Author's Note: I'll start by thanking those who have added The Reason to their follow or favorite lists. I hope you continue to enjoy Sloan and Kaidan's story. An extra thank you to those who left reviews: ela11, ChaseingTheWind, Kateriel79, Jules Hawk, Vorcha Girl, Bint-Lilith, Zacharti, Kirsah, BregoBeauty, WiseGirl9859, and the guest. I love hearing what you think, and your reactions to the characters always make me smile. Poor Chakwas. She was just doing her job! ;)

WiseGirl9859 asked if there will be a follow up story, or how far passed the end of ME3 I will be going. I am not planning any sequels. However, by the end of The Reason you will know exactly what happens to those who survive the final battle.

With all that being said . . . Enjoy. - TLC

Chapter Fifty-Six

The ship entered Eden Prime's atmosphere mid-morning. Kaidan had just finished securing the closures on his armor when the elevator door opened and Shepard emerged, followed closely by Liara who looked about as excited as he had ever seen her. The prospect of finding a Prothean artifact had the Asari nearly giddy, and she grinned at Kaidan as they passed him. Kaidan closed his locker and followed, joining them at the open door of the shuttle. Shepard met his eyes briefly, and there was none of the warmth from the night before. It was time to work.

She dropped her eyes to her omni'tool and pulled up the brief they had on the situation and reviewed the information Traynor had gone over the day before. "We're a small team because I want to get in, get the artifact, and get out. I don't want to start an all out battle with Cerberus. We have bigger battles a head and I don't want to waste the time if we can help it," She ordered firmly. Kaidan and Liara made small sounds of acknowledgement. Liara turned and stepped onto the shuttle, buckling herself in as Shepard powered down her omni'tool.

Shepard met his eyes momentarily, before moving to step onto the shuttle. Before he could think about it, almost on reflex, he reached out and grabbed her arm. She froze and stepped off the shuttle, her back to him. His hands moved to her waist and she lifted her arms, just slightly, to allow him to move his hands up her sides ensuring the closures were secure. "Watch your hands, Major," She ordered, her head turned towards him and he noticed the teasing smile on her lips.

He chuckled warmly in response, and checked her armor quickly and efficiently, tapping her shoulder guard when he was finished. She turned towards him and he turned his back to her to allow her to repeat the process for him. She started at his waist, "This armor's a little loose, Kaidan," She commented, concern in her tone and he turned his head and met her eyes over his shoulder.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "It's better than too small," He responded simply. "Cortez and I have already ordered a new set, just a matter of getting it here." She nodded and her eyes dropped, worry still visible in her creased brow. "I left the Citadel in a bit of a hurry."

"I could have waited for you to get better armor," She scolded quietly, as her hands moved up his sides, beneath his arms.

"It's fine, Shepard," He promised firmly. She nodded, frowning, without lifting her eyes from the closures she was checking. Kaidan turned forward, chewing the inside of his cheek. He let himself enjoy the proof that she still cared. When she paused, he turned his head towards her, and found her looking at his amp, the amp she bought him. She smiled as her eyes met his and she finished checking his armor. She tapped his shoulder and he turned towards her.

He had the sudden urge to reach out and touch her, to let his fingers linger on her cheek, trace her pulse point on her neck. She blushed under his gaze. "Ready when you are, Commander," Cortez called out from behind the controls of the shuttle. She tore her eyes from Kaidan, turning quickly, the energy between them evaporating as she stepped onto the shuttle. She moved to stand behind Cortez as Kaidan took his spot next to a grinning Liara. Shepard moved away from Cortez as the Normandy's bay doors opened and the shuttle left the safety of the ship. She stood near the consoles showing the camera's feed.

"Eden Prime," Liara whispered as images of the colony flashed across the screen. "This is where it all began, is it not? Where the Prothean beacon gave you the vision that warned us about the Reapers," Shepard turned and met Kaidan's eyes.

Memories of that day flooded over Kaidan. The way the beacon had pulled him, and how helpless he was to stop it. The fear that had settled in his chest like ice, until strong arms wrapped around his midsection and threw him to the ground. He sighed lightly, "We lost a lot of good people when Saren and the geth hit this place," Kaidan whispered, dropping his eyes from Shepard's.

