Preface: I haven't decided if this is part of duality yet or not. But it was fun to write :D
December 23, 2191 - 5:02 PM local time
Sol System - Earth
12 miles South of Billings, Montana
Zaeed Massani. Former Marine. Former lead of the Blue Suns. Bounty Hunter and gun for hire. Part-time big game hunter Survivor of the Skyllian Blitz. He fought toe-to-toe against turians, salarians, batarians, and krogan. He had been part of the team that had faced down the Collectors. He had joined the fight and survived the Reapers' attempt to wipe out all life.
He was afraid of nothing and no one.
Except for one thing There was exactly one thing could make his palms sweat. One foe he could simply not kill. He felt his eye twitch as he thought of it. But he was committed to this. He had given his word, and Zaeed Massani kept his promises.
Snow came down in waves of white that obscured most of the landscape, but he could just make his destination as the skycar started to descend. Dread crept into his throat and clutched at his heart, before he remembered and started swearing in a colorful streak. He wouldn't have time later, he knew and he needed to do it now while he could, get it out of his system. The driver he had hired looked into the rear view mirror at him, confusion evident, but Zaeed forced himself to keep up his tirade. The man didn't know what he was about to endure.
The driver popped the door of the car as it stopped, and turned to look back at him. "Merry Christmas, sir. Do you need help with anything?'"
"No," he growled as he stood and stepped out to meet his fate.
"UNCLE ZAEED!" A chorus of voices shouted before a all the individuals involved rushed towards him.
"Oh damn and bloody hell ..." he muttered, and knelt as he braced himself for the charge.
Screams and laughter pelted him as a pack of charging krogan, led by a red-haired human girl, closed the distance in a stampede and rolled over him as inexorably as the tide. The girl, only about seven, bounded at him and wrapped her arms around his neck so tightly he would have sworn it was a strangle hold.
The fluffy coat the little girl had on pressed into his face, blinding him as the first of the krogan runts slammed into his knee. Zaeed gritted his teeth as pain shot up and down his leg in searing bolts of agony. Three more similar impacts battered his lower body as he stood, lifting WIllow out of the reach of her adopted siblings.
"Love, you need to ease up a bit," Zaeed rasped as he started towards the house as Willow maintained her death grip around his neck. "Uncle Massani needs to breathe."
"You're here, you're here! Momma wasn't sure you were coming! She said you were out on another crazy mission going after pirates! Did you find the pirates? What did you do when you found them? Did you get any new scars?" Willow babbled at him as she loosened her grip, pulling back so she could see his face, running one hand down the scar along his eye. It made his cheek twitch, but he plastered a smile on his face all the same.
"I think your Mother would kill me if I told you all that," Zaeed grumbled as he finally gained the porch against the tide of children. "And how the bloo- ... how do you survive around here with these hooligans?"
"Oh, they're pushovers," Willow said in such a matter-of-fact tone that Zaeed just had to stop and stare at her. Willow met his eyes. "What?"
"You're definitely your mother's daughter," Zaeed mumbled gruffly and lowered her to the porch.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Rhia Shepard said as she leaned against the doorway of the house, the beginnings of a smile on her face. "Now get in here, it's cold out there, and I haven't seen you in months." She held up one finger. "And, we have coffee ready."
Zaeed sighed and felt himself relax at the mention of perhaps the only thing that would get him through this weekend.
"Major, how did I let a woman like you slip through my fingers?"
Rhia's smile bloomed into a grin. "You wish, Massani."
He brushed past her, and stepped inside, dusting off the snow that had accumulated on him between the weather and the swarm of children, and looked around.
The house wasn't a small affair, but having as many children here as they did, Zaeed knew the space was more than a luxury, it was a requirement. The door thudded closed behind him as he shrugged out of his jacket.
"Who else answered the summons to this … get-together?" Zaeed asked as he turned and crossed his arms.
Rhia start ticking off fingers as she walked past him, forcing him to follow her to continue listening. "Almost easier to say who isn't. Tali is still on Rannoch, but said she would call on Christmas Day. Garrus had to beg off due to Solana's pregnancy. Jacob and Brynn are also no-shows, off to see her side of the family. Aside from that though, I think everyone is coming."
"You've got to be kidding me. This place is going to be packed," Zaeed grumbled, trying to just imagine where they would all sit, let alone sleep for a full weekend. No matter how he cut it, he came up short.
Rhia laughed and spun on a heel to walk backwards into the kitchen, her eyes twinkling. "Welcome to Clan Urdnot, Zaeed. We'ill make you feel at home one way or another."
A voice bellowed from the far end of the house. "Zaeed? Is that your surly voice I hear? I thought you told me that you were on the Rim and wouldn't be here."
"Hey, not my fault that those dumb pirate f—" Zaeed stopped as he caught Rhia's raised eyebrow. "Ah … they decided to oblige us and make things easy."
