Beta: None
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"Dad, I have a bone to pick with you," Kate said without introduction.
"Uh, OK? What did I do now, Katie?" Hackett asked warily.
"You told me Zaeed stopped responding to your messages three months after I went to Earth."
"And?"
"I ran into him, or rather he found me, at Huerta Memorial and-"
Hackett looked at her with concern. "Why were you in the hospital, Katie?"
"Don't change the damn subject, Dad. He told me he had to stop using his main account, for the work he was doing, and when he sent you messages from the dummy account he set up, you never responded."
"How the hell was I supposed to know they were from him?"
Kate glared at her father. "If you had read the fucking messages, that might have given you a clue, Dad. Because of you and your goddamn paranoia, I had visions of him being blasted by Reapers every time I closed my eyes. It was getting to the point where I didn't want to sleep anymore because I couldn't take it."
"Christ. I'm sorry, Katie. Honestly, I had no idea."
"Yeah, well..."
"So, seriously. Why were you in the hospital?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "You're really not gonna let that go, are you? Anyway, I believe Dr. Michel's official reason was 'treated for broken arm and two broken ribs; keeping for observation due to extreme levels of stubbornness and stupidity.'"
Hackett sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What did you do, Katie?"
"Nothing."
"I'm sorry?"
"That was the problem, according to Dr. Michel. You know, I got shot in the shoulder; well I kind of didn't do anything about it until after we got back from Palaven and I had to go in to get the bones set."
"Jessica Kathrine Shepard, what the hell is wrong with you? You realize you could have lost your arm doing something like that? Or even died?"
Kate had to bite back a laugh. "Did you just whole-name me like I was a three-year-old?"
It was Hackett's turn to glare. "I'm serious, Katie. What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't. I know it was stupid. I was just... I completely got knocked on my ass by the Reapers, then the thing with Kaidan and... I just didn't care about a stupid gunshot wound. Didn't seem important in the grand scheme of things. But then I saw Palaven and I realized just how big this whole thing is. That and James literally threw me over his shoulder and took me to the hospital once we got to the Citadel. He was a little pissed at me since he'd been trying to help since we left Mars and I wouldn't let him."
Hackett just stared at her for a moment. "You are the single most stubborn woman I've ever met, your mother and grandmother included."
Kate smirked. "Well I couldn't have gotten it all from the Shepard side."
"Alright, I'll admit I'm plenty stubborn myself," Hackett said with a laugh. "Please, Katie, please promise me you won't do anything that stupid again."
"I promise. As long as you promise to check all your messages from now on."
"I promise. Stay safe. I'll talk to you soon."
"You too, Dad. Shepard out."
Kate decided the Normandy was starting to feel just a bit crowded. An extremely tense meeting between the salarian dalatrass, turian primarch and Wrex had resulted in a trip to Sur'Kesh to pick up a fertile female krogan. Thankfully the dalatrass hadn't stuck around, or a repeat of the Krogan Rebellion might have happened. It was bad enough Primarch Victus was sticking around for the forseeable future. But at least she had Mordin back. He was confident that with both Wrex and the female, fondly nicknamed "Eve," he could create an actual cure for the goddamn genophage.
In addition to the aliens, the Normandy was also a temporary home for the students from Grissom Academy, including David Archer, and their instructor, Jack. Kate still couldn't believe the change she saw in her formerly very erratic friend. Jack was actually responsible now, and she actually honestly cared for someone (a lot of someones) other than herself. But Kate realized after a couple of days, if she wanted to keep her responsible, she had to get Jack and the students off the ship. James had been eying the biotic since the moment she set foot onboard, due in no small part Kate guessed to the woman's numerous tattoos.
Just before they docked on the Citadel and everyone poured off the ship, Kate received a message from Kaidan, wanting to see her. And one from Aria, wanting to see her and Zaeed both. Well that can't be good, she thought as she made her way back to the hospital for the third time in a week. What the hell could she possibly want with both of us?
Kate pushed Aria to the back of her mind when she reached Huerta Memorial. She made plans with Zaeed, Garrus and James to meet them in Purgatory in fifteen minutes, half an hour at most. All three made her swear to every deity ever known that, no matter what Kaidan might say, she wouldn't punch him again. In return, she made the three of them swear they would stay out of drinking contests, particularly with each other and especially where ryncol was involved. She didn't have the funds to rebuild the entire bar if things got out of hand.
"Hey Shepard. Glad you stopped by," Kaidan said as Kate walked into his room. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the cast on her arm. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Reapers on Manae. Palaven looks just as bad, if not worse than Earth," she said.
"Damn. I've seen a lot of turians come through here, but I had no idea things were that bad."
"Anyway, can we talk about something else, anything that's not Reapers?" Kate asked as she sat down beside his bed. "Please?"
"Alright," he said with a smirk. "A little birdie told me you came to visit me while I was unconscious. She said you stayed for hours."
"Damn you, Chloe Michel," she muttered. She looked at Kaidan. "Yeah well, that little birdie got mad at me for not treating my shoulder, so after she patched me up and set my arm, she made me stay at the hospital, watching for infection or some other lame-ass excuse. I didn't want to sit in the waiting room, wanted to avoid having to talk to people I guess, so I came in here. Ended up falling asleep."
"Well isn't that sweet," Kaidan said, trying hard not to laugh. "I didn't say anything embarrassing while I was out did I?"
"Not that I know of. You were completely out, which was probably good. Otherwise you'd have gotten an earful and an eyeful of..." Kate paused. This was going to get awkward.
"What? What happened?"
Kate didn't say anything.
Kaidan finally asked the question that had been on his mind since he woke up. "Was there something between you and Zaeed?"
The question hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity.
When Kate finally spoke, her voice was filled with venom. "Do you have any idea what seeing you on Horizon did to me, Kaidan?"
"Yes, Kate, I have a vague idea. You broke my jaw."
"Well, you broke my heart. I didn't care if you had moved on; I was dead, why should I care? Then you stood there and called me a fucking traitor. That part, I could live with, I guess. But then you said I had betrayed not only the Council and the Alliance, but my family and you. You never let me explain anything. At all. I wasn't with Cerberus by choice. If you want to blame someone for my being with Cerberus, blame Liara. She was the one who quite literally put my body in their hands."
Kaidan scoffed. "You could have left Cerberus at any time, Kate. They can't touch you."
"Really? You think people can just walk away from the Illusive Man without consequences? I was basically a free-range prisoner, Kaidan. I could go wherever and do whatever I wanted, but he had eyes and ears on me at all times."
"But-"
"And I've seen with my own eyes what he does to people who try to leave Cerberus. It's not pretty. Hell, look what they did to you."
Kaidan grimaced. "Please, don't remind me."
"You know that should have been me, right?"
He avoided her gaze. "I tried to apologize after Horizon, Kate."
"With an e-mail," Kate said flatly.
"Again, I refer to the broken jaw. And you never actually answered my question."
"We broke up, Kaidan. If you didn't get that from the punch to the jaw, then I can't really help you."
"That's not a 'no,' Kate."
"Who I may or may not be sleeping with now is really none of your goddamn business." Kate stood up abruptly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a meeting with Aria."