Chapter 4

"This is Normandy SR-2 requesting permission to dock for repairs," was heard on the radio, and Kaiden sat up. He had been drifting to sleep, even though he had been fighting it, and wasn't sure if he had heard correctly.

"You are clear, Normandy," was said next. "Aria is requiring a meeting with your commander before you have access to do repairs…or leave."

His heart pounded in his chest as he got up, pulling on his shirt and leaving his room and booking it to the dock.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here," Aria was saying to Miranda.

Miranda stared at the asari, not afraid, "Trust me, if we were positive our ship could get us to Illium we would have gone there, first. Your trashed station was the best we could do, Aria. Let us do what we have to and we're gone."

"Oh, you'll be gone, but you'll be lucky if I…"

"You're threatening me?" Miranda laughed.

"Why am I even talking to you? Where is Shepard, I want to talk to her and then I'm going to crush her."

"Like to see you try, smurf," Jack said calmly. "Count yourself among the lucky criminals that Shepard has met and left alive. If you don't, you won't stay alive."

Aria looked at Jack fiercely, "I am a Matriarch, you puny…"

Jack took a step forward, "Try me, cupcake. This place is about due for a new leader and my home just got a few holes punched in it, I could move right in here."

"As soon as you are patched up I want you gone. I catch another Cerberus ship within targeting range of Omega again I shoot first, ask questions later," Aria warned.

Miranda let out a relieved breath as Aria retreated and turned to Jack, "Good job intimidating her."

"Wasn't joking, I could see myself doing her job," Jack smirked.

"We need to get those medical supplies, we've wasted enough time. Come on," Miranda said.

Jack was looking past her, "What's Alliance doing here?"

Miranda followed her gaze, seeing Kaiden walking slowly towards them.

"Shit," Miranda muttered. She had to get to Mordin's old clinic, get the supplies and get back before Aria decided to make things ugly. Jack hadn't been on Omega before, she didn't know the fastest way there and back. "Uh…handle it, time is not on our side."

Jack opened her mouth to argue but Miranda was already running. Kaiden glanced at her, but kept moving towards Jack. "Looks like you guys ran into some trouble."

Jack folded her arms across her chest and gave him a tough look, "Yeah, so?"

"Everyone make it?"

Jack shrugged, "Who wants to know?"

"I do," he said, his impatience showing through his tone.

Jack looked him over, her face still hard and tough, and wondered just what Shepard saw in him. He seemed like a total square, perfect posture…stiff. She was a woman of action and danger and crazy as hell. He seemed too…safe for someone like her. But she had been there when they met on Horizon, saw his picture on her desk when she snuck into Shepard cabin. "How'd you know we'd come here?"

"I didn't…not for sure. Seemed best place if I wanted to catch anyone coming out of that Relay, though. I just want to know if…if she made it." He looked at Jack, his face hard, ready for the worst news, but he couldn't keep it much longer. The past day he had been jerking himself from anxious hope to hopeless dread, and if he didn't know for sure soon he felt like he might go crazy.

"Dr. Chakwas? I think she's waking up," a soft voice said.

Shepard slowly started opening her eyes, blinking as the bright lights broke through the darkness. She closed them, pulling her left hand from someone else's and covering her eyes with her hand, her face grimacing with the movement.

"Sensitivity to light is side affect," Mordin said. "Will pass."

Shepard let out a groan, "Jesus Christ, can't you guys just let a woman die? Holy hell, this hurts."

"You're welcome," Miranda snapped. "I'll have you know we ran through the store of medi-gel just to keep you from bleeding out."

"Everyone make it back alright?" Shepard asked.

"All crew accounted for," EDI said.

"Damage report?" Shepard asked next.

"Cargo hold still has those holes, but the kinetic barriers will hold. Drive core has been through hell, we're worried going through the Relay may have been too much for it," Miranda said.

"Where are we?" Shepard asked.

"Docked at Omega," EDI answered.

"EDI! I asked…" Miranda started.

"Oh fuck," Shepard said, moving to sit up and falling back down as pain streaked up her back into her right shoulder. "FUCK!"

"Stay still!" Chakwas said. "You need to rest, you are still healing."

Shepard took a few shallow breaths, "I'm in no shape to deal with Aria."

"You don't have to worry about her," Miranda said confidently. "The rest of the team is standing guard outside the dock."

"Good job," Shepard said through painful gasps. "Everyone, good job."

"We're going to leave you alone," Miranda said.

"Yes, rest. Heal. I'll be back in to check on you soon," Chakwas said.

Shepard listened to them walking out, and heard the door slide shut behind them. But she heard someone breathing next to her. She took her hand away from her eyes, squeezing her eyes to the light. She slowly squinted, a blurry face sitting not far away from her.

His face was tense, but…he was there. "Kaiden?" she muttered.

He smiled a bit, and took her hand as she reached out to him, "Just…stay still. Chakwas told me it was bad. Medi-gel isn't a cure all, but you'll be back on your feet soon enough."

Slowly her eyes adjusted to the light, aching from it but she didn't close them to ease the pain, "What are you doing here, Kaiden?"

"Anderson and I figured out your message," he said. "I came to Omega to…to be here if you made it back."

"I knew he'd figure it out," she said with a soft smile. "But…why come here? At all?"

Kaiden looked at her sadly, "Maybe I misunderstood your message…because…I thought it meant that…maybe you still felt something for me."

She gripped his hand as he went to pull it away, "Kaiden, I do. I…I'll never quite understand how hard it was for you, those two years. If after all this time if we can still be together, go back how we were…I don't know if it's possible. If you want to try, I'm willing but I don't want you to think you have to."

His other hand moved up to touch her face gently, and he leaned forward to kiss her softly, careful not to agitate any of her injuries.

Joker grabbed a pretzel and pointed at the screen, "You see, EDI, that right there is a kiss. Human thing. We call this first base."

"I am aware of human interactions, Jeff," EDI said in her monotone. "I also understand what we are doing is spying, invasion of privacy, and Shepard would not be pleased if she discovers that you are doing so."

Joker put his hands up in frustration as EDI deactivated the monitor, "Ah, come on! This is how a reunion is supposed happen! Can we at least keep the audio?"