'All Normandy personnel are hereby on shore leave until further notice; SSV Normandy SR-2 is on lockdown for maintenance.'
Kaidan wasn't too sure what to do with himself; shore leave was a foreign thing, and something that he hadn't indulged in for a long time. Even when Kacey suggested heading down the Silversun Strip, he found himself hesitant but excited. A bit of normalcy was what they needed and he was curious to see where it would go. But first he had something to check on first.
He found himself in the Spectre offices, trying his best to read through all of the reports. News from Earth was sparse at best, and yet he heard some news from his mother. Kaidan just needed to know she was okay, and to make sure that she knew he was okay too.
That was the hardest part of the war; not knowing if your loved ones were safe. Despite having Kacey at his side, he still didn't like the fact that his family was still on Earth. Kaidan scrolled through and found exactly what he was looking for and began to type down his message.
It started off fine but it didn't take long before he struggled to find his words. As much as he thought things through, writing things like this was not something that came easy to him, even after thinking things through.
'Hey Mom.
It's good to hear from you. I'm relieved to hear that you're okay.
As for me, I'm officially on shore leave; the ship needs a few fixes before the next mission. Without saying too much, it looks like this will be over soon. Hopefully it means I can come home soon.
Since you asked; things with Kacey are going great. We're going to be spending time with each other over shore leave, trying to have a bit of normalcy in our relationship. Although, nothing about either of us is normal. Not that it bothers me or Kacey.
Anyway, I have to go. Please, stay safe.
-Kaidan'
He sent the message before sighing; he was supposed to be on shore leave not doing the basic tasks he should be doing on the Normandy. Relaxing wasn't something Kaidan was known for, and it was something that Kacey and Garrus had to coax him into doing. More so Kacey, who always seemed to know exactly how to get Kaidan to relax. It was her charisma that seemed to convince him.
He left the Spectre office and started to make his way to the Silversun Strip; he tried to call Kacey, but for whatever reason he wasn't getting through. The first missed call? Fine, it happens. The second? Again, nothing to worry about. But the third? The fourth? It wasn't like Kacey to miss calls, and it certainly wasn't like her omni-tool to just block incoming calls. It rang twice before cutting the line; something didn't feel right.
Maybe he was just being paranoid; Kacey tended to have that effect on people as Kaidan could attest. But considering recent events, he had every reason to be worried. He had to get over to her apartment asap.
He moved through the crowds and towards the rapid transit, making his way towards the wards. But his worries were exacerbated as a call came through his omni-tool; not from Kacey, but from Joker.
"Kaidan! Holy shit! You have to get over here now!" Joker said through quick breaths.
"Joker? What's wrong?" Kaidan asked.
"It's Kacey! We were attacked at that sushi place on the Silversun Strip!" Joker said quickly, "Some mercs are trying to kill her and she's there by herself!"
"Right. You get the others, I'll get Kacey." Kaidan said firmly, "I'm already on my way there."
"Got it!"
…
Kaidan bolted down the Silversun Strip; running past all of the chaos that the place had descended into. Of course the place descended into chaos; this was Kacey he was talking about, chaos followed her.
He bolted past the sushi restaurant Joker mentioned; the place was trashed and by the looks of things, it seemed that Kacey had fallen through the floor. The 45ft drop that followed no doubt took its toll on Kacey. And now all he had to do was find her. Not like that was going to be hard; the sounds of gunfire were making that part easier than it should be.
His thoughts drifted back to that datapad; if Kacey could be wiped out after a 15ft drop from a balcony, then a 45ft one would have floored her. He attempted to reach her through his omni-tool but continued to run into connection issues, so he tried going through the comms; knowing Kacey she still had hers with her.
"Shepard! Can you hear me? You okay?" He said, hoping that she would answer him.
"I'm fine." He heard Kacey say, her voice a little shaky, "Might need a little back up."
"It's good to hear your voice." Kaidan replied relieved, "Joker told me what happened. I'm on foot but not far."
"Excuse me, who is this?" Another woman's voice snapped through the comms, catching Kaidan off-guard, "You're on an unsecured channel and you're putting Commander Shepard in danger!"
