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Carry On	By : Larania Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6956 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and Electronic Arts, not me and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.

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Carry On
Chapter One
Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and Electronic Arts, not me and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.
Warnings: adult language and situations, mentions of dub-con and non-con, mpreg, sexual situations, threesomes, gender-bending and birth.
Characters/ pairings: Colonist War Hero Paragade ManShep/Kaidan/Garrus, others mentioned.
Summary: The Reapers are here, and amidst that backdrop, Commander Shepard struggles with gathering allies, caring for his child and fighting for his sanity.
~*~*~*~*~
The boy, the one with the dull blue eyes, was playing. Derek could hear the boy making shhhhoooo and wooosh noises and the occasional deep, metallic growl as he swooped and plunged his toy F-61 Trident fighter over benches and flower boxes in between gales of more laughter. Derek smiled; it had been a long time since he had heard children laughing.
Jane was leaning against the window, dressed in Alliance fatigues and one hand resting casually on her Carnifex pistol. Her scarred face was cast in a frown as she stared at the boy, before turning to her brother and stepping in his line of sight, blocking his view of the outside and the playing child.
"You don't approve?"
"You were the one who liked kids, not me," she retorted, walking up to him and putting one hand on his shoulder. "If you want to pop one out every year," and she smirked evilly as Derek went pale, opening his mouth to protest, "I won't judge. I'll just call you to take care of them." She knelt in front of him. "But Commander-"
Derek's head jerked upwards, waking him from his doze. Instead of his sister, it was James kneeling in front him, hand on his shoulder.
He was still in Vancouver, in the suite he had been assigned at Alliance Headquarters, sitting in a rocking chair holding his Bean. The baby was a warm weight in Derek's arms as he gummed on Derek's left nipple and cooed to himself.
"Dinner time?" Vega asked, voice just above a whisper as he tapped one sausage sized finger on Bean's straight nose. Derek smiled a bit ruefully, rubbing his own hooked beak.
"Just a snack." He fought a yawn. "What's up?"
"Defense committee wants to see you," Vega answered, grabbing for the diaper bag, and offering the sling Tali had sent. "Seemed to be in a hurry."
"Sounds important," Shepard answered, giving Bean a pull and winced when Bean gave a hard tug before letting go, and put the newborn into the armored and shielded baby carrier. Tali knew her friend well. It had arrived when Derek had been about six months along, with a small selection of baby things: mostly quarian patterned clothing and blankets.
Alliance R&D had first confiscated then broken down Legion's present, trying to figure out what it did. To his, the tech heads', and Anderson's surprise, its function appeared to be benign, if not a little banal. It produced quarian lullabies, soothing sounds and canceled background noise. One engineered theorized it being a baby monitor, but she couldn't say for sure.
Derek remembered Legion's mention of the quarians using the geth as domestic servants. That they would have been used to watch children shouldn't have been a surprise. That Legion had known to send him a present was.
Bean had been a good sleeper so far. Derek assumed that it meant the device was working.
Vega finished securing Bean while Derek slapped on the adhesive patch that absorbed the leaks over his nipples and fastened his shirt as they walked out of the small suite. People in uniform scurried about, somehow not managing to hit each other (though Shepard did notice some poor man pushed into a window) as they walked the labyrinthine halls.
"What's going on?"
"Couldn't say," Vega answered. He was on alert, though, eyes scanning the crowd. He hadn't forgiven himself for letting Shepard get kidnapped. "Just told me they needed to see you, now."
Derek nodded as they kept moving, before stopping when a familiar and welcome face waded through the human tide.
"Anderson," Derek greeted as the man in admiral stripes walked up. Vega snapped a salute, parade ground perfect despite wearing a diaper bag and baby sling. Anderson's face was grim, grabbing Shepard's hand for a shake. His face creased in a harsh, apologetic smile, even as he urged Shepard to follow.
"You're looking good, Derek," Anderson replied. He patted the small belly Derek had yet to get rid of. "Maybe a bit soft around the edges. How's the recovery? And your boy?"
