'Major?' EDI had asked him quietly. 'May I ask you a favour?'
'Of course EDI.' He replied.
Major Kaidan Alenko was very polite when he spoke to EDI. He had been somewhat hesitant at first, especially when addressing by her physical platform, which she found unsurprising since it had almost killed him on Mars. However, he made an effort not to be too disconcerted by its appearance, but EDI believed he preferred talking to her as part of the ship. He had been with the Normandy for three weeks now and this was the second time EDI had approached him.
The Major had created a certain amount of turmoil since his arrival aboard the Normandy, especially with Lieutenant Vega at first, however, a lot of the crew had served with him before and the transitional period of adjustment had been shorter than EDI had expected. In her experience, humans often held grudges for long periods of time, but it appeared that the imminent Reaper threat could be the reason why some were put on hold. She also suspected that him saving Shepard's life from two Phantoms on Bening had helped too...especially with James.
'Not a problem EDI.' He told her.
'Thank you Major Alenko.' She replied but spoke again after a moment's hesitation.
'Will it work?' she asked him.
He thought for a moment before he replied in an honest and earnest manner. 'I don't know EDI, but I have to try.'
EDI considered the problem at hand and what the Major had outlined to her as a solution, it seemed a sound enough idea in theory but she wasn't sure it would work. However, it offered her a chance to observe the pair together. Since the Normandy's last docking at the Citadel, things were very relaxed between the Commander and the Major. EDI had spied an email between the two of them about a meeting for lunch. That had been a week and a half ago and the pair had spent a lot of time together. Mainly talking and reconnecting, but there had been an atmosphere between them that EDI had heard Jeff refer to as 'charged'. When she'd inquired what he meant, Jeff had stumbled over an explanation that EDI herself clarified as 'Oh, you mean they want to have sex with each other?' to which Jeff had shushed her in case someone heard.
In the hanger bay, Commander Freya Shepard was currently engaged in beating the crap out of Lieutenant Vega's punch bag. She'd been doing it for almost an hour now and seemed to be showing no sign of stopping. This was just about as angry has EDI had ever seen the Commander, and she had been angry on a number of occasions since they had first met. An hour early she had punched a ranking quarian admiral in the gut and told him to get the hell off her ship. The crew had given her a wide berth after that, and Shepard had stalked down to the hanger bay, cleared everyone out with a bark of orders and proceeded to punch things. And no one had been brave enough to go near her to make her stop. All except Major Alenko.
'Good luck.' EDI almost breathed before he stepped foot through the door.
EDI regarded them both. They were contradictions of each other, on both form and temperament, when she looked at them together. He was tall and broad through the shoulder, where she was petite and slender. He was dark haired and eyed with tanned skin, whereas she was a product of her spacer life, pale blonde hair, fair skinned with green eyes. He was even tempered, careful and cautious, while she allowed her heart to rule her head, making her impulsive, hot headed and rather incautious to danger. Even their biotic abilities were opposed, him the Sentinel, the protector, while she was the force-to-be-reckoned-with Vanguard. They should've been at odds with each other and yet they were, as ever, the exact opposite. True, the argued like anyone else, but there were others that bickered more...but they seemed to be content together, even when their inherent differences drove them into extreme bouts of stubbornness, they would pull out of it and remain close.
Jeff had called this 'opposites attract' and the extranet had a number of cases of this on it, in which people who seemed diametrically opposed found solace in each other. It made EDI wonder if relationships between two similar people would not be contain as much depth. Would her relationship with Jeff be doomed to failure because they had much in common? She had pondered on changing some of her personality parameters to create a gap between her interests and Jeff's, to remove some of the common ground they shared, but when she looked at others, both aboard the ship and on the extranet, it seemed that common ground and shared interests worked just as well.
EDI watched as Major Alenko approached the Commander, who was blatantly ignoring him. He stood nearby, his arms crossed. Shepard started to pound at even greater speed and ferocity while he watched her, his expression neutral, but EDI saw the concern in his eyes. This was why she had asked him to help her calm Shepard down. There was still much to be done on Rannoch and they needed a level-headed commander to lead them.
'Still hitting like a girl, I see.' He ventured after a moment, a half smile on his lips. EDI froze. When he said he'd talk to the Commander, she hadn't thought that his words would be used to provoke her further. She watched, both worried and fascinated as Shepard grit her teeth and punched the bag again, harder this time.
'And getting slow in your old age too.'
EDI noticed Shepard's adrenaline levels spike at that last comment, she finished throwing her punch at the bag, spun around, took two steps up to him, building up momentum and threw her next squarely at Major Alenko, who, although ready for it, only just managed bring up his arm and slap the hit away.
The next flurry of hits came fast and sharp before the Major stepped forward, past her guard and caught both of her arms, pushing them backwards and pinning her. EDI saw her rage against his grip, a little worried that she would hurt herself to break free, but was surprised when a single word from his lips quelled her fury.
He said her name. Her given name.
No one called the Commander by her given name. To everyone she was always 'Shepard' and she never minded that. But the effect of the Major speaking her name had a profound effect on her, and one EDI suspected would only be caused by him and at this critical moment in time.
'What's wrong?' he breathed, looking intently at her.
EDI observed as Freya Shepard sighed and looked away as if she was ashamed. 'He could have killed you Kaidan.' She told him. 'He almost did. That idiot Garrel,' she spat the name, 'almost wiped out two people I care about and one I love.'
She watched as Major Alenko smiled at the confession, he seemed almost amused that the Commander was starting to bear her soul. EDI found this odd and knew that if she had found something deeply emotional that Jeff had said amusing, it would've cut him to the core. But what he said next seemed to negate some of EDI's concerns.
'But he didn't kill us. You saved us.' He released her arms and gently raised her head so that she was looking at him. 'We're alive because of you.'
Shepard's stress levels decreased dramatically at the Major's words and smile. It was quite remarkable. Would Jeff melt at her smile? She would have to try it some time. Then the pair did something EDI did not quite expect. After a silent moment, Shepard raised herself up on her toes, while Major Alenko bent his head down and their lips met. They stood in the empty hanger, sharing what EDI believed to be their first actual kiss as a legitimate couple, and she wondered how far it might progress, but she was disappointed when they pulled apart.
A comfortable silence feel between them as the Commander embraced her Major, and he welcomed the contact before he spoke again.
'You better make sure you tell Tali that you love her.' He quipped with a grin. Shepard snorted.
EDI smiled to herself. She'd made the right choice and she was sure Shepard had too. Maybe she should now make Jeff angry so she could soothe him as Major Alenko had done for Commander Shepard. It seemed to have brought them closer together. But she wasn't sure that Jeff would appreciate it, especially has he had his own worries right now. Maybe if she looked into what had happened on Tiptree, perhaps, that would be the best way to help him? More investigation was clearly needed.