The Alliance Hospital
They waited until the cargo hold doors were closed to leave the shuttle, and Kasumi and Griner climbed out of the vehicle across the hold from them. Kaidan glanced up as he pulled his helmet off, spotting Shepard on the walk above him looking relieved. Chakwas was standing next to her, apparently trying to get her to understand something by the way the doctor looked to be lecturing her. "No one's hurt?" he inquired.
"No, sir."
"I got a bit of a burn." Kebelsen pointed to her shoulder.
"See Chakwas for that. Go on. You're all dismissed." He moved off first, heading towards the elevator as the others started whatever they did after a mission. Kasumi caught up with him.
"So. What's up with Shep?"
"Nothing," Kaidan replied.
"Aw, come on. It's obvious that something's changed, and recently. You know what I think?"
"I think I know what you think, and the answer is no." He nearly reached the elevator and found himself suddenly body-checked by Shepard throwing her arms around him.
"Don't you ever get pinned down again when I can't come with you," she murmured as he put his arms around her.
Kasumi suddenly laughed and skipped off towards the elevator. Shepard glanced after her. "I think she knows," Kaidan said.
"I think you're right." He moved her out of the way as the rest of their marines headed for the elevator, and she took a step back.
"How are you feeling?"
She shrugged. "Managed to get through several hours so far without revisiting breakfast."
"I caught her suiting up," Chakwas said, joining them. "She was very close to going groundside."
"Marra . . ."
"I know. I just . . . I don't like being helpless. And I'm not." She pointed her finger at both of them. "Anything happens and I need to start shooting, I will."
"I don't doubt that. Just don't use your biotics." He wrapped his arm around her. "Come on. I need to unsuit, and I'm starving."
Shepard nodded, and the trio called back the elevator. "I wonder if Gardner still has that peanut butter stash under the sink."
"For you, he just might let you have some," Chakwas said. "Now, I want us to set course for the Citadel. That's where the closest functioning Alliance hospital is, and it shouldn't be too overstaffed. Your hormones were fairly high, and I don't have the proper equipment here to do any more tests."
"I'll tell Joker to set course," Shepard said as the doors opened onto the crew deck. Chakwas nodded and stepped out. "Kaidan, I'll meet you for lunch. If you get there first, make sure you ask about the peanut butter."
"I suppose this is a bad sign, right? I'm going to be the stereotypical husband running down to the mess at one in the morning because someone got a craving for vanilla pudding and pickles?"
She gently punched him. He hardly felt it through his armor. "You're an ass."
"Guilty as charged." They stepped apart as the doors opened to the CIC. "Fifteen minutes?"
"Sounds good." She started towards the cockpit, and the elevator closed behind her. Joker glanced over his shoulder as she approached.
"So, the doc kept you from running into the line of fire?"
Shepard shook her head. "Thanks for that. I lost my head. I'm not sure what happened."
"I do. And I'm not talking about it because I like not having broken legs."
"I appreciate it, Joker. Set course for the Citadel."
He did, but paused before finishing the coordinates. "Why didn't you put this in on the galaxy map?"
"Because we're going to dock near the closest Alliance hospital. And you're going to tell them that so they don't send us to C-Sec."
"Wh-oh. Doc wants you to get checked out." He finished inputting the coordinates. "ETA twelve hours."
"Thanks." Shepard patted the back of his chair and headed back towards the CIC.
"Hey. You getting lunch?" Shepard looked back and nodded. Joker pulled himself to his feet. "EDI, take the helm."
"Enjoy your lunch, Jeff," the AI replied, looking over her shoulder.
They headed back towards the elevator. "Just think, Major," Joker said as the doors closed. "Now you can see how I feel!"
"Shut up," Shepard grumbled. "I'll remind you how I feel when I'm the size of an elephant."
"Don't get that big. The ship's too small for an elephant." They stepped off at the crew deck and headed for Gardner's station. He grinned when he saw them coming.
"Good to see you got his lazy ass out of the cockpit for once," Gardner said, pulling out a pair of trays. "Any special requests this time, Major?"
She looked at him hopefully. "Any peanut butter back in the stash?"
"Oh. Can I have some?"
Gardner glared at Joker as he dug under the sink. "For you, Major, yes. For you, Joker, no."
Shepard settled herself at the table next to Kasumi, happily unaware of whatever lunch was that day but possessing a large glob of peanut butter on her tray. Kasumi looked over. "Where'd you get that, Shep?"
"I'm special," Shepard answered, diving her fork into it. "Gardner likes me."
Kasumi and Joker traded a knowing look as Joker sat down across from the thief. "I think there's something you're not telling me, Shep. Out with it."
