Ken was washing dishes in the sink and gave Kaidan a brief look of surprise before finishing the dish in his hands and setting it in the drainer.

"You're leaving?" The words were neutral at best.

Kaidan struggled for a civil response, his thoughts crashing about. His guilt and his anger at war with what he wanted and none of it leaving him a clear course. "Kaet has asked…" The words strangled and he lost them.

He didn't want to listen to his father. He wanted to go back in time and never agree to come here in the first place. He wanted to hold his wife in his arms and protect her and promise he'd never again do anything that would bring that look of anguish to her face or those tears to her eyes.

He wanted to clench his fists and pound something like a thirteen year old boy, screaming to know what he'd done wrong, why he was being punished this way.

"You said something to her." Ken mused, his gaze out into the scene through the window above the sink. "I saw her leave. Saw her looking a little beat up."

"Stay out of my relationship with my wife." Kaidan snapped. "You're the reason…" He cut the words off again, struggling for calm, for logic.

"It wasn't fair. What Anna expected of her." Ken continued, ignoring Kaidan's words. "What we expected of her." Light colored eyes looked at the younger man. "Including you, son."

Kaidan sucked in a breath as if he'd just been sucker punched in the gut.

His father was right. Kaidan had accepted the invitation to come here counting on Kaet being her usual self, battling through any and all objections to him and his biotics and then he'd taken it out on her for doing exactly what he wanted.

Rubbing his forehead, Kaidan sank into a chair at the kitchen table and simply shook his head.

The kitchen was quiet for a moment and then Kaidan felt something cold rest near his elbow.

"Better drink. Nothing burns calories like fighting yourself." Ken murmured before sitting down across from him. "You get a headache and that wife of yours will have more than one reason to be upset."

Kaidan opened the energy drink and took a long swallow.

The silence wasn't…oppressive, he thought, as he stared at the label on the bottle.

"So your Kaet sent you to me." Ken finally spoke again, the words almost reluctant.

"She wants me…" The words were angry and he bit down on them, controlling them.

Ken smiled. "Never easy, is it? Loving a strong woman."

"She believes there is more to the story. That I should listen as you try to justify what you did." Kaidan finally snapped out, resenting that his father in any way could identify with him. "That somehow something you have to say will justify you hating me."

The expression on Ken's face never changed, his lips curving in a slight smile. "Smart woman, too. Knew that the first time I saw her duck out of a hallway to avoid your mother on that ship of yours."

"It's her ship, not mine." Kaidan bit out and then pulled back, startled, at the depth of emotion in the words.

Her ship, not his. Like he was being kept by her simply because they happened to live there most of the time. Like he couldn't provide for her a home good enough to match what she already had and therefore he was a failure.

Kaidan groaned softly and buried his face in his hands.

"You've been married three months, son." Ken's deep voice carried through his misery. "Give yourself some time to figure things out."

"Stop talking to me like you understand!" Kaidan told him, anger at himself lashing through to the man in front of him. "You don't know me. You sold me when I was a kid because you hated me. Because it was easier for you to send the freak away rather than have to pretend that you loved me."

Ken studied his son for a moment and then flicked on his omni-tool, his fingers tapping a sequence that brought up a display. "This is what convinced me to let them take you. Not money. Not others opinions."

Kaidan frowned slightly at the medical diagnostics he could see displayed. "I've seen these before. This is an advanced terminal case of eezo exposure. They showed them to us at Brain Camp. This is what the cancer in the system of a dying child look like. Cancer as a side effect of eezo instead of biotics. They told us we were lucky to have survived, that this could have happened to us."

"We were told these were your scans." Ken said quietly.

Kaidan's brown eyes stared at his father. "What?"

"You had a medical appointment, routinely scheduled, nothing special. It just happened to have occurred four days after I told those men in suits that they couldn't take you." Ken continued, his gaze impassive as he looked down at the scans. "Your doctor brought us these out and told your mother and me that your eezo exposure had finally grown cancerous. You were dying. He showed us these scans as proof."

