Diablo

Kaidan tried not to stare. He'd never seen anything like this before, not in training or in the field. He'd never seen someone control so much power before. Shepard threw a stasis field on the attacking geth, then generated a singularity that drew the immobilized geth together, crushing them inexorably in the dark energy field.
"Wow," gushed Ashley. "Commander, that was awesome!" The soldier went back to shooting the husks before they could charge.
Kaidan shook himself out of his daze, and helped her pick off the husks. He'd never felt so useless in a firefight before. Usually, he was the one stunning the locals with his biotics. But next to Shepard, he was barely a blip. Then again, so was Williams. Shepard didn't actually need a squad. Kaidan was well aware that he could have cleared out all the geth here without any help from either of them.
"Hey, this door is locked. Alenko, open it."
Well, at least I have some purpose, Kaidan thought to himself. He cracked the security on the door. There were two scientists inside, absurdly relieved to be safe at last. Kaidan contemplated telling them they'd been rescued by the Butcher of Torfan, to see if they would run off screaming.
Shepard interrogated the scientists quickly, trying to track down the Prothean beacon. Kaidan could tell Shepard was getting more and more irritated with the drugged, babbling scientist, as was the other scientist. But it was different when Shepard got irritated. Kaidan tried not to laugh as Shepard finally lost his temper, and knocked out the crazy scientist with a clean punch to the jaw.
"That might have been a little extreme, Commander," said Kaidan quietly.
"He was clearly unstable. He could have snapped at any time," said Shepard in his most serious voice.
Kaidan stepped outside, trying to hold back laughter as the other scientist meekly agreed.
"You all right, LT?" asked Ashley.
"I'm fine," Kaidan assured her. "Are we done here, Commander?"
"Yeah, just looting some dead bodies. Oh cool, more medi-gel." He tossed the pack to Kaidan, and started down to the spaceport.
"Is it just me, or is Shepard a little… you know… weird?" asked Ashley nervously.
"He's completely insane, that's all. It's not a big deal, at least that's what everyone keeps telling me."

After finding Nihlus' corpse and deactivating the bombs and killing more geth then it seemed Eden Prime could comfortably hold, they finally found the Prothean beacon. Shepard walked around it, looking at it as if he was trying to remember where he had seen it before. Ashley took the opportunity to blatantly check out Shepard's ass, and Kaidan just shook his head in irritation. Why was everyone in the galaxy hot for Shepard?
Shepard walked around the beacon again, reminding Kaidan more than ever of a cat. He half expected Shepard to reach out and dig his claws into it, but instead Shepard finally turned away, and called the Normandy. Kaidan looked curiously at the beacon. The odd noise that it was making seemed to hammer at the back of his skull, but the noise became less insistent if you moved closer. Kaidan wondered what purpose this piece of ancient technology had ever served. He looked up and realized that he was standing right in front of it, close enough to touch it, and moved away so he wouldn't activate it by accident.
The hammering noise grew louder, and Kaidan discovered that he couldn't move away. He struggled against the pull, it was like the flow of biotic energy but stronger somehow. Heavier. He couldn't break free, then something threw him aside. Kaidan picked himself up, relieved that he had somehow been saved from being sucked in. He looked around, trying to figure out what had happened, and saw Shepard, his back arched tautly, floating in midair before the beacon.
"Shepard!"
"No," Ashley wrestled him to the ground before he could reach Jarrett. "Don’t touch him! It's too dangerous!"
Kaidan stared in horror as the intensity of the field increased. The energy was going to rip Jarrett in half, right in front of him, and there wasn't anything he could do. Suddenly the pulse changed rhythm, slowed down. He could see the energy shifting, slowly settling around where Shepard was suspended. Somehow, Shepard was influencing the beacon. With a horribly organic noise, the beacon suddenly exploded, throwing Kaidan and Ashley to the ground. Shepard went flying, and slammed into the wall near the stairs, then fell in a crumpled heap.
Kaidan jumped to his feet and ran over to where Shepard had fallen. He was breathing, but his face was bloodless and pale. The medic side of him took over, and he refused to think about what had happened. That Shepard had saved his life, at the risk of his own.

"How long have you been sitting there?"
Kaidan stretched, "I'm fine, I just fell asleep for a second." Kaidan looked around to see who he was talking to. "Oh, Shepard, you're awake."
Jarrett tried to sit up, but the room spun wildly and he sank back to the pillow. "How long was I out?"
