A/N - Hey all, thanks for the follows and favs so far as well as the review! Much appreciated :)
I am very sorry for the delay in getting this chapter written. Sick child then school holidays, not to mention gaming and tumblr writing prompts the distractions are real I tell ya!
I got there in the end though and I hope you enjoy the read :)
Eden Prime. I don't know about you guys but I feel as if I have done this mission 100 times over. I hope I have switched it up enough to give it a slightly new feel and perspective, I certainly tried.
She sat there in silence for a time as thoughts raced through her mind. It didn't help that right there on Kaidan's face was a look of innocent anticipation. As she held his gaze, it was difficult not to remember just how comfortable she had felt laying in his arms when she had woken that morning. With his gorgeous brown eyes, his handsome looks and the only thing waiting for her a stark, empty sleeper pod. He was tempting. Very tempting.
Hadn't the damage already been done? She had to ask herself if one more night before they left the station would really make that much difference. He knew who she was now and he was still sitting there, hopeful, wanting to spend more time with her. As Kimberly Shepard, not just Kimberly the unknown. Although she could see that hopeful expression in his eyes she could also see something else, hesitation.
That was when all of the reasons why it would be a bad idea came crashing down around her.
It was different now that they knew. He had already wanted what was between them to be more than it was and she just couldn't give him that. Knowing that and working on the same ship would make the situation far too complicated. Someone would end up being hurt in the long run and he was far too good-natured to want to risk that person being him.
Yet she couldn't bring herself to just shut him down either.
Kimberly carefully chose her words as she pulled the bowl across the table until it was in front of her, "I have a very early meeting with the Captain in the morning."
"You don't seem to be sleeping any more than I am," he replied. "We could make sure you are back on the ship with plenty of time for your meeting."
She sucked in a sharp intake of breath. Fuck he was hard to say no to. She forced herself to keep the conversation and tone lighter as she chuckled softly. "My stomach had other ideas. It seems missing dinner wasn't such a great idea afterall."
"I can't help but notice you are avoiding a direct no. Trying to let me down gently?" he asked carefully.
"I think we both know that the answer to your question can't be anything else," Kimberly responded as she glanced down at the bowl and then scooped up a forkful of the macaroni and cheese, dropping it into her mouth. The taste of the food was met by a grumble of protest from her stomach at having been neglected. She swallowed and then met Kaidan's eyes across the table. "It was different when we didn't know we would be working together. I won't say anything about what happened between us and risk you being transferred. It was just one night and we both knew that going in. I think we can be professional about this, without making it awkward."
Kaidan nodded. The flicker of disappointment that crossed his features tugged at something inside her that she had thought to be long since gone. "Understandable, and accepted. Thank you for not saying anything."
"The Normandy is looking to be a good posting for anyone's career, I wouldn't want to see yours damaged just because we didn't know," she replied. Kim scooped another forkful of her meal into her mouth, followed quickly by another. "Your service record is impressive," she added after swallowing the food.
"You have been checking up on me?" Kaidan asked. That hopeful look creeping its way back into his eyes. It was difficult not to notice just how expressive they were and how easily they said the things he didn't speak out loud.
"Of course, I make a point of knowing the crew I am serving with." It was an honest answer, although what she didn't say was the fact that she had been reading Kaidan's file as he had come into the mess hall or, that she had read it more than once over the course of the evening. She had gone over every detail painstakingly carefully. She had wanted to know it all. Every mission, every assignment, every posting. Who he had worked with in the past and just how good his training records were. Everything about his file had been impressive. Unlike her own record, his was flawless.
"Yet here I was thinking curiosity may have played a part in that after you discovered we would be working together," he said with feigned rejection.
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she swallowed another forkful of her food. Once she had started eating, following the protest from her stomach she hadn't been able to stop. Most of the contents of the bowl had already been devoured.
"There may have been a little curiosity," she admitted when she managed to stop eating long enough to speak. As she scooped the last forkful of food into her mouth she pushed her chair back and stood up. "I should at least try and get some sleep before morning," she grumbled.
"That makes two of us," he added. "Before you go, I have one more question."
Kimberly raised her eyebrows in curiosity, "Oh?"
"If we weren't on the ship tonight but, instead we bumped into each other again on the station would you have said yes?" he asked.
"You really are persistent aren't you?" she asked with an amused tone.
"You are really good at dodging my questions," he responded. "That wasn't a no."
"You are right, that wasn't a no," she confirmed. Without giving him a chance to say anything further she walked out of the mess hall, straight to the sleeper pods. She didn't have an answer for him, not really. There was no way to know if she would have found some way to avoid risking getting any closer to him if the circumstances had been different or, if she would have given into what she wanted for one more night. Perhaps it was best not to know the answer.
Just as she was about to climb into the pod, Kaidan approached her. At first she was a little surprised until she realised what was in his hand. He was holding the datapad she had been reading. "You left this behind, I thought you might like it back."
