Chapter Text
{{{}}}
Silence…
Adrift. Floating. Warm. An embrace. It’s all around him.
He feels…at peace.
{{{}}}
A flash of bright light makes him blink.
Suddenly he’s no longer adrift…floating. He’s sitting on a bench, surrounded by a dark but hazy forest of trees. Looking around, he’s surprised that this location feels familiar…somehow. He feels comfortable here… waiting. He doesn’t really know how long he’s been sitting…waiting. Waiting for someone? It could have been ages or seconds, but he has no desire to do anything else…until suddenly he realizes that he’s not alone anymore.
{{{}}}
“Come here often?”
Laughing he shakes his head. “That’s either a horrible pick-up line or a horrible joke, under the circumstances.”
“Yeah, I know, but I couldn’t help it.”
“What about you? Do you come here often?”
“From time to time.”
“Where is here…exactly?”
“Oh…you don’t recognize it?”
He starts to shake his head, but stops…wait. “Maybe? Have I been here before?”
His companion grins at him and shrugs.
Huh…“Is this place different for you?”
Another shrug. “Maybe? To me, this is limbo. Or…it could be France? I seem to remember a holo of a place that looked like this in France.”
“Limbo…” he mumbles as he looks around, focusing on the hazy indistinct trees and then back at his friend. Tilting his head, he asks curious to the answer. “Am I dead?”
“Not this time, Skipper.”
“This time…?”
“Yep. We used to hang out here a lot after the last time. At least until you up and disappeared on me. It wasn’t until your friend Mordin arrived that I knew what happened to you.”
“Oh?” So that’s why this place looked familiar. “You’ve talked to Mordin?”
His friend laughs, “Yes. He’s a funny Salarian. Talks non-stop.” Looking thoughtful, she adds, “That green guy though, he’s quieter. Stoic. Talks a lot about Arashu, whoever that is.”
“Thane?”
“Yeah him. Showed up not long ago. Has lots of good things to say about you.” She gives him a funny look. “He’s kind of hot, for an alien guy.”
He blinks in surprise at that statement. “Ugh…let’s not go there.”
Laughing, his companion leans back into the bench and crosses an ankle over a knee, getting comfortable. “Heard you got another chance to kick some Reaper ass. Good.”
“Good?”
His friend nods emphatically at him. “Yes…good.” Sitting up suddenly, she sticks a finger in his chest, which hurts, startling him. Looking pointedly at him, his friend narrows her eyes. “You are not allowed back here until you kick them back into the hole they crawled out of, Skipper. Do you hear me? I don’t want to see you again until you do what you were brought back for. Kick. Reaper. Ass. Shepard!”
“Ouch!” He exclaims as his chest around the tip of her finger starts to throb in pain. Gasping, he quickly replies backing away, “Yes ma’am.”
Nodding at him, his companion stands up suddenly and salutes him.
Before he can respond in kind, the ache that was started by touching him spreads throughout his entire body making him tense and stiffen in pain. Then within another blink of an eye, his friend and the hazy forest are gone, replaced by bright light.
{{{}}}
Awareness comes slowly. There’s more light…but dim…fake…like a lighted room.
He can’t open his eyes or move, but his other senses detect that he’s no longer in limbo. The acrid smell of cleanser and ammonia, alert him that he’s most likely in a hospital or med bay.
More time elapses…how much, he cannot say. However, there is a slight murmur of voices not far from where he’s lying. He can’t tell who’s talking, but he can tell that there are two people.
Maybe over time if he listens intently, he will recognize who they are... ...
There’s a distinct rustle of fabric, like a uniform being taken off or adjusted and a squeak of a chair.
A throat is cleared rendering it husky like the speaker hasn’t used it in a while. “Hmm…he’s been out for a while. I thought since he woke up briefly to ask for me that he would have woken up fully by now.”
