A/N: Thank you monsteremma12 and 19rrands for the favourites and follows! I hope you are both enjoying the story!
The following morning had seen Kaidan woken up to Kacey being absent from the room and a small, handwritten note from Kacey saying that she had went down to CIC towards the War Room to speak to the quarian admirals after being woken up by EDI. He was relieved that she hadn't slept in so to speak. He got up and got dressed, taking great care to avoid knocking any of the datapads that Kacey had stacked randomly on the coffee table nearby. Once he looked presentable, he headed down to the Crew Deck, avoiding the odd looks he got from some members of the crew as he headed towards Garrus, who was looking through the cupboards.
"I see the news has spread around the ship like a wildfire." Kaidan said.
"Yeah, although what did you expect after last time?" Garrus replied, "I'm more surprised that Joker hasn't caught on yet."
"Yeah, well Kacey wanted to keep it quiet." Kaidan said as he avoided yet another stare, "And I can understand why."
"Fair enough." Garrus said, looking over at the group by the closest table, "I wonder why they keep staring."
"You and me both."
"Hey Scars." James said as he approached, "Major. What's up?"
"Scars? Major?" Kaidan questioned.
"Nicknames." James explained, "Garrus is Scars, you're Major, Shepard's Lola, and I haven't decided on one for Liara yet. Just my way of remembering people."
"Shepard's one makes no sense." Garrus mused, "Lola?"
"She looks like a Lola."
"Does she?"
"Yeah, she does." James defended himself before turning his attention to Kaidan, "Speaking of Lola, I knew you two had hooked up again."
"Yeah, so everyone has heard." Kaidan replied.
"Hey, that's a good thing, right?" James said, "At least the Commander is in a better mood these days."
"You make it sound like she's always in a bad mood."
"She's not, but you have to admit she's been a lot happier with you around these days." James replied, "So, how long have you been together for?"
"Yeah, I second that." Garrus added, "How long have you two been together for?"
"Why are you two so invested in my relationship with Shepard?" Kaidan asked.
"Just curious." James said, before noticing a familiar face heading their way, "Hey Liara, do you know—"
"When Shepard and Kaidan got together?" Liara questioned, "No idea actually. Although I am curious."
"Okay, okay." Kaidan reluctantly relented, "It was a day that Shepard told us about Leviathan."
"That long?" James said surprised, "How the hell did nobody notice?"
"To be fair, Garrus figured it out pretty quickly."
"Only because I know you two well enough to know when something is up." Garrus mused.
"Where is Shepard, anyway?" Liara asked.
"In the War Room, talking to the admirals of the Migrant Fleet." A voice said from behind.
Kaidan peered round as he saw the person who spoke up. A familiar face greeted the group.
"Tali?" Liara said.
"It's nice to see you again." Garrus added.
"Nice to be back, even for a little while." Tali said before turning to face Kaidan, "I'm surprised to see you here Kaidan."
"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot." Kaidan replied.
"Before I forget…" Tali trailed off before slapping Kaidan hard in the arm, "You are an idiot, you know that?"
"Ow?" Kaidan said surprised, "What was that for?"
"Tali?" Kacey's voice came from behind the quarian, "You just hit him, didn't you?"
"Yes I did." Tali responded, "I can't believe you honestly thought Shepard was a husk like those Cerberus soldiers."
"You said what?" Liara turned to face Kaidan, shocked.
"Oh, you're fucked now." James snickered.
"He is not." Kacey replied before the group heard some snickers from the table closest to the kitchen, "And as for you lot over there, get your backsides down to the shuttle bay and get some drills done before I chuck you off the ship with a disciplinary notice for Admiral Hackett. That's an order!"
The group was quick to disperse mutter "Yes ma'am" repeatedly before heading down towards the shuttle bay. Kacey then wheeled round and looked towards James, "You better go and oversee them, Lieutenant Vega."
"Me? Why me?" James complained.
"Hey, if you want be an N7, you've gotta learn how to oversee combat drills." Kacey replied, "You better get going before they get any ideas."
"Yes ma'am." James saluted before heading downstairs.
"I am sorry for saying that." Kaidan said once James had left, "But I didn't expect you to hit me, Tali."
"Yes, well I'm surprised that you two are back together after all that happened on Horizon and Mars." Tali said, "Not that it's a bad thing."
"We are just full of surprises, aren't we?" Kacey said teasingly.
