Mass Effect Andromeda - New Horizons

by IAmElvie

This story is Andromeda based, though it starts off in the Milky Way. Fem Ryder is the main protagonist, it includes Andromeda characters as well as characters from my other stories. Yes, Shepard and crew do make appearances in the Milky Way portion. It does not follow cannon, though the same main events occur. I'm not an editor, it was written for fun. Offshoot of Tu-Fira story.

1. New Horizons Ch1 - The Beginning

Andromeda: New Horizons
Chapter 1
The Beginning

Star looked up from the rock garden she was attending to when her little brother, by one minute, ran past her on their artificially grassed lawn of their Citadel apartment. His short, light blonde hair fluttered as he exuberantly danced a model starship through the air. "You are always playing with that ship," she said, her light blue eyes held a teasing glint. "You gonna be a pilot when you grow up, Sol?"

"Better than playing in the dirt!" he said with a grin. "Well, most days. Love you, sis…but you're not the only star I want to see. I wanna to see them all. Like daddy."

Her smile slipped, but just a bit. She was only five, but she always felt like it was her job to stay strong for her twin. For everyone. "Even if that means I won't ever see you?" Their father was seldom around when they were little. If it wasn't for pictures, she wondered if they'd even remember what he looked like. She had thought it would get better once they moved to the Citadel. But he still didn't come home often, at least not while they were awake. He was a busy man, so was mom. But since she shared a bedroom with her brother, her mom had turned the extra bedroom into an office. She had thought that was normal, until she saw how the other children on the Citadel lived. Their mom did the best she could to give them as normal as a life as possible. But there were times she wanted what other children had. Even when their daddy was at home, he wasn't truly there.

Sol's steps faltered and he lowered his ship. He walked slowly to his sister's side and dropped down next to her and ran a finger through the dirt of her rock garden. He glanced over at her, a face so like his own, but with light blonde pigtails. He gritted his teeth, trying to keep his frustration at bay. He seemed to get more upset than she did about their father's absence. He knew their father's absence bothered her, he'd heard her crying at night sometimes, but she never seemed to get angry about it. She would laugh, grin, tease and distract. And, somehow, she always made him feel better. "Don't you wanna see the stars too? Come with me, Star." He gave her pigtail a playful tug. "You have to, you know. We're twins. It's the law. Where one goes, the other follows," he said matter of fact. He didn't want a life without her in it. It had always been Sol and Star and it always would be.

She smiled and winked at him. The law according to Sol. But she was okay with that. She needed him as much as he needed her. "You can fly me to new stars and I will explore them and discover their secrets!" She leaned in and brushed her lips against his soft cheek and giggled when he clapped his hands.

Ellen glanced up from her research and looked out the window at her children playing outside. The door was open and she could hear their laughter. That sound had always made her heart sing. It was hard to juggle children and her work. No matter how important her work was, she wasn't going to let it steal her children's childhood. She still found time to spend with them. Dance lessons, gymnastics, music, swimming and self defense. What one did the other did, it didn't matter to them If something was considered for girls or boys, they both wanted to experience everything together.

She had hoped things would change when Alec moved them to the Citadel. But he was still distant with the children, still gone, still driven by work. It seemed the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. She ran her fingers through her blonde hair, pushing it behind her ears. She returned her attention to her research. She only had about thirty more minutes before she had to get them ready for a music lesson and her research on biotic implants had become all the more urgent. She'd always been concerned about how her work with eezo would have affected her children and now she knew. The scans she'd taken of her children recently had revealed the microscopic nodes. It was only a matter of time before their biotics would manifest.

-BREAK ONE-

Sol flipped on his OT when it blipped. "Hey, Sol…that ship you are always admiring will be docking in fifteen at D-20."

"Yes! I can finally show it to my sister. I think she believes it's a figment of my imagination." He grinned. "Thanks for the heads up, Stan!"

"Admit it, man..you just want to meet Shepard. Still hard to believe he survived Akuze."

Scott smiled. "Ha…I'd rather meet his twin! She's hot."

"And very happily married to a drell that never leaves her side. So, good luck with that," Stan teased.

"Way to burst a guy's bubble, Stan. A man can dream."

Stan chuckled. His friend may have been eighteen, but Castaria Shepard was nine years his senior, even had she been available, she'd hardly see Sol as a man. "Stan out."

He flipped his OT off, his eyes rising to his sister's. "Hope you've had enough to eat, because I'm showing you this ship! It doesn't dock that often, so get your ass in gear, sis."

Her light blue eyes twinkled as she sipped the last of her drink. "I didn't think you were making it up, you know. I've seen some of what Teiner Tech has produced - amazing stuff." She yelped when he grabbed her hand and pulled her from her chair. "Okay, okay…" He kept hold of her hand and all but ran all the way to the long windows near the docking bay. She didn't think he had ever realized how much faster she had to run just to keep up with his longer stride.

"Look!" he said, pointing out the window to the sleek, metallic black freighter with the fiery Manticore emblazed on the side. He blinked and did a double take. A ship followed close behind. It was larger, but just as sleek and just as black with the name Phoenix in fiery script. "No way! I've heard of the Phoenix, but I've never seen it! That's Castaria Shepard's ship! They rarely ever get shore leave at the same time! The hero of the Skyllian Blitz and the sole survivor of Akuze, here together."

She bumped his arm with her shoulder. "No hero worship here. None at all," she teased.

He flushed but could not peel his eyes from the pair of ships docking. "Do I look okay?" His voice cracked over the last word.

She eyed his leather jacket, dress shirt and slacks. "Handsome as always, little brother. But she IS married."

"I know," he said with a sigh. "But a man should always look his best."

She grinned. "So, you are just going to march right up to them and talk to them?"

When the ships berthed, he turned his attention to his sister. She had always been pretty, but puberty had turned her into a beauty. Her light blonde waves fell down her back and crystal blue eyes shined from a face that had gotten him into many a fight. Not that he'd ever told her that. "Well, yeah. That was the plan. Come on!" He took her hand and led her to where the other set of twins would be disembarking.

She rolled her eyes and let him lead her. She would never have just marched up to people she didn't know and just start talking to them, regardless of whether they were famous or not. Famous meant nothing to her. They were people just like everyone else. She judged people on how they treated others less fortunate than themselves and nothing more.

Sol froze when he saw her. She wasn't dressed as a soldier. She was dressed in a flirty little outfit that displayed her lower belly. A green drell had his arm around her waist. Her husband. Sol was hardly the only one staring at the golden vision. The dockhands couldn't keep their eyes off her. He wasn't sure if he could handle everyone staring at his wife the way they stared at Castaria Shepard. The golden vision turned her head in his direction and smiled. Sol forgot how to breathe.

Star was admiring the attractive drell when she noticed her brother's silence. His face was turning red. She pulled her hand from his and whacked his back. When he sucked in a breath she laughed. Guess he was a bit more star struck than she'd realized. She blinked when she realized Shepard and her husband and another drell were walking in their direction.

-BREAK TWO-

Castaria was thrilled to be seeing Cas again. They were both so busy now, their time together was little more than vidcoms. But this was going to be a bigger reunion than her brother realized. She'd stopped by Mindoir and picked up their parents and since Rafe, Irikah, Rosie and Kolyat were visiting, she'd brought them along too. They were waiting in the airlock to surprise Cas.

She leaned into her husband trying to contain her excitement. Something was off. Something…

Thane looked down at his wife who'd gone still. Her gaze vacant. After all these years, it still bothered him when that happened, but unless it threatened her, he tended to ride these moments out with her.

"Lost…disconnected. What should have been can never be," she murmured softly. A tear slipped from her eye and rolled down her cheek before reality righted itself. "Nooo… It can't be." She straightened her shoulders and looked out over the onlookers until her gaze settled on a pair that looked to be twins. "I have to meet them, Thane." She smiled at the young pair and started moving in their direction. "V'Atre…to me. Quietly."

She felt his presence before he stepped out of a shadow. She grinned and hugged the drell.

He hugged her back with an answering smile. "'Tis always good to see thee, Angel." He hugged Thane and grinned. "Thee as well, mine friend."

"We are having a reunion I'd like you to stick around for. But I also need you to look at that young woman over there," she said pointing to the light blonde pair. "And when you see my brother, I need you to …look into him as well. I fear…I suspect that she would have been his lifemate, but something is wrong. Very wrong. Please," she placed her hand on his arm, "tell me what you see later, when we are alone."

V'Atre looked at her with concern. There were things he knew that she did not. Things he did not feel he could tell her for her own safety. Things he'd known since he first met her a decade ago. She was a bound God with two souls. Her brother as well, though one of his souls was …truncated. If what she thought was true, then mayhap the young woman would have been Cas' lifemate, if his soul had been whole. If that was the case, how could he tell her and still protect her? Until he found out why they were bound, he could only assume it was for their safety. Was she ready to know? Surely the binds would fall when she was. He just wished he could have found out more. It is hard to find out information about other pantheons, especially a destroyed one. "I wilt tell thee what I canst."

Castaria nodded and continued towards the couple, stopping in front of them. She enfolded the young woman's hand in both of hers. "I'm Castaria Shepard and this is my husband, Thane Krios."

Star was surprised to say the least when the woman just took her hand out of nowhere. Who did that? She didn't look or act like a solider at all. She smiled back at the kind woman. "I'm Star Ryder and this is my brother, Sol. I think he's in love with you-r ships." She caught her brother's face reddening at her teasing. When it came to social interactions he was always the more forward one, rarely one to blush or stammer. This was priceless.

Castaria grinned and took the young man's hand. "Then you both shall have tours of the ships before we leave port. Does that sound good to you, Sol?" Yes. He needed to be here too.

"Yes," Sol cleared his throat. "Absolutely. That is more than I dared to hope for. Thank you, Shepard."

Castaria waited patiently for her hand to be released. "Please, call me Castaria, Aria, or Angel. Anything but Shepard. Shepard is starting to feel more like a title than a name and I have enough of those as it is."

"Sol, release the poor woman's hand before her husband relieves you of yours," she teased quietly. She bit her lip to keep from laughing when he reddened even further and apologized.

Thane studied the young woman. "Your name is Star? Is it short for something?" He met his wife as a masked vigilante named NightStar…he'd called her Star ever since, even though her moniker had been changed to Nova when her brother took over as NightStar on Earth. She was his shining star. Always would be.

Star shook her head. "Just Star. My father was away at our birth and my mother is…quirky. Named me Star and my twin Sol….as far as I know, there isn't even a story behind her choices - though I could hazard a guess that it was her way of giving him a map home. " Her gaze travelled from Thane to the other drell standing at their side. Drell were an amazingly gorgeous people.

When Castaria got her hand back she introduced V'Atre. "This is one of our brothers, V'Atre. He's here for the family reunion we'll be having." She could see the hesitation in the girl's eyes and knew she was about to make a hasty exit. Castaria understood that, but she didn't want the twins to go. "Please don't take me mentioning a reunion as a sign for you two to leave. I know you don't know me, but I'd like you to stay. Our family is not what you'd expect. We are very informal and relaxed." She winked at Thane and took the girl's hand. "Please, you are not interrupting anything. Come with me," she said, not really giving Star a chance to say no. Reminded her a lot of what Nik had done to her when he first told her she was going to meet his parents, the King and queen of Mindoir. She grinned and sent a calming wave through her touch. She knew full well Sol would follow. Just as her brother would have followed her when they were that age.

Star was stunned. The golden woman just took over, steamrolled her, and she had no idea why. And oddly, it didn't bother her. She glanced at the two drell and they didn't appear phased in the least at what Castaria was doing. They were acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world to invite strangers to a family reunion. It was all very surreal. She glanced at her brother, but after his initial embarrassment, he appeared to be taking it all in stride. He wasn't showing it, but his mind had to be blown. Not only did he meet one of his heroes, but he was about to meet a second and join in with their family and even get a tour of the ships he admired.

Castiel hurried from his airlock, leaving Reed and Lyrica behind to wait for a signal. He was so tickled to be able to surprise his sister with this little reunion. They were a close knit family. They, at one time or another, had all been exposed to his or his sister's blood. They shared a special bond through the blood. Lyrica, Reed's lifemate, was the exception. She was their sister in full, who'd fallen through a rip in the sky into their dimension, leaving behind her brother Liam Shepard. He was a brother they would never get to meet and she would likely never see again.

Despite his duties to the Alliance, Castiel still took time to visit Earth to see how the Reds were doing. The Heart: Reed, Trent, and Marko, no longer needed him. By the time he'd joined the Alliance, The Reds had already destroyed the despot gangs and the streets had become as safe as the upper cities. What Castaria had started by helping her urchins had become a thriving community while she was off saving others as Princess of Mindoir. Shepard's Reach had been dedicated to her and would always be a shining beacon of hope. He was still involved, but mostly through vidcoms. He trusted the Heart, but it would always be his home, thus he would always be responsible for it.

He grinned when he caught sight of his twin. "Aria!"

Castaria looked around until her gaze landed on her brother. "Cas!" She looked at her husband. "Keep her here," she mouthed before releasing the girl and rushing into her brother's arms. She held tight to her brother as he spun her around.

Star took a step backwards and into the hard wall of a chest. Hands settled on her shoulders.

"My wife has not seen her twin in some time," Thane said casually as he took a step back so their bodies were no longer in contact. He wasn't sure what the young woman's role would be in their lives, but his wife always had a way of knowing things. "It is hard for her to be away from her twin. I would imagine it is a similar path you and Sol will walk." He kept his hands on her shoulders as much to comfort her as to keep her from bolting. He knew well how his Star could be overwhelming to someone who wasn't used to her very outgoing ways. She'd completely bowled him over when he'd met her. She'd kissed him and captured his heart in an alley of corpses. He grinned.

Sol looked over at his sister and the drell that kept hold of her. "Keeping her from slipping away? I've had to do that more times than I can count. She's a little awkward and shy meeting new people. But once she's comfortable, look out. You become fair game to her humorous side."

"Right here, Sol," she said, feeling the sting of heat in her cheeks. She deserved his teasing. She'd teased him enough already. Turn about was fair play. She ignored her brother's chuckle.

Castaria rose onto her toes gave her brother a light noogie and kissed his lips. "I swear you grow taller every time I see you. What are you 6'4" now?"

"6'5, but sadly, I appear to have stopped growing." He frowned. "I was determined to reach 6'6" so I could be as tall as Reed and Nik, but it appears that genetics have decided what I wanted didn't matter."

Castaria grinned. "You big, goof. You'll always be my little brother…just saying."

"Where's…..Th…ane…" His words drifted away when he caught sight of the woman his brother was holding onto. Air whooshed from his lungs. He did not catch his sister's knowing grin. His gaze locked onto hers and his world tilted.

"He's with Star….a young woman I wanted you to meet, baby brother."

He tore his gaze away from the woman to look at his sister. "Star? I bet Thane just loves that…" he was the only one that called Aria by that special name. He just blinked as his sister's words sank in. "I – no…tell me you didn't." His sister was a renowned matchmaker. He'd begged her since he was fifteen to not even think about finding someone for him. He was content with his casual lifestyle. But one by one all their friends had succumbed to her visions and found their spouses. He gripped his sister's arms as his gaze slid back to the blonde in his brother's grasp. "Tell me you didn't, Aria." His arms fell away. "I want to run…why aren't my feet moving?" He asked quietly as he moved slowly towards the young woman.

Castaria released a slow breath. Something was off. She knew the signs…she knew her vision. What was supposed to be..was not..at least not like it should be. She fell into step beside him. "Your feet are moving, little brother. Just not in the direction you want them to."

Thane had caught the look in Cas' eyes and felt the response in the woman he held. His hands fell away. She no longer needed him to keep her grounded. It was apparent what his wife had seen, but her words were still at odds with what he was seeing. He stepped away from Star; her pheromones were starting to make him nauseous.

Sol looked at his sister and then glanced in the direction of her stare. Castiel Shepard. Sole survivor of Akuze and a known lady's man. The soldier was huge compared to Sol's 5'10", but he wasn't going to let that stop him from protecting his sister. He took a step forward and in front of his sister.

Star tapped on her brother's shoulder. "You are no window, Sol."

"Precisely," he said sternly.

Castiel stopped in front of the young man that had come between him and the blonde. He stared into the face so similar to the woman's. "Twins." He could not fault the young man for stepping between them. He'd have done the same before his sister got married, especially if the man had his reputation. But he had no intension of hurting the girl; he just wanted to meet her. "Your sister is safe with me."

Sol scoffed. "I think your idea of safe and mine are two very different things. She's innocent and you're -"

"Not?" Castiel asked with a quirked brow. "Why don't you let your sister decide if she's interested in meeting me?" He asked softly, his gaze narrowing.

Oh boy. Castaria was quite sure neither intended to back down. She could also feel Star's tension and the gathering of her biotic power. This was not a scene she wanted to play out. She quickly stepped forward, "Sol," she said calmly as she laid a hand on the young man's arm. "There is more going on that you know. Please understand that I know my brother well. He will not hurt your sister. Ever. Nor would he treat her lightly." She sent calming waves through her touch. "She is not a fling to him. You'll understand soon, I promise you that. Please step aside."

V'Atre looked on sadly. It was as Angel had said. The two were to have been lifemates. Cas' truncated soul had awakened. But it did not know what to do. Whatever memories it had at its creation were disjointed, fractured. It could not reach out to hers. Star's soul was quiet. It did not recognize Cas', for his was too badly damaged. They could have a beautiful relationship, if they chose, but it would never be as it was meant to be. What was odd was that despite her soul being quiet, her body was responding as if it had met its lifemate. Lifemates themselves were rare, except around Angel. But never in his 2200 years had he heard of anything like what was playing out before him. Was this something Angel was unconsciously doing? Or was this what happened when a damaged soul met its intended? There was just no way to know. Mayhap, time would shed some light on this unusual occurrence.

Sol wasn't a stupid man, he could feel his sister's power and he could feel the power of the golden giant in front of him building. He could either step aside or get hit by a train in both directions. He would protect his sister with his life, but he would not fight her unless it was to save her life. A broken heart is not something he could save her from and it was apparent she did want to meet Castiel. "If you hurt her, I will call you out."

Castiel inclined his head to the young man. He expected no less. He'd have done the same damn thing. Normally, he'd have been flippant and said something like, 'you could try,' but he wasn't feeling his normal flippant, teasing self right now.

Sol allowed Castaria to pull him away. He wanted to believe her assurances and not because he knew Castiel would wipe the floor with him. That didn't matter to him. He just didn't want his sister hurt.

Castiel felt the hum of Star's biotics fade as he moved to stand in front of her. His gaze locked with hers. "Star," he murmured thickly. "I am…" his voice trailed off.

She stared at the vibrant, powerful, golden giant. "Apollo?" she asked, a shy grin spread on her lips even as she flushed at the ridiculous thing she'd just said.

Castiel blinked and then chuckled. "No, but I don't mind the compliment." His heart fluttered. The God was known for his beauty and if she saw him in that light, who was he to complain? His large knuckles grazed slowly down her soft cheek. "It's Castiel."

Her heart tripped over itself and she caught her breath. "Isn't that a bit of a demotion? From God to Angel?" she teased.

Castaria's hand flew to her mouth to hold back the giggle that threatened to come out. That was a good one. Her brother was definitely acting different. In the past remarks on his beauty or calling him an angel would have pissed him off. He'd always been beautiful. He was more chiseled now, but still beautiful.

Castiel's lips twitched and his hand skimmed down her arm to take her hand. "I'm no angel. My sister is the angel. But, for you, I'd dust off my halo…if you don't mind a few rust spots."

She bit her lip, but couldn't stop the words. "Are you my Danny and I your Sandy?"

He blinked and tilted his head…something was familiar about that. His brows rose. An ancient vid. A kindred soul…she was into them too. "As I recall, Sandy put on horns and Danny threw away his halo."

Ah…he got the reference, she hadn't expected that. "True. And as it once was said:

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
Dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

But I think I prefer the original last three lines:

In autumn she achieves
A still more golden blaze,
But nothing golden stays.

She took in his gold rimmed brown eyes, gold kissed skin and thick golden hair. She raised her free hand and tentatively touched his golden brow. "Is it true, my golden giant? Does nothing golden stay?" she whispered quietly and flushed when she realized she'd said the words aloud.

He raised her hand and placed her palm over his heart, covering her hand with his. He wanted her to feel what she did to him. The hard racing of his heart's beat. "Did you want to keep me? Because I would stay as long as you wanted me to." A golden flash accompanied his words. Had he really just said that? Oh man, good thing Nik wasn't here to hear him say that, he'd never let him live it down.

Her eyes widened in surprise at his brief flash of gold. She'd never seen anything like that before. But regardless of the mystery she now wanted to solve, her body was reacting aggressively to him and she feared she'd do something to embarrass them both, she needed to cool things down before she lost control. She needed him to back off. "And what if I chose to never let you go? And what if I told you I wanted marriage? To bear your children, 'til death us do part? You should be careful what you say, Cas. I might-"

Her words struck him hard and before he even knew what he was doing, he'd lifted her off her feet, crushed her to him, his mouth claiming hers in hungry need.

Tayln laughed as he joined the group, his arm around his wife, Bree. "You are such a goner," he teased, finally able to get back at his friend for teasing him unmercifully when he'd first met his own lifemate, "Do I need my bats?" He asked, referring to his whips that he'd had to set on cryo to cool off couples going through the lifemate heat.

Sol was stunned. He thought for sure her talk of marriage would send the bachelor running for the nearest airlock, but it had the opposite effect. Maybe he did want more from his sister, but still none of this made sense. They'd only just met. And he was incredibly uncomfortable watching his sister make out with someone. "Star…you are making a scene."

Tayln grinned and whipped out his bat, set it for cryo and flicked his wrist, sending the coil spiraling up his brother's back, before snapping the bat back to his magbelt.

Castiel shuddered as icy cold licked at him, bringing his mind back to the present. He lowered Star back to her feet and took her hand. He grinned as he turned to face his brother. "Nik! Er – Tayln, sorry brother...old habits die hard." He threw an arm around Talyn and then Bree, hugging them both briefly.

"Star, this is Tayln and Bree, my brother and sister. Bree is Thane's sister and Tayln is related to V'Atre." He turned his head to look at Star's brother. "Sol, come and meet Tayln and Bree." When they shook hands, he grinned. "Yes, he's Star's twin. "

Tayln laughed. "This is rich. It was quite apparent you just kissed bachelorhood goodbye and enjoyed every minute of it. Of course you realize, genetically speaking, you'll probably have twins when she conceives." He couldn't resist ribbing Cas. The man had teased him so badly, he'd earned it.

She just blinked at the light blue drell's words. She might have teased Cas about having babies, but she hadn't really thought about it until Tayln broached it. He was right; they would be far more predisposed to birthing twins than the average couple. Couple? Were they really a couple? They'd only just met. That didn't seem to stop her from wanting him though. And the thought of him being with anyone else – no, that wasn't something she wanted to think about. All their banter…how much, if any, had he meant? And why had he kissed her like that when she'd brought up marriage and babies? As awkward as it would be, they really needed to talk.

Castiel flushed. He released Star's hand and slipped his arm around her. "I deserved that. I couldn't understand what any of you were feeling. I didn't think I wanted or even needed that kind of love. But now?" He tilted her chin up and bent down to graze his lips across hers. "I feel like I've come home." He smiled tenderly at her. "Something gold can stay."

Well, they still needed to talk, but he'd answered her concerns just by talking to his brother. She bit her lip, fighting back the need to tell him to shut up and kiss her. "You know, I'm going to hold you to that."

He let out a ragged breath. She was his. "I'm yours, Star. Hold me any way you want." He leaned down until his lips brushed her ear. "And when you are ready, I'll make your body scream for me."

A throaty moan slipped past her lips. He was right, he was no angel. She nipped his earlobe and flicked her tongue along the shell of his ear. "Promises, promises." She knew he was an experienced man and she was playing with fire, but her body was crying out for him and all she could do was drown in the sensations he was making her feel.

He groaned at her throaty words and dragged her up his body, his mouth claiming hers with a growl when she wrapped her legs around his waist. His hands slid down her back to grip her ass, grinding her against his aching arousal. The feel of her heat and the sounds of her soft keens nearly drove him over the edge.

"Your Highness -es!" The reporter shook her head. By the looks of things it was a Royal convention. But that was not the story that interested her most. "Prince Castiel!"

Tayln rolled his eyes as a reporter shot past the security at a dead run, heading straight for them. He stepped in front of the couple to give them time to sort themselves. He knew it was probably too late not to go viral, but he could prevent anything else from occurring.

Tayln glanced over as another man came to stand beside him. "Reed, my brother, I did not know you were here!" Between the two of them, they made an effective wall.

"It was supposed to be a surprise, but Lyrica and I got tired of waiting for our cue to come out of the airlock. And now I can see why," Reed said with a grin.

Bree glared at the reporter. "Miss al-Jilani, You are not welcome here at this time. If the security you busted through and the closed dock did not give it away, then I shall reiterate…Leave now, before I have your camera confiscated. This is a private gathering. If Prince Castiel chooses to make his private life known, then he will."

The security guards were breathing hard and flushed with embarrassment by the time they'd caught up with the reporter. "We are so sorry, your – er, many Highnesses. We are not sure how she got through, but we will find out. Miss al-Jilani, come with us now." They took hold of her arms and led her away.

As she was escorted away, her words trailed back to them. "Who is the woman caught in a heated embrace with Prince Castiel? Will hearts break tonight? Is Prince Castiel, a renowned bachelor, finally off the market? Did we just see the newest Princess of Mindoir? Stay tuned as the story unfolds. This is Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani and you saw it first here on Westerlund News."

-BREAK THREE-

Castiel lowered Star to her feet and wrapped his arms around her trembling body, her face buried in his chest, her arms around his waist. While the circumstances could have been better, he had to admit he enjoyed holding her like this. "I'm sorry about that, Star. We try to mask our arrival, but as you can see, it is not always successful."

She was mortified at the thought of her parents seeing what had happened. That wasn't the first impression she wanted t give them of Cas. Especially, with the reputation he'd made for himself. Her parents were very conservative. The most she'd ever seen growing up was holding hands, a brief hug or a bare brush of lips. She knew they loved each other, but they had never been expressive in public or around her and Sol.

Her silence was a concern. Was she ashamed? He could understand if she was, even if it was a painful blow to him. He'd unintentionally just ruined her reputation. Or was it something else? Was the revelation of his title going to be a problem? Since she'd already agreed to be his before she'd found out, he knew she wasn't a gold digger. But maybe she resented royals on principle? Some did, history did not always paint them in a good light. Her silence screamed yet told him nothing. "Star?" he asked hesitantly? "Is it my title or are you…ashamed of…of…" the thought was too painful to even finish.

She blinked. "What? No!" She raised her head to look up at him. "Never. Titles mean nothing to me." Oh my. "I didn't mean that in a bad way. It's just I judge a person on merit and honor, how they treat less fortunate, not by any abstract title or claim to fame. And I'm not ashamed of you or us. I just – that was not the first impression I wanted my parents to have of you."

He released a breath of relief. She was concerned for him not because of him. "My reputation."

"That probably won't help," she said with a small grin. "But they are very conservative and I've never even had a..a boyfriend. I was too shy and awkward and more times than not my head was filled with science, studying cultures, civilizations, other species…not your typical teenage…hormonal stuff." She felt her cheeks heat with color.

Teenage? He hadn't even considered that. She hadn't seemed that young. "How old are you?" he asked, holding his breath.

"Eighteen," she said with a grin. "Young, but not young enough for you to be flayed," she teased.

Another moment of relief. Eighteen. Not that her being younger would have stopped him. So long as she had been at least fifteen or sixteen. In many cultures sixteen was considered adult. On the streets of Earth that was adult. On Mindoir it was if you'd finished your schooling. For Turians fifteen was considered adult enough to leave your family and join the military. What he did know was he had to get her alone. And from the heat rising within him, he knew they didn't have a lot of time. Lifemate. Wife. His body had already recognized her for what she was. "That is a relief, because flayed is not a good look for me." He raised his hand to cup her cheek. "All joking aside…did you mean what you said about marriage?" His thumb caressed her cheek. "I know to the average person it would seem rash and crazy, but you are my lifemate. We were meant to be together and I don't want to wait even a day to claim you as my wife. Will you marry me, my Star?"

She wanted to yell 'yes' as loud as she could, but that was crazy. Even crazier, she had meant what she said about marriage…babies. She wanted it all…with him…and that built on the crazy theory. Why him? Why now? She hadn't lived in a vacuum, well technically she had, the Citadel sat in the vacuum of space. She bit her lip, forcing herself not to be derailed over the ridiculous vacuum analogy. Her mind tended to take flight and she needed to remain focused. She'd been hit on by guys for the last five years, but none had so much as turned her head. He walked into her life and not only did she get whiplash, but her heart turned to mush and her body clenched for him in a primal way she only understood in an abstract, clinical way.

Her mind zagged again. Lifemate. She'd read about that in her studies. Eternal spouses. But everything she'd read made it seem like a mythological phenomenon. Yet he'd talked about it as if it were as natural as breathing. Focus, Star. She didn't need to overly analyze everything. There was a time for science and there was a time for feeling. The two could coexist, but – Star! She mentally slapped herself before her mind could zag again. "Yes!" A smile lit up her face. "Crazy or not, absolutely, irrefutably, yes! And you better make it fast, because right now all I want is the honeymoon."

Reena gripped her husband's hand tighter, nodded to him as she tapped her foot. When he flipped on his OT, she knew he was getting the special license needed. She saw the shiver race down her son's spine and knew his control was about to snap. Before he could kiss the girl again, she slapped him upside the back of his head. "Son, that was the worst proposal I've ever heard." Her gaze turned to her new daughter, took her hand and pulled her away from her son and into a hug. "Welcome to the family, Star."

He blinked as the words filtered through. "Mom?" When his lifemate was whisked away, he clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, forcing back the flash of anger that he knew was irrational. He turned and caught sight of all his family. Aria. He'd wanted to surprise her with Reed and Lyrica and she had surprised him by bringing almost everyone he loved. He found her face in the crowd, tears glistening on her cheeks. "Thank you," he mouthed to her. He barely registered her nod when he found himself in embrace after embrace, introducing Star to each of them. When he finally got to Rosie, he just blinked. "You grew up when I wasn't looking, sweetness." He was seeing her for the first time with new eyes. He had to. At seventeen, she was practically Star's age. A child no longer. Her hair was cut in a wavy, shoulder length bob that made her more beautiful and mature than he'd remembered. It had also darkened with age from white blonde into a rich, light ash brown, only a shade or so darker than Lyrica's. But it made her light blue eyes all the more vivid.

"Uncle, Cas!" She flung her arms around his waist. At 5'5" she was way too small to reach his shoulders. "I've missed you so much! You never com, you never write…"

He hugged her tight. "Oh, I do too! Looks like you've become quite the little handful for Rafe and Irikah."

She pulled back and grinned. "You know it."

Rafe clasped his hand to his heart. "I have become more debonair, with all the grey hairs she's given me."

Irikah elbowed him. "Your hair is still as dark as sin, husband."

He rubbed his ribs with a pout. "It's just too stylish to show."

As Castiel's gaze slid to Kolyat, he caught sight of the look Sol was giving his niece and arched a brow. When he saw Rosie's flush he grinned and wondered if his sister had set something else into motion. His eyes settled on Kolyat. The boy was a miracle child. He shouldn't exist. He and Thane had discussed it privately and both came to the agreement that somehow his sister was responsible for his conception. Something to do with the burst of power that had occurred when she'd told the pair they were perfect lifemates and would have a beautiful child or some such. He hadn't been there for that, Thane had told him about it when they discussed Kolyat's conception. There was still so much they didn't know about what they were. But their blood had seemed to have no negative side effects on their extended family, at least thus far. Kolyat was a beautiful, teal colored human-drell hybrid. Though it was apparent that drell genes were stronger, perhaps human genes were just more adaptable and mutable. Hard to say, that wasn't his field. The boy was twelve years old. He lacked the fused fingers and toes of drell and outside of his head ridges and spines being a little less pronounced, his eyes a bit smaller, and his frame wider, he looked drell. Outside of the lack of fused fingers, if you didn't know what he was, you wouldn't be able to tell.

He held his arms open. "Give your uncle a hug, Kol. I've missed you so much! And damn me, you've gotten so big!" And he had. He was nearly the same size as Rosie.

Kolyat grinned and jumped into his uncle's arms, laughing when he was spun around. He flushed. He was way too old for that, but it was still fun. "Someday, I'll be as big as you, Uncle Cas."

Cas set the boy down and booped his nose. "You might be right about that." He wiped the sweat from his brow, his heart overflowing. He lived for rare moments like this, when they were all together. He just wished his Uncle David and Aunt Hannah could be here. He felt an arm slip around his waist and looked down to see his sister, Aria. "Thank you for this. I needed it." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

Castaria squeezed his waist. "They will be here, Cas. They had hoped to be here by the time you arrived, but they should pull into port in another day at the latest."

She always seemed to know what was going on. He caught her gaze moving between Sol and Rosie, a grin on her face when Sol finally stopped staring at Rosie and decided to do something about it. He shook his head. "Two birds with one stone?"

She booped her brother's nose. "I'm really good at what I do."

"I'm just thankful you waited so long with me. If she were much younger I'd probably be publically flogged, dishonorably discharged and thrown in jail."

"He doth protest too much. You big goof. You have diplomatic immunity, even if you don't rub that in the brass' faces. They would have honorably discharged you and swept the whole matter under the rug and that is the most of what they could have done to you."

