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They had been in London for two days, and as night descended over the city, the small squad found relative quiet and shelter in the ruins of the city touched by the Reapers. There was no rest of them, and the group could only hope that they would be safe through the night so they could rest.
Shepard put herself in a corner that overlooked the whole room, ignoring the call of the mostly-intact couch that Tali and Garrus were flipping to rest on themselves. Her head thunked against the cement corner, and for a moment, her eyes shut as she sighed heavily. Kaidan smiled and made his way over to her, nudging her leg with the toe of his boot.
“Hm?” She didn’t move or even open her eyes.
“Room for one more?”
“Always,” she cracked a smile, voice quiet as she stirred to life, turning so that Kaidan could sit beside her and resting her head on his shoulder once he was there.
He turned his palm upwards, not surprised when his hand was suddenly filled with hers. In the distance, they could hear the deep echoing sirens of the Reapers, and faint screams that followed. Their hands both squeezed a little tighter, not wanting to think about what they were facing.
It was so much easier to fight a war when you weren’t boots on the ground. Kaidan grimaced slightly, knowing that’s why he’d never really wanted to rise in the ranks - not too much anyway. There was a danger to losing sight of the real impacts, of not seeing it firsthand. David had known that, and stayed behind all those months ago. Kaidan admired his resolve to stay in the thick of the fight instead of retreating to safety. Maybe, he thought for a moment, he wished he’d stayed behind too. Maybe then he wouldn’t have missed so much time in the hospital, he could have helped more of his students get to safety-
“Kaidan, my hand…” her voice cracked slightly. He realized he was growing tense and immediately relaxed his hand.
“Sorry.”
“Typical Canadian,” she snorted softly, earning a chuckle from him. She pressed her cheek into his shoulder and he pressed his cheek to the top of hers.
“We should be reaching the command center tomorrow, try to get some rest.”
“You too. I need you.”
“I know.” he shifted slightly to let his back relax a little more, as comfortable as he was going to get sleeping against a wall in the middle of a war zone. At least she was right there with him.
When they woke a few hours later, the sun was rising through the smoke and looming shadows of the ghost of the city. In silence, the group readied themselves for their trek, planning a route before Shepard took point in leading them there - she was familiar with the streets even if they were lined with rubble and bodies.
It had been quiet for a little over an hour when they came across their first threat of the day, a small horde of husks accompanied by a brute. After easily taking down their threat, Shepard pushed on, claiming they were only a couple of clicks from the command center. They began seeing more and more alliance soldiers fighting, guiding and helping them to their goal. But that also meant more enemies to be had. Their goal was in sight down the end of a street that was surprisingly clear of rubble, but in their way stood approximately 3 banshees, 4 brutes and countless husks that were all being fired at. The husks fell as quickly as they appeared, and once the squad arrived, it seems the banshees had taken a particular interest in them, turning to head their direction.
They were still the creepiest thing Kaidan had ever seen, and that piercing shriek was a pure terror if he ever heard it. But thankfully, they’d had experience with the poor creations, and knew the patterns of their movement enough to evade being caught. Eventually, the firepower from the command center aided them, and soon enough there was a path cleared. Not waiting for reinforcements, all four ran into the safety of the barricade, a door slamming shut behind them as they caught their breath.
“I’ll be damned,” a familiar voice called out, “you made it.”
“David,” Shepard panted with no small amount of relief, immediately walking over to embrace the man for a brief moment. Kaidan looked over with a smile, still catching his breath but managing to hold out a hand for their oldest friend.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes, you know that?” David chuckled. “Come on, you look like you could use a seat. We have a lot to discuss now that you’re here.”
“Did the Normandy-”
“She’s docked safely for the time being. The others arrived just yesterday, and we haven’t been able to reach you. They’ll be glad to see you made it.”
Kaidan followed behind Shepard closely, trying not to let the sense of safety overcome him too much. But not having proper rest for a few days and knowing that if he wanted to sleep he would be protected was tempting in ways he could never have dreamt. Sitting down was enough to make it hard to keep his eyes open, and realize just how achy his limbs were.
They discussed a plan, before Shepard’s own fatigue caught up to her. David dismissed them, telling them where to go to get to the quietest spot in their building to rest for a few hours. Little did they know, that’s where all the others were as well, and the energy they brought kept Shepard awake for a few more hours. Kaidan was fine to let her talk to everyone else, finding his own corner to take a chance to stretch out properly and then sit himself down on a bed.
He must have fallen asleep because he suddenly opened his eyes with no recollection of the time, only barely registering a bare hand on his shoulder.