A feminine chuckle, “Yes, Damien has always been too stubborn for his own good especially when it came to being sick or injured. As a boy, he was always sneaking off before his body had a chance to overcome his ailments. This time, Karin preempted his stubbornness by giving him a large dose of a sedative, just so his body could heal. He doesn’t know how to sit still.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed that.”
Mmm…that husky tenor Damien recognizes. It belongs to his fiancé. The other voice has to belong to his mother. Good. The two most important people in his life are there with him. Stilling his racing heart at hearing his lover’s voice, he listens intently to their conversation.
{{{}}}
Hannah grins at the young man who is looking down at her son with love in his eyes. “Yes. You will have your hands full, with this one. He’s a menace.” She laughs and adds, “But, a handsome menace.”
Kaidan laughs and gently trails a finger over Damien’s forehead, brushing a stray lock of hair back into place that had become dislodged. “He is at that.”
“I’m glad everything worked out for you, Kaidan. After hearing about what happened to you on Mars, I was relieved to hear that you recovered and with your promotion to Spectre…that’s an amazing thing.”
“Thank you, Admiral. Mars was a revelation, in truth. I think almost dying, made me see things in a new perspective. About a lot of things. Mostly… about how I feel for Damien.”
“Oh?”
Kaidan nods looking at her briefly before returning his amorous eyes back to his lover. “He was amazing, you know…when he came to visit me in the hospital, forgiving me for my stupidity towards him. How does someone forgive so easily?” Looking down and away as if ashamed, Kaidan trails his hand down to Damien’s hand and holds it. “I was horrible to him. The things I said to him on Horizon and then later on Mars. He was right there in front of me…flesh and bone. Alive. Back from the dead and all I could do was accuse him of being a fake…a puppet for Cerberus. I was so bogged down in my hatred for them that I lost sight of the wonder of Shepard. He has such conviction about the rights and wrongs in this galaxy and took it upon himself to save humanity on his own by allying himself with the enemy to do so. Hell, he recruited another team of heroes for what could have been a suicide mission. Only Shepard could have done that and still make it out alive with no casualties. That takes some brass balls.” He looks back at Damien’s mother, pain in his eyes…regret. “Only, I didn’t believe him. I ignored the threat. I walked away from him. I…I let him down. Sometimes…I feel like I don’t deserve him.”
A pause.
Hannah puts her hand on his arm, waiting for him to look at her. “That’s bullshit, Kaidan. We all do things that we’ve regretted in life. It comes with growing up…maturing. What matters is that you are here now.”
“He’s mentioned that.”
“He’s right. Listen to him. You’ve joined him in all this. Sometimes when you fight hard for something, no matter how long it takes, or how right you are in the fighting, you get disillusioned. You gave him hope, a future to have beyond all this war and destruction. That’s an amazing thing, Kaidan. You are an amazing person. Don’t lose sight of that. Together you will stop this insanity of a war…along with some friends, of course.”
Kaidan looks at her and nods, hopeful once more as he looks back at the man in the bio-bed.
“Remember, without Damien in this conflict, we have no hope to win. You ground him. Make him fight for the right reasons. That is a strong motivator…hope. Without it, he’s lost. We all are.”
“No pressure then.”
Hannah laughs. Also looking at her son, she adds, “Seriously, how can you say no to that face.”
“Ha. I can’t.”
“He is a handsome devil. What’s amazing, is that he doesn’t use it. He doesn’t have to. He’s the paramount soldier, an extremely powerful biotic, and a great leader. But he has a daunting task ahead of him. He has to save the galaxy from the Reapers. It’s better to follow him then get in his way.”
“I’ve noticed that too.”
They are interrupted by a loud gurgle coming from Kaidan’s stomach. Kaidan turns red and excuses himself.
Hannah laughs, “Why don’t you go eat? It could be awhile before he wakes up.”
Kaidan shakes his head in denial, “No. I want to be here when he does.”
A soft knock on the door sounds, distracting the both of them. Smiling, Hannah straightens and raises her voice. “I knew you would say that. Come in, Garrus.”