"I'll get Chakwas, don't try to get up." Kaidan ran out to get Dr. Chakwas. I should say something, he told himself. I should thank him. Instead he stared at the floor while Chakwas administered restoratives, and waited while she went to let Anderson know that Shepard was awake.
Shepard sat up, rested his head in his hands, and looked curiously at Kaidan. "You didn't answer any of my questions, Alenko."
"What? I'm sorry," Kaidan stammered. "I don't remember, what did you ask me?"
"You were sitting there all night, weren't you? No wonder you're acting so weird."
Kaidan couldn't tell if Shepard was laughing or not. "Well, yeah, I mean, someone had to watch you." Jarrett was sitting up now, and looked around to room, as if trying to remember where he was. "You're probably thirsty, here," he brought a glass of water to him, and Jarrett drank it gratefully.
"Thanks."
"No, thank you, Shepard, you saved me. I got too close to the beacon, and must have activated some kind of security field or something. You got me out of the way."
Jarrett smiled ruefully. "Yeah, and then got caught myself. Don't worry about it, Kaidan. You had no way of knowing what would happen."
Kaidan stepped back, flustered, as Chakwas returned with Anderson.
"We don't even know if that's what set it off," said Chakwas with a shrug. She leaned over Jarrett, to check his eye movement, and laughed slightly as Jarrett moved away. "Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."
"Huh?" Jarrett looked confused.
"The beacon exploded," Kaidan explained. "Some kind of system overload, probably. The blast knocked you out cold, and Williams and I brought you back to the ship."
"Well, thanks," smiled Jarrett. "Everything else is okay on Eden Prime, right?"
"Yes," said Chakwas. "You saved the colony, but their medical facilities were already dealing with their own wounded from the attack. Lieutenant Alenko realized that you would receive better care here on the Normandy. Physically, you're fine, Commander, but I detected some unusual brain activity while you were unconscious."
Jarrett grinned. "I have a weird brain."
"No, Commander," Chakwas laughed, "this was different. Abnormal beta waves. Increased rapid eye movement. Signs usually associated with intense dreaming."
Shepard moved restlessly. "More like a nightmare. There were these – things. People dying. Running. Everything was black, burning, I –" Shepard shook his head, trying to force the visions away. "It didn't make any sense. Forget it."
Kaidan started, as he remembered what the crazy scientist on Eden Prime had said.
Chakwas sighed. "Still, I should put this in my report. It might be significant."
"Why, you already know I'm crazy," Shepard grinned. "You don't need to put that in your report."
Chakwas chuckled, and was about to say something more when Anderson walked in. "Ah, Captain Anderson."
"How's our XO, Doctor? Is he gonna be okay?" Anderson looked carefully at Shepard as he spoke. Kaidan noted that Shepard was still pale, even for his normal paleness.
"He's fit for duty, Captain. All of his readings are normal."
"Glad to hear it. Shepard, I need to speak to you – alone."
Kaidan left the room and went to go check the security console.
"Hey, LT, how's the Commander?" Ashley called out as she ran up to him.
"He's fine," said Kaidan reassuringly.
"Yeah, I noticed. What a sweet ass he has! I bet he fucks like a jackhammer," grinned Ashley eagerly.
"I wouldn't know," said Kaidan coldly, and walked away before she could continue. He started going through the system logs, and tried to pretend he couldn't hear anything.
"What the fuck?"
Pressly laughed at her confusion, and waved her over to the mess hall. "Alenko's a little stiff, don't let him get to you."
"Little? What shower have you been using, Pressly?" asked Fredricks, one of the Normandy's Marines. "Alenko's tool gives me nightmares."
Laughing, Ashley sat down at the table. "Okay, spill. What the hell is someone like that doing on a party ship? I mean, he has to fit the crew profile or he wouldn't be here."
"I'm sure he has unplumbed depths to his character," grinned the Marine, and Ashley nearly choked on her drink.
"Well, if he has another side to him, I haven't seen it," grumbled Pressly. "The man is made of ice as far as I can tell."
"But not the Commander, right?" asked Ashley eagerly. "Please tell me I get to have a piece of that ass."
"Let me check the schedule," grinned Pressley and pretended to check his datapad. "Yeah, your turn will probably come around next week. He's still working on the twins."
"There are twins on this ship?" Ashley grinned. "This is going to be awesome."

"Hey, LT, 'sup!"
Kaidan looked up in surprise as Ashley entered the recreation room. "Oh, hey, Williams." He looked around expectantly, but she was alone for once. Ashley had quickly become best friends with Joker and Pressly since joining the Normandy. They were still en route to the Citadel, to make their report to the Council, and Shepard was still in the doctor's care.
