Hello, thanks for the favorites, reviews and follows. Switching gears here for a moment. I was playing Mass Effect with my second play-through character and realized that I really wonder what Kaidan's reaction was to seeing EDI in her new mech body. So this chapter was born. Hopefully you will enjoy!

PE

"Change of the Heart"

Kaidan didn't have much with him as he boarded the Normandy. A toothbrush, a shower kit with razor, soap, gel and tooth paste, an extra pair of socks and underwear, his armor and weapons and the clothes on his back that was all he carried when he boarded the Normandy after the Cerberus coup attempt on the Citadel.

He still couldn't believe it. A part from being a member of the crew again on the Normandy, he was having problems wrapping his brain around the idea of what had happened on the Citadel. His job as a Spectre had been to protect the Council, he had done that or so he thought.

I should have seen what Udina was about. He chided himself. Shepard had told him he had acted with integrity, but he still didn't fully believe it. Kaidan looked down at hands clenched tightly around the straps to a case which carried his armor and weapons. He had seen the look in Shepard's eye when she lowered her weapons. She had wanted him to believe in her, to trust her again. Her bright green eyes had pleaded with him to see what she was seeing to understand that it was still her. She was working on her own not as a Cerberus puppet. Her gun was lowered but Garrus' and Lieutenant Vega's weapons had been trained on Udina and him. For a moment he had thought that one of them would have shot him if he hadn't consented to Shepard's trust.

And they would have been completely justified. He sighed as he walked into the CIC. Alliance crewmen milled about moving to and from their work stations. Kaidan didn't hesitate hitching his shoulder bag a little higher he moved through the CIC to the elevator at the far end of the room. A pretty brown skinned woman raised an eyebrow at him as he passed her station. He nodded slightly in her direction as he pressed the button for the armory on the elevator's holo pad.

"You must be Major Alenko." A woman's slight accented voice asked from behind him. Turning partially he saw the tan woman grinning prettily at him.

He nodded eying her. Slim, pretty, but no soldier. Lab Technician. She saluted him quickly. "I'm Comm. Specialist Samantha Traynor, sir, if there is anything you need assistance with…hmmm…Commander Shepard asked me to see that you were fully situated. If you need anything, just let me know, sir." She smiled bashfully at the end of her little speech. Kaidan nodded.

"Its alright, I think I remember where everything is. Armory's down below, crew quarters two up from that." Specialist Traynor nodded back at him.

"Well, if there is anything you need at all. Just let me know."

Kaidan smiled. "I'll do that."

"Commander Shepard stated that the Observation Deck on the crew quarters might be to your liking." Traynor said quickly. Kaidan looked over his shoulder at her and raised an eyebrow. Traynor stared back at him without flinching. He would give her that. She might only be a lab tech but she had some balls. "The commander suggested that you liked places that weren't overly loud or bright. The Observation is quiet and the lighting is low key."

Of course Shepard would try and make him comfortable. He should have known. He smiled at the idea that she already had a place picked out for him on her ship. It was a comforting little thought. "Thank you." He said to Traynor.

Traynor blinked and nodded turning back to her console. The elevator doors slid open and Kaidan stepped into the gray metal box and pressed the button for the armory.

A few minutes later the doors opened to reveal a vast open area that housed to Kodiaks, lockers and work benches. Guns of every shape and size were piled onto most of the work benches. Thermal clips, stocks, barrels, scopes and just about any accessory gun related were present. Kaidan let out a low appreciative whistle. A man about Kaidan height with slightly darker skin and short buzzed brown hair stepped from around the side of one of the Kodiaks. His omni-tool was open and he was typing away furiously at it.

"Ah, come on, Esteban, you know there's no harm right? It could be fun." A large man followed the other. Kaidan recognized Lt. Vega almost immediately. Vega was not a person easily forgotten.

"Mr. Vega, stop harassing me about going to Purgatory with you. I have no desire to watch you drink yourself into a stupor." The man raised a hand before Vega could continue. "And before you ask I'm not going down to the Docks to play poker with you either. So don't ask."

Vega crossed his arms and mock pouted. Kaidan was slightly bewildered by their strange exchange. The two had to be friends. "Man, you ruin all the fun."

"Stop pestering me, Mr. Vega. I have actual work to do. Shepard wants me to get locker space ready for Major Alenko." Esteban typed something into his omni tool. "Locker B-43 should be free." He mumbled.

