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]

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?"

[not_a_whiner]

"My father was in the Alliance for a long time, so I guess it would be easy to draw that line," Kaidan said slowly. "But no. Not really."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack waited to see if Kaidan was going to go on for a second, and, when he didn't, prompted, "So what was the plan at first?"

[not_a_whiner]

"There wasn't really a plan," Kaidan said slowly. "By the time I was old enough to think about one, a company called Connatix had convinced my parents to send me off to BAaT - Biotics Acclimation and Temperance Training. When that shut down, I kind of drifted for a while. I joined the Alliance to get my life back together."

He didn't particularly want to linger on the details - not because he minded talking about them, exactly, but because it was seriously old news. Closed book.

[bitten_notshy]

"And it must have worked for a while," Jack noted. "At least, you're an officer."

If he noticed some details were being skipped in the sketch, they seemed to him to be more personal than he needed to inquire after.

[not_a_whiner]

"I like it," Kaidan said simply. "I mean, I know enjoying throwing yourself bodily into danger all the time probably looks pretty crazy, but... discipline, and being able to contribute something... it gave me a handhold to give everything an overhaul."

[bitten_notshy]

"I'm not one to judge what's crazy," Jack commented. "If you like it, you like it. That's what matters."

[not_a_whiner]

"Yeah, well." Kaidan gave an idle shrug. "This is probably going to be the rest of my life, and I'm at peace with that. But you're-- what, twenty one?"

[bitten_notshy]

"Just short of it. My birthday's in December."

At which point Jack would finally be able to serve and be served at the club, and would lose his favorite complaint.

"Why, how old are you?"

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan sounded especially wry as he said, "Thirty-four."

[bitten_notshy]

"Oh." It wasn't old, exactly, but it was a few years older than Jack would have guessed. "Thanks for not calling me a kid, then."

[not_a_whiner]

"Don't mention it."

And now he just sounded amused, a little.

"So if you don't want to be a detective, what's the plan?"

[bitten_notshy]

"I have another two and a half years of college, then three of law school," Jack said, ticking it off on his fingers. "Then I'll either take over the law office on the island or go home and join a firm there. It depends on how things seem then, I suppose."

If the wolf were firmly under control or cured by then, he'd go home; otherwise, the island might always be safer.

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan nodded. "How long have you been here, anyway?"

[bitten_notshy]

"It's complicated because I keep trying to go home and it never sticks," Jack said wryly. "But on and off for three and a half years."

[not_a_whiner]

"Well, you don't seem to be doing too bad for yourself out here," Kaidan said.

[bitten_notshy]

"Which is probably why I keep coming back," Jack nodded.

[not_a_whiner]

"Did Sebastien send you here?" Kaidan wondered.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack hesitated at that for just a moment, trying to decide how much detail to go into.

"Not precisely," he said. "He didn't give me many orders, not by then. But we'd just moved to Baltimore, and vampirism was a crime in America at the time. It was better for him to lie low for a while, and that was easier to do if he lived alone. The funny thing is it was supposed to just be until I turned 18, but by then I had friends here and wanted to finish the school year. And then after graduation I started bouncing back and forth."

[not_a_whiner]

"Well, you were getting older," Kaidan said lightly. "Finding your own place-- that'll happen."

[bitten_notshy]

"Or I'll wander the Earth forever," Jack said, but lightly; he didn't truly believe it. "Do you think you'll find a home again?"