That night had to have been the best Kaidan had in a long time.
The privacy of the apartment meant the pair were able to be much more flirtatious and more intimate than they would've been on the Normandy. And it was good that they were able to just be…normal. Even for only one night. After their make-out session in the hot tub, they eventually retired to the bedroom for the evening, cuddling up with each other until they nodded off.
When Kaidan had woken up the following morning, Kacey was still asleep. Kaidan viewed it as a positive thing; she needed the rest, and it was hard enough to convince Kacey to rest at the best of times. So, Kaidan thought it wise to leave her be for the time being. He remained in the soft bed for several minutes, thinking over the previous day's events before slowly moving out from under the duvet and trying to find his clothes that he had left scattered on the floor the previous night. It was a little difficult, as they were both wearing their military uniform and he had to make sure he was picking up the bigger sized clothes.
He had only just managed to put on his trousers by the time he heard Kacey taking rapid deep breaths, on the verge of hyper-ventilating. Kaidan didn't hesitate as he went over and gently woke Kacey up.
"Kacey?" He said, concerned, "Kacey?"
Kacey jumped up, startled. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Kaidan looked at the scarlet-haired commander with concern. Another nightmare. Given Kacey's reaction, he assumed it was a particularly distressing.
"Another nightmare?"
Kacey nodded, "Yeah, a…pretty bad one."
"How are you feeling?"
"Don't know." Kacey replied after a long pause, "I really don't know. I…I don't know how to put it into words."
Kacey stood up and went to pick her own clothes off the floor before continuing, "It's hard. Trying to explain these feelings. Last night…it was one of the best nights I've had in a long time. And yet…it feels selfish."
"How so?" Kaidan asked as he started to put his shirt on.
"People are fighting. Dying. Sacrificing so much…and I'm here. They don't get a break. They're fighting. They're on the battlefield, protecting their homes, their loved ones, everything…and I should be doing the same. Instead, I'm chasing imaginary monsters and playing diplomat."
"You brought the turians and krogans together. Because of you, they are fighting side by side on Palaven." Kaidan replied reassuringly, "You saved the students at Grissom Academy and all those scientists from Cerberus. You saved the rachni queen again…and you stopped the Council from being killed. You're doing everything you can for the war, that's all anyone can ask of you."
"Is it?" Kacey replied, putting her trousers on, "Mordin was the one who cured the genophage, EDI and Traynor were the ones who uncovered the distress signals from the Academy and Gellix. Wrex told me about the rachni and the Council…"
"You stopped me from making a big mistake." Kaidan replied as he held Kacey's right hand, "You fought alongside the krogan to save the rachni queen. You went to Grissom Academy and saved those students, even jumping through a glass window to save one."
"You heard about that?" Kacey replied, turning red.
"Heard it from Kahlee." Kaidan said, "You got us through the siege on Gellix and got those scientists out of there and you were the one who made sure the genophage was cured, no matter what. You've pulled off the impossible, more than once. You are allowed to have shore leave, like everybody else. Or at least a night off."
"Maybe."
"Hey, why don't I cook something downstairs for us before we head back to the Normandy?" Kaidan suggested, "And then, once we've eaten, we can go chase down Leviathan and put an end to…whatever it is doing."
"Yeah, I like the sound of that." Kacey said with a small smile.
Kaidan quickly put on his boots and headed downstairs, making a beeline for the kitchen. He had a quick look through the cupboards and managed to find eggs, bacon, sausages, and tomatoes. He washed his hands and immediately went to work, frying up the food with precision. He had to admit that the kitchen was impressive, and already equipped with all sorts of different crockery and utensils.
Once the food was cooked, he tried to look for the plates but couldn't find them. As he searched throughout the kitchen, Kaidan came across a datapad, tucked away by the refrigerator, seemingly forgotten.
'Notes for Anderson Biography: Commander Shepard?' Kaidan thought.
He heard footsteps coming downstairs and it wasn't long before Kacey had appeared in the kitchen.
"Smells good." Kacey said, "I was wondering what you were cooking."
"I take it you could smell it from upstairs?" Kaidan said with a small laugh.
"Yeah, and it motivated me to get dressed quicker." Kacey laughed, "I assume you are looking for the plates?"
"Yeah." Kaidan replied, "But I found this hiding over here."
Kaidan showed Kacey the datapad. Kacey looked confused as she took the datapad from Kaidan.
"There was another one?" Kacey said.
"There's more?"
"Yeah, they're lying all over the apartment." Kacey explained, "But I didn't see this one."
"Well, it has got your name on it." Kaidan said.
"Okay, now I'm curious." Kacey said as she hit play on the datapad.