"Major Alenko? Wasn't that the guy who was with us on Mars?" Vega asked uncrossing his arms.

Esteban sighed and glanced over his shoulder at Vega. "Yes, Mr. Vega. Your memory for people is impressive. He's also the second human Spectre. Show try to show some respect for a superior officer."

Kaidan cleared his throat and both men stopped walking and looked at him. For their part their eyes widened slightly as surprise flickered across their features. "Major?" Esteban snapped to attention and then quickly he elbowed Vega in the stomach to do the same. Kaidan waved his hand.

"At ease." Vega's eyes narrowed at him as he seemed to be studying Kaidan.

"Wait a minute, you're the guy from the Citadel." Vega stated stepping up to stand directly in front of Kaidan. He looked down at him and Kaidan had to look up to meet Vega's gaze. "You're the one who shot Udina."

Kaidan flinched at the bluntness of Vega's statement.

"What?" Esteban asked sounding very surprised and somewhat abashed. "Mr. Vega, please, don't…"

"Wait a minute, Esteban," Vega continued to study him and Kaidan stared right back. He felt like he was being assessed for some reason. Tension was building along Vega's shoulders.

"You served with Shepard on the first Normandy." Vega stated again completely uncaring that the man standing before him was a superior officer. "You know she was pretty upset over you getting hurt on Mars." Kaidan didn't rise to the bait. He could feel that somehow Vega was looking for something from him. What it was he couldn't tell.

"And I can see that you didn't head back to Earth." Kaidan said trying to keep his voice even.

"Nope," Vega rolled his shoulders finally looking at away from him. "You really came back to the Normandy because you believe it's the best place for you? Or is there some other reason you're here?"

"Mr. Vega!" Esteban snapped and Vega looked over his shoulders throwing a wink in Esteban's direction.

"See your problem is, Esteban, you're too tense." Vega laughed and uncrossed his arms clapping Kaidan on the shoulder. "Sorry, Major."

Kaidan shook his head, glaring at the lieutenant for his sudden mood change. "That's not the way to address a superior officer, Lt. Vega." Kaidan stated still keeping his voice neutral. Vega started to turn away from him.

Vega directed his attention back toward Kaidan. "Yeah, well, I'm no good with the whole formalities thing. Just ask Commander Shepard. But it is good to see you again, Major. At least this time were not pointing guns at each others heads. Maybe next time you stop by we can dance a little. That's if the Major is up for it." He turned away from Kaidan headed back over to a workbench covered with gun parts. Kaidan stared after him for a moment. His mind raced with the possibly of reaching out with his biotics and pulling Vega toward him for a quick lecture on protocol, but he pushed the thought aside. These were Shepard's people. He didn't want to get on her bad side the moment he stepped back on the Normandy. That and he did have a certain respect for the lieutenant even if he seemed to be a pain in the ass.

Esteban cleared his throat. "I apologize for Mr. Vega's extraordinarily rude behavior." He raised his voice on the last three words just so Vega could hear.

Kaidan shook his head. "No need. I can understand where he is coming from." Even if I do want to throttle him. Kaidan thought darkly. But he also could understand where Vega was coming from. For the briefest of seconds, Vega had his gun trained on him. There was a high probability that Vega would have shot him, if Shepard could not have. Vega would have been following orders, even if Shepard couldn't have followed through with her own orders she would have picked people who could have. James Vega seemed like the guy to get the job done, no matter the consequences. He would live with them. In that regard Vega could be a very dangerous man.

"You're locker is over here, sir." Esteban pointed to a grouping of lockers that were situated along the left hand wall of the armory. "It should be big enough to house your armor and weapons." Kaidan nodded and thanked him as they walked over the lockers.

"Wow, these lockers are bigger than the ones on the old Normandy." Kaidan said out loud. He had only a few minutes to wander the around the new Normandy before they stepped foot on Mars and his world had changed. He had stayed the entire time down in the armory he had needed to find armor that fit and weapons too. But now he had some free time. He thought he would explore, get a feel for the new and improved Normandy.

"I can have your weapons cleaned for you, Major." Esteban said pointing to his workbench behind them on the far right wall. "I'll also the requisitions officer, so if you need anything just let me know and I'll to get it for you."

