#kaidan writes

[sky-scribbles]

Shepard holds a funeral for her clone.

The paperwork is almost harder than the ceremony. Turns out it’s tricky to register the death of someone whose birth - creation? Decanting-from-vat? - was never recorded to begin with. Then there’s some kind of question about whether the clone needs to be retroactively registered as a Council space citizen to have her death put on the official record, and if so, whether she counts as a member of the Systems Alliance or as an ‘undocumented alien’. Which is pretty fucking ironic, considering how utterly she’d have loathed having the word alien attached to her.

And once Shepard’s ground her teeth through a dozen calls and bludgeoned through the first layer of formwork - a death certificate still needs a name.

‘I have to put something,’ she says. She’s aware that her voice is ragged, and that Kaidan is watching her as he brews her fourth coffee of the evening with concern heavy on his face. She must look barely alive, up near midnight in a kitchen that was Anderson’s and still feels nothing like hers, hair falling forward, eyes shadowed grey. Datapads and empty mugs strewn around her. Fine. She’s felt barely alive ever since she woke up in a Cerberus lab.

‘You could choose one for her,’ Kaidan says gently. A lot of people speak to her gently, these days.

‘She’d hate that. A name makes you individual. She didn’t want to be an individual; she wanted to be me.’

The cofee machine whirrs softly, sounding louder than it is in the open space of the apartment. It still doesn’t feel right, all this space for one person. Someone could drown in this much space.

‘She didn’t want to be you, though. Not really.’ Kaidan pours out the coffee, his eyes only leaving her face for a moment. ‘What she wanted was to be the symbol. The face on the vids.’

He carries the mug over and sets it down beside her hand. Shepard grips it tight. The unfinished form blinks up at her from the datapad screen, and she looks away.

‘I’m not asking this because I don’t support you doing it, or to judge you for it, or anything,’ Kaidan says, after a moment. ‘I just want to understand. Can you tell me why this is so important to you? I mean - I get that you were trying to save her, and she... she let go. But...’

He hesitates, and in his silence Shepard hears, she tried to kill you. She tried to take you away from me, and everyone who cares about you, for a second time - because she was jealous.

Shepard sips her coffee. It hasn’t had time to cool down, and her lips smart. She ignores it. She thinks.

‘What you said about... being the symbol,’ she says at last. ‘I get why she wanted it, or thought she did. I understand feeling that Commander Shepard is someone bigger than you are.’

Kaidan breathes out slowly, and takes a seat beside her.

‘I get feeling that you’re so small, so nothing, next to everyone’s idea of what Commander Shepard is. And when I fall short -’ She sees him prepare to protest, and cuts across him. ‘I do, I do all the time - I feel like it’d be easier if I were the symbol. Not...’ She waves a hand, indicating all the sleep-starved mess of her. ‘This. I don’t even know when what would Shepard do and what will I do stopped feeling like the same question.’

She lets her hand fall back onto the table. Kaidan takes it and holds it tight.

‘And I think of her, the clone, waking up in some Cerberus med bay. Confused. And Brooks - Brooks was there, feeding her things to believe, manipulating her, turning her into the symbol she wanted. And I get it.’ Shepard bites her burned lip. ‘Because I woke up in a Cerberus lab. And I was scared. And they used me, and I let them.’

What she does not add is, and sometimes I don’t feel any more real than her. I don’t have any way to prove that I’m the woman who died in the wreckage of her broken ship. They wiped away that woman’s scars. There could be all kinds of tech in my head, feeding me a lie, telling me I’m real.

She swallows. Her throat feels raw. ‘And now the clone’s dead, and no one cares. We’re planning a fucking party. If I don’t push for a funeral, she’ll just go unregistered and undocumented and everyone will keep joking about how crazy this whole mess has been, how I fell through a fish tank and a mad clone tried to steal my life, and it’d be like she never existed at all. I don’t have to fill in these forms. I could take the easy road and let her be a ghost. But I can’t do that, Kaidan. I can’t.’

He looks at her, his eyes steady and patient and full of worry. Then he slips an arm over her shoulder and pulls her in, and Shepard leans into him, needing the surety of his touch, his warmth. Anything that tells her she’s something more than a force piloting a set of N7 armour.