"Yes, and now, thank to Cerberus, Eden Prime's colonists are under attack again," Liara spoke the obvious but her frustration echoed Kaidan's as he shifted in his seat.

"Feels like more than just three years ago," Shepard's voice was soft, and disbelieving as she spoke. Kaidan lifted his eyes and met hers again. He could see she felt it to. The cyclical sensation of starting at the beginning. Hopefully, they had learned something this time around.

He cleared his throat lightly, "Lot of memories here. Jenkins, and that damn geth recon drone," An image of the young man flying across the mess of the original Normandy, cloaked in Kaidan's biotic energy, streaked across Kaidan's mind.

"Nihlus," Shepard whispered the name of the Spectre who had instigated her own review for the position. The Turian whose death had cemented Shepard's induction to the ranks of Spectre.

"Yeah, we've certainly got a lot of people to remember down here, even if it's not the geth this time," Kaidan offered, and Shepard nodded. No doubt her thoughts had moved to Ashley and the 212. It was the natural progression, but Kaidan didn't bring her up.

Liara stood and went to the console. She pulled up some additional information she received through one of her contacts. She informed them that Cerberus hit the colony hard, which meant whatever they had found here must be valuable. Most of the colonists near the dig site had been killed, but there were survivors elsewhere on the colony. The Alliance had done what it could to secure the population, but its resources could only be stretched so far.

They knew their main purpose was the artifact, and any survivors they found would be secondary. Kaidan was just frustrated that they didn't have more information on the artifact. They had no way to know if it would even help them in the war. Truth be told, this whole mission could prove to be a colossal waste of time. Their conversation was interrupted by Cortez, "I'm bringing you in as close to the dig site as I can. No way will we avoid detection, but you should have a few minutes."

"Understood," Shepard responded and signaled for the three of them to secure their helmets and ready their weapons. Kaidan stood, and after his helmet was in place, he opened his omni'tool to ready some tech attacks. There were bound to be Cerberus engineers and their damn turrets in place across the colony. He was startled when Shepard spoke. Her voice was soft, and warmed him with a strange sense of nostalgia, "Kaidan," He looked up and met her eyes through the visor as the shuttle touched down.

"Shepard?"

She cleared her throat, "Don't die on me."

His face softened, and he nodded, his eyes firm on hers, "Yes, Ma'am." He heard the breath she let escape over the helmet comm, and she nodded before moving to the door of the shuttle. It opened before them, and she signaled for them to follow her as she took point.

She led them, slowly and quietly, over grassy hills and red dirt roads making their way to the dig site. Kaidan looked at the destruction around them. It was unfortunate. This colony had seen enough. Shepard spoke, and it was as if she had read his mind as she commented on how beautiful the colony had been. "They'll rebuild. We'll deal with Cerberus, and they can put their lives back together," Kaidan responded, trying to offer some hope.

"They rebuilt Mindoir," Shepard spoke, her voice sounded distant, cold, and angry, "It was never the same," Nothing else was said as she continued to follow the path way towards the center of the colony. Hopefully, it wouldn't be much farther and they could get off the colony and away from this planet; too many ghosts. Even though the sun was shining, there was a chill in the air that made Kaidan grateful for his suit.

They moved through the colony, and there were pieces of Prothean technology, equipment seemingly growing out of the ground, like a broken rib cage the edges of the structures were jagged and daunting as they reached high into the sky. Kaidan swallowed hard, "Liara, have you ever seen anything like that before?" Kaidan asked over the comm as they paused to take in the sight.

"I cannot tell much from this distance, but it is from their final dynasty. Functional, but without the decoration of earlier periods. Archaeologists have always wondered why Prothean architecture became simpler at the end," She pondered as Shepard started moving again. The Commander's anxiety was growing, Kaidan could almost sense it in the heaviness of her steps. Liara continued, "It's clear now, they were too busy fighting the Reapers to care about aesthetics."

Shepard led them through some of the prefab structures, houses left vacant by those Cerberus had killed. Kaidan hated Cerberus, and could not wait for the day they ended the splinter cell. They stopped, picking up salvageable equipment, spare thermal clips, anything that might give them an edge should there be an ambush waiting for them. "Fuck," Shepard whispered as they found another empty home. It was as if her hope for the colony's survival shrunk with each vacancy.

