Thank you so much for asking! This paired up so WELL with a bit of inspiration I was hit with while replaying ME3 yesterday, too, and I couldn't resist pulling it in as well! Can't decide yet whether this'll be canon for them or not, but here's the potential set up for it anyway!
Setting: SSV Normandy, Kristofer Shepard, Kaidan Alenko, set between Cronos Station and the battle for Earth right before Hackett shows up on the ship in game.
~~~
Kaidan is on duty in the CIC when Kristofer finds him. The lift doors open; Kaidan glances over out of habit, searching for the new arrival and instead finds the man crooking a finger at him. Handing off his datapad to Traynor, he murmurs, “I’ll be back in a few.”
The comms specialist glances over her shoulder then nods. “Yes, Major.”
“What’s going on?” he asks as he steps onto the lift. The doors slide shut immediately and ascends.
“Need to show you something.”
It isn’t the words that put Kaidan on edge, but the way Kristofer won’t look him in the eyes. By the time the lift opens to the loft, he’s come up with half a dozen reasons for that and none of them are good. “Kris –?”
The commander enters the loft without a word. Kaidan follows. What else can he do?
Out of habit, he glances around the cabin as he enters. Everything is as it was when he left a few hours ago. Well, a few more datapads lie haphazardly across the desk and there’s a half-full cup of coffee that hadn’t been there, but otherwise the same. The only thing that seems out of place really is Shepard himself. Kristofer isn’t the type to waste energy by pacing or fidgeting… and yet, he immediately descends to the lower level and wanders between the fish tank and Kaidan’s desk. The behavioral change this late in the game is the most worrisome thing of all to Kaidan.
“What the hell’s going on, Kris?”
A visible shudder ripples beneath the N7 hoodie Kristofer’s wrapped in, his back facing Kaidan when he replies, “Hackett will be boarding in about twenty minutes for our final briefing with Anderson before we head to Sol.”
“Okay?”
Kristofer turns so their eyes meet. Kaidan can’t quite read what’s hiding in them, but it does nothing to ease his earlier concerns. Inhaling deeply, Kristofer explains, “You’ll be transferring over to the Orizaba with him.”
Winter Asks Caught in a Snowstorm because Sam and weather.
The snow is festive, at least.
Too often there isn’t much snow in December, especially in Vancouver, and all the holiday decorations just end up looking drab and…damp under the grey winter skies. Not so today. The flakes of snow outside are coming down even thicker than they had been back in the mountains of the BC Interior. Snow this hard isn’t that uncommon out at the orchard, but Vancouver usually doesn’t see it.
Outside the train station, wreaths hanging on the lampposts wear a fresh blanket of white. Too early in the day for various holiday lights to be on, but Kaidan vividly remembers the massive display the city puts on down by the bay every year. Adding snow to the mix will make it nothing short of magic. Been a long time since he’s been on Earth for Christmas, and this year will be Shepard’s first experience with Christmas period.
It’s…not going well.
Outside may look like a pleasant winter wonderland, but inside the train station the collective mood of the thickening crowd waiting for loved ones gets farther and farther from goodwill to all, despite the plethora of Santa hats and garish holiday sweaters.
Shepard in particular has the look in his eyes that usually precedes solving a problem with a shotgun, which contrasts rather spectacularly with the evergreen sweater and gold jingle bell on a bright red cord Kaidan strung around his neck. The farther away they get from wearing combat armor, the more fascinating it is to see the soldier emerge.
If Kaidan had any idea how stressful the prospect of celebrating a holiday was going to become, he wouldn’t have pushed for it. For the past two weeks Shepard has approached Christmas like he’s coordinating a full-scale assault on an enemy stronghold. Like it’s something he has to win. The poor tree they’d decorated in the living room practically salutes every time he walks through the door.
Kaidan hasn’t dared introduce the ugly sweater concept. The levels Sam could take it to don’t bear thinking about, so he’ll leave that one for his mother.
If she ever gets here.
Shepard paces the train platform, bell jangling with each step, occasionally glaring up at the arrival screen, where the 13:00 train from Kamloops still shows Delayed in red letters.