Kaidan presses a slow kiss to the top of her head. He holds her until she stops feeling ready to howl. Then he sits with her and helps her fill in the forms, helps her choose a name for the clone, one that fits. When morning comes, he calls C-Sec and stays on the line until they agree to release the body to the Normandy, into the custody of the only person who could be considered the dead woman’s relative. 

He doesn’t ask Shepard any more questions as to why she needs this done.

In the end, they bury her in space, as Shepard would a crewmate. And no one has stories to tell of what she meant to them. They have nothing to say about the achievements of her angry little life. But they wear their dress blues, and speak softly, and they turn the lights down low.

Shepard doesn’t know if this is what her clone would have wanted. Maybe she never learned to want anything for herself at all. It doesn’t matter. A funeral doesn’t help her clone; it helps her.

They lift the casket into the airlock. EDI opens the outer door. And the casket leaps away into space in a blur of silver-grey, like the body within is hungry for the stars.

[ct7567scyarika]

Me: Wow! That was a great game, and I really love this character 🥰🥰 Enjoyed the romance bits with them. Can’t wait to see all the fanart and stuff about them-

Me:

Me: oh

Me: oh the fandom hates them.

[anakliro]

I had no pulse at that moment

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Shepard likes 'em dangerous

Shepard, watching Kaidan reaving someone to death: Isn't he awesome?

Liara: …

Shepard, dreamy: I bet he can rip us all in half…

Liara: Can you please sound less enthusiastic about it?

Shepard: Nope.

[vorchagirl]

I decided to write a 100-word Subject Zero Kaidan drabble over in the MEFFW discord and it has GROWN. This is pre-Through A Mirror Darkly. Short and sweet! (Art is by LeFlayArt).

“Do you trust me?”

Kaidan's voice floated from the shadowy corner of his usual haunt beneath engineering. Pandora whirled around to face him and sensed, more than saw, his movement as he stepped through the darkness.

She saw the faint blue sparks of biotics flickering in his gaze, and her eyes dropped to his tattoos as the dim light and shadow played over his skin. A vivid image of being stalked by a striped tiger popped into her head; a predator who would devour her if given the chance.

“I trust you,” Pandora breathed, waiting for the tiger to pouce.

He laughed softly and stepped closer, his biotic aura scraping against hers like nails on a chalkboard. She shuddered, unable to suppress her reaction to the wrongness of his power. It felt like an old-fashioned television tuned to the wrong station. Like static.

"Still trust me? Kaidan stepped even closer, right into her personal space.

Pandora's breath caught in her throat. He was so close that she could feel the heat from his skin against hers. She could smell his scent; cigarettes, whiskey, and ozone. Her heart pounded, her pulse thundering in her ears as held her gaze for a long moment.

"You're all alone down here, Shepard." His eyes dropped to her lips, and he smirked. "Are you that confident you could take me in a fight if I decided to hurt you?"

"No," Pandora admitted, her voice surprisingly firm and confident. She met his eyes and forced a smirk, pleased to see him look unsettled by her reaction. "I couldn't take you in a fight, but I'm confident that you won't hurt me."

He scoffed, eyes flashing as though in answer to her challenge. He closed the distance between them, his face an inch from hers. "You think I can't hurt you, Shepard?"

He wanted her to give in, to step back and show fear. Pandora refused. She straightened and leaned in, forcing Kaidan to shift his weight back a tiny bit to avoid touching her. "You could, but you won't." She smiled. "Because you want something else from me, don't you?"

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and his aura pulsed against hers, a buzz of reaction he couldn't hide. Immediately, Kaidan stepped back scowling. His fists were clenched at his sides, and he turned his back on her.

"I think you should leave before you find out what I really want to do to you," he bit out, his voice rough and harsh as he moved back into his darkness.

Pandora swallowed and stepped back into the light off the stairwell, turning her back on him with difficulty. She started up the stairs, and glanced back over her shoulder but couldn't see Kaidan in the gloom. He watched though. She could feel his gaze burning against her as she retreated.

The tiger hadn't pounced tonight, but his eyes were so hungry that she knew next time he wouldn't let her get away from him.

