly facing away from him, he couldn't actually tell if the man was working through pain as he normally would.

The next thing Shepard checked was his skin tone. When he went more than eight hours without eating, his face would start to pale as his body burned through calories even when there was nothing left. He was satisfied that that didn't seem to be the case this time around. Liara was probably to thank for that.

Next up was a gauge of his mood, something that he had honed over the past three years, mostly from their time on the SR-1. He had learned when Kaidan just wasn't in the right frame of mind to chat it up with him, when he would only get a sit rep. Now it was mostly used to figure out how far he could take his teasing before his lover got fed up with it and would start ignoring him.

And that was where he rediscovered the thought process of if this was worth it. Kaidan was intense on what he was doing, not caught up in it, but just locked in in a way that made it seem like he was fighting whatever he was looking at on the screen. His fingers were flying over the keyboard and screen, switching between tabs in a way that reminded Shepard that the man was trained as a co-pilot and so could flit through displays fast enough to keep up with an aircraft.

Shepard really hesitated then and actually startled when he felt Garrus' hand push lightly against his shoulder. "I assume with that entrance EDI told you what we're doing," the turian declared.

Shepard crossed his arms then, looking over his shoulder to his friend. "Yeah, she mentioned something about him looking for Kami." His voice was even, not a tone he usually used with his friends.

"Like I said, we are. Pretty sure we've got a solid lead on him too. We just need to confirm the intel and then we'll be set."

"Set for what exactly?"

Liara turned to him then to answer in a patient tone that didn't do anything to hide how she thought it was a ridiculous question, "What else would we do when we located Vincent Kami?"

"Any reason you got into this while I was at Omega?" he asked, his tone getting sharper at the thought of them doing something so potentially dangerous behind his back.

"You happened to be off at Omega when it became an issue. We weren't trying to keep it from you. Actually, we were hoping you would join our efforts once you returned."

Shepard was only slightly pacified by that explanation, knowing them better than to even think that they weren't being honest. They simply didn't hide things like this from each other. Shepard glanced back over to Kaidan, noticing how the man's movements weren't as smooth as they had been before they started talking. Of course his lover was paying attention to the conversation but was just staying out of it as long as Garrus and Liara were taking care of it.

Shepard sighed and ran his hand over his scalp, figuring he could at least hear what they had to say before shutting this down. After all, he'd always operated by making informed decisions. No reason to stop now. "What leads have you found?"

Garrus gave him a grin as Liara's shoulders released tension and she gave him a warm smile. It was obvious that they supported Kaidan in this and really wanted him to as well.

"We've been focusing on his organization, trying to find the backdoor he's likely exploiting to retain access to his funds even with the lock on his accounts Kaidan has placed. We've already looked for other accounts connected to his name and haven't found any that have been accessed. Of course we have locked those accounts as we've found them."

"Kaidan's really making me want that Spectre status," Garrus cut in as he crossed his arms and shot a look over to the biotic, who shook his head slightly with a slight upturn of his lips but continued to remain removed from the discussion. He had to know Shepard hadn't actually committed to letting them continue and really was holding out until Shepard gave an answer to that. "I mean, we find an account, check its history, then he punches in his Spectre code and it's locked up so tight Kasumi would need at least a minute to get into it."

Liara gave the turian an amused look before regaining the conversation. "We've already locked down over a dozen accounts and none of them have been touched. The only ones with charges still going through are the ones connected to the organization alone."

"So why haven't those ones been locked?"

"Because we aren't trying to cut him off from all his resources. We're using them to find him. He has advanced encryptions on the accounts so it has been difficult to actually get accurate sources of transactions, but we are nearly through that. Once we're through, we'll have him."

"Have you put EDI on breaking the encryptions? That would save a lot of time and effort."

"I have observed the encryption and there are many programs connected to it to counter AI interference. It would not keep me from breaking the encryption, but Kami would be alerted before I could disable the program," EDI explained. "I have assisted them through the process as they have needed but nothing more."