"Thanks," Kaidan offered the man a hand to shake. Esteban looked at the offered hand and eyed him dubiously.

"It's true that you're a L2 biotic, sir?" Esteban asked.

Kaidan nodded and lowered his hand. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Esteban's eyes widened at the implication in Kaidan's voice. "No, sir, it's just…hmm…I don't want to get shocked."

Kaidan looked at his hands. They weren't covered. And neither were Esteban's. Kaidan ran a hand over his face. He was getting tired it had been a long day. One that had ended better than it had originally promised. "Sorry, most people don't even think about the discharge."

Esteban shrugged "It's no big deal, just I've gotten use to Shepard coming down here and I think she forgets. I don't have anything against biotics, sir." He grinned. "I just try to avoid the shocking part is all."

Kaidan chuckled. "I'll try to remember that, Est…"

"Steven Cortez, sir. Only Mr. Vega refuses to call me by my given name." Cortez smiled. "I'm also Commander Shepard's shuttle pilot. So I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of each other, Major."

Kaidan nodded and smiled back. "Well, it was good to meet you, Cortez."

"Likewise." He walked away typing something out on his omni-tool once more. Kaidan placed his extra gear in the locker and walked over to the workbench Cortez had pointed out with his case of armor and weapons. He slid the case onto the workbench. Which was surprisingly clean and tidy, unclipping the case he started to take out his armor and weapons, "Oh, Major, you can just leave them there I will take care of them once I'm finished fixing the thruster on this Kodiak." Kaidan started to protest then stopped at a look from Cortez who was eying him from behind one of the console's located in the armory.

"Alright," He stepped away from the equipment and back toward the elevator. Pressing the button he waited for the doors to open.

"Yo, Major," Vega's slightly accented voice called out. Kaidan placed a hand on the door keeping the elevator door propped open.

"Yes, Lt. Vega?" He called back though the big man was nowhere in sight.

Vega's head popped from around a stack of shipping crates. "You play cards?"

Kaidan blinked at him. "I've been known to."

Vega nodded. "Good," Was all he said as he disappeared once more behind the crates. Kaidan let the door slide closed.

Well, that was interesting. He mused as pressed the button for the crew quarters. He wanted to scout out possible sleeping arrangements and get an idea of where the Observation Deck was located. If Shepard had recommended it then it was at least worth checking out. Besides he needed something to eat he was starting to get hungry. Thankfully he hadn't expended too much biotic abilities during the fight with Cerberus, but it had been a while sense he had eaten anything. He had also heard that Dr. Chakawas was back on board the Normandy. He wanted to stop by and chat with her as well. He could see himself liking his stay on the Normandy.

Maybe, Shepard and I could actually talk about everything that's happened. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat at the unspoken words between them. Were they good? Or were they just friends now? The possibility of being just friends stabbed into his chest like a knife. He would be her friend if friendship was what she wanted, but he hoped she still wanted him like he wanted her.

She wouldn't have pulled the trigger. He blinked as the thought crossed his mind. The idea had been nagging at the back of his mind for some time now. Even after he had asked Shepard if she would have, a tickle of doubt had crept into his mind. Her look when he had asked. Had her hands shook like his had? He had wanted to lower the gun not quite able to do so just in case Udina's words rang true. What if she had never stopped working for Cerberus? He hated himself for thinking those thoughts even as he reached into his mind. The Shepard he saw on Mars had been trying to assuage his doubts. Her light hearted banter in the hospital when she had visited him, he had even heard she had visited him while he was unconscious. The memory of her touch and her lips on his, the feel of her hand in his surfaced quickly and quietly those memories refused to be silenced this time. His heart fluttered everything time she looked his way. He shouldn't feel this way, there was war and death. The Reapers were destroying Earth even as he was safe aboard the Normandy they were killing people by the thousands back home.

The doors opened and Kaidan started out of the elevator on auto pilot absorbed by his thoughts. It wasn't until he heard the distinctive feminine voice of the ship's AI right in front of him that he pulled up short.

"Hello, Major Alenko."

Kaidan's eyes widened as he took in the mech standing in front of him. "Holy shit!" First of all it was definitely a 'she' and second she was the mech that had tried to kill him on Mars. Still on auto pilot Kaidan's biotics flared to life around him. The buzz of dark energy filled the air around him.

"Major, I assure you that I am not who you think I am."