And Pandora wasn't entirely sure she wanted him to let her.

[shadoedseptmbr]

they come back from Virmire

they do not all come back

the ship murmurs around him but the crew doesn't even whisper; heads down, jobs done, feet heavy as if to remind the deck they're still here.

he's doing his job, too, in the mess to be a shoulder if anyone wants to talk but he's alone right now as he sets a cup of his mother's tea to steep. Orange. Spice. the pale green tint lost to the black interior of the mug. but warm in his hands

after their report, Shepard had retreated to the small space under engineering that had been her bunk, before the Captain had handed over the cabin. he'd sat on the stairs turning over what she'd told him with her eyes like mercury and salt searing his bones.

the Bomb was the mission.

and no one life is more sacred went unsaid

and that was how she lived and that was how she'd die while he packed up the locker to send it on

her steps are light out of the lift and there's no ignoring the tone of her low voice, pitched to carry and as she passes, the conversations pick back up. they've had their moment, her shadow reminds them, the mission goes on moments later, Normandy is humming and the stars are streaking by Serviceman Waaberi settles on the bench across from him, a fragrant bowl of some soup in hand and they give a nod even as they carry on a comm with Addison.

Kaidan swallows the bittersweet dregs and comes back from Virmire

link requested by @korblez - who i blame for this wholly, btw

[pigeontheoneandonly]

exit criteria

ETA: Now with AO3 link! Link

For once, I was actually feeling writerly, so I did a little time loop fic tonight about the run to the beam at the end of ME3:

The mortar struck the tank, flipped it, and in one single motion smeared Kaidan and Garrus into paste.

Shock took Shepard first, and the bullet took her second.

* * *

This time, Shepard threw her arm out and kept Kaidan from running ahead.  So the bullet got him instead.

* * *

She had figured out far more complex problems than this, many times over.  Failing twice was annoying.  A blemish on her record, even if nobody else would ever know.  So Shepard took half a beat before charging down the London rubble once again, used it to draw her own heavy weapon, and simply blasted the tank out of the way.

Garrus spared a moment none of them had to toss her a confused glance.  Her answering smirk had just reached peak smugness when the airborne reaper unit, alerted by the explosion, sighted and fired, briefly illuminating each of their three outlines in its plasma beam before they atomized.

* * *

Her squad balked at running down the right side of the field when the center was clearly optimal.  But they’d followed her to hell, and there was no time to argue.

Kaidan didn’t say I told you so when the banshee lifted him by his hair to her fetid mouth.  He was too preoccupied with screaming, suddenly cut off.

* * *

Think, Shepard.  She stared across the battlefield.  Twenty seconds, then a minute, then five—an eternity in these conditions.  The profligate waste didn’t concern her.  Clearly, she’d have as many attempts as necessary to get this right.

(You hope, whispered a poisonous thought.  You assume.  You need.)

Beyond the beam that led to the Citadel, Harbinger crouched.

“I need to go further back,” she said aloud, abrupt, just before the reaper’s cherry red beam shot out through the dark with unerring precision.

* * *

“I’m sorry,” Hackett told her, on the med evac shuttle more than a day after she left Garrus and Liara dead under the tank.  “The Crucible firing disabled most of the fleet, but stopped short of outright destroying it.  Cerberus put too much reaper technology into the Normandy’s redesign.  We found no survivors.”

* * *

“I’m sorry,” Shepard said, as Kaidan broke their goodbye kiss, eyes wide.  A hypodermic needle was small but still noticeable when it pricked the delicate skin of the neck.  “I need you to live.”

Her arms caught him as he folded up, gentle.  Forgive me. 

A bombed-out building had few good or secure hiding spots the size of an adult human male.  Someone found him and brought him back to the Normandy.  To the impromptu field hospital.  To the personal care of an inexperienced and self-trained civilian medic whose misdiagnosis led to organ failure.

After the fourth attempt, Shepard abandoned the approach in exasperation.

* * *

Her squad charged down the left side.  Killing a brute wasn’t unprecedented at this point in the war, but doing so with barely twenty feet of maneuvering room proved impossible.  She should know.  She tried ten times.

* * *

Shepard sat down at the top of hill, wrapping her arms around her knees and staring down the beam with real anger.