"She has cut the time needed significantly. There is simply so many layers that we have been working on it for almost two days and are only now almost through. It was impressive."

Shepard was impressed as well. For it to take two days for EDI, Kaidan, and the Shadow Broker to break through that had to be some heavy coding.

"And while they were working on the credits, I was looking into the organization itself," Garrus took over. "Thought I'd try and find something to help us figure out just what set Kami off on his anti-human vendetta. Knowing why someone went off the deep end is always helpful."

"What'd you find?" Shepard couldn't keep from grinning slightly at human expression being used by Garrus so smoothly and accurately. Kaidan had probably said it at some point while they'd been working.

Garrus turned toward the wall of monitors and entered in a few commands, changing the display to show some of the files he'd dug up. Shepard stepped closer to look them over as Garrus continued speaking. "The Kami Organization is all about supporting biotics. It has grown in notoriety over the past ten years as the name in cutting edge tech for implants and amps as well as runs the market on research into effects of biotics on humans. They have gained a reputation for the most successful surgeries installing implants and have even taken on upgrades for some of those early models that tended to hold more dangerous side effects. They haven't reported a single failed surgery of a new install or upgrade." Garrus glanced over to Kaidan briefly, his expression conveying the acknowledgment of the implications that data had for the L2. It was likely they had already talked about this at length but Shepard knew he was going to be bringing it up with his lover once they had some privacy.

"How have we not heard of them? That seems like something we would have run into at some point."

"They've only operated on Earth and refuse to have any business with the Alliance. In turn, the Alliance lets them take care of things with biotics in the general public so they can focus on people who actually want to serve." That made sense. Now that human biotics were getting to be somewhat more common – and there were healthy relations with other biotic species – they were being offered more options for actually using their abilities other than becoming a soldier. And the Alliance had plenty to focus on without having to deal with biotics not enlisted.

That was probably something they'd learned from BAaT.

"So Kami runs an organization committed to improving lives of biotics. There are a lot of credits in that, which explains how he has so many resources. But it just seems like a stretch for someone intent on taking out all humans and putting biotics in power. It's a hell of an act to have to keep up and from what Kaidan has told us about the guy, he's too unstable to pull that off."

"That's what I thought too, especially since the organization has absolutely nothing negative being reported about it. Even now, it's responsible for shelters being set up on Earth for biotics affected by the war."

"Well, that isn't Kami's work, it's what people who work for the company are doing. They aren't the ones behind kidnapping and brainwashing biotics to want to kill humans."

Garrus shrugged, "That's beyond the scope of my part of the investigation. But with that sort of reputation, it's easy to understand why there's some hesitation to completely locking down the accounts for the organization. There are large sums being exchanged and there is so much going into the efforts on Earth that anything Kami pulls out can get lost in the mix easily."

"While activity in a private account is easy to catch and track," Shepard deduced. He pulled his gaze from the screens where he'd been reading through a list of options of services offered by the organization to biotics. It was about as all-inclusive as he had ever seen from a single organization focused on biotics.

How would Kaidan's life be different if he'd had this as an option for addressing his biotics when he was a kid learning how he was different from everyone else around him?

"Which also brings us to what Kaidan has been investigating," Liara said, gaining Shepard's attention just as it started to wander slightly. "He has been checking in to everything available on Vincent Kami."

Shepard took a short moment to recognize how well organized his friends had been in doing all this. Even as they worked to find where Kami was, they had put a great amount of effort into figuring out what was behind the man's actions. That was just as valuable when it would come down to confronting him again. And they had split the work in a sensible manner: Liara utilizing her sources to find everything connected to the man beyond his organization, Garrus looking at the structure of the organization Kami had put together, and Kaidan looking at the man himself. Everything played to their strengths.

"What do you have?" he asked to no one in particular, but hoped that this would get Kaidan to actually say something.

Shepard had to hold in a sigh of relief as Kaidan at last turned away from his console and toward them.