Heavy footsteps marked Wrex's approach through the house as Rhia released her warning stare to turn and shout back, "and I thought you were out getting the rest of the groceries we needed."
Wrex cleared the door into the kitchen, his arm laden with bags and parcels. He started to set them on counter as he spoke, "naw, I decided to go out hunt for food. Pickings were easy, I found this place where all the food was just laid out for anyone to grab."
Rhia rolled her eyes as she snagged a package to put away, leaving Zaeed to just shake his head as he looked between them. On the outside, you would think they were the most unlikely pair to have gotten together.
On the inside, Zaeed suspected Major Shepard was actually a krogan.
There was a shout from the next room followed a loud crash that elicited a sigh from Rhia, even as a chorus of children's laughter filtered in. "Wrex ... ."
"Oh, they're just butting heads again probably. They're fine," Wrex said as he put the last bag down. "And before you say it, your daughter has been the one who started it the last two times."
A second crash rebounded, this time from the hall almost directly behind him, and Zaeed turned to look as one of the krogan children stood from where he had landed in the hall, laughing as he shook his head, then charged back into the next room with a miniature roar.
Zaeed stepped back to see the results of the little hellions charge and froze as he recognized the other combatant in the childrens "game."
"I. AM. KROGAN!" Willow screamed as she hurtled forward, her biotics sparking azure halos around her. At the last possible moment before they collided, the human girl surged forward, propelled like a miniature red-haired rocket that smashed into her adopted sibling. The pair bounced along, laughing hysterically as they came to a stop only a few feet away.
Willow flopped onto her back, laughing and panting as she looked up at him. "Uncle Zaeed! Do you wanna play? Though you are big. Oh! You should play with Wrex! That would be soooo cool!"
Zaeed felt his heart rate spike as he glanced sideways at the battlemaster. "Uh, maybe ... later."
"Bah, come on, Zaeed. Let's play. Maybe I'll even take it easy on you," Wrex said, his lips curling into a smirk, until Rhia touched the side of his face and bumped her forehead gently against his headplate. They stood like that for a long moment with their eyes closed, long enough that Zaeed started to wonder if he should give them some privacy , before Rhia pulled away slowly.
"No one is headbutting anyone else right now," Rhia said, smiling as she looked at Wrex. Without looking away from her paramour she pointed at where her daughter was sprawled. "That means you too, young lady. One of these days, they are going to be bigger than you, and you'll be the one who ends up flattened."
"But, mom! I didn't even start it this time! Krel and Mordin did!" Willow complained, her face taking on an aggrieved expression, made completely comical by the fact she was still lying on her back and looking at her mother upside-down.
"And I have told you I don't want you doing that in the first place. Now get up, and go hang your coat," Rhia said.
Willow's eyes widened a bit. "How did you—"
"I'm your mother. I know all kinds of things," Rhia stated turned to look at her. "Coat, now. And if there is anyone still outside, tell them to come in."
Willow scrambled up and bounded into the living room to do as she had been commanded.
Zaeed just shook his head and looked at Rhia. "I was promised coffee?"
"Mugs are there, help yourself," she said as she pointed to the cabinet. "Cream or sugar?"
"Don't suppose I'm allowed something stronger right now?" Zaeed asked with fake hopefulness.
Rhia wrinkled her nose. "Later. I think Cortez was planning on bartending when he got here. Because that ended well on the Citadel."
Zaeed snorted out a laugh as he recalled the madness of that night, and the previous few days leading up to it. A good half of it all was just a blur of colors and shouting for the most part. Sign of an evening well spent in his book. "Eh, I can wait for that, I suppose. And I'll be fine with black."
"Suit yourself," Rhia said with a shrug as she continued to tuck food and other things into various cabinets.
Zaeed poured himself a cup of coffee as he watched her, trying to figure out how she decided what went where. He finally couldn't hold it in anymore. "Damn woman, do you have some kind of system, or is this just a 'put it where it fits' kind of thing?"
Both Wrex and Rhia froze in mid motion and looked at each other, smiles slowly blossoming into life on their faces. Wrex winked at Rhia, whose face started to go scarlet in embarrassment as she burst out laughing.
Zaeed groaned and covered his eyes with one hand. "An image I'll never be able to erase now, thanks."
Rhia wheezed as she put her arms on the counter. "Oh, Zaeed. I've got to find a way to get you around here more often.
Zaeed shook his head, and finally started to laugh as well as he took a sip of coffee. "We'll just have to see."
Author Note: This started as Zaeed baby sits. Then Zaeed at Christmas Baby sitting. Then Mizdirected said "Hey, ship Rhia and Wrex". Me: "Why the hell not?!" So on top of thanking her for that (or blaming her? :D ) a shoutout also needs to go out to Palaven Blues for putting up with my horrendous grammar and helping kick this into shape. I have the checklist. I promise to use it. :D