Shepard couldn't reply, her mouth full of sticky peanut-flavored glory. She finally swallowed. "What makes you think that?"
"For one, no one eats peanut butter plain."
"I do," Joker protested.
"Apart from you and Joker."
"Jack does too."
Kasumi didn't answer, and they assumed she was rolling her eyes. "You didn't go groundside, and Chakwas stopped you from it, and EDI tells me you've been snapping at her."
"God, that AI gossips more than you do," Shepard retorted. "I'm fine, Kasumi."
"She's fine, Kasumi," Joker echoed.
"Gardner swears you're pregnant."
Shepard coughed into her soup. "I'm not."
"She's not," Kaidan said as he walked by the table towards Gardner's station.
"I don't know. I reserve the right to make my own observations," Kasumi protested.
Kaidan sat down across from Shepard. "She's sick. That's it," he explained.
"And I have to keep eating," Shepard said through another mouthful of peanut butter. "Because otherwise my biotic's'll have problems and I'll end up in med bay in a coma again."
"Mm." Kasumi said little more than that as she started to finish up her lunch.
Kasumi knew more about what went on on the ship than anyone short of EDI, and she could – and did – eavesdrop on almost any conversation while using her tactical cloak. She usually used it to keep entertained when she wasn't borrowing a shuttle for . . . "fun." But now . . . Shepard cleared her throat as Kasumi stood. "Kasumi, my office in twenty?"
"Sure thing, Shep." She moved off. Kaidan leaned across the table.
"Marra. . ."
"I told Joker." She nodded her head to him, and Joker nodded. "Kasumi's able to eavesdrop on anything. We put her, Joker, and EDI full-time on finding the mole and –"
"Hadn't thought of that." Kaidan nodded and resumed eating, reaching for the salt shaker. Shepard grabbed his hand.
"You already put enough salt in there."
"Oh, stop." He shook her off and snagged it before she could react. She frowned. "Don't give me that look when you've got a huge pile of peanut butter on yours."
Her frown deepened. "I have a reason to," she said sullenly. "When we're on the Citadel I'm sure Chakwas is going to want to pick up some extra equipment. I don't think we're going to want to drop by the hospital every couple of weeks."
"Not really. We could be out in the Veil with no human doctors for hours." Joker suddenly perked. "Hey, can I tell Tali?"
"No," Shepard replied. "Because I want to see her reaction."
#
Shepard checked her gun as Joker brought the ship into the Citadel dock. "Give the crew two days of shore leave," Shepard said in his direction.
"You got it, Captain."
"You ready?" Kaidan asked. Shepard nodded.
"You sure you want to come along?"
"I wouldn't miss it for anything," he answered. Chakwas' hurried steps sounded behind them.
"All right." Shepard nodded back at the doctor, dropping her gun into its holster. She nodded as the airlock chimed, indicating it was sealed with the dock. "Let's get this over with."
Joker waited for them to leave before announcing shore leave, which immediately resulted in a rush from the crew. He tapped his chair arms, trying to decide if he was going to leave. He shook his head. He'd wait until Shepard got back.
Chakwas knew where the hospital was better than they did, even though Shepard had been in there for a week after defeating the Reapers. Kaidan had never left, so he didn't know exactly where it was. He gently picked up Shepard's hand, interlacing their fingers as they walked through Alteri Ward, and she looked up and smiled weakly. She looked strange in civilian wear, and he thought he probably did too. But it was the easiest way to try and not be recognized – especially if they, for once, acted like they were married instead of pretending to be merely Alliance soldiers. It felt almost relieving to do so.
They headed through the doors and Chakwas motioned them towards the elevator. "Fifth floor. I contacted them and made an appointment for you. I'm going to see if I can find what I need."
"All right. Be careful." Shepard and Kaidan stepped into the elevator, and he pushed the button for the fifth floor. Shepard started pacing.
"It'll be fine, Marra." He reached out and pulled her into him. She didn't resist.
"You've been awful clingy recently," she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder. "I'm not complaining."
"I'm just . . . still trying to believe you're all right," he whispered.
"So am I." They pulled apart as the doors opened, and he retook her hand as they headed into the wing Chakwas had indicated. Shepard approached the desk. "I have an appointment for ten-hundred?"
"Name?"
Shepard coughed delicately and handed over her dress uniform's name-tag. The nurse's eyes widened. "Right, ma'am. Uh, fill out this datapad and give it back. I'll tell the doctor you're here."
She hurried off, leaving Shepard holding the datapad. "You might want to sit down to do that?" Kaidan suggested.
"Uh, yeah. Right." She sank down into one of the chairs. "Maybe we should just go. I hate paperwork."