"Why the hell are you in that body?" He growled all he had to do was raise his hand. His fingers twitched and he reached instinctively for a weapon that was normally attached to his hip. His fingers clutched air.

"I am the Normandy's artificial intelligence program that is in control of the cybernetic warfare suites. The crew refer to me as EDI which is a shortened version of enhanced defense intelligence. My…" EDI intoned but Kaidan cut her off with a sigh. He dropped his barrier and the hold on his biotics.

"EDI, I'm aware of who you are, though we haven't been properly introduced." He ran a hair through his hair and purposefully darted his eyes away from her ample metal chest.

"I was not aware that you knew I was an AI." EDI stated sounding genuinely confused.

"Well, I had my suspensions, before we alighted on Mars. I didn't get a chance to question Shepard about it further. But none of that explains what you are doing in that body." Kaidan said crossing his arms. Now he stared at her. She had cleaned the metal up, it didn't have pieces of latex and artificial skin clinging to it. Dare to say she had even had it polished in certain areas the metal shining silver and black.

"I was attacked by this units own intelligence. I had to meld with it in order to render the unit inoperable. So it could not take over the Normandy computer systems. It attempted to release a virus into our systems. I stopped it." EDI said her tone remaining very neutral, but not cold or uncaring. Kaidan noted that the AI was trying to sound like someone giving a report rather than a play by play. She probably could too. Knowing the way AI's memories worked more like a camera which weren't impaired by emotions.

"Okay, so you took over the body, but aren't you still part of the ship as well?" Kaidan asked his brow furrowing in thought. "Unless of course you are, but prefer to see what it is like walking around in a 'living' form."

EDI nodded. "It was has been interesting observing several of the crew approaching this platform. Even though they can talk to me anywhere on the ship at any time, they will purposefully seek this unit out to talk to me. I can also move outside of the Normandy too. Which has increased the range of my cybernetic warfare suite."

"That's useful." Kaidan replied.

EDI nodded again. "In truth I wanted to make certain that you knew were everything is. Shepard sent a message to the entire crew letting them know that you were coming on board and that we were to make you comfortable."

"Of course, she would do that." Kaidan muttered. "Alright, EDI, where's the Observation Deck?"

"Back behind me. Through the doors. Men's restroom is on the left and the crew quarters are on the right."

Kaidan nodded. "Thanks." He walked past her to the doors and they slid open at his approach.

The room was open with white sofas that overlooked a massive window open to the stars. The lighting was dim and the room felt comfortable and quiet. There was a book shelf along the right hand walk with books aligned on it. A reading chair and table stood in front of the bookcase.

This is prefect. Quiet, relaxing and comfortable. Kaidan could seeing himself falling asleep in the reading chair or even stretched out on the sofa. He could drift asleep watching the stars speed by.

"Do you like it then, Major?" EDI asked from behind him. He nodded.

"There was nothing like this on the old Normandy." He whispered walking up to the window and staring into the vast void of space. "It's alright if I make myself comfortable here?"

EDI nodded. "No one really comes in anymore. I think Shepard and Samara were the only two to ever use this room."

"Samara?" Kaidan asked.

"She was an asari justicar who helped Shepard defeat the Collectors. Asari justicars are known for their spiritual resolve and service to their Code." EDI canted her head to the side. "She was a very dutiful being."

"Huh." Kaidan pondered what that meant coming from an AI. "Shepard and her spent time together?"

EDI nodded again. "Shepard seemed to take some comfort from the justicar's presence. Samara helped Shepard find some peace with her return to life."

Kaidan turned to look at EDI his eyes wide. "I still can't believe that. Shepard was really dead?"

EDI shrugged. "By all accounts she was, yes. But Cerberus did not keep such files on the Normandy and they are most likely kept at the Illusive Man's base of operations. He would never kept something as expensive or important on the Normandy."

Kaidan sighed and turned back toward the window. He reached up and placed a hand on the cool glass. "It's too strange to think about. Like something out of a dream." He whispered while out loud he said. "Thank you for your help, EDI. But I think I'm going to get some rest and then explore the rest of the ship on my own."

"As you wish, Major. If you need anything just let me know."

Kaidan nodded as she left the room. "Will do." Then he flopped himself down on one of the sofas and closed his eyes. For some reason he suddenly felt very tired.

He was a sleep within minutes.