“Shouldn’t we charge?” Kaidan asked.

“You’d think so,” she grumbled.

* * *

The tank flipped.

The tank flipped.

The tank flipped.

The tank flipped—

* * *

Once, she went to the hill alone and screamed with every last ounce of frustration in her body.  “What do you want from me?!”

Harbinger did not deign to reply.  It did not even deign to slap her aside itself.  Instead, it left her to be overrun, eventually, by various husks.

* * *

It merited further consideration, however: What did Harbinger (or the universe, or fate, or or or) want from her? 

Her eyes narrowed over the London apocalypse.  The galaxy can burn.  There is no version of this mission where I let Kaidan die. 

* * *

I won’t, she said, as a marauder broke through his armor.

I won’t, she said, while Kaidan flew thirty feet into the air and hit the ground with terrible finality.

I won’t, she said, as the tank flipped over him.

* * *

Kaidan found her in starboard observation, Earth growing ever larger in the port.  Her hand pushed against the glass as if she could, by force, prevent it coming any closer.

She knew his footsteps.  She knew the way the air stirred around his shape, the faint rustle of his clothes and the even fainter whiff of soap.  Every line, tick, and habit.

Her shoulders hunched.

He asked her what was wrong, because he knew her, too, every mood and every flinch.

So Shepard did something she’d never done before, in any iteration: she told him.

It took a bit of time, and then they were both quiet for a long while.  Kaidan held her curled in his arms.  His breath in her hair.  Her fingers digging into his forearm. 

“I need you to do something for me,” he said, at last, sounding as tired as she felt.

Shepard knew Kaidan.  Her grip tightens another fraction.  “Don’t you dare say it.”

Quietly, inexorably, gently.  “You need to let me go.”

The only answer she could bear was to shake her head, her throat stopped up.

* * *

Shepard never made that mistake again.  But yet.

He kissed her in London, his hand lingering, cupped around her cheek.  You need to let me go.

His gloved hand scooped up hers, just for a few paces, a stolen moment on a quiet street between packs of roaming reaper forces on their way to the beam, an ounce of warmth amid terror and despair.  You need to let me go.

His breath woofed out, relief and new tension all at once, as they crested the hill and stared down at the frighteningly open terrain teeming with endless enemies, glowing with gunfire, the last stand, the last fight.  You need to let me go.

* * *

She sat beside the tank a long while.  Kaidan, his meat, was somewhere under it.  In point of fact, this was the longest she’d ever lasted, any time she’d paused during the run to the beam.  Nothing cared about her.  Not here in the shadow of a ruined vehicle, no gun drawn, no fight left in the lines of her body.  They all saw instinctively that she was no true threat.

There wasn’t a name for this sort of grief.  How could anyone grieve a person who was dead thirty or forty or a hundred times over?  He’d been dead the first time the mortar struck the tank and he was still dead now and there was absolutely nothing, nothing, to be done about it. 

After a time, other reapers landed, legions of them making mountains on the horizon with their long, raised thoraxes.  Systemically, they scoured London clean in a shower of particle beams and sonorous booms. 

Shepard fell asleep not long after dawn and died without knowing it.

* * *

Kaidan tore his gaze away from the beam when he felt the pressure of Shepard looking at him.  He cocked his head.  “What are you doing?”

She took him in.  Not long, not nearly long enough, but she took what she could get of him, always.  Almost too quiet to hear, she sighed out, “Letting go.”

His brow creased.  Then Garrus yelled, as the first of the enemy took notice of them, and they were flying down the field, Shepard chasing Kaidan chasing Garrus.

The mortar arced downward. 

The tank flipped up into the air.

Shepard ran.  The bullet whizzed past her shoulder, where she stood not a fraction of a second earlier. 

The airborne reaper, passing overhead, took note of the human, and fired a plasma beam.  The angle was not optimal.  Even perfect machines bow to physics.

The beam flashed by her at near light-speed, hot enough to scorch her cheek.

It met the tank in the midair. 

The tank glowed, and then exploded, knocking Kaidan and Garrus to the ground under a hot shrapnel rain. 

