Wednesday looked at Tali, Garrus, Legion and Grunt one last time as they stood at the spaceport. The Clansmeet was over, with Wednesday acknowledged as the de facto head of the clan. She had given each clan member their assignments to prepare for the coming war, and the aliens with her now were no different. They watched in silence as a black corvette descended into a berth, forgoing useless conversation. All the words had already been said.

The corvette's airlock doors opened and a familiar face, or faceplate rather, stepped onto the gangway.

"Shepard, good to see you again. Tali, looking as lovely as ever," Kal'Reegar said with an implied smile. "Garrus, Grunt, Legion," he said with an acknowledging nod to the others. Tali strode forward and shook the other quarian's hand, Wednesday following suit.
"I see you've been working on my ship," Tali said, pointing to the new weapon emplacements visible on the profile of Wednesday's Child.
"Figured you wouldn't mind," Kal replied. "Besides, was there ever a time when more gun wasn't helpful?"
"None that I can think of," Garrus said.

"So, how is everything through the Veil?" Wednesday asked. To anyone else, it would be taken as a friendly enquiry. They all knew that she was really asking for a deeper tactical assessment of geth and quarian readiness for the coming war. Kal'Reegar, as a highly-placed military officer, was able to give her much more accurate intelligence than the Admirals, given his no-nonsense attitude and lack of an ego to stroke.
"Fine, for the most part," Kal replied neutrally. "We tend to keep to ourselves, but there are a few places where the geth have really come in handy on Rannoch. Helping us with the infrastructure refitting, getting industrial plants running, hell, even helping us get the agriculture restarted. There's even been talk of them accelerating our immune system acclimation, but that's nothing but talk for the moment."
"Yes, Legion's been keeping me informed of that as well, though it's good to get independent confirmation," Wednesday said with a gesture to the geth platform.
"First lesson of intelligence, always get independent confirmation where possible," Garrus added approvingly.

"Anyway, much though I'd love to stay and chat, I've got places to be and a VIP to escort," Kal said seriously. He turned to Tali and bowed his head, before extending his arm towards Wednesday's Child. "After you, Admiral."
"Wait, what?" Tali asked, nonplussed. She turned to give Kal a look, and Legion turned as well, curious.
"Oh, didn't you get the news?" Kal said, and you could hear the mischievous grin in his tone.
"No, I didn't," Tali said dangerously, her hands crossing over her chest. "Please enlighten me."
"This should be good," Garrus whispered to Wednesday.
"Well, the Conclave, in what is probably a first for those bickering children, voted by a landslide majority to fill the open position on the Admiralty board. So, let me be the first to congratulate you, Admiral Tali'Zorah," Kal said, finishing with a crisp, if sassy, salute.

Tali hadn't moved a muscle, and Kal was starting to get worried, before she burst out laughing. Wednesday and Garrus weren't too far behind.
"Uh, did I miss something?" Kal asked, dropping the salute.
"No, just that the quarians have unwittingly just done us a massive favour," Wednesday answered as her laughter subsided. "Don't worry, it'll be a good thing… eventually."
"Somehow, that doesn't fill me with confidence," Kal replied. "But, time marches on, so we better get moving Admiral. After you," he gestured again.
"Just remember what needs to be done Tali," Garrus called after her. "And don't forget to call!" Tali just gave a crude gesture in the turian's direction as she, Legion and Kal went up the gangway to the airlock. Wednesday, Garrus and Grunt just watched silently again as Wednesday's Child undocked and flew into the sky.

"So, when is your flight leaving again Garrus?" Wednesday asked.
"Pretty soon. I better get moving." He turned to face Wednesday, looking at her face and thinking about the changes that had been made to both of them. He wouldn't have guessed two years ago that the human before him would so dramatically change his life, but she had, and he'd never regretted a single moment of it.

Until now.