He scanned the dock and located Star who was surrounded by his family, most assuredly instigated by his other twin sister, Lyrica. When Star looked over at him, he felt his feet begin to move in her direction until he walked into Thane, who'd apparently stepped in front of him. It was obvious that his family was keeping them apart. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or angered by that, he felt both emotions keenly.

Castaria gave Cas' ass a playful swat. "Now pardon me, little brother, while Thane and I change places with Lyrica and Reed. I want to spend some time with my new sister before the cavalry shows up." She looped her arm through her husband's without a backward glance.

Bloody hell, what had she meant by that cryptic remark? What cavalry?

Tayln dropped a hand on his brother's shoulder. He could feel the heat coming off him. "Do you need to be cold coiled?" he asked quietly, using the phrase Lyrica had once used.

Cas blinked, drawing his gaze from his lifemate to his brother. "Not yet, Tayln. Why are we being kept apart?"

"That would be my doing, son," Kip admitted. He glanced over at his wife who was getting to know their new daughter. "We are waiting for Star's parents to show up. It was obvious what was happening. And with that vid likely going viral, there was a good chance they saw it and if they didn't, well we thought it best for her parents to meet you before….things got too carried away. Not to mention I'm still waiting for the license to be sent to me. As far as their parents, I was able to get a hold of Ellen Ryder right away. I had to use my – er...influence to get through to Alec Ryder. They should be here shortly."

"Wouldn't it have been more comfortable to have just invited them to the Royal suite at the Blue Diamond?"

Kip grinned and slapped his son on the back. "With your bedroom so close at hand?" He chuckled. "I have no doubts that is where we will end up, but the truth of it is that's not the best approach to diplomacy. And right now, that is what is needed, especially if they saw that vid of you and their daughter. Neutral ground offers the best chance of a good outcome."

Made sense. Diplomacy was not his strongest suit. His sisters were more empathic and better suited to diplomacy than he was. "Alec Ryder? Their father is an N7? Well, it's a good thing I heal fast," he said wryly.

Kip's brows rose. "You think he'd start something in the midst of all your family?"

He shot his father a lopsided grin. "Quite possibly. The man's a bit of a hot head and doesn't much give a damn about authority."

"Ah…and you would not lift a hand against him," Kip said knowingly.

Castiel nodded. "It's not like I'd lie down and take a pummeling. I'd block every damn move I could, but I would take no offensive measures."

V'Atre laid and hand on Kip's shoulder. "Son, thee art in need of another such license." He raised his other arm and pointed at Sol and Rosie. "They art soul-bound or wilt be soon."

Kip closed his eyes and sighed before staring at the younger looking man. "Grandfather, any more licenses and grey hairs I need to add this day?" He flipped his OT on and sent out the request. He and Reena had only been blessed with one child, Nikyrian, who had died during the attack on Mindoir. But before he passed on, he'd brought Angel into their lives, saving them from a loss they otherwise would never have recovered from. And through that single act, their family had blossomed. They had adopted V'Atre into the Stanton family years ago, just as they had done with everyone Angel had brought into their lives. It didn't matter that the drell was over 2200 years old, that he was a Seeker of souls for the God Kalihira. They loved him all the same. He was theirs, even if they did tease each other about age.

The peach colored drell grinned. "Kol's soul ist quiet. It wouldst be unable to awaken until his body wast ready." His gaze fell on Angel, pain lancing his heart. The only woman he'd ever loved since the death of his wife over 2200 years ago and she could never be his. Her souls belonged to Nik and Thane. Nik would never be released from Kalihira, there would be no reincarnation for him. It wasn't fair, but being a God meant having two lifemates. Lifemates that would kill each other, the bond is too absolute to allow for sharing and since their lives were bound, the God would die with them, causing devastation across the mortal realm. And because they were all immortal, it would be an endless cycle of healing and death and destruction. That was one reason why Gods destroyed any lifemate they found before binding to them. They did not suffer them to live. If Angel and Nik had been bound first, then it would have been Thane that would have had to die, locked away forever in the underworld. There were no winners. He knew Angel still felt Nik's loss, even though she didn't realize they were destined to be lifemates, and that in turn was a pain Thane felt. It did not matter that his own heart was lost to her. She would never be his wife. He could never make love to her, but he would always love her and always be there for her in any way she needed. Always. He swallowed hard and shuttered feelings away.

"Phew, any more and I'd have to buy stock in them." Kip caught the naked and raw pain in V'Atre's eyes before the window slammed shut. It wasn't the first time the drell had succumbed to his emotions and would not be the last, but he did not let his feelings color his relationships with Angel and Thane. And like their birth son, Nik, it was obvious there could be no one else for V'Atre but Angel. But unlike their birth son, death would not save V'Atre from the pain or from being alone. V'Atre was death and the empty centuries spanned out ahead of him. He wiped the tears that escaped silently from his eyes and drew his ancient son into his arms for a hug.

"I didst not intend for thee to see," V'Atre said quietly.

"I know, son. I've always known. And so long as I have breath in my body, I will always be here for you," Kip said just as quietly.

"And I for thee." He may never have Angel, but she had given him so much. A man alone for 2200 years had been drawn to Angel when she was trying to force a rider, a spirit, from her husband's body. Before he realized she was a bound God, he was going to recommend her to Kalihira to be a Seeker. And through that chance encounter, he met a descendent of his own son, who he thought died in the raid that claimed his wife and unborn child so very long ago. Which led to finding out his family line became the Teiners. It also led to becoming friends and eventually family with all the amazing people in Angel's life. He released his young father and they both watched as the new souls found each other.

Sol grinned at Rosie. "I fear I cannot take my eyes off you. I'm nearly afraid to blink. For if I do, you may vanish as readily as a mirage to a man dying of thirst."

Rosie was stunned. Not so much by how extremely hot he was up close and not so much by what he'd said, though what he said was romantic enough to melt her heart, but by how those words made her body feel. She felt a strange mixture of tingles, shivers and heat whipping through her. "Oh, you sound like my father." She'd kissed a few boys, but their kisses had done nothing for her, except leaving her with a feeling of emptiness. By words alone, Sol had managed to awaken her to stirrings she found very curious.

His brows rose. "Do I? That's certainly not how I want you to think of me. Quite the opposite, truth be told." His gaze lowered to her lips that fell open with a breath, beckoning him with a need to taste them. He locked his hands behind his back to keep them from reaching out to her. He did not want to frighten her or give her the wrong idea. Despite his easy way with girls, he'd always turned them down; he wanted more than they were offering.

She tilted her head. She could hear the deepening of his voice, see the heat in his eyes, but unlike the other boys she'd known he didn't try to kiss her nor did he back away from her. He stood easily at her side, yet his hands were behind his back, as if he were at military ease. He was a man of contradiction and that made her all the more curious. How far could she push him before he gave in to the obvious attraction? She was not a tease. Not purposely. But his nearness was playing havoc with her senses and she felt an uncontrollable need to explore that. She'd always been open with her love and the driving need for family and friends. She'd been that way as far back as she could remember. But this was different. Frightening, exhilarating and touching upon her in a way she hadn't expected. She took a step closer to him, her nipples tightened when she felt the heat of his body. She wondered what it would feel like to graze her breasts against his muscled chest. It was obvious he worked out; she wondered what he looked like without his shirt on. Oh, Rosie…you are being positively naughty. She looked at his parted lips. What would he taste like? Her gaze rose to meet his. Blue eyes met blue eyes. She wondered if the heat in his eyes mirrored her own. "How do you want me to think of you?" She barely recognized her own voice.

He released a ragged breath and understood what his sister had gone through not so long ago. He wanted to crush her to him and feel her legs wrapped around his waist. He bit back a groan and tried to keep his thoughts in check, but it wasn't helping, he was already heavy and aching for her. His body was reacting like it already knew what it would be like with her. "Like a man who knows he needs you in his life to make him whole."

She moaned and swayed against him her breasts brushing against his chest, sending spirals of heat straight to her core. She flattened her palms against his chest and skimmed them over his hard muscles that danced under her touch. She heard her name, little more than a groan from his lips. She slipped her arms around his neck and raised herself onto her toes, her breasts flattening against him as her mouth captured his.

He growled into the kiss, his control gone. His arms came around her and he crushed her to him, grinding himself against her belly. He was lost to the need and to the fire that raged within him. No one else existed but him and her. His hands slid down her ass, gripping it and pulling her up. Her legs locked around his waist and he rocked against her heat, her growl of frustration mirroring his own.

Rafe gripped his wife's arm. He watched his daughter as she appeared to be trying to seduce Sol. He had to give the boy credit. He'd locked his hands behind his back and made no move on his daughter. But true to Rosie's outlandishness, she wasn't accepting of that. He knew she was growing up, but she was still his little girl. And then it happened, they were all but making love right in front of everyone…in front of him. Fury swept through him, but his wife caught him before he could take more than a step in the couple's direction. "Rafe, it's too late for that."

"Bella…she's our daughter, she's too young."

Castaria placed a hand on Rafe's arm. "They're in heat, Rafe. Nothing can stop what's going to happen now. You remember what it was like. But, we can keep it at bay for a little while. Let me speak to Tayln."

"Bella, she's too young."

The pain in her husband's eyes tore at Irikah's heart. "No, honey, they are not. If they were, their souls would not have awakened."

"Now," V'Atre said to Tayln.

"I'm already on my way." He looked at Cas in concern. "Can you make it brother?"

Cas wiped the sweat from his brow. "Yes. I'll be fine. They need you more than I do."

There was a slight edge to his voice, but he seemed in control. Tayln nodded "Then I will need you and Bree to separate them."

Alec and Ellen stepped through security and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of what their son was doing in public. Alec stormed over to his son and grabbed his arm, yanking it away from the young girl. "Sol Ian Ryder, I know we taught you better than this! How dare you shame this family and that girl by such a lewd public display!"

"Alec, No!" Castiel shouted and raced over to the enraged older man.

"Stay with Star, keep her calm! I'll help Alec." Lyrica said to Castaria as she darted towards the hell that was breaking loose.

Sol bared his teeth at his father, fury seething like a boiling tide. "You'd have to be in my life to teach me anything," he growled as he pushed Star behind his back, ready to attack the man that threatened them.

"You will not talk to me that way, young man!"

Castiel grabbed Alec by the arm and forced him away from Sol. He barely caught the blur of the uppercut and whipped his hand up to catch the flying fist in an iron grip. "Enough, Alec! Your son is not himself right now, but you need to calm the fuck down and listen to reason!"

"Shepard," he growled. "Do you really want to take me on? You might have youth on your side, but I have experience. I don't want to fight you, but I will if you come between me and my son again."

"Dad! No!," Star shouted, struggling to get away from the hands that held her. "Let me go, I'll make things right. They need me." She'd always been able to sooth the waters between her father and brother. The older her brother got, the more they needed her. It had actually become a sad relief to her when their father was away.

Castaria sighed. "Star, honey, this is different. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't question your ability. But right now, you are not yourself either. Lyrica will help them. Trust me in this."

David and Hannah had just arrived when they saw Alec Ryder taking a swing at their nephew. David released his wife's hand and hurried over. "My nephew is right, Alec, stand down and that's an order!"

He stepped back even though it rankled him to no end. David was several years his junior, even so the man out ranked him. Ellen took his hand. He felt an odd sense of calm settling over him, unaware of the woman that stood between him and his son, her arms stretched out towards both, sending calming waves of energy in both directions. "What the hell is going on?"

"Just watch, Alec. Then everything will be explained," David said quietly.

Castiel stepped around Alec and moved cautiously towards Sol. He found out first hand from Reed what could happen when you came between lifemates. Hell, he was going through it himself, though not to that extent. Bree joined him and moved slowly towards Rosie.

Cas held up his hands. "I know what you're going through. You know I do, I'm going through the same thing with Star. You are going through the heat, it will rage hotter until you bind with your lifemate. But we can slow it, help you both think, we just need to cool you off."

Sol blinked and wiped the sweat from his brow. Why did he not feel the man approaching him was a threat? When he'd been willing to kill his own father? Why did his brain feel like sludge? He shook his head, sweat sprayed from his soaked hair.

Castiel frowned. "Bree, this is taking too long. Stasis."

Bree nodded. She'd never seen a heat build that fast and strong. Maybe their souls were recently united, both perishing and re-released at similar times, thus more strongly connected? Who could say? She flung out a stasis field, illuminating Rosie in a gold flecked blue field.

Bree grinned at Castiel's field, which had more gold in it than the last time she'd seen it. "Your gold is growing."

He wiped his brow. "Of course, regardless of what you've heard, more than just my tongue is golden," he teased.

Bree laughed. "You are horrible."

He quirked a brow. "That's not what I've been told."

Tayln cuffed the back of his head. "Quit flirting with my wife, I'm not too sure yours is any condition to see the humor."

"Right," Castiel said as he pulled Sol's arms out to the side.

Tayln flicked his wrists and settled the cryo coils around the young couple. He saw his brother's eyes settle on Star as the young couple was released from stasis and began to shiver. "And you still have to stay away from her. I only have one set of whips with me.

Castiel tore his eyes from his lifemate and stared deadpan at his brother. "You do recall how hard that is?"

One corner of Tayln's mouth twitched as if not knowing whether to frown or smile. "Yes…and you have my empathy." His sanity had nearly shattered when he was in heat and his new lifemate had run from him and because of his own actions he'd been forced to stay away from her. He could never forget the torment he'd gone through…that he and his lifemate had both gone through.

Lyrica took Reed's hand and returned to keep Star stable so Castaria could talk to Alec and greet her aunt and uncle.

Castaria grinned, her feet carrying her swiftly to the newest arrivals. She jumped into her uncle's arms and held on tight while he spun her around as he used to when she was a child. She kissed his lips and hugged him a second time, while Thane hugged Hannah. "I've missed you so much, Uncle David." She moved on to hug her aunt. "You too, Aunt Hannah."

David still found it hard to forgive himself that he had not been around when his brother Thomas and his sister-in-law Cora had been murdered. He had not been there for his niece and nephew and at nine years old they disappeared from his life. He had no intention of letting that happen again. He'd kept close tabs on their military careers and personal lives.

-BREAK FOUR-

Castaria then turned to Alec and Ellen. "My name is Castaria and this is my husband and lifemate, Thane. There are things you need to know about your children…about what is going on. You may not like it and it will be hard to understand, probably more so for you Alec, but what has happened cannot be undone and adjustments will need to be made by everyone. Please, join us over at the benches. I think sitting down might prove helpful." She looked at her brother. "Castiel, come sit with Thane and I. Lyrica, take Star to the furthest bench." She settled on the bench with Thane in the middle and Castiel on the farthest side.

Castaria focused her attention on Alec and Ellen. "Sol and Rosie, who is Rafe and Irikah's daughter, and Castiel, one of my twins, and Star are going through what is known as the heat. It is a condition that occurs when two souls that were meant to be together find each other. Often these souls have been bound in past lives. When those souls awaken, the need to be reunited is so great that they burn through the body's energy reserves. Souls cannot be reasoned with and nor do they realize they are burning the bodies out; they only have one need, to bind to the soul they were meant to be with. If they do not bind, both bodies will die. When a lifemate is found, the souls must be bound in flesh, blood and spirit, husband and wife eternal. If denied soul's embrace, death they will face, their bodies a raging inferno."

"That's ridiculous," Alec grumbled. "Superstition...mythology, nothing more."

"Take a hard look at your children and tell me you believe that," Castaria said, her voice solemn. "Why do you think your son was more volatile than usual? Why do you think he was soaked with sweat when it is not hot? The only thing keeping him and Rosie from burning out are the cold coils wrapped around them. Cas and Star are not too far along in the heat, or at least it is not effecting them to the same degree yet, but they too must be bound."

Despite his disbelief, Alec did take a closer look at his children. It was obvious their bodies were under great stress. Sol's eyes were still glazed; his flesh red and sweat still fell from his brow, but not to the extent that he'd been in earlier. "They are too young," he said matter of fact.

"By who's standards? Yours? Turians begin their military service at fifteen. You are considered an adult on Illium at sixteen. On Mindoir, as long as your basic schooling has been completed, you are considered an adult. Had they been too young, their souls would have remained quiet, they can only awaken if the bodies are mature enough to handle what the souls require."

"And the souls require flesh, blood and spirit," Ellen said quietly. "What does that entail?" She flushed. "The blood and spirit part, I mean," she amended quickly.

"Spirit refers to a pledge they make to each other. It can be something as simple as 'I will always be yours' or a more elaborate bequeathing of heart and soul. It is a very personal declaration. And to seal the bind, they must take in each other's blood, thus binding their souls and life-forces together." Castaria knew that might be one of the hardest parts to accept.

Ellen's brows rose. "Their life-forces? Does that mean…" She tried not to think about the flesh and blood part.

Castaria smiled gently. "If one dies then so too does the other. Even the fates are not cruel enough to widow a lifemate. If such a thing were to occur, the soul would wither and die the agony unbearable. A lifemate bond is far more intense than anything you can even imagine. The need to protect and be with your lifemate can consume you. To those that do not understand, it can seem like an unhealthy obsession, but it is the most intimate and primal bond that can be shared between two people. It is the truest form of marriage. The bind is absolute. Your senses and feelings are heightened. There is no greater love. No greater passion. You are incapable of physically hurting or cheating on your lifemate. And when they die, so do you…so that your souls can be reborn to find each other once more."

"They're my children…" Alec said quietly. He knew he was distant with them. He didn't mean to be, but he really didn't know what to do with them. He always had too much to do. Was too busy. There would be time later to make it up to them.

Rafe hunkered down next to Alec and Ellen. "And Rosie is our daughter. She's only seventeen. We know what you are going through. There is a time to hang on and a time to let go. But letting go doesn't mean losing them. It means moving forward and finding new ways to be there for them." He rose and took Irikah's hand. "Normally our family spends half the year on Mindoir and half on Kahje. But until the children start their careers, we will remain here on the Citadel. Our family has a place at the Blue Diamond. The kids can have their own bedroom suite and skycar. You won't even have time to miss Sol."

Ellen smiled wanly. One of her children would remain nearby for now, but… "Star…"

Castiel frowned and wiped his brow. "I'm sorry. We can't stay here. We can split our shore leave between here, Earth and Mindoir, but…I can promise you that I'll keep her safe. She can take classes via the extranet, converse via vidcom with whatever professionals are in the field of her choice. Being a Prince does have some advantages," he said with a tight smile. He wasn't a man to pull the Prince card, indeed, unless on Mindoir, he preferred not to be seen as such. But for his wife he would. "My ship was designed by Teiner Tech; there is nothing safer out there. You are welcome to tour her, if it will set your minds at ease."

A Prince? He hadn't been aware that Shepard…both Shepards were Royalty. Alec hung his head and nodded. He did not like giving up control. It wasn't in his nature. But this…this lifemate thing…there was no controlling that.

Kip and Reena came forward. "Alec, Ellen….I am Kip and this is my wife, Reena. Everyone you see here except for David and Hannah are our children, Rosie is our grandchild. If it is alright with the two of you, I'd prefer to move this to a more comfortable environment. We can get the licenses signed and allow the children to bind before the heat takes them." At their nods, he turned to his children. "Pile into the shuttles everyone. Alec and Ellen, will you please join us in our skycar?"

Alec handed his wife into the skycar. If Shepard…no, Castiel, the man was about to become his son. If Castiel was a Prince and Kip and Reena were his parents, then that meant they were Stantons. The King and Queen of Mindoir. "You are not what I expected," Alec admitted when the King and Queen put the skycar on autopilot and turned their seats to face them.

Ellen elbowed her husband, her cheeks heating in embarrassment. "Alec! You do not always need to speak your mind," she said in a hushed tone.

Reena laughed and waved her hand in negation. "It is fine. Yes, we are King and Queen, but our titles do not define us, unless at a Royal function. All other times, we are just Kip and Reena. Normal people just like anyone else.

Alec scoffed. "Except you are richer than god."

Kip arched a brow. "Are we? That is most curious and now I simply must know. Tell you what. Get word out to god and see if he will take a moment and sip tea with us so that we can ascertain the truth of that theory," he teased.

Her husband just blinked, but Ellen was mortified. Sometimes her husband spoke without thought, not realizing or not caring that some people might consider what he said to be rude. "Please, take no offense. We don't hold your wealth against you. We are well aware of all you do for those in need. The Stanton Foundation's outreach programs speak for themselves."

Kip reached out to pat Ellen's hand. "No offence taken, Ellen. We are wealthy and we enjoy having nice things. But we also enjoy helping where we can. In fact, Angel spearheads a lot of our outreach programs. She is very good at ferreting out those in need, far better than any advisor we ever had."

"Angel?" Alec asked in surprise. That was not a name he remembered hearing, though he'd heard so many, he could be mistaken.

A somber grin pulled at Reena's lips. "We were only blessed with one birth child. Our son, Nikyrian. Before he died in the attack on Mindoir, he brought Castaria into our lives. He called her Angel and the name became her. Her heart, her looks, everything about her is golden. Cas, David, Hannah, Reed and Lyrica, sometimes, are the only ones to call her Aria. Her husband, Thane calls her Star, everyone else calls her Angel. In all honestly, I think she prefers Angel to Aria. Not because of what the name implies, but because Aria belonged to her life before Mindoir. She doesn't want to forget it, it made her who she is, but I think it's more painful to her than Angel is." Reena blushed. "I'm sorry, I love my children and I tend to talk about them more than I should."

Alec's gaze lowered for a moment and then rose to meet theirs. "We understand being proud of your children. I – well, I heard about Nikyrian Stanton. He saved lives that day. He was a credit to the uniform. SpecOps was lucky to have him. I know that doesn't make up for the loss, nothing can. As a father, I can't imagine…I'm sorry." He shook his head and lowered it. He couldn't imagine losing one of his children like that. He might not have been the father he should have been, but their loss would devastate him. Maybe someday he'd be able to break the barriers and rebuild the bridges he'd unintentionally burned. Someday they'd know how he truly felt.

Reena's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I want to say he died a hero and I'm proud of him. I am, but the truth of it is I'd rather him be here with us than a hero." That would have been true had he died for any other reason than he had, but there was far more to the story; a story that wasn't hers to tell. In the end he gave his life to save the only woman he could ever love. Angel. She couldn't fault him for that and had never held it against Angel, not when she'd give her own life for that of her children or her husband. And if he had survived, he'd have spent the rest of his life alone and in agony, because his Angel was bound to Thane. In the end, he died never knowing that…he died knowing only of Angel's love, with a smile on his face.

Alec released a ragged breath. "You're right. There is no good way to die when it involves someone you love. Reasons don't matter. They don't stop the pain and they don't bring them back."

Kip wiped a tear from his cheek. "Our son gave us the best gift possible. Angel. If he hadn't brought her home to us...I'm not sure we could have survived his loss." A small smile spread on his lips. "She was the gift that kept on giving. She brought every one of our children into our lives. And with Rosie and Kolyat, we have grandchildren too."

"Despite your loss, you've been blessed," Ellen murmured.

"Exactly so," Kip agreed. "Tell me about your children, our newest Princess and grandchild."

Ellen blinked. She hadn't even considered that. Her daughter was going to be a Princess. "Star is natural diplomat. She is able to smooth rough waters and ease tension. Often through humor. Everything is not a joke to her, though some may see it as that. She is a very deep thinker; she thinks everything through, studies all the angles, before jumping in. But she is able to do so too fast for anyone to understand that she'd actually thought a thing through. Her mind is sharp, quick to pick up on things. As such, she can be introverted, but if someone is in need, her diplomacy and empathy are quick to pull her from the shell. Her heart lays in the study of civilizations and cultures…archeology and sociology. But, she's a natural at psychology as well. I think-" pain hit her and she sucked in a breath. "I think she will like being out there with Cas, exploring the new planets his missions take him to, finding out what makes them tick."

She rubbed her head. "Sol is a doer. He tends to jump in with both feet running. Despite that, he is able to adapt in mid-stride to make the best of a situation. He wants to see everything, do everything, feel everything, be a part of everything. I don't think he believes there is anything too big for him to conquer. I've no doubt that one day he'll captain his own ship and seek new horizons to tame; he never has been one to sit on his laurels. I think, at least in that, he takes after his father."

Reena grinned. "Well, hopefully Sol and Rosie won't get themselves into too much trouble. She's a loving girl, a giving and caring young woman, always has been. She is very outgoing, not a shy bone in her body. But she can also be impulsive. If she wants something she'll go for it. It didn't surprise me in the least that she seduced your son." She patted Alec's hand. "I know you came in at an awkward time, the heat had over taken them by that point, but you should know, he was the ultimate gentleman and kept his hands locked behind his back until Rosie took matters into her own hands. Please don't think she's that kind of girl. She's not. When two souls meant for each other come in close enough proximity, they are drawn to each other, once that occurs, there is no stopping things. They were helpless against what was going to happen. Even so, Sol held out. His body shook from the force of his control. He fought a battle to the last that he had no chance of winning. I'm proud of him."

"We're here," Kip said, returning his seat to its forward position. The skycar settled into its designated position on the private landing pad.

"Thank you both. You have helped…ease things," Ellen said as Reena was turning her seat into the forward position.

Reena smiled back at the couple. "That's why we wanted this time with you. What you learned…we knew it had to be a shock to you. We wanted to give you time to digest everything and try to come to terms with it, before the evening progressed. But we're out of time," she said as she jumped from the car before her husband could come around to assist her. "Tayln's bats won't stay charged forever and Cas and Star don't even have that to slow things." She took her husband's hand and hurried into their suite, leaving the other couple to catch up.

Castiel's skin began to crawl. He could feel his irritation growing. Star had been put in the other shuttle and the separation was starting to eat a raw wound in his heart. His sister, Lyrica, was sitting next to him, he could feel her calming influence, but it was only taking the edge of what he was going through. By the time the shuttle landed, he was the first out the door.

Star watched her brother and Rosie and wondered why she wasn't affected as dramatically as they were. She could feel the warmth of her body and the need that still clenched at her core, her brow was damp with perspiration, but it was like it was more of a muted echo of what her brother was going through. She shook her head. It didn't matter; she would not analyze it to death. Not this time. Cas was her golden god and she was tired of being kept away from him.

When the door of the shuttle opened, her golden god was waiting for her. His face flushed and his eyes seeing no one but her. Her core clenched and she launched herself into his arms. Her arms locked around his waist, her cheek resting against his chest, the feel of their hearts pounding in unison.

Tayln eyed his bats as they began to flicker. "Times up, we need to get moving."

Everyone hurried into the Royal Suite and settled around the dining table. Kip handed a datapad to both Cas and Sol. "Each of you need to submit a bioscan, just look into the small sensor at the top of the pad, sign off and that will wrap things up." He looked over at Rafe and Irikah. "I hope that you don't mind that I've already approved, in your stead, for Rosie. I knew we were working against the clock." As king of Mindoir and Rosie both family and a citizen, it was within his right to approve the marriage. Much like Angel, she had tested out early from her schooling and was considered an adult. Had they been on Mindoir, his approval wouldn't have been needed. But in Citadel space, he opted to go by their laws in this matter.

Irikah watched Tayln's bats wink out and drop to the floor. "I have to admit I'm glad you covered all the bases, dad."

When Star set the datapad down, Castiel scooped her up in his arms and took the stairs three at a time as he rushed to his bedroom.

Alec watched his daughter get carried up the stairs with a sigh. Nothing would ever be the same again. His son and Rosie darted past him, hand in hand, hitting the stairs at a run. He pulled his wife's chair closer and put his arms around her.

Reena smiled warmly. "As I see it, there are three things we have the option of doing while we wait for the children to return. Option one, we can sit here, eat snacks, talk and try not to think about what is going on upstairs. Option two, we all adjourn to our bedrooms and see who can make the most noise. And option three, we can adjourn to the entertainment room and stuff our faces over Cards Against the Universe."

Alec just blinked as he heard the choruses of option two and Kol's option three. He could feel the heat in his cheeks and glanced at his wife noting her cheeks were just as rosy. He was out of his element in this laid back atmosphere.

Kol rolled his eyes. "Aw, come on. You do option two all the time. And what am I supposed to do? Go out and find a girlfriend?"

There was a brief moment of silence then a unanimous vote for option three. Alec caught Kol's wide grin and mentally thanked the boy's quick thinking. At least that was until his wife knocked him on his ass when she whispered in his ear just what she'd intended to do to his body. He cleared his throat. "Is it too late to change my vote to option two?" The chorus of laughter was interrupted when his OT went off.

"Alec, no…not tonight. Ignore it. Please," Ellen said quietly.

His finger hesitated over the holopad. His jaw clenched as he fought the need to find out what was going on. He released a breath and turned off his OT. He caught the disbelief and stunned look on his wife's face and gave her a small smile. Had he been that hopeless? How many times had she asked him in the past and he just hadn't paid attention? How blind had he been? Would he wake up one day only to discover his wife had slipped from his grasp and moved on as his children had? Time had always had a way of slipping by with him. He wasn't always there for her, but she understood, didn't she? Even if she did, what kind of husband had that made him to take advantage of her understanding nature? His children had grown up and moved on while he wasn't looking. He couldn't lose her too. Things had to change. He had to change. Somehow. He still had so much to do, but his drive had already cost him too much. He raised a hand to cup her cheek. "I love you, Ellen." He wiped the tears from her cheeks and brushed his lips against hers. He knew he couldn't promise her he'd change; he didn't know yet if even could. But he did intend to try.

He looked around to discover they were alone. He took his wife's hand and led her towards the sound of voices. He squeezed his wife's hand as he took in the extravagance of the place. They'd never been to the Blue Diamond; the place was just not in their budget. He felt a slap on the back and looked over at David.

"You'll get used to it, Alec. It wasn't all that long ago that we were introduced to a world we didn't even know existed. Well, in an abstract way, but never could have imagined experiencing it. You should see their palatial estate on Mindoir, blows this away. Now that you are a part of their family, make sure you find the time to enjoy it. Enjoy them. They are a remarkable family. Get to know them." He slapped Alec's back once more and returned to his wife's side, settling on the sofa next to her.

Tasty food, expensive drinks and a hilarious game he hadn't played since his youth relaxed Alec enough to enjoy himself in a way he hadn't in years. Late into the evening the new lifemates came down to join in the revelry.

When they finally all turned in for the night, CC, a rather realistic looking mech showed Alec and Ellen to the room they would be using. He studied the mech carefully. "You're an AI."

CC grinned. "Very astute. And you are a human."

Alec had to admit he was caught off guard. "But you are illegal."

CC huffed. "I scan as a VI and act as one in public. But we are not in the public right now, are we?"

"You don't resent your creator? Resent that you were made?" The war between the quarians and geth is what generated the fear of AIs.

"Have you had too much to drink, Alec?" CC laughed. "Why would I resent Tayln? I would not be alive without him."

"But you serve other beings," he said trying to understand what made her so different from the geth.

"No. I do what I enjoy doing for my family. Just as CJ enjoys protecting them. We are alive, we have purpose and we are needed and loved just as any other being."

"But don't you have the power to infiltrate our systems and take control?"

CC tilted her head in confusion. "Why would I? What kind of life would that be? I'd lose everything I held dear." The thought was abhorrent. "I'm not about to go Skynet on you."

"What is skynet?" It felt like he was missing the butt of a joke. But is seemed as though that is where the quarians went wrong in the creation of the geth. Individuality was lacking and they treated beings that had the means to be sentient as little more than tools, rather than friends. Didn't give them feelings and a reason to care. And when the geth tried to stretch their new wings, they turned on them rather than aid them. It was an interesting concept, one he'd love to talk over with Tayln.

CC chuckled. "Cas and Angel love ancient vids, sometimes I forget everyone does not know them. Essentially, Skynet was an AI government infrastructure that took over and started trying to kill off all the humans, because it considered them a problem akin to vermin." She paused. "I can't imagine that happening in real life. It is not a world worth living in. Cold and empty. There is no joy in that."

Ellen's hand ached with how hard he was holding it in his excitement. She tried to withdraw it and it took a moment for her husband to realize what he was doing.

"Sorry," he said to his wife, releasing her hand. "You've given me much to think about, CC. Would you be willing to talk more later?" That CC could feel joy, have likes, love…it was phenomenal. It didn't feel like she was mimicking emotions, it was like she truly felt them. How had Tayln done it?

"Of course, Alec. Have a good night. Let me know if either of you need anything." He watched her walk away for a moment and then slipped through the bedroom door. His wife was already removing her clothes. It brought to mind the things she'd whispered into his ear. His eyes traveled down to feast on her shapely ass as he stepped up behind her and slid his arms around her waist.

She leaned back against her husband. "Have a thing for AIs?"

His tongue slid along the shell of her ear. "CC is fascinating, but I only have a thing for you," he said as his hand drifted down her flat belly to find her silky heat.

"Alec…" she moaned and melted back against him. It felt like it had been an eternity since he'd held her like this.

-BREAK FIVE-

Star snuggled into her husband's chest, her leg thrown over his thigh as they rested on their sides. She still marveled how he was locked inside of her. Making love to him was like nothing she ever could have imagined. She was still in awe that he was truly hers. He was so beautiful he stole her breath away and made her heart sing. And now that he'd made true on his promise and her body had screamed for him over and over again, how was she to ever keep her hands off of him? She heard his groan as the tip of her nail teased his tight nipple. "How am I ever supposed to keep my hands off of you?"

"Are you under the impression that I want you to?" he teased. He'd bedded his share of women; not exactly something he was proud of since he met Star, but he was in no way prepared for the enormity of what he felt when he made love to his wife.

She kissed his chest. "Being joined at the hip in the middle of the Citadel would probably get us arrested."

"We have diplomatic immunity," he said with a grin.

"You are terrible," she said with a laugh.

"That's not what you said earlier."

