Disclaimer: Mass Effect doesn't belong to me, nor do I intend to profit from this work of fiction.
Kaidan stared down at the requisition order on his omni-tool, and wondered what he was missing. The damned guns still weren't working, and he still couldn't figure out why not. He'd looked over every bit of the coding, but still hadn't had any luck getting the targeting matrix to work properly. He frowned as he realized his communication channels had been disrupted, and headed out to the main thoroughfare of the colony.
"I don't like this," he muttered to himself, taking in the darkening sky, watching as engineers scurried about trying to get the communications operational. He was certain getting the guns online should be the priority. "Lilith!" he called, spotting the only colonist that didn't refuse to speak to him, "We've got a problem."
"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix?" she asked as she fell in step beside him.
"Those defense towers are useless if we don't figure it out," he said, shaking his head as he wove his way through passing colonists.
"Sorry, Commander, but getting our comm. systems back online take priority."
"Yeah," he sighed, "Okay. I'm surprised people haven't tried to blame that one on me, too," he paused as she turned to face him.
"People out here don't trust the Alliance. It's nothing personal." She turned and looked at the sky as they both heard the low hum of an engine, "What is that?"
Kaidan unclipped his rifle from his back and peered through the scope, "Get everyone to the safe house." The report of his rifle was loud as he fired off a few rounds at the swarm of bugs bearing down on them, "I'll cover you. Run!"
He emptied a clip, and slammed a fresh one into the chamber, saw Lilith trip from the corner of his eye. "Hurry," he ordered as he helped her to her feet. He let out a shout as one of the strange bugs stung him, and pulled it from his neck to toss it away. His vision blurred as the poison coursed through him, but he shook it off, he had to protect these civilians, no matter the cost.
He took a step forward, his hand going for the trigger of his rifle, and the paralytic agent in the poison took full effect, freezing him in place. 'Damn it!' he thought, still fully aware of the colonists panicking and rushing to get away. 'What is that?' he wondered as he spotted a strange alien heading his way, 'Collectors?'
His heart pounded in his chest as two stopped in front of him, cocking their heads to the side as they studied him. He breathed a confused sigh of relief when they moved passed him, but watched in horror as they began loading the other colonists into strange pods, carrying them away.
Determination shot through him, and dark energy wavered over him as he flared brightly, but to no avail. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tried again, over and over for what felt like hours but was actually only 45 minutes or so. The Collectors had long since moved further into the colony, and he could hear the distinct report of gunfire in the distance. 'Back-up? The Alliance?' he thought to himself, and would have shouted with relief when his finger twitched, first one, then another, then his wrist, elbow, shoulder; as the paralysis wore off. He fell to his knees in exhaustion, but picked himself up, and sprinted towards the sounds of battle.
He glanced up at the sky as the defense cannons roared to life, firing at the massive Collector ship. Who ever it was, they had sent the Collectors packing, and the ground vibrated violently as the ship took off. He skidded around a corner, and stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw.
It was Shepard, rubbing her temples as Delan argued with her. He blinked in surprise when he saw Garrus Vakarian standing at her back, and a salarian who was nodding sagely as he poked around the area.
"You're some type of big Alliance hero," Delan said dismissively.
"Commander Shepard, captain of the Normandy, the first human Spectre, Savior of the Citadel," Kaidan said as he walked toward her, hardly believing his eyes. "You're in the presence of a legend, Delan. And a ghost."
"All the good people we lost, and you got left behind? Figures," Delan said in disgust, his arms crossed over his chest. "Screw this, I'm done with you Alliance types," Delan stomped off, clearly angry.
Kaidan and Shepard stared at each other, neither sure how to make the first move, neither really willing. Finally, after assuring himself it was really her, he took three steps forward, and wrapped his arms around her, feeling her familiar curves fit against his body just as though they were meant to. She tilted her head up, and their lips met for a brief moment before he mumbled, "I thought you were dead, Shepard. We all did."
She shook her head as he stepped back, "It's a long story. You don't sound too happy to see me. Something bothering you, Kaidan?" Her blue eyes, those same blue eyes that had haunted his dreams for two long years bore into his.
"Yeah something's bothering me, I spent the last two years believing you were dead." he spat out, his temper getting the better of him. "I thought we had something, Shepard. Something real. I loved you." He grit his teeth for a minute, and saw Garrus cock his head to the side. "Thinking you were dead tore me apart, how could you put me through that?" He furrowed his brow, his brown eyes sparking with anger. "Why didn't you try to contact me?"
"I'm sorry, Kaidan, but I was clinically dead. It took two years to bring me back. So much time has passed, you've moved on. I don't want to reopen old wounds," she said, a hint of sorrow in her voice.
"I did move on," he said, and watched the surprise flicker across her face. "At least, I thought I did. And now we have reports about you and Cerberus. Alliance intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies. They got a tip this might be the next colony to get hit." He made a frustrated gesture with his hand, "Anderson stonewalled me, but there were rumors you weren't dead. That you were working for the enemy."
"Building the defense towers was just a cover story, the Alliance sent you here to investigate me, didn't they?" Shepard asked, more than a little ticked off.
"I was here for Cerberus. You were just a rumor," he replied, taking a step closer to her. Despite his anger, he still itched to get his hands on her, to feel her pressed against him again, and he grimaced at the uncomfortable tightening of his gear. "I wanted to believe you were alive, but I never expected anything like this.
"You turned your back on everything we believed in. You betrayed the Allaince, you betrayed me," he ground out.