The stab in her chest never lost its edge, no matter how many dozens of times he died.  But her step didn’t falter.  Her arms pumped, her legs flying, moving so fast, in fact, that the tears leaking out of her eyes flowed back into her hair—

Until, as she flashed by the tank’s remains, something new:

Kaidan sat up. 

[clericofshadows]

Major Kaidan Alenko One of many portraits taken commending his efforts in creating and commanding the 1st Special Operations Biotic Company. Rendered in Blender Cycles v3.3 companion piece to my Commander Shepard render

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF SHENKO 1/?

The end of the world has a way of reminding you of all the things you forgot to say do. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (2021)

[assmeffect]

Mass Effect Men, driving HCs

women here

Kaidan: listen, everyone who claims Canadians are so polite and demure has never seen one drive. years of pent up anger come out when Kaidan drives. no where near as bad as Zaeed, he still follows the rules and laws. extremely animated when raging, and comes up with the most creative insults.

Garrus: as much as garrus loves to rib Shepard about their driving, he's barely any better. his time at c-sec at least drilled basic rules of the road into him, but he's still an asshole who'll cut people off.

Thane: prefers to drive in complete silence, maybe plays some white noise while he drives. do not try talking to him he's not listening. very careful on the road, hasn't been in an accident once.

Jacob: generally a good driver, just doesn't use his turn signals. good at multitasking while driving, so talking, listening to the radio, eating, he can do it. will gladly take the role of designated driver

Mordin: I think he hates driving, he get too in his own thoughts and forgets he's driving. would rather let shepard drive than do the driving

Zaeed: worst driver here. worse than Shepard in that he doesn't even try to follow the rules of the road. his road rage is horrific, has fully gotten out of his car to fist fight someone. would drive a pickup with trucknuts.

Cortez: best driver here. very relaxed when driving, very in his element. this man is a Saint on the road, not an ounce of road rage in his body

Vega: it's a miracle he hasn't been killed, he never wears a seatbelt, never uses his turn signals, and pulls illegal turns all the time. drives with his windows open and radio absolutely blasting music.

Joker: would be the best driver if he wasn't such a jackass. regularly flips off other drivers he thinks are being stupid. thinks he's the best driver on the road, and he is, just don't tell him that

Jaal: has an angaran license, though I don't think he drives a traditional vehicle. more along the lines of some sort of atv or motorcycle type thing. a good driver, has definitely modified his vehicle.

Liam: I honestly don't think he has a license. he prefers public transit or to let other people drive. he's not that great of a driver when he does though.

Gil: has zooped up his car and treats it like his baby. will not let anyone else drive it, ESPECIALLY not Ryder. will fight someone if they hit his car. follows the rules of the road religiously.

Reyes: Street races, will try and goad other people into street racing. has lost his license multiple times. amazingly enough has never crashed.

[laelior]

Periapsis Chapter 1: Smoke and Whiskey

Mass Effect Kaidan Alenko/Beth Shepard Rating: E (eventual smut) Chapter 1/6 Periapsis: The point at which two objects in a binary system orbit nearest to each other. a.k.a., the Shenko shore leave fic that's been plaguing me non-stop lately. Ao3 Link

It was a bright, sunny fall afternoon in the middle of nowhere on Earth, and Kaidan was leaning against an old wooden fencepost in the midst of a gorgeous forest, mindlessly scrolling the extranet news feeds on his omni-tool to kill the time while he waited.

–NEW! Logic Arrest Firmware Update improves performance metrics up to 10%– –Reported geth sightings in Terminus systems increased since Citadel attack– –Is Commander Shepard Single? Exclusive Scoop on Galactic Hero–

Kaidan huffed a laugh and dismissed the new feeds. The first two were too much like work, and the third, well….

Looking back, everything had happened so fast. The lockdown. The mutiny. The chaotic battle in the Citadel.

And somewhere in all that, there had been that night before Ilos.

Afterward, there hadn’t been any time to talk about what happened. Most of the Normandy’s crew had been shuffled off on extended shore leave with strict orders not to discuss anything that had happened. 

It had been almost two weeks since he’d seen Lieutenant Commander Bethany Shepard in person. It seemed like so long ago that they’d talked of taking some shore leave together to explore what it was between them. But that was before everything had gone down. It was before she’d suddenly become a person of galactic importance who’d been promptly whisked off to meetings and official happenings once the dust had settled after Saren’s defeat.

