Author's Notes: Okay, so this piece contains HUGE spoilers for the end of my main fic, Paragade of Destiny. But as this is the first thing I've written in SIX months, I wanted to share it with everyone.
HUGE, AWESOME shoutout to MizDirected (as always :D) for being so awesome and betaing all my work.
Alexis Shepard-Alenko was tired. Bone tired, almost as tired as she'd been in the last days of the war. Kids screaming and running everywhere, their faces hidden behind different masks and makeup. And what the HELL was with the clowns? Damn she hated clowns.
Despite her husband's persistence, she had refused to go near any costume shops this year. If she was going to be going trick or treating with Elise alone this year (Kaidan had taken David to a different part of the Citadel), then she was damn sure going to be comfortable. So, she'd dug out her old N7 armor and gone as … herself. Combat knife in her boot, Carnifex at her hip. Though she'd had to promise Kaidan that she'd leave her thermal clips at home. He still wasn't letting her live down when she'd shot at all the photographers when she was pregnant the first time. And though her armour was a bit snugger than she would have liked, she was impressed she could still wear it given that she'd given birth to twins, and was in the first trimester of another pregnancy. She just wished her leg wouldn't hurt so damn much.
"Come on, mommy!" four-year-old Elise shouted from just a little ways ahead of her, her little face red with exertion as she dragged her heavy, candy filled pillow case behind her. "Terrance and Malia are already two houses ahead of us."
Alexis smiled at her daughter, dressed as Rey from Star Wars, as she ran to the next sugar providing residence before calling ahead to her nephew and Tali and Kal's daughter. "Hey you two, stay with Elise. She's got shorter legs than you."
Even from this distance she could see her nephew rolling his eyes at her, a little too much like his father always did. She narrowed her eyes at him, much the same as she always did when Jon tried to sass her, but she couldn't help the slight lifting at the corner of her mouth. Terrance gave her a toothy grin as he and Malia came running back to her side.
"It's not our fault she's slower than we are," Terrance said as he put his bag down at his aunt's armored feet. "She should have picked a costume she could actually run in."
Alexis eyed her nephew up and down with a cocked eyebrow. "She can run in it, she just isn't as fast as you. Besides, not everyone wants to dress as Iron Man, Terrance. And the fact that your dad actually put little rocket boosters into your boots …"
"Is so cool!" Malia squealed from beside her, the young quarian's luminescent eyes shining with admiration at her best friend. "Mommy and daddy say I'm too young for anything like that."
"Yeah well, my brother always did like to go 'over the top' with his costumes when we were kids. And with Miranda as his mother …" but something suddenly felt off. The kids that Elise had followed up to the house had just run past them, but the young Alenko wasn't amongst them. Alexis' stomach dropped as her eyes flashed up to the door, but it was closed and there was no sign of her daughter.
Terrance seemed to sense the chance in his aunt's demeanor. "Aunty Lex?" But she was already moving, a combination of fear, adrenaline, and anger pushed her forward and into the crowd of milling children. Terrance and Malia ran close at her heels.
"Where's Elise? I don't see her anywhere." The young quarian asked as she scanned the many faces around them.
Alexis drew up her omni-tool and quickly keyed in the activation code for the tracker she'd hidden in her daughter's boot, mentally chastising herself that she'd refused the extra security Kaidan had suggested. The locator beeped and she quickly veered towards the alley between the buildings, Terrance and Malia right behind her.
Just as they were about to head into the alley, Elise came wandering out, a few tears glistening on her cheeks. A big smile split her tiny face as she looked up at her mother, her little arms dropping her staff and encircling her mother's armoured leg.
Alexis swooped down and lifted her daughter, clutching her close to her chest and thanking God, the Spirits, the Goddess, and every other deity she knew of that her daughter was alright. Elise hugged her back, nuzzling her little face into her mother's neck.
"I'm okay, Mommy. She just wanted to say goodbye." Elise whispered in her ear. Alexis loosened her grip and looked into her daughter's sincere hazel eyes, so very like Kaidan's.
"You scared me and your cousins half to death when we couldn't see you. You know not to wander off, especially on a night like tonight where there are so many people you can get lost in."
"I'm sorry, but she said this was the last time she could come. She said it was finally time for her to move on." Elise mumbled as she played with the collar of Alexis' under armour.
Alexis' brow crinkled in confusion as she studied Elise. "Who did, sweetheart?"
Elise's eyes met hers. "The lady in the pink armour that's always there when me and David have bad dreams. The one in the picture with you and daddy on the old Normandy. Aunty Ashley."