"Touché. How about incorrigible?" she asked and then bit into his shoulder and drew his blood over her tongue, absorbing it almost immediately.

Castiel thrust into her with a growl; pleasure rippling through him as she drew on his veins. She arched against him deepening each hard, penetrating thrust. She shattered in his arms with a hoarse cry, her gripping muscles catapulting him over the edge with a guttural shout. He rocked into her, bathing her with his seed until his shaft locked them tight once more. He bit into her shoulder as her pulsing aftershocks milked the last of his essence into her body. Before he raised his head he bit his tongue and coated her wounds with his blood to hasten their healing. It wouldn't take long for his blood to be strong enough in her veins that her wounds would heal themselves.

He hadn't told her about that yet, there hadn't been time. But it was something that would have to wait, talking was the last thing he wanted to do while he was buried in her heat. Besides the gift of her love, she'd also given him the gift of her innocence. She was the only virgin he'd ever taken. And he would never forget the feel of breaking through the tiny barrier to make her his. It was a gift he would always treasure…a gift he now wished he could have returned. "And insatiable," he said with a nip to her earlobe.

-BREAK SIX-

After a very pleasurable morning shower they dressed and Castiel explained to his wife about his blood and everything they'd learned so far about it. That if accepted by the being it was given to it rapidly and aggressively transformed every blood cell into replicas of itself, giving them strength, powers, immunity to illness and the ability to self-heal wounds.

His words sent her mind reeling in several directions at once. What it would mean to her physiology, the unique properties of the blood, what it would mean if word ever got out. Not once did she disbelieve him. The whole family had resonated power, but he, Castaria and Lyrica's stood out among them. All three were more vivid, their presence felt more profoundly than anyone she'd ever been near. But the implications behind the origin blood were astronomical. "You aren't human," she stated matter of fact. "If anyone got hold of your blood-" she shuddered. There was no doubt it would be used to create super soldiers. That never ended well for anyone.

His wife caught on fast. "No, my twin sisters and I are not human. We have an extra chromosome. We don't know what we are…that is an answer we are still searching for. Well, Aria is. She is the bio-geneticist."

Her brows drew together. "She is? I thought I heard she was a combat engineer?"

He grinned. "She is both. Aria has a remarkable brain. Much like yours, I imagine. She is also a powerful…I don't know, oracle? Seer? She sees things...knows things she couldn't know. Lyrica does too, but not to the same extent. It's not a talent I appear to share to with them; I only get occasional twinges of knowing. Aria was drawn to you and your brother because she knew you both were going to belong to our family. She's a renowned matchmaker and she's never wrong."

She fought to keep her thoughts focused. "Aria is not what I expected when I saw her, when I spoke with her. She's not like any soldier I've ever seen. The way she dresses…maybe I.."

Castiel froze. "No. I can barely keep my hands off you now…if you dressed like that…I couldn't handle it and I'd probably kill anyone who looked at you. I don't know how Thane handles it, but I do not have his calm demeanor. Please… for my sanity, don't take her shopping advice."

The look on his face was priceless and she laughed softly. "That's fine. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be dressing like that anyway. But I'm not about to dress casual when we go out to more formal engagements. You're just going to have to handle sexy once in awhile," she teased.

He released a breath and swallowed hard. She was right; he couldn't expect her to wear casual clothes all the time. "I'll try to handle it, Star." He ignored the brief flash of gold. He would try.

She went back over the things he'd told her and looked at him in a new light. The golden flashes she'd seen coming from him. The powers he talked about…was it possible? "Will you draw your power for me? I want to see your field." She couldn't bring herself to call it biotic, because that didn't sit right with her.

That he was not expecting, though he probably should have. Her brain was quick, some of her comments spoken more like a doctor or scientist. And she had grown up in a home of science. "Am I to be your next research project?" he teased as he drew on his power.

She flushed. "Not like you think, Cas…I'm just drawn by curiosity, trying to make sense of everything." She studied the beautiful field that enveloped him. It had more shimmery gold than blue. "Everything about you is beautiful..." she murmured and stepped into the field to feel it's hum wash over her body. The field didn't answer her questions, but it did guide her theory. She looked up into his eyes and blinked. "Your film is slipping." When he blinked and settled it back into place her suspicions were realized. "Will you remove your films for me?"

He blinked again. He hadn't intentionally kept that secret from her. He was so used to wearing them to hide his golden, glowing eyes that he didn't even think about it anymore. He took a step back and pinched the films from his eyes and then looked down at her. He held his breath and awaited her reaction. He released his breath when a warm smile and love filled eyes looked back at him.

She reached up and pulled his head down, gently kissing each eyelid, before grazing her lips across his. "It is a shame they must be kept hidden, but I understand the need for it. Will you remove your films when we are among family or alone? I -" she bit her lip. "I need to see them…need to feel them on me…they fill me with warmth." She flushed.

His heart fluttered, her admission was doing funny, pleasurable things to his insides. "As your words fill me with warmth. They are a long, engrained habit for me. Remind me, Star, and I will remove them for you. I'll be right back." In the bathroom he pulled out a small case and deposited the films in it. He slid the case into his pocket and rejoined her.

While he was away she thought back on everything she'd seen and heard and compared it to her studies. So much would be explained if her theory were fact. Could it be that her husband was a God or maybe a Demi-God? Would he hide it from her if he was? She didn't think so; he'd been honest about everything else. The puzzle pieces fit…the golden eyes, the extra chromosome, the powers, the presence, how the three were more vivid than anyone else. But how can one be a God and not know it? That is where her theory weakened and maybe fell apart.

She glanced up when she saw him return, thankful to see his golden eyes. When her belly rumbled she bit her lip and blushed.

He grinned. "Don't be embarrassed about that, we did work up an appetite." He held his arm out to her to escort her downstairs to breakfast.

-BREAK SEVEN-

Lyrica pulled her husband aside. "I'm going to offer my blood to Sol and Rosie. Star will already be transforming. I don't want her to worry unnecessarily over her twin. And I'm sure Cas is no doubt too distracted to think about it."

Reed nodded his understanding. "They will be parted for the first time in a few days and that will be hard enough on them. With the missions Cas goes on, she doesn't need to be distracted."

She brushed her lips against his and made a beeline to the young couple. "Good morning, Sol and Rosie," she said giving them each a hug. "While we are waiting for breakfast to be served can I have a few minutes of your time? There are things I want to tell you and…something I want to offer you."

"Sure, Aunt Lyri. Here?" Rosie asked, curious about her aunt's request.

Lyrica glanced back at Alec and Ellen and pointed into the living room. "Perhaps, in there would be best." She led them to the sofa. She looked at each of them. "There are things about this family that even you are unaware of Rosie. We wanted to wait until you were old enough and I'm probably not the one that should be talking to you about these things, but in light of what happened between Cas and Star…Let me explain. And she did. She left nothing out. The time for secrets was over.

Rosie was stunned. How could she have been so oblivious for so many years? She knew her family was different in so many ways, but never even considered they were that different. She gripped her husband's hand. "So, because Uncle Cas and Star share blood, then Star is already beginning the transformation?" At Lyrica's nod, she looked over at Reed. "Uncle Reed, you died?"

Reed grunted. "For a few moments, yes. It's not something I recommend."

"Nor do I," V'Atre said as he settled into a chair next to the sofa. He'd been drawn to the sound of his name that echoed in his head. His close bond to his family allowed him to sense them and if he felt fear or danger, he would often show up to check on them; even if they were unaware he was there. It also allowed him to hear his name when they spoke it.

Sol just stared at the 2200 year old drell. He never thought he'd come face to face with death, at least not in this way. That the myths were true. That death was a being that actually took souls to the underworld.

"Uncle V'Atre…you didn't have to keep what you are a secret from me. I love you and nothing you tell me could ever affect that. Just like I've always known what you hold most dear to your heart. I accept you, Uncle V'Atre, every aspect of you."

A tear slipped down his cheek. He'd been unaware that she knew of his love for Angel. "Then I wast wrong for keeping it from thee. I didst not wish to frighten thee or risk thee seeing me as – as a monster," he admitted softly.

She rose from the sofa and sat on his lap as she did so often as a child, her arms going around his neck. She grazed her lips against his. "You could never be a monster, Uncle V'Atre. Your heart is too big and you care too much. And even if you take some souls out of anger, it would be to keep another safe. Your job is one of protection. You are a guardian, never a monster."

He held her tight, her words warming his heart. She saw so much. How had he not seen that sooner? He kissed her gently on the lips. "I love thee, Rosie."

"And I love thee, Uncle V'Atre. Always." She caressed his cheek and then rose from his lap to resume her seat next to her husband.

Lyrica grinned. Her niece was an amazing young woman. She looked at Sol; the man looked a bit shell shocked, but seemed to be holding up okay. "Now that you know everything, there is something I am going to offer you. My blood. If you need time to think about it, I understand. But in order for you both to be protected, you both must accept it."

Sol had no doubt his wife would accept the offering. "How does it work? I mean, what is the best way to get your blood into us? I'd rather not bite you," he teased.

Lyrica laughed. "The only man who can bite me is my husband. I had something else in mind. I can either drain some into glasses for you or I can make a small wound in your skin and my blood can enter that way."

Sol considered both, but only briefly. "I'd prefer the second option." Drinking her blood just seemed way too intimate.

Rosie smiled; she had intended to take the blood, but she wasn't sure if Sol would be willing. Her family was little more than strangers to him. "Either way is fine with me, Aunt Lyri, but I'll go the same route as my husband."

Reed took the knife from his belt, flipped it open and handed it hilt first to his wife. He didn't like her hurting, self inflicted or otherwise, but he knew there was no other option in this instance.

She made a small cut in Rosie's palm, just deep enough to get through the layers of skin. She then ran the blade across her wrist and held her wrist over her niece's palm, her blood dripping directly into the wound. Within a few seconds her wrist knitted together, but more than enough blood had been absorbed into the wound to begin the process.

Rosie watched in wonder as her palm healed. She gaze rose to her aunt's. "It's warm."

"That means it's working." Lyrica turned to Sol. "Are you ready, nephew?"

After watching what had happened to his new aunt's wrist and his wife's palm, he was more than ready. "Absolutely, Aunt Lyri." He held out his palm to her.

Lyrica repeated the motions and then handed the knife back to her husband who rose to disinfect it. "Are you biotic?" she asked Sol.

"Yes. Does that affect anything?" he asked curiously.

"No, but you will at least be somewhat familiar with the powers you will be acquiring. I'm not sure our powers are biotic in nature. I believe they are more natural than that. Your biotics will mutate into what we have as time goes on. You will have the same type of power, but you will pull from it differently. It will happen gradually and you'll know when you notice the field around you starts to develop gold in it. If your biotics start to fail you just picture what you want to happen in your mind and feel how your body reacts with each power you picture, it will guide you on how to pull to achieve what you want to happen. Soon it will be second nature and you won't need to picture it anymore. Rosie isn't biotic, but you should be able to help guide her when she starts developing powers." She rose as the scent of food wafted out to them. "Ooh..breakfast. I'm famished after last night..and this morning," she said with a grin.

Rosie laughed. "Me too."

Sol flushed. His new family was outrageous, but addictive. "Not my fault you were insatiable."

"Ha –I didn't hear you complaining!" Rosie blinked. "Wait! It was too your fault."

Sol laughed and kissed his wife. "Maybe we should explore that theory some more after breakfast."

-BREAK NINE-

After breakfast Castiel sought out Aria and Tayln and pulled them aside. "I need to hasten Star's transformation. We'll be shipping out in a few days and I want to know she's fully protected. I figured a transfusion would be the best option. I know the med bays on the ships could facilitate it, but I will need help to get it done."

Castaria could definitely understand her brother's request. "With all the danger you will be in, that is for the best. Of course I'll help, little brother."

"As will I. When did you want to begin the procedure?" Tayln asked.

Castiel knew it was sudden, but he didn't want to waste any time. "Now. It will give her body a few days to adjust to the changes and to learn how to work her new powers. And it will give me a few days to recover."

"Right. That makes the most sense. Tayln and I can give you some of our blood as well, that will ease the toll it takes from you. Can't have you too weak to perform your new husbandly duties," Castaria said with a grin.

"Anything you need, brother. I will always be here for you," Tayln "Let me explain things to my wife and we'll meet you aboard the Manticore."

"Thane and I will meet you there shortly as well."

He watched them walk away. He was a blessed man in so many ways. One mission down and one more to go. He clapped a hand on Rafe's shoulder. "I need your help, brother."

Rafe flashed a dimple. "Seeking romantic advice?"

"Not likely," he said with a grin. "I need a more personal favor."

"Sorry, Cas…even before I married Bella you were not my particular flavor," Rafe teased.

"Eww…," Castiel grimaced. He flipped on his OT and sent Rafe an info packet. "I need you to pick me up something from Jared's. Since you are able to know sizes just from looking at people, figured you'd be the best man for the job. I don't know either of our ring sizes and I'm going to be stuck on the ship for some time. I'm going to be giving Star a transfusion of my blood to hasten her transformation. I need to make sure she's as strong and protected as she can be."

Rafe flipped his OT on and looked at the set of rings and chit information. "That I can do, brother. I'll take Sol out with me too… if I can pull him away from his lifemate. I'm sure he'll want to put a ring on Rosie's finger as well. Will you need blood to help you recover?"

"I appreciate the offer, Rafe. But Aria, Thane, Tayln and Bree will all be there…I imagine I'll have blood coming out my ears, if needed," he said with a grin. "Thanks for the assist."

Rafe flashed both dimples. "Anytime."

Okay, now to tell his wife. He saw her sitting with her parents talking with all the elders at the dining table. When he reached her he leaned down and kissed the top of head. "Mind if I steal my wife away for awhile?"

His parents burst out laughing. "Not for that!" he said with a chuckle. "I'm going to take her out for a bit."

Star hugged both sets of parents and her new aunt and uncle before taking her husband's hand. She ignored her father's 'Did you see his eyes' remark. "Where are we going?" she asked as they stepped onto the landing pad.

He assisted her into the skycar and then joined her. "Docking Bay D-20," he instructed the auto-pilot. He looked at her and released a breath. "As you know, we'll be shipping out in a few days. Where I go…the missions I go on tend to be dangerous. If you intend to leave the ship and see any of the planets we go to, then I want you fully protected. We're going to my ship where you will be given a transfusion of my blood to speed up your transformation. And before you argue -"

She placed a finger over his lips. "I wasn't going to argue. I want to see everything. I want to be a part of everything and if speeding up my transformation gives you peace of mind, then I'm all for it."

He blinked. "Be a part of everything? As in my missions?" His voice cracked over the last word. No. It would be hard enough leaving her behind on the ship, but he couldn't worry about protecting her during his missions.

She grabbed his chin between her fingers. "And why not? Do you expect me to stay on the ship and worry every minute you are away? I don't care if you are a super soldier, things don't often go as planned and anything can happen."

"That's precisely why I don't want you on the field. If I'm worried about protecting you -"

"Protecting me? Did you forget my father is an N7? He may not have been in my life often, but when he was he trained us in N7 protocol and how to protect ourselves. If I were in the military, I could probably breeze through N7 training. I'm a deadly shot with a sniper and pistol and I also have training with a shotgun. I'm adept with both knives and throwing stars. I also have precision aim with a bow, though I wouldn't bring that onto the field. Not to mention, I'm a hell of a biotic - maybe not by your standards, but definitely by human standards. I don't need protection, I can handle myself."

How could he protect her if she didn't let him? "It doesn't matter how good you are, you're my wife, my lifemate, protecting you is all that matters to me."

Her eyes narrowed. "And you are mine, Castiel Shepard-Anderson-Stanton. I have the same drive to protect you as you have to protect me. I am not the kind of woman to be left on the sidelines while my husband goes off into danger. If that's the kind of life you have envisioned for me, then I'm better off staying here."

She saw the color drain from his face and the naked pain in his eyes and regretted her hasty words. She knew staying behind wasn't an option. She couldn't watch him walk away. She couldn't. But nor could she be what he wanted her to be. She might be more scientific minded, but she had her father in her too and she wasn't that kind of woman. She never could be.

Her words had lanced through his heart. She would refuse to leave with him? Tears rolled silently down his cheeks. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "Tell me you don't mean that," he said hoarsely.

His tears brought on her own. "I love you, Cas, and it breaks my heart that I cannot be the kind of wife you want, but I've never been the type of woman to sit on the sidelines. Are you any different? How would you feel if I told you that you had to stay on the ship while I went on missions?"

"Repeat that first part," he asked past the painful lump in his throat.

She just blinked. "What?" Then realization dawned. It was the first time she'd ever told him. "I love you."

He pulled her onto his lap and crushed to him. "I love you so damned much. We'll work it out." There was a flash of gold.

"I love it when you do that."

"When I spark for no reason?"

She looked at him curiously. Did he not realize? "It's not for no reason. It happens whenever you make a vow or declaration. I think that 'spark' makes your words a living promise. We can experiment with that. Say 'I will never eat another cookie' with strong feeling behind it. And if you 'spark' try to eat a cookie. I bet either you can't or it would make you ill."

That was ridiculous, wasn't it? "I'll do no such thing. I like cookies."

She rolled her eyes… "That was just an example. You could also tell an enemy on the field 'you'll be dead in the next five minutes' and if you 'spark' watch and wait. I dunno. I'm just telling you how I see it and I'm damned good at putting the puzzle pieces together. I always have been."

"I'll be the richest man in the universe." He waited. Nothing.

She laughed. "I don't think it works like that, at least not on you."

"You will become the richest woman in the universe." A flash of gold. He grinned.

She shook her head. "You're incorrigible, but I love you anyway. And as much as I hate saying this, you might want to put your films back in."

"Thanks." He was so used to always having them in, he hadn't even thought about it. He pulled the case from his pocket and slipped the films onto his eyes. He put the case away, helped her out of the skycar and led her to his ship. "In order to get into the ship, you need to be scanned. Star Lyn Ryder-Shepard-Anderson-Stanton, Co-Captain, full clearance," he stated as the scan recorded the biometrics of her eye.

She giggled. "That's a hell of a name to write out. Why do you go by Shepard?"

"When I first enlisted in the military, I didn't want my merit to be judged by my uncle's name or my title. Unfortunately, Shepard is becoming a title in and of itself. Shepard has no real meaning to me. I'm not sure why we have that name. Cora and Thomas Anderson, the couple that adopted us as babies, told us only that they were told to take care of the shepards or shepherds. Not sure why one spelling was chosen over the other or what it means," he said with a shrug. "But it has never held any sentimental attachment for me. For us. Now, Lyrica's parents were the Shepards. Maybe it's some sort of tie to the other us's in the other dimensions."

"Wow. Still hard to believe she fell out of the sky from a dimensional rift."

"It's still there. Closed now, but the rift still scars the sky. I'll show it to you next time we go to Earth."

"Can we fly close enough to study it?"

He just blinked. "I can't believe we never thought of that. But I don't see why not. We'll have Cori run some scans and see if she can pick up any readings."

"Who's Cori?"

"I am," said a feminine voice. "I am the AI that runs the Manticore. It is good to meet you, Princess Captain."

She flushed. "Star is fine."

"Understood, Princess Captain."

Castiel chuckled. "She did that to me too when she first met me. Don't worry about it. When she comes to like you enough, she'll call you Star."

"Thanks, Prince Captain, way to give away all my secrets."

"Looks like I'm in the doghouse now."

"You are," Cori said smugly.

"Now, now, Cori – you know I still love you."

"How am I supposed to stay mad at you when you say things like that. You are going to cause me to fog up my processors."

"Cori, Star is my wife. Both she and I would appreciate it if you called her Star."

"You never told me that, Cas."

"You didn't pick that up from her name?" he pointed out.

"You look enough alike, she could have been another sister."

He shuddered. "Cori, that was horrible."

Cori chuckled. "Welcome aboard, Star."

He slapped his palm to his head. "You were teasing us this whole time."

"I was."

"Payback's a bitch, Cori."

"You can try. Just remember who controls the temperature in your bedroom."

Cas was stunned. That was hitting below the belt. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"I think I'll have Tayln tone down your metrics."

"You wouldn't."

Castiel grinned. "Try me."

Silence. "Consider me paid back."

Star giggled. "Oh my god, that was hilarious! Is it always like that between you two?"

"No, never quite like that before." Castiel shot his wife a grin. "I think she was trying to impress you."

"Then consider me impressed."

They both laughed at the raspberry sound. But the airlock opened and allowed them entrance.

Castiel pointed to the wall on the left. "Behind that nanowall is the cockpit."

Star's eyes sparkled and opened wide. "Nanowall?" She grabbed his arm in excitement. "Please show me!"

He smiled at her enthusiasm. "You can open it by pressing your palm to the pad on the side of the door or just telling it to open. But it will only open to someone with full clearance. It can be deadly to anyone else. "Open her up, Cori."

Star watched as the nanowall shimmered until she could see through it. Her husband took her hand and stepped through. She followed him in amazed by the tingling pressure she felt as she passed through the membrane. "That was amazing!" She was amazed even further by the cockpit. She'd never seen anything so fancy. "How do you see where you are going?"

"There are no windows on the Manticore. But there are virtual windows. "Show her, Cori."

The windows came on and she could see the dock as clearly as if she were looking through transparent windows. "Can they zoom, like if I wanted to get a better look at that dock worker?" She watched as the dockworker became clear enough to read the name on his badge. "James. Wow."

Castiel cocked a brow. "Should I be jealous?" What had she seen in James that made her say wow?

"You big goof. You are my golden god, Castiel, who could ever compare to you? I said 'wow' because of the fact that the window could zoom like that. This ship is amazing! My brother is going to wet himself when he sees it."

Castiel chuckled. "I won't tell him you said that."

"For that I am grateful."

A golden brow rose. "How grateful?"

A wicked gleam lit her eyes. Her hand slid slowly down his belly and she licked her lips suggestively. "Should I show you right now?"

"Star…" he groaned as her hand slid over his pants and gripped him.

"Steaming my processors," Cori cut in. "And you have a Royal entourage awaiting your arrival to the medbay."

She looked longingly at the bulge in his pants, her hand caressing him. Her gaze slowly rose up his body, over his wide chest, until she fell into the burning heat of his eyes. His mouth claimed hers. There was a hum and the temperature plummeted in the cockpit. She released him and backed away, her teeth chattering, her breath coming in panting plumes as her hands began to rub her arms briskly.

Castiel closed his eyes and shuddered as his shaft shriveled and tried to crawl inside of him. He could have gone without that feeling. "Point taken, Cori…"

"I'm also recycling the air so you don't make your drell siblings gag over your pheromones."

"Very thoughtful of you, Cori. We'll head over to the medbay." He led his wife back through the nanowall. "Windows off, nanowall on."

"What happens if someone gets trapped in the nanowall?" she asked through chattering teeth.

"Whatever part is trapped is just gone. Perhaps eaten or absorbed by the nanowall. I'm not sure how it works. Tayln showed us a metal rod test when I first got the ship. He solidified the wall with the rod stuck through it. When it desolidified, there were only two small pieces of rod left, the middle part was just gone." He stopped and pulled her into his arms so that she could absorb his body heat. When her teeth stopped chattering and her shivers subsided he released her and drew her arm through his, leading her through the CIC to the elevator.

He was not at all like what she'd heard about him. She'd always heard that brother Shepard was an ass and sister Shepard was diplomat. But she'd never seen him be anything but thoughtful and caring. Even when her father had tried to start a fight, he hadn't retaliated. "I don't think you're an ass. I think you have a nice ass, but I don't think you're an ass."

He just blinked. Where had that come from? "What?" he asked as they stepped into the elevator. "D3"

She kissed the side of his arm. "I have always heard you were an ass and your sister a diplomat. I've only ever seen you to be a thoughtful and caring man. You didn't even let my father get to you."

Now he understood. "Ah…that. When my sister is on a mission, she tries to reach a diplomatic solution, tries to get them to turn their lives around, see the error of their ways. Most times, it doesn't work, but it doesn't stop her from trying. Me? I go in, get the job done and leave. That's not to say I don't help those that want out or those in need, because I will. But if someone is aiming a gun at me or puts others in danger, I take them down." He drew her attention to the elevator. "The elevator has exits on both sides, allowing you to reach different areas of the ship. "We are getting off on Deck 3. On this deck, the door in the direction of the bow leads to the medbay, armory, crew facilities, laundry and AI core. The door leading to the stern will take you to the cargo bay."

They exited through the front door and he led her to the room on the left that was clearly marked Medbay. She apologized the moment she entered the room. "I'm so sorry for the delay. As soon as he told me about the nanowall, I had to experience it. Then the cockpit..it was so amazing…and the virtual windows. Tayln, you're a genius!"

Tayln flushed and cleared his throat. "Yes..well, thank you. Are you two ready?"

Star looked at the three beds. "Where do you want me?"

Castaria pointed to the far bed. "Cas, take the middle bed."

After Star laid down, Castaria leaned over her with a gentle smile. "You're going to sleep through this procedure. We'll be pulling a lot of blood from your veins and forcing a lot in." At the woman's nod she slipped the masked over her mouth and nose.

Star looked over at her husband in the bed next to hers and held out her hand to him. When his large hand engulfed hers, she smiled. "I didn't want to go under without telling you how much I loved you."

He squeezed her hand. He could tell she was worried about going under. "I love you, wife. I won't let anything happen to you. I'll be the first face you see when you wake up." A flash of gold.

"You…sp.. …"

He watched as her eyes closed and her hand went limp in his. Talyn took her hand from his and placed it on her bed. He tried not to focus on the hum of the machine that was pulling the life blood from her body.

Tayln leaned over him. "Time to take a nap, brother."

"No."

"Cas…It's going to hurt. A lot."

"I don't care. Would you, Tayln? If your wife's life blood was being removed from her body? Would you calmly go to sleep?"

Tayln sighed. "No." he laid the mask down on the table between the beds. "If the pain is too great, the mask is here."

Castiel jerked when he felt the bite of a needle. "So help me, Aria – that better not be a sedative."

A small grin pulled at her lips. "I wouldn't do that to you unless your life depended on it. Pain alone is not life threatening. I just gave your stubborn ass something that might take some of the edge off the pain."

He saw the large bottle and the syringe soaking in alcohol.

Bree pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. "I'll keep sticking you every few minutes if needed. Just remember to restock on the pain meds before you leave."

"Thank you." A pinch drew his attention and he turned to see Tayln slipping a line into his vein. And then the hum of a second machine was heard. He caught sight of his sister. "Aria, what are you doing?"

Ah, fuck. She had hoped he wouldn't notice. "Wish you'd have made a better door, Tayln. I'm threading the line to her heart because her heart is low on blood."

Fear sliced through him. "Then fucking fill it!"

"We are," she said in exasperation and pointed to the line that showed his blood flowing into her body. He settled back on the bed and tried to ignore the ache that was spreading up his arm.

"What did she mean by 'you sparked'? Was she referring to the flash of gold?" Castaria asked him, trying to focus his mind on something else.

He grinned but wouldn't take his eyes from his wife. "She has a theory that we 'spark' like that whenever we make a vow or declaration and that 'spark' means that our words have become a living promise. Meaning if we say something will happen that it will."

Thane's mouth dropped open. "Like when Star – er Aria told Rafe and Irikah they should be lifemates. There was a flash of gold and the next time they made love they discovered they were lifemates."

Castiel just blinked. "Exactly so. According to Star, that would fit her theory perfectly."

"How did she even come up with such a profound theory?" Talyn asked curiously.

Castiel clenched his jaw, sweat popping up on his forehead as a deep wave of pain washed over him. He barely registered the pinch of Bree's syringe.

He blinked and tried to focus. It wasn't the pain meds, it was the loss of blood, he was starting to feel the effects. "I – I'm not sure. She's a...she's a scientist. Her brain is quick and agile." He gasped and drew in a harsh breath.

Tayln glanced up at a beep. Cas' heartbeat had become irregular and was going into distress. It was time. He shut down the machine and clamped the IV so no further blood could leave his body. He turned on a second machine to start the flow of Star's blood into his veins. This was the part he didn't like. Cas had no business pumping Star's human blood into his veins. He needed their blood, blood already transformed to ease the work his own body would have to do to recover. Despite Cas saying he wanted every last drop of Star's blood, they weren't going to do that. They would give him most of it, but they were leaving room for their blood.

Castiara was unhooking Star from the IV's, trying to keep her mind occupied with something other than what her brother was going through. It hurt her heart to know that he was suffering. She knew Cas didn't understand why he wanted so much of Star's blood, but she suspected it was because on some deeper level he knew their lifemate bond was flawed and wanted a stronger connection with his wife. V'Atre had not been able to shed much light on what was happening. She suspected he wasn't telling her everything, but he did validate her suspicions. Their souls were not bound, nor, in all likelihood, were their life-forces. But it was just as obvious that their brains and bodies did not know that, they were deeply bound in a way she didn't understand. She had no intention of telling Cas or Star unless it became necessary. She, Thane and V'Atre were the only ones who knew. And with any luck, no one else would ever have to know.

When she was done cleaning up Star she left the mask in place. She wanted to make sure Cas' face was the first face Star saw when she awoke. She would make sure he kept his promise to his wife. She made her way to the third bed and laid down.

Tayln looked down a soft smile on his lips as he prepped her for the IV. He still loved her, he always would. The lifemate bond hadn't eradicated that. But at least she no longer affected him physically. He threaded the line into her vein and then brushed his lips against hers and squeezed her hand. "He'll be fine, Angel."

"I know he will, but it still hurts," she said with a wan smile.

He nodded his understanding. It hurt him too. Angel and Cas were the first two who had awakened him to love and family. His bond to them ranked right under that of his lifemate. He stepped aside to let Thane join his wife.

Thane sat down in the chair next to the bed and took his wife's hand. All he could do was lend her his support and strength. He leaned over and placed a lingering kiss to her forehead and then grazed his lips over hers, wiping away Tayln's. He couldn't help it. Anytime someone hugged or kissed her he was driven by the need to replace their scent with his own. Over twelve years of marriage and he was still lost in her. He'd never left her side, he never would. It was the two of them against whatever life had in store for them.

Tayln was busy sanitizing the second machine that would be used to collect and force Angel's blood into Cas. When he was finished, he flipped it on to begin drawing Angel's blood. He watched it closely and shut it down after a pint had been drawn. He squeezed his wife's shoulder and then leaned over Angel to remove the IV from her arm. It had been easier to do that than to walk around to the other side and displace Thane to do it.

Thane helped his wife up from the table and took her place. Since he was the first one they'd ever transformed, his blood was secondary only to primary Origin blood.

Bree continued to pump pain meds into Cas. She was having to do so more frequently now. He was burning through them almost faster than she could inject him. His body was burning hot, trying to assimilate all the human blood. And by the tightness of his features, she wasn't even sure what good the meds were doing him.

Castaria laid her husband's IV while Tayln was cleaning. She then walked over the fridge and grabbed a couple of nutrient juices. She downed one and placed the other one down on the table next to her husband's bed.

Tayln kept an eye on the readings as Thane's blood was being forced into Cas. He didn't want to put too much stress on the vein's walls by having them become too engorged. When the pressure surpassed normal, he shut down the machine and unhooked Cas from his IV while Angel did the same for her husband.

Castaria handed Thane the juice and then traded places with Tayln and Bree. She began to thoroughly clean and disinfect to make sure there were no signs of their blood left.

Bree took a beaker off a shelf and then held her hand out for her husband's knife. It took several slices to her wrist, but she finally filled the glass half full and then handed the knife to her husband so that he could add his blood to hers. They didn't donate as much as the other two, but it was hard to get enough blood when they healed so fast.

Tayln took the full glass to Cas. "I think you know what to do with this, brother. And since you chose to fill your veins with so much human blood, you don't have a choice. Drink up." He then turned his attention to Star. He carefully removed her OT implant, nodded as he watched her skin knit back together and settled a bracelet OT on her wrist. When the band wove together he left it visible. Cas could show her how to operate it later.

Cas tore his eyes from his wife and eyed the glass of blood with a frown. He hadn't drank a glass of blood since Reed had given him his. That had been when Reed was first transformed after having received a massive dose of Cas' blood when they were both shot…when Reed had died. He sighed and nodded. He lifted the glass to his lips and downed it as fast he could to get it over with. He handed the empty glass back to Tayln and frowned as Bree shoved a nutrient juice at him. He finished it and another was slapped into his hand. He downed it too and then looked at Bree expectantly.

"No more," Bree said with a grin. "The rest of your strength will rebuild in time. We've done all we can do for you."

With a nod, he swung his legs over the bed, tried to rise and found himself sitting again as a wave of dizziness hit him hard. Tayln helped him up and into the chair next to his wife's bed. While his brother shut off the gas, removed the mask and hung it up. He pinched out his contacts, slipped them into the case and put it back into his pocket. He felt the comforting squeeze on his shoulder before Tayln stepped away. He took his wife's hand and waited for her eyes to open.

Her sense of hearing returned first, followed by touch. She could feel her husband's hand on hers. She slowly opened her eyes; blurriness receded almost instantly to a world in greater focus than she was used to. She blinked-but her vision was still sharp, like looking at everything in high-def. She caught her husband's gaze and just stared. His golden eyes took her breath away. "So beautiful…Something gold can stay."

He flushed and lowered his lips to hers to place a lingering kiss upon them. "Always."

"What would I ever do without my golden god?"

He smiled wondering if she was still coming down from the gas. "That is not something you will ever have to find out."

"I feel hot, tingly, achy, and fuzzy but I can hear and see better. And you were right; I'm the richest woman in the universe. All that magnificent gold right in front of me…it's all mine. And I am very selfish. I will never share my wealth," she said with a grin.