"You, Marra, are a paperwork genius." Kaidan nudged her as he sat down next to her. "It won't be that bad."
She quietly filled out the datapad, and Kaidan looked around the room. It looked cushy for a hospital waiting room, and he'd seen more than enough of those. He glanced back at Shepard, who had captured her tongue with her teeth as she thought over part of the questionnaire, and he gently wrapped one arm around her shoulders and rested his forehead on top of her head.
"Yeah, I know," Shepard murmured. "I don't have fond memories of hospitals either."
Without warning, Shepard released a sudden snort of laughter. Kaidan looked down over her shoulder. "Previous injuries," she said, pointing out the section on the datapad.
In spite of himself, Kaidan found himself grinning. "Can you just checkmark everything?"
"Maybe I should." She finally caught her breath. "I'll leave it blank. There's no spot for resurrection." Finally done, she stood and handed the datapad back to the nurse. "We're keeping this on the down-low, right?" she asked.
"I might. If I get an autograph out of it." The nurse held up a datapad expectantly. Shepard sighed and took it.
"If I walk out of here and see even half of a reporter," she threatened, scribbling her name. "I will be back for this."
"Not a word," the nurse answered with a smile, tucking the datapad into her desk. "They'll call you back when they're ready for you."
Shepard returned to her seat, studying the other people in the waiting room. It was rather full, and she let herself feel a little bit of pride in her species. She figured most of those pregnancies were probably a direct result of the glad-to-be-alive-sex that a lot of people had engaged in after defeating the Reapers and it seemed like an appropriate, final nail in their coffin that humanity was able to look at the trillions of casualties and deaths, give the machines the finger, and start reproducing immediately. She rested a hand on her stomach, and suddenly it felt fairly fitting that she was among them. "You know . . ." she started.
"It's kind of fitting that we've already begun to repopulate, and that we, especially, get to tell the universe to go to hell with everyone else?"
She grinned. "You sure you can't read minds?"
"You know I can't. I just know you too well."
Someone else was called back – a heavily pregnant woman. Shepard winced. "God, I'm going to look like that."
"You may not."
"Joker said I was."
"Has Joker ever been pregnant?" Shepard snorted. "I didn't think so."
"Major?" A nurse came out and gave her a pointed look, and they both stood. Kaidan walked her over. "Will you want the father in the room for the exam?"
Kaidan looked at her, only to find her staring at him. "Up to you."
"Are we just doing the . . ." Shepard's mind blanked. She really needed to learn more medical terms.
"Is it a full exam?" Kaidan finished the sentence for her.
"It'll be a full exam. Your ship's doctor requested it."
"I want him. At least for the scan," Shepard said hesitantly. He rubbed her shoulder.
"We'll call him back then."
"Good luck," he murmured, before starting back to his chair.
#
"Major Alenko?"
His name was uncommon and certainly recognizable enough that a few heads turned in his direction, but no one seemed willing to say anything. Kaidan hurried over to the door. "Yes?"
"We're moving on to the ultrasound. She wanted you in there."
"Right." He followed the nurse back to one of the rooms, finding Shepard laid out on a table in only her bra and slacks.
"Thank God you're here," she said, voice exaggeratedly tired. "They've been torturing me for the past hour."
"She's exaggerating," the doctor said.
"And it's cold."
"There, she's not exaggerating. It is cold."
"Eh. I might have been exaggerating. A little." Kaidan moved up and kissed her forehead.
"How's everything look?" Kaidan asked. The doctor nodded.
"Everything looks sound so far. Some of the bloodwork is elevated, so we would have done the scan even if your doctor hadn't wanted it done." He picked up a small handle that bloomed into an orange interface, and Kaidan suddenly went cold. "Are you ready?"
No. No, he wasn't. The wave of panic that swept over him surpassed even the one a year and a half before when Coats had said that Harbinger had wiped out Hammer Squad's rush to the beam . . . He took a deep breath, not sure how Shepard looked so incredibly calm (though she was probably approaching this like an enemy assault, not a routine prenatal visit, and therefore her infamous battlefield calm had taken over). "Scared, marine?" she murmured.
"Just a little, ma'am," he replied quietly.
Shepard squeezed his hand. "Go ahead."
The doctor began moving the wand over her midsection, and immediately the screen behind him changed. "All right. Everything looks good. You're about six and a half weeks along. This right here, Major, is . . . oh."
"I really wish everyone would stop saying 'oh' during this," Shepard said. "It's starting to get me worried."
"Well . . ." He turned the screen a little more. "This is one embryo here." He circled one of the empty-looking spaces. "And this is the other one."