"Thank you," she said quietly as she extended her hand to retrieve the item from his. Without the table between them she could feel the hum of his biotics sweeping across her skin. Carefully she avoided meeting his eyes, the sensation of his biotics was already increasing her heart rate, she didn't need to look into those eyes again and complicate it further.
"Goodnight Commander," he said quietly, once the datapad was securely back in her hands.
She had turned to make herself look busy adjusting the temperature controls for her pod. "Goodnight Lieutenant," she replied. It didn't require a glance to know he had moved away, the fact that she could no longer feel that biotic hum intermingling with her own told her as much.
Now that she knew, she couldn't unsee or un-hear all of the similarities between Kaidan Alenko and his brother. Was she drawn to him the night before at the bar because he was so much like Anthony had been? Even their service records were similar, both flawless. It was a question to which there would probably never really be an answer. She hadn't directly noticed the similarities until she heard Kaidan's surname but that didn't mean subconsciously she was pulled in his direction because they existed.
As she settled into the sleeper pod and turned off the internal lighting. Kimberly couldn't help but ask herself what Kaidan would think if he ever found out his new XO, had been the one responsible for issuing the order that had his brother killed.
Even though part of her had expected the simple shakedown cruise to be something more she had been in no way prepared for exactly how bad the mission was going. Then again, how could anyone prepare themselves for a ship as large as the one they had seen on the video footage before stepping planetside? How could they prepare themselves for the - she didn't even really have a name for them. The burnt out shells that had once been colonists but, were now something else far more sinister. As they stood on the tram waiting to arrive at the docking port, a shiver ran through her at the mere thought of ending up like one of those things.
Kimberly hoped that Jenkin's body would be found where they had left it so that he could receive the burial that he deserved, that his family deserved. She could only hope like hell he didn't end up on one of those damned spikes and used as a weapon against some other unsuspecting soldier, or worse a civilian.
Her thoughts were broken at the sound of the young female officer they had picked up along the way. "Look ahead, Geth on the platform. What are they doing?" Ashley asked as the tram drew closer to the docking port ahead.
Kaidan was working quickly on his omnitool, having spotted the same thing Ashley had seen. "Whatever that device is I am picking up high energy readings from it. It could be some kind of explosive."
"Whatever it is you can be certain it won't be anything good," Shepard added, her eyes narrowing as she peered ahead. Her hand instantly went to the pistol she had holstered only moments before. "Let's take out those Geth and find out what they are up to."
"Aye aye, Ma'am," Kaidan responded as he also readied his own weapon.
"Affirmative," Ashley chimed in. The young officer reached for her sniper rifle and peered through the scope. As the tram came to a stop at the other side, she let off a shot that hit the first geth directly in the head. It's circuits overloaded almost instantly setting off an explosion that got the attention of its three remaining 'friends'.
Thankfully, crates lining the docking platform provided them with a location to scramble towards and offered reasonable protection from the remaining geth weapons fire. Shepard motioned for Kaidan and Ashley to stay down, carefully she peered over the top of the crate that was providing her with adequate protection from the enemy units. With the situation assessed she let off a well placed biotic shockwave that knocked the remaining three geth off their feet. Quickly Shepard gave the other two the order to open fire whilst the geth were busy trying to scramble back to their feet. The large metallic bodies they sported made it more difficult for them to recover. With a sudden barrage of weapons fire from all three of the officers aimed at them none of the geth made it back to their feet before their circuits overloaded.
"Kaidan, check out that thing they were working on. Ashley and I will cover you," Shepard ordered as she motioned for Ashley to move up with her into a cover position around the device.
"I'm on it," Kaidan responded as he moved forward. He crouched down beside the device and although it offered him some protection, as Kimberly looked back she could see he was still far more exposed then she would have liked.
The clinking of geth feet on the metallic platform up ahead reached her ears, "make it fast Lieutenant, we have more geth incoming."
"You are not going to like this Commander," Kaidan's voice came through the communications devices that was installed in each of their helmets.
"Just hit me with it," she said firmly. Kimberly tried to focus on what he was saying over the sound of her own pistol as she fired several shots directly into the chest of the closest geth. Only just managing to duck back down behind the crate again as returned fire zipped past her head.
"It is definitely an explosive device and there are at least three more scattered across the docks. Assuming they are all on the same timer that gives us nine minutes to disarm each of them," Kaidan answered.
"Geth prime!" Ashley exclaimed above Kaidan's explanation.
"Kaidan, get to cover NOW," Kimberly growled into her helmet.
"I've almost got this," he responded as his fingers continued to fly over the devices console.
"Damnit," Kimberly grumbled. She purposely moved herself out of cover, firing at the prime, as she scrambled towards the next safest location she could see in front of her. She intended to draw it's attention away from Kaidan's more exposed location and towards herself instead.
As geth weapons fire only narrowly missed her when she ducked down behind the next crate, she at least knew the diversion had succeeded.
"Watch out Commander, the prime is heading straight for you," Ashley chimed in over the coms.
Kimberly could hear the sound of Ashley's weapon firing but she couldn't tell what she was firing on from behind cover. "Focus on the prime," she ordered, just in case it wasn't already obvious.