"I'm what? Who is this?!"
"I'm sorry, did you just insinuate that my boyfriend is trying to kill me?" Kacey asked. Kaidan could hear the other woman hesitate on the other side of the comms, "Hmph. Anyway that's Staff Analyst Brooks. So play nice."
"Right."
Kaidan bolted down the paths towards the sounds of sirens and gunfire; something wasn't right. Kacey's tone while introducing Brooks implied some level of distrust. Not that it was surprising, Kacey never trusted anyone outright but it was clear Kacey knew something and wasn't going to say it over the comms.
"Garrus here." Garrus' voice rang through the comms, "Heard you were in trouble. Everybody's heading your way."
"Good to hear. Things are…a little dicey." Kacey replied.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Garrus snickered.
"You sure you know what 'shore leave' means, Shepard?" Kaidan joked as he jumped across a couple of platforms. He could hear Kacey laugh as Garrus snickered in the background.
"Hey you know me; all work no play." Kacey laughed, "Well except for…"
"Hey, hey, hey not while I'm here!" Garrus interrupted quickly, "Keep that for the bedroom."
Kaidan snickered; he couldn't help it. The banter between them was what kept them going in stressful situations and Kacey was a master at it.
Kaidan weaved in and out of the ignorant crowds that were completely unaware of the shootout further down the strip. He kept going until he hit a bunch of lock doors; of course the place was locked down. Kaidan circled around, climbing up a ladder and moving on top of the shops before landing in a weapons store.
"Perfect." Kaidan whispered before picking up an assault rifle and pistol with a bunch of thermal clips. Knowing his luck, he was going to need it.
He left through the back door and moved behind the storefronts, climbing up ladders and trying his best to circumvent the lockdown. It had barely been a few hours; how did this happen so quickly? His thoughts were interrupted by loud security sirens beeping down the strip; it sounded like an air raid siren.
'Kacey, why?' Kaidan thought to himself; he heard a beeping from his omni-tool and saw a NavPoint for a skycar lot, with a note saying to meet Kacey there.
"Shepard! What the hell are you doing? I heard that from here!" Kaidan said worried.
"It's all under control!" Kacey replied in her usual confident tone; her voice was still shaky, like she was out of breath.
"Is that some kind of alarm? What's going on?" Garrus asked, sounding more confused.
"I thought I'd make things more interesting." Kacey said.
"Of course you did."
"I think we need to have a chat about your methods." Liara's voice chimed.
"She's just keeping them off-balance with her crazy, that's all." James added.
"Nice to hear everyone has their communicators with them." Kacey quipped, "Kaidan where are you?"
"Not far." Kaidan replied, "I've got the NavPoint for the skycar lot. I'm on my way."
"Good, cause I…I'm running out of bullets." Kacey replied.
"What do we know about these mercenaries?" Kaidan asked as he dropped through the hatch into another store.
"They have guns and don't like me?"
"Very helpful, thanks."
"You're welcome."
"Commander, it would really be great if you could stay off the comm." Brooks chimed in.
"Hey, they called me!" Kacey replied in a snarky tone.
Kaidan moved through the back of the skycar lot, but before he opened the door, he could hear voices on the other side. He looked around, finding a ladder that led upwards above the showroom. He climbed up, and found himself along the railings above the showroom, where two dozen mercs were lying in wait.
"Okay, that's not good." Kaidan mused quietly, "How do I..?"
He noticed a display of the model skycar suspended above the mercenaries; if he shot it down, it could take some of them out, but also reveal his location. But that was what his biotics were for. He looked over the assault rifle, finding a small omni-blade attached to it and took it off, using his biotics to move it over to the wires and cut it down, causing the display to fall on top of the mercs. Kaidan put up his barrier as he aimed the rifle over at the mercs, shooting them down before they could realise they were under attack.
The mercs eventually caught on and found Kaidan on the railings, leading the biotic to make his way down, using stasis on the mercs to buy him time to move into a better position. Keeping his head down, he took his time and timed his shots. A couple of cryo blasts kept the mercs away from him as he shattered the frozen mercenaries to pieces.
