Kaidan supposed his inevitable return to Jump Zero should have come sooner than his mid-thirties, and for that he was probably fortunate, but after two months aboard the station that had haunted his nightmares well into his twenties he still felt like a ghost walking the hallways of his youth.
Even though the station was fairly decent in size, it felt smaller. Probably because the last time he'd been here, he'd been younger and full of anger.
At the same time it felt bigger. Probably because the last time he'd been here, he'd been confined within these walls and unable to leave.
Until the day he snapped and made that choice possible for everyone.
He still hadn't returned to thatpart of the station. Wasn't sure if he wanted to. He certainly didn't needto. Even though the purpose of most rooms had changed, as the purpose of this station had changed, he still knew the old layout as if it was scratched onto the back of his hands. Burned onto the inside of his eyelids.
He continued walking towards the docking bay to meet Admiral Anderson and Major Shepard, an hour later than originally planned. Word had already come back through comm relay system that the Leviathan had been neutralized by three batarian Jaegers groundside after Alliance forces pushed it towards the planet to prevent it from breaching the network further.
Major Butler fell in step next to him, and he nodded at her. "Major."
"Cut the crap, Alenko, we're not on duty."
He arched an eyebrow and said, "We're on our way to greet an Admiral and a Council Spectre."
"You're a Council Spectre."
He didn't really have anything to say to that. Butler didn't seem to mind and they walked the rest of the way in silence, heading up the line as the carrier transporting Shepard and Anderson pulled in and the docking arm extended outwards, making the seal.
"Don't forget to shout 'ten hut!' when you salute," Butler whispered. When he didn't respond, she muttered something about him being stiff. Not loud enough for him to come back with a retort, though he did glance at her meaningfully.
Good thing he wasn't the one seeking a Drift compatible partner, 'cause there was no way in hellthey'd have gotten on well. Though from his brief interaction with Shepard, he wasn't quite sure how the Major got on the list, either. Of course, one mission didn't say everything there was to say about a person. Not to mention that Williams and Shepard had been Drift compatible with an above average compatibility rating. Not the highest in the Alliance, but high enough.
He eyed Butler sideways as she straightened her uniform, fussing over details even he couldn't see. Perhaps there was a baseline predicted minimum and she only just made the cut. It'd make sense to test everyone who met a certain threshold, even if they were… colorful.
The docking bay doors hissed open and he snapped his attention back up just as Anderson stepped through, followed quickly by Shepard.
Alenko frowned as the two approached them in line, and quickly wiped the frown off his face when he caught Shepard frowning back.
Of course, her return frown had only served to accentuate why he'dfrowned in the first place. Last time he'd met her, she'd only sported the scar crossing through left eye. Nasty, sure, but old news. Jenkins had pried within his hearing range, and she'd simply told him it was from Akuze. Enough to get most marines to shut up, but apparently not Jenkins because the kid had only asked more questions until Alenko interfered and gave him a task to shut him up. Shepard had smiled gratefully before beating a hasty retreat.
Now she had another, fresher one, decorating the corner of her lips. Nastier than his own relic from a turian fist meeting his face. No, hers looked more as if her face had met something and met it hard.
"Good to see you again, Major," she said. He accepted her proffered hand and shook it.
"Likewise, Major."
Butler rolled her eyes next to them, though when Shepard shook her hand, she followed protocol as well. He'd probably get an earful later about him setting the standard and why couldn't it have been casual?
What he didn't expect was for Shepard to seek him out after all the pleasantries were over and done with. "To hear Joker tell it, you're the alpha to my omega."
"Pardon, ma'am?"
She waved him off and started walking, gesturing for him to follow. "Just Shepard. Or Riley."
After a moment of silence, he said, "Pardon, Riley?"
"Where I blow things up and make a big noise, you apparently slide in under the radar."
"He would tell it like that."
She shrugged. "I'm starving, what about you? Too many ship transfers with not enough food in the past seven hours."
"I was gonna head to the mess for some food after the greeting party was over."