"Working out, I see," she grinned at him, eyeing the sweat-soaked tank top he was wearing. "Feel like sparring? I'm super-bored right now."
Kaidan frowned. He hadn't had a chance to review her training, and wasn't sure if this was a good idea.
"Oh, come on, LT, I'll go easy. I just need to work off some stress."
Kaidan wiped away the worst of the sweat with a towel, and tossed it aside. "Fine. Two out of three." He stepped onto the mat, and Ashley bounced up with all the confidence of a career soldier. Kaidan waited, and let her make the first move. He dodged the punch easily, then the next, then went right through her guard to hit her in the midsection. Ashley staggered back, trying to recover her breath, and he swept her legs from beneath her, then drove her down to the mat with another punch before she could block. "One."
Ashley lay on the mat, stunned. "Damn, you hit hard," she said, admiringly.
Kaidan didn't bother to respond. "Let me know when you're ready for the next round."
"Can we just skip to the sex?" Ashley smiled. "I don't look good with bruises."
Kaidan sighed. "Fine." He hated doing it this way, but he would take what he could get.
"Geez, ya don't gotta sound so bored all the time." Ashley bounced to her feet. Just a second too late, she saw him move, and he slammed her back to the floor. Ashley was suddenly very grateful for the padding beneath her. Kaidan had her completely pinned, one hand at her throat and his body weight pressing her down to the floor.
"Two," said Kaidan calmly. "I win." He moved his hand away from her throat and bent his head down to hers, kissed her until she was panting and straining eagerly against him. He slowly moved so that she could stand up, still controlling her with kisses. "Your room?"
"Sure," smiled Ashley, and led the way to her crew quarters.
Kaidan noticed Shepard walking upstairs as he followed Ashley to her room, and wondered what he had been doing on the lower level. Probably picking a new flavor of the month, he thought to himself. Then Ashley grabbed him and pulled him into her room, and he wasn't thinking about Shepard anymore.

"Where have you been hiding, Williams?" grinned Joker as Ashley walked in to the mess hall. "We needed another warm body for a game."
"You know all those nightmares that Fredricks has about Alenko's cock?" grinned Ashley. "Oh, and the railings in my room are going to need repair."
Joker stared at her, wide-eyed, and Ashley's grin got wider.
Kaidan walked into the mess, looking unruffled as always, and nodded to Jeff before taking an energy bar and drink. "You want anything?"
"I'll take a Tupari," said Ashley, and he slid a can to her across the table before going back to the food.
"So," said Joker slowly, "need an extra pair of hands for anything?"
Kaidan didn't bother to pretend to misunderstand his innuendo. "I don't share."
"What?" Joker stared at him, and Ashley giggled. "You don't sleep with men, you don't share? That just goes against everything the Alliance stands for."
Kaidan frowned. "Where's the peanut butter?" he asked without answering Joker's accusation.
"Shepard took it, and the chocolate syrup. He's making little sculptures, then eating them." Kaidan looked at Joker. "I couldn't make this up if I tried."
Jarrett walked into the mess hall, and silently handed the jar of peanut butter to Kaidan, licking peanut butter and chocolate from his fingers the entire time, then returned to the Captain's room, still licking chocolate syrup from his wrist as he walked.
"Holy shit, that's distracting," breathed Joker, and Ashley nodded.
Silently, Kaidan agreed, but turned away to start making himself a sandwich instead of commenting.
"So who was Shepard with?" asked Ashley. "Biotics are always starving afterwards."
Joker shrugged. "No idea. Wasn't me," he said ruefully. "Wasn't the Captain. Actually, Shepard's been in there for a while. Maybe he's still recovering from the whole thing with the beacon."
Kaidan looked worriedly over at the Captain's room. "I'll be right back." He put his finished sandwiches on the table, and walked to the Captain's room with the peanut butter. The door wasn't in privacy mode, and slid open as he approached. "Shepard?"
Jarrett was kneeling on the floor, in front of the coffee table. He had stolen one of the mess hall trays, and on it, had sculpted a little forest, populated with little peanut butter people and animals. He looked up from drawing a chocolate syrup river towards which the little people were apparently fleeing. "I'm a dragon," he explained. "Soon the entire village will be destroyed by my mighty wrath."
Kaidan laughed a little. "Here, I'm done with the peanut butter." He opened it and set it down on the table, so Jarrett could reach it. He looked curiously at Jarrett. "Are you okay?"
