I don't venture much beyond gen and Shakarian fic, but this is one ship that came up quite by accident in the course of writing Taproot. I don't have an explanation or argument for you (its a rare pair for a reason), only that I thought they play as great contrasts in my post-war fic. They also serve as a parallel romance to Shepard/Garrus, and I can play with ideas about compatibility, values, and personal goals by offsetting one pair from the other.
Onto the writing. -- Okay, so this isn't technically a first meeting (if we assume they at least meet in the Citadel DLC), but as far as any meaningful interaction this is effectively their first real conversation together. Context is that Shepard is in a long term coma and Miranda is part of her medical team because of her extensive knowledge of her reconstruction. Kaidan is visiting Shepard in the hospital.
"Can you believe it, Shepard? Me? A general?" Kaidan paced the room as he spoke to her. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this. I don’t know if I can lead the way Anderson did—they way you did. They’re big shoes. Can I really fill them?”
He laughed a little and watched the Commander for a response. There was only silence in reply.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, as he shook a finger at her. “You’re thinking: ‘Kaidan, suck it up! Suck it up buttercup! Those people need you!’” He’d grown accustomed to answering in her stead.
“If you’re trying to get a rise out of her Major Alenko, it isn’t going to work.”
Kaidan started and spun around. Miranda Lawson stood two paces from the doorway with a datapad in one hand and a scanner in another, smirking at the startled visitor.
“Ah! How long have you been here?”
“Don’t worry, I only walked in a moment ago. I’m here to assess the Commander for her biotic work.”
“How’s it looking?” asked Kaidan.
Crossing to Shepard's bedside, she turned on the scanning tool. “Sorry Commander, this will just take a moment,” she said, running it the length of her unmoving patient. “Still the same," she said to Kaidan. "But we’re going to attempt repair to her nodes first. It’s never been done before. This work will be groundbreaking if we’re successful.”
“I’m sure it will be. I doubt you’ve ever given a wrong answer in your life.”
“That’s very flattering Major. But I assure you that genetic perfection doesn’t protect one from making mistakes."
“Oh, it’s General now, by the way,” Kaidan said bashfully.
“Is it? Well congratulations, General.”
Kaidan wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “Thanks...” he said. “How are you doing, by the way? I see you around here lots, but you’re always passing by.”
Miranda crossed her arms. “Me? I’m keeping well enough I suppose. I don’t know, no one really asks. There’s so much going on right now, I’ve hardly had the chance to breathe.”
“What about when your work with Shepard is done?”
“When Shepard is better? I suppose I want the same thing as before—to be useful. To better our situation. I have the skill, I have the knowledge. I just don’t know where I fit into all of this now.”
“I understand what that’s like," said Kaidan, nodding sympathetically.
He recalled his months of anguish and alienation after the incident on Jump Zero; all he'd wanted was to serve on his own terms, and doing so felt nearly impossible in the aftermath. But an association with Cerberus was much worse. Members of Cerberus, even former members of Cerberus, would not be received with much sympathy. Whatever Miranda was feeling, it had to be overwhelming.
“I can keep my ear to the ground for you, if you like," he said impulsively. "Um, that is if you’re ok with that. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of things coming across my desk now. There's plenty of work ahead.”
Miranda gave a little shrug. “I wouldn’t mind. That's a very thoughtful gesture, General.”
“Please, you can just call me Kaidan.”
Miranda turned to look at him, unable to stop herself from asking. “So, what does the second human Spectre regret?”
It was then, she noticed, he always took his time to reply and weighed every word. “I’ve never been long with anyone. I was either focused on my career or… being picky, I guess,” he paused, pressing his lips together as he gathered his thoughts. “Sometimes, I wonder how it would be… To go through this with someone. And now, the universe is ending.”
Miranda could more than understand the sentiment. There had been many years of her following that same thought; she dreamed of a family, and she tried to make it happen. What it would be to raise a child without expectations and manipulation, but to give them only unconditional love. The life Oriana could have if Shepard did the impossible again.
“Is this about what happened on Horizon?” he asked, and she was pulled hard back into port.