"Bean's ten days old, David," Derek muttered as they jogged through the buzzing halls. "But given the way he eats, I'll lose it in no time." Derek glanced back to see James keeping stride. "He's growing like a weed."
"It's not fair that we're going to need you so soon," Anderson said, not looking back at Shepard as they kept walking. "You should have gotten more time to recover. I'm sorry."
"What's going on, why's everyone in such a hurry?"
"Hackett is mobilizing the fleets." Anderson turned to meet his eyes. "I'm guessing that word has made it to Alliance command that something big is heading our way."
Anderson headed up the stairs, as Derek stopped.
"The Reapers?" They wouldn't have pulled him out of house arrest for anything less.
"We don't know." Anderson turned back to look at him. "Not for certain."
"What else could it be?"
"If I knew that..." Anderson trailed off.
"You know we're not ready if it is them," he reminded the admiral, forcing himself up the stairs. "Not by a long shot."
"Tell that to the Defense Committee."
Shepard growled. "Unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death, the Committee is a waste of time."
"They're just scared. None of them have seen what you've seen. You've faced down a Reaper. Hell, you spoke to one. Then you blew the damn thing up! You've seen how they harvest us, what they plan to do to us. You know more about this enemy than anyone."
"For all the good it did," Shepard snapped. "I was ignored, disgraced-"
"Protected, and allowed to keep your baby." Anderson turned to Derek, putting one large paw on Shepard's shoulder. "You know damn well that if you had been anyone else, you would have been court-martialed and tossed in the brig, and Bean would already be in foster care. The Committee knows you did what was necessary, Derek."
"That, and your good word?" Shepard tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
"Yeah. I trust you." He put his free hand on Derek's other shoulder and squeezed. "And so does the Committee."
"I'm just a soldier, David, and now I'm a parent. I'm no politician."
"I don't care what you are," Anderson said, heading back towards the court rooms. "We just need you to do whatever it takes to stop the Reapers. Not just for us, but for Bean as well."
Derek exhaled, watching as James caught up as they went to the court room entrance.
"Good luck in there, Shepard," James said, patting the bottom of Bean's sling. Derek smiled, then clasped hands with the young soldier.
"Shepard."
Derek's back stiffened, and he twisted around to clap eyes on one of the two men whose face had kept him up at night. "Kaidan."
Six months had changed the other man. Silver threaded through Kaidan's black hair, even coloring the five o'clock shadow over his jaw. Kaidan held himself differently; with both the confidence and weariness that spoke of experience and command.
Like Derek needed another reason to find him sexy.
"Major?"
He had imagined this meeting hundreds of times, in the middle of the night when sleep eluded him. Imagined telling both Kaidan and Garrus, asking how they wanted to do this, if they would stick with him through this mad venture. If they didn't... he had resigned himself to the possibility. He hadn't asked for their input, or their wishes, when it had come to having Bean. But in all of those scenarios, he had never thought...
"You hadn't heard?"
Derek took Bean's sling from James. "No. I've been a bit out of the loop these days." He patted Bean's backside, rocking back and forth. He searched Kaidan's eyes for recognition, and the sense of betrayal he felt when he came back with nothing made him ill. "Have you spoken to Liara?"
"No. She wouldn't tell me anything when I tried to get hold of her." Kaidan's face was blank.
Derek turned to look at David. "Anderson?" He couldn't believe it. "You promised me you would-"
Anderson wouldn't meet his eyes, but his cheeks flushed in chagrin. "We need to talk to the committee, Shepard. There's no-"
"One minute, Admiral." He squeezed Bean, who creaked a small protest at the rough treatment. Derek patted him in apology. "You owe me that much."
"I- fine. One minute."
The sight of Kaidan, his realization of what was going on as Derek thrust Bean into his arms, introducing them and wishing to say so much more. He wished he could tell Kaidan about the first time Bean had stared then smiled (so damn early!) or that he had gotten the hiccups for two days straight. That so far, Bean had liked the band Kansas so much more than Frank Sinatra. That he had tried so hard to get messages to Kaidan, letting him know about Bean.