Kaidan eyes him cautiously. Despite the temptation to say ‘I told you so,’ a peace-on-Earth approach is probably the better choice right now. If Shepard were particularly open to peaceful negotiation.
“Fucking weather,” Shepard mutters under his breath, peering out a window with a scowl. “I hate planets.”
He’s not open to peaceful negotiation.
They’d spent four hours in a skycar to get here, in spite of all of Kaidan’s arguments for why it was a bad idea. Shepard hasn’t learned yet that when Kaidan’s mother makes a plan, you don’t alter the plan. And the plan had been she would take the high-speed rail from Toronto to Vancouver and find her own way to the orchard. It was her plan. Sam’s idea to surprise her at the station was doomed to failure, no matter how noble his intentions.
Of course, the fact he wanted to do it so badly is more than Kaidan’s heart can stand, but that doesn’t change the laws of the universe. Or his mother.
“You can’t surprise my mother,” Kaidan tried to tell him. “It doesn’t work. Trust me.”
“It’ll work,” Sam insisted, back when he was naïve and optimistic.
Shepard, so accustomed to the galaxy getting out of his way whenever he it wanted to, doesn’t understand the opposing force that is Lora Alenko. Or blizzards.
“I flew a Mako through a mass relay and we really can’t figure out how to keep the trains running in snow?” Shepard demands.
“Apparently,” Kaidan says, suppressing a sigh. The sigh would not help matters.
The red lights on the arrival sign flicker, then change. Sam straightens, hopeful, until the word Cancelled appears.
“Son of a bitch,” he swears, throwing an arm in the air. “Fuck this holiday bullshit.” A few people look in his direction, including a kid wearing a red and green knit cap who can’t be more than ten. He grips his mother’s hand, eyes widening with recognition.
Chagrin creeps over Shepard’s face. He clears his throat and offers the kid a salute, before dragging Kaidan further away from the crowd.
“First,” he says, before Kaidan can open his mouth. “Don’t say it. Second, now what do we do?”
“We go home,” Kaidan says gently. “She’ll get here when she gets here. It’s fine.”
“No it isn’t.” Shepard runs a hand over his scalp and continues pacing. More people start looking their way, so Kaidan takes him by the hand and leads him outside, where the snow continues falling even thicker than before. At this point, just getting themselves home is going to be interesting.
Sam continues muttering under his breath as they walk, jingle bell tinkling merrily. Kaidan puts a hand on his arm, tightening until he stops.
“Hey,” Kaidan says.
Shepard turns his glare skyward, as though he has half a mind to out-temper the storm. Wouldn’t be the first time. He’d ground Noveria’s snow right under his heel. Of course, that time he’d had an armored tank with an eezo core. Surely he can’t do the same with a skycar.
…surely.
“This was supposed to go right,” Sam says in defeat.
Kaidan brushes away the snow collecting on Shepard’s shoulder, hiding a smile at the sight of flakes melting on his head. He’d spent so much time joking about making them both wear Santa hats he hadn’t thought to grab real hats.
“First lesson about holidays,” Kaidan says with a chuckle. “Nothing ever goes according to plan. Kind of like you.”
Sam exhales, warm breath dissipating into steam. He runs a gloved finger down Kaidan’s cheek, channeling some of his intensity into one of those looks that never fails to make him weak at the knees.
“Sam,” Kaidan says, meeting his gaze. “Talk to me. What’s going on? You’ve been a man on a mission for weeks. It’s supposed to be something you – something we – enjoy.”
His expression twists in a way that makes Kaidan’s heart ache. “You’re…my family. Your mom…is now my family. Holidays are important to you.” He hesitates. “And I kind of wanted it to be important to me.”
Kaidan gazes at him, too many thoughts swirling in his head to give voice to any of them. So he leans in and kisses him, softly at first, then more insistently as Sam wraps an arm around his neck and pulls him flush. For the thousandth time, Kaidan wonders how two people fit so perfectly together.
When Kaidan finally pulls away Sam sighs, blinking away flakes of snow.
“Then let’s go home,” Kaidan says. “And I promise, when she gets here? We’ll make it important to all of us.”