He ducked as bullets flew towards him; two mercs left and yet they just decided to unload all their bullets rather than find a strategy. Kaidan put up his barrier and moved a little closer to the mercs, waiting for them to run out of bullets before using his biotics to send the mercs flying to the other side of the room. He kept his barrier up as he heard footsteps approaching, but was relieved to see that it was Kacey who had appeared through the door.
Shore leave had only started a few hours ago and yet it seemed that Kacey had found the time to get changed; he rarely ever saw her outside of her uniform, so to see her in jeans, black combat boots, a navy blouse and a black N7 leather jacket was something that surprised him, but in a good way. The only thing about her that seemed off was her complexion; she looked pale, her face a little whiter than normal. She also looked a little drowsy though she was doing a damn good job at hiding it.
"Seems like you're having a bad day, Kacey." Kaidan said, smirking. Kacey lowered her pistol, taking a deep breath before replying.
"You could say that." She replied.
Kaidan snickered, "That's an understatement. Landing pad's over there but it's behind a locked gate."
"Let's look for a control panel." Kacey said. As she walked past, Kaidan couldn't help but notice how much she suited her outfit.
"Nice outfit…" Kaidan mused; Kacey turned, her cheeks scarlet red as she crossed her arms, "uh, control panel, right."
"Thanks." Kacey smiled as she turned around and moved further into the skycar lot.
"So, what happened?" Kaidan asked Kacey, "You fell through a fish tank?"
"We'll talk about it later." Kacey replied.
"Such a shame. It's one of my favourites."
"We'll talk about it later." Kacey said, "Wait, you like sushi?"
"Kind of." Kaidan replied, "Not all of it but some."
"Somehow I don't believe that."
"I could say the same about you." Kaidan replied, "I didn't think you liked fish."
"After falling through that tank, I don't think I do anymore." Kacey replied, "Plus I'm pretty sure I stink of fish now."
"I hadn't noticed."
"Thanks."
Kacey moved towards the office door and tried to open it, only for the icon to turn red. Kaidan looked through the window, seeing the silhouette of a volus hiding in the darkened room.
"Stand back." Kacey said before pointing her pistol towards the window. Kaidan put his hand on the pistol and lowered it.
"Just a minute." Kaidan said before turning to face the glass and knocking on it, "Can you open the gate?" In a moment, the gates opened.
"Thanks." Kaidan replied.
"Please leave." The volus said. Kaidan shot Kacey a sly smirk before heading towards the landing pad.
"Well, I could have done that." Kacey mused.
"I bet you could." Kaidan smirked.
"So, is there any reason you decided not to put armour on?" Kacey asked with a smirk.
"I was already on my way over here before Joker called." Kaidan replied, "I didn't think I needed armour."
"Fair enough."
The sound of the C-Sec shuttle echoed through the air as it arrived at the landing pad. However before either of them could react, the shuttle hatch opened, revealing a group of mercs inside. They opened fire on the pair, who dived behind the billboard nearby.
"So, do you regret not bringing armour yet?" Kacey quipped.
"Is it that obvious?" Kaidan replied.
Suddenly, Wrex appeared, jumping out of a window above them with a loud and mighty roar, crashing directly onto the shuttle's engines. This forced the shuttle to land onto the landing pad as Wrex jumped off, and tore through the mercs by punching the life out of them before tossing them out of the other hatch. As Wrex hopped out the shuttle, Kaidan and Kacey looked at krogan dumbfounded.
"Wrex? What are you doing here?" Kacey asked.
"Ah, just butting heads with the Council over krogan expansion." Wrex replied nonchalantly as he tossed a geth spitfire to Kacey. An explosion behind the trio forced them back into cover as mercs began to flood into the skycar lot.
"Shepard, we got a way out of here?" Wrex asked.
"Wrex, I'm a professional." Kacey replied, unloading all her bullets onto the mercs.
"That's not a yes!"
"That's not a no!" Kacey replied.
"Commander!" Joker said.
"Joker! We lost our ride!" Kacey responded, "Where are you?"
"On my way. Picked up Brooks." Joker replied, "Figured you'd have a few questions."
"Good call." Kacey said.
