HIS
Kaidan leaned on his arm against the door to his apartment trying to will himself to go out. He knew he needed to, but a big part of him just wanted to stay in and look at their dog tags. Finally, his civility won out and he headed to Purgatory, the huge bar on the Presidium.
He saw Cam and Wendy standing outside the door chatting with a pretty woman. She was short with a dirty blond bob. She had a pleasant smile and looked like she was a genuinely nice person. Kaidan missed Shepard's smirk.
Wendy saw him and waved. "Kaidan! Hey! This is Danica Temple. She's a pediatrician. You've been here for how long?" Wendy looked to the blond woman.
"About 10 months. I came after things were fixed up some. There tends to be baby booms after tragedies and I'm here to take care of the babies!" Danica giggled. Her voice was light and bouncy.
"Hi Danica, I'm Kaidan." Kaidan held out his hand. She shook it, but her hand was cold. Without letting go, she turned, put Kaidan's arm around her shoulder, and said, "Let's go in!" Everyone started to walk toward the entrance.
Kaidan looked over Danica's head toward Cam who tried to give him a reassuring smile. If there was any way for Kaidan to feel more uncomfortable, he hadn't found it. He was relieved when they finally reached a table and he could remove his arm from Danica under the guise of pulling out her chair for her.
Cam motioned to Kaidan and said, "Let's go get us some drinks. We'll be right back, ladies." Then he smacked his dark-haired friend on the arm. "Do you like her?"
"I've only known her for about 5 minutes."
"You know what I mean! She's hot, right? And she's family oriented, like you! I mean, you could see yourself with her, couldn't you?"
Kaidan drew a controlled breath. "She's nice." That was all he would commit to right now.
"Just try and have a nice time. For Wendy, ok?"
"Yeah," Kaidan said as he picked up two drinks to carry back to the table.
The first hour seemed to pass slowly, but as the drinks loosened tongues, Kaidan found himself actually having a nice time. Danica was funny in a little kid sort of way. She would giggle and make silly faces, and Kaidan wasn't sure if it was charming or irritating.
At the end of the night, Cam and Wendy strategically left Kaidan and Danica alone near the Rapid Transit station.
"I had a nice time, Kaidan," Danica said sweetly. She was definitely in his personal space.
"So did I. It was fun." Kaidan hesitated for a second. "I'm being sent to a colony in a few days. I'll be gone for about a month or so. Maybe we can get together again when I get back?"
"Sure, I'd like that. Here's my contact information. Please call me." She placed her hand on his arm and leaned in. Kaidan knew what she wanted. A nervous feeling filled his stomach. He closed his eyes not in anticipation, but anxiety and regret. I'm sorry, Rachel. This had to happen some time.
Then something from the nearby news terminal caught his attention. He abruptly turned away to see what was being said, leaving Danica to almost fall face-first.
"Please replay the last news vid," Kaidan directed the console. The screen flickered as the terminal complied.
"Witnesses are reporting seeing Commander Rachel Shepard alive on Omega. This grainy footage caught by a quarian named Kenn…"
"Pause!" Kaidan stared at the screen. It was her. Even the poor quality of the quarian's omni-tool couldn't hide her mannerisms. Rachel is alive?
