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"Wait ,wait, wait." Shepard called out.
Kaidan meet her in the hall way followed by Vega and Anderson In the Montreal base. Her protest halting every one and everything in the area except for Shepard and EDI.
"Is there a problem Shepard?" EDI asked,
"You don't want to start from here. Lets get to the juicy stuff." As she spoke her armour seemed to grow out of her skin. The back drop had been cold metal flared up with a harsh light as Mars appeared under their feet. Gun fire whizzed over head. She ran forward into cover, Kaidan joined her behind the large rock returning fire on the Cerberus troopers.
Butterfly's were raging batter in her stomach, not from the mission but from seeing him again after so long after Horizon, there had been no communication between them save that one letter, that one letter she had read a thousand times.
She popped out of cover, nailing a shock trooper through the visor of his helmet. Moving to the crate, as a renewed hail of gun fire erupted in her direction.
"Kaidan." She called out. The "isolated incident" with Joker, also at the forefront of her thoughts. "Kaidan I have something to say and I wanted you to hear it from me."
"Not really the time Shepard." He barked.
She fired one more shot and moved back to his cover, turning her radio off.
"I kissed Joker." She blurted out, her brain not working as a filter for her mouth. At first she wasn't sure if he had heard her. Another wave of enemies hitting them, he was distracted for a moment from her words.
"What are you trying to tell me Shepard?" He asked, tone steady and low, turning to wards her as he reloaded his weapon.
"I'm telling you, because this little thing happened but I didn't want you finding out Via one of Zaeed's security tapes or worse."
He fixed her with that steady stare sliding the Thermal clip into his assault rifle with a little more force than necessary. Turned and let loose on the enemy pushing the combat forward onto their territory. Shepard rolled her eyes and followed suit.
"Talk to me Kaidan," She said sternly, the silent treatment was even worse than the lecture on Horizon.
"And say what?" He snapped
"Anything! For gods sake high school girls kiss longer than we did. They feel about as silly afterwards as well." She explained, desperately.
Vega was moving passed them and the enemies numbers were thinning "For Christ sake you two, make up and make out." He quipped.
"I'm trying to tell you, I had a moment of weakness, but it doesn't change how I feel about you." She exclaimed.
"And how's that?" Sullen jealousy dripping of the edges of his words.
She reached forward tucking her fingers behind the gorget on his chest plate. Pulling him towards her. Metal armour scraped together before flesh. Lips met, a familiar kiss that could still light a fire through her body. His rifle bumping her side, his free arm coming to rest on the small of her back pulling her closer. She let go of his armour her hand sliding over his shoulders. The kiss was fervid, not with out urgency, full of longing from the years apart, driven forward by the inevitability of pulling away to finish the battle. The stubble was new and rough against her skin, added a certain level of rugged charm to him. She pulled away, wishing she didn't have to, holding on to the sensation as long as she could. As his lips slipped away from hers she let out a tiny breath, almost as if she had been holding it the whole time. "That's how." She said her voice not making any more sound than a sharp whisper.

She turned from him The battle morphing from strategic gunfire, to the chase of what they now know as EDI's body.
Shepard headed the party chasing the slender mechanical woman through short cuts. She was more agile that Shepard first assumed, faster too. She rounded into the bay. Climbing into a shuttle. Shepard fired wildly as she began to take off fearing she may have gotten away.
"Vega!" She shouted into the radio.
"Already on it." He called back yahooing as she saw the Alliance shuttle careered into the escaping one. The offending ship come crashing down,Shepard only just managing to dive out of the way.
Vega landed, exiting quickly, Shepard noticed Kaidan helping Liara.