Read More

[mcflymemes]

AS SAID BY KAIDAN ALENKO *  assorted dialogue from mass effect

it’s my fault.

i’m glad we didn’t lose you.

you had to push me out of the way.

the blast knocked you out cold.

i’m glad to see you’re okay.

maybe you’re right. things went bad. real bad.

is that why you’re here? because of your family?

i don’t see how we could’ve done any better.

i’ve wasted enough of your time for now.

off the record, i think there’s something wrong here.

there’s writing on the wall here, but someone isn’t reading it.

maybe i was romantic in the beginning.

i’m not question the mission. i’m just concerned.

there was never any proof of that.

we kept our clothes on.

i won’t let you down.

you make a habit of getting this personal with everyone?

i’ll need some time to process that.

do you have time to talk now?

we’ve got some tough calls to make.

i’ve seen what cutting corners can do to someone, and i’d hate to have that happen to you.

you tell me if i’m going too far.

maybe there’s someone else you’d rather confide in.

i don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

i apologize for bringing it up.

i’m not questioning any decision you’ve made. let me be clear about that.

i want to help you.

if i’m out of line, just say the word.

just think about what i said.

if i ever get a speeding ticket, i want you to be my advocate.

we haven’t had time together since our last chat and... a lot was said.

sorry. not sure where i stand. you seem a bit... uh. distracted.

i don’t want to distract you too much.

maybe my intentions were noble, but i lost control. i killed him.

this is all ancient history. i’m over it.

you don’t have to worry about me. i won’t be a burden on you.

all right, but it’s embarrassing you had to tell me that.

i might need to loosen up a little. i’ll try.

it’s just been a while.

i’ve got a few scratches and dents. i hope they just give me character.

i outgrew the blame game years ago.

they aren’t... malicious. they’re just slow to change.

don’t ream me out for having an opinion.

i thought we respected each other more than that.

i’m here. i’m not going anywhere.

you saved my life. i’m grateful for that.

sorry for anything i said back there. adrenaline.

should i be afraid of them? or in awe of them?

i’m not trying to make anyone uncomfortable.

i’m not jealous. i’m confused.

if you’re not serious about me, it’ll hurt but i’ll get over it.

i’ve got a lot tied up in you.

did i misread you? jeez, what else have i got wrong?

we’re closer than ever, thanks to you.

i don’t think i’ve ever met someone like you.

please, you’ll make me blush.

you know you can count on me.

if i can be of any help, let me know.

i hope i’m not out of line saying that.

i always leave a way out. you know that.

i’m here for you.

that’s what i... appreciate about you.

you’re something else, you know?

i hope we’re close enough after everything we’ve said already.

what happens if this doesn’t work out?

well if i didn’t think you were doing the right thing, i wouldn’t be here.

you know what, you’re right... about everything.

i think about losing you and i can’t stand it.

you make me feel... human.

[d0ughy]

Something I thought about while role-playing in Skyrim last night. A soft moment between you and Kaidan. Trying something different, sorry if it's no good! ;_; BUT if y'all like little things like this, lmk and I might do more! * fixed something that was bothering me, will probably not edit any more. Not spell-checked, gender-neutral reader. Kaidan x reader (sorta?) ~ *Image is mine*

