Undermining Authority

Kaidan, as soon as Jack had made her typically vehement return and gotten everyone quiet, made his way to Joker. The pilot was sitting back in his chair, crutches leaning up against the back, in the first row. "You have them?"

"Oh, god, you gave me the rings, didn't you?" Joker said, going pale under his hat. "I totally left them on top of the console on the Normandy and ..." Kaidan raised an eyebrow, and twitched his fingers. Joker sighed, dug his hand into his pocket, and smacked a pair of simple silver bands into his palm. "I swore I had you that time."

"The problem is that your attempts at humor are no longer unexpected, Jeff," EDI said, as Jack settled down on Joker's other side. Joker glared at the AI.

"Laugh it up, EDI."

The hired officiant - a Baptist minister who'd lead an underground church during the war while simultaneously holding a sizable amount of the North American Federation's western territory against Reaper forces - tapped him on the arm. The amount that Shepard had promised him to keep the ceremony quiet had been far beyond his previous fee, and he'd turned down half of it just to thank her and Kaidan for defeating the Reapers. "I assume that Major Shepard is here?"

"That's the thought," Kaidan said. He was, to most people, his usual cool and collected self. But even his strong focus couldn't stop his hands from shaking as he carefully tucked the rings into his pocket for safekeeping. "You're ready?"

"Of course."

"Get your ass up there," Joker hissed, shooing him. Kaidan stepped up to the front of the chairs, then turned. Shepard grinned at him from the far end, one hand heavy on Hannah's arm for support. Her other was white-knuckled on her cane. Kaidan stepped forward, nodding to Hannah. She replied with her own and settled down next to Helena, and Kaidan helped Shepard forward.

"I always forget how amazing you look in your blues," he murmured.

"You too," she replied quietly. "And they amazing things they do to your ass."

The minister cleared his throat, and Shepard glanced at him with wide eyes. He chuckled. "You ready?"

Shepard grinned and glanced over at Kaidan. "We're more than ready, I think."

"Definitely," Kaidan agreed.

"All right then." He opened his book, unfolded a piece of paper, and nodded. "Shall we proceed?" Shepard nodded, and he cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses to join Major Marrakech Shepard and Major Kaidan Alenko in matrimony, which is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, and solemnly. I must say you appear to have the 'discreetly' down."

Someone who sounded suspiciously like Wrex guffawed. "In this estate these two persons present now come to be joined. I would ask if there were any who would disagree with this union, but I suspect no one would dare." Shepard snorted. Kaidan rubbed her arm, grinning at her.

"I understand you two opted to write your own vows. Major Alenko?"

"Yeah. Uh." He glanced down at the hands they had joined, Shepard still leaning heavily on her cane with her free hand. "Look, Shepard - I mean, Marra. I-"

She rested her hand on his jaw, and he glanced up, surprised to see her eyes shiny with unshed tears. "God, you're adorable," she murmured. He grinned.

"I, uh, love you. I'll be there for you no matter how many times Wrex, Joker and Vega get you too drunk to walk -" The audible sound of Wrex chuckling and James' triumphant shout interrupted him. "- or how many krogan you headbutt during diplomatic talks, or however many times I have to keep you from using your shotgun to get your way during those talks. I'll always be there to care and protect you, to comfort you and carry you, and to try in vain to keep you from trying the miraculously stupid things that I love so much about you. For the rest of eternity, no matter what that brings with it."

Shepard stared at him for a second, then swallowed heavily and looked down. "Yours are so much prettier than mine," she said quietly. "Kaidan, for the rest of my life I promise to uphold you, to love you even more than that shotgun buried somewhere in London-" Wrex chuckled again, the rumbling carrying through the quiet. He obviously was finding this "quaint human mating ritual," as he'd called it, incredibly amusing. "- to grow old with you, and to cherish and respect you and let you stop me when I'm about to do something incredibly stupid. For the rest of our lives - and past that, if we have that chance."

"You've got the rings?"

Kaidan fished in his pocket for a second, passed Shepard his, and clenched her thinner band in his hand, hoping it would steady it. "Major Shepard, you first."

She looked up at him and smiled. "C-can you . . ." He nodded wordlessly and reached out to steady her as she released her cane. "Thanks."

"Major, repeat after me. 'I give you this ring as a symbol of my love-'"

"I-I give you this ring as a symbol of my love..." Shepard's hand was shaking where she held his, staring at it as if she couldn't figure out what to do with the band she was holding.

"'-my faith in our strength together, and my covenant to learn and grow with you.'"

"...my faith in our strength together, and my covenant to l-learn and g-grow with you." Her hand still trembling, she managed to slide the silver band onto his hand. He swallowed, closing his eyes briefly. She leaned back on her cane with a deep breath.

"Major Alenko, your ring?"

He repeated the vow, his own hands and voice trembling, as he slid her own ring just above their engagement band. She tightened her hand around his, and their eyes met.

How neither of them were crying, he wasn't sure. He blinked heavily and swallowed.