“Fell asleep without me…” She murmured, the circles under her eyes darker than ever. He offered a smile, then adjusted himself before reaching to pull her into his lap. “Kaidan-”
“They’re not gonna care, even if we do get caught. Besides, we can always pull rank. But…” he sighed as he felt her relax against him, his arms wrapping tighter around her, “just let me have this. I don’t know how much longer we have.”
“We’re gonna make it. This plan is gonna work.”
“I know, but… A lot of our plans have worked so far, I’m just not sure how much longer our luck will hold out. I just wish I had a little more to go on than ‘it’s a good plan’ right now.” he kept his voice quiet while some of the others were resting around them.
“Then maybe we shouldn’t wait,” she shrugged.
“Wait for what?” he frowned, not sure what she was talking about.
She turned to smile, her left hand reaching to cup his jaw, and he felt the subtle cold of the metal around her finger. A promise they’d made not a month ago. He sighed and smiled, leaning into her hand.
“You know, I wanted to do things properly,”
“There’s a lot of things I would have liked to have done properly, too… but this is us. Everything we are was forged in the unthinkable circumstances. We’ve been through so much that should never have happened - things we really shouldn’t have survived. But… look, we have just about everyone we care about with us… We shouldn’t let the opportunity go to waste.”
He was silent for a moment. He only wished his parents could be there too, but it might be enough just to attempt a message to tell them. At least, he thought, if they died then there wouldn’t be any regrets. Maybe that was the point she was trying to make here.
“Give me a few minutes, I.. I want to try to call mom.”
“Let’s go find David, he can help with comms.” Shepard smiled, “We’ll have to go find him, anyway, he’s the only one here with the appropriate rank.”
“Not counting Garrus, Tali, Wrex, probably Liara-”
“Get a move on, smartass,” she snorted giving his shoulder a nudge before she stood up, reaching to help him.
They made their way back through the maze, her hand firmly in his own as she led the way once again. David was looking over a map of the area in silence when they arrived, and when he saw them he only raised an eyebrow.
“Kaidan needs to make a call. Can you help?”
“This way,” he motioned towards a room to the side, where it was clear he’d spent a lot of time. There was a platform set up for the call - it was shotty but it would work. Kaidan had no problems connecting his omni-tool to it, not waiting a moment to call his mom while Shepard quietly pulled David aside.
The static worried him - he could tell there was a voice but he couldn’t make out any words for a moment. He stuck with it, this had happened a couple times before.
“Ka- … - ou okay?” The worried voice of his mom spotted in and out.
“Mom, I’m alright,” he smiled, waiting for a reply.
“Thank god,” came the sigh, still full of static but intelligible. “I heard that the Normandy was spotted in London-”
“I’m in London, mom,” he nodded, suddenly feeling the bittersweet pang of being so close but too far from her. “I… We’re nearing the end of the war here. It’ll be over soon. I just needed to call to tell you something.”
“Oh, honey… You don’t have to do this, I know.”
“I…” he paused and laughed, leaning against the metal railing in front of him. “Mom, I know that you know I love you. That’s not why I’m calling, I know you’re gonna see me again soon. I just thought you might like to know that… Shepard and I decided we want to get married. Right now. I wish you could be here.” He felt like he needed to repeat himself when there was nothing but static for a moment. Or maybe what he’d said hadn’t gone through.
“I’m so happy for you, Kaidan,” came the reply. “You’d better not come home without her, you hear me?”
“Not a chance, mom,” he laughed. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Alright. I love you.”
“Love you too, mom.” he smiled, ending the call. There was more he wanted to say to her, but time was short and he’d told her what he needed to. Turning around he wasn’t too surprised to see the rest of the crew standing in the other room, waiting.
Liara and Tali were quietly fussing over Shepard for a moment before she turned around, her hair freshly pulled back into her typical bun, a piece of folded scrap metal made to resemble a flower pinned into it, and she rolled her eyes as she stepped over, though it was clear she was still giddy about having everyone there. A few nearby soldiers even stepped into the room to see what was going on before David started the incredibly quick and condensed ceremony. It last all of five minutes, but had all the makings of what needed to be there legally - including Wrex butting in saying that Shepard deserved someone better suited for combat before admitting Kaidan would protect her just fine.
There was no time for celebration, and instead of exchanging rings or vows, they both took off their dog tags to exchange them in the quiet, dim shell of London.
“Next time,” Shepard smiled once she pulled the chain over her head once again, “I want a nice white dress and a ceremony at your parents’ orchard.”
“Only if it’s during the Summer.”
“Deal,” she grinned, leaning forward to press her lips to his, much to everyone else’s delight.