The tensing of muscles along his jaw and neck revealed that he was definitely working through a reasonable headache.

The display of the monitors changed again to reveal a cohesive profile of Vincent Kami. This was the first time Shepard had actually seen what the man looked like and he committed the image to memory as Kaidan stood and approached them.

"He's done a great job of keeping his personal file hidden, probably has some great PR guys working for him. Most of what I have been able to dig up on him has just been what is released in interviews concerning the organization. He's given some details of his upbringing, but not much."

Garrus had been looking over what Kaidan had displayed, but looked over at that. "This is what you call 'not much'? You've got three screens of history here just from when he started the organization."

Kaidan gave the turian a slight grin before bringing up his omnitool, entering commands as he responded, "It's not the sort of intel I'm looking for so yeah it's not much. But then I started hacking into records of employees who worked closely with him as well as reports he has submitted and got a better picture of him." The screens shifted and brought up a few reports, probably ones that had given Kaidan something in particular. "He started the organization because he lost a son to faulty implants, an L2."

Shepard turned to face Kaidan again at that revelation, gauging his emotions only to find them carefully concealed behind the even look he would pull out on Allers all the time. "What happened?" he asked.

"Same thing that happens to most L2s: improper installation and side effects. He'd developed epilepsy because of the implant which caused him to develop a brain aneurysm that ruptured. They tried to treat it, but because the location of the rupture was close to his implant he died during the surgery."

Liara and Garrus were apparently floored by what had happened and the only reason Shepard wasn't was because shortly after he'd first talked to Chakwas about Kaidan, he'd done some additional research on the L2 implants. He'd read dozens of reports of how they could go wrong before he couldn't take it anymore, unable to not imagine the report being about the Lieutenant he'd quickly grown attached to. But while the rest of the crew was fully aware of how the implants affected Kaidan, knew that the implants he had were dangerous, it wasn't often thrown in their face just how dangerous they could be.

Shepard was sure the two were having the same thought as him: even if Kaidan didn't suffer anything like that now, he could develop such symptoms. Hell the reason the beating he'd taken on Mars had been so dangerous was because of his implants and how it could have increased the side effects. He'd lucked out though, even finding ways to improve his biotic strength after he'd healed up.

"His son was fourteen when he died, only about six months after the implant was installed. If he hadn't had those problems with his implant, he would have been sent to BAaT."

"That's how Kami knew about it to target the students."

"And he'd probably looked into what happened when it got shut down. He then used it to give him some groundwork on putting together the Kami Organization."

"Because once it was shut down, people didn't really have anywhere else to turn to. There weren't other programs well established and they had no reason to trust the Alliance," Shepard mused as he crossed his arms in thought. No wonder the man had become so unstable: he dedicated his life to what had taken his son. His loss was always in his face.

"Exactly," Kaidan responded.

"I'm assuming this wasn't something revealed in an interview," Liara stated.

"No, as far as I can tell, no one knew that he'd had any family. There was a picture of Kami at his desk in an article and I saw a picture frame so I hacked medical records and found the birth certificate, then was able to requisition all medical records of the patient."

"Again, I want that Spectre status," Garrus muttered to Shepard who couldn't help but fight the amusement.

Then Kaidan gave the turian an amused look and said, "Didn't need Spectre status for that one: it was all done with my rank with the Alliance. Being the second human Spectre might have bumped me up the list of priorities but I didn't need it."

Damn Kaidan was hot when he allowed himself to be proud of his accomplishments.

Even hotter when he used it in a way that picked on Garrus; with how often the turian found ways to turn Shepard's relationship with Kaidan into a subject of teasing, his friend had earned anything Kaidan threw at him.

"So he started the Kami Organization to help human biotics so they didn't end up like his son. And now it's leading the charge in supporting biotics while its C.E.O. tries to wipe out all humans," Shepard summed up.