"There," Liara's voice was grim as she pointed, "That should be the elevator that leads to the dig site." Shepard nodded and Liara moved in front of her to the controls. She initiated the elevator, and it slowly lowered them as she sifted through Cerberus's data. Kaidan stood just behind Shepard, her eyes on the dig site. Her breathing was heavy, he could hear it over the comm. She hated violence towards colonies. Kaidan almost pitied any Cerberus soldiers that came across while on this planet. "Goddess…" Liara's breathless blaspheme shook him from his thoughts, "that doesn't seem possible." Her voice was distracted and distant as she looked up from the screen to the dig site as it came into view. "It's not a Prothean artifact…" She paused as she walked over to the find. "It's a Prothean."

"What?" Shepard asked, turning towards Liara as Kaidan moved closer to the pod. "Bodies?"

"No," Kaidan and Liara spoke simultaneously, and Liara nodded for Kaidan to continue. "Shepard, this is one of the pods, like on Ilos," He added, and Shepard turned to look at him. Her surprise was clear on her face as she looked back to their Prothean expert.

"Cerberus found a living Prothean," Liara insisted as Kaidan opened his 'tool to run a few scans on the pod. "The only reason the pods failed on Ilos was a lack of power. Cerberus found this in an underground bunker; it still has power," Kaidan looked up and met Shepard's eyes as they processed Liara's explanation. "He's been in stasis for the past fifty thousand years, waiting for us," She paused and the excitement in her eyes was a stark contrast to the concern in Shepard's. Kaidan was surprised by it as he watched Shepard's attention move to the pod. "Think of what we could learn!"

Shepard sighed, "I was right to bring you along, but Liara," her eyes flicked to Kaidan before she continued, "I woke up once, and was told I lost two years of my life. It was… disorientating to say the least. When it wakes up, it'll have lost 50,000 years, and its entire species. Let's not make this about us," Shepard scolded, and Liara looked crestfallen.

"You are right, of course," Liara said, shame burning her cheeks purple as she looked back to the pod. "If this single Prothean was sent to stasis, he could be the foremost scientist of his time, or perhaps the wisest Councilor," She was speaking as she studied the pod, trying to finds a way to open it. Kaidan thought he saw something in his periphery. He walked towards the edge of the platform. He opened his omni'tool and performed a scan of the area, looking for hostiles. They were clear, for now. "It appears Cerberus damaged the life pod when they excavated it. The life signs are unstable."

"Let's get him out of there," Shepard said simply, but Liara was shaking her head before she even finished.

"No, breaking open the pod would kill him. We have to find the command signal that ends the stasis mode," Liara insisted, as she clicked away on her omni'tool.

"Might be nice if we knew how to open it, too," Kaidan suggested, his back to the pair as he kept his attention on the perimeter. Shepard and Liara turned to Kaidan and he gestured towards a sections of buildings. "Cerberus took over the labs nearby to research what they found. That's probably our best bet," Kaidan suggested. Shepard nodded and moved to take point again when Kaidan's scanner alarm buzzed. Seconds later a Cerberus shuttle flew over their heads.

"Get to cover!" Shepard ordered, leaving no room for argument in the crisp tone of her voice. A small group of Cerberus agents were dropped off; Kaidan counted about half a dozen. He opened his 'tool and fired off his prepped tech attacks effectively overloading the Cerberus trooper's shields and allowing Liara's singularity to lift them from the ground. He stood from cover and, with a few well placed shots from his assault rifle, took out the helpless agents as they floated around Liara's ball of biotic energy.

He felt it before he realized it was happening; the shift in gravity, the force of the pull as Shepard, sheathed in blue, shot out from her protected spot and slammed, full force, into the remaining trio. Before, he had a second to register her charge, she jumped. Her biotic fist leading her down and she landed on a knee, forcing the energy out from the spot of impact and sending the troopers backwards. Kaidan was grinning as he made his way over to her, endorphins were flowing and he felt light with the energy. Shepard turned and met his eyes. She look accomplished. "Let's go before more show up," She ordered and they entered the first building.

