THE STEPS AND THE SHORE by spicyshimmy (M / 55K)
When Shepard died the first time, Cerberus specialists implanted a graybox in his brain—and, when it was destroyed by the blast on the Citadel, his memories of the year since his resurrection were destroyed along with it. Kaidan keeps his distance in order to keep Shepard from feeling trapped by the implications of a relationship he doesn’t even remember, trying to rebuild the Citadel while Shepard tries to rebuild what might still be between them. Written for the Mass Effect Big Bang 2012. It also wasn’t the first time he’d held onto hope that Shepard wasn’t dead.