Cas chuckled. Yeah, she was high. "I have no intension of letting you. No one else will ever touch your gold - it belongs only to you until I draw my last breath." A flash of gold.

"Ahhh….You sparkled - sparked."

He dropped a kiss onto her forehead. "And you, my love, are high."

She grinned again and squirmed. "Is that why I'm so fuzzy?"

A warm smile spread over his lips. She was so adorable. "Yes, sweetness."

She reached up her hand to caress his cheek. "I like you better than ice cream."

Castiel laughed, he couldn't help it. "Even if it has caramel, whipped cream and a cherry on top?"

She thought about that. "I don't know. Maybe I need to cover you in caramel and whipped cream and find out? That's the only way to make an informed decision like that," she said with a serious tone.

Castiel released a ragged breath as blood pooled in his groin. A wavy of dizziness swept through him and he closed his eyes. He'd walked straight into that one. "Then we will have to set up an experiment, because that question is important enough to deserve an answer based on ascertainable facts."

She nodded her agreement. Important questions needed quantifiable answers. Her heavy eyelids drifted shut.

He pushed off the bed, rose to a stand and turned to face his siblings. "Thank you. We're going to nap for a bit. We'll catch back up with you at the suite later. Love you all," he said with a yawn. He turned Star onto her side and crawled in behind her. He pulled her up against him as his eyes drifted closed.

Castaria smiled. She'd never seen her brother more content. But she had no intension of leaving until he was back on his feet. "Cori, let us know if there are any complications." She turned sparkling eyes on Talyn. "We get dibs on the Captain's cabin." She grabbed Thane's hand and darted out of the medbay.

Tayln grinned and shook his head and looked at his wife. "Entertainment room or XO?"

Bree gave him a sultry look. "I don't think Cas would appreciate us christening his entertainment room."

"Please don't," Castiel mumbled.

"See?" Bree said with a laugh.

That wasn't at all what Tayln had meant, but he couldn't hold back the chuckle. "Fine, XO cabin it is."

-BREAK TEN-

It had taken a bit of maneuvering for Rafe to get Sol away from his lifemate. The family went a long way in helping in the endeavor. Not that it was any easier to leave his own lifemate at home, it wasn't. Time made no difference. The feelings were just as intense as they day they were bound. The first time he'd really touched base with his new son was right after their skycar had set down outside of Jared's. His son had asked him how it was so easy to leave his lifemate behind. How he was so calm and collected. Rafe had taken his son's hand and placed it over his thundering heart to show him how badly he was affected. He'd told him time made no difference; the feelings were just as intense. That had been their first bonding moment of the day, but it wasn't their last.

The second such moment occurred once in the store, having purchased Castiel's rings, he told his son to pick out a set for his wife. Sol had at first refused letting him pay for the rings, but he reminded Sol how it was the responsibility of the bride's parents to fund the wedding and since there was no wedding, this was his way of making up for that. Rafe had become a wealthy man and not just because he was a Prince of Mindoir, but due to his two Art Parlors and the rents received from a building he and Irikah owned on Kahje.

The third occurred when Sol said he wanted to purchase a tattoo from Rafe. He wanted a heart with a thornless stem of a rose wrapped around it. The head of the rose tilted slightly, one delicate petal bent from the weight of a suspended drop of blood on his left pectoral.

Rafe had been stunned, but quick to agree. Rosie was wrapped around his son's heart, the blood symbolizing their lifemate bond. Rafe could already picture the design in his head, with a few added embellishments it would be a dynamic masterpiece.

He then had taken the young man out and purchased him several outfits befitting his new station from a little store that sat next to his art parlor. He also purchased Star several outfits. It wasn't that the kids didn't have decent attire, but they would now be walking in additional circles that they had not walked in before and he wanted them to be able to dress the part, if they ever wanted or needed to. He went so far as to purchase Alec and Ellen evening attire. He knew they would be dining at the Blue Diamond tonight in celebration of the kids' marriages and the couple hadn't brought any additional clothes. If he ruffled any feathers, he'd smooth his way out of it. He always did.

He arranged for the bags to be delivered to the Royal suite and took his son to his parlor. He introduced a shocked Douglas and Jethro to his new son. He was surprised that Jethro and Sol hit it off right from the start. But then Angel and Irikah had done wonders in making Jethro finally see his worth.

He slapped Sol on the back and led him to one of the art rooms. With his son's shirt off he evaluated the play of the skin and muscle. It was also obvious the young man still had some growing to do, so he had to take in account his possible future height and added muscle. When he created a masterpiece he did so only after a complete evaluation. He didn't want something splendid to become something mediocre to time.

Once he knew exactly what he wanted he set to work. He was happy for what Lyrica had done for Rosie and Sol. He could worry less when his daughter left them to live with Sol. He distracted Sol with small talk, telling him about Rosie growing up, about how he'd met Irikah about Kol, who they named after Irikah's grandfather.

Sol, in turn, told him about his parents, his childhood and the fact that he'd enrolled in training for the Systems Alliance Marines.

Rafe's hand hesitated only a moment before continuing with his masterpiece. He had hoped for something other than the military lifestyle for his daughter. It was a hard, dangerous way to make a living and hard to raise a family when you were constantly moving from ship to ship. But life did not always go in the direction you wanted it to, especially for what you had envisioned for your children. That her lifeforce was now connected to Sol's, lent for even greater danger. If anything happened to Sol…No…he wouldn't lose his daughter, they were protected by the blood now. The kids would be fine...they had to be.

When he finished, he laid a medigel pad over the art to soak into his son's skin. As he cleaned his equipment he had asked his son if he'd already had his military entrance physical. Thankfully, he had. He made sure Sol knew that under no circumstance was blood to ever be drawn from him. He would also notify his parents, Kip and Reena, they would have to use the diplomatic immunity card to prevent any further bloodwork and to make sure Sol was not implanted, because his body would reject the implants aggressively. Tayln would be supplying the kids with their new OT bracelets. They cloaked and were not easy to discern by touch, unless you knew exactly what to feel for. To add to their functionality, they also incorporated an invisible bactafield that coated the skin. This field killed any blood that came into contact or passed through it. They would never be able to leave behind evidence of what they were, even if they were injured, so long as the field was activated.

His son was stunned by the masterpiece and since he was unaware what Rafe normally charged for the artwork, Rafe had been able to give him a significant discount, thus they both came away feeling good about the arrangement.

The family too had been impressed with the art, the love and tears shining in his daughter's eyes had been worth it. He'd had the purchases deposited in the respective rooms anonymously by the mechs. Only Sol knew the truth behind the purchases. And he agreed not to say anything because he assumed his father would react badly. If Alec did throw a fit, he only did so to his wife, regardless, he was dressed to the nines just as everyone else was for dinner at the Blue Diamond.

V'Atre, since he was one of the three owners, had agreed with Tayln and closed the restaurant for the night, it was a large family gathering and they didn't need prying eyes when they were spending quality time with each other.

The evening ended up being a splendid bonding moment for everyone. There was a beautiful moment when the men presented rings to their wives. As per their custom, the husbands and wives fed each other. Even the newest family additions picked up on the habit and joined in. Alec and Ellen were the last to fall into line, but there were more than a few hidden smiles when they finally gave in and fed each other.

V'Atre had thought he'd feel out of place being the lone man out, but they didn't let him. He'd been included in everything and danced with each of the women several times. Angel and Rafe were even persuaded to get up on the stage and sing. They both had phenomenal voices. There solos were upbeat and catchy and the two duets were about love and loss, touching enough to not leave a dry eye.

Since V'Atre did not have a partner to distract him, he did notice a few things during those duets. On more than one occasion Rafe's eyes looked overly long at Angel. And Angel? Well, part of the time her eyes were closed, no doubt in remembrance of Nik, Kip and Reena's son, a man she probably would have married had Thane not come back into her life. At other times her gaze lingered on Tayln who was staring intently at her and he couldn't help but wonder about that. But when her eyes found his filled with love and understanding, he knew that she was aware of what he felt for her, tears fell silently down his cheeks, unable to look away from her. They followed the duets with another round of upbeat solos and then returned to the dance floor.

The icing on the evening had been a jaw dropper. Alec had actually demanded the rest of the week off. Taking time off from work was unheard of for him, but with his daughter leaving in a few days and his son going into training in the next month, he wanted this time with them together as a family. To make sure there were no interruptions, he'd actually turned off his OT. For the first time in over twenty years, he was putting his wife and family first.

The following day, Tayln pulled Sol and Rosie aside and removed their OT implants in favor of the bracelets he'd designed. He showed them how to operate them and watched as they copied his movements. When he was sure they knew how to use them to the fullest he hugged them both and returned to the family.

The only shadow that was cast on the reunion was when Castaria had a vision of Ellen in the hospital dying. She pulled Castiel, who had finally become a proficient healer, Lyrica and their spouses into a meeting to discuss what should be done. Castiel had Cori hack into her medical files to find out what was making her ill. It was found that she was suffering from a neuro-degenerative disorder, theorized to have come from exposure to eezo. Normally, Castaria would have healed her without a thought, but when it came to this type of mortal condition, she would not do it without the acceptance of her husband due to the repercussions involved. They were lifemates. If she took the disease into herself, she would have to accelerate its degeneration until it killed her; when she died, so too would her lifemate. They should heal from it, but it was an unknown, she'd never tried to heal a mortal disease, there was just no way to know what would happen. This was not the kind of mortal injury that they could each take a bit of to lessen the impact. Only one could perform this type of healing. She and Lyrica had been willing to attempt the healing. Cas and the lifemates were adamantly against it. With heavy hearts, the decision had been made. They would not be healing her, but they would make sure all medical expenses were covered. It would never be enough. They could not even tell the children, it was not their story to tell.

-BREAK ELEVEN-

That night Castaria fell into a troubled sleep. She wasn't sure how she'd connected with Star and Sol, she'd only pulled others into her dreams on rare occasions. So she was caught by surprise when they joined her on the grassy hillside.

Star looked around; saw huge, massive creatures flying through the sky like a flock of birds. There was a gurgling creek that snaked around the bottom of the hill. Dear nosed the water, a small fawn turned to look at them, its small white tail flicking back and forth. A butterfly landed on its nose and it sneezed. "Where are we?"

Castaria grinned. "I'm not sure what those things in the sky are, I've never seen them before, but the rest…it is a painting aboard the Whirlwind.:"

Sol blinked. "We are in a painting?"

"No," Castaria laughed. "The scene is a depiction of the painting. I don't know if the painting was someplace the artist had been or just a vision from his mind, but I've never seen anything so relaxing. I enjoy coming here from time to time."

The fawn walked up the hill, under his mother's supervision, and nosed each of them before stretching and curling up in front of them, his head in Castaria's lap. She stroked his soft fur. "I call him Nik. He was the one that introduced me to the room. It was my room during my first flight to Mindoir. Every day I'd touch the fawn's nose. Here – I can be with Nik again…in a sense. He will never leave and he will never die. It's all I have left of him." A tear rolled down her cheek unchecked.

Star and Sol stroked the fawn. It was obvious Angel had been close to Nik and they felt guilty for intruding. "We'd leave you to your peace, but we're not exactly sure how we got here," Star said quietly.

Castaria looked over at them. "I didn't mean to make you feel like you were intruding. I'm glad you're here. I don't mind the company; in fact, I think it was I that brought you here. I've never brought anyone else to this place before." There was little doubt in her mind that she brought them here out of guilt. A bright, golden glow drew her attention and she looked up. A smile lit up her face. She carefully lifted the fawn's head and set it on the ground. "Mother."

Themis smiled. "I have missed you daughter." She didn't spare a glance to the others, they were inconsequential and would have been frozen on her arrival.

Star blinked, the final piece of the puzzle falling into place. "Themis. I knew it! I knew they were Gods."

Themis frowned, turned towards the twins and waived her hand. When they didn't freeze, she blinked and turned her gaze on her daughter. "You are getting stronger, daughter." She turned to the girl. "How do you know me?"

A shiver raced down Star's spine. Everything she'd read about Gods - few stories ended well for mortals that crossed them and she did not want to cross the woman. "I've spent my life studying civilizations and cultures, both past and present. And that would include the pantheons. I am your son's wife – lifemate. I was putting the puzzle together and you were the final piece."

Thunder reverberated, shaking the ground as Themis' eyes narrowed.

Castaria placed a hand on her mother's arm. "Mother, I love them. They are family and we must talk."

"Not here. I am too weak here. If you intend for them to come, then have them hold hands," Themis said coldly.

Castaria took her mother's hand and then held her other out to Star, who then took her brother's.

Star watched in awe as Themis made a circle with her hand and what appeared to be a portal opened in front of her. Then stepped around the fawn, who was frozen in his sleep, and followed the two women through the portal. This was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her…outside of meeting her lifemate. She couldn't wait to tell him how she'd met his mother and…her mouth fell open, they had stepped out of the portal and into an ancient Greek mausoleum with large pillars and marble everywhere. She'd only seen such places in pictures or ruins…to see one in its prime was a dream come true.

The only downfall to the whole experience was once they'd stepped through the portal, she could no longer understand anything Themis or Castaria said. They were speaking some ancient, dead language her OT could not decipher. "What is this place?" she asked Castaria.

"It is my mother's temple. You may see other Gods come and go, my family, but they are only echoes of the past, you won't be able to interact with them since you are not one of the pantheon. Please forgive me that when I talk to my mother, you won't be able to understand. This is her realm and her rules. I'm not intentionally trying to be rude to you. Please feel free to walk the halls; we are alone here, but for the echoes. There's a library with a few tomes along the wall over there, if you want to take a look at them."

Castaria heard the gentle hum of whispered words as the twins walked away from them. It is too bad they would have no memory of this adventure. But Themis was sure to seal it as she did her own memories. She joined her mother on the sofa.

Themis looked thoughtfully at the twins and then turned to her daughter. "You have surprised me. It will not be long before your binds fall away. I just hope…," she frowned, "No, I won't think about that right now. I'll worry about your father when I need to. I came to you because I had another vision. You and your brother's destiny has begun to unfold. You must be prepared for the vanguard."

"What do you mean by that?"

Themis shook her head in frustration. "I don't know. The pictures don't make sense. I only know that it waits in the dark for a signal to awaken. It looks like a …a cockroach? But it is massive...I saw red lightening. I don't know what that means…only that it will usher the end."

"The war you told me about. Why we were birthed when we were." They weren't questions they were statements. "I wonder if it's the rachni? They are the only space bugs I know of."

"Rachni?" She had slept through centuries and wasn't familiar with that term. When he daughter touched her she looked over the pictures that were sent and shook her head. "Not the rachni. Something far larger and more dangerous." She showed her daughter the pictures of her vision.

Castaria was stunned. "I've never seen anything like that. It looks like a bug, but it also looks like a machine. I don't even think the geth have the technology to create such a construct. The geth are a sentient, synthetic AI race that the quarians created. When the quarians tried to shut them down the geth chased them out of the system. No one's really heard from them in years, but I still can't think they'd be able to produce anything like that. I don't think any race can." She rubbed her head. "How can such a thing have stayed hidden? What will signal it? How do you fight anything that big? And can one - whatever that is be enough to end everything we know?"

"I have no answers for you. All I know is that it is not alone." She sent the final picture to her daughter.

"Fuck me."

"That is the war that is to come. That is why you must be ready. That is why you must grow stronger and unite the Gods. If you do not work together, all is lost."

"Can't you -"

Themis bowed her head. "I can do little to nothing. My time is over. It has been for over 2000 years. It is up to you, the other you and your brother." She frowned. "Though I am not certain of the other you, Lyrica's, destiny. I cannot see it. It is shrouded from me." Her eyes went vacant for a moment before she bolted into a stand. The massive doors burst open in a shower of splinters. "The Kin are attacking, you must go!"

Themis saw the three large beings enter through the destroyed doorway. The eyes of the leader fell on them and Themis waved her arm to create the portal her daughter needed to use to return. "Go!"

She knew something was dreadfully wrong. The panic in her mother's voice...her actions said it all. Her gaze was drawn to the three men that entered. They glowed with a strange sort of power, it radiated from them as if it were alive. "Mother, I can't leave you to face them! And I can't leave Star and Sol behind!"

Themis had forgotten about them. She waved her hand and the two appeared next to them.

"Castaria, this is but an echo, they can't hurt me!" She knew the words to be false, but her daughter had to leave. Too much was riding on her survival.

She nodded took the hands of the twins, whose eyes were wide with fear, and stepped through the portal.

Star cried out when a vice caught her and she was ripped away from the portal, her fingers slipped from Castaria's grasp.

"Star!" Castaria and Sol screamed, amping their power.

There was nothing to be done but try to get the girl and disappear through the portal; Themis knew her daughter would not leave the girl behind. She drew on her power, bright gold burst from her, bleeding from her eyes as though living tendrils. She gathered her power, taking from her warriors, and shot a hard blast of power at the invaders; at the same time, her arm jerked back trying to yank her son's lifemate away.

Star twisted around to face what she was hurtling towards. Her arms came up to protect her against the impact. She hissed in pain as his arm clamped around her, his armor digging into her flesh.

"Your clothing is illusion," Kael's deep voice rumbled.

"Well, your armor isn't and it hurts!" She was more than sure he wouldn't care, why should he if he was attacking them? But his armor melted away and she was flush against his hard chest. She clutched him tightly when wings unfurled and propelled them through building's roof and into the air. She looked back down, but the roof was intact and the ground was disappearing at an alarming rate. She tightened her hold around his neck. "You should know I'm afraid of heights," she whispered against his neck, her eyes tightly closed.

Themis knew she was outmatched, the Kin were God killers; when one of them growled and shot a blast of power at her, she dove through the portal, pushing her daughter and the young man ahead of her and closed the portal behind them. She rolled across the grassy hillside, barely missing the frozen fawn.

"Mother, I have to go back! He – He took her…Castiel…I have to go back!"

"The Kin are God killers, we can't fight them! Had we stayed, we'd have died. He can't keep her, she is displaced, and without me there her time will call her back. There's nothing we can do, Castaria!"

"My sister…" Sol said numbly. He'd never felt so powerless in all his life. His powers had been nothing more than an annoying gnat to the man who'd taken his sister. "Who are the Kin? And why did he take her?"

Themis bowed her head and rubbed it. All of this born of a fool's arrogance. "They are an ancient race, according to them, the first ever created, born of dark matter. When they came to us, we treated them with suspicion, attacked them in our arrogance. In return they wiped out nearly all the pantheons. Only the Gods that fled and imprisoned themselves in stone survived the war. I don't know why they showed up. I had chosen this day because they were not attacking." She raised her hands to touch both of their cheeks. "All will be well…sleep now." She watched as they faded from the grassy knoll. Her brow wrinkled in concern. What had she done? She had put her son's lifemate on the Kin's radar and thus put her son in danger. She faded back to her stone prison hoping visions would show her how it played out.

Kael wasn't sure why he took her, she was athwart the past, but that was not why, so too were two of the others. He could feel that their lives were entwined in some way in the future and he wanted to know how.

She blinked when her body started to fade. What was happening? Think, Star. Yes. She thought she knew. Themis had taken them into the past. A past she did not belong to. "I don't think I'm meant to be here." She studied the face of the man that held her. Light golden brown hair, startling blue eyes, chiseled perfection…and wings…he was like nothing she'd ever seen before. In all the histories she'd researched nothing like him had ever come to light. "Why?" she asked. "Why me?" And why was she drawn to him? How? She had a lifemate and the bond was absolute. Yet her body was betraying her, betraying the bond and it terrified her.

His gaze raked over her stunning face, memorizing it, trying to ignore what she was making him feel, how his body was reacting to the feel of her breasts flattened against his chest. She was mortal yet not. Regardless, he'd never been attracted to anyone since his wife's death and certainly no seedling should be affecting him like this. But she did and there was no denying it. He'd never been drawn to anyone like this before, not even is wife. Why was this seedling different? What was it about her? "Because our lives are entwined. We were meant to meet."

His words caused her core to clench in need. No! She wouldn't let this happen. "And so we have and now we shall part. Goodbye, my birdman." She shoved off his chest and held her arms out wide as she fell, eyes clamped shut, her heart thundering in her ears. She was terrified of heights and she'd just let go of her anchor.

No! That was not how this would end…To leave him with more questions and no answers. He dove down and plucked her from the air. "I'm not letting you go." He lowered his mouth next to her neck. His teeth elongated, sharpened and pierced her skin. The warmth of her blood flowed through his teeth and into his veins. He could follow her anywhere now. "Where you go, I will follow."

No way was she giving him a one way ticket to her. If he was coming for her, she needed to know. "That's not how this works. We are one now." She bit into him, taking in his blood. It did not taste like blood as she knew it, it was far more pleasant tasting. Sweet. She bit deeper to keep the flow going. She shivered as his groan reverberated through her. She could feel the pull of time and slid her tongue across the wounds that were knitting closed. Her soul cried out in torment and her gaze shot up to his in shock.

He meant to push her away, but instead he closed his eyes and cradled her against him. When she looked up at him in shock he lowered his head to capture her mouth. As his lips grazed hers she faded from his arms. He arched back and screamed out his anguish. She had bound them together and slipped from his grasp. He would not let her go, he couldn't. She was his bride and nothing would prevent him from finding her. He flashed back to the palace room where he'd captured her, but the portal was gone. He could make his own portal, but not knowing when or where she was left far too many possibilities. Even if she were to return here, a few fleeting moments out of time would do him no good. He would simply have to wait.

Kael paced in the large room. How had this happened? She was only some seedling. As far as he knew no Kin had ever been bound to a lower being. What was it about her that made her different? Why had he been drawn to her? Why had he taken her? Why had he wanted to find her again badly enough that he'd initiated the bind? Why did her taking his blood even complete the bind? It should have been impossible. Kin could only bind with Kin. They were the first species, born out of dark matter, the progenitors of all future species. They seeded the galaxies, pruned when needed and obliterated if the rising societies proved unworthy of what they were given. Yet the pain of her loss overwhelmed him. His wings spread out; he rose as power burst from him in waves. He cried out and fell to his knees, unaware of the creaking columns and stony dust that snowed down upon him.

Blasius and Diamonte approached him carefully. They hadn't seen him this way since he first lost his wife and newborn son at the beginning of the war against the Gods. Blasius waved a hand to restore the room to new condition. Having the ceiling fall on his head was not at the top of his list of things to do.

Diamonte crouched down next to the shattered man and placed a hand upon his back. "What happened, Kael?"

He raised his head to gaze up at Diamonte, quickly shuttering his torment. "She's my bride."

Diamonte saw the anguish in the man's eyes before he slammed his emotions tight. But his words could not have shocked him more. "That's not possible. She's one of them…." Though that didn't quite sit right with him. She was something else.

"I know." But that wasn't exactly true. She was one of them, but she wasn't. She had not been a part of the pantheons that had attacked them when they'd come to inspect this universe. She wasn't a God – or at least he didn't think she was, but she had the scent of one. She was something else. "She is not a part of this time. She stands athwart it."

Diamonte dropped his head in thought. "That explains why you were able to leave with her. But that doesn't explain why you did."

He ran his hands through his light golden brown hair. "I don't know. I was drawn to her. Maybe a part of me knew she was mine. Either way, I couldn't let her leave."

Once Blasius knew there would be no fallout from his friend he lowered himself next to Kael. "Do you know when she comes from?"

"No. We didn't get that far, but we are bound. I will find her."

Diamonte shot Blasius a look. "Oh, Kael. I'm sorry," Diamonte said thickly. He could not imagine the torture his friend would be going through until he found his bride. Kin did not separate once bound, the pain would be unbearable. To add to that, there was still a war going on and he would be forced to kill the pantheon she was associated with. No Kin intentionally hurt their mate. "Do you need to step down?" It was a given that he would.

"I'll do my job!" he snarled. He took a deep breath to control the pain the roiled through him. "But I am moving us to a different Pantheon. I will not kill her family."

Blasius nodded. The man had more strength than he did. He would have stayed in this room, unable to leave, in case his mate came back.

Kael rose and walked slowly over to where the portal had been. He waved his hand creating another portal. He looked into the inky black, but knew it was pointless to step in. She could be anywhere, anytime. "Come back to me," he cried into the dark of the portal and fell to his knees. "I need you..." he whispered. He released a ragged breath, his eyes hardening. "I will find you, Star! Nothing will keep me from you!" He rose and closed the portal. His determined stride propelled him from the room while he still had the strength to leave it. He waved his hand, conjuring his armor as he stepped through the doorway.

-BREAK TWELVE-

She jerked up in bed when she heard the cry to come back to him. Come back to whom? She looked around the room and saw something shimmer around a darkness. The softly whispered 'I need you' tore at her heart. She rose from the bed and approached it carefully. Something about it seemed familiar, but she couldn't place it.

Castiel was startled by the words spoken out of nowhere. When he caught sight of what Star was approaching, the blood in his veins turned icy. "Star, stay back!" He threw himself from the bed and pulled her back from the apparition, his heart slamming in his chest. He knew it for what it was…a portal. But a portal to where?

She dropped to her knees when she heard the anguish of the harshly spoken words that followed. "Who are you!" she cried out, but the portal had already closed.

He dropped down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

"He's coming for me," she said in a small, tight voice.

"He will never have you. We are one. I will protect you." He stroked her back rhythmically to comfort her. He had no concerns about the voice, none except for how it was affecting his wife. She was his lifemate. The man stood no chance. Not against him and not against the bond.

She wrapped her arms around him. If the man came for her, he would consider Castiel a rival or a threat and regardless of her suspicions of what her husband truly was, she was terrified. She didn't know why, but the wings of fear beat against her.

-BREAK THIRTEEN-

The days passed faster than anyone wanted, but time refused to slow to a crawl. It gave no fucks that these family moments were fleeting. It was cold and it was heartless, ticking on with no remorse until Star found herself standing on the dock surrounded by family, both new and old, with the sour taste of goodbye on her lips. Sol had been the hardest to leave behind. They'd never been separated before, but they'd always known it would happen someday. Too bad the knowing didn't make it any easier.

Castiel felt for his wife, he remembered all too well the first time he and Aria had to part. He'd had to leave her at the port and drive away. It was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. It would be over a year before he saw her again, though at the time he hadn't known if he would ever see her again.

And despite the pain of leaving her family behind, these were some of the best days of her life. They had the ship to themselves. They were sent from mission to mission, wherever the Alliance had need of her husband. He worked best alone, so they used him whenever they needed a covert agent to get in and out, whether it was a mission of retrieval, assassination or implantation of hardware for the purpose of espionage.

As they set in the coordinates of his first mission, he'd taken her to the workout room and sparred with her, to measure her ability of self-defense. She willingly took his advice and learned everything he taught her. Due to her father's N7 training, she knew she taught him a few things as well and it made them a more balanced team between student and teacher. He also showed her how to connect to her new powers when her biotics faltered and ceased to function. It didn't take long for her to prove to him that she was an asset that could be counted on behind enemy lines.

Tayln had been nice enough to provide her with a suit of light armor that matched her husband's. She felt like the soldier she would have become had she not married. But she was more than glad things turned out the way they had. The life she had now had far more flexibility that any life the military would have given her.

In between missions she talked via QEC to cultural studies heads. Being a Princess paved the way for her to get in close to the people who mattered, who knew things and opened many doors for her. Eventually the field of her studies narrowed, much to the credit of Dr. Liara T'Soni. The asari's writings about protheans fueled her need to know more about the ancient civilization that died out 50k years ago.

Between mission coordinates Cas stopped at any planets along the way that had prothean dig sites so that she could spend a bit of time with the scientists involved to get more hands on experience. Occasionally, he even went out of their way to reach said planets. If the brass ever came down on him for doing so, he never made her aware of it. She did know that the brass initially balked at her being included on classified assignments, but once they understood the lifemate bond, they were willing to make an exception to keep from losing a top agent, provided she was willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement and be a subject to debriefs after each assignment just as Cas had to do. No doubt her father's name and her Royal connections had played some small part in their acceptance as well.

During one side stop at a prothean dig on a moon in the Vernio system they met Lachlan and Lori Ann Steging, a twin research team with rich, dark red hair, green eyes, and porcelain white skin without a freckle in sight. She surprisingly felt right at home with the pair. Perhaps, because they were twins, but they were also very outgoing, eager to show her what they'd discovered and to let her get her hands…and clothes dirty. One thing she'd been surprised to find out was that Lori was actually a medical doctor trained in inter-species physiology with a lesser degree in psychiatry. Lach had been an engineer until he'd discovered a prothean artifact that had forever changed the direction of his life.

They were quite forthcoming about their past. It was an injury that had nearly killed Lach at a dig that caused Lori to leave her profession to join him. Eventually, she became just as enthusiastic about the protheans and what they could learn from them.

She had remained in close contact with the pair and by the time the dig was wrapping up, a few months later, Cas had agreed to allow them aboard the Manticore. The decision was most probably based on the fact that brass was assigning him a shuttle pilot by the name of Noble Knight and a mechanic, James Lowry. They came part and parcel with a new shuttle and mako. Not that he needed a shuttle, Cas had his own that was synced with Cori, but she suspected the brass wanted him to seem a little more Alliance and a little less off the grid. But the Mako would be a nice addition. Of course, their lives would be changing now that they were no longer alone.

Castiel wasn't exactly pleased by the new additions, he enjoyed having his wife to himself, but it did make the Manticore seem a little less like a ghost ship. He was also extremely amused by his new shuttle pilot's name. Noble Knight. He could only imagine what it was like growing up with such a name. The only real shadow at having the new additions was that Cori, CC and CJ were relegated to VI protocol unless in the privacy of his cabin. He could well imagine Cori was chomping at the bit over that restriction.

I turned out Knight was a comedian and he and Star would constantly get into wit wars, trying to one up the other. It did help break the ice and help everyone become more comfortable with each other. More often than not the wit wars ended up devolving into bad pun suicide. The groans that followed did little to dissuade the pair when they were on a roll.

After a grueling data retrieval mission that had gone sideways, Cori alerted Castiel that Captain David Anderson was waiting on vidcom. He rounded up his wife who was deep in a discussion with Lori and Lach and headed to the QEC.

He turned on the vidcom and smiled at the welcome sight. "Good to see you, Uncle David. Is it pleasure or business?"

David grinned. "You two are a sight for sore eyes. And I'm afraid it's business this time. Give me a moment I'm patching in your sister and Thane."

Aria and Thane's holos appeared on a secondary receiving platform. "Hey, little brother, Star. We hear the brass is keeping you busy."

"No less busy than you. Probably think it will keep us out of trouble," Castiel said with a grin.

David shook his head. "Not likely. Trouble tends to follow you two around. And if you two intend to share classified mission deets, then best do it when I'm not around," he teased.

"As if you'd give a rat's ass, Uncle David," Castiel scoffed.

David coughed into his hand to cover a laugh. "Son, if we weren't on a secure channel, you'd be handing me my balls with that statement."

Castaria grinned. "Good thing you always procure a secure channel then, because Aunt Hannah would have our hides, she's rather fond of your balls."

David chuckled. "That she is." He cleared his throat. "I've a more serious matter to discuss with the both of you. As you know, and certainly not because I've been spreading rumors, the humans and turians were working together to create a ship called the SSV Normandy. I've been assigned to Captain her and I'm allowed to choose my crew. Now, to prevent too much show of favoritism, I can't request you both, but I would like to request one of you for my XO." His eyed first one and then the other. He wished he could have them both serve with him, they were the best soldiers he knew and it wasn't just a biased opinion. Their distinguished records spoke for themselves.

Castaria looked at her brother. "Well, Cas, what do you think?" She would love to spend more time with her uncle, but she was also used to the privacy she and Thane had.

Castiel shook his head. "I'd love to go, uncle, but I've got a crew now, two of which are my wife's best friends and I doubt you care to displace your ship's medic in lieu of mine."

David nodded his understanding. "Dr. Chakwas has been looking forward to this, we've served together too long for me to bump her at this stage." He turned his attention to his niece. He knew there was a chance they would both refuse. They did have their own lives. But he wanted to give them the first chance at the position.

Castaria looked at her husband wanting to know what he thought. At his nod she smiled. "Uncle David, we'd be willing, just so long as it is understood that Thane will be accompanying me on any missions you send me out on."

David released a sigh of relief. "That has already been approved. The brass is well aware of how well you two work with your lifemates." He had, unashamedly, played the Royal card to the brass to get it approved. The Royal family had been generous in their donations to the military ever since their children had joined up. But that the kids didn't need to know, as it had never been a factor in their advancement. Their merit alone was responsible for that. "Meet me on the Citadel, you two. I love you all, David out."

Castiel looked at his sister. "It appears times are a changin' for both of us, big sis." He shook his head. "They are so proud of the new Normandy. It's too bad you have to dry-dock the Phoenix, she's a far better ship than the Normandy…not that anyone can ever know that."

Castaria frowned. "I'm not going to lie; it's going to be hard to going back to being under someone's direct command on an inferior ship. But on the plus side at least I'll see more of David and Hannah."

"You have a point. Keep me posted. Love you both, Cas out." He flipped off the vidcom and hugged his wife.

"Thank you, my golden God," she said as she brushed her lips over his.

He smiled softly. He had to admit he loved it when she called him that. It reminded him of when they'd first met and she'd asked if his name was Apollo. "For what?"

"For putting my friends over the promotion." She knew full well what he was giving up and she wanted him to know that she knew.

Ah. She'd caught that. "Rank is nice, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to set things right that have gone wrong." He caught her look. "Okay..okay…it's more than that. I love you and I know you love them. I'll keep you three together for as long as I can."

She grinned. "And that is why I thanked you." She kissed his chest. "Now take me to bed or lose me forever." She giggled when he swung her up in his arms and ran for their cabin.

