SSV Cambrai, Silean Nebula

Day 1, 1600

The mess hall was oddly quiet, Alec noted, as he entered. A few people were catching precious sleep in quarters, or hanging out on the observation decks, but the mess was… yeah, oddly quiet. Not quite time for dinner, but too early for drinks, he supposed… even the med bay was quiet, and that probably wasn't a good thing for him.

He rubbed his chest, wincing a little as a dull ache spread through his collar and shoulder, and wandered towards the med bay door. Shut, but not locked. He reached out to open it, and-

"There's no-one in there…" a voice sighed.

As he glanced left, Alicia emerged from some corner of the mess hall, previously obscured by the back wall. She had a weary expression on her face, and an opaque bottle in one hand which her brother eyed warily…

"Before you get all protective," she murmured, with a roll of her eyes, "it's cola."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Sorry to steal your thunder."

"Where's the doc?"

"Downstairs, dealing with the asari. A few of them were… hurt pretty good."

"Any particular reason you ain't down there with her?" he grunted.

"She… said she was fine. Figured I'd just keep outta the way."

"What, she mad at you or somethin'?" Alec smirked.

"No need to sound so pleased about it," Alicia retorted, with a scowl.

"…holy shit, she is mad at you."

"Aaand she's not the only one."

"The hell happened?"

Alicia sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose before explaining:

"She left me to look after the captain, keep him put when he wanted to go fight. He's pissed off that I tried, she's pissed off that I failed. I mean, he's a marine sniper, how am I meant to stop him?"

"Biotics?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll just go ahead and knock my boss out cold. No way that can go wrong…"

Alec chuckled and shook his head, rather happier than he should have been about his sister's misfortune. She just scowled at him for a moment or two, until it faded into a somewhat kindlier expression, and a look of concern.

"Why do you need Ria?" she asked, glancing him up and down quickly.

"Eh, probably nothin'…" Alec muttered. "Some bastard got me with a concussive round. Cheap shot."

"Hurt much?"

The marine narrowed his eyes and grumbled, receiving the sweetest of sarcastic smiles in reply. Eventually, Alicia just rolled her eyes and set off for the med bay, beckoning for him to follow with one hand as she took a swig of cola with the other. They stepped inside, shut the door behind, and wandered across the room, Alec hopping up onto the nearest bed as Alicia flitted over to the desk.

"Alright, take your shirt off," the medic instructed absent-mindedly, downing one last draught from her bottle before setting it down on the desk and shifting over to wash her hands in the basin.

"What?" Alec frowned, awkwardly.

"Jesus, Alec, do you want me to look at it or not? Besides… seen it all before."

Alicia shrugged, and he scowled, pulling his shirt over his head as she dried her hands and crossed the room towards him.

"What, like that time…?"

"I wasn't even going to bring it up. What was her name again?"

"I… don't remember," he admitted, very quietly.

"What a surprise. Didn't even stop when I stumbled in, though. True professional."

"Oh, go f- argh!"

"Lie back…" Alicia sighed, putting one hand none-too-gently on his chest to press him down against the bed. There was a livid patch of bruising on one side, around his collar bone and shoulder, about six inches across and darkening to a deep purple now. It fucking hurt, too…

"That fucking hurts," he informed her, gruffly.

"Sorry," she replied, not sounding sorry at all. "That thing really did a number on you, huh?"

"Like I said. Cheap shot."

"Uh-huh. Hold still."

She stepped up to the head of the bed, doing something with the computer on the wall before sliding the slim omni-tool on her arm across it, loading some program or other.

"Do you know how to use that thing?" Alec frowned.

"Do you?" his sister retorted.

The marine just grumbled and lay back on the bed, wincing slightly. His chest was throbbing with pain, not that he cared to admit it, and his blood was still running warm from the fight. Alicia's taunting had given way to a calm, professional air he was quite unused to, and after a moment, she ran the whirring omni-tool across his chest, watching it intently as various charts and displays popped out from the centre…

"Second rib's broken," she noted quietly. "Only a partial fracture, not… too bad. Does it hurt?"

"Not really."

"And, forgoing the fact you're a stubborn jackass for a moment?"

"…yeah, it kills."

"We'll get you on some painkillers," Alicia muttered, with a lopsided smirk. "Should make the breathing easier."

"Thanks," Alec grunted, reluctantly.

"Now, let's get your shirt back on. You need to hit the gym, by the way."

"Oh, screw you."

She grinned, and ducked down to recover his shirt from the bedside where it had fallen. As she did, however, it up-ended, and something tipped out of the breast pocket- ah, damn it. With a curious frown, Alicia dropped the shirt on the bedside and plucked up the little gold patch, holding it up to the light.

"What," she murmured, "are these?"

"Err… bars?" he replied, sheepishly.

"Not your bars. These are… service chief? Or gunnery?"

"Service," Alec grunted.

"Huh."

"Yeah, about that…"

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, and reached for his shirt, quickly pulling it back over his head while Alicia examined the bars. Inwardly, he braced himself for whatever abuse was about to come next - a mocking taunt, or a sarcastic remark, something-

"Dad'd be proud."

"Err… what?"

"You heard," she retorted quietly, tossing the bars back to him. "Don't make me compliment you twice in one lifetime."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he smiled, with a weak chuckle.

"…I'm still his favourite, though."

"Piss off!"

"Love you too, big brother."