Kaidan takes his hand as they walk back towards the skycar. Just for the hell of it, he sticks his tongue out to catch a snowflake, persisting until Sam laughs and tugs him close.
It’s late by the time they make it back to the orchard. The strings of Christmas lights Sam had hung meticulously over the front bushes twinkle merrily, but to their surprise the house itself blazes with light.
Sam’s hand reaches for a sidearm he no longer carries, suspicion in his eyes. “Did you leave the lights on?”
“Nope,” Kaidan says, hiding a smile as he gets out of the skycar.
“Then what the—”
Kaidan chuckles. “You are not the only person who can bully the universe, Sam.”
When they walk in the house Kaidan’s mother sits on the couch with a glass of wine, feet up and adorned with a pair of candy cane slippers, fire roaring merrily in the fireplace. When she gets to her feet, she wears a knit red sweater emblazoned with a green Christmas tree that lights up with omnitool powered lights.
“There you are!” she exclaims as they stamp snow off their boots. “Where the hell have you been?”
Kaidan grins and crosses the room to sweep her up in a hug.
“We…went to get you,” Sam says, giving her a baffled look. “How did you get here? Your train was cancelled.”
“Aunt Li had some last-minute things she needed to take care of, and I saw the weather, so I took an earlier train.”
“You tried to surprise me?” she asks, genuinely touched.
Kaidan steps aside and she opens her arms expectantly, waggling her fingers until Sam steps sheepishly into them. She leans in and murmurs in his ear, “Good luck with that.”
Sam narrows his eyes, but holds her tight. “Challenge accepted.”
Oh boy. This is not what Kaidan had in mind when he vowed to make new Christmas traditions.
“I missed my boys,” she says, taking Sam’s cheeks in both hands. “And I wasn’t going to miss our first Christmas.”
Sam nods, speechless for once when she lets him go.
“Sam went all out,” Kaidan says with a smile. “You should see the meal he’s got planned for tomorrow.”
She raises an eyebrow.
“Catered,” Sam says swiftly.
She grins. “I can’t wait.”
She goes into the kitchen to dig up two more wine glasses. When she returns, she hands one to each of them and grabs the bottle she’d already opened to fill them.
She picks up her own glass and raises it. “To our new family.”
Sam and Kaidan echo the toast, though Sam’s voice wavers.
They drink. Sam shuffles his feet. Kaidan knows the look on his face. The soldier’s been put away again, but the part of him who believes he has to earn his place – even with his own family – still hasn’t been laid to rest yet.
Kaidan’s working on that.
“So,” Sam says slowly. “I’m, um. Not sure what happens now. I’m not…good at this.”
Kaidan’s mother loops Sam’s arm around her shoulder and walks him over to the couch, where a pile of blankets wait. “Now we cuddle up in front of the fire and get warm, because it’s freezing outside and someone I know hates being cold.”
A smile creeps across Sam’s face. “It’s not so bad. When you’ve got the right company.”
Outside, the snow keeps falling. Inside, the fire flickers and pops.
“So is this what it’s like?” Sam murmurs, tugging a blanket across the three of them as they settle on the couch and finding Kaidan’s hand underneath it. As soon as he’s situated, Kaidan’s mother drops a Santa hat on his head.
“Yeah,” Kaidan says, kissing his temple. “This is what it’s like.”
Oh goodness, tit for tat, is it? This is a difficult one!!!
Let me see....
Gazpacho: Describe the scene that changes everything
This really depends on WHO (I'll take Caleb since I've been working on him so much) and WHEN.
That said, I think for Caleb and Kaidan, the biggest moment that changes everything for them comes right after the Leviathan mission. At this point of things, they are together, but their relationship is still in the very early stages (while they have 'slept' together, it's just been sleeping together, they physically haven't moved beyond kissing and getting to know one another). Caleb wants to take things slow - he's lost so many people along the way, and he's realistic enough to understand that he'll likely lose more during a time of war like this, and the thought of losing Kaidan, of having his name on a list with those from the Reds, from Akuze, Ashley, etc.? He needs time to come to terms with that before he can fully commit.