"Do you who are assembled here support this union and affirm that these two should be together?"

"Do we get to eat if we say yes?" Grunt asked. Shepard snorted again, ducking her head as barely-held laughter shook her shoulders. Kaidan grinned, watching her.

If he'd ever doubted he loved her - he didn't - he knew now that he did. It was painful, it seized his heart like a vice, as if the very thought of not being here, right now, was completely unthinkable. She was his, and he loved her more than he'd ever thought he'd be able to love anything. And as Jack told Grunt to shut up from across the audience, Miranda dug her forehead into her palm, Joker snickered in the front row, and their mothers merely shook their heads; and as Garrus replied that they would or he'd snipe them, which Tali replied was inappropriate, and Liara dabbed under one eye with a handkerchief that Chakwas handed her, he knew there was no place he'd rather be even with the hard road it'd taken to get there. Shepard looked up and met his eyes with a small smile, and he knew she was thinking the same thing.

"Then by the power vested in me by the Systems Alliance and the North American Federation, I now pronounce you married." Without waiting Kaidan swept her into his arms, kissing her hard. Shepard wrapped both arms around his neck, cane forgotten, responding with the same eagerness. Someone - Joker, and she'd kill him later - catcalled from the audience, and she was pretty sure she heard Grunt say 'finally' with a resulting hard smack from Wrex. Kaidan drew back, and Shepard let her eyes open.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he murmured.

#

"It's official now."

Kaidan glanced over as Shepard leaned on the balcony next to him, already looking tired. "No one's dead yet?"

"Not quite yet." She looked at her water and scowled. "I really need booze."

"Who-"

"Miranda."

"Ah."

"She did the same thing during the Collector mission." Shepard downed the rest of her water. "You all right?"

Kaidan shrugged. "I don't ... I'm fine. I just ..."

"You miss him. You never talk about it, but I know you do." She stared down at her empty glass. She'd asked about Kaidan's father once or twice, but he'd always evaded it. It wasn't that he had been refusing to tell her, but she knew it was because he hadn't wanted to talk about it. She set her glass on the balcony and tucked her hand into his elbow.

He sighed. "I never imagined this without him here. He was an ass for a while, when I didn't join the Alliance, but ... he was my father." Shepard leaned her head on his shoulder, but didn't speak. "I just wish we knew what happened to him." Kaidan shook his head. "He was probably turned into a husk."

"Don't say that. You don't need that image."

"We both know that's probably what happened."

"He may have gotten lost, ended up somewhere. We're still finding survivors, even in the big cities. You know that."

Kaidan sighed and wrapped his arm around her waist, leaning his head on hers. "I'm just glad we ... we made it this far."

Shepard sighed and nodded, opening her eyes. Back along the edge of the decrepit orchard she spotted something, and cocked her head."K-Kaidan?"

He opened his eyes when he felt her hand go for her gun, which was obviously not present, and looked. Just at the edge of the orchard, past where they were having their wedding party, a lone person was just emerging from the damaged orchard. Kaidan stared for a second, then jumped the balcony, edged around a brewing fight between Wrex and Jack, dodged a question from Miranda, and broke into a run at the far edge.

"Son of a bitch," Shepard muttered, trying to limp down the stairs after him. "Wrex, you know better. Jack, go make out with your boyfriend," she snapped, cutting through the small array of tables. The amount of food they'd needed to locate had been mind-boggling - Mrs. Alenko had apparently managed it by commenting that she was going to be playing host to some supersoldier biotics for several weeks.

"Shepard, I need to ask-"

"Not now, Miranda," she replied. The woman pursed her lips as Shepard limped as quickly limped back into open ground.

Kaidan drew to a halt as the lone figure drew closer. He was haggard, tired, and looked as if he hadn't seen civilization or a shower in several months. But he ... "Dad?" Kaidan breathed.

He looked up and squinted. "Kaidan?"

Before either of them knew what they were doing, they had pulled each other into an embrace. Kaidan didn't care that the dirt and grime on his father's old, outdated, repeatedly-broken armor was getting all over his uniform, or that to anyone actually noticing anything from the insanity that was their crew this would look exceedingly strange.

"We thought you were dead," Kaidan said quietly. "Mom's ..."

"She's all right?"

"She's fine. Dad ... where have you been?"

"Up near the Yukon," he replied, stepping back. "We didn't even hear news that the Reapers were gone until a few days ago." He finally appraised his son. "What're you dressed up for?"

"Um ..." Kaidan glanced over his shoulder and tripping over his words. "Well, there's, uh, been a bit of a development and I, uh ... come on."

He had barely taken a step and nearly ran into Shepard and his mother, catching Shepard as she nearly toppled off her cane. "Dammit, Kaidan," she groaned, one hand scrubbing at his uniform. "We just had this cleaned."

"Shepard." He gently steadied both her arms. "That's my dad."

Shepard blinked, then looked back at the house, then back at Kaidan. "Is he psychic or something?"

