I do not own Mass Effect or any of the associated contact. Jagher Shepard is my Shepard and Fayelle Shepard is my friend's Shepard. This is a collection of moments set throughout the games. They're rated for language and violence mostly.
Mass Effect: Moments.
A Moment of Conversation.
The Normandy was hurtling through space, en route to the Citadel where the team from Eden Prime and Captain Anderson were due for a meeting with the Council. They'd uncovered some information on Eden Prime that Saren, a Council Spectre, might be involved in the attack and they had to tell the Council, although no one was really looking forward to it. Since the ship had taken off from the human colony, Jagher had been wandering the ship's decks, trying to occupy her mind and her time. Her mind would wander to bad places if she sat still for very long.
She had checked her messages on the extranet, sent a message to her mother and one to her sister, and then surfed around the net for a bit. Finding nothing that could hold her interest for more than a few minutes, Jagher had left her quarters and gone up to the command deck. She'd chatted with the pilot Joker about his nickname and the disease that kept him, for the most part, confined to his pilot's chair. The young commander had checked in with the XO, Pressley, and aimlessly glanced at the consoles surrounding the galaxy map before wandering back down the crew decks.
The last time she had seen Kaidan Alenko, he had moved over to the console in the corner of the mess hall, checking on the ship's electronic systems. Jagher crossed the deck and found him in the same place, but he wasn't working at the console.
He was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall and his head in his hands, his arms propped up on his knees.
"Kaidan?" Jagher crouched down in front of her staff lieutenant.
He turned his dark eyes up to her and blinked. His eyes were glazed over and he looked like he was in pain. "Oh, hey Commander," he whispered. "I'm sorry, I was just—"
"Don't apologize," she whispered in reply, sensing that he wouldn't really appreciate any loud noises. "Are you okay?" In a conversation she'd had with Doctor Chakwas right after waking up, it had come up that Kaidan, a biotic with the L2 implants, suffered severe migraines sometimes, but she didn't want to assume that was what was bothering him.
"Yeah... Just a headache."
Jagher settled back against the wall near him, draping her arms across her knees. "Doesn't the Doc have anything that'll help?"
Kaidan shook his head. "We've tried several different medications, but nothing helps for long. It's easier if I just ride it out."
She wanted to help him. He had brought her back to the ship after Eden Prime. Jagher felt obligated to try and help, but more than that, she liked the staff lieutenant. "Is there... anything I can do?"
The lieutenant gave his commander a small smile and shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, there isn't. I've tried just about every remedy, even the ones they gave us at Brain Camp when I was younger. Nothing works."
"Why haven't you upgraded to the L3? I've heard those biotics don't suffer as much."
Kaidan gave her another, bigger, smile. "The operation to upgrade is painful and risky, especially on an adult, and the recovery time is long. And, I don't suffer as much as most of the L2s did. I'd rather live with these headaches than go through the hassle of upgrading and lose the extra amplification the L2 gives me."
"Would you upgrade if the headaches got worse or if you developed other problems?"
Kaidan nodded, but then asked, "Commander, why are you asking all these questions?"
Jagher shrugged, as much as to herself as to Kaidan. "I don't know much about biotics, and I'm interested in learning more about them." She dropped her head back against the wall. "And I really did want to know if there was anything I could to help. I don't like seeing anyone on my team in pain." The two officers shared a moment where they just looked at each other, small smiles on both their faces. As the moment passed however, Shepard ran her fingers back over her dark brown hair, making sure the neat bun was still in place, and said, "If you're sure there's nothing I can do, Kaidan, I'd better get up and check in with Joker. We should be getting close to the Citadel."
"I'm sure, Commander. Thanks for talking."
Jagher nodded, gave Kaidan a friendly pat on the knee, and then got to her feet. She stretched out her shoulders and then walked across the deck, towards the elevator, a small and inexplicable smile on her face.
Author's Note.
Changed this one a bit. Some things didn't make sense timeline-wise. Hopefully I fixed that.
Next Moment: A Moment of Itchy Teeth.