…
Kaidan was relieved to be back at Kacey's apartment; despite a few cuts and scrapes he was okay, but he wasn't sure he could say the same for Kacey. She had gotten a little paler, and her right hand was practically cradling her left side as she walked towards her apartment, trying her best to project some sense of strength despite being physically drained.
Wrex's thunderous footsteps followed the pair as they entered alongside Brooks; it seemed that the krogan was surprised by the apartment.
"Someone want to tell me what's going on here?" Wrex asked as they all stood by the lounge.
"Yeah, who were those guys?" Kaidan added, "They were heavily armed and using C-Sec shuttles."
"Beats me." Kacey replied, leaning against the wall, "I've never seen them before."
"I can't believe you survived all that!" Brooks said, her voice both giddy and hyper, "They had guns! And grenades! And those drone things!"
"Sounds like a normal day to me." Kacey said, "Besides it's fine, I'm calling Commander Bailey; see what's going on with C-Sec."
"Okay, that sounds…wait!" Brooks responded, "Wouldn't that just make whoever you contact a target too?"
"Pretty sure they're targeting me, why would calling the cops make them a target?" Kacey replied.
"To be fair, she got a point. We don't know what we're dealing with." Kaidan added.
"Okay, we run this ourselves. For now." Kacey said, "Once we know who they are, I'm calling C-Sec."
"Right. Ourselves." Brooks said, "On our own. Outside the law. Okay. Yeah."
"You, uh, had too much caffeine this morning, Brooks?" Kacey quipped, tilting her head to the side with a sceptical look.
"They said that the medi-gel would make me jumpy." Brooks said quickly, "Also the fact that I work a desk job and have never been shot before…"
"We can tell." Kaidan mused, "How did you get mixed up in this?"
"I monitor data for Alliance Intel to prevent fraud and hacking of officer IDs, like someone using an admiral's pass to get into a nightclub on the Citadel when that admiral is fighting on Tuchanka." Brooks explained, "I wrote a tracking program. It's really neat. I named it 'Mr Biscuits' after my cat."
"Brooks." Kacey said firmly.
"Right, sorry. Anyway, Mr Bis…my program detected a breach in your classified files. Soon, everything we had on you was compromised; personnel files, mission reports, everything."
Kaidan could see Kacey becoming visibly worried; he could understand why and he knew that there was something that was worrying Kacey.
"Since when does hacking personnel records involve heavy gunfire?" Wrex asked.
"Think about what criminals could do if they had Shepard's military codes. Or Spectre codes even!" Brooks said.
"Explains why they need you dead, Shepard." Wrex replied, "Nothing to stop them until the damage is done."
"Well, it's all hands on deck until we deal with this mess." Kacey said, her voice still shaky.
"Hey, when this is done, we'll carve out some time–just the two of us." Kaidan said,
"I'm holding you to that." Kacey replied, smirking, "So, any ideas on where to start with these guys?"
"Maybe." Kaidan responded, "Let's look at that pistol you picked up…"
"For such a tiny thing, it packs a punch." Wrex added, "Never seen anything like it before."
"Let me see it." Liara said as she entered the apartment, "I might be able to help. Glyph…"
"I'll begin collating relevant intel for review, Doctor T'Soni." Glyph chimed.
"Liara." Kacey said.
"Shepard, I'm relieved to see you're in one piece." Liara replied, "A shame about the sushi place, though. It was a favourite."
"So I've heard." Kacey replied.
"All right, Liara's on point." Wrex said, "What about the rest of the crew?"
"Yeah, what about those slackers?" Joker mused sarcastically as he walked into the apartment.
"Joker…You've been busy." Kacey said.
"I found some folks who actually like being shot at." Joker replied.
"Permission to come aboard, Shepard?" Garrus said as he, EDI, James, Javik and Tali entered the apartment.
"Nice to everyone here." Kacey said, standing straight, "Woah!"
Kaidan caught Kacey as she lost her footing and stumbled into him; she didn't look well enough to be standing let alone fighting.
"Commander, are you okay? You look…sick." James mused.
"Yeah, are you sure you're okay?" Garrus asked.
"I'll…I'll be fine." Kacey said, trying to keep her breathing steady, "Liara, you focus on finding more information on those mercs, Kaidan, can you give me a hand with something? Upstairs?"