"Explosive disarmed," Kaidan added.
At least from her cover location, she could see Kaidan quickly take up residence behind the crate she had been originally using as a shield. "Okay, let's take these geth out and move on to the next one."
The geth prime finally fell under a barrage of fire from both Shepard and Ashley as Kaidan remained behind cover to pinpoint the exact location of the next bomb. "Okay, I've got the next one. It is straight down the end of this platform, with about twenty geth between it and us," he explained.
"I didn't say it would be easy," Shepard smirked as she responded.
As it turned out, despite being vastly outnumbered the three of them worked well together as a team. With Kaidan disarming the explosives whilst Kimberly and Ashley covered him they managed to get to the next two without too many delays. As they reached the last explosive device, Kimberly could see straight away that it was going to prove to be more difficult. The location of the device and the panel on it meant that Kaidan would be very exposed, even worse then with the previous three.
As she heard the all too familiar sound of metal on metal up ahead, Kimberly swallowed hard. They were going to have to be twice as focused to prevent Kaidan from taking a hit. She didn't like it one bit and as she risked one last glance back, she almost wished she had not. Due to the location of the panel, Kaidan had his back to them and the geth. He wouldn't even see what was coming his way.
Both her and Ashley made quick work of the first few geth that descended on them, taking each one out before it barely even had a chance to fire back. The next group to move up was a little more organised, as if they had been co-ordinating on what hadn't worked for the previous group. They moved together forming a line of four units. As they opened up fire on the first two, the remaining two had a chance to aim their weapons directly at Kaidan.
Oh no you don't. Shepard jumped up on top of the crate that had been her cover and landed with both feet on the other side of it. With her pistol aimed she fired directly at the weapon of one geth, knocking it out of the units hand and causing the shot it was firing to go wide. With her out of cover and posing the largest immediate threat the last geth turned it's attention straight to her, which was what she had intended. The only problem was the fact that her weapon had overheated and refused to fire again as she pulled frantically at the trigger. There was no time to move back behind the crate and no other cover between her and the geth that's weapon was aimed right at her.
She sucked in a breath expecting the inevitable but, it didn't come. Within a second a barrage of blaster fire came from behind her, hitting the geth directly in the chest. The unit toppled forward and then exploded, the shrapnel only just barely missing her as a piece of it's head dropped at her feet.
She turned in the direction the weapon fire had come from, finding herself looking directly into Kaidan's warm brown eyes from behind the visors on both of their helmets. "Thanks," she barely managed to get out when her voice almost refused to work.
"That was a stupid move, what were you thinking?" Kaidan chided her. Almost as if for a moment he forgot who the Commander was and his position in the chain.
If it wasn't for the look of concern she could see in those eye's as they bore right into her, she may have been inclined to remind him. The retort caught in the back of her throat and instead she shrugged. "It worked didn't it? Bought you the time you needed to shut that thing off." She didn't give him a chance to respond as she moved to Ashley's position and started issuing orders again. "Right, let's get to that beacon and get the hell off this planet."
"No arguments here," Ashley agreed.
Kimberly had already reached the point where she was done with the day. Everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong and she wasn't looking forward to the mission debriefing with Anderson. She had lost one of her own team members and the turian spectre, a man whose back she had promised to cover. None of it was going to look good, not that she really cared about her record only about the lives that had been lost. The media was going to have a field day with what had happened to earth's most successful colony, she wasn't looking forward to that either. They could go to hell for all she cared.
The three of them cleared out the remaining geth without any further surprises, at least nothing noteworthy much to Shepard's relief. The beacon itself looked to be in one piece and where they had expected to find it. Although Ashley claimed it hadn't been active before, not like it was when they first came across it sitting on the docking platform. She only hoped the geth and the other spectre who appeared to be working with them didn't manage to pull anything useful from it.
As Shepard opened a comline to the Normandy so she could bring them up to date with the mission, Ashley remained nearby. Over her shoulder she could see Kaidan wondering around and then begin to approach the beacon with curiosity. Although his back was to her, she had seen his curious nature in response to several things on Eden Prime over the course of the day. She could imagine his wide open eyes as he took in the beacon, the thought was almost endearing.
That was when she realised the situation had changed. Kaidan was fighting against a force that she couldn't see as he was being pulled in towards the prothean device. Without giving it a second thought Kimberly snapped into action. She pushed past Ashley and ran straight for Kaidan. Her hands gripped around his waist as she pulled him with all the strength she could muster, as she felt the invisible force let go of him she almost tossed him out of the way. By then it was too late, whatever had a grip on Kaidan was pulling her closer and nothing she did, no matter how hard she fought against it she couldn't break free.
"Shepard!" Kaidan's voice sounded hollow and distanced.
"Kaidan no," Ashely responded. "It's too dangerous."
Pain shot through Shepard's head almost drowning out Ashley's words. It almost felt as if her mind was on fire as images began flashing through it. She was only vaguely aware of the fact that her feet were no longer on the ground before everything went dark.