The mechanical woman leaped from her shuttle. All flesh and fabric melted away from the flames of the crash. Kaiden pushed Liara aside and engaged the enemy, his bullets doing nothing she approached him. A steal hand of immense strength grabbed him by the throat.
Shepard couldn't fire, there was no opening and she couldn't risk hitting Kaidan.
"Let him go." She shouted.
The woman paused "Orders?" She asked her head bending to listen to her communicator, Shepard never heard the reply but she could guess. She watched the woman begin to beat him against the hull of the ship. Shepard was not about to allow this to be one of Illusive mans "punishments".
She ran forward to try and close the gap, feet struggling to gain purchase on the ground. Adrenalin spiked anger and fear taking precedence her brain as she watched the violence. By the time she was close enough to affect anything the mechano-woman had tossed Kaidan aside as if he were no more than a crumpled bit of paper. Time slowed to a crawl as the creature that may have well cause the destruction of her love, turned on her.
Her split second reaction was a shock wave. The huge blast of biotic energy hit the fem-bot the blue energy sparking off the metal, she reeled back giving Shepard a moment to pull out her shot gun and fire from the hip into the the creature. The droids shield was obliterated in the first shot the second dropped her. The instant the droids head clanked against the ground Shepard ran to the form of Kaidan, she skidded in next to him. Signalling Vega to pick up any pieces.
"Kaidan?" She questioned checking for signs of life, and severe injury. His eyes were closed behind the visor, but his chest was still rising and falling, faintly.
"Shepard." Jokers voice broke through the fog of concern "Reapers are on their way, we have to move."
She rolled him carefully and levered his unconscious weight into a position that she could lift him. Carefully picking him up in a fireman's lift and heading to the now landing Normandy.
Again the cargo bay doors closed. Filling the room with darkness, the weight lifted off her shoulders and EDI re appeared.
"The only other AI like you. We kill it, and let you wear her skin." Shepard said darkly.
"I'm surprised you left it in tact," EDI said her soft melodic voice carrying through the pitch. "I would have thought you would have ripped it apart to the very last micron."
"Believe me I wanted to. Even after you started walking around in her."
The hospital room peeked into view Kaidan lying bruised and broken. She pressed her face against the glass. He was fine now of course, these are feelings from the memory's flooding her mind. She felt she had failed again. She linked her hands together across the top of her head. Moving so only her forehead touched the cold glass.
"You take this so personally." EDI said joining her. "It's as if you fell like you are responsible."
Shepard looked with disbelief at the robot flawed by her statement. "Am I not?" She said slowly "First and foremost I am a Commander, it is my job to make sure my crew are safe."
"It is your job, to Command this vessel and fight a war." EDI corrected "Are they not soldiers?"
"Is doesn't make me any less responsible, my decisions lead this. My inability to..."
"Be every where at once?" EDI cut her off "be omnipotent..."
"To be strong enough to save them." She yelled "all of them what about the colony of Baterians? Edin Prime, Horizon, Freedoms Progress, the human war ships on the citadel, admiral Kohoku, Captian Kirrahe, Legion, Jenkins, Ashley. You, Morden, Thane, Every one on the Citadel, hundreds of Thousands of lives I could have saved!"
"How Shepard?" EDI like Legion had little to no emotion in her voice and her questions sounded innocent. Though infuriating.
Shepard opened her mouth and shut it again.
When she didn't get and answer EDI rephrased her question.
"Why are you responsible for the whole galaxy?"
Again Shepard couldn't answer.
"Why does it have to be you?"
Morden appeared through the darkness, "It had to be me. Some one else might have got it wrong." His last words to her on Tuchanka before he sacrificed himself to cure the Krogan's ripped through her like a jagged knife. He was right. Because some times your born with a job to do.
"I was born with thick skin and broad shoulders." She began "A high pain threshold, and a stubborn personality." She paused for a moment. "It had to be me. No one else could survive it. So the guilt its mine too."

A different hospital scene began to solidify through the darkness.
Thane's bed appeared before her. Kolyat at her side. Thane lay quietly breathing, the end to his terminal illness brought around quicker by an assassins blade, his last actions heroic again another sacrifice for the greater good. They began to read the prayer,
“Kalahira, mistress of inscrutable depths, I ask forgiveness.
Kalahira, whose waves wear down stone and sand--
Kalahira, wash the sins from this one,
and set him on the distant shore of the infinite spirit.
Kalahira, this one's heart is pure,
but beset by wickedness and contention.
Guide this one to where the traveler never tires,
the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve.
Guide this one, Kalahira,
and she will be a companion to you as she was to me.”
Shepard choked back her emotions. She crossed her arms chewing on her lip. Thane's eyes had closed while they were reading. Breath leaving his body with out so much a rattle.
"She?" Shepard questioned gaining control of her voice "Why did the prayer say she?"
"The prayer was not for my father, he had already asked forgiveness for the lives he had taken. His wish was for you Shepard to find your own forgiveness." Kolyat explained simply.
Shepard swallowed. She covered her mouth with her hand, and left the hospital before she broke down.
"It was the only five minutes you let your self grieve." Ashley's voice echoed, through her mind. Shepard was on the Normandy, people were talking to her, asking her for things, specialist Traynor telling her about new missions. She consoled Cortez, talked to Vega. She organised the war effort, finding war assets, assigning materials to the Crucible build. Functioning outwardly while inside she was screaming.
Thane Krios was a name on the wall.
Her friend, her mentor, the one person that had managed to quell the growing storm in her heart, and now he was just another shining silver plaque that every one just walked by, and she had no time to mourn.
"The only things that leave us are friends; the only things we gain are enemies.” She muttered under her breath.