It's been hours since the sun surrendered to the horizon and denizens of Skyrim retreated to the warmth and comfort of their beds. You and your companions, however, sought the comforts of a well-packed tent and the warmth of the campfire that flickers and dances in the breeze. The tree you built your camp around grew quiet as Auri settled in for the night, all the while the sounds of mischievous whispers can be heard from Lucien and Inigo's shared tent. All that remained by the campfire were you and Kaidan, enveloped in a cocoon of tranquility. The sound of Kaidan's voice, rich and warm, floated through the quiet as he recounted stories of his childhood to you. Try as you might to hear him out, you find yourself distracted. The campfire's flame continues its dance, illuminating your companion's features. The way his tattoo wraps around his cheek, a rare smile that graced his lips as he spoke, and the way his crimson eyes seem to glow with the light of the fire. He looked so perfect in this moment, and you couldn't tear yourself away from the sight. So enthralled, in fact, you hadn't noticed he'd stopped talking. Kaidan quirked a brow, "Y/N...?" The corners of his lips still curled in a slight smile as he called out to you. "You've, uh... Been starin' at me for a while now. Everything alright?" Kaidan tilts his head slightly. You blink at him a few times, just now processing the situation. "Oh," you begin, "Yeah, I'm alright, sorry." You shift in your seat around the fire, tilting your own head slightly as you drink in the sight of him once again. The words stumbled out before you even had the chance to think them over. "You're just so pretty." You say as you smile at him. Kaidan's brows lift in surprise, both touched by genuineness of your tone and surprised by your brazenness. He scratches his cheek as he adverts his attention downward. Even in the dark of night with the only light being the glow of a small campfire, you can see his cheeks redden. Kaidan chuckles at your brazen statement before tentatively looking back over to you. "Ah, uh... Thanks. I- uh. I've been called a lot of things over the years but pretty..." His crimson eyes soften, a delicate look reserved for only you. "Pretty is a first. Thank you." He says before letting out a breathy chuckle. The rest of the night was spent peacefully, wrapped up in the comfortable silence between you two. Even as the fire died out, as the icy fingers of Skyrim's night raked it's claws across the two of you, and even as you left him behind for the warmth of your bedroll. Kaidan found no greater warmth and comfort than your sweet words that replayed in his mind until he drifted off to sleep.

[ripley95]

Wedding of the Century

Pairing: f!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Summary:

A Spectre mission involving Kaidan and Shepard’s fake engagement has led to unravelling a looming terrorist threat and potential war. Having determined that the culprits have a personal vendetta against Commander Shepard, the Alliance has devised the perfect plan to attract the attention of the terrorist leader: A fake wedding. But as with all of their missions lately, the line blurs between pretense and reality, leading them to discuss what they want from their real life.

Read on AO3

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Mass Effect modern AU with Shep as a mobster turned stool pigeon who is extremely bored with life in the witness protection program.

James Vega and Jeff Moreau are his unfortunate FBI babysitters, and Kaidan Alenko is the supervisor of the whole operation, who is constantly getting new gray hairs because Shepard is a magnet for trouble.

Bonus appearance by a mob hit man nicknamed Archangel who has a personal grudge against Shep.

[vorchagirl]

Through A Mirror Darkly - chapter 16

Through A Mirror Darkly - chapter 16

While the Reaper IFF is being installed, Pandora takes the opportunity to meet up with the Alliance who have reached out to her via her father, Admiral Stephen Hackett. What she isn't expecting is that Kaidan has a dark history with Hackett, and when the two men meet things quickly spiral out of control.

Cover Art of Subject Zero Kaidan is by LeFlay Art! A snippet is below the cut:

"Pan! Get away from him!" Her father sounded almost panicked, and she heard him step forward, though Kaidan's eyes flicked back to him and he stopped in his place. "Pan, please! He's dangerous!" 

"Kaidan," she spoke gently and raised her hand, placing it gently on his chest. His skin was burning hot, and the moment she touched him his gaze moved to her, though his expression didn't alter. "I don't care about what you did." She let him see the truth in her eyes. "I already know you've done terrible things, but you're not the person you used to be, so I don't care." 

She could see Kaidan struggling to bring himself under control. Every muscle in his body was tense, and he was trembling with rage. Whatever he'd done to get himself discharged it was something that haunted him, no matter how tough he acted. She knew a lot about him; that he'd been tortured mentally and psychologically, that he'd been addicted to red sand and other drugs to increase his biotics, and that he'd done horrific things for the Alliance and for Cerberus.

But she'd never asked for details; she wondered now if she should have.

With a shuddering breath he managed to reel his power in and the blue aura around him faded, though she could still see the tension in his muscles and feel the thrumming power of his biotics. 

"You'll hate me," he spoke so quietly that Pandora almost didn't hear him, but he raised his hand and pressed it over hers where it rested on his chest. "What I did…” he shuddered as though he couldn't finish the sentence. “You'll hate me."

Read the full chapter here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6049996/chapters/141188842