"Coincidence, I guess," he said. "But ..." She hugged him, ignoring the grime that was getting on her own uniform, and Kaidan buried his face in the side of her neck.

Meanwhile, Helena had already thrown herself at her husband, tears streaming down her face. Former Rear Admiral Michael Alenko finally looked up, still holding his wife to him. "So what is going on?" he asked again. Kaidan cleared his throat and wrapped his arm around Shepard's waist, gently holding her to him.

"Dad, this is my wife, Major Marrakech Shepard." God, that sounded strange ... but it was official and she was and he didn't think he'd ever get tired of saying it.

He nodded. "And when did this happen?"

"Three hours ago?" Shepard volunteered, then carefully leaned against Kaidan to hold out her hand. "It's a pleasure, sir."

He carefully took it, noting her cane. "Same to you. I understand we have you to thank for taking out those Reapers." She nodded, hand gripping her cane again. "We were stuck in the Yukon. Shuttle broke down, just got it working. No one thought to check that frozen waste for survivors, apparently."

"There is plenty of time for that," Helena chided, checking over her husband. "We should get you a shower, and there is plenty of food. We can talk later." She gently wrapped her arm around her husband's and guided him back to the house. Kaidan and Shepard watched them for a second.

"I think I saw a plate headed for Miranda's head," she said finally.

"Yeah, we should go reign the crew in."

"Yeah." Shepard glanced up at him as they started back to the party, leaning heavily on his arm. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Good day?"

Kaidan looked down at her and grinned. "Best day."

#

That night Kaidan pretended to fall asleep first, waiting for Shepard to stop fidgeting and fall asleep nestled against his chest. He let his fingers play over her waist for a moment, covered in the simple cotton of one of his purloined Biotics Division shirts, as he carefully studied her peaceful features. It was the first time he'd seen her this quiet sleeping since she'd just woken up from her coma nearly a year earlier, nightmares too often invading what should have been restful sleep. He let his hand slide down her arm, fingers toying over the combination of rings on her left hand.

Damn. It still didn't feel real.

Shepard shifted in her sleep, and he carefully wrapped his hand over hers. She mumbled something and shifted again, pressing her back closer to his chest. Kaidan smiled slightly, wrapping her tighter in his arms, and finally letting himself drift to sleep.

They wouldn't have long out here before they had to go back to Vancouver.

Then Shepard woke first in the morning, at first confused as to the lack of sterile walls and disinfectant cleaners, but then was content to lay quietly in Kaidan's arms. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept quietly through the night, having neither a nightmare nor just being startled awake in her sleep. She wondered if being away from the hospital and wrapped in her new husband's arms for the first time in over a year had anything to do with her sudden calm.

Kaidan finally stirred, and she rolled onto her back. "Morning, sleepy," she murmured, trailing a finger down his nose. Kaidan grinned without opening his eyes, pulling her closer to him.

"Morning," he replied, kissing the side of her head. "Wife."

"You like that, I take it?" Kaidan opened his eyes, and she couldn't help but stare into them - caramel flecked with gold, her favorite sight in the galaxy.

"Of course I do."

Shepard laughed and pushed him onto his back, releasing a short oof when he pulled her with him. She had just leaned down to kiss him, both their eyes beginning to close, when someone's omni-tool beeped.

"Yours or mine?" Kaidan murmured, lips still a hair's breadth apart.

"Mine, I think," she replied, just as quietly. "They might go away."

"Mm." Kaidan drew her the last centimeter down, their lips slowly pressing together. Shepard's omni-tool stopped beeping, only for Kaidan's to start. "Son of a . . ." He flared, pulling the small bracelet-apparatus from across the room, and quickly checked the holographic interface. "Hackett."

Shepard groaned, rolling off him. "Figures."

Kaidan waited until she was suitably out of view, having rolled to her side of the bed to stretch, and opened his vidcomm. "Admiral."

::Major. Is Major Shepard with you?::

He nodded. "Why?"

::I need to speak with both of you in Vancouver. Where are you?::

"Out on my family's land." Kaidan glanced up at Shepard, who was frowning as she brushed her hair. "We can be back in . . ." She held up three fingers before forming her hand into a zero, and he nodded. "About two hours."

Shepard pursed her lips and replied with a that is not what I said look. Kaidan shook his head.

::Don't be late.:: Hackett's face disappeared, and Shepard sighed.

"God damn it."

Kaidan rolled to his side, rubbing her back. "We knew that was probably going to happen."

"The universe will function for one day without the Majors Shepard and Alenko," she replied sharply. "It's done well enough without me, it should last for a few days without you."

"I know, I know," he replied, rolling to his own side of the bed and tossing her a pair of Alliance casuals. She nodded, and swiftly dug out her usual underwear from the bag at the side of her bed. "Maybe it'll only be a short thing, and we can come back out tonight."

"Maybe. If not, I say we just invade the Normandy." She gripped her cane and stood, hobbling for the room's en-suite. Kaidan stared after her for a second, let the smallest bit of a grin play over his face, and quickly followed her.

Two hours. Plenty of time.