Kaidan and Miri are just so pretty together. @nightmarestudio606 ‘s Mark Shepard agrees and loves it when they call him when he’s away from home. One last shenko-y thing for @spectrekaidanalenko ‘s last ST. Because why not.
Can I say how much I LOVE this scene? Am I allowed to say that?? But after I wrote it, I realized it didn't make any sense to include in my long fic --it ruined the flow of the overall story and wasn't doing much narratively. Still, I couldn't get rid of it, so I included in a little "cut stuff" post.
Context: The fic takes place post-war. Miranda and Kaidan are supposed to go on their first date, but before Miranda arrives, Shepard shows up at Kaidan’s apartment looking to hide from the press camped outside her place. Miranda arrives all dressed up and ready to go, but Kaidan ends up making an impromptu dinner for the three of them instead. The scene begins as he walks her outside.
After dinner, Kaidan walked Miranda down to the lobby of the building. He had wanted to apologize properly all night, but Shepard as a third wheel had made for a wobbly ride. He held his arm out to trigger the door and they stepped into the mild spring air.
“I’m glad to see Commander Shepard has such a close friend watching out of her. Someone who knows her so well.”
“Oh, I have to watch out for her alright. Still hitting me with those childish jabs.”
Carefully holding the hem of her dress against the back of her thigh, Miranda lowered herself onto a long, concrete bollard. She set her clutch down next to her. “She certainly has a way of stealing the show, doesn’t she?”
“Between you and me, I think its worse when she’s stressed.” Kaidan joined Miranda on the bollard, tugging at the tops of his dress pants before sitting down.
“‘Stressed’ is a rather generous way of putting it.”
“Yeah, well, you know how it is. She’s had it really rough, since way before the war.”
“Since you were seeing each other?” The heel of Miranda's pump dug into the pavement as she rocked her foot back.
“Uhh…well yeah, I guess you could say that.” Kaidan leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “You know, I think there was a part of me that thought I could help her. That I could play an important role for her. She was out there, larger than life, a hero, a leader—doing all these amazing things I thought I could never do. I admired her for it. Maybe a little too much. And when she came back, when you brought her—when Cerberus brought her back—I didn’t believe she could possibly be the same person. When I finally realized it was really her, it was too late. We were different people.”
Folding his hands together, he surveyed the dark, empty plaza. It was quiet—not even the sound of vehicles or skycars broke the night air. It was as if the world had gone to bed just for them.
“And then Shepard found someone else.”
Kaidan snorted. “Yeah, that too.” He looked back toward Miranda, his eyes catching hers as she watched him. There was more to the story than she knew, but there was no point in telling her. “Listen, enough about Shepard. I wanted to apologize. Actually apologize.”
Miranda shook her head. “There’s no need, I—"
“No, please. I was caught off guard—didn’t have a chance to really think it through. And I didn’t have the heart to say no.” Kaidan sat up again. Setting boundaries never came naturally to him, but it was clear that he would have to try harder. “Though looking back, I probably should have. So I’m sorry for ruining our date. I didn’t imagine our night going this way.”
“How exactly did you imagine it then?” Miranda cocked an eyebrow, a smirk lurking at the corner of her mouth.
“Mmmm….first, we’d have a nice walk to the restaurant, along the waterfront—talking, maybe holding hands if we felt like it? Look out onto the glistening water. Smell the dust everywhere. Listen to the magical sounds of construction equipment filling the evening hours.” Kaidan waved his hand in an arc sarcastically.
Miranda crossed her legs and perched her hands on her knees.
“And after we took in the lovely atmosphere of the city?”
“When we got there, we’d sit at a table by the window and have an amazing view of the harbor. See the lights of Vancouver. Maybe there’d even be a candle, if we were lucky.”
“You pay extra for the candle.”
“That’s alright, I’m still young-ish and healthy. I can always sell a kidney.” Kaidan poked at his side to show her. “And we would definitely not be ordering the pasta. Maybe something a little more sophisticated for the lady? What do you like? Lobster? Caviar? Oysters?”
“Much too much ocean for my taste. How about…a gorgeous tournedos rossini?”