But there was no more time, and he was heading back up the stairs with Anderson to speak with the Committee... and that was the last thing he remembered clearly before the screams.
~*~*~*~*~
"You okay, Major?" Vega asked, frog-marching Kaidan to a bench as Shepard disappeared from view.
Kaidan didn't answer. He certainly didn't notice when a vibrating silence fell through the entrance to the courtrooms, all eyes turning towards the monitors. His only coherent thought was he looks like my Dad. Gabriel, or Bean as his (mother? birth-father?) Shepard called him, had Kaidan's nose. Derek's eyes. Definitely had his Dad's ears and forehead. The jaw was Derek's, though, stubborn and set as he stared up at Kaidan with utter disdain.
Then, against all logic and sense, the baby smiled.
That was when the shrieks began.
"Shit, Major, get down!" Vega roared, diving on top of the other man to shield him and Bean as the Reaper dropped through the thick cloud cover of Vancouver. A moment later the building imploded as the red, molten metal of the Reaper's main gun cut through the steel and concrete.
Kaidan had instinctively curled around the baby's carrier, getting his head and back bruised as the shockwave of the explosion sent them skidding across the floor in a pile.
Either through divine providence or luck, they were spared the debris falling from the ceiling as the two soldiers got to their feet. All around them, bodies were strewn like broken dolls. The smell of cooked meat filled the air. Bean was wailing, mixing with the cacophony of alarms and sirens and the distant, pained calls for help.
Kaidan didn't know a damn thing about calming a baby, and at that moment... all he felt was rage. The same rage that had made him snap back in brain camp. The kind he had first felt on Eden Prime, when he had chosen to use his biotics to kill, to no longer hold back. He already hated the Reapers, but now...
He opened the bag, looking at the baby's small, tomato red face as he howled in fear. "Shhh, shh, you're okay." He hoped. Vega came up and took the carrier while Kaidan gently felt for soft spots, searched for punctures, bruises. Beyond being the softest creature Kaidan had ever touched, there were no injuries or abnormalities. "I'm a medic, I'll make sure you're okay..."
There was a buzzing in his ear as a voice forced its way through the static. "This is Admiral Anderson. Report in, anyone!"
"Alenko here," Kaidan answered as Vega took Bean, giving him a small bounce and a back rub, humming as he rocked the baby.
"Major, is that you? What's your status? How's Bean?"
"I've got-" he glanced at Vega's tags, they hadn't been formally introduced- "Lieutenant Vega with me. I think the baby is fine."
"I can't raise the Normandy." The walls, shards of glass, all of it was burning. Kaidan looked around- most of the people around them were not moving. "You'll have to contact them. We'll meet you at the landing zone. Anderson out."
Right. Kaidan checked his exits, saw that flaming wreckage blocked most of the hall, and then to the hole in the side of the building.
Kaidan wasn't the type of man to be willfully blind. He hadn't been there when Shepard had spoken to Sovereign, but he had been there when Sovereign had taken control of Saren like a marionette from hell. He had always believed Shepard, even when he feared that Cerberus was using the Reaper threat to control his lover. Yet he had never realized how much part of him had wished Shepard was wrong. Shepard's vindication left a bitter taste on his tongue.
As fire rained from the sky, something flew by on ragged wings while the baby continued to cry.
"He wants his Papa," Vega muttered. "I don't think I can quiet him. We're going to have to put him in the bag and go. Good thing the bag seals up and has its own life support system."
"Where did that come from?" They were already looking for a route to climb down. The mass of twisted masonry and slagged metal actually made them easy to find.
"The tag said it was from 'Auntie Tali.'"
"Tali knew?" Kaidan looked at him in shock. "Who else?"