-BREAK THIRTEEN-

Their missions had been becoming darker, more dangerous. It was obvious there was something far more sinister going on. He kept in constant contact with Aria. He congratulated her on becoming the first human Spectre. That was a huge deal. He was also just as glad that it wasn't him. While Spectre's were given more freedom to break the rules, he did that regularly without the title and without being the Council's bitch. He did assist Aria as much as he could, doing side missions to help aid her in between his own missions. He also kept in contact with the Heart. He was relying more heavily on Reed now, but he knew his brother would have no trouble handling it. He didn't like it, Earth was his responsibility, but something much larger was going on and the best way to help Earth was to be just where he was.

As the months went on he and Aria were on vidcom more often than not. She kept nothing from him and discussed every new thing she'd learned. He'd even put off his own mission to lend a hand on Virmire. Everything was starting to come to a head. He was glad he'd gone with his gut instinct and turned around, because stopping the production of a krogan army to serve an indoctrinated fool far outweighed anything he had to do. The only thing that saved Ashley Williams at the bomb site was the fact that he and his wife were there. Aria had gone after Kaidan, because the needs of the many had outweighed the needs of the few and he and his wife had gone after Ashley. Thankfully, that was not a choice she had to bear the weight of this day.

Leaving Cori to follow, he and Star joined Aria on the Normandy. Regardless whether brass agreed or not, he intended to see this through. He joined Aria when Joker patched in the Council.

"Shepard…and Shepard, what a surprise. We had not expected to see you…together," Tevos said with a raised brow and a hint of disapproval.

"There is no place I am needed more than to help ensure the Reapers do not invade," Castiel pointed out.

"We cannot sanction or condone your involvement in this, Commander Shepard. You are not a Spectre," Sparatus said coldly.

"I am not asking for anyone's permission," Castiel interjected.

From what Tevos knew of Castiel Shepard, she doubted even the Alliance would be able to keep him in check. There was only one way to buffer him and to maintain any semblance of control. Tevos looked at Valern, who nodded, Sparatus just returned her look in disbelief. "We cannot sanction as things stand, but were you to accept the role of Spectre, then provisions would be allowed –"

"No," Sparatus cut in. "You just promoted one human, two is showing too much favoritism and they do not even have a seat on the Council."

Valern was not one to make too many waves, but that was just ridiculous. "Having a seat on the Council has no bearing over Spectre status. Having two humans as Spectres is not 'too much'. Our own species numbers far outweigh the humans."

Tevos folded her arms over her breasts. "You are well aware of Commander Shepard's record. He is a prime candidate and you know it. If he were turian, you would not question him being appointed." She lowered her voice. "The only chance of controlling him at all is having him under us. I would rather have a juggernaut I had some control over than a loose cannon without any control."

Sparatus' mandibles jerked in irritation; he could see the wisdom, even if he didn't like it. He inclined his head, but could not bring himself to say the words.

Tevos returned her attention to the Commander. "Do you accept the position of Council Spectre?"

Castiel closed his eyes, biting back the need to throw the offer back in their faces. He wasn't their bitch, but nor did he really care to fight the Council and Alliance alike just to finish seeing this mission through. They had backed him neatly into a corner and that didn't sit well. He let out a harsh sigh. "I will accept." When they asked him to pledge to protect and serve the Council he did so in such a way that he kept all emotion from the pledge. If his wife was correct, he did not care to flash and make a living promise. Not to a Council who was blind and couldn't see past the end of their noses.

"We thank you for what you both have done and we consider the mission a success," Valern informed them.

"It is not over," Castaria told them. "We need to go to Ilos. All evidence points to the Mu Relay being located on Ilos."

"Ilos," Tevos repeated. "We will get back to you on that."

The vidcom ended and Castaria looked at her brother. "I would say congratulations, but it doesn't look like you are too pleased to be the second human Spectre."

Castiel shook his head. "I have no desire to be the Council's bitch, but I had the feeling if I'd refused they would have tried to stop me from completing this mission. So it was either accept or fight Council and Alliance alike. I chose the lesser evil."

"Good call," Castaria teased. "Because I'd have had to join you and that is not at the top of my list of things to do today. The Council is a bridge I'd rather not burn; we may yet need them some day."

"I still want to knock Sparatus on his ass," he admitted.

"Stand in line, brother; he's been a thorn in my ass from the start."

Star hugged her husband. "I'm going to go talk to Liara while you three check on the guests." She grazed her lips against his and then hugged Aria. "I'm glad Cas decided to turn around. Talking to Sovereign…it just wouldn't have been the same hearing about it. There is just so much more to learn. And….I would have hated to cut the flower off the bloom. I'm glad you didn't have to make that call."

Castaria kissed her sister on the lips. "You see it too? Kaidan and Ashley are just too stubborn to admit to or even acknowledge the mutual interest, but I don't think it will take too long for them to figure out what I've always known."

"That's because Kaidan thinks he's in love with you. But you are right, he'll figure it out." She winked at Aria and Thane when he grunted before she slipped out the door.

Castaria just blinked. "She can see a whole lot more than I realized."

Castiel grinned. "I'd think she was salarian with her ability to solve puzzles. I've never met anyone better at finding patterns or putting the pieces together." He was proud of his wife; she always had a way of keeping him on his toes.

As they stepped from the room, she took her husband's hand and turned to her brother. "The Council is placating us. I'm getting a bad feeling about this. They should have sent us straight to Ilos."

"We can always just go," Castiel pointed out.

"Little brother, I'm not ready to take on the Council just yet. I want to give them the chance to do what's right. At some point they need to start believing in me. Only when that happens can we work together and that's the only way we can survive what's coming. But, be ready."

"Duly noted," he said as they made their way down to talk to Kirrahe and the other salarians they'd managed to rescue.

Star stopped for a moment to have a friendly word with Dr. Chakwas before continuing on to lab, where Liara liked to spend much of her time. It had been a pleasant surprise to learn that her friend and mentor had hooked up with her sister. It seemed the galaxy truly was a small place. What were the odds? "Hi, hon," she said as the lab doors closed behind her.

Liara looked up, a pleased smile on her face. She rose to hug the young woman. A woman she considered a protégé and a friend. "I'm glad we have this time together. I've missed our time in the field together." She blushed. She hoped that wasn't too forward.

"I do too, hon. Sometimes it feels like the missions are becoming a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger as it goes. We haven't been able to hit as many dig sites recently and with everything that's coming or that we suspect is coming…I'm not sure when our lives will get back to normal. I'm not even sure what normal is anymore."

She touched Star's cheek with her fingertips and then lowered her hand. "I know what you mean. What's happening is both fascinating and terrifying. I'm glad you're here; you are the only one I can talk to that can truly understand my fascination." She flushed again. She'd known Star for over a year now, but she felt awkward concerning her feelings for the young woman. She hadn't meant to feel more for her than she should. But their shared interests had led to long talks…and in truth, her feelings started because the woman had seen the value in her research. Due to her young age, she was not taken seriously by anyone…anyone but Star…and over time as she got to know her and work with her in the field, she'd realized she'd come to love her. She knew nothing would ever come of it and that is what made it all the more awkward. Still, she was determined that it would not affect their friendship…A friendship that meant the world to her.

"A fascination I share wholeheartedly," she said with a warm smile. "Will you – will you share the visions Aria received from the beacon with me? I'm sorry – I know that's probably.."

Liara fidgeted, ringing her hands together. She wanted an excuse to further bond with Star, but she also knew there would be repercussions…at least for her. "No, it's fine. I would enjoy sharing that…experience with you." She raised her hand and rested it against the young woman's cheek. "Embrace eternity.." she murmured softly.

A shiver raced down Star's spine when she felt a tingling sensation. Somewhat similar to the hum of a biotic field, but it went deeper, almost like it was infusing with her. Pictures raced through her mind. Disjointed, macabre. The story they told was of destruction and the horror of failure..the pictures faded with what appeared to be a map. She played back over the pictures in her mind before she opened her eyes. "Flesh made machine…failure…a warning." She raised shocked eyes to Liara. "There are pieces missing..but it was a warning."

Liara took a shaky step backwards and fell heavily into her chair. Emotions rolled through her, raw, nearly surfacing and she forced them back. She was reeling from both the intimacy shared as well as Star's revelation. She raised a hand to her heart. "Of course. You saw more than I." She looked up at Star. "I saw the fear, the horror and I recognized the location of the map, but…you're right, it was a warning. Failure. The protheans knew they had failed. Flesh made machine, I can see it all now. All the races…..Husks will only be the beginning if we don't stop the invasion," she said with a shudder.

Star took Liara's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We'll find a way to stop it, Liara." Cas, Aria, Lyrica, the woman Tayln had seen, there were greater forces at play. If her theories were true, and she did not doubt that they were, then even the gods would stand with them when the time came. Mortals would not be the only ones affected when the Reapers came.

"You sound so sure..it's hard not to believe you." And Liara wanted to believe very badly.

Star smiled reassuringly. "Because I am sure. I didn't say it would be easy, but in the end, if we stand all stand together, we won't fail." She wanted to tell her friend her theories, if anyone, Liara would believe…but the stories weren't hers to tell.

Liara shook her head. "You don't think small. That's a big if." Still, she found comfort in the fact that Star seemed to have no doubts.

Star grinned. "I don't think I know how to think small." She turned as the door slid open to reveal her husband.

Liara was uncomfortable around Castiel. Not only because of Star, but because his size and presence were intimidating. He had the same something off about him Aria had, but she'd had time to get to know his sister and his sister didn't tower over her.

"I have discovered I am not a patient man when it comes to you." He pulled her into his arms and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. "Liara," he said nodding to the asari. His gaze returned to his wife. "We've been ordered back to the Citadel, it appears the Council is finally ready to do something about Ilos."

She waved to Liara as her husband led her from the lab. "Do I sense a but coming?"

"Aria has a bad feeling about this," he admitted.

"Do we have a contingency plan?" she asked curiously.

Castiel grinned. "Me."

Star grinned. "A brand new Spectre and already a rogue."

"Who me?" he asked innocently. "Roguishly handsome, maybe."

"No maybe about that, my love."

-BREAK FOURTEEN-

Castaria fumed. "I fucking knew it!" Not only had the Council denied them Ilos but they'd locked down the Normandy.

Castiel put a hand on his sister's arm. "We expected something like this. You expected it. They can lock down the Normandy, but they can't lock down the Manticore. We'll take her to Ilos."

Castaria looked down at her OT when it chimed. "Uncle David, we've come up with a new plan."

"Hold that thought, meet me at the Flux. David out."

"Well, that wasn't cryptic at all. Come on, little brother; let's see what David is up to."

When they joined him at the table, he apologized about not being able to find a secure channel to tell them what was about to happen.

"That's okay, Uncle David, we knew something was up. We're going to take the Manticore to Ilos," Castaria informed him.

David shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. No one can find out the Manticore's capabilities. But I have another solution. Udina is away and I can get into his office and release the lock down."

Castiel scoffed. "That's a better idea? Do you want to be court martialed? Or worse, be deemed a traitor? That idea is worse than bad. And I have noticed Aunt Hannah is not here, she probably would have stopped that hare-brained idea."

David grinned. "Who do you think is stroking Udina's ego? Come on, kids. I'm old enough to know what I'm doing. I've been doing it far longer than you. I won't get caught." And if he did, it wouldn't matter if they succeeded.

"Can I go on record saying I agree with Cas? This is crazy," Castaria said, gripping her uncle's hand.

David patted her hand. "But you are going to do it anyway. Head to the Normandy and await my signal."

After a round of hugs they discussed what was going to happen as they hurried back to the Normandy and gathered their friends. "What we are about to do will be considered treason if we don't succeed. If any of you want out now, go while you can, you will not be judged." She let out a soft breath when no one moved. "Ok..We are all going to take part in this; we will all have our rolls to play. We will be dividing into two teams. Kaidan, you will lead team two consisting of Ashley, Wrex, Liara, and Garrus. The rest of us will be following on the Manticore. We will each take a mako down. Kaidan, follow us. We'll see you on Ilos."

Her group hit the airlock at a run and didn't stop until they were aboard the Manitcore. Tali was given general clearance when she was scanned in. She was far too intelligent to be allowed behind the nanowalls.

"Cori, as soon as lock down is released on the Normandy, follow her out. We want to make sure she has a clean break."

"Will do, Cas."

With the Normandy finally freed, they hopped the relay and headed for Ilos. Castaria commed Joker after they entered Ilos' atmosphere. "Cori said the landing will be tight."

"We know that, Shepard, but I got this. I'm not the best pilot for no reason."

"I never doubted you, Joker," she said with a laugh. "We're heading to the Mako. Shepard out." She let Cas drive because she was tired of people complaining about her driving and it was, afterall, his Mako. "I'll man the guns. Tali keep us on course."

They landed with a teeth jarring thud and pulled ahead to give the second Mako room to land, then led the way. "Just so you know, it's not my driving, it's the Mako," Castiel said before anyone could say anything about his driving.

Castaria laughed. "And no one believes it's not my driving."

"I do now," Kaidan said via the com they'd set up.

"Fuck me, there he is," Castiel said pointing to the door that closed behind Saren. "He knows we're here now."

They pulled to a stop and hopped out of the Makos. With the door locked, they fanned out to find the controls to open it, mowing geth down along the way. They discovered a broken VI, there were a few disjointed words, but it was too damaged to make much sense of it. After locating the controls, they hurried back down to the Makos and resumed their hunt for Saren.

They caught sight of a shimmering field in the distance. Castiel tried to drive through it, but the Mako hit it and rolled backwards. "It was worth a shot."

"Saren got through, we will too," Castaria pointed out. Their search led to the discovery of a working, albeit damaged, prothean VI. Since they were not indoctrinated, the VI was willing to talk to them. In fact, they'd learned that it had barred their way intentionally. Much was learned by the VI, including the fact that the Citadel and mass relays were far older than the protheans. They were told how the last remaining protheans had sealed the Citadel and freed the keepers from reaper control. They were then given a data file to use on the Citadel's master control that would prevent the reapers from using the Citadel to gain access to the mass relays.

Tali grinned, her smile barely detectable behind her mask. "I recorded what was said so that we can go over it again when we have more time."

"That's my girl," Garrus said with his mandibles spread.

"Oh really, Garrus?" Tali asked with a surprised laugh.

"Well, er..you know what I meant. Quick..um, thinking on your part. I was proud of you," Garrus amended.

"And so am I," Castaria said. "All of us standing around and you were the only one to think of it. Good call, Tali."

And so the hunt had resumed. They came to stop at the top of an incline. "Make sure your shields are charged completely. We know they are about to take some heavy damage. Do not worry about firing on anything, our goal is to make it to the Conduit, not destroy the geth. Once we start, there is no stopping, no slowing down. We'll see you on the Citadel, team two," Castiel said.

"Will do, Shepard. And Shepard? Er – Castaria, be careful," Kaidan added.

"I always am," Castaria replied.

"Kaidan, worry about keeping your team safe, I'll worry about my wife," Thane cut in.

Kaidan flushed. "Of course – yes, sir..I mean, that's not what I – of course." Kaidan cleared his throat and floored it, following the other Mako.

The Makos shook with each bolt, their shields depleting rapidly. Kadian watched the first Mako hit the relay. He hoped they'd had enough time to get out of the way by the time his Mako followed suit.

The Mako landed hard and flipped onto its side. They scrambled out of it and moved quickly out of the way. The second Mako flipped over the first and landed on its mangled cannon. Team one moved in quickly, helping the others out of the Mako.

As they crawled out from the mako's wreckage, they took in their first sight of the Presidium… an empty, broken, smoking mess was left in Saren's wake.

A stuttering Avina V.I. told them the council was safe and where Saren was heading. The hopped the nearby elevator, but didn't get far. Putting on their breathers and activating their mag-boots, Castaria shot out the elevator's window and they stepped out into the exhaust plain of the Citadel Tower.

They headed down a ramp, mopped up some geth and headed up another ramp and into an upper corridor. They'd found the easiest way to deal with enemies in the zero-G environment was to get them airborne. So, as they proceeded along, geth and krogan alike were treated to volleys of lift, throw, pull, singularity followed with a warp bomb, and shockwave as needed to root them out of cover. Those without biotics or powers weakened oncoming enemies and shot anything that looked like it would come back down and bite them in the butt. There were intermittent shouts of Take that…eat this…scoped and dropped...and a few more colorful phrases that were not repeatable.

They moved up a ramp taking out more geth, weaving through their holo-shields, following the path to the left. Another left brought them to another corridor with more geth and krogan eager to meet their fates. They were an unstoppable wheel of death, spacing or gunning down everything in their path.

At the end of the corridor they rounded a corner and found a geth drop-ship raining geth troops all around them. There were three nearby inactive turrets and they were the only shot they had to bring down that ship. Castaria, Castiel and Thane amped up and charged to the turrets. Castaria rolled out of the way to avoid a rocket with her name on it. When all 3 were actively engaging the geth drop-ship they settled in to mop up the geth it had dropped off. With flames and black smoke licking at its hull, the drop-ship backed off and pulled out.

They moved across the deck and into another corridor. More geth and krogan took flight. It was a beautiful sight. They then came out onto a more open deck. Castaria ran a few steps and leapt down into a trench so she could survey the battleground. She commed the teams. "The deck is heavily guarded by geth. They are both on the deck and entrenched. There are trenches running throughout the deck, so we must expect heavy resistance. There are massive rocket turrets. We can guarantee they've been hacked and will fire upon us. To the left past the first trench there is another entryway. Team Two take the entry on the left; Team One will head up the middle and take down the turrets. Tali try to hack at least one of the turrets. I'll snipe what I can as we advance. Move out."

She took the ramp up out of the trench and pushed forward slowly, sniper raised, taking out entrenched geth before they could make a bead on her team. When her clips were spent, she snapped her sniper to her back and used her powers to yank the guns from the geth and send them floating out into space.

One of the turrets began shooting at the geth, it certainly made for a welcome distraction as they became more concerned with the turret than the group coming up behind them. Castaria charged to the second turret, turned as it did and located the access panel. Her fingers flew over the circuitry and the turret fell silent. She flung herself away in time to avoid the bolts from the final turret. A volley of bullets tore into the last turret and it turned to fire back. She charged to the turret and quickly deactivated it.

Her team mopped up the remaining geth and moved left towards the corridor Team Two had taken.

They met up with Team Two and Castaria glanced around in confusion. This should have taken them to the tower proper. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked at Kaidan who, with a smile on his face, was pointing at her feet. She looked down at the hatch she was standing on and then back to Kaidan. "Smart ass." She griped. They dropped down into the hatch and headed for the Tower.

The underground passageway was uneventful. No surprises awaited them, much to Wrex's displeasure. Castaria could hear the bantering and complaining in the background. Her thoughts were focused on what they might find ahead. What defenses did Saren have up? Had he made it to the console that would give Sovereign the control it needed? Would she be able to save Saren from himself? She had seen his confliction earlier; perhaps it was not too late for him. While it may be too late for the Council to forgive him for what he allowed to happen, it might not be too late to save his soul. Gad…she was such a girl sometimes…how many soldiers would be concerned about Saren's soul?

They followed the ramp up and exited through another hatch. Finally, the Tower proper. The Council Chambers. So very different from the last time she was here. Gone was the arrogance and indifference. Fires were scattered here and there throwing shadow and flame. Alarms were sounding off; the constant ringing was giving her a headache and annoying her senses like tiny flies buzzing around her head.

She grabbed a pack of medigel from a nearby medical kit and proceeded up the stairs. She held her hand up to stop them. A quick survey showed there were at least 7 geth, some of which were hiding behind those hexagon holo-shields. There may be more, they had to assume that to be the case. She motioned them to fan out.

As they entered the courtyard geth began to rain bullets at them. She kept moving forward throwing geth in the air as she passed, leaving the teams to take them out. So, there were 9…a rather weak defense. Perhaps Saren hadn't expected them to make it this far…or perhaps he knew once he made it this far there would be no stopping the inevitable…but the one thing he hadn't counted on is that she did not know the meaning of inevitable.

As the master control terminal came into view they saw Saren push a couple of buttons, turn around to look at them and step off the platform to disappear.

"Double time!" She yelled, and they picked up speed.

Saren, aboard his flying platform, hovered up and lobbed a grenade at her teams. The teams dove in separate directions. She stood and amped her power ready to deflect the grenade and throw it back at him. "Don't even think about it," Thane shouted as he grabbed her around the waist and propelled them behind a planter at the base of the walkway platform with the rest of her team. The grenade detonated in a fiery explosion. Thane covered her body with his own and Castiel threw up a barrier bubble to protect them from any fall out.

Thane let his wife up. They sat side by side in the protected corner of the stairs and planter. She flung her arms around him and hugged him tight, he closed his eyes and hugged her back.

"I should be mad, but that was incredibly romantic," she said.

It was hard for him to let go when she pulled back. Her smile faded and he saw the Commander mask slide back in place. She turned her face towards the stairs to confront Seran.

Still floating just out of range Saren began taunting her. He didn't think she'd make it in time for her to see him beat her. He was disappointed that even with two Shepards they didn't offer him more of a fight. Her reputation was sorely over-inflated. But he also had to thank her, he began to have doubts after talking with her on Vermire…when Sovereign sensed them, it implanted him and now he had no doubts.

"Are you out of your cyborg mind? You let Sovereign implant you?" she asked incredulously.

"I was not offered a choice," Saren said looking away in contemplation. He shook his head to clear it. "But, regardless, I am thinking much more clearly now. No worries. No doubts. It is liberating to be free from murky hindrances that can cloud a mundane mind."

"You're not seeing the whole picture, Saren. Once you let the other Reapers in you will cease to be useful to Sovereign. All advanced civilizations will be harvested." She paused… "We have the power to end this, Seran. We're the only ones who can. My brother and I - we're not…normal…we're…different. And that …difference the Reapers didn't count on. That…difference will be what breaks this cycle. We will end this. "

"I'm inclined to believe you are different, vela... and it's obvious you believe what you say, but you are still only one woman…one overconfident, human woman," he said, ignoring the reference to her brother. "No matter how different you are the Reapers are too vast…too powerful…there is only one way any of us will survive…I have been shown the future...those that support the Reapers will survive. It has shown me..."

Garrus' mandibles jerked. Why was Saren calling Shepard vela? That was an ancient turian word meaning my love. Was Saren in love with her? It made no sense.

She cut him off. "Sovereign is only allowing you to see what it wants you to see. You are indoctrinated and thus you are blind to the truth. There will be no one left behind capable of surviving. That is what it is not showing you. Anyone left behind when they go back to dark-space will be mindless, indoctrinated husks unable to survive on their own. You are not saving anyone, you are dooming us all. You need to think, Saren. Remember what the beacons showed you, what the cipher showed you!"

In that moment his mind cleared, pictures from the beacons, pictures Sovereign clouded, had become focused once more. He could see the truth in her words. He lifted his head and screamed out his fury. He looked down upon the human woman. "You are right, vela." He sighed wearily. "I am indoctrinated. Sovereign twisted the truth and blinded me to what I had been shown. I," he gasped, "knew what he could do. I thought I was safe…You-" Crippling pain shot through his skull. He grabbed his head and screamed in agony.

Castaria stood and ran up the steps of the walkway platform. "You can fight this, Seran. You are a strong man full of strong convictions. Show Sovereign you will no longer be its puppet. Show Sovereign its manipulation ends now. Show it your strength!" she demanded.

Saren was blinded by the pain rending through his head. The pain was the only thing that existed. He could make out her words…barely…they came from a great distance. He saw the truth again and that could not be unseen. He wouldn't let it be. She was right, Sovereign's manipulation would end. He would not be controlled. He had been a Spectre…one of the best. But he would rather die a failed Spectre than Sovereign's play-thing. "Thank you, vela...for saving me." He said between clenched teeth. He put his pistol to the side of his head. "Now, save them all." He pulled the trigger and toppled from his platform, through the glass floor, to the atrium below.

Castaria blinked. She stood there a brief moment in shock. She shook her head and ran up the walkway to the master control terminal. She turned on her omni-tool and downloaded the data file Vigil had given her to regain control of the Citadel's systems.

Castiel had just opened a com channel to signal the Normandy when a distress signal came through from the Destiny Ascension. The council members were aboard and the ship's shields and engines were failing.

Joker commed her demanding she respond. He told her he and the entire Arcturus fleet were standing by and could either rescue the Ascension or concentrate their strength on Sovereign… she just needed to open the relays to the Citadel and give the command. Her teams were quick to throw their opinions at her. She let them slide off. For a brief moment she considered letting the Ascension rot.

"Save the Ascension!" Castiel ordered.

"I'm sorry, Commander, my orders have to come from my Commander," Joker said uneasily.

Castaria opened the relays, took a deep breath and said, "Save the Ascension." Cas was right. A grateful ally is more useful than a resentful enemy. And, cliché as it sounds…better the devil you know…

In the next instant the Alliance was poring through the mass relay, tearing into the geth fleet. Castiel growled and looked down at Saren's body below. "Team Two check on Saren, make sure he's dead."

The moment Kaidan commed that he was dead, the station gave a violent shudder, red lightning bolts flashed and streaked. They watched in horror as red lightning poured into Saren's body, lifted it screaming into the air…an explosion rocked the station, the concussive wave blew Castaria's team backwards; the walkway they were standing on gave way, and sent them sliding to atrium floor below.

Saren continued to flail, buck, and scream…until all that had been left of Saren had been burned away, leaving nothing of the man behind. What they now faced was a robotic husk …red electrical charges coursed through its body, burning with Sovereign's rage.

The robot flung itself around the room faster than she could track it. Castaria ordered the bioitcs to concentrate on warp bombs, stasis fields and shotgun firepower and Garrus and Tali to focus on dampening, overloading, and sabotage. Her team would cover the rest.

Garrus sighed and rolled his eyes. "We know what we're doing, Shepard, you don't have to tell us every step."

She shrugged and kept scanning the room trying to find where the damn thing jumped to. "It's the commander in me…hard to let it go sometimes." She flashed a brief glance in Garrus' direction. "If you know so much, why are you still holding your sniper? It's too fast for that."

Garrus looked sheepishly at her, snapped the sniper onto his back and grabbed his AR. "I knew that," he said. "Besides," he said. "If I missed the shot, I could always take the stick from my ass and beat it with it."

Wrex gave a bark of laughter and fired his shotgun. "Just ignore it like I do, Garrus. It makes her feel important. She needs that."

She sent a furious scowl in their direction.

The robot dropped to the ground and spider-walked straight for her. She backed up, stumbled over a small chunk of debris and fell hard on her ass. Damn...so much for graceful. She flung out a stasis field just as red energy from the robot danced off her shields. Her body tingled...in a very unpleasant way…she jumped to her feet and leapt away. "Now!" She yelled and pulled out her shotgun.

Since powers had no real effect to something in stasis, the two teams poured round after round into the energy bound robot. It crashed to the ground, burst into red flame, and disintegrated…They looked at each other…"Well, that was a bit anti-climatic," Garrus quipped. They all chuckled in relief and Castaria pulled the shield back into herself.

They heard a high pitched screech and the station shuddered. She looked up through the windowed ceiling and saw Sovereign explode into fiery shrapnel…Shrapnel falling straight towards them. "Run!" she screamed. She sent a wave of power at the teams, propelling them further away and lobbed a barrier bubble in its wake.

Glass and debris fell all around her. She amped for a charge and was struck in the side by a chunk of Sovereign… damn thing had bite even in death. She looked up in time to see a large chunk of tentacle nearly atop her.

Castiel charged his power to resist the force of his sister's. He saw the large chunk of debris nearly on top of her. He charged at her hitting her hard, both of them tumbling head over arse until they slammed into a twisted chunk of ceiling. She flung out a barrier bubble, as her vision went dark.

Thane felt a wave of energy hit him propelling him forward, he ran with the momentum to keep from toppling over. She did not just do that. He gathered his power and fought the force of her power. As soon as he had control, he turned to charge. A glowing barrier popped up around the teams. Through the barrier he saw her slammed sideways when flying debris struck her. No! he shot a wave of power at the barrier, but it held. Huge bits of ceiling and debris slammed down around them, imprisoning them. Star! He looked through a large gap towards where his wife had been. A shadow darkened the atrium. He looked up to see a massive chunk of Sovereign crash down upon her, her telltale golden light winked out. The barrier bubble died.

He stood still in utter shock, the blood in his veins turned to ice. A rage like he never felt before settled in his gut...he flung a massive wave of power at the twisted metal that kept him from her. It exploded outward with a scream of protest. He charged in the direction he'd last seen his wife.

The teams exited the through the hole Thane had made and Star charged towards the wreckage. A young man found the rest of the teams. "Captain Anderson… they're over here!"

David saw everyone but his nieces and nephews. "Take it easy. It's over." He told them. "You're safe now. Where are my nieces and nephews?" The turian refused to look at him. The krogan shook his head and jerked it in the direction of a massive debris field could be seen. David closed his eyes as a wave of pain assailed him. No. He'd failed them once. He couldn't bare it if he'd failed them again.

David called more men over to help the injured teams from the wreckage. He looked over the debris field. So much destruction. So much death. He started to head in the direction Wrex had pointed to and something caught his eye. He looked closer. Nothing. Shadows dancing…playing tricks on him. Then he saw it again. Someone was over there. Moving. "I'll be damned," he said.

Garrus turned around at the captain's words. His mandibles dropped, his mouth opened and his heart slammed in his chest painfully. Thane stood in the between Castiel and Castaria, a supporting arm around each, Star supporting Cas' other side, upon a large pile of debris looking down at them, they were smiling…injured, but very much alive.

David rushed over to his family and took Cas' weight from Thane. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"Yes, sir!" Castaria said with a pained grin.

"And don't you sir me, missy," David bit out. He knew there were times when she had to, when it was expected. But now was not such a time.

While the rest of the teams were taken to the hospital to treat their injuries, Castiel, Castaria, Thane and Star went to meet with the Council.

The council greatly appreciated the losses the Alliance took to keep the council members safe. So much so, that to honor those sacrifices humanity was given a seat on the council. When asked who she thought should be given the seat on the council, she looked at her brother who nodded to her. "Captain Anderson would be perfect for the job. Sovereign was only a vanguard…the Reapers are still coming and we need a military mind on the council to help prepare us for the war to come...a war we will do everything in our power to end." She turned and walked away.

Castiel gave a lingering look at the Council wondering if anything would even change. With a nod, he turned and joined his wife.

-BREAK FIFTEEN-

Back on the Manticore, life pretty much returned to normal..at least a new normal. With war on the horizon, it was as everything, every mission had a more desperate edge. Even making love to his wife was more emotionally charged.

Within a few weeks he received a com from his sister. "You are looking rather excited, what's going on?"

Castaria grinned. "I need a big favor from my little brother."

"How big?" Cas asked curiously.

"I need to swap ships for a few weeks. Let me explain. The Normandy has been assigned to patrol for any signs of geth activity. It's been quiet and I really don't expect that we'll find anything, but nor can I just leave. I need to get to Mindoir. One of my best friends is due to give birth and I promised I would be there for them. So, yes…big favor. I need you to captain the Normandy." She blinked her eyes sweetly at him.

Castiel chuckled. "You hardly need to bat your eyes to get me to say yes. We're between missions at the moment. Send me your coordinates and we'll be there as soon as possible. Just do me a favor…use the XO cabin," he teased.

"For you…anything." She sent him the coordinates. "You, on the other hand, will have to use the CO cabin; I don't think Pressly would appreciate the company… then again…" She winked at her brother. "See you soon, little brother."

They hit the nearest relay and were on their way to his sister's coordinates. Besides he and his wife, there were only four others on his ship. It would be odd being in a ship full of people. People he didn't even know all that well outside of her squad mates.

When the Manticore pulled up along side the Normandy. James, Noble, Lachlan and Lori Ann waited with Castiel and Star for Thane and Castaria's arrival. The shuttle flew in through the hangar bay door and set down on runway.

Castaria and Thane hugged their siblings and shook hands with crew aboard the Manitcore. They watched as Cas and Star took the shuttle back to the Normandy. With the ship so quiet and so few under foot, this was turning into a vacation.

-BREAK SIXTEEN-

Castiel and Star were pleased they already spent time on the Normandy, they knew where everything was and at least knew the faces of the non-squad members. If anyone thought it odd that he stepped in, they didn't mention it to either of them. They called him Commander or Shepard, just as they'd done for his sister. So not much had really changed for the crew. But for him and Star it took a bit of getting used to. Someone was always up; the ship was never really quiet.

Star took the opportunity to spend more time with Liara, at least when Castiel was occupied. She quickly understood why her friend spent so much time in the lab…it was peacefully quiet, away from the hustle and bustle on the rest of the ship. She wished her best friends Lori and Lach could be here; they'd have loved to get to know Liara and pick her brain.

One thing Star had decided she was nipping in the bud was Kaidans' infatuation with Aria.

Castiel wasn't thrilled with the added time away from his wife, but once he figured out what she was doing, he busied himself spending time with Garrus and Wrex. There really just wasn't much to do, no geth could be found and it felt like they were just given some shit assignment to get them out of the way. But the nights belonged to him and his wife…

-BREAK SEVENTEEN-

Themis was surprised to see her son and his lifemate in her daughter's bed. She got to see so little of him. But she couldn't risk his father finding out, awakening, so she'd had to keep her distance. She softly brushed her fingers through his thick, golden hair. She blinked when she noticed the woman in his arms looking at her. Perhaps she should have a few words with the young woman. If she was her son's lifemate..or one of them, then she was going to be a part of her life whether she wanted her to be or not. She waved her hand, putting her son into a deep sleep and then held her hand out to the woman.

