Chapter Text
Kaidan was having a bad day.
More like he was having a bad life, but there was a calendar on his wall which exclaimed in bold letters that IT COULD BE WORSE, so that was his perspective on things. Besides, when you knew people like Joker then it definitely ‘could be worse’.
Not like Joker was too fussed about his situation; the man cracked more jokes about his brittle bones than Kaidan felt comfortable hearing about.
Anyway, Kaidan was having a bad day. His alarm had neglected to go off in the morning, causing him to miss his bus. Then he realised halfway to work on a crowded bus that he had left his portfolios on his bathroom counter, which was bad because Udina was going to hand Kaidan’s ass back to him. He didn’t really want that.
On top of that, the second he had settled at his desk with a promise to himself that ‘it’ll get better, it’ll get better’, Udina had burst out of his office positively outraged at Kaidan. Whether he was outraged at Kaidan, or at Kaidan’s existence, he wasn’t too sure.
So work had been hell, the coffee pot resembled thick sludge by time Kaidan had torn himself away from his desk, and having to start fresh on the portfolios that were sitting innocently on his bathroom counter back at home had caused him to miss the last evening bus.
As he was standing at the bus stop, the red tail lights of his only way home disappearing around the block, Kaidan came to the conclusion that he was having a fantastically shit day. Glancing at the bus timetable and trying to ignore the pressure building behind his eyes, Kaidan turned tail and decided to walk back to his apartment. By the time the next bus arrived, he would probably be home.
It could be worse.
The Vancouver evening was another chilly one, and Kaidan tucked his hands into his pockets. Leaves crunched beneath his shoes, bringing back a sense of normality with each step, and Kaidan was halfway back to a cup of coffee and a warm bed when he realised his day was about to get even worse.
His calendar always had something against him.
*
The small group of people crowding him against the streetlamp would have been laughable to Kaidan if he didn’t fear for his life in that moment. While Kaidan could hold his own in a sparring match against Jacob down at the gym, he wasn’t enough of an idiot to—
Shit, was one of them holding a knife?
He cleared his throat, the cold metal of the streetlamp at his back seeping past his jacket. “Look, you guys don’t have to do this.”
“On that, we’ll disagree.” The man holding the goddamn knife chuckled. “Do we disagree with the man, fellas?”
A murmur of agreement floated around the group, the Knife Guy stepped closer. The steel of the blade glinted dangerously beneath the glow of the streetlight. Kaidan held his breath, sweat breaking out on his forehead, and discreetly tried to press himself further into the streetlight.
Knife Guy’s chuckle was low and dangerous. He twirled the knife in his fingers expertly, before maintaining a firm grip on the handle. “So we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”
“I’d prefer the easy way.” Kaidan choked.
“Well,” The guy rested the knife against Kaidan’s collar, and Kaidan held back the gasp. “The easy way is that we beat the shit out of you and rob you for all you’re worth on the spot.”
“Sh-should I ask about the hard way?”
“We beat the shit out of you, rob you for all you’re worth on the spot, and then leave you for dead.”
Kaidan contemplated his words for a moment, trying to appear thoughtful and definitely not terrified. “They don’t sound any different.”
A collective chuckle rose from the group. “We have a smartass here, Boss.”
“Definitely seems that way.”
“And I think he would prefer to do it the hard way.”
“Oh no,” Kaidan squeaked. “The easy way sounds more appealing, and you’d probably be able to get home quicker as well.” He’d probably live long enough to get home, if he could control his tongue.
In a flash, two of the men grabbed Kaidan’s arms to hold him in place, and he automatically struggled against their grip. Then he felt the sharp edge of the blade against his throat, teasing against the skin, and Kaidan stopped struggling. He met Knife Guy’s gaze head on, the terror building in his chest.
Knife Guy moved closer to Kaidan, his gaze on the knife almost alluring. “It’ll probably be quicker to do it this way, really.”
Kaidan remained silent, the knife dangerously close to slicing his skin with each movement.
“Oh, run out of words have you?” Knife Guy chuckled. “Good. More fun that way.”
He pressed the edge of the blade further into Kaidan’s skin, and Kaidan closed his eyes. He saw a whole number of things in the darkness. Little things, like how the breeze was cool against his cheeks, how the material of his jacket tickled the raised hairs on his arms, the unanswered voicemail from his mother on his cell phone—
It could be worse.
A few seconds passed, and Kaidan opened his eyes again. Unconsciously, he tilted his neck back slightly, as though to offer more of neck to the blade, and resigned himself to his fate.
Then something—no, someone fell out of the trees to his right and everyone’s attention, including Knife Guy, snapped to the figure straightening himself up to full height. He was tall enough, with broken shadows from the branches hiding what he really looked like.
Kaidan saw his eyes though, sharp and impossibly blue, and they flashed with… mischief?
No time to think about what that meant. Kaidan didn’t register the smirk on the strangers face, taking advantage of the distraction to head butt the side of Knife Guy’s face and wriggle out of his lackey’s slack grip. It all happened at once, the uprising roar of the six thugs, the pressure behind his skull throbbing with the previous head butt, and just how fast the stranger’s movements were.
He seemed to glide around the group, his fighting style almost like a graceful street brawl. His strong hands weaved in and out of the thugs, simultaneously grabbing one in a headlock while gripping another’s jaw and throwing him to the side like a rag doll. Kaidan winced at the dull crack against the pavement.
The thug in the headlock roared, fingers scrambling against the slick leather jacket holding his neck in place, and the stranger laughed. Then there was a squeeze, a choke, and the other man loosened his hold to let the twitching criminal fall to the sidewalk.