"That's not me." Kaidan said, confused, his gaze moving back and forth from his father to the scans.

Ken shrugged and shut the omni-tool off. "We know that. Now. Then…well, it was what we'd feared since you were born. When those same men in suits came back a week later and said they could cure you if they took you with them…" Another shrug moved his shoulders.

Kaidan stared at his father. "Cure me? I wasn't…that wasn't…" He ran a hand through his hair, emotions too strong to win the war with the confusion rising in him.

"We didn't learn the truth until after you helped Kaet save the Citadel." Ken continued, his fingers rubbing a pattern in the table top. "Your doctor…a man I had continued to trust with the lives of my wife and my daughters…mentioned during a routine examination that I was probably grateful how you'd turned out. That it was a good thing he'd shown me false scans since you'd saved so many lives."

"What?" Kaidan whispered the word.

Anger, low and old and burning hot, showed on Ken's face. "Yes. I was supposed to be grateful that I'd fallen for a pack of lies and sent my son off with strangers to a place I could not protect him. It was all okay because you saved the universe."

"But…I don't…" Kaidan closed his eyes, shaking his head. "You hated me…"

"I did, when you were born. But it didn't last." Ken agreed with a faint smile that held equal mixes of pride and shame. "You weren't about to let it and you're as stubborn as your mother. Every time I turned around, there you were. You'd try and bring me a drink and end up spilling it all over yourself or me. You'd try to watch news reports sitting next to me, telling me how much you loved watching them when you'd be asleep after about two minutes. You hated the taste of tomatoes but if you saw me eating them, you'd force yourself to do the same all the while telling me how much you loved them."

"Why would they do that?" Kaidan finally demanded, focusing on the one part of the conversation that wouldn't stab at him with memories he'd long shoved to the back of his mind. "Why would they lie to you, pretend that I was dying so they could take me?"

Ken laughed, but there was more bitterness than humor in the statement. "Maybe you should spend a bit more time believing your wife when she talks about how strong you are, Kaidan. The things you can do with your biotics? The skill you had as a child? You were the brightest, the strongest, the one everyone else was shown as an example. When other children couldn't move a pencil, you were making your sister's toys dance for them. They noticed and they were determined to have you, Kaidan, no matter what."

"So you let them take me." Kaidan said, but the words lacked the hostility of his earlier accusation.

Ken shook his head. "Not until they told us they could cure you. That it was better that you live with them than die with us."

There was a part of him that wanted to deny, to accuse his father of making the entire story up, a part of him that wanted to remain the victim, the strong man who had risen above the disdain of his family and become stronger for it. The man who had lived through Brain Camp, who had seen firsthand what those in charge were capable of, couldn't deny the truth.

"They said they'd let us contact you. Let us know when the surgery to correct the cancer would take place. Let us be there for you." Ken continued, quietly. "Then the excuses started. You couldn't respond, you were in therapy. You were in a coma, healing. You had woken up, better, but couldn't be upset and any contact would set your recovery back. You'd suffered a setback. They had excuses for everything and when we stopped believing them and began demanding to see you, we were told you had requested no contact with us and they would honor that."

"What?" Kaidan gaped at his father. "But…they told me that you didn't want any contact with me. That you'd been paid money and that if I wanted to go home you'd have to pay it back and you didn't want to do that."

Ken's smile was bitter. "When you finally did come home we were warned to watch out. You'd killed a turian with your powers and were unpredictable."

Kaidan slammed his fists against the table and shoved back. "Those bastards. It was their fault! Their stupid program…" He scrubbed his fingers over his face.

"They'd had you roughly five years, Kaidan." Ken said quietly. "They took a brilliant, beautiful boy full of laughter and returned a cold and distant stranger who moved like a ghost through the house. When you responded at all…which wasn't often…you were bitter and so angry. Your mother and I couldn't reach you. So when you told us you were leaving after only a few days, we let you go again. This time we had no better idea than the first if you'd ever return."

Kaidan's mouth opened, to say something, anything, but the months after killing Vyrnnus, after seeing Rahna look at him with fear, were such a jumble of confusion he couldn't trust his perceptions of anything in that time frame.