"You do realise what's going to happen, right?" he said in a long-suffering voice.
"Garrus, the moment I care about what your by-the-book father chides you with is the moment I tell Liara that I'm in charge in the bedroom from now on. There'll be a moment of laughter, and then there will be an education as to why things are the way they are."
"Wednesday, I'm not talking about my father, I can handle him. It's my sister that's got me worried!" Wednesday tilted her head for a moment, then adopted a falsely sympathetic face.
"My condolences. I do not envy you, because sisters are the absolute worst. I should know, I am one!" she finished with a teasing grin.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. See how you like it when I start introducing you as the mother of a krogan," he muttered darkly, but with a grin. He and Wednesday hugged, before he headed off towards his own transport. Wednesday just smiled as he went. During the Clansmeet, between Gomez and Morticia getting Grunt drunk (an impressive feat in and of itself) and a few choice anecdotes from Garrus and Tali, Grunt had finally decided that Wednesday was his mother, or as close as he was going to get in his situation. Liara had laughed at that, while Wednesday just shrugged and accepted the fact. She jerked her head at Grunt and the two of them walked to a different terminal in the spaceport.

"You got everything?" she asked, looking at the large pile of weapon cases he was taking with him.
"Had to leave the hammer at your place, wouldn't fit in my luggage," Grunt admitted.
"Just remember what Gomez and I taught you Grunt. A weapon you make with your own hands works better. You know the feel by instinct, you know how to use it better, to cause maximum damage with minimum effort. Besides, there's enough junk and rubble on Tuchanka to make a suitable weapon. Now, what's the first rule?"
"No evidence," he chimed, a child repeating a rote lesson.
"Good. Now, if anyone tries to give you a hard time, just remember what I taught you. Go for the weak points hard, fast and continuously until he's no longer a problem. If you want to get respect fast, talk to Wrex and get him to point out the biggest, loudest one. Beat him in front of everyone, and they'll respect you. Humiliate him and make it clear that you could have killed him, and even he'll respect you, eventually. And if you ever need help, I'm just a call away." With that, Wednesday handed him a box. He opened it eagerly to see that inside was an Addams QEC. He had been accepted into the family.

Grunt fitted the device to his omni-tool before gathering Wednesday in a full krogan-strength crushing hug – fortunately for all concerned, Wednesday was considerably tougher than the average human and did her best to crush him back. He put her on the ground again and smiled at her, causing a few small children nearby to cry at the sight of his tooth-filled maw.
"I love you mom. Thanks."
"You're my son Grunt, I'm not going to just send you out there without backup. Now, go out there, beat some idiots to a pulp, and make me proud." She watched as he boarded his own transport which would eventually take him to Tuchanka, a tear almost threatening to fall down her face. The two of them might not have the most conventional mother-son relationship, but that didn't mean that she felt it any less. Conventional was not the Addams way, anyway.

As she left the spaceport, she felt a sudden urge to be with Liara. Must be the motherhood thing, stupid ovaries, Wednesday thought to herself. Though that thought was soon subsided under the thoughts of what Liara had promised her last night. Maybe if she was a good girl and surprised her lover early, she'd break out the metal shackles for the rack.

A/N: Break out the booze and release the kraken, because I'm finally back, and with Wednesday!

I will only half apologise for the length of time between updates. Real life kicked me down and then back up, so it left me with little time to write, and even less of my muse willing to give me the time of day. I got fired and I got married, pick the excuse that feels best to you and go with it.

Quick note, this story will be more like Wednesday's Interlude that a proper story in and of itself. It will be a series of short, mostly self-contained ficlets that tie into the Wednesday-verse, filling out what all the minor and secondary characters are doing between Arrival and Invasion Day. Will you see more of the Addams herself? Possibly.

Yes, I'm working on the final installment of Wednesday's saga as well, but there is a lot of story that happens away from her immediate person, plenty of threads to set up, characters both pro- and antagonist to move to the proper place and time.

As a great wizard once said: 'The board is set, the pieces are moving.' Well, consider this setting the board.

Also Also, an honourable (or perhaps dishonourable) mention to viperblood123, DiamondDuge 419 and Konda020946 for harassing me on my honeymoon for more Wednesday.

Expect irregular updates. Reviews will certainly help make that irregularly fast, rather than irregularly slow.