"Sure, I can talk about Commander Shepard. Big topic. There's been a lot written about the Commander, but most of it isn't true. People are quick to judge. They don't know the whole story. Hell, I don't even know the whole story. But I know the woman. Worked with her, fought with her. Trust her with my life.The first time I met the Commander, it was during the Skyllian Blitz on Elysium. Me and my crew were the first of the reinforcements to arrive on the scene. One of the soldiers from Shepard's squad came up to us and said that she had went to a gap in the colony's defences on her own to hold the line. They had lost radio contact with her about three hours before our arrival since the comms went down.
Back then, Shepard only held the Staff Lieutenant rank, and her commander was dead within the first hour of fighting. She had to step up and lead that squad to protect Elysium. And she did, hell she managed to rally all the colonists to help fight. I went with a small squad to go find her. When we did, she was still fighting, still holding the line against all those pirates and slavers…there were so many dead bodies on the ground. But none of them were Alliance soldiers or colonists. She was exhausted; she had been there for nearly twenty-three hours at that point. And managed to not only seal the breach but hold off all those pirates…it was impressive. The ingenuity, bravery; like I said impressive. When we finally managed to fight off the last of the pirates, she stood up, turned around, looked me dead in the eye and said, "Nice of you to crash the party." A couple of the guys laughed at that. She went through hell, and still managed to laugh.
Shepard's had some rough patches. Who of us hasn't. She's been forced to fight a lot of battles alone. God only knows how she got out of some of that. Makes your head spin. Thing is, you never heard a complaint. Never once got "No, sir. I can't do that." She never hesitated. Few people know what Shepard's been through. I'd like to think I come pretty close. And I worry sometimes she forgets: there's a whole bunch of people who lose sleep over her getting back home. Maybe it doesn't need to be said. Maybe we're too dumb to say it. Soldiers like the Commander are rare. Women like Shepard... even more rare."
The recording ended. It was…eye-opening to say the least. Kaidan didn't know that Anderson was involved in the Skyllian Blitz, much less met Kacey then.
"I…I didn't know he thought that." Kacey said after a long pause.
"Neither did I." Kaidan replied, "But he is right about one thing."
"Which is?"
"There is a lot of people who worry about you, Kacey." Kaidan replied, "And sometimes I think you need a reminder."
Kacey smiled, "A lot of people worry about me making it home?"
"Yeah, a lot of people." Kaidan said, "Me, you squad, I imagine your mother as well."
"You're right." Kacey said, leaning down and opening a cupboard door, "I guess I never thought of it like that."
She lifted out two plates and sat it down as Kaidan dished up the plates.
"I didn't know you met Anderson on Elysium." Kaidan said, curious.
"Yeah, he showed up as some of the reinforcements." Kacey explained, "Honestly, I was surprised that they showed up when they did."
"I don't blame you. Twenty-three hours of straight up fighting would tire anyone out."
"Adrenaline is one hell of a drug."
"Must be if you were able to fight that long." Kaidan said, "I still can't wrap my head around it."
"You didn't know about all that?"
"No, I didn't."
"My bad for not talking about it." Kacey replied, taking her plate, and moving towards the sofa in front of the fireplace, "Just a lot of memories associated with my squad from back then, not all happy ones though."
"I don't want to stir up unhappy memories for you, Kacey." Kaidan said sitting on the sofa.
"I know." Kacey said, before giving a mirthless laugh, "You know, that nightmare I just had…it was about the Blitz."
Kaidan put his fork down, "Do you want talk about it?"
Kacey hesitated before taking a deep breath, "Yeah. It was…it was like I was reliving the Blitz again. Losing our commander, rallying the colonists, shouting, screaming orders. It was the first time I had ever took command. And I was so worried about screwing it up. I know that's hard to believe."
"It is." Kaidan replied, "Then again, I have only ever known you as a decent to excellent leader."
"That's a pretty accurate statement." Kacey said with a small laugh, "That squad…it wasn't the best. I didn't really see eye to eye with most of them, especially the commander. He was jackass."
"That bad?"
"He decided to spend every shore leave getting drunk. I lost count of the amount of times I had to haul his ass out of a bar between missions. He ignored me most of the time. The day of the Blitz I had an argument with him about his drinking habits, and he died because he was too drunk to hold his gun, much less use it. The rest were pretty content with all of his bullshit, expect for two soldiers. Private Chantelle Simmons and Corporal Adrien Macintyre. They were great soldiers, great people."
"They were?"
"They died about…three years after my reassignment." Kacey said. "Murdered, more like. That was what the dream was. When I got the part when I went to seal the breach… they were dead. Killed by…"
Kacey trailed off. Kaidan didn't want to press the matter further.
"You don't have to— "
"I do." Kacey replied firmly, "Because they one who killed them, was the same person who tried to kill the Council and killed Thane."
"Kai Leng?"
"Yeah." Kacey said, finishing off her food, "He used to be Alliance. Now he's with Cerberus. I don't know why he went after them but…right now I'm more concerned about what he's up to."
"I don't blame you." Kaidan replied, "If he's as dangerous as the brief said, then we'll need to track him down soon."