They didn't even stop to clean up after this one. Kaidan heard a low, guttural sound escape Shepard as they stepped over the bodies left lying where they fell. Liara moved to one terminal, while Kaidan checked another. He kept his ear out for Shepard, though. She stood in the doorway, keeping watch. "Here!" Liara announced, and Kaidan took Shepard's spot in the door as she moved to stand with Liara. She stood before the terminal, and activated the program.

Kaidan's eyes were on the perimeter, his 'tool open checking for income hostiles when he heard it. Shepard whimpered. His head whipped around at the same moment Liara spoke, "Kaidan, is she-"

He was at her side almost instantly, as he moved he switched his 'tool to the medic scanner. Something was off. It was as if she were in some kind of trance as she stared at the technical snow on the monitor. It reminded him of the beacons she had interacted with before. "She's okay; it's like she's dreaming," Kaidan explained as they waited, neither moving their eyes from Shepard's.

Kaidan hated this. He hated the thought of something else being forced into her mind. How much did it affect her? Did it alter her personality? He couldn't imagine it was comfortable. He swallowed his concern, choking down the odd stale taste of it as his hands clenched at his sides. Eventually, thankfully, she blinked. The color returned to her cheeks and her eyes, though clouded, locked on Kaidan's. "I think I can duplicate that to end the stasis mode and open the life pod," She announced, her confidence reassuring.

"You understood that?" Liara asked, failing to hide the jealousy in her tone.

"What?" Shepard asked looking back and forth between the two. "You didn't?"

Kaidan shook his head as Liara spoke, "No, all I saw was static. It appears as if Cerberus was trying to make sense of it without success," she explained and Shepard nodded, massaging her brow with her thumb and forefinger. "The Prothean Cypher you received on Feros, it lets you see the images as a Prothean would. You can understand their language," Liara theorized and Shepard nodded agreeing that it made the most sense.

Shepard met Kaidan's eyes briefly, and he recognized the sympathy he saw there. Sympathy for the Prothean, laced with fear for humanity. It took him back to late nights on a darkened ship, speaking quietly about beacons and nightmares. "What did you see?" He asked her quietly.

"The end of Prothean life on Eden Prime," She answered simply, her eyes haunted. "They had intended to sleep through the harvest, to wake after the Reapers returned to Dark Space. The Reapers attacked, with Collectors, they terminated the life pods. Hundreds of thousands of Prothean were killed while they slept. The Protheans had a lack of emotion. They understood the cold reality of war. They had already lost a third of their population, and were willing to sacrifice those who had not made it to the bunker to allow those who had to live. It didn't matter. The Collector forces broke in through the back entrance," She explained, and sighed scrubbing a gloved hand over her face. When she opened her eyes again, the emotion was gone; replaced by her own frozen walls, allowing her to compartmentalize and finish the job. "Let's go," She ordered, determination heavy in her voice. Kaidan nodded, and exchanged concerned glances with Liara as Shepard took point to take them back to the Prothean.

Kaidan had thought Shepard was expending enormous amounts of biotic energy during their last skirmish, he was wrong. When Cerberus attempted to intercept them on their way back to the pod, Shepard seemed to really let loose. He could hear her breathing, and cursing over the comm as she tore through Cerberus's defenses. She was taking out her anger at the Reapers on the Cerberus agents trying to stop her from saving the Prothean. The area around them had a constant cerulean tint as she sent the agents soaring. She would scream her anger with each Nova, punching the ground and sending her power out from deep inside her. The Cerberus troopers close enough to her were sent sprawling where Liara and Kaidan were ready to finish them off before they could retaliate.

It was difficult to keep up with her, and Kaidan couldn't help but think she would be useless once they got back to the ship. The energy she was throwing around, it wasn't safe. She would drain herself. He sighed, and forced his concern to the back of his mind as he followed her, cleaning up after her with Liara.

They reached the pod faster than Kaidan thought they would have. Shepard stopped at the head of the pod, reached up and removed her helmet. Kaidan and Liara copied as she hooked her helmet at her hip. Kaidan watched as she wiped the back of a gloved hand over her damp forehead. The hair that had stuck there was pushed awkwardly off her face. She sighed, and placed both hands on the pod, breathing heavy. Kaidan and Liara watched as she opened the pod, and removed the stasis.