The moment Star saw the woman she remembered who she was. Themis. Castiel, Castaria and Lyrica's mother. She took the woman's hand and after a brief look back at her sleeping husband, she let her lead her through the portal and to the same sofa she'd seen before.

"I wanted to meet you properly. You are a part of my son's life. And since I cannot visit him often, I will have to know him through you," Themis stated.

Well, that just made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. "Why can't you visit him?"

"Because his father thought he'd killed him while he was still in my womb. I cannot risk Zeus finding out that he lives. My son is not strong enough to face the most powerful God in our pantheon."

That was not what she had expected to hear. Not that she had any expectations, but that blew her mind. "Why would his father want to kill him?"

Themis frowned. "Because an oracle told him that his child would change the balance of the heavens, thus dethroning him. He would never tolerate such a child to live."

"Is that why you waited so long to birth them?" she asked curiously. She knew the pantheon had died out over two centuries ago.

Themis shook her head. "During the time of the war with the Kin I started having visions. Visions of another war to come. With our pantheon dying, they would be the last hope to survive the war. The war they will soon be facing."

"What are the Kin?" That was not a term she'd ever discovered in her research.

Themis rubbed her head. "The last time you were here…the man that took you. He was Kin. And I will tell you what I told your brother. They are an ancient race, according to them, the first ever created, born of dark matter. When they came to us, we treated them with suspicion, attacked them in our arrogance. In return they wiped out nearly all the pantheons. Only the Gods that fled and imprisoned themselves in stone survived the war."

"I thought I knew so much from my research, but I knew so little. It was believed the pantheons died out simply because the Gods lost their power when their believers declined," Star was uncertain if she should have said such a thing to a God, but the words could not be taken back.

Themis studied the woman a moment. "In a sense that is true. Our pantheons were decimated in the war, the loss of each God sent a shockwave of destruction through the mortal realm. That destruction combined with the fact that we were too busy trying to survive left us unable to interact with the mortals. That caused their belief to wane, which further weakened us, until those few who were left were forced to seek safety within prisons of stone."

Prisons of stone must mean statues. "How many of you are left?"

Her son's lifemate was a very curious woman. She only felt comfortable saying what she did, because she knew the woman would not remember when she woke. "I have no way of knowing as things stand. While imprisoned, the Gods cannot be felt. They slumber. I have seen many shattered prisons, so I know many didn't survive their self-imposed exile." She held her hand up to stop any further questions. "Tell me about my son. Is he happy?"

Star smiled softly. "I've never known him to be otherwise. He has done so much in his life, more than most people do their entire lives. He's the type of man to go in, get things done and leave his mark behind, but it has served him well. He does what he needs to do to set things right and doesn't care who's toes he has to step on to get it done. He's a good man, with a caring heart. He is also ornery as sin," she added with a laugh. "But he's met his match in me. I give as good as I get and sometimes I like to see just how far I can push him," she admitted with a blush.

Star watched in concern as her Themis went stiff and her eyes became vacant. "Themis..mother…" She placed a hand on her new mother's arm.

Themis bolted up. "You must go now -" An explosion rocked the building, it creaked under the strain. "The Kin are attacking again."

She rose from the sofa. The Kin she'd seen before flashed into the room. His body trembling as he stared at her.

Themis drew the portal, "Star, go now!"

Kael threw up a hand and her mother froze, the portal winking out.

Her gaze hardened. "Don't hurt her." She shivered under the heat of his gaze, but held her ground as he approached her.

"I have no intension of hurting her, but nor could I let her interfere."

She studied the very tall man. He did not look as polished as he had before. Perhaps the strain of the war was getting to him. "Where are your beautiful wings?"

A small smile curled on his lips. His wings unfurled and spread out, before he pulled them in and they vanished. "They are there when I need them, but I needed to get to you faster than flight would allow."

"Why? Who are you? And what could I possibly be to you? You want to destroy my family."

He frowned. "The Kin did not start this war. We only came to observe. Your family, greedy for power, attacked us. But that has no bearing on you or us. You were never a part of this war. And I am Kael."

The door shattered with an explosion of dust and four Kin walked in. She darted to Themis and put her body between the Kin and her defenseless new mother. Gold tinged blue surrounded her as she gathered her power.

Kael spun around and stepped in front of the women. "They are under my protection. Get out. Now." They blinked, inclined their heads and left. He waved his hand and righted the door before turning to face her. "You are safe from them – now."

What he did made no sense to her. Why would he stand against his own kind and protect her? "Why? Why did you take me last time? Why did you come for me now and why did you come between your own kind and us? Why protect us? This doesn't make any sense. You hate my family." She released her power and the field winked out.

He could only stare. His wife was stunning, even more so full of power and ready to fight. "That is a lot of why's," he said thickly. He cleared his throat. "I took you because I needed to know why I was so drawn to you. I came now because I've been waiting to feel your return. As to why I chose to protect you – I do so because we are bound."

Her brows drew together. "You came to me and protected us because we are bound. Bound to what?"

He studied her intently for a moment. She hadn't been affected by their separation as he had been. She didn't even realize what had happened. "We are bound to each other. You are my mate. My wife."

This was making less and less sense. "I think I would have remembered if we got married." She wanted to tell him she was already married. But she's seen the power of the man and could not risk Cas' life. Not if the man thought she was his mate.

He waved his hand and her new mother disappeared. "Where is she?"

"Safe. She is in another room. But she is safe. I would not risk her life," he said quietly. His armor melted away.

She sucked in her breath at his wide chest and the muscles that rippled under her gaze. She moved her head trying to peer around him.

He looked to the left curiously but saw nothing. "What?"

"I was trying to see what happened to your wings," she admitted and felt heat creep into her cheeks.

He grinned and turned around. Beautiful, colorful wings lay flat against his back. She followed them down, but they disappeared under his pants as if they weren't even there. She reached out her hand to feel their softness, but her fingers skimmed down warm skin. His body shuddered under her touch and her own traitorous body responded to his.

Her touch sent spirals of heat through his body. He groaned at the scent of her desire, his body reacting his mate's need. But he knew she wasn't ready for him yet, she didn't even understand the bond. He turned back to face her and trailed a fingertip down her neck to the mark he'd left upon her. "This was my bind to you." He brought her hand to the top of his shoulder near his neck. "This was your bind to me, completing what I started. It should not have bound us, not in the way that it did. But the bond is eternal. It cannot be undone, nor will our bodies allow us to ignore it. You are my wife, my mate in the deepest sense possible."

She closed her eyes trying to rein in what he was making her feel. When he slid her hand down his chest and placed it over his heart so she could feel its slamming beat, she released a breathy moan.

"You cannot fight what was meant to be. I have been in agony since you slipped from my arms."

The raw pain in his voice tore at her heart. Tears slipped down her cheeks. She knew he was the man she'd heard through the portal. "It was you I heard."

His cupped the back of her neck and tilted her head up. "What do you mean?" he asked as he gently wiped away her tears.

"A - a portal opened up in my room. I heard you speaking to me. I tried to reach the portal, but it closed."

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaws, the pain nearly overwhelming. He had found her on his first try and hadn't even been aware of it.

She raised her other hand to his chest. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

His eyes opened and looked down into hers, his raw, naked torment laid bare. Through the stare he showed her his memories, the pain, the agony, the suffering, the way he'd fought as if he didn't care if he survived. "It is what I went through every day of my life since you left. Kin cannot be separate from their mates, it is unbearable and you are more than just a mate," he said hoarsely.

His suffering shattered her. She slipped her arms around his waist and held him to her.

He released a ragged breath and held on to her, desperate for the fleeting contact, knowing she would be ripped from him before long. The tender embrace ignited when she moved against his arousal. He lowered his hands to her waist and drew her up his body. Her arms slipped around his neck and he groaned, his mouth capturing hers with all the hunger and need he'd pent up since they were bound. His chest rumbled with a growl when her legs wrapped around his waist. His hands slid down her back to grip her ass and rock her against him. Her illusion of clothing faded. His pants vanished and he rumbled at the feel of her heat against him. He waved his hand turning the sofa into a bed and lowered them onto it. Another wave of his hand and the fireplace ignited in flame.

Her body burned with need, a hot wire responding to his every touch. Her glassy, dazed eyes opened when he broke the kiss. Her gaze burned into his. "Lifemate…" she murmured in awe. How? It made no sense. Her thoughts grew fuzzy…there was something she needed to remember.

He smiled down at her. She finally understood. "Yes. We are one." He slid slowly into her tight, hot sheath. He groaned at the feel of her stretching around him. At her wince he stilled and trailed hot kisses down to her breast. He flicked his tongue over the tight peak and then rolled it between his teeth. When she moaned and arched against him, he drew the bud into the heat of his mouth.

She cried out and slipped her hands into his soft, thick, light golden brown hair, her body writhing against him as he suckled her aching breast. He rocked slowly into her, with each thrust he slid a little deeper. By the time he was hilted inside of her, she'd become accustomed to his girth. She moved against him as his hips thrust harder and faster. He laced is fingers through hers and claimed her lips, their cries swallowed by hot, hungry need. She arched against him and stiffened as she balanced on the precipice, the rumble in his chest sent her spiraling over; she shattered with a hoarse cry.

When her muscles clamped around him, he arched back and roared as his hot seed burst forth, each thrust drenching her womb anew until he swelled and locked tight within her. He lowered his head, his fangs elongating and bit into his bond mark. He pulled back when he felt her flat teeth trying to pierce his skin. "Wife, you are not mortal. Picture your teeth growing into longer and sharper straws, the blood is more potent if you draw it directly into your veins."

She pictured what he told her to and felt her teeth grow. She grinned and sank them into his vein. She felt his large hand cradle her head against him. She froze when she felt the distant pull. She withdrew her teeth and they receded. She looked up into his eyes. "I'm not ready yet!" The thought of leaving her lifemate tore at her soul.

Tears slipped from his eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "I'll find you, no matter what it takes!" He held her tight to him until she faded from his arms. Agony ripped through him. He gripped the sheet and arched back, his scream of aguish echoing through the halls. When he was able to regain some semblance of control, he stormed out of the bed, his armor materializing around him. He waved his hand bringing his wife's mother back.

She looked around the room frantically. "Where is she? Where is my daughter? If you've hurt her –" her eyes narrowed when she saw the pain etched around the Kin's eyes.

"I could never hurt her, she's my wife! I need you to open the portal to her."

She was stunned by the Kin's words. Horror filling her. It wasn't possible. She was her son's lifemate. She was no God, she could not have two. No. She couldn't, but Castiel could. If his damaged soul…No. It didn't matter. She would not turn her son's lifemate over to a Kin, but nor could she tell him that her daughter was bound to her son, for the Kin would kill her son to keep Star. "She's my daughter and you are trying to kill us all. I will not hand my daughter over to Kin!"

His wings burst out. "We didn't start this war! You attacked us! And I have not lifted a hand against your pantheon since I met her! I have to find my wife! Where is she?"

Themis shook her head. "It doesn't matter who started the damned war! I protected my daughter from her father and I will protect her from the Kin, with my life!"

He flashed away when he felt a desperate fury build within him. If he stayed he'd kill her and he couldn't do that to his wife.

She just blinked when he disappeared. Why would he leave, he could have easily tortured or killed her. She returned to her stone prison to rest with questions she had no answers to.

-BREAK EIGHTEEN-

The ship pitched and swayed. They came awake abruptly. Castiel clung to her tightly, cradling her as the tumbled onto the floor. His hand beneath her head to protect her. She tried to get up and cried out in pain. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. The same hand that had protected her head in the fall had also trapped her hair under it.

They untangled their legs and the ship pitched again. Alarms rang out all over the ship. As the ship bucked and heaved he made his way precariously to the com Button. "Joker!" he yelled, "What the fuck!"

"Were under attack, Commander…unidentified vessel…" Joker replied

"And you didn't see fit to com me?"

"I've been kind of busy keeping us alive…figured, you know, the alarms might tip you off."

They pulled on their clothing and hurried to the elevator. The Normandy shook again. He kissed his wife and stepped off the elevator at a run, heading to Castaria's locker, where his armor had been stored.

The doors slid closed behind him and she depressed the down button to the cargo bay to an extra locker that had stored her armor. Had the geth found them? But how? If it were a geth vessel, Joker would have known..the sensors would have known. She needed to get to the bridge.

The cargo bay was hectic with half-suited soldiers and techies running around in chaotic upheaval. Explosions could be heard in different parts of the ship. Damn…this didn't bode well. She suited up as fast as she could and ran for the elevator. Shit! It was offline. She darted to the emergency hatch, pulled the ladder down, and headed up into the escape tunnel. She could hear others scurrying up behind her like rats in the dark. Worry and fear warred within her. She had to get to her husband. Whatever happened she would be at his side…where she had been since the moment she'd met him.

She heard a new alarm chime…it was the evacuation alarm. She crawled up onto the next deck and took off at a run. The ship bucked and sent her sprawling…narrowly avoiding an electrical fire. She got up on shaky legs and continued on. She had to find him.

The Normandy was shaking apart. Fires cropped up all around him. There were numerous hull breaches. Castiel activated the distress beacon and hoped the Alliance would find them in time. He picked up a fire extinguisher and focused his attention on the fires. He had to give the crew time to board the evac pods.

Kaidan raced up behind him. He explained the Joker refused to leave his station and that he was staying too. "Goddamn it! I'll take care of Joker," he told him. "I need you to make sure the crew gets aboard the evac pods safely. "

"Shepard…" he felt like he needed to be doing something more.

"For fuck's sake, go Kaidan!" he interrupted. "Now!" he said firmly.

He gave him a silent look… then nodded his head in resignation and anger. "Aye-aye, sir."

He headed through the hall and up the ramp onto the CIC deck. Star stumbled into him as the deck heaved. "Star! You need to head to the evac pods."

"No," she said firmly. "You're my husband, I'm not leaving you. I love you, there is no way in hell I'm letting you out of my sight." She gave him a hard look for good measure.

He closed her eyes briefly. He loved her. He looked at her and trailed a hand down her cheek. "Ok," he sighed. Knowing he would never talk her into leaving. "Let's go get Joker."

They weaved their way carefully through the smoke, the debris, and the dangling electrical wires that shot off sparks in every direction. They opened the emergency door that led to the next sector. He grabbed onto Star to hold her in place while she activated her magboots. The huge hull breach left the entire top of the ship open to space. He released her when he saw her firmly anchored to the flooring. They skirted what was left of the galaxy map and CIC work stations and headed for the main hall that led to the cockpit.

Moving aside floating work station chairs they entered through a blue barrier that protected the cockpit. Joker's hands were flying on the consoles, moving between the holo displays at lightning speed.

"Joker, we need to go." he told him matter of fact.

"I'm not leaving the Normady. I can still save her!"

"No, Jeff...you can't. She is lost to us. Going down with the ship won't change that."

He hung his head and nodded. "I know," he said weakly. "She's my baby… "

Frustrated, Castiel grabbed the pilot in his power and lifted him from the chair and moved him towards his wife. He was simply too big and didn't want to risk injuring the man with his strength.

Star grabbed Joker's arm wrapped it around her neck to help support him with the bucking of the ship. She had no intension of letting him fall and shatter something. Another explosion rocked the ship. Castiel spun around and saw a massive fiery ray blast through the ship behind them. He nodded to his wife and they headed toward the cockpit's private evac pod. It was the only way left for them off the ship. If survival was an issue… that is. And it was.

Star helped Joker into the pod and made sure he was firmly strapped in. She turned around to help Castiel and another fiery blast hit the ship. The concussion sent Castiel flying back from the pod. She ran towards him, saw his hand go up. He flung her back into the pod with a burst of power and put up a barrier field at the pod's entrance.

No! He wouldn't do that to her…. she hurled a burst of power at the barrier, but it held tight. She beat at it, clawing it in desperation. She saw him crash against a wall, a golden field wrapped around him. He pushed off, grabbed onto the corner of the release console, he put his fist over his heart, and then slapped his hand over the eject pad. The doors on the pod slammed shut. All she had left was a tiny view window. She watched in horror as he was thrown against the side of the ship and blown out into space. His body bucked and heaved, his air valve damaged, venting into space. He went still…The barrier field winked out…and he disappeared from her view as the Normandy exploded into a fiery mass of shrapnel.

Her heart shriveled and she sank into a boneless heap as their pod was buffeted by the concussive waves of the Normandy's detonation. They were married. They were supposed to be in this together…not apart. He took that choice away from her. She might have been able to save him or she might have joined him. But it should have been her choice to make. Not his. She didn't even have the strength to be angry at him. She knew, deep in her heart, that had their positions been reversed she'd have done the same damn thing to protect him. Silent tears fell unheeded down the sides of her face. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing. She had only to wait for death to take her. At least she would not have to live without him. She had hoped she would have died instantly with him, because this waiting to die was torture.

When he was propelled away from the evac pod he knew his wife would come for him. He had considered letting her, if he died, he knew she would too, but in the end, he couldn't bare seeing her die. With a sadness that tore at his soul he sent a wave of power at the woman he loved and pushed her back into the pod. He threw up a barrier field to keep her there.

Another blast propelled him into a wall. He shook his head to clear it and made a mad grab for the release console. He took one last yearning look at her and mouthed I love you. He realized she couldn't see his mouth, so brought his fist to his heart.

His hand slapped down on the eject pad as another blast caused the console to slip from his grasp. He was slammed against the torn hull and propelled into space. He looked around at the debris and destruction around him. Perhaps rescue ships would arrive before his air gave out. And if not, he would surly survive, wouldn't he? Being spaced was not a test of his healing ability that he ever thought he'd have to survive.

His suit's built in computer started sounding an alarm. He ran diagnostics on his helmet's internal display. But he knew the problem before the diagnosis was completed. His oxygen supply was venting. The air was getting thinner and it was becoming more of an effort to breath. He recorded a last message. "I am Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy, acting captain of the Normandy SR1. The Normandy was destroyed by an unknown vessel, its crew jettisoned in escape pods. Please see that my remains are returned to Mindoir. To the Council and the Alliance: The Reapers are coming, be prepared at all costs. To my family: Be strong. I love you all. To my wife: You will always be the best part of me. Have faith that I will join you, if not in this lifetime, then the next. I will always love you." He gasped and let out a ragged breath. "This is Commander Shepard signing off for the last time." The last words were wheezed out.

He reached behind him trying to get to the air hose. Maybe if he could cover the damage…but it kept slipping from his grasp. His body began to buck and heave, contorting him in its fight to pull in air where was none left to be had.

He did not want the last thing he saw before leaving this world to be chunks of debris in endless space. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his last thoughts on his wife. Her lips as they moved when she called him her golden god…black dots appeared on the edges of his vision, funneling inward until all that was left was a pin-point of light that winked out.

-BREAK NINETEEN-

An alliance rescue ship finally showed and collected the escape pods. But they could not find the Commander's body. They spent days, sending shuttles out, but nothing was ever found. They suspected it burned up entering the atmosphere of a planet. He was declared dead and promoted to Captain posthumously.

Star barely went through the motions of living, but she was tired of waiting for death to take her. "V'Atre!"

The drell appeared next to her. "Star, 'tis good…" his words stopped cold. Something was dreadfully wrong. She was pale and the loss of weight was obvious.

"Take me home. It's your job and I cannot bear waiting, it is killing me," she said, fresh tears falling from swollen eyes.

V'Atre swallowed hard. It was obvious what she meant. But he couldn't understand why she wanted him to release her. He looked around. "Where is Cas?"

She dropped to her knees with an anguished cry. "The Normandy was attacked. He threw me into an escape pod. I watched as his body twisted in agony, unable to take a breath…he died in the vacuum of space. I should have been with him! I shouldn't be here! I was supposed to die with him! If you have any mercy…if you care for me at all, please take me home. I can't live like this," she pleaded.

V'Atre was horrified. No. Cas cannot be gone. Yet he did not feel him. He did however feel something new. She was soulbound. But if not to Cas, then who? And why didn't she know? How was it even possible? He picked her up, forced her into a healing sleep and flashed them to Mindoir. He looked around the entertainment room, but it was empty. "Thane! Angel!"

Thane rushed from their bedroom. Kip and Reena stepped from their room as well. They caught sight of Star, limp in his arms.

"What happened?" asked Thane hoarsely. "Star – Aria has been despondent for days. She can't feel Cas anymore."

"The Normandy wast attacked and destroyed. Star said he forced her into an escape pod and wast thrown from the ship. She said she watched his body die from lack of air. She hast been suffering for days. She wishes for me to release her. I canst not do so. She mun survive." Nor could he tell them why.

No. No. Cas could not be dead. Thane's mouth opened but no words came from it.

Kip and Reena's legs gave out and they fell to the floor holding each other as their hearts shattered. To lose another son was almost more than they could bear.

"Star's alive," Thane managed to get out. "That means Cas must still be alive." He had to be. For his parents, for his Star, for Cas' Star, for their family. He had to be.

V'Atre closed his eyes. "Angel and I hadst hoped this need never come to light. Cas and Star's bond wast not complete. Something wast wrong with it. Their bodies and brains felt the lifemate bond, but their souls and lifeforces didst not bind. I canst not say the why of such, only that 'tis so."

Thane helped his parents up and settled them on the sofa. "He can heal; he may not have crossed the sea."

V'Atre's eyes filled with love and misery, tears slipped down his cheeks. He was glad he still held Star, because he wasn't sure if he could stop himself from going to Angel and holding her. He lowered himself to the sofa, keeping a tight hold on Star.

Thane froze at the look in the other drell's eyes and turned to see his wife standing behind him, her eyes filled with agony. He rushed to her side and pulled her into his arms. "The Normandy was attacked. Cas didn't make it to an escape pod."

"I know, it should have been me," she said through a raw throat. She walked woodenly over to Star and knelt down in front of them. She took Star's hand. Saw the pale skin and bones. "She suffers, but is denied relief from it. How can the fates be so cruel?"

"Her destiny hast not been fulfilled. Mayhap, that 'tis why the bond wast flawed." He was at the limit of what he could say, lest he reveal it all. And something told him that revealing everything now would be the biggest mistake he could make. While her powers were strong, mayhap stronger than his own now, she was not ready. And he could not risk her. Not ever. And right now her pain made her vulnerable. "She wilt need all of thee to get through this. I canst not be here, for I wilt be a constant reminder of what I wouldst not do for her." That lay like a leaden weight on his heart. If he had not known she was now soulbound, he would have released her for mercy's sake alone.

Castaria wiped away her tears and forced the pain deep within, she would address it later, but right now her parents and Star needed her to be strong."Of course, she will be taken care of. We will be there for her. She rose to her feet. "Come, let's lay her down in – their room." She had nearly said Nik's room and she was glad she'd caught herself. She didn't need to add more pain to what her parents were already going through.

V'Atre followed Angel to Cas' room. It was a room he knew well, for he had to share it with Cas in the past when they were both bachelors. When Angel turned back the covers he laid Star down gently on the bed and tucked her in."I didst put her into a sleep. She wilt awaken after her body hast rested enough."

Angel wrapped her arms around V'Atre's waist. "Thank you for finding her and bringing her here and thank you for not letting us find out what happened from a com."

He held her to him, his heart aching, and kissed the top of her head. "I wilt always be here for thee. For all of thee." When she looked up at him, his heart turned over and it took all his strength not to lower his head to claim her lips. He cleared his throat and took a step back, releasing her. "I wilt look for Cas." He hugged Thane and his parents and flashed away. He didn't think he'd find him, but it was a good excuse to leave before he did something he'd regret.

-BREAK TWENTY-

Star barely managed to put one foot in front of the other, one day blending in the next, there was no real meaning. She was existing, but she wasn't living. As the days rolled by family began trickling in as they heard about what happened. Even Sol wasn't able to drag her back to the land of the living. He didn't know how to reach her and that tore at him.

The brass forced all of the Alliance members to go on leave. They could not resume active duty until they had time to grieve and pass psych evals. The non-Alliance team members resumed their lives, taking what they'd learned with them.

After a few weeks Star's skin had color and she was gaining back the weight she'd lost, but they could not get her open to them, she was like a robot, and empty shell that did what it was told and little else. Her parents, her brother and the rest of her family had to return to their lives, even if they did so with heavy hearts. It was Liara that came up with an idea. She had begun working as an intel broker on Illium and ran across a couple of locations that should be rich in prothean artifacts. Working with Lori and Lachlan, Liara was able to acquire the equipment they'd need to begin new dig sites. She had the equipment delivered to the Manticore.

"Liara, Star's in no shape to take care of herself. She'll just waste away again," Castaria said with concern.

"She won't be alone, Shepard. There's CC, CJ, Lachlan and Lori. They can make sure she takes care of herself. What's important is getting her brain involved with something again. She is a woman driven by seeking knowledge; she can't do that in the comfort of her family's arms. She needs to be out there doing something and if you go with her, you are more likely to coddle her than anything else. It is time for tough love, Shepard. You've done all you can for her, it's up to her now."

Nothing else had worked, maybe Liara was right. It's not like Star would be completely alone. She and her parents had thrown themselves into helping the community and with the fall harvest coming on, they had lots to do to keep busy, but Star didn't have their connection to Mindoir. "You're right, Liara. I'll see that she has everything she needs and get her aboard the Manticore. Maybe doing something she loves will bring her back to us."

When she told her parents, they agreed. It broke their hearts to see her as she was, knowing they couldn't help her. "She should take the Whirliwind," Reena put forth.

Castaria grinned. Her mother had always forced the Whirlwind on her until she had the Phoenix. "Nice try, mom. She is more than safe on the Manticore and it can get her where she needs to go much faster."

"But the memories…"

"She has gone so many places, done so much with Cas that there is no place she can go where the memories won't follow. A sunset, a turian, a krogan, star systems, Citadel…it doesn't matter where she goes, there will be reminders everywhere. What's important to her is to engage and she has to do it soon, before we lose her all together."

"S-Aria is correct," Thane said quietly. "It is as though Star has fallen into solipsism, preferring to live in the past..in memories rather than face the present. If she does not pull out of the catatonia, she will be lost to it." Not that he could truly understand what she was going through, unlike Star he would not survive his lifemate's death.

With the decision made, they commed Cori and Lori, letting them know what was going to happen. Lachlan and Lori Ann met them at the airlock. Lori's heart broke at the vacant look in her best friend's eyes. She wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to work out. But she didn't. She shuttered her pain away. She winked at Angel and Thane. "I'm glad vacation's over. We lost James and Noble to leave. It's just you, us, the stars and the protheans. And I, for one, have an itch t'see this site prospect. T'be the first to evaluate it. From what Liara was able to find, it looks like it might have been a research facility. Can ye imagine findin' another Vigil? Perhaps one intact? Or maybe a beacon?" Lori clapped her hands in excitement. "I can almost feel that ancient knowledge pourin' through me from a beacon!"

Senseless words tore and scratched at her. She raised her hands to her head and cried out in pain as sharp needles pricked at her. Dormant synapses firing. For just a moment everything cleared. She grabbed her friend's arm. "No!" and then everything quieted once more, her hand fell limply to her side as she rejoined her husband. He'd been with her nearly from the start. At first she'd only been able to see his vague form, then when he eventually came into focus, she could see his lips move, but couldn't hear him. Now he was with her as if he were standing next to her. His words were comforting. Telling her he was with her, not to give up on him.

Lori grinned. It was better than she'd hoped. Star was in there, buried under the surface, but there. "I'll pull her out kickin' and screamin', if I have to."

Stunned, Castaria pulled Star around to face her. She'd tried to reach her so many times, but she'd never been able to find where she'd buried herself. She placed a hand against her sister's temple and closed her eyes, gently feathering her way into her mind. It seemed fear is what had brought her out, not love. Fear for someone she loved. There were two things she would do for her sister. She found the file she needed in her own memory and shared the prothean philter that had been given to her last year. She sighed and frowned, she hated what she was about to do, but she was desperate. Pictures flowed into Star's mind, a new site prospect, a discovered facility, a broken vial, glass piercing Lori's hand, red, pulsing streaks raced up her arm. Lori screamed in anguish as her eyes began to leak blood. She made the memory just unreal enough that awake, she'd know it was a dream, but now it would be all too real.

Star's body went rigid, she broke away from Castaria and grabbed her friend's hand, turning it palm up. She ran her fingers over the intact skin and up her forearm. She caught her chin between her fingers, her gaze boring into her friends. "Stay away from the vials!" Her hand fell away and she slipped back into the dark.

Thane was shocked by what he'd just witnessed. He knew exactly what his wife had done. She could give or take memories, but never had she given a nightmare. She hated that Cas used to have to do that in interrogations before he'd taken over the Reds. But for his wife to have done such…there was no doubt that memory would be a painful burden that would weigh heavily on her heart.

Lori just blinked. "Well, I'm not sure what that was about, but I'll stay away from the vials…maybe," she amended honestly.

With heavy hearts Thane and Castaria left the Manticore. But it looked like Liara just might be right about what Star needed to come back to them. She needed to engage. Since the brass still had her on leave, she had considered going with them, but she didn't feel right about leaving her parents alone until she knew they were going to be okay. And because she had to force her pain back, she knew she wasn't ready either, because she'd not dealt with her brother's loss yet. How could she? She couldn't feel him, but she also didn't believe he was truly gone. He can't be gone. He can't. She would have known if he was dead, right? They were twins. Denial. She had to be in the denial stage. If so, she had a long way to go to recover herself.

-BREAK TWENTY-ONE-

Lori took over Star's care. But instead of actually bathing or dressing her, she told Star exactly what was expected of her and waited for her to do it. While Star was dressing she'd talk about things she thought were puzzling, even if she knew or thought she knew the answer, because she wanted Star to think about the problem. Her best friend was the best problem solver she'd ever met and she suspected that was the only way to bring her back to them. That and her need to protect. She almost hoped something exciting or dangerous happened at the first site prospect. Star needed that jolt.

When Cori told them they had arrived and the atmosphere scanned breathable, she loaded their gear into the new Mako type rover she'd found loaded in the ship. She wasn't sure where it came from, but it was a sleek black color with Manticore emblazoned on the side. Certainly didn't look Alliance issued. Nor was the interior. She'd never seen anything like it before…well, except for the shuttle and the ship. Had to be Teiner Tech made. With a belabored sigh, she let her brother drive after the ship touched down on the planet as close as it could get to the possible site.

She could only blink at the smooth ride; the damned thing didn't steer like a drunken rhino.

"Damn me, this ride is sweet!" Lachlan said with a deep chuckle. "I bet –" He'd had to clamp his jaw shut, nearly mentioning Cas' name. "Well, I canna wait to test all she has t'give. Bet she'll put the Mako t'shame!"

"Boys and their toys," Lori teased her brother with a mock roll of her emerald eyes.

"Hey now, I resemble that!"

"Exactly so..." she said with a grin.

"Except I'm a manly man…no boyo here," he said with a waggle of his brows.

Lori laughed. "Will you listen ta that, Star? My brother the manly man," she teased as the rover came to a stop.

Lachlan jumped out of the rover and ran around to help Star out. "I am a manly man," he said with a deep Scottish rumble. "I can sweep any woman off their feet. See?" he said as he spun Star out of the rover and into a dance.

Star's steps were wooden at first, but the intricate steps of the dance drew her attention. She forced her way from the dark and concentrated on not continuing to step on Lach's toes. When she worked out the pattern her movements began to flow with her partner.

Lori watched in awe as her friend began to respond to her brother's movements. She wasn't sure why he'd chosen to do one of the most difficult dances they'd learned as children, but it had become an effective tool. She also noticed her brother's face the moment he realized Star was responding to him. Oh, Lach…no…please no. She turned away, her heart aching for her brother, to scan the area and discovered what appeared to be a door..of sorts along one of the walls.

Lachlan didn't mind at all that Star was stepping all over his feet, she was too small and light for it to be painful. At 6'1" he outweighed her by over a hundred pounds. His heart fluttered when he felt her body begin to respond to his movements. He splayed his hand wider across her back and pulled her against him as he increased the tempo of the steps. His heart slammed in his chest when her body melted against his as she followed his lead. When the dance ended he dipped her, looked down into blue eyes that sparked with life and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. He wanted to taste her so badly, but he knew she wasn't ready for that. Indeed, she may never be. "I dinna ken ye could dance, Star."

"I can't," she said quietly as she slipped back into the dark.

Lachlan pulled her up to a stand and brushed the light blonde waves from her cheek. "Come back t'us, Star. We miss you." He lowered his voice. "I miss you." He'd always kept his feelings tightly locked away. She had been married and far out of his reach. He had no intension of pursuing her yet, not until she was ready to move on. But nor would he continue masking everything he felt. He wanted her to know that he was there for her in any way that she needed him.

"Lach! Bring her over here. I've found a door. At least I think it's a door." She ran her fingers around the edges where the door met the wall. But she couldn't find any way to trigger its release. "There's gotta be a catch somewhere…a latch or somethin'."

With his hand at Star's back, he guided her to his sister. "Cory, do ye get any readin's?" he asked through the com he'd opened via his OT.

"Lori is right, Lach, it is a door, but the power source appears to be disengaged or no longer functioning. I cannot open it and have found no power sources that could be used to open it," Cory informed them.

Well, that was not good news. Lori continued to run her hands along the door until her palm pressed down on something. She cried out in pain when a jolt went through her body. She studied the door more closely. There appeared to be several strange symbols on the door. "The door appears t'have several glyphs or symbols embedded on it. I accidentally pressed one, but it triggered somethin'..maybe a defense measure." She turned to look at her brother. "I think it's a type of lock. We just need t'figure out the right sequence t'open it, preferably without bein' electrocuted." She sent a scan of the symbols to Cory to try to identify them.