"No," Jarrett sighed. "I have a nightmare stuck in my head, I got Nihlus killed, and I failed miserably in my mission. Not only am I not going to be a Spectre, I'm probably going to be locked up in a prison or a loony bin for the rest of my life."
"The Alliance won't let that happen," said Kaidan reassuringly. "It wasn't your fault. Nobody knew about the geth. You did a lot better than anyone else could have, Shepard. We'll explain everything to the Council, and if they don't like it, they can go screw themselves."
Jarrett looked up at him, his wide blue eyes inscrutable. "Would you like a villager?"
"Can I drown her in chocolate first?"
"Sure." Jarrett took a napkin and passed over the bottle of syrup, and Kaidan proceeded to cover one of the little peanut butter people in chocolate before devouring it.
"Thanks." Kaidan grinned. "Those are tasty." He glanced around the room, and noted that there were two bottles of water resting on the floor near Jarrett. "Well, let me know if you need anything." He left the room, and returned to the mess hall to eat his food.
"Well?" demanded Ashley.
"He's stressed out, and yes, he really is making peanut butter sculptures."
"Shepard's really talented with his hands," Joker offered. "Maybe I should go keep him company."
Kaidan rolled his eyes, and ate his sandwiches without commenting. Before Joker could make up his mind, Pressly appeared and dragged him off for a game of poker.
"Anyone else want to play?" offered Pressly, as they were leaving.
Ashley looked at Kaidan. He shrugged. "I'll play," she finished her drink, and walked off with Joker and Pressly, leaving him alone at the table.
Kaidan finished his sandwiches slowly, and tried to decide what to do. He got up and went to check on Shepard again, just to make sure he was okay. He walked into the Captain's cabin. The little village was mostly gone, and Jarrett was lying on the couch, probably passed out in a biotic 'sugar coma.' Kaidan smiled to himself, and cleaned up the mess.
He was walking out of the room when he heard Jarrett say, "Thanks, Kaidan," very softly. Kaidan looked back in surprise, but Jarrett had turned over to face the wall, and looked completely asleep again.
"You're welcome," said Kaidan lamely, but Jarrett didn't answer. Kaidan left him to sleep.

"So, yeah, the Council thinks I'm crazy. No big surprise."
Kaidan was very glad that the Council couldn't see Jarrett right now. He was sprawled on the floor, wearing bunny slippers and purple pajamas, sitting with the twins and some of the other women from navigation, doing each other's nails and hair. "I can't imagine why." Joker, Pressly, and Ashley were on the couch right behind them, helping them pick out colors and making lewd comments.
Jarrett ignored Kaidan's dry comment, and continued talking. "Anyway, Garrus, make yourself at home. Pull up a chair or something."
Their Turian guest was leaning against the wall of the recreation room, watching the techs set up the room for movie night. "Thank you," said Garrus, "I'm actually more comfortable here."
All the humans were wearing pajamas of some sort. Ashley was wearing a light cotton kimono, while Joker was wearing a nightshirt over sweatpants. Kaidan was just wearing sweatpants, and one of the engineers, who was supposed to be helping with setup, kept accidentally touching his chest while she was going back and forth from the mess hall to the snack table.
"So, like, you and that doctor," said Jarrett questioningly.
"We're just friends," Garrus chuckled.
"Really? Because she seemed sort of… proprietary."
"Human females get that way, I've noticed," mused Garrus. "We only had relations a few times, it wasn't anything serious." The Turian shrugged, and every woman in the room turned to stare at him, as well as a few men. "What? Did I say something odd?"
"Oh, so it is possible." Jarrett pulled out his omni-tool and started searching, and all the women around him leaned over to see.
"What are they doing?"
Kaidan sighed. "They're researching interspecies sex on the off chance that they might happen to end up in bed with you."
"From the pictures, it would probably be more comfortable standing up," commented Ashley.
"Or on a couch," Joker added. "Oh, look at that!"
Garrus turned to Kaidan. "Are they always like this?"
"You get used to it."
Garrus shifted nervously as the women whispered to each other and looked at him appraisingly. "What movie are we watching, anyway?"
"The series is called 'Once Upon a Time in China,' it's a comedy-romance-war epic set in ancient Human times. Do you need the link?" asked Jarrett.
"Yeah, that would help," Garrus smiled. He walked over to the Jarrett and the cluster of women, and crouched down next to them so Jarrett could lean over and key in the extranet link. "Thanks," he returned to his previous position so that he could look up the three movies that they were going to be watching tonight.