"Mai and Elspeth will come around. Already have, to some extent." Ken said, his gaze on his son. "Your mother has tried for years to connect with you. To come to know her son again."

"You haven't." Kaidan snapped, bitter.

Ken lifted his chin, facing his son squarely. "I let them take you, Kaidan. I let them keep you. Because I wasn't there to protect you, you were placed in a position where you were nearly killed and had to kill to defend yourself. I wasn't going to force you to forgive me for any of that."

Because he had yet to forgive himself, Kaidan comprehended as he really looked at his father for the first time. Saw the man who had condemned himself far harsher than Kaidan could ever have done for not being there when Kaidan needed him and for far longer. What Kaidan had seen as indifference, he now saw was simply Ken Alenko doing his best to make sure he didn't ruin what little relationship there was between Kaidan and his mother. The way Kaidan had hoped to use Kaet to bridge the gap, Ken had been doing the same for years with Anna.

Shaking, Kaidan sat down once again, and simply looked at his father.

What was it Kaet was constantly commenting on? His need to protect people had been established long before Brain Camp and Rahna and while his mother may have formed some of it, the balance would have been something he'd observed in someone else. Something he'd actively tried to emulate. Something he'd loved about his father.

Which was why it had been such a bitter betrayal when his father had failed to protect him.

"Dad…" Kaidan began not knowing what he was going to say.

Ken's face burned crimson as his eyes grew wet and he tried to control the entire mess. "That's the first time you've called me that to my face since I let you go." The words were gruff.

It couldn't have…Kaidan paused, searching his memory and finding a shallow truth. "I'm sorry, Dad…"

"Don't." Ken held up a hand, his expression fierce. "You've nothing to be sorry for. You did the best you could."

A soft, uncertain smile kicked up the corner of Kaidan's mouth. "That doesn't mean I can't do better."

An awkward silence settled in the room, both men trying to come to terms with the new and different dynamic in a relationship that had grown far too comfortable with silence and blame.

After a long search, Ken finally cleared his throat and spoke. "So was this the quest your Kaet sent you on?"

"Quest?" Kaidan repeated, grateful for something to focus on.

Ken gave a slight smile and a slow nod. "Some men have it easy when the woman they love demands that they prove it. Go slay a dragon or recover some lost mystical item after traveling through various perils. Then there's the women like your Kaet. The one's who could go kill the dragon themselves and think pretty trinkets are all fine and dandy but they'd rather have something more practical. The ones who won't ask for something to be easy, they'll just ask for it to be meaningful."

Kaidan stared at his father, thinking about the argument with Kaet. "I never thought of it as a quest." He said in wondering tones. "She said it was a punishment for what I'd said."

A quick bark of laughter, subdued almost as quickly as it had been given voice, escaped from the older man. "She's not exactly going to tell you it's for your own good, is she? That won't get her what she wants, not unless she convinces you it's for some other reason." Ken snorted and then the sound turned uncertain, as if he were worried the words would offend so he quickly moved on. "You with that love of heroes and adventures you had…all those books and vids you used to go nuts over…I would have thought you'd catch on quicker." Ken abruptly shut his mouth and pulled back in nervousness, his expression saying he wished he could call the words back.

Laughing, reassuring him, Kaidan nodded. "Yeah, well, my white knight armor is a bit tarnished right now."

Ken's smile was genuine and contained a warmth Kaidan hadn't seen…hadn't looked for…in a long time. "I don't think your Kaet minds. She's the type that will just get out the polish and start helping you clean it up." There was a faint, self-deprecating smile, as if Ken had far more experience than he'd ever expected in that regard. "Whether you like it or not."

"Can I go with you tomorrow?" The words surged from Kaidan as color bloomed up his cheeks. "Fishing. Or maybe working the horses?"

The smile on Ken's face grew as his eyes became moist again. "I'd like that, son." He said quietly and then laughed. "Just make sure you grovel with your wife first so she'll allow it."

