Heather came back to the mess, and found Kaidan still sitting at the table alone. He heard her footsteps, and whirled around as soon as she returned and stood up, facing her.
"A new mission, ma'am?" he was formal, and stern.
"We're going to Luna to investigate a false distress signal sent out by the Geth. They're predicting that it's going be intense, so we'll need to keep our guard up at all times. We don't know the exact location of the signal, so we are just going to be dropped in the general vicinity and go from there."
"Sounds familiar," he smirked.
"I know, I know. Also, the main focus is destroying the Geth, not helping survivors. It makes me wonder how many Geth we're going to be up against."
She walked to the other side of the table and took back her seat. Kaidan followed, and leaned forward.
"It sounds like it could be dangerous. I agree, we definitely need to be focused for this one. However, I am a little surprised that the main focus is not helping survivors. It sounds kinda fishy."
Her gaze darted to the side for a couple seconds, and then came back to meet Kaidan's. She quietly uttered, "It does."
"The only way we'll know is to find out when we get there." Kaidan got up and went toward a wall unit on the other side of the room. Just as he popped the latch, he turned to Heather and smiled, "In the meantime, would you like some coffee?"
She smiled, and let out a light sigh through her nose, "I'd love some. Thank you."
The wall mount was revealed to be a small cupboard that contained a mediocre coffee machine, generic creamer, sugar cubes, brown paper napkins, and some plastic coffee straws. It had definitely seen better days, but it was the only coffee maker on the whole ship.
Kaidan returned to the table and took back his seat, "We got lucky. These are the last two cups." He handed her a small traveling cup, a few packs of creamer, two sugar cubes, a mixing straw, and a lid. Grinning, he said, "The nicest coffee The Alliance can buy."
Heather mixed everything together, and pushed the lid onto her cup. Kaidan added a little more creamer to his blend, and followed suit.
"A toast, to the little things in life," Kaidan raised his cup at about eye-height. Heather raised her cup, and gently clinked it against his.
"Cheers. Hopefully the next one will be separate bathrooms."
Kaidan tried to contain his laugh. Coffee just about squirted out of his nose, but he managed to hold it all in long enough to gulp it all down. He grabbed his napkin and wiped his mouth, "I wish you had waited another two seconds to say that. I almost made a complete fool of myself!"
She hummed Mmmmm hmmmm... as she drank and then set her cup down, grinning.
"That's what I was going for!" She winked. "Be glad that it would have been me, and not Anderson."
"Good point, but still... It doesn't really make it any better."
A tiny smile lined her face, but then she looked concerned. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her voice became quiet, "What was it you were saying before I left?"
Kaidan's eyes became wide, like a deer in the headlights. He set down his coffee and stared at it for a couple seconds. He was thinking, hard. Eventually, he muttered, "Actually, I don't think this is the right time to discuss it. We need to focus on the mission." His eyes locked with hers, "Another time, perhaps."
"If you say so. Just know that you'll always have an ear that will listen if something is bothering you."
"Thank you. I appreciate that more than you could ever know."
"You're the only friend I've got, Kaidan. If you need anything, I'll be here for you," she smiled, and took another sip of her coffee before standing up. "Now that I'm loaded with all of this caffeine, I think it's time to hop in a sleeping chamber."
Kaidan laughed and stood up as well, "Maybe coffee wasn't the best idea."
"I think we'll live," she grabbed her cup and threw it away in the trash bin next to the coffee machine. Kaidan mirrored her action.
"I'll see you on Luna," he smiled as he walked toward the elevator.
"The sleeping chambers are on this floor, Kaidan."
"I know, but I just need to get something from my room first. Good night," he hopped on the elevator, and then disappeared behind its doors.
"Good night," she whispered to herself, and then turned toward the chambers. She climbed in one, and activated it. She barely had time to think about what Kaidan had said earlier, about Eden Prime, before she was knocked out.
"I keep thinking about how you-"
The elevator ceased, and opened its doors. Kaidan walked out, and went straight for his room down the hall. Halfway there, a voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Kaidan, what do you think you're doing?"
He whirled around, and found himself face to face with Garrus. He wasn't scared of him, but he originally thought he was alone on the floor.
"Are you following me, Garrus?"
"No, not at all. Why would you think that?" He folded his arms, and put all of his weight on his left leg and leaned against the wall. Garrus' body almost completely blocked the tight hallway when he leaned like that.
"I just so happened to be here, and thought I would ask. I didn't mean to sound pissed off. It's your ship, anyway. I have no right to question your actions... to an extent."
"What do you mean by that?" Kaidan folded his arms as well.
The Turian let out a heavy sigh, and shook his head, "I see the way you look at her, Kaidan. I know you have feelings for Shepard."
His eyes grew wide again, and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration, "That's completely false, Garrus. We're just friends- nothing more."
Garrus squinted, and gave Kaidan an intense stare for a few moments before easing up. His voice became stern, "Fraternization only causes harm. No good comes from it, trust me." He stood back up, and unfolded his arms. "Not only could it get her Spectre status revoked, you two could get dishonorably discharged from The Alliance... It could cause you to become distracted in battle."
"What are you saying?" Kaidan's gaze could have cut through Garrus' soul if he wanted it to. He felt his biotics activating inside of him, but he contained it. He didn't want to come across as a threat to a Turian who was living in the bunk next to his.
"The tiniest mistakes are what kills some of the best soldiers out there," Garrus took a step forward, and leaned in extremely close to Kaidan. Their eyes locked on each others'.
"We need Shepard to find Saren, and finish this once and for all. I will not allow some human that wants to jump her bones keep this from happening. Do you understand?"
There was an intense showdown. Kaidan's gaze locked onto Garrus' and held its ground. Neither budged for at least ten seconds, until Kaidan broke the silence.
"Understood."
"Good," he uttered as he retracted himself and began to walk away.
Kaidan simply turned, and continued to his room. He shut his door, locked it, and then proceeded to the dresser next to his bed. It was small, and almost all of the drawers were empty, except the top one. It had an old-fashioned lock in front of it that required a simple key to open.
Kaidan reached into the neck of his shirt and pulled out his dog tags. Behind the tags was a small, silver key.
He held the key with his index finger and thumb, and started rubbing it. He stared at the drawer for a few minutes, just rubbing the tiny key.
Finally, he dropped the tags and key back into his shirt and left his bunk.
He boarded the elevator once more and went back up to the chambers. He didn't see Garrus on his way, and was relieved.
Kaidan raised his right hand, and placed it over his chest where the tags and key were dangling. He rubbed them through his shirt, thinking about what Garrus had said earlier.
"As much as I don't want to believe it, he's right. I don't know what I would do if I lost her... especially if it was my fault."
The elevator reopened its doors. Suddenly, Kaidan found himself right in front of Shepard's sleeping chamber. He didn't even remember the walk there.
He stood there, and watched her for a few minutes. He couldn't help but notice how cute she looks when she's sleeping. He never realized that she slept curled up in the fetal position.
She seemed so beautiful, peaceful... and yet fragile.
He found himself whispering to her, "Why am I so stupid? Why do I keep fooling myself into thinking that you would ever want to be with me?" He let out a deep sigh, filled with angst and frustration.
"Maybe when this is all over, and things settle down... Maybe..."
Another sigh, this time filled with disappointment, escaped his lips. He took a mental picture of her, and laid in the sleeping chamber right next to hers. He turned his body so he was facing her, and made sure her face was the last one he saw before he was sedated.