Kaidan smiled to himself at Garrus' clever maneuvering. The way the Turian was showing off his sleek strength proved that he knew more about Human women than he pretended. Kaidan finished setting up the snack table, and the chairs and pillows were all set up for the crew to lounge on and watch the movies. Kaidan looked over at Garrus, as he sat down on the floor, reclining with his back to the wall. He was about to offer Garrus a spot on the couch when he noticed what Garrus was reading on his omni-tool. He wasn't looking up information about the movies – he was reading a medical fact sheet on the sexual anatomy of Human males.
"Seriously?" Kaidan realized he had said that out loud, and pretended that he had spilled his drink. He walked over to the table to get a napkin, glad that the lights were dimmed and no one could see him. Why was everyone in the galaxy hot for Shepard?

The Normandy's crew poured into Chora's Den. Kaidan looked around curiously. The place looked the same as it had before Shepard had torn it apart to find the late, unlamented Fist. Wrex settled himself in one of the booths to watch an Asari stripper gyrate to the music while Tali sat down with the Normandy's Chief Engineer, still talking avidly about some new polymer they were trying to design. Jarrett headed to the back of the bar, and Kaidan followed, as did Ashley and Garrus.
"I wonder who's running this place now," Jarrett wondered aloud, and walked past the guards in the storeroom to the office.
"Shepard! What's this I hear? You're a Spectre now? Gung hei, gung hei!" The speaker was a fat, unpleasant looking man with narrow eyes. He held out his hand to Jarrett, ignoring the others.
"Ai ya, mei gam dong!" exclaimed Jarrett, and sat down across from the fat man, talking excitedly.
"Did my translator just glitch?" asked Garrus curiously. "I have no idea what they are saying."
"No, they're speaking Cantonese," explained Kaidan, "it's a Human dialect that isn't in the galactic translators, for political reasons. The gangs on Earth use it instead of Standard."
"Political reasons?"
"They like to pretend no one speaks it," sighed Ashley.
Jarrett's flow of singsong chatter finally paused, and he gestured at his companions. "Mourad, this is my crew. We came here to celebrate. Guys, this is Mourad. We were in the Reds together, back on Earth."
"Any friend of little Shepard is a friend of mine," smiled the fat man, in a way that made Kaidan want to punch him in the mouth. "Drinks are on me, and if anyone is looking for anything special, just let me know."
"Thanks," Kaidan muttered insincerely.
"I'm just gonna hang here for a bit, and catch up. You guys go have some fun." Jarrett smiled, and went back to chattering away at the fat man, who listened indulgently, laughing uproariously from time to time. Ashley and Garrus went back to the main part of the bar, but Kaidan sat down on one of the couches in the office to wait for Jarrett, and to make sure Mourad didn't try anything.
Mourad said something, and Jarrett glanced behind him, blushing furiously. The only word in his sentence that Kaidan understood was 'Daddy.' Mourad smirked, and Kaidan suspected that the rest was something obscene.
"What? Kaidan, what are you still doing here?"
Kaidan shrugged. "I'm not a social person."
"You want a drink? Get the man a drink," Mourad commanded one of the guards at the back. "Or if you want some company, I can hook you up with one of girls. Asari, Human, they'll do anything you want. No boys, yet," Mourad grinned at Jarrett, "they're a bit harder to come by out here."
"No, thank you," said Kaidan firmly, "I'll just wait for you and Shepard to finish talking."
Mourad switched back to Cantonese, and made a comment that made Jarrett blush, then burst out laughing. Jarrett leaned forward, and patted the fat man's shoulder, then stood up. Mourad flashed a dark smile at Kaidan, then bid farewell to Jarrett.
"Joi ginh," grinned Jarrett. "Okay, we can leave now, and you can stop embarrassing me."
"What did he say?" asked Kaidan as they walked back to the bar. "About your father?"
Jarrett blushed. "He was being a jerk. Implied that I was being kept on a short leash. Don't worry, I set him straight. Anyway, he was serious about the free drinks and hookers, if you're interested." Jarrett shrugged. "I dunno, I've given up trying to figure out what you like."
Kaidan tried to ignore the image of Jarrett on a leash. "I'm not interested," he said flatly as Jarrett walked away. The last part of Jarrett's comment finally filtered through to his brain. "Wait – what?" Jarrett had already walked to the bar, and was teasing the central dancer. "Why would he want to know what I like?"