Kaidan rubbed his forehead again. "I messed that one up, Dad."

"Look on the bright side, son," Ken grinned at him. "This is just the first one, you've an entire lifetime with your Kaet to learn that there's more you've messed up."

Laughing, Kaidan shook his head. "That's supposed to be the bright side? Maybe I should just agree with everything she says and avoid this in the future."

"No." Ken gave a negative shake of his head. "I tried that. She'll just get mad that you're agreeing with her and you'll argue over that."

Kaidan stared at his father and then buried his face in his hands. "I am doomed." He muttered and smiled as his father laughed.

In the hall just off the kitchen where she could hear every word, an older woman watched as a younger entered the house quietly from the front door. Both showed signs of emotion, the older still had tears trailing down her cheeks. The younger tilted her head to the side, the question silent.

The older mouthed the words 'thank you' as male laughter was heard from the direction of the kitchen.

The younger nodded thoughtfully, a bittersweet smile on her lips and she continued up the stairs.

She wasn't in their room.

He'd hoped and feared at the same time that he would find her even knowing that he had to talk to her. Had to touch her, had to breach the walls he knew she had erected between them once again. Walls he was so damn tired of having to scale to find the woman he loved behind.

But he'd helped build them, this time, hadn't he?

Emotionally drained, Kaidan ran a hand through his hair and looked about the room, searching for some kind of inspiration. A bark of laughter exploded from him as he saw that the action figures he'd scattered across the room in his anger had been placed back in their stands with a minor variation.

Instead of each male warrior facing the bad guy to protect the woman he loved, the woman was now protecting the man, facing the evil without hesitation.

That was his Kaet, subtle to the extreme.

Kaidan scrubbed his hands over his face, the laughter turning bittersweet before his hands moved the actions figures about once more.

Okay, she'd had about enough of this.

Shepard flicked her cloaking field on and moved swiftly behind a tree, circling around the person who thought they were discreetly following her. She knew it wasn't Kaidan because she'd made damn sure his stealth skills, while they would never be stellar, would at least be acceptable. By her standards. Whoever this was, they had a lot to learn if they ever expected to live in a combat situation and they had picked absolutely the worst possible day to try and provoke her.

The teenage girl…Mai's youngest…Shayla?...entered the small clearing in the woods, a frown on her face as she looked about, searching.

Okay, whatever twisted obsession the child had needed to be done. She had one Conrad Verner in her life, she didn't need another.

Shepard moved up behind the child and let her cloak field die.

"Look, honey…" She began in hot tones.

Shayla shrieked, jumping as she turned about, her right fist snapping out a quick punch and then following up with a second before she realized who she had just hit. Twice.

Shepard stumbled back, the blows completely unexpected and fell on her butt, her fingers rising to her swelling mouth.

All color drained from Shayla's face as she looked down at her bleeding idol and then took off at a sprint.

Shepard gingerly touched her left eye, feeling the bruise already beginning to form even as she tasted the metallic tang of her own blood from her torn lip.

Her laughter, genuine and perversely delighted, echoed in the clearing.

Mai caught Shepard near the treehouse, her eyes searching for and finding the bruised eye and swollen lip. A grim expression firm her own features.

"Shayla would like to apologize for what she did." The mother began in terse tones.

Shepard paused in her march toward the house again and crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Mai suspiciously. "Then why are you here?"

Displeasure thinned Mai's lips further. "To make sure there are no repercussions for what she did."

Shepard gave a loud snort and smiled, ignoring the wince of pain in her lip. "In everything you've ever heard reported about me, Mai, name once where it said I abused children."

Color flushed in her cheeks and Mai couldn't meet her gaze. "I thought…because I have not been very welcoming…"

"Please." Shepard waved a dismissing hand. "I am perfectly capable of tormenting you for your actions and can leave your family alone."

Wry humor curved Mai's lips, almost unwillingly. "No. I didn't suppose you would go after Shay. I simply wanted to make sure."

