A Knife & No Armor - here on AO3
(In which Perse dreams of "home" & Kaidan is a cinnamon roll)
“Shepard! Perse! You’re dreaming again!” Kaidan reached through the biotic field to shake Shepard by the shoulders.
Shepard thrashed against his grip and then sat bolt upright, growling at an invisible opponent at the end of the bed. “Not today, motherfucker!”
Perse blinked and the biotic field snapped off. They looked around at Kaidan. “It happened again, didn’t it?” Perse was sweating.
“Come ‘ere.” Kaidan moved towards them and enveloped Shepard in a warm embrace. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here.” He just held them and rocked.
Kaidan noticed Perse was box breathing. He just waited. They’d already been through the questions and cagey non-answers about the what and the why and the who. “Maybe you should talk to someone. It might make you feel better,” he ventured.
“There are things I can’t tell an Alliance shrink, Kaidan.”
“Well, right now I’m just Kaidan. And you’re just Perse. You could try telling me.” He’d asked before but what the hell, try, try again, right?
Perse pulled away, just breathing into the silence for a few moments. “The first time this happened you asked me where home was for me.” Shepard regarded their own hands. “A knife…and no armor. It’s the only thing that feels like home.” Their hands started to shake. “If I’m gonna tell you this story, my fists need to be working. Let’s go to the gym.”
Earth, Bay Peninsula, California, 2162
I shifted my stance, swaying as if I was standing on a boat. The thug trying to cop a feel was only slightly drunk. He didn’t know what he was in for. No one came through this sector without the 78s knowing about it, and this man had overstayed his welcome.
It always starts innocently enough — hanging with someone in a club, maybe just outside; then a few more join you and you think you have a chance of taking over 78 territory. But you don’t. You really don’t.
I keep my eyes on the man in front, but he’s not the first one I hit. He thinks he sees a little girl, a first target, something easy for the boys… I wait for him to lunge forward and duck down to grab me.
When he does, I leap up over his head and push off of his back towards the others sending him sprawling into the space I used to occupy. I come down from above slashing crosswise at the idiots just standing there with their necks exposed. As I land, those two are already crumpling to the ground. The three in front of me look a little scared. But not scared enough to run. They don’t know just how dead they already are.
Read the rest here on AO3!