"Kaidan, you know me. You know I'd only do this for the right reason," she shot back, her own temper rising to match his. She took a step forward, "You saw it yourself. The Collectors are targeting human colonies, and they are working with the Reapers.
"I want to believe you, Shepard. But I don't trust Cerberus," he snapped, "They could be using the threat of a Reaper to manipulate you! What if they are behind it, what if they are working with the Collectors?"
"You're letting how you feel about their history get in the way of the facts," she said, her tone calm and placating. It drove him mad.
"Maybe," he rasped, "Or maybe you feel like you own them because they saved you. Maybe you're the one that's not thinking straight." He realized he was standing toe to toe with her, each glowering at the other, the hum of their biotics a palpable thing.
"You've changed, but I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier, always will be. I've got to report back to the Citadel, they can decide if they believe your story or not," he turned his back on her, and squared his shoulders as he prepared to walk away from her.
He heard her sigh, "So long, Kaidan."
He turned back to look at her, "Goodbye, Shepard. And be careful." He turned back to leave her standing in that field, a bereft expression on her face.
She ground her teeth, and Garrus heard her jaw pop from the effort, "Ah, Shepard?"
"Stay here," she ordered, and marched off in Kaidan's wake. She caught up to him in the eerily silent colony, and jerked him back to face her when he just kept walking. "Kaidan, we need to talk."
He squeezed his eyes shut as her scent assaulted his nose. "No, I'm done talking," he growled, and advanced on her, distantly surprised when she gave way, backing her up until she was pressed against the wall of a nearby building. "Finding you alive, Shepard, I can't decide if I want to kill you for abandoning me for two years, or fuck you brainless in relief," he rumbled, his lips close to her ear.
"Kaidan, I don't think now is the time," she murmured softly, but she still shivered when his hands found the release of her armor, and her back arched helplessly as he pulled the chest plate away and roughly cupped her breast with his palm.
"Good to know some things don't change," he mumbled, flicking her puckered nipple through the layer of fabric she wore beneath her gear. "But some things do," his teeth scraped against the flesh of her throat, tasting the salt on her skin, and she moaned in protest. "I'm not the same man you once knew."
Her head fell back with a dull thud as his commanding hands slid into her pants, stroking her silken folds, finding her already hot and wet for him. "I-I-I-" she stammered as he pressed hard on her aching nub, and an orgasm coursed through her.
Her vision blurred, and she blinked several times before her gaze met his again, "I can see that, Commander," she swallowed as he relentlessly toyed with her, and she flew over the edge again when he pressed first one long finger into her slick entrance, and then another. "Kaidan," she gasped, giving up her protest, instead her hands found the release of his own gear with the practiced ease of a career soldier.
"You always were easy to get off," he taunted as she slumped weakly against the wall, his fingers still stroking her wet sex. "But it seems now that Cerberus has rebuilt you, they upgraded that particular aspect." He saw her eyes flash with anger as she immediately straightened up.
"I doubt you're in a much better place," she asserted, her hand slipping into his pants, wrapping around his thick arousal, stroking the silky head with the pad of her thumb. Her grip was firm, almost painful with the strength she used, and he was just barely able to stifle a groan.
"I can still take ample care of you, Shepard," he whispered harshly, and threw her off balance when his hands left her and he spun her around to face the wall, ripping her pants down to her knees in with one deft motion. He nudged her feet apart, and she bucked violently against his grip as they fought for dominance.
"Stay. Still." He ground out; his teeth clamping down on her shoulder, and felt her knees quiver in response.
"No." she whispered in response, and groaned loudly when she felt his head slip between her hot folds; an inch, then two before she came to her senses and sharply jerked her hips forward and he slipped out with a groan of disbelief. She had no intentions of making this easy for him, no matter how much she longed to feel him buried to the hilt within her.
Her breath left her lungs with a gasp as he turned her back to face him, and his lips crashed down on hers, teeth biting, tongues warring until the taste of copper filled their mouths.
"Your lips are bleeding," she gasped against his mouth.
"Yours are, too," he murmured back in response. He hooked a strong arm under her thigh, and lifted her up against the wall; "I plan to fuck you, hard."
"I plan to let you," she replied breathlessly, and arched her back sharply as he impaled her with his waiting erection, and her thighs gripped his hips. Her nails bit into his shoulders as he pounded into her, her breath leaving her with panting gasps. "Kaidan," she wailed as another orgasm tore through her, and briefly she prayed her squad wouldn't come looking for her.
"You aren't thinking about me, are you?" he demanded, and gripped her chin and forced her eyes to meet his, and gave a strong thrust of his hips, smirking as her eyes crossed, and a small cry left her lips. "That's better," he murmured, and crushed his mouth to hers, his hips setting a punishing rhythm.
Her molten center clenched around him, and she shuddered in his arms as she climaxed once again, her sharp nails drawing blood as she arched her back, taking him over the edge with her.
Slowly, they slid to the ground in a tangled heap, and furious kisses gave way to softer ones, and angry words became hushed expressions of love. "Come with me," she urged softly, frowning as he pulled his pants back up his hips and gathered his armor in a neat pile.
"No," he said firmly, "I won't compromise who I am to go with you, Shepard." He leaned over, and activated her omni-tool, tapped out a few commands, "But you can contact me through that. Even Cerberus won't be able to hack it."
She gave him a lopsided smile, "I've missed you," she murmured.
"Not nearly as much as I've missed you, Shepard," he replied sadly, and set to work helping her back into her gear.