So, after talking to Leviathan and sorting all of that out, they head back to the Citadel for a few days. Caleb is exhausted, drained beyond belief. Everyone else thinks it's because of the mission and the war - which is true to an extent - but Kaidan thinks it's more than that, has noticed small behaviors, and he confronts Caleb about it.
“You aren’t the first person to be afraid of the water.”
That Kaidan figures this out terrifies Caleb because no one but Anderson (outside of his intructors at diver training at N-School) knows.
Caleb explains to Kaidan what he knows of his past - about walking out of the River Shannon at age 6, totally drenched, not remembering anything before that. He tells him how he didn't discover he had a fear of deep water until diving training and that Anderson went to bat for him to keep him in N-School because of it. For Caleb, it's an important moment because he is putting his full trust in Kaidan. (Trust is a HUGE issue for him, btw, and is seen throughout many of his stories) I mean, he's at a moment in time where he's finally dared to let Kaidan know how he feels about him, they're finally starting to figure 'them' out and then Kaidan figures out his deepest, darkest secret? That scares the hell out of him...
Until Kaidan asks, "What do you need me to do?"
Kaidan has always told Caleb he'd have his six - always. And it's that moment that Caleb realizes what they have together and what that could mean for them both if they get out of the war alive.
Well, it's taken me almost two years to get to a point where I have a better understanding of him, but here we go, and I hope this all makes sense. (under cut because this got long - go figure :P )
Bear with me here while I ramble on for a bit to explain things (this is as much to help me out as to explain to you! lol)
Caleb is demisexual and bisexual.
Back in his teens, he had a girlfriend, Ciara (also a member of the Reds). They were together for less than a year, though, and shortly after they broke up, she ends up killed in the Reds war vs. the Greystones; one of the many people Caleb has lost in his life over the years. He and Moira, another Red, get together once or twice, but mostly they're just friends (after Ned's murder, Caleb doesn't go back to Old Neddy's anymore, so she sometimes lets him stay at her place). This last for about a year until Athair smuggles him out of Ireland for his own safety after the Reds lose control of Shannon to the Greystones.
Over the years that follow, no one really interests him sexually or romantically - partly because the interest just isn't there, and partly because he's afraid to let anyone too close because he knows just how easily they can be lost. As if to back this up, he loses his entire unit on Akuze - people he's come to care about as 'family' - and as you can imagine, it only reinforces that idea.
HOWEVER, as a literal end result of Akuze, he meets Kaidan who is part of the rescue team sent in. From that point on, they become friends, like he and Coats. They meet up periodically, have drinks, sit around talking, pull out the deck of cards to have Caleb do readings and such, etc. They even meet up unexpectedly when Caleb is on an N7 mission and Kaidan ends up helping Caleb and Rosa out in the process. (Can you say VERY SLOW BURN?)
So, by the end of ME1, Caleb figures out, okay, he's got feelings, but he says nothing. We all know how devastating Alchera is (and it is for both of them), but Mars is a double edged sword for Caleb because all of a sudden the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak; his past history with people he's close to comes rushing back to haunt him, but he finally acknowledges to himself that he loves Kaidan. What's he to do???
Well, my dork of an Irishman does what he always does: he clams up and keeps it to himself. However, by this point, Kaidan is starting to read his tells and eventually there is a sort of confrontation and they both work their way past the problems and end up 'together'.
Now, 'together' is even more frightening to Caleb (mostly because of the fear of losing Kaidan - they ARE in a war, right? He's a bit surprised (considering how he was raised) that it doesn't bother him that Kaidan is a man; Caleb just knows by this point that they are 'meant to be' and to be honest, that is probably the easiest part of the entire relationship for him) because 1) he's admitted to himself he has feelings, 2) there's a WAR ON and Kaidan could die (see also: Mars and Akuze and what happened to the Reds), and 3) what do I do if I lose him when he means so much more to me than anyone else EVER?