Shepard touched her lip. "Child's got a wicked right. There are mercs in the universe who haven't been able to knock me on my ass nearly as well as your daughter did."

Mai frowned. "Really, I must ask you to be more careful with your language around the children. Amber Marie has become nearly impossible."

Okay, that was channeling Mrs Alenko a little too well right there, Shepard mused.

"Amber Marie and I have plans to sneak her on board the Normandy and go pirating together." Shepard responded, her pale eyes flashing with humor. "I get a pretty cool kid and I don't have to go through the whole pregnancy and labor bit first. Or smelly diapers. It's a win-win for me."

Mai laughed involuntarily. "I think Amber Marie's parents might object."

"Eh, they've got a million others. They'll forget." Shepard waved a hand in dismissal.

"The way my parents forgot Kaidan?" Mai finally asked, her tones bittersweet.

"More the way you did." Shepard responded, the humor sharp, her expression still smiling, but her eyes now intense.

Mai looked out to the beach, the waves crashing against the sand. "Have you ever loved someone so much, Commander Shepard, that when you lost them it literally broke you? That the only way you found to survive, to cope with that loss, was to blame them for leaving? To hate them for staying away?"

Shepard shook her head slowly. "No." The word was soft. "Kaidan's the only one I've ever loved that way and I try damn hard to make sure he's safe."

"I'm talking about a child's love. Unreserved and uncompromising. You loved Kaidan as an adult. You already had your protections in place. The walls you hide behind to make sure you have someplace to go when things don't go quite the way you want them to." Mai didn't quite dismiss the claims, but there was a derision of soft proportions in her words. "The way you're hiding now because he dared to hurt you."

"I won't discuss my relationship…" Shepard began.

"Of course not." Mai bit out, her brown eyes angry and so much like her brother's it hurt. "The great Commander Shepard is too good for mere human emotion. Human flaws. Human mistakes. That's just for us lesser mortals."

"I've had about enough of the Alenko attitude today, Mai, so if you…" Shepard began in grim tones.

"I want to show you something." Mai interrupted and abruptly moved to the ladder of the treehouse.

Shepard blinked at her, trying to comprehend just when she had lost control of the conversation and why the hell she was bothering to continue it. Finally, with a sigh, she rubbed a hand over her forehead and followed the older woman.

Mai was kneeling near the back wall of the treehouse almost in the exact same spot Kaidan had been sitting when Shepard had found him their first day here. There was a carving, something on the wall that the oldest Alenko child was tracing with her fingers.

"Amber Marie was very upset when she saw this." Mai said softly, not looking back. "She was concerned that Kaidan had spelled your name wrong. She's five, but she's very smart and she has Commander Shepard toys all over the place. We had to explain that Commander wasn't your first name. Kaet was."

Kaet frowned moving closer. On the far wall, carved in the trunk of the tree itself, was a heart shape surrounding initials. The top were KA, a plus sign below them. The carving was smooth and weathered dark as if they had been made years before and worn well with the passage of time. The initials below them were a sharp contrast, the pale yellow of fresh wood, obviously recent. KS.

Shepard's eyes filled and she remembered when she had come up here, searching for Kaidan, he had been leaning against that exact spot, hiding the carving, but he'd been cleaning his knife and putting it away. He'd carved the initials then.

"Everyone made fun of him. Tormented him. We…I made home life difficult for him." Mai said quietly. "He would come here and he would dream of the woman he would love. Who would love him. She'd be beautiful and frail and need him more than anyone else in the universe. She would never argue with him, never yell at him because of what he could do. She'd love him in spite of it. She'd be brave enough to stand by his side, no matter what hate was flung his way. He carved this because he was already waiting for her. Waiting for the day he knew the initials to add."

"Boy, did he draw from the wrong apple barrel." Shepard said with bald emotion, wiping at her eyes, shaking her head. "I am not that woman, Mai."

Kaidan's older sister smiled. "No. You are rude. You are foul mouthed. You are confrontational and have no idea how to back down or negotiate. It must be your way or you'll beat the path clear to having it your way."

