Aboard the MSV Ontario, Farinata System, Hades Gamma Cluster, Thursday (to 33 Apocalypse Ave)

[not_a_whiner]

"Move move move!"

There were biotics everywhere. And most of Kaidan's squad-- well, they were soldiers, not biotics. But he didn't have time to stand around the cargo hold waiting for his men to get back up on their feet after a throw or a pull knocked them off their feet.

Chairman Burns was in here somewhere, and if Kaidan knew terrorists... well, his clock must've started ticking the moment they burst into the ship.

So screw it.

He grabbed the soldier closest to him (Kootra, his name was. He thought.) and dragged him through the chaos, ducking his head as pistol shots blew past him.

He spotted the door a second later. "There," he snapped, tossing one biotic out of the way with a quick throw before rushing the door. The man landed somewhere against a bunch of containers-- Kaidan wasn't looking.

Kootra slammed the door button and it slid open in front of him. Kaidan raised his M-8 and pushed on through-- to come face to face with a couple of really surprised-looking biotics, and Chairman Burns's panicked expression.

For a moment, time stood still. Their panicked but determined eyes. Burns's face. The lone gun one of the biotics was holding.

Kaidan waited for Shepard to say something.

And then realized it wasn't gonna happen.

"Put down the gun," he said.

"How about not," the man with his gun to Burns's head said. "Force is the only way to get something done in this universe-- so how about I kill Chairman Burns and finish this charade?"

"Please! I was trying to help you people!" That was Burns. Kaidan tried not to flinch at the phrasing-- you people?

"Look," Kaidan said, groping desperately for... something. What would Shepard have said? Except he wasn't Shepard. "I'm a biotic. I know how important this is, and I know it's not gonna help anyone if you do this."

"Why not?" the man spat back. "Since the chairman here decided we weren't going to get reparations, we've got nothing left to live for!"

"Are you hearing yourself?" Kaidan replied, trying really hard to keep his voice calm. "I'm an L2. But I'm not about to give up just because of the side-effects. And this is giving up."

"I've changed my mind!" Burns's voice was starting to do something funny there. "Seeing you all here--"

"You had your chance," the biotic snapped, but Kaidan could tell by the darting of his eyes that he was thinking. Thinking was good. "You know some of us are crippled by the side-effects?" He glanced up at Kaidan. "You're one of the functional ones."

Kaidan took a deep breath. "You need Burns," he said, "If you shoot him now, he can't push through the reparations bill. And I can tell you that whoever replaces him isn't going to be happy with how this ended."

"Please."

"And we're supposed to trust you?" the man snarled at Burns. He glanced back up at Kaidan. "You promise us freedom and you'll tell us everything will be fine, and as soon as we surrender, you'll double-cross us..."

"I'm not saying the Alliance isn't going to book you when we're done here," Kaidan said. "But Burns... I don't know, he sounds like he might want to take another look."

"I had no idea the L2 biotics were this desperate," Burns said, staring at the floor. "Reparations will come. For whatever it's worth, I promise that."

There was a long silence.

The biotic lowered his gun.

Kaidan breathed.

"You're right," the biotic said. "I don't want to die. I surrender."

Burns got up to his feet. His knees were scuffed, but otherwise, he seemed okay. "I promise," he said again, "I'll see that the reparations discussion is reopened."

"And I'll see that he keeps to it," Kaidan said, lowering his own gun. "We'll be sending a cruiser by to pick up the prisoners, too."

Well. That could have gone worse.

---

Debriefings took a long time, and by the time Kaidan finally got to his portal and made the long trek back onto the island, he was exhausted. He pushed open the door and took a beeline for the couch, on which he collapsed.

He was just gonna lay here and read a book for a while. Once the residual adrenaline finally left him, he'd crash out.

[[ la la la. some dialogue taken from the mission UNC: Hostage from the original Mass Effect. Can be open. ]]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

"I would think," Jack said wistfully, "that biotic war heroes might make some kind of a difference. But you're right, it always takes time."

[not_a_whiner]

"A lot of people on Earth are still convinced we can read minds," Kaidan said wryly. "I can't say I don't sympathize with Emma."

[bitten_notshy]

"Her world's terrible about the whole thing," Jack put in. "She's convinced she'd be expelled if not murdered if people knew what she was, and from what I've seen of it she may be right. I honestly don't know why she insists on going back. Pride, mostly."