Description
"Wait ,wait, wait." Shepard called out.
Kaidan meet her in the hall way followed by Vega and Anderson In the Montreal base. Her protest halting every one and everything in the area except for Shepard and EDI.
"Is there a problem Shepard?" EDI asked,
"You don't want to start from here. Lets get to the juicy stuff." As she spoke her armour seemed to grow out of her skin. The back drop had been cold metal flared up with a harsh light as Mars appeared under their feet. Gun fire whizzed over head. She ran forward into cover, Kaidan joined her behind the large rock returning fire on the Cerberus troopers.
Butterfly's were raging batter in her stomach, not from the mission but from seeing him again after so long after Horizon, there had been no communication between them save that one letter, that one letter she had read a thousand times.
She popped out of cover, nailing a shock trooper through the visor of his helmet. Moving to the crate, as a renewed hail of gun fire erupted in her direction.
"Kaidan." She called out. The "isolated incident" with Joker, also at the forefront of her thoughts. "Kaidan I have something to say and I wanted you to hear it from me."
"Not really the time Shepard." He barked.
She fired one more shot and moved back to his cover, turning her radio off.
"I kissed Joker." She blurted out, her brain not working as a filter for her mouth. At first she wasn't sure if he had heard her. Another wave of enemies hitting them, he was distracted for a moment from her words.
"What are you trying to tell me Shepard?" He asked, tone steady and low, turning to wards her as he reloaded his weapon.
"I'm telling you, because this little thing happened but I didn't want you finding out Via one of Zaeed's security tapes or worse."
He fixed her with that steady stare sliding the Thermal clip into his assault rifle with a little more force than necessary. Turned and let loose on the enemy pushing the combat forward onto their territory. Shepard rolled her eyes and followed suit.
"Talk to me Kaidan," She said sternly, the silent treatment was even worse than the lecture on Horizon.
"And say what?" He snapped
"Anything! For gods sake high school girls kiss longer than we did. They feel about as silly afterwards as well." She explained, desperately.
Vega was moving passed them and the enemies numbers were thinning "For Christ sake you two, make up and make out." He quipped.
"I'm trying to tell you, I had a moment of weakness, but it doesn't change how I feel about you." She exclaimed.
"And how's that?" Sullen jealousy dripping of the edges of his words.
She reached forward tucking her fingers behind the gorget on his chest plate. Pulling him towards her. Metal armour scraped together before flesh. Lips met, a familiar kiss that could still light a fire through her body. His rifle bumping her side, his free arm coming to rest on the small of her back pulling her closer. She let go of his armour her hand sliding over his shoulders. The kiss was fervid, not with out urgency, full of longing from the years apart, driven forward by the inevitability of pulling away to finish the battle. The stubble was new and rough against her skin, added a certain level of rugged charm to him. She pulled away, wishing she didn't have to, holding on to the sensation as long as she could. As his lips slipped away from hers she let out a tiny breath, almost as if she had been holding it the whole time. "That's how." She said her voice not making any more sound than a sharp whisper.

She turned from him The battle morphing from strategic gunfire, to the chase of what they now know as EDI's body.
Shepard headed the party chasing the slender mechanical woman through short cuts. She was more agile that Shepard first assumed, faster too. She rounded into the bay. Climbing into a shuttle. Shepard fired wildly as she began to take off fearing she may have gotten away.
"Vega!" She shouted into the radio.
"Already on it." He called back yahooing as she saw the Alliance shuttle careered into the escaping one. The offending ship come crashing down,Shepard only just managing to dive out of the way.
Vega landed, exiting quickly, Shepard noticed Kaidan helping Liara.