Shepard rolled watering eyes. "You're confusing me with all these subtle hints about my character flaws, Mai, really you should just spit it out." The words dripped sarcasm.

Mai looked at Shepard for the first time since entering the treehouse. "The moment you arrived you were protecting him. You were defending him. You were challenging anyone and everyone to dare complain about Kaidan to you or in front of you."

"Soldiers take care of their teammates." Shepard said automatically, the words rote. "They watch each others backs and make the team strong. It's their greatest duty because when the team is strong, the mission is accomplished."

"No matter what?" Mai asked quietly. "Even when it's one member of the team attacking the other?"

"Shit, I have two Mrs Alenko's in my life." Shepard scrubbed a hand over her face. "I thought you didn't even like him. Why would you care…"

"He was my brother before he was your teammate. Before he was your husband." Mai cut her off. "I did not do my duty as his sister, I did not protect him. I didn't even give him the benefit of the doubt. I just wanted him gone because it made my life easier. I don't want you to make the same mistake."

Shepard frowned. "The same mistake? You just went on about how I protected him…"

"Mother is worried that the cost of Kaidan finding peace with the family will be the peace he has with you." Mai said quietly. "You're fighting each other right now. You don't know how to compromise and Kaidan…if he feels it is his fault…will do exactly what Dad does and step aside deciding that whatever happens is no less then he deserves."

Mouth open, Shepard stared at Mai. For a long moment there was nothing and then she closed her mouth, shaking her head. "When I grow up, I want to be Mrs Alenko." The words were more to herself than to the confused woman sitting across from her. "So, let me get this straight. You want me to forgive Kaidan for being a jackass?"

Mai frowned. "Your language could use some improvement. My mother could discuss…"

"No." Shepard stated in flat tones. "End of the subject of my language." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you care, Mai? You've been a bit…pain ever since we arrived."

"I'm tired of waiting for a day that won't come." Mai answered in simple tones. "I miss my brother."

Shepard studied her. "He misses you, Mai." The words were soft.

Mai smiled and nodded, a tremulous smile touching her lips. "The woman Kaidan dreamed of when he was here was nothing like you. But that woman could not have done what you have. I don't think it was even hard for him to give her up so he could carve your initials here."

Shepard swallowed. "Eh, she probably had blue skin, anyway." The words were husky. "Thank you for showing me. I don't…wouldn't have found it on my own."

Mai caught Shepard's arm as she crawled past her toward the ladder and squeezed. "Thank you for bringing my brother home."

Shepard didn't watch her leave, her gaze on the initials so freshly carved into the wood. The fulfillment of a boy's dream.

"Idiot." She whispered, finally moving to the descending rope rather than climb down the ladder.

Even she wasn't sure if she meant herself or Kaidan.

By nature, she was a private person.

The parts she allowed others to see were carefully measured, carefully doled out with all the care of a miser and his gold. There were few close friends but quite a lot of teammates and people she liked to hang with when she needed people in her life and needed the noise and the laughter to drive away dark memories.

Her childhood, her years running with a gang, early life in the Alliance, call the source what you cared to, the results was a woman who reacted to strong emotion by closing any hint of her own off. If she was hurting, no one was allowed to see. If she was angry, that was okay. Anger was an accepted emotion. If she was happy, hey, why not share it?

She puffed out a sigh, staring out at the ocean from her front view seat on the sand, her smelly jacket bundled about her to fight the cold she was still shivering from. Next time she came to Canada, she was going to wear her nice, climate controlled Kestral armor, she mused with a faint smile before returning to her original train of thought.

If someone hurt her, they were cut off. No more access, no more opportunities to hurt her, not another chance to make the wound deeper. A whole 'fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me' sort of thing. With them not allowed any more access, she would remain safe behind her walls.

A place she never wanted to be with Kaidan.

Kaidan had hurt her. Yeah, he'd regretted it immediately, but even that hadn't soothed the pain. Did she have enough trust in her to let him have a second shot? Even when the logical part of her said this would happen again. He would hurt her again, just as she would hurt him, with something stupid or something deliberate.