She eyed him sideways. "Sorry. I'll just chuck my bag in my room, then we can run."
It was his turn to shrug. He was hungry, sure, but probably not as hungry as she was. An underfed and tired biotic was no laughing matter.
"Speaking of, I think I got us lost."
Kaidan chuckled. "What's your room?"
She handed him the datapad with her bunk quarters and the chuckle died in this throat. They weren't his quarters from another lifetime ago, but they were across from his old room. Riley detected the shift in his mood but had the grace to not pry, for which he was grateful.
"It's this way," he pointed towards a corridor they were approaching.
"I could just meet you in the mess," she said once they'd reached the junction.
He shrugged again. "Nah, it's alright."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
She wasn't lying. When they got to her room, she simply hucked her bag through the door onto the bed and turned on her heel. Didn't even switch on the lights to get a good look at the room she was staying in. Best of all, she didn't ask questions. Though he probably wouldn't have minded explaining the basics. Of course, she probably already knewthe basics since she was a biotic herself, but had the benefit of being three years younger. Just enough of an age difference that when she displayed biotic potential, BAaT had already been shut down.
She would have known about BAaT, though, and could put two and two together.
They spent the first twenty minutes in the mess in complete silence, both with equally heaping plates of food and neither ashamed about the size of their appetites. Though Kaidan would have killed for a decent steak sandwich, Alliance food in the middle of the war was about as good as it got. Marines learned to eat what was there without too much question.
Though every FNG knew to steer clear of the eggs.
Those that didn't deserved the rude wake up call they got. Or were victims of a cruel prank.
"I heard Udina made a big fuss about your ceremony."
Kaidan looked up from his plate, took a bite out of his roll, and nodded. "The whole nine yards."
Shepard grimaced. He hadn't been present for hers, but knew the basics of the circumstances surrounding her induction.
"That's probably partially my fault. I hit the dirt with Nihlus the day after."
"How is Nihlus?"
"On Palaven right now, I think."
"The turians still holding out?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Turian jaegers are pretty fucking frightening actually."
"Really?" she nodded. "I'd have thought the krogan would have made truly terrifying jaegers."
"Not enough funding. The ones they do have are pretty frightening in appearance, but more about pounding the shit out of the Leviathans that touch dirt than anything else. Did you know they're actively breeding thresher maws on Tuchanka now?"
"That… doesn't surprise me."
"Big giant beastie against another big giant beastie."
He grinned. "So what do turian jaegers have that make them so frightening?"
"Thanix cannons."
His hand stopped halfway to his mouth, roll forgotten. "No shit?"
She simply nodded around a mouthful of food.
"Damn."
Before Shepard could reply, Major Butler joined them. "Shit, I forgot two biotics could eat enough to serve a whole platoon."
Both of them stared at the newcomer as she sat down, gawking at their plates.
"Damn what?" Butler asked despite the awkward silence that had settled over the table.
"Turian Jaeger design," Shepard answered. "Thanix cannons."
"Valkyries have got the Thannix cannons," Butler said. "You get Alenko to relax his shit?"
"Didn't know his shit needed relaxing."
"Don't tell me you two are sitting over here 'Majoring' each other."
Shepard's lips twitched in a smile and half a second later, Kaidan caught up to the joke. "My degree is in linguistics, Major."
Butler barked a laugh.
Shepard changed the subject and asked, "You've served on a Jaeger before, right?"
"Bravo Firefly."
"Ah," Shepard nodded.
"Yeah, destroyed. Partner quit after that. Then I heard about the Valkyrie program and requested a transfer."
"To broken Jaegers," Shepard raised her glass and he lifted his up as well.
Perhaps he'd misread Butler after all. After the initial awkward introduction, she and Shepard seemed to find common ground. Just another reason to add to the already big list of reasons for why he wasn't a psychologist and didn't make these kinds of decisions.
His mother had told him he could be too judgmental. Years later and he was still learning that she was right.
"I'll toast to that," Butler replied.