"I'm sorry, Lori, there is nothing in my databanks that I can associate with those symbols."

"Thank you for tryin', Cory. It was worth a try." She pressed two symbols one after another and spun around when a hum sounded behind them.

"Oh shite!" Lachlan yelled, shoving Star behind his back as two pillars rose from the ground, one on each side of the entry. The top of the pillar rotated and lit up, a beam shot out. He threw his arm around Star and dove to the left to avoid being hit. He covered Star's body with his own and looked over towards the rover. The rover was their only source of cover, if they could make it to the rover, that was.

Lori hissed in pain as the beam seared her side when she tried to dodge it. "I'm fine, just a wee bit singed. Do you think we'll make it back to the rover?" she asked when she caught the direction of her brother's gaze.

"I don' ken, Lor," he'd give anything for a weapon or even a shield right now, something that would give them a chance against the facilities defenses. A wave of power caught him and rolled him to the side.

Star shot out of the dark and blinked as her body came to life. In a flash she realized something must have happened. She could feel Lach's weight pressing down on her and couldn't make out what was going on around them. But she could feel the tremor in his body and the fast beat of his heart. They were in danger. She used her power to roll him off her, rose on shaky legs and held out her arms, a shield bubble forming around them just in time for the bolts to ricochet off the shield. "What's happening?" she asked hoarsely, her voice rusty from disuse.

A wave of relief struck the twins. "I mun have triggered the facility's defenses when I tried t'get the door t'open."

"Show me," she said as another round of bolts bounced off the shield. She followed Lori to the door, the shield moving with them. She studied the symbols. Why did they seem familiar to her? "What did you touch?"

Lori pointed to a symbol on the right. "I accidentally touched this one first; it sent a shock through me. Then I hit these two in the middle, t'test what the sequence might be. First that one, then this one."

Star nodded, but knew random guessing wasn't going to work. "The symbols are letters. Using the letters provided, the only word I can make of them is dvield." She shook her head. Not sure how I know what that is, but I do. It means 'enter'. A very simple lock, so doubtful it was meant to keep other protheans out." She drew more power into the shield until it glowed bright, then she pushed it out in both directions, the power slammed into the turret pillars, spinning the focusing eyes around. She quickly depressed the symbols and the door slid into the wall, followed by the pillars retracting back into the ground. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dark within. Dark…she felt its pull.

Lachlan grasped her chin and turned her head to face him. "Don' go back, Star. Focus. We need ye. If ye hadn't…" his voice trailed off. If she hadn't woken up, there was a good chance they all would have died.

She frowned, needing to go back to the dark, where there was no pain, where her husband would visit. But he was right, if she hadn't awoke…She sighed as the dark receded. "I'm here. Let's see what we can find." With Lach at her back she followed Lori through the door. The room lit up with their entrance, but it was dim, probably emergency lighting. But even to get that much was surprising, as the facility had remained dormant for fifty thousand years.

As they combed through the rooms, they were disappointed to find that none of what appeared to be terminals still functioned. The rooms were in some disarray, as if the occupants left in a hurry. They collected smaller items, some of which looked vaguely familiar, like communication devices and datapads. But some of the items were unidentifiable. Regardless, this place was a goldmine, in as much as no other site had been found with so many artifacts. They would need to call in an investigation team to see if they could get any information from the terminals.

Star's vision had improved since the transfusion and she caught sight of an odd pile on the floor in a back corner of room. She hurried over to it and knelt down. It appeared to be dust or debris, but there were a couple of small items in the pile that gave a more ominous story. The pile was not debris, it was remains. Even the sealing of the room could not prevent the degradation of time. She pulled the items from the remains. "Lori, Lach, come here. Do you have any containers? If so, please take a sample from the remains. It's probably too degraded to get a reading, but I'd like to take it back to the Manticore's lab."

"Remains?" Lach said as his long legs allowed him to beat his sister to where Star was hunkered down. "Real prothean remains!...or dust," he corrected shining his flashlight on the debris. His sister took out a plastic container and filled it before placing it reverently into her pack.

Star smiled. "As opposed to fake prothean remains?"

"Funny, Star," he said drolly. Though right now, he'd take any abuse she handed out, he was just too relieved that she was back. "If'n yer correct about this bein' remains, they might be the first ever discovered."

Star looked over the devices. One looked like…it couldn't be…it looked like a remote, similar in nature to unlocking or opening skycar doors. She pushed one of the buttons, but nothing happened. She placed her thumb on what might have been a biometric scanner and then pushed a button at the same time. Hmmm…there had to be some way to activate it. Of course, if it was biometrics, she was hardly prothean. But it was also likely drained after so long. Her arm lit up as a burst of power shot down it and into the device. The device glowed weakly and door opened in the wall behind the remains. She shot a smile to the twins. "Bingo."

The door led to stairs that seemed to go down quite some distance. She hurried down the stairs, trying to ignore the bouncing light from the twins' flashlights as they followed her down. She came to a stop at the bottom and just stared. Stasis pods were grouped around the large room. If there were any words to describe what each grouping meant, they had long faded to time. In awe they fanned out across the room to see if any of the pods showed any signs of life.

Lachlan caught sight of a faint glow and hurried over to one of the pods. The pod stood alone, it was not grouped like the others. He scanned it and cried out for the women to get their asses over to him. He flipped open the panel on the top, but the strange symbols meant nothing to him. He had to hold back to keep from touching anything. "This one still has power!"

Lori looked down at the nonsensical symbols. "Star, can you read any of that?"

Star looked down at the symbols. She didn't understand why the symbols made sense to her, but they did. "It's a key sequence to reverse the stasis process. But I don't know what the sequence is."

"There were more symbols on the door," he said as he lowered the panel back down.

Star peered more closely, but the symbols were hard to make out. She wiped the panel with her sleeve and blew on it. "Hmm…I think it says Otek Vorn, but that makes little sense to me, it's not sensible words. Well, shit, it's a name," she said with a blush. "Wait there's a series of..yes…it's got to be." She flipped open the panel and programmed in the series of numbers she'd seen. She held her breath when the pod began to hum.

"You've done somethin' all right. This is unbelievable. T'think a real – er a prothean might actually be alive. And that we found it," Lachlan's body was trembling with excitement, his emerald eyes lit with an inner fire.

Star wasn't sure how long the process of reversal would take on the prothean pod, so she flipped on her OT. When her friend's face appeared on the screen, she smiled brightly. "Liara! We are at the coordinates of one of the prospective sites. It appears to be a research facility."

"Oh, Goddess! Star! You are.." tears fell from her eyes.

"Awake? Yes, Lori and Lach ran into a bit of trouble with the facilities' defenses. It pulled me from the dark."

"The dark? Oh – never mind, tell me later. What did you find?" Liara asked as she wiped the tears off her face. She thought Star was lost to her.

"We found several artifacts, some appear to look similar to datapads and communication devices, but until we can examine them more closely, that is just a guess on my part. We also found remains. They were nothing but dust, but we're hoping they are not too degraded to analyze."

Liara was beyond excited. Several prothean artifacts, remains, it was like a dream come true…if only she'd pulled herself away from Ilium…she should have been there with them…been there with Star. "I'm going to be there as soon as I can. Have Cory send me the coordinates of the Manticore."

"Liara, honey, sit down if you are not already," Star said with a brilliant smile on her face.

"I'm sitting…I had to when you told me about what you found," she admitted with a blush.

"Well, it gets better. Under the facility we found multiple stasis pods. Probably the scientists. Anyway, one of them still held power. We are in the process of a reversal right now."

Liara let out a harsh breath. "Goddess…I can't believe it. I should have been there with you. This is – this is the greatest scientific find in…in ever."

Star laughed. "In ever?"

Liara blushed again. "I'm sorry, I'm not thinking very well right now. I'm in a state of shock."

"I wish you were here…oh-" she altered the direction of the com camera when she heard the hiss from the pod. "You can at least see it with us."

The doors of the pod opened outward. Star just blinked. She didn't know what she expected a prothean to look like, but it was certainly not that. It was turquoise in color, had four eyes, a nose unlike anything she had seen before and what appeared to be a carapace along the top of an elongated head. It appeared bipedal, humanoid, but also almost insectile in nature.

"I wasn't expecting…" Liara's voice trailed off as the prothean's eyes blinked open.

Otec's vision came to him slowly as his eyes adjusted to lighting. His sense of smell hit him with a wrongness. He blinked several times before his eyes were able to focus. Nonsensical words filtered through. He looked up at the faces that peered down at him in shock. He sat up and propelled himself backward over the lid. His legs gave out and he fell to one knee. His body trembling with the efforts and shock of moving. He turned out the incessant buzzing of words that meant nothing to him and looked around the room, his gaze falling on the other pods. Dull, drained…dead. No..he shook his head.

"Stay back," Star told the twins as she approached the prothean slowly. If he, at least she thought it was a he, attacked she was the only one that could defend and heal. "Please, we are not here to hurt you. I know this is all a shock to you and you are probably confused, but I only want to make sure -"

He looked over when one of the primitives approached him. He readied his power. She didn't look dangerous, didn't seem threatening, but she was in his research facility uninvited. The buzzing words were giving him a headache. When she got too close, he stepped forward and grabbed her arms, feeling her physiology, learning her pictures, what her mind had to tell his.

Star closed her eyes as a scene played through her mind. The prothean carefully locked up his lab work, …He dashed from the lab, and stopped cold outside its doors. The true horror of it all caused his mouth to fall open and a strangled cry to be torn from him.

The Reapers had come in numbers. Red beams of destruction criss-crossed the lands like a spider's web. A massive machine landed to his right. The ground shook with the weight of its landing.

She saw him flip open what looked to be some kind of OT, but only static could be seen. Pain and misery could be seen in his eyes as he stumbled back into the lab, and down into the labyrinth beneath. He lowered himself into his cryo-stasis pod; agony etched his face as the lids closed over him.

Star blinked when he released her and took a stumbling step backwards. "Why did you show me that?"

He released a breath. "Because I need to find my family, human." At least they looked human, though far more refined then when last he saw them.

"I am Star, not human. And where are they?" She asked in concern. The likelihood of them having survived was all but zero.

"In a bunker outside the Supreme House," he said as he headed for the stairs. As much as he would have liked to have taken the stairs several at a time, his body was not recovered enough yet. When he fell to a knee halfway up the stairs, he slammed his fist on the stair in frustration. He felt a presence a moment before the human – Star took his arm and looped it around her neck, helping him to his feet. He was grateful, even more so that she did not say anything to rub his humiliation in; she just gave him her silent strength. She was not at all what he remembered humans as being like.

Once outside he looked around at a landscape both familiar and alien. Little was how he remembered it. Buildings that once towered were rubble. His home…he had to find his home. She helped him into the vehicle and he directed her where to go. He eyes drank in the utter devastation of what had once been his lands. "These are my lands….as far as the eye could see."

Star didn't need to know what it used to look like to see that everything he once knew and loved had been destroyed.

"I'm sorry, Otek," Liara said. "I can't imagine what you're going through. To wake up after fifty thousand years, as if it were only minutes, to find everything so different."

He glanced at the asari on the communication device. Unlike the humans, the asari did not look as changed by evolution. "You can't begin to know. I was once the proud ruler of the Supreme House, now I rule only death and rubble."

Liara was stunned. That must have been why his pod was the last one, the only one powered. One by one the other must have shut down to conserve power for their ruler. It was a harsh irony. "If you were a ruler, why were you in a research facility?"

He was both irritated and relieved by the woman's questions. "Does a ruler do nothing but sit on a throne? I was also a lead scientist. I was trying to find a way destroy the reaper ground troops. But I ran out of time. I failed. You said fifty thousand years?" he asked in horror. Then the cycle was upon them again. He shook his head. "We were supposed to have been awakened sooner to have a chance to complete our work and now the cycle is already up on us. I have failed again."

"You have not failed," Star said quietly. "We were able to delay the invasion last year. We destroyed the vanguard and prevented it from activating the Citadel. This cycle still has a chance."

He nodded. "A slim one."

Star chuckled. "Do not discount us, Otek. We may surprise you."

"There," he said, pointing to the ragged ruins of his home on the right. He directed her to a location adjacent to the estate and then hopped out of the vehicle. The destruction tore at his heart. His eyes opened wider. His children! He stood straighter, locked his knees, and made his way stiffly towards the bunker's hidden entrance.

A green glow enveloped him as he used his biotics to clear away the debris covering the entrance. His large wings fluttered with the force of the power he emitted…or, perhaps, it was due to the emotion that was tearing through him. He pried the unresponsive ground door open and followed the stairs down into the underground bunker, his path lit only by the green glow of his biotics.

All of them were stunned to see the prothean's wings. They folded against him so tightly that they had been unaware he even had them. But when they opened they could see the slits down the back of his robes that allowed for them to freely be used.

Otek skirted fallen beams and tried not to look too closely to the crushed pods and the family members that lay within. When he reached the designated plot for his children, he fell to his knees. Massive chunks of the floor above had crashed down upon their pods. The pods were crushed and shattered. He bowed his head as grief overwhelmed him.

A low, faint, light caught the attention of one of his eyes. It belonged to the two empty pods. Pods that would have belonged to he and his wife, had she been alive and had he been at home. Why couldn't they have been the pods to be crushed?

That was when realization and a bitter anger sank in. He rose stiffly to his feet and moved to stand in front of the offensive pod. Someone…someone dared to use his family's pods! Someone being kept alive. Someone that should have died instead of his children! A raw rage grew within him. The green of his biotics flared. His wings fluttered in agitation. His fingers flew over the pad, starting the sequence to open the pod to give him access to tear the intruder limb from limb.

The woman had put up a biotic barrier around him. His hands gripped at the gold sparkled blue barrier. His biotics crackled around him and he briefly thought about tearing it asunder, but he couldn't bring himself to risk hurting her. He turned sideways. One pair of eyes on her the other pair on the pod. "Someone is in my wife's pod." He gestured at the pod. "My wife is dead. Someone yet lives while my children lie dead beside them. They have violated the sanctity of the Vorn estate…the Supreme House. It is the highest offense. This is private facility. As leader of the ruling family, I have a right to order their death for this trespass!" His voice rang out with authority. Glaring at her until the barrier dropped.

Then his face fell and his hand dropped to his side. "Despite the offense, there are too few of us. I will allow them to live. But the life-debt they owe is high." His gaze focused intently as the pod slid open.

He let out a gasp, his heart slamming in his chest. He wavered and had to lock his knees to keep his legs from giving out. "My daughter….Anzi" his words barely made it past his tight throat.

And then he was kneeling next to the pod. He took her hand when her eyes popped open. Her memories hit him. He saw her mad dash from work..the destruction raining down around her. He saw her arrive late to their bunker. Her brothers already crushed. She stepped into her mother's pod and the memories silenced. In turn, he'd given her the memories of his own torment, his inability to reach his children, his awakening and the humans who brought him here fifty thousand years later.

Her body was twitching and shaking as it came back to life. He pulled her up against him and held her tightly, unable to stop the small cries that escaped him. Uncaring that the humans saw his weakness yet again. One of his children had survived and that was all that mattered. Now, more than ever, he had reason to fight for the future. Their future. The reapers could not win again. He would find a way. He had to. For his daughter…for his people. If they had survived, others must have too. He just needed to find their facilities. Perhaps, with the humans' help.

They gave the pair time to talk quietly on the way back to the Manticore. She gave them general clearance as they entered the ship. She had to approve their biometrics, since it did not match anything in Cory's databanks.

Star gave them a tour of the ship; at least the parts not protected behind nanowalls and then showed them to the crew quarters. "I'm sorry I do not have better quarters to offer you, this is not a luxury liner. Only two beds have been claimed, so you have the choice of the rest." She showed them how to get the beds to slide out and how to use the locker at the foot of the bed. "When you are ready, just ask the ship, Cory, where to find me." She left them alone to talk privately and returned to her friends.

When she stepped into the medbay her friends were talking excitedly, their eyes sparkling. "A lead scientist. Can ye believe it? There is so much he can share with us, lass! What we might learn…the advances..this could jump our knowledge hundreds of years in the future."

"Whoa, Lach, their knowledge may be different, but it may not be any better. Despite whatever knowledge they had, they didn't survive the reapers," Star pointed out. "…but perhaps together, combining our knowledge, we have a chance."

"Way t'kill a buzz, Star," Lachlan grumped.

Star grinned. "But you love me anyway," she teased.

His heart squeezed painfully. "Always, Star…no matter how much ye break my heart and burst my bubbles," his lips curved in a false grin to hide how truthful his words actually were.

Star tilted her head, there was something off in her friend's smile, but his eyes held warmth. Maybe it was just all the excitement about finding the protheans and everything that might mean to everyone. "Liara is on her way."

Lori smiled. "I would have surprised if she had not dropped everything she was doing to see the protheans."

Star looked down at the floor a moment and then raised her eyes to theirs. "I want to thank you for taking me there. I've been so selfish, unable to bear the pain of…well, hiding away. The dark was cool, comforting. There was no pain. And…my husband would visit me there from time to time," she admitted with a blush. "I'm sure it was all in my head, but I didn't want to let go of…of that last piece of him." She wiped at the tears that slipped down her cheeks. "I will try to stay focused, but the nights…I don't know how…I don't know how to survive them." She turned her back to them trying to regain control. She wanted the dark's embrace, she needed it, but she also knew that the reapers could mean death for everyone, what right did she have to hide away while worlds and trillions of people suffered? Her pain meant little compared to a galaxy's pain.

Lachlan held up his hand when his sister moved towards Star. He didn't see her worried frown. He settled his hands on her upper arms, rubbed them gently for a moment and then turned her around to embrace her. "Ye doona have ta go through it alone, Star. We love ye. We'd do anythin' for ye. Even if that means stayin' with ye 'til ye fall asleep each night."

Star held tight to the strong pillar of strength. She didn't like feeling so needy, so weak. And even though he wasn't as large as her husband, his hard muscles and broad shoulders were comforting. She knew that comfort was probably wrong on so many levels but right now she needed to live and without something tangible to cling too, the dark was just too much of a pull to resist. Horrible. Wrong. Weak. One day she would stand on her own again, but right now she needed his strength. May he forgive her weakness some day. She looked up into his emerald green eyes and raised a hand to his cheek. "Don't fall in love with me. Don't let me hurt you, Lach, I'd never forgive myself."

His heart fluttered at her words. Did they mean what he thought? Was she giving him the chance to be there for her? Was she accepting him as something…more? He knew she was still in love with her lifemate, that she always would be. He wasn't even sure how one could get over such a bond. Right or wrong he was in love with her and he would take anything she was willing or able to give. He knew she might not need him for long, but he would be there for as long as she did. "I'm a grown man, Star. I'll handle my feelin's and ye have nothin' ta forgive yerself for when it comes ta us. I know what I'm getting' inta." His hand skimmed up her back and slid through her soft blonde hair to cup the back of her head as he lowered his mouth to hers.

Lori sighed, this couldn't end well. But Lach was right, he was a grown man and he knew where Star's heart lay, if he was willing to take less, than the consequences were on him. Star had done her part, she'd warned him. They were consenting adults and she had no say in the matter. She picked up a datapad and left the medbay.

His mouth clung to hers, sliding seductively over her lips. When she didn't push him away he traced her lips with his tongue, gently teasing until her lips parted for him. With a groan his arms tightened, bringing her body flush to his and his tongue slid into the heat of her mouth to taste what he always thought would be forbidden fruit.

Her arms slid around his neck to pull him closer and his fingers slid through his thick, auburn hair. Her body wasn't on fire, but he knew just what to do to build a need. It was enough. When he picked her up and carried her to the elevator, she was beyond caring. The fact that she felt anything at all told her that her husband was dead, the bond broken. She pushed the thought down deep. She needed this. She felt alive for the first time in a long time.

He laid her reverently on her bed and removed his shirt, shoes and socks before joining her. He had no intension of pushing her too hard or further than she was comfortable with. He pulled her close and claimed her lips once more. His heart thundered in his chest as her hands explored his muscles. One of her nails scraped over his nipple, he shuddered and rocked his hard length against her belly. He growled when her hand slid down to caress the part of him that ached the most for her.

Her shirt parted beneath his fingers, the magnetic buttons releasing with the slightest pressure. He pinched the small fastening between her breasts and freed her breasts from lacy bra that restrained them. Her soft moans nearly did him in when he cupped her breast and teased her nipple with his fingers. He moved, settling himself between her legs as his mouth trailed down to capture the tight bud. He thrust against her cloth covered core, grinding his arousal against her sensitive flesh.

She cried out softly at the contact, her hips rocking against him needing more. She felt the scrape of his teeth and flick of his tongue as he trailed hot kisses over her ribs and down the flat of her belly. Her hips rose in anticipation. She felt the loosening of her pants and the cool air as they slid down her legs. Followed by the tug on her panties. She heard his groan as his hands slid up her inner thighs to part them further. She felt herself grow wetter with need, knowing she would soon feel his hot breath against her.

His thumbs parted her soft, damp skin, revealing all that had been hidden from his starving gaze. "So beautiful," he murmured. He groaned and lowered his mouth to her. He let her body and soft cries tell him how to please her most. He drew his fingers down her cleft and slid them into her hot sheath as tongue and lips made love to her. Her fingers slid into his hair, holding him to her, as her body began to tremble. He opened his eyes and stared into hers as her body stiffened. He couldn't look away. The pleasure on her face as she tumbled into the abyss would stay with him forever.

When her climax abated he removed his pants and ground his length against her wet folds. "Star?" he questioned thickly. He wanted her to know he would stop if that was all the further she wanted to go. When her legs wrapped around his waist he growled and slid into her tight, hot sheath. His mouth captured hers as he thrust into her hard and fast. He angled his hips to better reach the pleasure spot within her. Her cries as she rocked against him were music to his ears.

He tried to fight off the need to come, but it was a losing battle. He was too far gone. He felt his testicles tighten a moment before she clamped down around him, crying out her release. His own bellow joined hers as he fell over the precipice into a pleasure he didn't know was possible.

They held each other as their bodies cooled and their heartbeats slowed. He brushed the damp hair from her face. "Yer so beautiful in every way, me wee bonny lass." When she opened her mouth he placed a finger to her lips. "And doona think ta say thank ye, that sounds like closure and I intend ta make yer body sing for as long as ye will let me."

She felt alive, she could feel and she was grateful. But that sounded like a horrible thing to say. He didn't want her thanks and she couldn't give him the type of love he deserved. Maybe this...what they had now would be enough for him. ..at least until he moved on. She smiled despite the uncertainty of what they were doing. She didn't want to hurt him. "Be careful what you say, Lach, I can be insatiable," she teased.

He chuckled refusing to shutter the love he knew shined from his eyes. "So can I," he said as he thrust into her.

-BREAK TWENTY-TWO-

Word spread fast bout her return and she fielded calls from family most of the evening. After dinner she got a reprieve and began looking over the artifacts they'd found this afternoon. A chime at the door alerted her to a visitor. "Come in," she said.

Otek entered the room, looked around, found where she was seated and joined her. "I wanted to thank you for what you did for me and my daughter." Thanking the human felt odd, most things he took as his due. But she was not a prothean and there was no House left for him to rule. "I have need of a shuttle. There is a vault under my estate. If it is intact, it will give me the means to make a life for my daughter and me."

"Of course, Otek. We will help you if you like. I understand the need to make a new life in a world that is lost to you." She blushed. "Not in the same way; I lost my lifemate and somehow I survived, but I was dead inside for a long time after it happened. It took nearly losing people I loved to bring me back. And now I have to find a way to survive in a world that no longer feels like mine."

He wasn't sure whose pain was greater. He couldn't imagine losing a lifemate, lifemates were supposed to die together, but nor could she imagine the pain of waking up to find everything you knew, you loved, even your very race gone. In the end it didn't matter whose pain was greater. Pain was pain regardless of the reasons behind it. "Who was the asari?"

"Dr. Liara T'Soni, one of my best friends and mentor. She's been studying protheans longer than I've been alive. Was your culture into asari?" she asked curiously.

"Some of them, yes. But for me it was more a fascination..and not in the way that you might think. In my time there were males of the species. This was before the reapers came. There was an accident at a lab; lock down did not occur fast enough, a virus escaped. It attacked and killed only asari males. We feared the young race would become extinct, but the virus had an unexpected side effect. The females began to reproduce without the need of males. That is what we found fascinating. Life found a way. We studied them for years, in truth, we studied all the young races, but we had a lab devoted to studying what the virus did to them and its long term effects."

She was stunned by what she'd learned. It would shatter everything the asari thought they knew. "You might not want to tell Liara that."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not sure asari will ever be ready to hear that truth. It would shatter everything they know and believe."

"Adversity makes us stronger, does it not?"

Her smile was somber. "Do you feel stronger?"

He blinked. "I see your point. But I will feel stronger. I intend to use the wealth in the vault to purchase a ship to hunt down other stasis facilities. If we survived, then surely others must have. I will harvest dna from those that did not survive and clone them. I intend to bring our race back from extinction, if at all possible. We may never rule the galaxy again, but I'd like to think we can find a place in it," he admitted.

"That is a glorious goal and I will help you achieve it any way I can." She paused a moment. "Tell me your story, Otek."

His story. Which one? He had so many. "I would prefer to show it. Words are not always accurate. To see and hear will make it real. He reached out a hand to touch her cheek.

He was a boy… guards tailed him. Training…both fighting and scholarly…guards watched. Eating…guards behind him, tasting his food…his drink. A constant shadow.

Maps laid across tables, strategies planned. He watched his father disappear in the shuttle and wondered if he would come back this time.

Houses rose and fell..until he was finally able to join his father on the field to bring the other races in line under the cosmic imperative. It was one thing to hear about war…another to experience. His face was grim, unwilling to show weakness in the death that flowed around him…and the older men he'd sent to their deaths.

War…war…death…chaos…he was surrounded by rivers of blood. The avatar of death, they called him. He hated it. He tossed and turned, overwhelmed by the hell that greeted him when he closed his eyes each night.

He met his wife on the day they met to formalize the contracts. She was pretty, but from another House. She couldn't be trusted. That night he found pleasure, for the first time, in her arms.

He spent his spare time in the lab..creating more death…so many ways to kill…so many lethal combinations. He hated it and loved it. Loved the lab, not the death. He made friends with a few of his colleagues…the only friends he'd ever made…Went out occasionally with them, when duty didn't call him away.

As he became a man, his relationship with his wife grew closer. It had taken years, but they had fallen in love with each other. He grew to trust her, to let her see the real him. The man behind the mask. Otek…not the General..not the avatar of Death.

After the last peoples surrendered, then began the serious battles against the Zah'til.

He was back in the field, leading the races…More rivers of blood to torment his nights. But they had to survive…defeat the synthetics…at any cost. Years rolled by. Each victory came at a cost, but each victory took them one step closer to defeating the Zha'til.

They had pushed the Zha'til back to their system. Victory was at hand. Then he lost contact with his father, who had been on the Citadel. The frequency to their government went dead. He ordered the other ship onward, leaving a trusted General in charge; he pulled the Apex out of formation to return to the Citadel for answers.

The sight out the window was devastating. Debris encircled the Citadel. The navy that had been guarding it wiped out or scattered. Huge, monstrous ships were everywhere. His ship remained cloaked as he pulled back to the relay, leaving the Citadel corpse behind. There was nothing a single ship could do against the giants that had demolished a navy.

It took weeks before he found out his parents had survived. His brother Atok died during the Citadel invasion. In one fell swoop, they were nearly brought to their knees. The seat of the government gone…the leaders of the most distinguished Houses gone….In a matter of months they realized they were in a fight like none other…and the blood that would flow would be their's…

Time passed…

He watched through the window as his father's fighter drifted further away from the Penumbra. A bolt shot out of the large gun, obliterating the fighter and his father's body in one final explosion. His face expressionless. His mother had been indoctrinated and killed by his father and now his father had been killed in battle. He was now House leader. A position he had not sought, had thought his brother would inherit, but his brother's life was given to the war as well. He continued to watch the spreading debris, before an alert came over the intercom. Another outpost was taken out. "Take us there, we search for survivors now."

Arguments…irritated Houses. Rescue was pointless, a waste of resources. His hands slapped the table and he leaned forward, his green biotic glow enveloped him. "Do you intend to push this?" he seethed. The War Room grew quiet. "We are going. We are losing too many to throw lives away." He spun around and quit the room, his biotic glow fading as he exited through the door. If they spoke of mutiny, it would be known. The walls had ears.

He looked around his parents' cabin…now his…and dropped into the sofa. His wife came out of the bedroom, apparently sparing no time in making it hers….theirs. Her clothing fell to the floor as she approached him.

A hug…kisses…sex…hard…out of control…fueled by grief and the need to feel alive.

Despite the pleas from his wife, her clinging hands, he boarded one the rescue shuttles. Two large Reaper machines could be seen, their fiery lasers cutting through anything in their path. An explosion to his right rocked his shuttle. One of their own had been taken out by one of the Reaper machines.

The teams spread out…death everywhere…debris..dust so thick it was a choking cloud.

He stared silently. Parts of the compound were caved in. What could have survived that? He nearly ordered a retreat, but something forced him to go on. He opened the almost pointless door and descended down into the compound. He tightened the breather mask around his face to escape the metallic scent of blood that permeated the area. Lifeless limbs could be seen among the debris.

There was loud crack and thud, followed by a cut off scream. Malin's lifesigns were gone from his holo-tool. He tightened his lips and continued forward. No signs of living. He needed to find someone…anyone to make the sacrifice worth it. No one…no one left alive…again, he was about to order a retreat, when the barest hint of something reached his ears.

His pace quickened, ducking or jumping over chunks of debris. He froze when he spotted them…children…huddled together…crying…

A call into his earpiece…two more children and three adults were found alive in the bunker. He moved in towards the children…talking in soothing tones that he would use on his own kids. He hunkered down next to them and pulled the little girl closest to him into his arms. He motioned for the other team members to collect the others.

He rose with her held tight to him. He removed his breath mask and handed it to her, then pressed her head into his armored chest, so that she would not see more death and destruction.

He wanted to return with his team to search for more survivors, but he was the only one of them comfortable around kids. He stayed behind in the shuttle, talked to them, tried to comfort them as best he could. Other children and adults began to fill up the shuttle. Eventually, his lap was overflowing with the younglings. Apparently, they liked his stories. The adults were wary of him. Leader of the Supreme House carried a lot of weight…and fear. The color on his armor proclaimed his status. But children didn't see that..or didn't care.

Back on the ship, he turned the children over to be bathed, fed and roomed. One little girl clung to his leg, not wanting to let go. He hunkered down to eye level and pulled her into his arms for a hug. "I will come for you soon, little one. Do you see this emblem?" he asked as he showed her the his House crest. "I swear upon my House crest that I shall come for you. Now get cleaned up and fill that belly of yours."

He rose as she scampered off. His heart did a little twisting thing. He returned to his family and hugged his own children in nearly a desperate strangle hold. Eventually, after bathing and filling his belly..he sought out that little girl, as he promised he would.

He was aboard the Penumbra Apex, navy flagship. The atmosphere was different here than on the Penumbra, his House's flagship, more urgency, strictly militant. He was not an Emperor that sat and did nothing. He would spear head the fight. His wife and children remained behind on the Penumbra, because it stayed out of the fighting, to focus on rescue.

He missed the rescue aspect. There were too many fighters aboard the Apex to allow for such endeavors. And every once in awhile he found himself thinking of that little girl and wondering if she yet lived.

Time passed…

He was surrounded by a hundred people and still he felt alone. He missed them dreadfully, his family, his friends, but could not show it. He could show nothing than the cold, hard leader he was.

Death followed him…death in the skies, death on land. Both his own men and enemy alike. He was the avatar of death and he lived up to the moniker. Years slipped by in a blur, their cities, their planets fell one by one. The overwhelming force cut them off from the beings they'd assimilated and the ranks were breaking. They would continue to fight down to the last prothean, but he knew if something didn't change, that would be there future. The machines would win.

With a heavy heart, he gave the order for all scientists to return to the labs. This included himself. It tore at him to leave the fighting behind, to be one of those Generals that ordered men to their death from the sidelines. But there was little choice left, if they wanted to survive as a species. He and his colleagues were their only hope.

They needed to think outside the box. Indoctrinated were captured, studied. Testing…torture…whatever it took to unlock the secrets of indoctrination. He played the scientist like he played the leader, cold, hard, ruthless.

He sent scientists to Ilos and other advantageous parts of the galaxy, he did break enough that he allowed them to bring their families. But it was shrewd on his part, not sentimental…at least that is what he told himself. People needed something to fight for…and it was easier to fight for a warm body than a memory.

He was working on a virus, which would spread fast and kill the indoctrinated. Unfortunately, it could not tell the difference from simple indoctrination and that of mutated indoctrination…It could not tell the difference between prothean and collector. He could design it to do such, but it would make it far less effective. New reaper horrors were created daily, the DNA too vast for one virus to cover. So it killed all. The loss would be heavy, but if it did not succeed, there would be no one left to mourn the passing of the protheans. Unless, the primitives remembered them…If the primitives survived the invasion. They'd stopped their studies in hopes that they did.

He assigned men to design a better cryo stasis. If he did not succeed with the virus, they needed to come back and make sure the next cycle was prepared.

His friend and colleague, Nalma disappeared. Nalma wasn't one to shirk his duties. He knew how important their work was. It became obvious as the days passed by that he had fallen to the Reapers. He was a brilliant mind and a friend…his loss was a painful blow.

His wife held him, comforted him. The sex was hard and taking more than giving. Each trying to connect to each other and life. There was too much death and horror to allow for gentle loving…or even passionate sex. It seemed more akin to a desperate, aggressive outlet. Sex mirrored life.