"Well, there was this weird block thing was apparently from 'Auntie Legion'-"
"What?" They landed on the floor below, which was open to walking through. They weren't that far from where the Normandy was dry docked, now. "Auntie-"
"Hey-"
Kaidan remembered his first meeting with husks, back on Eden Prime. The sight of human forms converted to circuitry, glowing blue and moaning like the undead made him want to gag. Even after finding out had happened to the Protheans, he had never considered what the Reapers might do to other species. He had never wondered- but now he knew.
He struck, hitting them first with a cryo-blast from his omni-tool, drawing his Predator pistol.
"Yeah, I haven't shown you the best present yet," Vega said, a harsh grin on his face as he reached into the diaper bag.
It was huge. Golden. Krogan. A Graal Spike thrower.
"And this was from Auntie Jack!" Vega said, racking the shotgun and firing at the batarian husks. They shattered into meaty chunks.
Kaidan found himself laughing. Around him was death and destruction, the scream of Reapers in the distance... but this kid? This kid was all right.
~*~*~*~*~
They had gotten to the Normandy, and in turn the Normandy had almost died in the explosion of the SSV Tai Shan. Only Joker's skills and EDI's detection let them find where the Admiral and Shepard had gone, holding their position against waves of Cannibals as they fell from the sky.
Kaidan had snatched up an Avenger rifle when they had found the two, leaving Vega holding the baby as they hovered, the cargo bay door opening. He tagged one of the guards to help him cover Shepard and Anderson.
The sight of Shepard dashing towards the Normandy made his heart soar. This, this moment, was why Derek existed. The man had been born for this role; to lead the galaxy against this madness.
Shepard leapt, and Kaidan caught him, a smile splitting his face. Because and despite the invasion.
"Welcome aboard, Shepard."
Derek's smile shone through the dried blood and grime on his face. "Thanks."
He didn't even notice when the Admiral paused. "Shepard."
"Come on!"
"I'm not going." The Admiral was looking at both himself as well as Derek, eyes contemplative. "You saw those men back there. There's a million like them, and they need a leader."
"Then I'm staying. We're in this fight together, David!"
Kaidan blinked. First name basis?
"This isn't a fight we can win, Derek. Not without help." He was missing something. Something important; he would have to ask later. "We need every species, and all their ships, if we're going to have a chance defeating the Reapers." The Admiral took a deep breath, his eyes fixing on Derek's face. "Talk to the Council." His eyes flicked back to Kaidan and back. "Convince them to help us."
"What if they won't listen?"
"Then make them listen. Get off world and take care of that baby. Now go! That's an order!" Kaidan saw Anderson's face go still. The face of a man trying to hide his own grief.
"I don't take orders from you anymore, remember?" Derek snarled, waving his Avenger rifle.
Anderson sighed, reaching into his pockets to pull out a pair of dog tags. He looked down at them, clenching them in his fist. "Then consider yourself reinstated," he tossed the N7 tags. "Commander. You know what you have to do."
Derek caught the tags, eying them. "I'll come back for you," he said, voice cracking. Kaidan's eyes flicked back to see Derek almost in tears. "And I'll bring every fleet I can." He turned to head inside the Normandy, then turned back to Anderson. "Good luck."
"You too, Derek. You too."
They lifted into the air as Anderson walked back down into the debris field, the door shutting behind them. That was the moment when the baby's lusty wail cut through the Reaper snarls and groans, echoing against the cargo bay walls.
"Oh, Bean," Derek said, turning from burdened Commander to mother in the space of an instant. Vega had opened the baby sling, bring the ten day old out into the open air. Kaidan followed, noting with some relief that evac shuttles were already dropping down into their landing zone. They were working quickly, trying to get people in.
"I'm here, beautiful," Derek murmured, and the heart-broken cries cut off as Derek pulled Bean to his chest, the baby's face to his neck as he crooned. "As I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion. I was soaring ever..."
That was when they all heard the sound of the two shuttles exploding.
Kaidan exhaled, putting his arms around both Derek and the infant as the Normandy's doors closed.
"But I flew too..." Derek stopped. He couldn't finish it.
No one could say anything. There was nothing to say. They all knew that Earth, at least for the moment, was lost.

To be continued.
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Carry On