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan shrugged. "Well, terrorism isn't the way to go," he said, "But running away? Hiding from this kind of thing? It doesn't work, and it definitely doesn't change anything. Sometimes you have to hold your own."

[bitten_notshy]

"True," Jack said thoughtfully. "Sometimes I default to running, but you're right -- it doesn't fix anything but your immediate situation."

[not_a_whiner]

"So yeah, maybe it's stubbornness and pride," Kaidan said thoughtfully, "But I think she's doing the right thing."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'll tell her you said that," Jack said, laughing a bit. "God knows she's heard enough of me hinting about the other thing."

He still thought running would not be an entirely stupid move on Emma's part, but he saw the other side of it a bit more clearly.

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan thought about going on on this track, but frankly that was straying too much towards old stuff-- things he was done with and that he really didn't want to dredge up.

Instead he said, "So, you mentioned someone called Sebastien this weekend. Who's that?"

[bitten_notshy]

Jack started a bit at the relatively abrupt subject change, and it took him a moment to find the best way to phrase his answer. If Kaidan was interested, he'd get a more complete response than Jack generally gave.

"He took me in when I was a servant," he finally said. "I was seven when we met. I call him my guardian, but we had over a dozen years together. It turned into quite a bit more than 'guardian' implies. Anyhow, he was a vampire, a detective, and the best person I've ever known."

[not_a_whiner]

Well, no one had ever accused Kaidan of being a particularly smooth conversationalist...

"A detective?" he asked. "Really?"

[bitten_notshy]

"And a good one," Jack said, with some pride. "People at home said Sherlock Holmes was based on him, though given how popular those stories are in other worlds I'm less convinced of it."

[not_a_whiner]

"Well, now I know why you keep offering me detecting help," Kaidan said wryly. "You must've picked up a couple of things."

[bitten_notshy]

"I always thought it was what I was going to do with my life, and I'm a quick study when I want to be," Jack said -- not bragging, but stating a fact. "So yes, sometimes it leaks out and makes me want to be ... a bit too helpful."

[not_a_whiner]

"There's no harm in offering," Kaidan said, tapping his finger against his leg. He was thinking about something Jack had said earlier.

[bitten_notshy]

"Not usually," Jack agreed, watching the tapping. "Remind you of something?"

[not_a_whiner]

"No, just thinking," Kaidan said slowly. "Did he appreciate you helping?"

Not exactly what was on his mind, but he was quickly starting to skew towards 'maybe too much of a personal question' on that one.

[bitten_notshy]

"He did. I like being useful, and I could do things he couldn't," Jack answered easily. "He wasn't much for travel in the daytime, for example."

Loyalty kept him from pointing out his other major strength -- by the time he was 13, he was much better at infiltrating social circles and collecting confidences than Sebastien ever was.

[not_a_whiner]

"I guess not," Kaidan said, with a slight, mildly nonplussed chuckle. "That part must've been different..."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm still a little suspicious of people who do their best work before noon," Jack said, also chuckling. "I wasn't exactly nocturnal with him, but I rarely got to bed before 3 or so."

[not_a_whiner]

Yeah, Kaidan was definitely going to leave the issue of 'what does 'quite a bit more' mean' right where it was. Wasn't his business.

"Sorry about being the kind of guy who does his best work before noon," Kaidan offered. "Military's not quite like being raised by vampires."

[bitten_notshy]

It meant they were friends! Friends with a rather ... extensive ... set of benefits!

"I'm shocked," Jack deadpanned. "Next you're going to tell me your parents didn't encourage you to poke about crime scenes."

[not_a_whiner]

"Afraid I, uh, missed out on that one," Kaidan said with a wry smile.

Though he'd made at least one crime scene himself...

"Guess I should've joined C-Sec."

[bitten_notshy]

"That's your military police?" Jack asked, since it seemed a safe guess. "Somehow I have a hard time seeing it."

[not_a_whiner]

"Citadel police, actually," Kaidan said wryly. "The turians who gave you the stink-eye on your way in last weekend. But... no, it's not my kind of thing."

He tilted his head. "Did you ever consider going into law enforcement?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Briefly," Jack confirmed. "But it's changed a lot from what I grew up with. I couldn't see myself fitting in. At least with law I know I'm a little at sea. And you -- did you always know you wanted to be a soldier?"