Of course her French accent is perfect. “Ah, a haute cuisine connoisseur, I see. Lab grown beef at exorbitant market price it is. Oh, let’s not forget some wine. Merlot from a family friend’s winery? I don’t trust anyone else to have real wine right now.”
“Mmm, but that corking fee will set you back a pretty penny.”
“Corking fee, shmorking fee! There’s always the other kidney.”
Miranda knocked her knees into his legs. “Well don’t kill yourself for a nice meal, Kaidan, not on my behalf.”
“Mmmm, what else…”
“We’d need a dessert.”
“Oh yes, how could I forget!” Kaidan ticked a finger back and forth in the air. “For yooou…I’m going to guess…the tiramisu.”
She narrowed her eyes. “How did you know?”
“Just a feeling.”
“And what about after the meal?”
“After? Hmm… after….” Sliding his arms out behind him, Kaidan leaned back onto the bollard with his palms, his legs stretched out in front of him. He gazed up to the sky. Stretching this moment out for as long as possible was going to be fun. “First, finish the wine. Can’t let that beauty go to waste.”
Miranda twisted her body toward him, her knees leaning into his thighs.
Kaidan snuck a glance from the corner of his eye. He let his gaze follow the path from her knee up to the hem of her dress, which had ridden up a little as she crossed her legs.
“What’s wrong? You haven’t gone shy on me now, have you? What happened to that new found confidence of yours?” She met his wandering gaze and raised an eyebrow. A glint of wickedness lurked at the notch of her eye.
Those crystalline eyes could see right through everything; Kaidan felt exposed, somehow. He cleared his throat. “Mmm, getting a little crisp out here. Give me a sec.” Sitting up, he began to roll the cuff of his sleeve back down to his wrist.
Reaching across, Miranda grabbed his hand and gently set it in his lap. She folded the cuff to his elbow in an even, trim roll, and he relished the warmth of her slender fingers brushing against his cool forearm.
Miranda admired her handiwork. “Leave it, I like it that way.”
“You like hairy arms, then?”
“I just like your arms. The hair doesn’t bother me.” She stroked his arm as if to make a point, matting the hair down in one direction.
Kaidan’s lips curled into an amused smile. “So…where did I leave off?”
“The wine. We’ve finished the wine.”
“Oh yes, the wine. After paying for the bill—with credits, not with my kidneys—we’d take another stroll, a little warm and tipsy. On account of the drinking…”
Miranda nodded. “Mmmhmm…”
“I’d drape my jacket around you, then my arm, and take you to to the seawall. We’d stop and admire the buildings across the water, the old sailboats in the bay.”
Kaidan rose from the bollard. Reaching down, he took Miranda’s hand and pulled her up gently.
“I’d turn to you and hold your hands, like this." He clasped her hands in his. Looking down, he ran his thumbs over the backs of her hands, and let his palms whisper with a soft, blue glow.
She reciprocated, her biotics thrumming against his, the force between them making Kaidan’s skin tingle. Their hands were a bright beacon lighting the building’s path.
“Kaidan…I—” Miranda peered up, her eyes imploring as he leaned in.
Beep…beep…beep…beep…Kaidan’s omnitool lit up. He pulled back.
“Crap, just a sec, could be work.”
Her mouth opened to say something, but she clamped it shut again as he pulled up his display.
“Heeeeey….Shepard. What’s up,” Kaidan said, trying his best not to sound put out.
Miranda winced and stuck a finger in her ear as Shepard’s deafening voice rang out. “Sorry to bother you again, but do you mind if I use your terminal? I’m supposed to have a chat with Garrus tonight and, uh, mine’s at home.”
“Yeah, sure, knock yourself out. It’s in my bedroom. The door on the right down the hallway.”
“Perfect! Thanks Kaidan! Hey, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do…hehe.”
“Uh, you too, Shepard.”
“Bye!”
“See you later, Circe.”
Kaidan blew a long puff of air through his lips as he raked his fingers over the back of his head. “Um, sorry about that. Again.”
Miranda picked up her clutch and held it out in front of her with both hands. “That’s alright, I should be going anyway. Early day tomorrow.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Talk to you before you leave for Benning?”
“Yep, of course.” Kaidan gave a rueful smile. “Goodnight, Miranda.”