That being said... the actual headcanon part to all of this is: they agree to a relationship where they move it forward very slowly with Caleb determining when they move on to whatever 'next step' that he wants when he wants to. Kaidan has no issue with that at all. So, most of their relationship during the war when they sleep together, they literally are just sleeping together in the same bed. Kissing and snuggling/cuddling is easy enough for Caleb to accept (and that will always be a thing for them, even later in life), and certainly having Kaidan there with him as they sleep makes it easier for him to sleep, but actual 'sex' between them doesn't happen until much later in their relationship.
Now, I know you know of a scene I have planned for them late in ME3 after the Leviathan mission, and that will still be included in their story (I think), but I may be changing it up a little bit to reflect some of this new information that he's given me.
So... I hope this answers the question? Maybe, just a little bit? I'm still figuring him out (and I may be tossing ideas/questions at you at some point to help me understand it!), but that's kind of how I'm seeing things at the moment. (all subject to change at any time if he so decides to flip the tables on me! lol God knows he's done it before! *sigh* Stubborn, stubborn Irishman! ;)
So, my favorite fic of the year this year both written and posted is No Rest For the Wicked, my Mass Effect/WWII fic I wrote for MEBB 2021.
The reasons for this are many. For starters, both my grandfathers and three great uncles fought in WWII, and I have been looking for a way to do personally honor them for their service and sacrifice during that time.
Second, I was a history major in college. WWII is one of my areas of expertise and one of my absolute favorites to study - I can't explain it exactly. Yes, it probably has something to do with my grandfathers and great uncles, but it's more than that. I'm a firm believer that the lessons of the past cannot be forgotten - it's part of why I became a history teacher for a while - and so maybe that's part of it too. Being able to do that while mixing my favorite game/characters into a time period that I am comfortable writing is even better.
Third, it gives me a chance to explore my Caleb Shepard in a similar set up if completely different world. He's my first mShep. He's also my first mShenko. There will be challenges in writing him and Kaidan together in the 1940s - challenges I'm looking forward to exploring and (I hope to which I'll be) doing justice. You, the readers, will be the ultimate judge of that.
Fourth, I was given the chance to work with @altnaharra on the MEBB, and what a wonderful experience that was. The art of Caleb and Kaidan - *chef's kiss*.
So, yeah, by far my favorite story I've written this year.
3. favorite line/scene you wrote this year
Another favorite line/scene...
So, this is from No Rest For the Wicked, too. Writing Joker is a challenge for me - his level of snarky and snippy humor isn't my usual thing. However, I think I did an okay job writing him in this story. This is a short scene at the very beginning of the fic with him. In the ME/WWII 'verse, Joker is Shepard's driver (around London).
“Gee, Commander, you’d think they’d give you a bit of a break after that last mission, huh?”
Bracing his arm against the side of the vehicle to keep from being thrown into his driver as they took a corner just a bit too sharply, Commander Caleb Shepard huffed warily and eyed his companion. “Ten days in hospital isn’t enough for you?”
“Hah. Yeah. All expenses paid, too.” Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, known as “Joker,” flashed him a wild grin just before he picked up speed, darted into the next lane, and whipped the vehicle around the delivery truck in front of them. “Gotta love those company holidays, right?”
Is there *anything* left from the Ship List for Sam and Kaidan? I want to know ALL the things!
How about this, then?
Sam is not an L2, but he’s not an L3 either. His implant is a prototype that he calls it an L2.5. It was more stable than the L2s, but with fewer power restrictions than L3s. Because the L3s were still safer, the L2.5 never made it into full production.
He does have a notable side effect, however. His blood sugar and electrolyte levels are a lot trickier to manage than most biotics. This makes him a lot more susceptible to crashing, and he has to be a lot more careful about getting enough calories.
This is a really shitty side effect for someone who has a tendency to stop eating under stress, and has an undiagnosed PTSD reaction to certain food.
Kaidan carries an arsenal of energy bars and juice packs around with him at all times just for Sam, and he’s used it more than once to keep him on his feet.
Because his implant is a prototype that most people don’t know exists, Sam stores the schematics on his omnitool so that it’s on his person at all times in case of an emergency.
What he doesn’t know is that Kaidan does, too, and has since Sam first told him about it. Just in case.