The door opens and a familiar armor-clad Turian comes in. “Admiral Shepard…Major.”
“Garrus…” Kaidan replies, sighing in resignation. There is no arguing with the mother of Shepard.
Receiving an encouraging nod from his co-conspirator who contacted him earlier to spirit away the Major so she could spend some private time with her son, Garrus asks, “How long has it been since you ate or gotten some sleep, Kaidan? I can hear your stomach growling from out in the hallway. Damien wouldn’t want you to have a migraine from lack of food, now would he? He would never forgive me for ignoring your needs while he was incapacitated.”
Kaidan rolls his eyes, “Getting out the big guns, aren’t you?”
Garrus looks at him innocently, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Major.”
“Uh huh. Did you want anything, Admiral?”
Hannah shakes her head and gives a soft chuckle. “My dear, please call me Hannah. You’ve seen my son naked; I think we can dispense with the pleasantries for the time being.”
A fit of coughing from an embarrassed and red-faced Kaidan and a loud Turian snigger sounds out in the awkward silence that follows that statement.
“I’ll stay by my son’s side until you return, just in case he does awaken while you’re gone. He’s not going anywhere and will still be here when you return. Garrus, please ensure that the Major eats before he passes out from starving himself.”
“Yes ma’am,” Garrus says at the same time Kaidan groans, “But…”
Hannah interrupts tersely, “Do I need to make this an order, Major.”
“No ma’am.”
“Good. See you later, then.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Hannah waits until the door to her son’s room closes behind the Major, his feet dragging, and her Turian son’s amusement, before chuckling at Kaidan’s reluctance to leave Damien’s side.
Fussing with her son’s bedsheets and smoothing his hair, she muses out loud. “You picked a good one, son. You guys are perfect for each other. Kaidan is just as stubborn as you.” Taking his hand in hers, she adds, “You take after your father. He was also stubborn and hard-headed. These are traits that are quite endearing, actually. Don’t ever settle for someone who isn’t. You have good taste.”
“You think so?” A soft voice sounds out in the stillness.
{{{}}}
Hannah blinks knowingly as she sees her son has opened his eyes and is looking at her. “Ah, there you are. It’s quite unbecoming to eavesdrop, son.”
Damien reddens, “I didn’t mean too.”
“Uh huh,” she mocks, not believing for a minute that Damien hadn’t feigned a little after waking up to see if they were getting along alright. This was the first time they were in the same room together since the big reveal that they were dating. Smiling cheekily at him, she leans over him to kiss his forehead. “No matter. It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?”
“Better. Stiff,” he grimaces as he shifts in the bed, “Sore.”
“Well…Karin should be in shortly to check you over. I’ll contact her now.” Hannah smiles at her son as he groans out that he’s fine. “Stop…I almost lost you…you can’t weasel yourself out of this situation. Not going to happen.”
“Ugh…fine.” Damien whines as he watches his mother type into her omni-tool, sending a message to the Doc.
{{{}}}
After the Doc came and went, pronouncing that he’ll live, Damien eyes his mom who has settled into a chair at his bedside. “It’s great to see you in person, Mom.”
Hannah turns to him and takes his hand, kissing the back of it, opting for this small gesture over the hug she really wants to give him, since it could inadvertently hurt his injuries. Narrowing her eyes at him to give him a faux admonishment, “This is not what I meant when I said I’ll see you soon, son.”
“I know. I guess the surgery worked.”
“Yes. But, Karin and that ex-Cerberus lady said that it was close. Too close.”
“Miranda. Her name is Miranda.”
“I know.”
Raising his eyebrows at her, he adds, “And, she came a long way putting her ass on the line with her pursuers to save mine, when she didn’t have to.”
Hannah nods and then sighs. “It’s just…”
“What?”
She may as well tell him. He’ll find out anyway from someone else. “Well, you weren’t awake when she was here. Things happened.”