As a soldier, she would let it pass from a teammate and be wary from that point on. Duty demanded it of her, that the team get along to make the team strong so the mission could be completed.

As a wife?

An ironic smile touched her lips as she rubbed her forehead. Assuming there was a next time. Mrs Alenko had seemed convinced things were better between Ken and Kaidan, but that could be temporary.

And wasn't she just a cheery little ray of sunshine?

A blanket settled over her shoulders, warm and thick, startling her momentarily. She looked up unsurprised to find her husband standing there, uncertain and looking as if he were poised to run if she gave the slightest indication that she wanted him gone.

"Uhm…you looked cold." He said, a hand rubbing over the back of his neck. "You need to be careful. A cold…and sick and…everything." He closed his eyes with a grimace. "I'll go."

"Biotics give off a lot of body heat." Kaet said abruptly, knowing if the words weren't shoved out of her mouth they would remain unspoken and he would leave. "I could use some of that right now."

Hope flickered across Kaidan's face. They both knew that if she was angry she didn't allow others to touch her.

"I'm a biotic…" His expressions looked pained again and he shook his head. "Which you know. I really didn't think I could be more of an idiot."

She smiled and shrugged out of the blanket, holding it up to him. He wrapped the huge material around his shoulders and settled behind her, his thighs on the outside of hers as she shifted back against his chest and let him wrap his arms and the ends of the blanket about her.

For a long time they said nothing. The lull of the waves splashing against the shore giving them both peace as Kaet warmed and settled even more solidly against him, as if her body craved the touch and was finally getting enough.

"I finished your quest." Kaidan finally said, his body tensing slightly. "Talked to my dad, I mean."

Kaet smiled. "And how'd that go for you?" The words were light and eased him.

"You were right." There was a wry note in his voice. "There was more to the story."

"He built you a tree house, Kaidan." She responded with a shrug. "What you were telling me and what I was seeing didn't mesh."

"I'm sorry that I said what I did." The words were quiet. "There's no excuse…"

"Forgiven." Kaet cut him off, turning slightly, her face toward him. "You think I don't know what happens when you attack a soldier? He fights back." She flinched hearing her words and the echo of his accusation against her about constantly being at war. "I can't help that my instincts are those of a soldier, Kaidan. I'm sorry if they…"

"No." He cut her off, turning her about so she could see his face. "Kaet, asking you not to react like a soldier would be like someone asking me not to use my biotics ever again. It's who you are. It was a stupid thing to think let alone say. If you were to stop being a soldier…stop thinking of your duty first and all else second…I don't think I'd recognize you anymore." The last was said with a laugh.

Kaet gave him a curious look, tilting her head slightly. "You don't get it, do you, Kaidan?" The words were a bit puzzled. "My duty is you and has been for a long time now. Preserving what is between us…marriage, love, a life together, whatever you want to call it…that is my mission."

Confusion played across his face, the stubbled jaw clenching. "Then why risk what we have for my parents, Kaet?"

"To make you happy. I weighed the risk against the gain and decided taking the chance was worth it." The words were simple and cut him to the core, making him flinch.

"Geez, I messed us up bad." His voice was husky and he couldn't meet her gaze.

"Yeah, I took a couple of rounds for the home team." She agreed with a nod, her attention never leaving him. "I imagine that at some point you're going to be taking a few rounds from me. But the mission won't change, not for me, and that is what I focus on. I can either hate you for what you said and it will break things between us, or I can let it go and you and I will come out stronger for it."

He clutched her to him, burying his face in her neck, his breath hot on her skin, and simply held her. She slid her arms around him and smiled, listening to the words he whispered, the anguish and the emotion of the day sliding toward a resolved peace, leaving the quiet happiness she found only when she was with him.

Later, as they both stumbled quietly into the bedroom, Kaet laughed, her gaze on the action figures she'd so pointedly replaced for him and had since been moved yet again. Kaidan chuckled and held her tighter.

Instead of the man protecting the woman from the dark forces of evil, they stood side by side now, facing it together.