Kaidan's expression shifted then, becoming much more pensive as he crossed his arms. "It's strange though, when he was talking to me, trying to get me to his side without any force, he didn't identify himself as human even though there's no way he's a biotic. He would refer to biotics as 'we', like he truly believes that he isn't human. I have been able to connect everything that he did with the organization and what he is doing now to what happened to his son, can even confidently say why he's gotten so fixated on me, but I can't figure out why he would start thinking of himself as a biotic himself."

"Seems like somewhat of a moot point to get caught up with," Garrus said, though he was clearly thoughtful of it himself now.

"Not really, considering his goals. Thinking of himself as a biotic is the difference between 'they all must die' and turning the gun on himself because he is what he hates."

"He was using O-E to suppress his prisoners. Maybe he was using red sand or another biotic enhancer on himself," Liara suggested. "And it may account for his unstable behavior."

Kaidan glanced between Shepard and Liara and the Commander figured he was inquiring if they'd been told how he'd been put on red sand while at BAaT, to which he gave a slight shake of his head. "He wasn't on red sand, that's for sure. But he also didn't demonstrate any biotics. Usually when someone is intent on convincing themselves, let alone others, that they're something they're not, they tend to over-exemplify their point."

"True, but it may still be a possibility that he is taking an enhancer and the side effects are making him believe he is actually a biotic," Liara continued.

"That he has every right to want humans dead because he's not one of them anymore," Kaidan mused thoughtfully. He was definitely warming up to the idea, which was good because Shepard admitted it was a good factor to keep in mind. If they were going to be ready for this guy, they had to know what was going on in his head. They had to understand him.

The thought caught Shepard off-guard. That was the thought of someone getting ready to put this intel to use and go through with the pursuit of Kami. This was him working out what he needed to succeed. And after thinking it over for a few seconds, he was sure that he was getting himself ready to join them in pursuing Kami.

His mind turned to the previous year when he'd been getting to know an almost completely new crew, had given each one of them the chance to settle any lingering business so they would be able to focus on the fight. He hadn't thought he would need to do anything like that with his current crew, as they were already familiar with him and he knew where their loyalties lay. And the stakes were so much higher than when he was going after the Collectors.

But Kaidan apparently needed this. He wasn't one to get caught up in a grudge or actions taken against him, but Kami had gotten to him. He had somehow broken through the layers of protection Kaidan had formed around the pain of what had been done to him and it had made him commit to chasing the man down and taking him out. It wasn't necessarily out of character for Kaidan to commit like he was – the man didn't like leaving things unfinished – but his seeming inability to let it fall to the Alliance to settle this was less like him and more like Shepard.

And now that Shepard was seeing his lover work through what he needed to, he knew he couldn't not let Kaidan follow through to the end.

He had promised Kaidan to be there for him every time and this undoubtedly counted.

"You said you're close to getting a location on him?" he asked once he focused back in and realized that the others were waiting on him to speak. They had covered what they thought mattered and he trusted their judgment implicitly.

Kaidan answered, "I believe he's still on the Citadel. It's just a matter of connecting previous transactions on the accounts for the organization to somewhere he would feel safe and checking it out."

"Why do you think he's on the Citadel?"

Kaidan again glanced between his friends, but this time focused on Liara and Garrus' expressions. They knew something Shepard didn't and Kaidan was debating revealing whatever it was regardless of how open he'd been about everything else. The turian and asari apparently didn't think him staying silent was a good idea though if their expectant expressions were any indication.

"The Alliance thought they had him a few days ago, but he made a break for it before they got to him. But he was definitely here and there's been too much surveillance looking for him to get out unnoticed."

Shepard was about to fish for more details on that but was cut off by Garrus. "Yeah, but what about the real reason you think he's still here?" he asked and the look Kaidan sent to the turian was about the coldest thing Shepard had ever seen from his lover. And Garrus just looked right back with an unapologetic expression. Of course he wouldn't feel sorry for ruining whatever the secret was Kaidan was apparently trying to keep.

"Kaidan?" Shepard couldn't keep from asking, his tone imploring and caring, the man trying to convey how his lover could trust him with whatever it was just in saying his name.