The following day, while he was at work, word came to him about the Empress' disappearance. His rank did not exclude his family from the horrors that existed around them. The Reapers were an equal opportunity death machine.

He kept his face neutral, his pain locked away. He nodded his acceptance and sent a few House guards out to look for her. He returned his attention to the lab work at hand. The needs of the many outweighed his own.

Later that night, he held his children, wiped their tears and remained strong for them. When he found his lonely, cold bed, he released the grief he'd kept bottled up. Harsh, ugly sobs racked his body until he fell asleep.

His hand fell limply to his lap. "What I showed you when we first met was the ending of my story, now you know it all. Including my failures."

She rested her hand upon his. His story had been so intense, as if she stood beside him through it all. A young boy with a scientific mind forced into the military, becoming a renowned General and then the Emperor of his people, when all he ever wanted to do was work in the lab. "You didn't fail, Otek. You fought insurmountable odds with everything you had in you. No cycles before you survived, you fought a losing battle with more strength than most. You even went so far as to try to ensure the next cycle would succeed. You survived. You have a chance to finish your work, help this cycle succeed as you intended."

She did not see his failures? Failures that weighed hard upon his heart? She looked at him with different eyes than he saw himself. It made him want to believe. "I must recreate my virus, but it will now need altered to include the surviving races. It will kill all the indoctrinated. Better to lose a few than to lose all." It was a harsh lesson he'd had to learn early on.

Her heart cried out that there must be a better way, but she knew he was right. "We have a lab onboard you can use until you have a place of your own. You and Anzi are welcome to stay as long as you need. But you should know that many of our peoples revere the protheans. Just knowing you walk among them may give them the will to hope even at the darkest hour."

He shook his head and grinned at her. "But no pressure, right?" He rose to a stand. "Your mate is arriving."

Her mate? Lach? "He's not my…"

Otek looked at her intently. "You prefer…toy?"

She blushed. "What? No. That's horrible, Otek."

He grinned. "Precisely." He inclined his head to Lach as he exited the door.

"He's a fascinating man," she said as Lach came forth to hug her.

"Should I be jealous?" he teased.

"Of course, he's very attractive. I might just have to rethink – " She yelped when he swung her up in his arms.

"Looks like I'm just goin' ta have t'show ye otherwise."

-BREAK TWENTY-THREE-

Every evening he showed up, there was no way he was going to risk her pain sending her back into the dark. He made love to her until she fell into an exhausted slumber. And if bad dreams haunted her he let his hands and mouth awaken her to his loving. The only shadow on their relationship was the one cast over his heart. He was falling deeper and deeper in love with her and one day those walls would come crashing down around him.

Liara showed up and spent a week with the protheans learning all they were willing to share with her. Like Star, she was fascinated by the pair. She was not thrilled on how they conquered the galaxy, but their stories were riveting and she had learned far more in a week than the decades she had studied their ruins. The week ended all too soon, she would have loved to have stayed longer, but there were promises she had to keep. There were things she wanted to tell Star, but how could she tell her that she had found Castiel's body and turned him over to Cerberus? Not only was Cerberus considered a terrorist group, any association would make them traitors to the Alliance. And what if Cerberus couldn't bring him back from death? How could she put Star through losing him over again? The guilt ate at her, but it was her burden to bear. Guilt for what she had done, guilt for Star and guilt that she'd left behind Feron and the geth that had helped her leave with Castiel's body. Tears rolled her cheeks as she hugged the woman she loved goodbye.

Otek and Anzi were thrilled to discover their vault had remained intact. The Supreme House riches would go a long way towards funding their projects. The first thing they purchased was a frigate designed by Teiner Tech, which they named the Penumbra. It sported a massive lab. Even as they were combing bunkers, they needed to keep up their work. He even had special tanks and chambers created for the production and use of bactaid. It was far superior to medigel but it was also much slower to create. It was not something he chose to share with the other races. Not until he could produce it in much larger quantities. They also purchased a place on the Citadel, it wouldn't be used much, but it was there if they needed it. The ship also held a small cloning room, complete with a few artificial wombs. It would work for now, but he would have to restore one of their old facilities, if they could find one the reapers had not turned to rubble. With a ship, a home and a plan, they made their farewells to their new friends.

The ship fell quiet once more. There was little need to hunt prothean artifacts anymore. What was she going to do with her time now? Maybe she should join the Alliance as she'd originally planned to do. Or maybe search for more bunkers. All she did know was that she had to find something to do before she went crazy. Family. Maybe now was a good time to visit. She hadn't seen them since she had awakened. With that in mind she set the coordinates for Sol's post.

Her arrival on the Manticore did not go unnoticed. But at least it saved her the trouble of having to hunt Sol down. He and Rosie were waiting for her when she exited the airlock. He looked older in his military gear and he'd grown taller since she'd last seen him. She smiled when she saw him and he met her half way, his arms catching her and spinning her around. She held onto him with a death grip. She'd missed his comforting presence so much.

Sol grinned at her. "Look at all you've accomplished! Helping to save the galaxy from a Reaper invasion, finding real, live protheans – you are making quite the name for yourself, big sis."

Her eyes sparkled. "As opposed to fake, dead protheans?" she teased.

"Oh, hush." He lowered his mouth next to her ear. "I'm glad you're back with us. I died inside when I couldn't reach you," he admitted quietly.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Sol. The pain was too much for me to bear. Sometimes even now…"

He raised her chin and wiped her tears. "Don't you even think it. I can't lose you again." He blinked when his OT chimed. "Timing bites." He released his sister and flipped open his OT. "It's dad."

"Sol. I need you to come home to Earth. There are things we need to discuss. I'll be comming your sister as soon as I hang up with you." Alec said briskly.

"She just arrived. She's here with me, dad. But I can't just take off. It will take time to get leave approved," he said, knowing his dad knew that full well.

"It's already been approved. Check in with your CO. See you two soon. Alec out."

"Well, that's dad for you," she teased. "Love you too, dad." She gave Rosie a quick hug. "You two go pack, I'll wait for you here."

She watched them walk away and returned to the ship. Things never did quite go as planned. She couldn't help but wonder what was so important that her dad couldn't tell them over the com. And why were they on Earth and not the Citadel?

Sol left his wife seated outside the door and entered his CO's office with a salute.

Captain Gerald Wilsom looked up as his door slid open. "At ease, in fact, take a seat, Ryder. I've been expecting you."

"Yes, sir," Sol said as he sat down in a chair in front of his CO's desk.

"Don't sir me, this meeting is…off the record. Wilsom is fine." He cleared his throat. "By now you've heard about your leave, I suspect that's why you're here." He drummed his fingers on the desk for a moment. There was only so much he was allowed to say at this time, until the final hearing's report was submitted. "What would you do with your life if you weren't in the Alliance military?"

Sol blinked. "I joined the military because I wanted to explore space. That didn't quite turn out as planned," he said with a grin. "But I'm hoping to prove myself enough to be assigned to a field that would allow for me to get out there more."

Wilsom nodded. "A respectable goal. Have you considered getting your pilot's license? There are a lot of companies willing to hire a good pilot that will give you a lot more…time out there. The fact that you know how to wield a gun would only add to your desirability….and to your paycheck."

Sol sat up straighter in his chair. This conversation had gotten decidedly...odd. "That is certainly a future consideration," he said slowly. "Maybe, when I get a longer leave, I will look into getting trained. It might also open up some doors in the military."

Wilsom rubbed his head. He liked the kid. The kid showed promise. Hell, his dad had been a great soldier and his sister, even though she wasn't in the military, had still helped stop the geth from taking over the Citadel…she even discovered protheans, who had been working with the Council ever since. But after what happened…he knew Sol's career would be cut short. He'd be blacklisted, at best passed around from one shit job to another, at worst they'd try to find a way to discharge him, and he had a wife to take care of. A wife related to Royalty. But even that would not save his career. He drummed his fingers on his desk. "Look, my hands are tied on what I can say at this point. You need to talk to your father, Ryder. All I can say...one man to another…is that you should look into getting that license. I think you will find the job opportunities far more rewarding." He cleared his throat. "Dismissed."

Sol just blinked. And so he was dismissed, without even being able to ask any questions. He rose from his chair and left the office in a state of shock. What had just happened? His CO had all but told him to leave the military. Oh, he phrased it in more of a follow your dreams wording, but it boiled down to the same. He explained his odd meeting to his wife on the way to their place.

"I don't know, Sol. It's vague, but very leading. The fact that dad was also vague, it just seems ominous to me," Rosie said in concern.

"I know," he said quietly and squeezed her hand. "What the fuck did dad do now?"

Thirty minutes later they were aboard the Manticore and heading for the relay. When they were settled around the dining table with a hot beverage he told his sister about his odd conversation with his CO.

Star frowned. "I'm almost afraid to find out what happened. I can't help but feel our lives are about to drastically change."

Sol was stunned when he saw Lach walk into his sister's cabin late one night. He pulled her aside the next day. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked with confusion.

"Fucking Lach," he said baldly.

Her mouth fell open. "It's not like that. I would never just fuck anyone. I'm not that kind of woman. I'm having sex with him…making love with him. But I'm not fucking him." It wasn't, was it? That's not how she saw it and she didn't think that was how Lach saw it.

Sol's brow rose. "Are you in love with him?" he asked skeptically.

Ouch. "I – no, not like he deserves. I care about him, but I don't think I will ever be able to love someone like that again," she said honestly. "But I talked with Lach, he knew before…before things went any further."

Sol raked a hand through his light blonde hair. "The man is in love with you, Star. He'd say anything you wanted to hear to have the chance to be with you." He let out a ragged breath. "All I'm trying to say is be careful. Unless you spend the rest of your lives stuck in that 'rut', this won't end well and you are going to hurt him…badly."

Star closed her eyes, fighting back a wave of pain. "I told him not to fall in love with me. I told him if he did that I would only hurt him. He knew I could never love anyone but my lifemate. He told me he was a grown man and knew how to handle himself. You have to be wrong, Sol." But deep in her heart, she knew he was not. She'd seen the love shining in Lach's eyes. She saw it and she ignored it. "What kind of monster am I?" she murmured softly.

Sol shook his head. "You aren't a monster, sis. You told Lach the truth; he is a grown man who chose to accept the consequences. So that is not your fault. No one should ever take the blame or the guilt of someone else's actions. What was your fault was that you were blind to the fact that he was already very much in love with you, he had been all along." He released a breath. "That was unfair of me. If some other woman was in love with me, I wouldn't have seen it either. I'm too absorbed in my lifemate. So, no, I don't think that is your fault either. He chose to have a relationship with you even though he knew it would go nowhere. The consequences are his."

It was far too late for her to pull back from Lach now. If she did, he would be hurt. "I hate thinking he will be hurt by anything I've done, even if unintentional. My only hope is that he will eventually find someone else and move on. He deserves so much more than I can give him."

Lach froze outside the entryway when he heard them talking about him. He had to admit he was relieved that she cared about him and did not view their relationship in the terms of mere fucking. "Yer brother is right," he said stepping through the door and sat down next to her. "No one should ever take the blame or guilt of another's actions." His hand cupped the side of her face. "Yes, I love ye. Ye stole my heart not long after I met ye. I willna hide it, I willna deny it. I ken where yer heart lies. If all we have until we are old and grey is what we have now, I will be happily content. If'n ye choose t'end things at some point, I will move on when I'm ready." To be fair he added, "If'n I fall in love with another, I will let ye know." But he knew, so long as he had her, his eyes, much less his heart, were incapable of straying. He barely noticed that Sol rose to leave them alone. "Did some wee part of me hope that ye would eventually come t'love me as I do ye? I'd be lyin' if I said no. But I knew exactly what I was gettin' inta, and I dunna regret a moment. I'm where I wanna be, for however long I can be. So dunna think t'walk away simply cause ye think I deserve more, only I can know what I feel I deserve and what I am content with."

She closed her eyes. She could listen to him talk all day long.

"Star…look at me," he said quietly. He had to know that she wasn't going to walk away out of a fear of hurting him.

Blue eyes caught and held emerald green. "Do you know how sexy your accent is?"

He grinned. "I do now," he said with a waggle of his brows. "Do ye know how badly I need t'taste ye?"

She shivered. "Actions speak louder than words."

With a groan he swung her up into his arms and made a mad dash for the elevator.

-BREAK TWENTY-FOUR-

Despite the shadow cast over their reunion, the time together was sorely needed by both. Unfortunately, they arrived at Earth quicker than they wanted to. Neither were in a huge hurry to find out how their father managed to fuck up their lives, but both had the feeling things would never be the same again.

They took the Manticore's skycar and set down at the communal landing pad outside their complex. With a silent nod to each other they squared their shoulders and headed for their parent's place. They were surprised when their father rose from the sofa at their entry.

"Sit down, we need to talk," he said with no preamble as he lowered himself back down on the sofa.

She sighed. Way to go, dad. She settled in a chair and looked at him expectantly.

"The reasons I called you two here is twofold. First," he rubbed his face, "I have been discharged from the military. A dishonorable discharge, because I refused to give up my research and development of an AI I've been working on for years. The trial in a couple of days will finalize it."

Sol smacked his palm to his forehead. "Son of a bitch. That is why my CO encouraged me to go into a more lucrative line of work. Fuck, dad. You single handedly killed my career. Thanks."

"I didn't do what I did lightly, Sol. There is more at work here than you are aware. Approximately eight years ago the Andromeda Initiative was founded to expand into the Andromeda galaxy. I was brought into the project when they heard about my AI work. They funded my research and development. Once I got far enough along, your mother started working on the framework for an implant, one that would allow the AI to work directly with you in the field."

"Yeah , I bet that went over like a ton of bricks," she couldn't believe all her father had been doing, everything he'd kept hidden from them.

Alec held up his hand. "Your mother," his voice cracked over the word, "and I will be going to Andromeda. It will be a new beginning for us. But, there is something else you should know. Ellen…Ellen is sick. Advanced stages of a neuro-degenerative disease, brought on by her exposure to eezo. I am hoping we can find a cure for her in Andromeda, because there is no cure here."

Star closed her eyes, that was one blow she had not been expecting. She ignored the hot trails of tears that rained down her cheeks. She thought about her other family, everyone she'd come to love. How could she leave them behind? But how could she not? Leaving would close the door on her past. She would not see memories of what she lost in everything she looked at. Her gaze rose to her brother who simple nodded. If she left, she'd still have some of her family. But leaving would also come at a high cost. Everyone else she loved – she'd never see them again. But if her brother went…that sealed it. She would go too. She could not bear a lifetime without him.

Sol looked at his wife. He pulled her into his arms and brought his mouth to her ear. "I'm sorry, Rose, I want to go. My career is over here. I need to start somewhere fresh, somewhere I'm not blacklisted. And my mom is dying, I can't…I need to go with her. And if she dies…dad…dad will lose it. Even if things aren't good between us, I don't feel right leaving him alone like that. But the choice is ultimately yours, I won't leave without you. I know how much I'm asking of you and if you cannot go, I will accept that."

Rosie hugged him tight, needing to take a moment before she could look at him. He was asking a lot, everything she knew and loved would be lost to her. Everything except him. And he knew how close she was to her family. How could she go the rest of her life and never see their cherished faces again? Yet he would be doing the same if he stayed. And he was right about his career being over. She knew he'd never be happy flying around her grandparent's trade routes. He was willing to give up what he needed for her, could she do any less? She brought her lips to his ears. "We'll go."

Sol was stunned. He honestly didn't think she'd be able to leave her family behind. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Are you sure? I'm willing to stay."

"I know," she said quietly. "That's why I'm willing to go."

His lips lingered against hers before he pulled away. "We're going."

"So am I," Star said. "Mindoir has too many princes and princesses to need me and it will give me a chance to leave behind the memories."

Alec let out a sigh of relief. He'd expected them to want to remain behind. "You will both need the SAM implant. It's a Simulated Adaptive Matrix neuro implant."

Star's eyes shot to her brother. That wasn't good news. They needed to talk to Tayln. Their bodies couldn't tolerate implants. Maybe he could find a way around it.

Ellen walked through the door and froze. Her children were home. She let out a squeal and ran to hug them. She shot her husband a glare. "You never told me they were coming!"

"I wanted to surprise you," he said with a flush.

"You told them." It was not a question and his nod confirmed her suspicions. "Don't you dare treat me any different. You're not too old to turn over my knee…well, maybe you are, but I'd do it anyway."

"Right," Star said with a laugh. "You didn't even turn us over your knee when we were children."

"Well, I thought about it a time or ten," she huffed.

"Ellen?" Alec broke in. "The kids are going with us."

Tears sprang to her eyes and she hugged them all again.

"You will all need to wrap up your…goodbyes and get back here. There is a lot of training and preparation for the trip."

"How long do we have?" Sol asked.

"I don't know an exact ETA, but I suspect sooner rather than later. So don't be gone long, there is much to do."

Star rose. "Then we should be on our way." Another round of hugs and she was out the door. When they settled into the skycar she commed Tayln. "Good to see you, brother. I need to meet up with you as soon as your schedule allows."

Tayln grinned. "I'm pleased you have come back to us. I'm at the ship. As soon as Cory alerted me that you were heading here, I cleared my schedule to update the Manticore." He had debated on building another headquarters on Earth, but in the end he had chosen to do so. It gave him the chance to spend more time with his family that lived here. It was just luck that had him visiting when the Manticore arrived.

"We'll be right there…and you better be ready for a big hug when I arrive," she said with a grin.

"Always. See you shortly."

"Hey, I'm not short...you are just tall," she teased.

Tayln chuckled and shook his head, he couldn't argue with that. He flipped off the OT and continued his diagnostics and updates.

True to her word, Star threw herself into the big, light blue drell's arms when she found him. "I've missed you so much. Where's Bree?" she asked him when he put her down.

"Gathering information," Tayln said with a frown.

"I'm sorry. I know that can't be easy," she said with a gentle rub to the side of his arm.

She was consoling him for being separated from his lifemate when she lost hers, or at least what approximated a lifemate. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was for her loss, but she was doing better and he was afraid it would take back to a darker place. "It's not," he said quietly.

After Sol and Rosie gave their hugs, she brought up what she really came for. "I need your help. Or at least I hope you can help. My brother and I are to be implanted with a neural interface. I don't think it's something we can get out of and I know an implant would be rejected and would be highly dangerous given its location." She released a breath. "What I'm going to tell you cannot leave this ship. The implant was designed for an AI to gain direct control over our physiology."

Tayln frowned. "Alec." He knew exactly what she was talking about. "You are referring to SAM. I worked with your father a bit on the project. The components are mine. I wasn't pleased he chose to do this, but I did want to make sure it would be as safe as possible. But an implant for you and your brother…at best it will cause you pain, at worst it could kill you."

"Is there any way to make it biologically acceptable?" Sol asked.

Tayln folded his arms over his broad chest, not pleased at all in the direction this was going. They had no business having an implant of any kind. "Theoretically. It would need shielded and there would need to be some kind of membrane coating it that would not degrade over time."

Sol raked his hand through his hair. "Can you do it?"

Tayln's eyes narrowed. "The question is not whether I can do it but rather should I do it. If you are wanting this for the reason I think you are, then you won't even be here for me to keep an eye on it," he pointed out.

"Cory, have Lori and Lach meet us at the meeting room." She turned to Tayln. "Can you meet us there when you are finished?"

"Yes," Tayln said slowly. Not quite sure why their conversation was dropped or what she had in mind. "Give me a few more minutes."

With a wink she left engineering and took the elevator up to deck one where the meeting room was located. She sat down in a chair at the table and looked at her brother, then Rosie. "I'm going to tell them. I trust them and -" she stopped when Lori and Lach entered the room. She smiled. "Please sit, we have to talk."

When they sat down she released a breath. "Sol, Rosie and I will be leaving with the Andromeda Initiative. I'm not sure what you've heard about it, if anything. Essentially, it is to explore and colonize the Andromeda galaxy. It is dangerous, anything can happen along the way. We will be put into cryo until we reach Andromeda. There are dangers with that as well. There is no way to know for certain if the planets are habitable, but preliminary scans show that there are some. We, obviously, can't know if we will be faced with friend or foe out there and the trip is expected to be one way. That being said, the idea of being somewhere new, exploring…discovering what no species here has seen before is more than enough of a reason for me to go. Our family intends to start over someplace new and exciting."

Lach could not have been more stunned. By the look on his twin's face, he knew she felt the same. He'd never heard of the Andromeda Initiative. What he did know, is that there was little need to explore prothean digs now that protheans were living among them. Sure, he could go back to engineering and that was something he was considering aboard the Manticore. His sister was a doctor and performed that task when there were other crew members on board, because oddly, Star and Castiel had never seemed to need healing. He wanted to go…but could he go if Lori chose to stay behind? "Lor?" he asked quietly. But the question was answered with the sparkle that lit up her emerald eyes.

Lach grinned. "Is there room fer two more aboard the Andromeda Initiative?"

Star's mouth fell open. She had hoped..but she truly didn't believe they'd want to go. "Lor?" she asked her best friend.

"Yes! Of course, yes! How could I not want ta go? Are ye kidding me? Where do I sign up?" she asked, her eyes dancing with excitement.

Star smiled in relief and flipped on her OT. "Dad," she said when his face popped on her holoscreen. "I have two talented young people who want to join the Initiative. Lori Ann Steging is a medical doctor and a psychologist, she is also an explorer. Her twin, Lachlan Steging is an engineer and explorer. They were a part of my team that discovered the protheans. They are young, healthy and their fields will always be needed. I want them included."

Alec blinked and then nodded. He hadn't been expecting that, but she was right. They would be sorely in need of doctors and engineers. There was a lot of building to be done to settle a new galaxy. "I will see that they are added. Have them return with you, we need to see to their training."

"How is mom?" she asked quietly.

Alec sighed. "She has a bad day now and again, but predominantly they are good."

"Give her our love."

"Will do. Alec out."

I love you too, dad. "Well, you two…it's done. You'll be coming to Andromeda with us." She turned her attention to Lori. "Lor, I don't know how many physicians will be assigned to where we will be, but I'd like you to be a private physician to Sol, Rosie and me."

Lori chuckled. "Ye havena ever needed my services before, but of course. I love ye. I'd be hurt ifn ye chose anyone else."

Star took Lori's hand. "I trust you. And that makes you the only one I ..we can turn to. Our blood is different. It can never be discussed or analyzed by anyone other than you. Not even a single drop can ever get out, nor records be kept. Can you accept those terms?"

Lori looked at her like she was crazy. "Do ye even have'ta ask? Of course I would be there for ye in any way that ye need. But did ye have t'tell me yer blood was different? The doctor in me is itchin' t'find out how."

Star looked up as Tayln entered the room. She grinned at him. "We have a personal doctor that we can trust and can look over the implants in your stead. I know it's not the same, Tayln. But I trust Lor, she won't let our secrets out."

"I see," he said, looking from Lori to Lachlan. "You are still determined to go through with wanting the implants. I don't think it's a good idea, but I'll make the implant as safe as possible for your bodies. I'll work with Lori so that she knows how to watch and take care of the implants, should they require attention." He turned to Rosie. "Do your parents know?" he asked quietly.

Rosie frowned. "Not yet. We are about to head out and say our goodbyes, then I imagine we'll bring the ship back here and drydock her."

Tayln hugged them. "I can't imagine you not being here anymore. I'll have to figure out a way to communicate that kind of distance…" he frowned. "Though it will take 600-700 years for you to reach Andromeda. I might be nothing more than dust by then…but we'll see," he said thoughtfully. He knew they healed fast and he knew he showed no signs of aging in the last decade, but 700 years? Only time would tell, just what the Origin blood was truly capable of. He cleared his throat. "I will get the implants from Alec . I'll let you know when they are ready."

Lori looked at Lachlan stunned. The words 'my blood is different' had whole new meaning now. She couldn't help but wonder what other surprises her friend had in store.

Star swallowed hard. It was hard to let herself think of the time they'd be gone. It was possible that her family would live out their lives while she slept…but she hoped the blood would see them through… that Tayln would be able to come up with a means to communicate. That she wouldn't lose them all together. "I love you , Tayln. Give Bree my love. And I hope the blood will see you through. Because I had better hear from you on the other side."

Tayln's smile was somber. "I'll do my best not to disappoint." He swallowed and squared his shoulders. "I'll let you guys go so you can get back. I'll make sure the Manticore is drydocked properly on your return." He turned and left before he started hugging everyone again. He would miss Rosie most of all. He watched her grow up. He hoped that he would be able to reunite her with her parents some day.

When he left Lori locked eyes with Star. "So wee miss 'my blood is different'…immortal? I guess you left a wee bit out of that statement."

Star flushed. "We don't really know what we are. We know the blood allows us to heal rapidly, our powers are stronger and we don't appear to age. The Origin blood comes from Cas, Angel and Lyri, they have an extra chromosome. The Origin blood alters the cells of those that accept the blood." She shrugged. "There is still much we do not know about it. I can't say we're immortal…we can die." She released a harsh breath and pushed back the pain. "And I don't know how long we can live…only time will tell on that one."

"So they arena human," Lori said in wonder. "And ifn their blood mutates yers, then ye arena exactly human either. I can see why you are so concerned about yer blood bein' looked at. I willna do anythin' to jeopardize that."

"Nor would I," Lachlan affirmed. "Nothin' I've learned changes anything. I will protect ye anyway I can."

-BREAK TWENTY-FIVE-

They had everyone meet up at the estate on Mindoir. The reunion was not a happy one. Goodbyes never were. It was especially hard to see Rosie with her parents. Outrageous Rafe had never looked more heart broke. His dimples didn't peek out once. At one point they had considered coming, but when they realized they'd need to add to the gene pool, they opted to stay. Because neither wanted to have children with other people, even if via artificial means.

With heavy hearts they returned to Earth to get implanted and complete their training. After they were implanted Tayln monitored them closely. Outside of headaches that lasted for a couple of weeks, there appeared to be no signs of rejection.

Their father along with a tutor worked with all five up them. He spent more time with Lach and Lori to ensure they knew how to defend themselves and handle weapons. The crew had to be ready for anything and everybody was expected to hold their own. They were going to be among the first wave to be released, right after the crew needed to fly the Hyperion and they were to be a part of their father's pathfinder team.

When it came time, she chose to be the first of them to step into the cryo pod. To her it was selfish of her; she didn't want to watch her loved ones get frozen. She closed her eyes, inhaled the gas and felt nothing.

-BREAK TWENTY-SIX-

Kael knew he had to be close to finding his wife, after 2000 years of searching for her. His two friends, who had stayed with him after the War of the Gods ended, were all that had kept him sane. And now, with the discovery of a woman named Star Ryder-Stanton, that brought the prothians back from complete extinction, he had to find out if it was her. From what they could find the galaxy's power base appeared to be on a space station. He knew where the station was. He'd been assigned to this galaxy to render judgment on its continuance or if they needed to wipe the slate clean. But he knew he had lost his bias and did not trust himself to make an honest call. How could he? These were his wife's people. Yet, to turn the decision over to another, he just wasn't ready to consider that.

They flashed to the Citadel and began their search.

"Over here, Kael!" Diamonte yelled, ignoring the people who looked their way. They drew attention, regardless, due to their size and he really didn't care less what the seedlings thought of him.

Kael and Blasius joined Diamonte. There was a news vid showing. It was talking about the protheans. His heart nearly stopped when she popped up on the vid. His wife. Her voice sent shivers down his spine as he gripped the monitor and listened to her talk about what it was like discovering the cryo pods of a race long dead. Princess Stanton of Mindoir she'd been called. Mindoir would be their next stop. For the first time in 2000 years he had hope. He would find her.

He hadn't been there before, so he couldn't risk flashing there and flying would take just as long, as there were no nearby gateways, so they opted to board the next flight to Mindoir. They remained incorporeal to avoid any chance of being detected by the seedlings' surveillance.

When the ship berthed, he took the location of the Royal Estate from the mind of a dock worker and left him with no memory of ever having met them. After they slipped out of sight, they took to the sky. They sped past a town, followed by trees and hills, when a large estate came into view. He pulled up, hovering a moment until he saw what looked to be the main point of entry. He pulled his wings in and dove for it.

"What the fuck was that?" Stan said, sloshing his coffee down his shirt. "Shit!" He turned to Micah,"Shield the damned palace!"

Micah programmed in the sequence and slapped the button. A blue shield could be seen rising to envelop the Royal Palace. "What did you see?"

Stan grunted. "Fuck if I know. It looked like men, flying…with wings."

Micah quirked his brow and folded his arms over his chest. "If I get fucking fired because your ass is high, I will take you down." Micah enjoyed working the gatehouse. It was an easy job and rarely did anything happen.

"Check the monitor footage, dickweed!" Stan growled.

Micah played back the footage, his mouth dropped open. "Fuck me." He slapped open the com. "Gatehouse to Estate intruders inbound. I repeat, Gatehouse to estate...intruders inbound. Ahhh..three men with –er wings." He tripped the silent alarms to alert the palace guards and mechs, who began to poor out of the barracks to the side of the palace.

Kael saw the shield rise around the estate and shot a wave of power at the obstruction, opening a hole for him to enter. Such trifles would hardly keep him from his wife. He lowered himself in front of the door way and looked to the left when he heard the commotion of the advancing guards. With an incline of his head he phased through the barrier. "Star!" he yelled as he looked around the interior. He couldn't feel her, but she had to be here. One way or the other, he would get answers.

CJ stepped up, gun trained on the intruders. "You were not invited here. You have broken through our defenses, but I will not let you harm the Royal family."

When Balsius and Diamonte laughed Kael held up his hand to silence them. "We are not here to harm the family. I want my wife. Where is she? Where is Star?"

Castaria rushed from her room, Thane at her heels, and hurried down the stairs. "I will handle this, CJ."

"You know I am not allowed to leave, your Highness, not while the family is in danger," CJ reminded her.

Something niggled hard at the back of Castaria's mind, something she should remember, but didn't. "Just leave the negotiations to me, CJ."

"You," Kael said. He had remembered her from his first meeting with Star. "Where is Star? Where is my wife?"

His wife? "Star is your wife?"

He blinked. "We are bound," he said slowly. The woman did not appear that stupid.

Castaria's eyes widened. Bound. He was referring to lifemate. But how? She knew the lifemate bond was flawed between Star and her brother, that their souls and lifeforces never actually merged, but she hadn't realized Star's soul would bind itself to another. There was so much they didn't know, but it just didn't seem possible with what little they did know. "Prove it," she said expecting him to show her his bond mark.

With a growl of frustration, he grabbed her upper arms and looked into her eyes to show her his second meeting with her sister. Of course, he left out the parts she had no need to see.

She felt her husband stiffen and held her hand up to stop him from doing anything foolish. The three men in their atrium screamed power and she didn't think even she stood a chance against them. Pictures flooded her mind. She saw him and Star talking, then he turned around to show her his back, large wings disappearing below his pants. She saw Star touch his back…saw them embrace..kissing…the scene skipped forward, she saw their heads, locked on each other's upper shoulders, in mutual bonding. She blinked when he dropped her arms and stepped back. She knew in all likelihood he could have placed a memory in her head, but she didn't think that was the case. It was more likely a repressed memory, which was why Star did not know of it. She had many such blank spots of her own. She studied the man, there was a deep pain etched around his eyes and his gaze was filled with such agony she knew the memory would never leave her.

"I am Castaria. Most call me Angel now. This is my lifemate, Thane. Who are you?"

"I am Kael, this is Blasius and Diamonte. Now where is my wife? I've been searching for her for 2000 years. I can't…" tears slid down his cheeks. "I have to find her."

Separated from a lifemate for 2000 years? That would certainly explain the agony of his soul. "Kael, I would help you find her if I could, no one should be kept away from their lifemate, but she's not here. She left aboard the Hyperion, bound for the Andromeda galaxy. She is beyond your reach, I'm sorry," Castaria said gently, tears falling from her own eyes. If he was Star's lifemate, Star needed him to fill the void Cas left behind.

His eyes opened wide in shock. "No! Not there!" His eyes darted to his friends. The look on their faces mirrored his own. "We have to stop it!"

Diamonte shook his head. "I don't know if we can."

"How long?" Kael shook his head. "I mean how long will it take them to arrive in this Hyperion?"

She was not blind to the panic in the man. "Probably 600-700 years. Kael, what's going on?"

"That galaxy was slated to be reseeded. The species deemed unsavable," he informed her.

"What does that even mean? Terraforming?" That didn't sound like such a bad thing…except for the ominous species remark.

He ran a hand through his hair in agitation. Why didn't she already know this? She should have. "We are Kin, the first beings created out of dark matter. We seeded the galaxies. We observe. If needed we cull or destroy if the seeding goes awry. The seedlings were destroying themselves and everything they touched. Dark matter was released to destroy what went wrong and reseed the galaxy. And my wife is heading right into it!" He turned to his friends. "I'm heading to the gateways. Their passage would have been recorded. Blasius, stay here. I need you to continue to observe. Don't let this galaxy be destroyed. Find a way to prove it is savable. Diamonte, gather nutra-paste and water, enough for two people to survive 700 years. I will notify you when I've found a gateway they have passed. With any luck, they will have passed one recently."

When Diamonte flashed away he turned back around to Castaria. "She is not beyond my reach. I will find my wife, but it may be too late for Andromeda. I have never heard of a purge being stopped, though I doubt anyone has tried." With that he flashed away. One step closer to his wife.

She put her hand on the auburn haired Kin's arm. "Blasius…wait. Please stay. We can offer you a room, a place to live. We need to talk. And maybe we can help each other." They had the reapers to defeat and a galaxy to save twice. They were going to need his help as much as he would need theirs to prove they were worth saving.