The mechanical woman leaped from her shuttle. All flesh and fabric melted away from the flames of the crash. Kaiden pushed Liara aside and engaged the enemy, his bullets doing nothing she approached him. A steal hand of immense strength grabbed him by the throat.
Shepard couldn't fire, there was no opening and she couldn't risk hitting Kaidan.
"Let him go." She shouted.
The woman paused "Orders?" She asked her head bending to listen to her communicator, Shepard never heard the reply but she could guess. She watched the woman begin to beat him against the hull of the ship. Shepard was not about to allow this to be one of Illusive mans "punishments".
She ran forward to try and close the gap, feet struggling to gain purchase on the ground. Adrenalin spiked anger and fear taking precedence her brain as she watched the violence. By the time she was close enough to affect anything the mechano-woman had tossed Kaidan aside as if he were no more than a crumpled bit of paper. Time slowed to a crawl as the creature that may have well cause the destruction of her love, turned on her.
Her split second reaction was a shock wave. The huge blast of biotic energy hit the fem-bot the blue energy sparking off the metal, she reeled back giving Shepard a moment to pull out her shot gun and fire from the hip into the the creature. The droids shield was obliterated in the first shot the second dropped her. The instant the droids head clanked against the ground Shepard ran to the form of Kaidan, she skidded in next to him. Signalling Vega to pick up any pieces.
"Kaidan?" She questioned checking for signs of life, and severe injury. His eyes were closed behind the visor, but his chest was still rising and falling, faintly.
"Shepard." Jokers voice broke through the fog of concern "Reapers are on their way, we have to move."
She rolled him carefully and levered his unconscious weight into a position that she could lift him. Carefully picking him up in a fireman's lift and heading to the now landing Normandy.
Again the cargo bay doors closed. Filling the room with darkness, the weight lifted off her shoulders and EDI re appeared.
"The only other AI like you. We kill it, and let you wear her skin." Shepard said darkly.
"I'm surprised you left it in tact," EDI said her soft melodic voice carrying through the pitch. "I would have thought you would have ripped it apart to the very last micron."
"Believe me I wanted to. Even after you started walking around in her."
The hospital room peeked into view Kaidan lying bruised and broken. She pressed her face against the glass. He was fine now of course, these are feelings from the memory's flooding her mind. She felt she had failed again. She linked her hands together across the top of her head. Moving so only her forehead touched the cold glass.
"You take this so personally." EDI said joining her. "It's as if you fell like you are responsible."
Shepard looked with disbelief at the robot flawed by her statement. "Am I not?" She said slowly "First and foremost I am a Commander, it is my job to make sure my crew are safe."
"It is your job, to Command this vessel and fight a war." EDI corrected "Are they not soldiers?"
"Is doesn't make me any less responsible, my decisions lead this. My inability to..."
"Be every where at once?" EDI cut her off "be omnipotent..."
"To be strong enough to save them." She yelled "all of them what about the colony of Baterians? Edin Prime, Horizon, Freedoms Progress, the human war ships on the citadel, admiral Kohoku, Captian Kirrahe, Legion, Jenkins, Ashley. You, Morden, Thane, Every one on the Citadel, hundreds of Thousands of lives I could have saved!"
"How Shepard?" EDI like Legion had little to no emotion in her voice and her questions sounded innocent. Though infuriating.
Shepard opened her mouth and shut it again.
When she didn't get and answer EDI rephrased her question.
"Why are you responsible for the whole galaxy?"
Again Shepard couldn't answer.
"Why does it have to be you?"
Morden appeared through the darkness, "It had to be me. Some one else might have got it wrong." His last words to her on Tuchanka before he sacrificed himself to cure the Krogan's ripped through her like a jagged knife. He was right. Because some times your born with a job to do.
"I was born with thick skin and broad shoulders." She began "A high pain threshold, and a stubborn personality." She paused for a moment. "It had to be me. No one else could survive it. So the guilt its mine too."

A different hospital scene began to solidify through the darkness.
Thane's bed appeared before her. Kolyat at her side. Thane lay quietly breathing, the end to his terminal illness brought around quicker by an assassins blade, his last actions heroic again another sacrifice for the greater good. They began to read the prayer,
“Kalahira, mistress of inscrutable depths, I ask forgiveness.
Kalahira, whose waves wear down stone and sand--
Kalahira, wash the sins from this one,
and set him on the distant shore of the infinite spirit.
Kalahira, this one's heart is pure,
but beset by wickedness and contention.
Guide this one to where the traveler never tires,
the lover never leaves, the hungry never starve.
Guide this one, Kalahira,
and she will be a companion to you as she was to me.”
Shepard choked back her emotions. She crossed her arms chewing on her lip. Thane's eyes had closed while they were reading. Breath leaving his body with out so much a rattle.
"She?" Shepard questioned gaining control of her voice "Why did the prayer say she?"
"The prayer was not for my father, he had already asked forgiveness for the lives he had taken. His wish was for you Shepard to find your own forgiveness." Kolyat explained simply.
Shepard swallowed. She covered her mouth with her hand, and left the hospital before she broke down.
"It was the only five minutes you let your self grieve." Ashley's voice echoed, through her mind. Shepard was on the Normandy, people were talking to her, asking her for things, specialist Traynor telling her about new missions. She consoled Cortez, talked to Vega. She organised the war effort, finding war assets, assigning materials to the Crucible build. Functioning outwardly while inside she was screaming.
Thane Krios was a name on the wall.
Her friend, her mentor, the one person that had managed to quell the growing storm in her heart, and now he was just another shining silver plaque that every one just walked by, and she had no time to mourn.
"The only things that leave us are friends; the only things we gain are enemies.” She muttered under her breath.