Kaidan let out a heavy sigh and his gaze lowered to the floor between them. "I think he's still here because I am. I don't think he would send me a message and then just leave without following through. After all, once I'm gone from the Citadel I'm out of reach. He doesn't want that."

Well at least it was easy to see why he hadn't wanted to mention it to Shepard. He had to fight hard to suppress the protective instinct he had when it came to Kaidan so he could keep focused on what his lover needed. And Kaidan didn't need him giving the order to leave the Citadel at once regardless of what the asari councilor wanted. He needed Kami dead.

"What did he say?" he couldn't keep the fury out of his voice though and he recognized the caution in Kaidan's expression as he looked up to Shepard.

Letting out a short sigh, Kaidan again brought up his omnitool and a few seconds later, Shepard's let out a notification of a received message. He pulled it up and read the message from Kami that had apparently been sent to Kaidan after the Alliance had attempted to capture him.

And then Shepard read through it again to make sure he actually read it right and wasn't projecting his emotions onto the text so it seemed worse than it really was.

No, it really was that bad to read through.

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck with his hand self-consciously when Shepard looked back to him, actually appearing vulnerable and that wasn't something Shepard ever saw on Kaidan.

"It's in my records from BAaT that I'm an L2, that I suffer migraines and nothing else from the implant. If you look at what happened between me and Vyrnnus from the perspective of someone like Kami, it looks like me supporting him is a given. I effectively shut the program down, after all, and should hate everyone behind it for what they did to me. Those are the absolutes that Kami sees the world through. And since details of families weren't included in our files, it was also easy for him to project what happened to his son onto me, to put himself into a paternal role over me. And now I'm disobeying him and choosing a human over him. And he won't lose out to a human."

"Me," Shepard confirmed.

Kaidan nodded. "He had surveillance on the cell block. I wouldn't be surprised if he just watched when I escaped and demonstrated that I was a highly trained biotic. And then you came to get me out of there…"

And Shepard hadn't been subtle at all that they were more than simple crewmates. While he hadn't outright made out with Kaidan in the hall, he had made intimate contact with him and anyone with eyes could see how much he cared about Kaidan. Put that image in front of someone unstable and with unrealistic perceptions of what Kaidan was to him and that could get some serious emotional response.

Garrus broke in then, obviously catching on to the darkening demeanor of the Commander, "Wow, Shepard, you just know how to piss people off. I pointed a gun at Kaidan and you still get the brunt of Kami's attention. It's almost insulting."

Kaidan gave Garrus a complex expression, like he was struggling to decide just which way to take his response. "He's discriminatory, not xenophobic," he settled on. "Either way, it sent him further into his delusion and it's possible that it's shifting what he sees me as to him. In the message, he sounds like someone who chained the love of their life in a basement to keep them from leaving them."

"Not too far off from what happened," Garrus added, but his tone wasn't as joking at it had been and Kaidan flushed.

"Yeah, me and seventeen other people. He didn't have that tone when he talked to me before, so while there was a focus on me, it's different now. I don't have much to go on, but what I picked up pretty much right off the bat with him was that he's unstable. If he felt protective towards me before because of some connection to his son, that instability may have just warped his focus to being possessive. It's not too much of a jump between the two for someone desperate and well into insanity."

What it was now was more dangerous for Kaidan in Shepard's opinion. Someone who'd been slighted by one they had deep feelings – no matter how misguided and imaginary they were – took things further than people tended to give them credit for. Kami could be pushed into killing Kaidan based on his delusion.

Kaidan pressed his fingers into his temple and let out a sigh. "This is all speculation on our part."

Liara walked over to Kaidan and placed her hand on his shoulder soothingly, "It may be speculation, but it is based on facts we have all compiled. You are not wrong in needing to take care of him once and for all. And we will once we have a location on him."

She was right and it was Shepard's turn to show his support. He was already decided on what had to be done and it was past time he told Kaidan for sure that he was behind him in this.