"Yeah, we are." Kaidan added.
"So, how did the talk with the Admirals go?" Liara asked.
"Well, we've got to infiltrate a geth dreadnought because now is apparently the time for the quarians and geth to go to war." Kacey said.
"I'm sorry Kacey, but we needed to do this." Tali said.
"Do what?" Garrus asked.
"We are at war with the geth." Tali explained, "We intend to take back our homeworld, Rannoch."
"Like I said, you don't have to apologise Tali." Kacey replied, "I understand why this is important for the quarians. It just the timing could've been better."
"Fair enough." Tali responded, "So Kaidan, are you coming along this time?"
"Absolutely." Kaidan replied, "If only to keep Kacey out of trouble."
"I do not get into trouble." Kacey retorted.
"So that last mission didn't end with you needing to be carried back to the shuttle, or am I just imagining things?" Kaidan replied.
Kacey looked at Garrus, who simply turned and added, "I'm staying out of this one."
"Thanks, Garrus. You're such a pal." Kacey replied sarcastic, "Okay. Fine, you're right. That happened, but this is just geth so its not as bad as a giant squid looking thing at the bottom of the ocean."
"What? What did I miss?" Tali asked shocked.
"I'll explain later Tali." Garrus said, "But it is good to have you back. Maybe with another dextro aboard they'll get better turian food."
"As long as it's sterilised." Tali replied.
"Hey, I did tell you to go and buy the food you wanted, Garrus." Kacey said.
"That reminds me, Doctor Michel did get me some dextro-amnio chocolate." Garrus mused, "You're welcome to it once you're back, Tali."
Liara facepalmed as Kacey struggled to hide her smirk. Kaidan looked away from the turian, trying to hide the big grin on his face.
"She got you turian chocolate?" Tali asked.
"She said she saw it and thought of me. Why?"
It seemed that Kacey couldn't contain her laughter anymore and instead burst out laughing, Liara had buried her face in her left hand, trying to contain hers. Kaidan couldn't hide his grin but managed to contain his own snickering. Tali simply cocked her head to side before replying.
"Oh, nothing." She said, trying to hide her amusement before leaving.
"What's so funny?" The turian asked, looking at Kacey.
"Hm? No I'm staying out of this one." Kacey said, trying to calm herself down.
"Liara? Kaidan?"
"I just remembered that I have something to check on." Liara said before running around the corner back to her room.
"Me?" Kaidan said surprised as Garrus looked at him, "I think you're on your own there, Garrus."
"I still don't get it. What is so funny?" Garrus asked again, more confused.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Garrus." Kaidan smirked.
…
It didn't take long for the Normandy to arrive at their destination, and Kaidan was all ready to go. It didn't take him too long to get his armour on and his weapons prepped; it had been years since he last fought geth, with the last time being just before the Normandy SR-1 was destroyed. Most of his assignments had little to do with husks or geth since the Normandy's destruction, and he never truly understood why. Even his assignment to Horizon was a mystery he didn't quite understand.
He ran into Kacey near the galaxy map on the CIC, the latter of whom was also ready in her blue armour and was holding her helmet in her hand, checking it over. It was then that Kaidan was reminded of something concerning.
As much as the biotic didn't like to think about what had happened on Mars, he remembered watching Kacey constantly fiddling with her helmet, checking it over multiple times at a rapid pace. She only stopped once James had reassured her that it was latched on properly, but he had also noticed how hesitant she was when they, alongside Liara, had to climb on top of scaffolding outside the Mars Archives. It was yet another thing that had him worried about Kacey. And yet despite all that, she was as calm and composed as always, exhaustion aside.
"Hey Kaidan." Kacey said as she noticed his arrival, "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Kaidan replied, "Are you? You look a bit…nervous."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." Kacey replied quickly, "Just got a lot on my mind. Dealing with diplomats isn't my strong suit."
"Same here, but I'm glad you're doing okay." Kaidan replied, "Say, you left without waking me."
"Hm. Didn't have the heart." Kacey smiled.
Kaidan gave a small laugh, "Aw, thanks, but next time, wake me."
"Yes sir." Kacey teased as they walked up the catwalk towards the airlock.
Kaidan shook his head, laughing as he followed Kacey down the bridge. For only a brief moment, Kacey had reverted back to her old self; the one from three years ago, just before all of this had started. James was right; she was a lot happier lately. Compared to when he was on the Normandy on the way to Mars, Kacey appeared to be in a better mood.
