We're going to need a bigger boot.

In retrospect, Kaidan should've known one of these times, one of his missions was going to run long. This long? Well, that hadn't really been in the cards at all, he'd thought, even with the Alliance lifting some of the restrictions on deploying him. But sometimes, one thing just... led to another, one mission necessitating another one ASAP.

His portal finally dropped him off in Baltimore sometime that morning. By the time he came walking down the causeway, one pack in hand and the other slung over his shoulder, it was just past noon. A little more time, and he was at the house, dropping the bag with his M-8 Avenger in it onto the steps so he could unlock the door.

Walking back into this place seemed... almost surreal, after a week's worth of derelict vessels and listening posts crawling with rachni. He almost expected something to hurl itself at him as he opened the door, but... not so much.

He heaved a great big sigh, and dragged his other bag back into the house. He'd unpack his armor and guns soon enough, though - right now he really needed to sit down with a glass of water.

[[ open post, la! ]]

( Move move move! )

---

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. ]]