“She’s gone?”
Hannah nods. “Yes. I believe she left shortly after finishing with your surgery. She left instructions with the Doc and said that you’d understand. Do you?”
Damien sighs. “Yes. I know what she’s going through right now. It’s not just being hunted by her former employer, but there’s a delicate situation with her sister. Either way…she’s a good friend. What’s going on? You said something happened?”
Hannah grimaces. “She made Kaidan uncomfortable. After finding out that you two were involved, I guess she purposefully cut communications on the ship to not inform Kaidan when you were transferred to the clinic as soon as the Normandy docked. She caused undue stress and worry, Damien. Her actions were hurtful and malicious towards Kaidan. Actually, it points to jealousy on her part. You might want to do something about that.”
Damien closes his eyes and lets out a loud sigh. “Shit.” Opening his eyes, he nods. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll take care of it.”
“Good.”
“Did you really have to make Kaidan leave like you did? I was looking forward to seeing him.”
Hannah smirks at him.
Uh oh. “What?” Damien asks, cringing slightly at the glee in her eyes.
“Didn’t take you long to ask about him.”
He blushes a little and smiles sheepishly. “Well…uh…”
“You love him.”
“It’s more than that.”
“Oh?”
Damien smiles, happiness seeping into his expression. “It’s like what you had with Dad.”
Squeezing her son’s hand, Hannah nods in understanding. Quirking a brow, she teases him. “Am I going to hear wedding bells in my future?”
Damien nods. He may as well tell her. “Yes. Kaidan proposed. We’re engaged.”
Hannah squeals and hugs him.
“Ugh…Mom. Not so tight.”
Releasing him, Hannah says, “Sorry. Sorry,” and sits back down in her seat.
Focusing on his mother’s rank insignia, Damien asks, suddenly a little worried. “Will there be a problem with Kaidan serving with me on the Normandy now that we’re together? If Admiral Hackett were to separate us…I don’t know if I would be able to…”
Hannah interrupts him, “No, son. I won’t let him separate you. Kaidan is meant to be with you, to serve with you. Besides, the rules don’t apply in this case. You’re saving the galaxy. I think that alone grants you a few favors.” She squeezes his hand again. “You deserve to be happy, too. Take advantage of the time you have together.”
Damien squeezes his mom’s hand in return, “Thanks, Mom.”
Noise in the hallway distracts them. Damien looks up expectantly when he hears Kaidan speak.
“Seriously, Garrus, I can’t eat another bite. I really want to get back…just in case Shepard is awaa…ke…” Kaidan says as he walks in the door and stops as soon as he sees that not only is his fiancé awake but is looking right at him. “Hey you…” he purrs as he hurries over to him and gives him a kiss.
Releasing his lover after a few breathless moments, Damien smiles up at his fiancé and cups his face, not letting him get away. “Hey.”
{{{}}}
“Awww, so cute,” Hannah says as she beams a smile at them, making them pull apart enough to both flush with embarrassment. “Don’t mind me…”
Looking uncomfortable, Damien clears his throat.
Hannah chuckles and walks over to them, grinning. “I’m happy for you two.” Suddenly pulling Kaidan into a hug, surprising him, she boasts, “Welcome to the family.”
Kaidan beams back at her. “Thank you Adm… uh, Hannah.”
Hannah smiles cheekily. “You can call me Mom, if that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“Uh…” Kaidan’s speech stumbles as he looks from her to his fiancé and back, in shock.
Noticing how awkward the situation has gotten, Damien intercedes with, “We’ll get back to that later. There’s more important things we should discuss.”
“Right. Like your wedding!” Hannah gushes.
“Not what I was suggesting, Mom…”
Damien is interrupted when his mother starts pacing at the foot of his bed and starts listing off ideas she has for their wedding… “It will of course be after the war ends. I’m expecting you will want it to be on Earth. Garrus will be best man for you, Damien. For Kaidan… I’m not sure. He can answer that later, of course. Oh! Who to invite…” she stops and starts to tick items off on her hands as she continues to pace.