"Of course." Kaidan replied.
The group dispersed around the apartment while Kaidan helped Kacey upstairs. Kacey directed him towards the bedroom and she hobbled over to the bed, taking the jacket off as she took several deep breaths, trying to steady her breathing. Kaidan closed the door, looking at her with worry.
"Kacey, what's going on?" Kaidan asked, worried.
"It's…It's the eezo/nitroarene levels. They've dropped." Kacey said, "There's a box in the…the bottom drawer in the… bathroom. Code's 26042154."
"Got it." Kaidan said as he headed towards the bathroom, and typing the code into the lock. The drawer unlocked and revealed a silver case. Kaidan took it out and brought it back to the bed, opening it up to reveal a vial of teal coloured liquid and a syringe alongside a monitor.
"That liquid…is that hydroploxin?" Kaidan asked.
"Y-yeah." Kacey replied, "I need to put that monitor on…"
Kacey took the monitor out of the case and wrapped it around her upper arm; the machine beeped as Kacey looked over at the screen, sighing.
"Fuck…" Kacey sighed.
"How much?" Kaidan asked.
"35ml." Kacey replied, "Wait, do you even know how to…"
"It was covered in that emergency medical course you skipped a couple years back." Kaidan replied, picking up the syringe, "35ml you said?"
"Yeah…" Kacey repeated, "I…I'm starting to…to think I should've taken that course."
"You can barely stand, I doubt you could hold a syringe steady enough to do this yourself." Kaidan said, filling up the syringe, "I know what the records said, but I didn't think it would be…"
"This noticeable?" Kacey snickered, "Yeah, I thought so too. I always thought the records sugar coated it a bit. Anyway, you need to inject it in the upper arm."
"Okay, hold it out." Kaidan said, watching as Kacey did so, but was looking away, "Not a fan of needles?"
"N-No." Kacey said, "This is gonna suck."
"I'll make this as quick as I can." Kaidan said, injecting the hydroploxin into Kacey's arm, "How long until it takes effect?"
"It'll take about fifteen minutes to start, about an hour before it's finished." Kacey explained, "The shot is an emergency one, so at least I won't need the tablets…assuming I don't fall through another fish tank."
"What are the chances of that?" Kaidan snickered.
"Probably pretty high." Kacey laughed, "Nice to see you in action on the car lot. It was…pretty hot."
Kaidan turned red, snickering, "Why thank you."
"What would I do without you?"
Kaidan sat on the bed and gave Kacey a kiss on the cheek, "You'll never find out."
"Good." Kacey replied before kissing him back. The beeping on the monitor lowered in frequency, as Kacey pulled away. Kaidan looked at the screen as Kacey sighed in relief.
"Looks like the levels are going back where they should be." Kacey said, "Thanks for being discreet, by the way."
"It's fine, besides it's not my place to share such things." Kaidan replied, "So, this Brooks…who is she?"
"Beats me." Kacey replied, "I don't trust her."
"Yeah, I figured." Kaidan scoffed.
"It's not like that." Kacey said dismissively, "Something about her doesn't feel right. I mean, all my records getting hacked? If people find out about…that…I mean what is a staff analyst anyway?"
"Kacey, slow down." Kaidan reassured her, "If the Shadow Broker can't get ahold of that info, what makes you think those mercs can?"
"You're right but…still…I don't trust her." Kacey argued, "The shuttle trap, the comms, the timing… something doesn't feel right."
"I admit, you've got a point." Kaidan replied, "Look, if it helps, we keep Brooks out of the loop as much as we can and we both keep an eye on her. If she acts suspicious, then we'll do something about it then and there, how does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me, but can I ask you to do one thing?" Kacey asked, "Can you let Hackett know about the hack? Just because of the…"
"The usual offender, got it." Kaidan said, before pulling up his omni-tool, "Done."
"Thanks." Kacey said as she took the monitor off, "Remind me to check back in a few hours."
"Will do." Kaidan replied as Kacey put the case back in the locked drawer, "So, now what?"
"Let's see if Liara has found anything." Kacey said, putting her jacket back on.