Title: No backing down
Author: Cw7421
Game: Mass Effect 3
Time Line: 5 years after the war with the Reapers
Pairing: Connie Shepard and Samantha Traynor
Disclaimer: Mass Effect is property of Bioware
Rating: Teen

Summary: War is over; Sam got pregnant right after war. Had baby three years ago and Sam lives with Shepard in outskirts of London. Shepard was still with the Alliance but out of active duty.

Kahlee Shepard ran out of the lift followed by her parents Connie Shepard and Samantha Traynor. One of the C-Sec guards at the lift gave Connie a sharp salute which she courteously waved away.

Connie had left active duty around 8 months after the war once Sam had decided she wanted to start a family. The Alliance desperately tried to make her stay, they even offered her a promotion to Admiral but Connie had already decided. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Sam and she didn't want to be pulled away from her and their daughter Kahlee.

Kahlee was now four years old and was the spitting image of Connie. She had bright red hair and tall athletic build and she was, if it is possibly, even more stubborn than Connie. The only trait she seemed to inherit from Sam was her love for chess.

For Kahlee's fourth birthday she had begged her parents to take her to the Citadel and since Shepard was looking forward to seeing Liara and Kaiden again she agreed to take her. Sam decided to come along to make it a family trip. As Kahlee danced out of the lift she ran up to the barriers of the Presidium. She placed her tiny hands on the glass of the barrier and looked up.

As Connie saw her daughter she gave Sam a smile and went to kneel beside her daughter.

Connie said Kahlee, "So kiddo, what do you think of the place?"

Kahlee was silent for a moment and then replied in a whisper, "It's beautiful."

Connie smiled to herself; she took Kahlee's hand and led her up towards the stairs which lead to the rooms above the Presidium. Liara had taken up residence there instead of Ilium for her shadow broker empire. Sam followed behind Connie as Connie led Kahlee up the stairs. Connie stopped behind one of the doors and knocked on the metal to alert Liara to her presence. A hologram appeared and said in a metallic voice, "Ah, welcome Commander Shepard and family. Dr T'soni will be only a minute. She is finishing taking a call."

"Thank you Glyph," Connie replied and several seconds later the door slid open to revealed Liara sitting behind a desk. Once Kahlee had seen her she ran over to Liara. Liara bent down and picked up her up to give her a cuddle. Once Liara had put Kahlee down she walked over to Connie. She embraced Shepard and Sam and invited them over to the balcony over the Presidium.

"How is everything, I haven't heard from you in a long time." Liara said, leaning against the railings.

"Everything's been fine, we've had our hands full looking after our little bundle of joy." Connie smirked. Sam gave her a dig in the ribs and added, "At least you didn't have to go through 12 hours of labour."

Connie gave Sam one of her little smiles and put her hands round her waist. She gently placed her lips on Sam cheek and gave her several kisses on her face before gently kissing her lips. Sam knees buckled when Connie kissed her. She couldn't help it, Connie always had a way of making her so forgetfully that she would forget how to stand.

Liara gave a small cough just to remind the two lovebirds that she was still in the room. Connie and Sam broke apart leaving Sam blushing like crazy. The adults continued to talk for another twenty minutes until Glyph mentioned to Liara that she had a call waiting.

Liara gave Connie a last embrace and then returned to her desk. Connie called to Kahlee but she found no reply. It was unlike Kahlee to not reply when Shepard called for her. Connie gave a puzzling to Sam who went to the door and called down the corridor but there was still no reply. Connie began to worry, Kahlee would never run off on her own. Was she taken? When she thought this her heart suddenly began to race. She ran back to Laira while Sam ran out of the door to check the rest of the corridor and the rest of the Presidium.

Liara looked up and say the worry in Shepard's face. "We can't find Kahlee, do you have any views from any of the security cameras" Shepard breathed, her voice fully of worry. Liara automatically ended her call and began to tap furiously away at her keypad. Soon several Video feeds came up and Laira rewound the feeds. Shepard watched the feed like a hawk and soon noticed Kahlee's small figure moving across the camera's field of view. She motioned for Liara to stop rewinding the feed. Laira left the video to run and Shepard watched in horror as she saw Kahlee walk past a door, be grabbed by a large batarian and be dragged, by her arms, into the room. Just as the video finished Sam rushed back into the room, breathless. Shepard rushed towards Sam, grabbed her waist and told her "Someone has taken Kahlee; I just watched it on the security camera." Sam went stiff and stared to shake.

Sam grabbed hold of Connie's arms and said, "We have to get her back." Connie nodded and turned to Laira.

"Watch the video feeds and make sure no one leaves that room." Connie shouted and she and Sam rushed out of the room. Connie sprinted down the corridor with Sam right behind her. She couldn't let anything happen to Kahlee, she was so young and innocent and she was probably very scared. If that batarian had even touched her then she could crush his skull with every piece of biotic strength she could muster.

Connie and Sam reached the door that Kahlee had been taken into. Shepard placed herself at the door and whispered to Sam "Stay behind me, I can't let anything happen to you either."

The doors slid open without protest at the touch of Shepard's hand as the door slid open Connie say Kahlee spread out on the floor with a huge batarian standing behind her. His mouth slid open in a wide grin that showed his sharp elongated teeth. Shepard ran into the room only to be stopped two steps later by a scream that came from behind her. As Sam had followed her into the room two batarians, which were standing on either side of the door, grabbed both her arms and one held a pistol to the side of her head.