Damien and Kaidan look at each in wonder and then back to watch Hannah continue to talk to herself and start making notes on her omni-tool. Wow… she moves fast. Kaidan moves to sit next to Damien’s bed and they intertwine their hands as they continue to watch.
They are interrupted when Admiral Hackett walks in to the room and stops next to Hannah as she finishes her list. Catching a glimpse of the ‘wedding list’, he blinks and looks at her before looking at the two men as they hold hands. Understanding dawns on him and he frowns.
Clicking off her list, she catches the frown forming on her boyfriend’s face and she narrows her eyes. “Don’t even think about it, Steven.”
Steven stiffens, “Now Hannah, they serve together. Shepard is technically Alenko’s CO. Frat regs specifically state…”
Hannah interrupts, “That’s enough Steven. I don’t care what the frat regs say. Damien is the ‘tip of the spear’ remember?” She air quotes his term for her son. “He’s done enough for the Alliance. Hell, the whole galaxy. I won’t allow you to separate them.”
Steven huffs in irritation, “Won’t allow! Hannah, I’m in charge. In this instance, I’m going to have to insist that…”
Hannah shakes her head vehemently. “No! Hasn’t he done enough? Damien has even died for the cause. In this I will stand firm. Do NOT take this further, Steven.” Huffing in indignation, she crosses her arms over her chest and stares at him, challenging him to try and say something else.
Hackett glowers at her and crosses his arms over his chest, mirroring her.
Suddenly, Hannah shrugs. “Technically, I serve under you too. Literally, in this instance.”
“Mom!” Damien exclaims loudly, blushing from ear to ear.
Waving away her son’s exclamation, she continues berating her boyfriend. “Aren’t you being just a little bit hypocritical? If you separate them, then you may as well separate us.”
“Hannah…”
“Don’t you Hannah me,” she interjects, sticking a finger into his chest. “If you do this, I guarantee you won’t like the consequences. How about sleeping on the couch for the next month?”
Hackett sputters in outrage.
Hannah stiffens, “Would you like to make it two?” Giving him another huff, she turns her back on him and looks at her son and his fiancé, and winks, startling them out of their wide-eyed stupor.
Shit. Steven looks at the two men, clenching onto each other, and then back at the love of his life. What a pickle he’s gotten himself into. Time to grovel. She’s right, of course. If he insists on separating Shepard and Alenko, then not only will he be a hypocrite but he’ll suffer too. Gently reaching out to turn his girlfriend around to face him, he wraps his arms around her and tilts her chin up. “I’m sorry, my love. You’re right, of course. I was being a jerk. It might happen again, but I have you to straighten me out.” He kisses her on the tip of her nose and then quickly on the mouth. “What would I do without you?”
“You’ll never find out,” Hannah smiles up at him, knowing she would get her way.
They kiss again, until Damien clears his throat.
Chuckling and slightly turning red, Hannah takes Steven by the hand and starts walking toward the door. “Come on dear, let’s make up in private. See you two later.” After seeing them nod, she looks back at Steven and winks. Looking him up and down, she adds, “Much later.”
“Mom!”
“Hannah!”
Laughing, Hannah waves goodbye and leads a flustered Admiral Hackett out of the room.
{{{}}}
“That explains a lot,” Kaidan says chuckling as he turns back to look adoringly at his fiancé after watching the two Admirals leave.
“What does?” Damien asks, his cheeks still burning with embarrassment over his mother’s antics.
“Where you got your charm and how incorrigible you can be. You got it from your mother, of course.”
Damien smiles. True. Suddenly he pulls his fiancé into his arms, ignoring the sting of pain, and devours his mouth, leaving Kaidan breathless. Pulling back slightly to stare into his lover’s eyes, he whispers, “I love you,” before kissing him again.
{{{}}}