Liara was at her side as the pod hissed open revealing the ancient alien within. "Goddess…" Liara whispered, her eyes wide with anticipation as she hovered over the Prothean. "It may take him some time to fully regain consciousness…." Shepard turned and looked over her shoulder, as if expecting something to come from behind and stab her in the back. Her eyes met Kaidan's. She looked as exhausted as he feared she would be.

A small, excited sound slipped from Liara as she continued to linger close to the Prothean's side. Kaidan glanced inside the tomb-like pod and found he was stirring. The Prothean's blinked its four, yellow, double-pupiled eyes before they opened and seemed to focus on Shepard. The eyes were a stark contrast to its blue to purple skin tone.

Without warning, it flared. Its body sheathed in an eerie green color as it lashed out biotically, sending the trio backwards and landing hard. Kaidan glanced to Shepard and Liara and was waved off by both as they sat and moved to regain their footing, and inoffensive postures. The Prothean stood on unsteady legs and stumbled out of the life pod. Its limbs were weak and shaky as it tried to stand and appear intimidating. Liara shouted, "Be careful! He is confused!" as it stumbled towards the edge of the platform and looked over the colony.

Kaidan moved to Shepard, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gently pushed it away without looking at him. Her eyes were locked on the Prothean. He took no offense to it, as he watched her move towards the alien. He was looking over Eden Prime; Kaidan theorized he was looking for signs of his people's fate. Shepard touched his shoulder and her entire body went rigid.

A small sound of concern leaked from him, a sound he barely recognized, as he was reminded of a Prothean beacon taking her mind hostage and imprinting information into her consciousness. It didn't take long, after a couple minutes at most she tore her hand from his shoulder and they both fell to their hands and knees. Kaidan was at her side in an instant as Liara kept her wide-eyed attention on the Prothean. Kaidan was glad when Shepard accepted his assistance to stand. Once she was on her feet, he took her shoulders and turned her towards him. Her head remained turned with her eyes on the Prothean. "I'm fine," She whispered, but it was strained and Kaidan didn't believe it. Regardless, he let her go.

She turned her full attention to the Prothean, who stood on his own. Liara moved closer to him, and he flared again, though he didn't lash out. "Liara!" Shepard scolded, and the Prothean's eyes moved to Shepard as Liara retreated to a safe distance.

Shepard took a step closer to the alien, who turned its attention to her. Its eyes burning with questions. All Kaidan heard was a series of rolling clicks and gentle whistles. The sounds reminded him of the scuttling of beetle's legs on a hard surface, and the chirp of a cricket in the distance. It wasn't an unpleasant sound, but it wasn't a language he could comprehend. Shepard, on the other hand, seemed to understand as she had a conversation with him.

"Just you," She spoke gently, her voice calming and unassuming. "You can understand me?" Another series of clicks. "So, you were reading me while I was seeing…" The Prothean turned away from her then, and responded. She was shaking her head gently, as she started to speak, "Your people did everything they could. They never gave up, and I could use some of that commitment now."

It turned back to her, and Shepard lifted her hand to her earpiece as Cortez spoke over the comm, "Shepard, whatever you did got Cerberus interested."

"Shit, alright, meet us at the extraction point in five," She ordered, and Cortez acknowledged. Its eyes moved over Kaidan and Liara, and while Kaidan may not have understood its tongue, he could read body language as he saw disgust and frustration wash over the alien. Shepard ignored whatever comment it had made while assessing them, and she spoke again, "It's not safe here; will you join us?" More of the same sounds, and Kaidan was glad he had decided to record their interaction. Hopefully, he would be able to work with Shepard and EDI to piece together their language and create an upgrade for their translators that would make communication possible. "Yes," She spoke and held her hand out to the Prothean. He eyed the gesture before turning away from her and walking towards the decline off the platform.

She sighed deeply and scrubbed her hands over her face. For now, apparently, she had gotten it to agree to come with them. It would have to be enough. They had spent too much time planet side as it was, and Kaidan could see the exhaustion creeping into Shepard's stance as she moved to lead them to meet with Cortez. Kaidan had an odd feeling their day was far from over.