There was a collective silence, and despite everything that had happened, Kaidan was pretty sure his mouth was wide open. The stranger straightened up, dusted his hands, and turned to face the remaining four hoodlums gathered around Kaidan. He eyed the knife in Knife Guy’s hand, and raised an eyebrow.
“You’re just trying to make this fun, aren’t you?” His voice was clouded with amusement.
Nobody moved a muscle.
He sighed and took a step forward.
Knife Guy shrieked before shoving past his friends and high-tailing it down the street. The other hoodlums followed, pausing only to skirt around the stranger to grab the other two thugs sprawled around the small area. He watched them go, a shit-eating grin on his face and a mocking wave at their retreating backs.
Kaidan’s heart was beating rapidly against his chest because he was almost killed, and he rested his hands against his trembling knees, trying to pull himself together again. He rubbed a hand against his throat, still feeling the cold steel against his skin, before levelling up to face his rescuer.
Rescuer—God, he sounded like a damsel in distress. Maybe he should expect the stranger to sweep him off his feet and ravish him against silken sheets.
Not that Kaidan would have minded, as the other man stepped completely into the light of the streetlamp, because okay, wow. All those hard angles, the freckles scattered across his skin, and a small scar leading into a buzzed scalp. Damn, it should be illegal for someone to be that attractive while doing something as unattractive as battling a group of hoodlums.
Except that it was attractive, what with how the stranger’s bright eyes flashed with excitement, his muscles rippling underneath his leather jacket with his movements, and the crooked smirk on his face as he approached Kaidan.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You okay?”
Kaidan nodded dumbly, the words stuck in his throat. “Uh, yeah. Just a little spooked but yeah, I’m fine.”
“Well that’s the biggest lie in the universe.” The stranger laughed and Kaidan narrowed his eyes.
“Fine, how about you try defending yourself against six psychopaths and coming out of that okay?”
The other man appeared to be holding back a laugh. “I think I just did.”
Kaidan walked right into that one. He rolled his eyes and adjusted the jacket on his shoulders. “Just who do you think you are? Dropping out of trees and beating up random people,” Kaidan met his eyes. “It’s not normal.”
The other guy shrugged. “Part of the job description, I’m afraid.” He blinked. “And I suppose you can call me Shepard.”
Shepard. Kaidan made a face, not even bothering to hide it. “Okay Shepard, I don’t know who the hell you are—”
“Don’t remind me of Hell,” Shepard shuffled on the spot, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not exactly a nice place.”
Kaidan sniffed. “Now I definitely think you’re crazy. I’m leaving.”
Turning around to walk away from the deranged psychopath who had… alright, Shepard had rescued Kaidan from the group of thugs that decided to follow Kaidan home, and he still wasn’t sure how Shepard had managed six-on-one. Or, two on one and scaring the shit out of the remaining lot. Whatever.
However Kaidan wasn’t going to question a miracle when it was dropped right in front of him. Literally. Shepard had dropped down onto the sidewalk from the overhanging tree branches. Weirdo. So while Kaidan was thankful to the possibly insane man behind him—
Except Shepard was suddenly in front of him, and Kaidan thought his vertigo had come back to haunt him. He blinked and looked over his shoulder, before looking back at Shepard.
“Uh.”
Shepard gave him a lopsided grin. “Yep.”
“How… did you do that?”
It was then that Kaidan noticed the trail of feathers that had gathered at Shepard’s boots. His eyes followed the line of the other man’s jeans under the streetlight, ignoring how they clung to Shepard in all the right places, before stopping on the hem of Shepard’s leather jacket.
Feathers. There were even more feathers. All bundled together underneath the crisp leather, splaying outwards in different directions, and some of the brilliant white feathers were crumpled and creased. Kaidan itched to smooth them down—
Wait. The guy had possibly half of his body weight in feathers practically falling out of his ass. That wasn’t normal. Even if Shepard was insane.
Shepard noticed Kaidan’s gaze, and raised an eyebrow. “See something you like?”
“Uh no,” Kaidan missed Shepard’s disappointed look. “More like something I don’t understand.”
“Which is?”
“The… feathers. All of the feathers, actually. Did you rob a craft store or…?”
Shepard chuckled deeply, and Kaidan tried to hide his blush from the sound. “If only it were that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
The other man sighed and began to shrug out of his jacket. Kaidan gasped as the feathers suddenly expanded outwards, like a dove spreading its wings, except Shepard was spreading his wings and—
It was beautiful. The streetlight reflected against the surface of the downy, if crumpled, feathers and it was as though the light was coming from them. Each individual quill radiated sheer warmth, and Kaidan just wanted to run his fingers through the length of Shepard’s wingspan.
That wasn't a normal train of thought. Humans having wings was not normal.
Kaidan took a step back as Shepard stretched his neck, his leather jacket held between his lax fingers. He met Kaidan’s gaze again and gave another sigh, as if stretching his wings was relaxing.
“What—”
“It’s a long story.”
“I mean, what—”
“Hey,” Shepard stepped closer to Kaidan. “Breathe, Kaidan.”
Kaidan breathed, and then took a step back. “Hang on, how do you know my name? I never told you it.”
The other man toed at the feathers around his feet, frowning slightly. “Shit… well, uh, this is awkward.” His brilliant blue eyes flashed as he looked at Kaidan again. “Because… I actually know everything about you.”
Kaidan was rooted to the spot, his heart racing and a million things running through his mind. The wings, the endless supply of feathers around them, that fact that Shepard knew everything about him?
“Who are you?” Kaidan asked.
“Kaidan, look—”
“Who are you?”
Shepard let out a breath, his wings twitching with the movement. He met Kaidan’s inquisitive gaze head on, and Kaidan almost got lost in his ridiculous eyes.
“I’m…” Shepard said softly. “Your guardian angel.”
(art by Rhapsody4u)