He stepped up next to Liara and reached out for Kaidan's hand that was still applying pressure to his temple and grasped it tightly. Whiskey-brown eyes lifted to meet his gaze but Kaidan remained silent. "We'll take care of this, Kaidan. I won't have you looking over your shoulder for him to make an appearance anymore." He stepped in closer, moving in to where he could whisper into his lover's ear without the others hearing. "He's got no claim on you. You did choose me and you're mine."

He didn't even try to fight the possessive words and Kaidan's fingers tightened around his hand in response. Shepard wasn't really a material guy, regardless of how much he had collected through the past few years and while some of the trinkets collected in his cabin held sentimental value to him, he could live without them.

But Kaidan…Kaidan was only his as long as he continued to choose Shepard. If he lost him, it was all his fault and so he wouldn't lose him. Nothing more to it.

But that also meant he would do that much more to keep anyone else from even thinking of laying some sort of claim on his lover. So material, no. Jealous, not extremely so simply because of the level of trust they had with each other. But possessive, apparently hell yeah, and Kami had just attacked that aspect of him full-force.

He pulled away and smirked at the red tint to Kaidan's cheeks and ears, but felt a wave of affection as well as his lover's gaze was determined and Shepard saw that Kaidan agreed with the sentiment completely. Keeping hold of Kaidan's hand, he turned back to his friends, both looking at the pair with amusement. He raised an eyebrow at them, challenging them to say anything while acknowledging that that particular challenge could get him a wide variety of comments, especially from Garrus.

"Let's keep working. Once we have a location on him, we'll work out a strategy then. Direct approach probably won't work out with this one and if we lose him again, we won't get another chance; not with how the war with the Reapers is coming to a head."

The other three nodded and while Garrus and Liara turned back to their work on the consoles near the door, Kaidan walked back to the ones he was working on when Shepard had come in with the Commander following behind. As the biotic sat down again and picked up his work, Shepard knelt down next to him and took hold of Kaidan's hands, lowering them down to rest on the desk, then cupped Kaidan's face between both hands. His lover watched him closely, their eyes meeting as Shepard moved in to touch his lips to Kaidan's in a gentle caress. It was a tease more than anything, and while Kaidan's lips returned the touch, he didn't follow when Shepard pulled away. He remained near, but was far enough away that he would be able to clearly read Kaidan's expression.

When he spoke it was at a whisper to keep it from the others, "I was ready to fight you on this, command you to let it go regardless of what you had to say."

"But you didn't," Kaidan responded in his extremely attractive voice, made even deeper by the quiet tone he was keeping. And even though it was a statement, Shepard heard the question.

"We both need him gone. Might as well make sure the job gets done and take care of it ourselves. Only way to make sure."

Kaidan placed one hand on Shepard's arm as the other grasped onto the back of his neck and pulled Shepard back to him to initiate a deeper kiss. The biotic wouldn't let it get too passionate with Liara and Garrus across the room, but it was still enough to remind Shepard that they'd been parted for about a week and he'd missed Kaidan. His own fingers threaded into thick hair, his palm remaining along Kaidan's jawline as fingers pressed into the back of his neck. Shepard grinned into the kiss as Kaidan's body went somewhat lax at the right amount of pressure being applied around the sensitive area around his implant. He took one final taste of his lover before backing off again, this time with Kaidan trying to continue the contact for a little while longer.

"I missed you, Kaid," he whispered as he continued to work the tense muscles of Kaidan's neck with practiced hands, reveling in how dark eyes couldn't seem to open.

"I missed you too, John. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was trying to do this behind your back. I wasn't even going to push it, but Garrus talked me into it so you can blame him in the end. Brought up something about how you had helped him out when he had something to settle."

"I should have known it'd be all his fault. He's still trying to get us to have some epic argument."