…
Upon the pair's return to the Normandy, Kacey was directed to the Med-bay for a check-up for her injury while Kaidan headed down to the engineering deck to drop off some of the parts that Chief Engineer Adams had requested. Kaidan had barely been down in the engineering deck; he had no reason to come down to this deck most of the time.
As he entered the room to hand over the parts to Adams, he noticed two other engineers on the deck he didn't recognise. He could overhear parts of the conversation of the man and woman in the corner, typing away on the terminals.
"You really think we can get a game of strip poker going after the next mission?" The man said in a thick Scottish accent.
"I regret bringing up that poker table now." The woman replied, "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I was thinking about inviting T'Soni and Traynor up for a wee game." The man replied, "If I'm lucky, I might be able to convince the Commander to join us."
"There's no way she would play strip poker." The woman replied.
"Why not?"
"Ah, Kaidan nice to see you." Adams said, coming down the walkway from the drive core, "What brings you down here? Aside from your curiosity?"
"Well, its not about being curious today." Kaidan replied, "I just came down with the thermal pipe that you requested. Shepard's in the Med-bay with Doctor Chakwas so she asked me to bring it down."
"Well thank you Kaidan." Adams replied, "I'll get it installed right away."
Kaidan could see the pair taking sneak peeks at him from behind Adams.
"Oh, I didn't know you had other engineers in here." Kaidan replied, "Are they new?"
"Kind of." Adams replied, "That's Kenneth Donnelly and Gabrielle 'Gabby' Daniels. They were the engineers on the Normandy during the Collector business. The Commander cleared them to come aboard and give me a hand. They're a good pair, although Donnelly has a bit of a problem with the chain of command."
"Is that why he's talking about strip poker?" Kaidan asked.
"He heard us!" Gabby said quietly.
"And? Who is he anyway?" Ken asked, "And what's he got to do with getting the Commander to play strip poker?"
"You haven't heard? That's Major Kaidan Alenko." Gabby explained, "You know, as in Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko? Who fought with Shepard against Sovereign? Who used to date Shepard? You haven't heard that rumour?"
"Wait. That's him?!" Ken replied shocked, "When did he get here?!"
Kaidan couldn't help but snicker; he found the conversation funny. Even Adams had a little laugh.
"I've been here since the Citadel Coup." Kaidan said, catching the pair's attention, "I've mostly been on the crew deck or CIC while not on missions."
"Oh." Gabby replied, "I see. Well, hi."
"Hello." Ken replied.
"And I don't think you would convince the Commander to play strip poker anyway." Adams pointed out, "She's a bit too busy for that."
"Even she needs to rest sometime, Adams." Ken countered.
"I don't think Shepard's the type of person to play strip poker." Kaidan replied.
"I'm not the type for what?"
"Commander!" Ken said.
"Commander, Kenneth wants to play a game of strip poker." Adams said, "And that has started a debate about whether or not you could be convinced to play."
"I don't think you would be." Gabby added.
"Neither do I." Kaidan said.
"And you two would be right." Kacey replied, crossing her arms, "I'm not against the idea if you and some others want to play, but I'm in enough trouble as is and strip poker isn't really my thing."
"That's a shame Commander." Ken said, "You sure you don't—"
"You really gonna ask her to play with the Major right there?" Gabby said.
"Those are just rumours though, right?"
"Donnelly, Daniels, why don't you two install the thermal pipe?" Adams said, "Donnelly, you go in the vents and Daniels will make sure you don't get lost."
"Aye aye." Gabby said, taking the pipe, "Come on, Kenneth! Get moving!"
Once the pair left the room, Kaidan and Adams turned their attention back to Kacey.
"I thought you were with Doctor Chakwas." Kaidan said.
"I was." Kacey said, "Injury has healed, and I'm cleared to go back out on missions."
"That's good."
"So is you two getting along." Adams said, "Or rather, being back together."
"You know?" Kacey said.
"Chakwas told me." Adams explained, "Plus, Garrus isn't as good a liar as he thinks he is. You two do know James is on to you two as well."
"Since when?"
"Since yesterday." Kaidan said, "He asked me about it just before you came through with Ann and EDI. I didn't say anything, but he's catching on. He said if I didn't tell him, he was going to ask you."
"Joker still oblivious?"
"Yes, Commander." Adams said. "Although you two might want to come clean soon, you know, before he comes up with idea to get you two back on good terms."
"I'll think about it." Kacey said, "Well, we better leave you guys to it."
"Thanks again for the thermal pipe Commander."
…
"So, it's time for the next part of the story?" Kaidan said, sitting down on the bed.
"Yep." Kacey said, lying next to Kaidan, "So, like I said, the last dossier was for Tali, who was on the planet Haestrom in the Far Rim."
"What was she doing there?"
Kacey shrugged, "Getting data for the Migrant Fleet. Anyway, I went down there with Garrus, as always, and Grunt. After all, this was geth controlled space. We had to make sure we had enough firepower to handle them…"