But Kaidan knew that looks could be deceiving. And when it came to Kacey, she was one hell of an actress. Sure, she seemed fine, but the pattern of concerning behaviour was there. Since his return, he had seen that she was not sleeping properly, she had some weird issues with her helmet, and she was oddly dismissive and distracted at times. Kacey was human, he knew that. She was always going to have issues and falter a bit. But what concerned him the most, was Kacey's determination to keep all of this hidden and to herself.
"We're approaching the quarian homeworld, Commander." Joker said as the pair approached, "ETA to Rannoch: five minutes."
"What have you got from the comm buoys?" Kacey asked as both she and Kaidan put on their helmets.
"Pretty much a big ol' shitstorm, Commander." Joker replied.
"I have detected several hundred unique ship signatures engaged in active combat." EDI said.
"Yeah, like I said." Joker sighed.
"Take us in, Joker." Kacey ordered.
Joker stretched his arms before typing away on the screen, "Stealth drive engaged. Only way they'll detect us is if you all start singing the Russian national anthem."
"You can speak Russian?"
"You can't?"
"My cyberwarfare suite has accessed their docking protocols." EDI said.
Kaidan got his helmet on with little issue; however, he noticed Kacey still fiddling around with hers, just like she did on Mars. He watched as she anxiously checked her helmet again and again and again. It was odd to see this from Kacey; she was a confident and reassured person. She was never like this before.
Once Tali had arrived, Kacey stopped fiddling around with her helmet and became a lot more focused. He couldn't see her expression through her helmet, but she looked fairly calm, as opposed to her rapidly anxious behaviour a few moments ago.
"Ready?" Kacey asked.
"Ready." Tali said while Kaidan nodded.
"All right, once we're aboard, we find whatever's broadcasting the Reaper signal and shut it down." Kacey said, "Tali's our expert on geth software. She'll be handling hacking and security."
"It's good to have you back Tali." Kaidan said.
"You too, Kaidan." Tali replied, "How's the omni-tool? Still using the Logic Arrest?"
"Its still the best model."
"Not for running multiple attack processes simultaneously. You need a Nexus."
"Nexus shield enhancements are years behind the curve!"
"That's why you overclock the microframe." Tali said, "You haven't hacked your omni-tool?"
"You have?" Kaidan asked, "How have you not broken it?"
"You have to be very precise in how you do it." Tali explained, "Kacey? Are you okay? You look confused."
"Yeah, I'm just going to pretend I understand what you two are talking about." Kacey said.
"Wait, what omni-tool are you using?" Kaidan asked.
"I don't know? The one I was given?"
"Let me look." Tali said, "A Bluewire? That's ancient!"
"Holy shit, Kacey." Kaidan said surprised, "Did you not get a new one?"
"No? It works, I didn't think I needed another one." Kacey said, slightly confused.
"Okay, when we head back to the Citadel, we are getting you a new one." Kaidan replied, "I can't believe you've been using that this entire time."
"I'm more surprised you didn't notice." Kacey replied.
"Shepard, there is a problem." EDI said through the intercom.
"How? We haven't even left yet!" Kacey replied.
"All tubes except one are physically secured." EDI explained.
"I see the free one." Joker added, "Pretty torn up, though."
"That's way too risky for all three of us to go over." Kaidan mused.
"Yeah, I agree." Kacey mused.
"Commander, you're going to have to go and secure the docking bay." Joker said.
Kaidan did not expect Kacey's reaction. For someone who was usually calm, confident and didn't give a damn about the steep odds stacked against them, Kacey's reaction was completely out of character.
"What? Why me?" she asked.
"Why not?" Joker replied, clearly thrown off by her response, "You usually volunteer for this type of stuff."
"Right." Kacey said with a slight hint of panic in her voice, "I usually do. Okay. I'll go over, just stay put. Okay?"
"Roger that, Commander." Joker said, even more suspicious, "We'll just stay here, you know, quietly."
"Hang tight." Kacey said, "It'll just be a minute."
Despite trying to sound confident, Kaidan could see right through her. There was a hint of subtle doubt and anxiety in her voice. Kacey was not an anxious person; she was the stark opposite. A confident, snarky, self-assured person who gave zero fucks to what anyone outside of her crew and social circle thought of her. And yet, any remaining sign of that Kacey had all but disappeared in an instant.
And Kaidan wanted to know why.