Kaidan huffed out a laugh, his head tipping forward to allow Shepard easier access to keep working his neck out. His headache must have been bad to let himself be this vulnerable around others besides Shepard just to get some relief. "Well, I did promise him one. Only fair that we follow through at some point."

Shepard kissed him playfully on the forehead and grinned. "And here I was going to suggest he not hold his breath waiting. Not saying we won't argue…"

"Both way too stubborn for that to be realistic," Kaidan interrupted but Shepard continued as if he hadn't.

"…But it sure isn't going to be around anyone else." That expectation was based completely on Kaidan's private nature and his tendency of settling into professional conduct when things went in a direction he was uncomfortable with.

"You let him down on that one," Kaidan retorted, his voice amused through his relaxation. "He's been speculating for the past two days of how you would handle all this. I swear if you'd been gone one more day, he was going to start taking bets with himself."

"Stop exaggerating at my expense, Alenko," Garrus called from his console. Shepard was just about to doubt his knowledge of other races when he realized that Kaidan hadn't kept his tone down and had meant for Garrus to start listening in.

"Stop doing things that make something like that believable, Vakarian," Kaidan retorted and Liara laughed as Shepard shook his head, placing one more kiss to Kaidan's forehead before moving away enough to turn his attention to the console, letting his hands move away from Kaidan's warmth as well.

"I think you're confusing me with James and that's just insulting."

"Well, you two spend so much time comparing tall tales, it's getting harder to determine the source of the stupidity."

"That hurts, Kaidan. After all we've been through together and that's all the respect I get from you."

"I'm willing to alter my opinion once you provide me with sufficient evidence that I should." Kaidan's fingers were already moving between screens on the console to get back into his work, Shepard nearly keeping up with the changes being displayed. Kaidan must have been sorting intel to be going this fast.

Shepard shook his head again and cut off Garrus by saying, "How did you two get anything done with him here?"

"He was kicked out for calibration breaks," Liara answered.

"A lot," Kaidan added.

COMMENTS

Lili

Oh yeah! Can't wait for the Kami confrontation! So excited for it!
Ghost and James sparring as a way to let off stress sounds good to me. Aw Shepard wanting to see Kaidan sooner rather than later and that he wanted him away from Kami made me smile. I like how protective he was there. His remark that his relationship with Kaidan was something that he was invested in keeping for the rest of his life made me smile.
Any mention of Kaidan being trained as a copilot is always good for me and that he was put on red sand is also always good.
I really like the show of friendship among Liara, Garrus, and Kaidan here. I liked that they worked together to put it all together and how supportive they were. I also loved that Garrus and Liara definitely had a conversation with Kaidan after hearing about the successful surgeries, especially after seeing how so many people from L2s died or had nasty side effects. I also like how worried they were after hearing about Kami's son. It crossed my mind a lot that with Kaidan's implants, so many unknown effects could affect him in the future.
I enjoyed the information they came up with, the Kami organization being something good while Kami himself not so much. It is odd how Kaidan never heard of it though considering how long it must have been available to the public. Kami Org. definitely would be helpful with all the L2s that have worse symptoms.
Oh I also enjoyed when Kaidan showed pride in his accomplishments. He needs to get one over Garrus every now and then.
I never would have thought that Kami would have a child that would have been close to Kaidan's age if he was alive. I thought that he would be around Kaidan's age since he didn't seem particularly old. It kinda ups the creepy factor though because before this chapter I thought his obsession was rather odd, and very possessive and now he does seem like he was obsessed with Kaidan because he saw him as a bit like a son figure and then in his message he does sound like he is talking to a lover he would lock in his basement. Garrus is right, what happened wasn't far off.
Possessive Shepard was great. I loved the line where he points out that Kami has no claim over Kaidan and that K chose Shepard and that makes him his. Really brilliant line. Their conversations, kisses, and I miss yous were great and adorable.
I liked the way Shepard got to the point where he was supporting their decision to go after Kami. He was following their framework and listening in and then he realized that it was something Kaidan needed and he fully supported him.
Thanks for the chapter. It was wonderful.