Hello again! Next chapter is up, I hope that you'll enjoy it :) I have a little dilemma about the continuation - I've got two ideas that rule out each other, and I'm not sure, which one should I develop. One is quite depressing - much more of hurt, some comfort ;) and second one would include much more action, much less moping Shepard ;) I'd love to know your opinion about that since I have no idea which version would work better :)

And big kudos to my wonderful betas, who make my poor English look quite nice ;)

(Oh, and I have decided to include "xxxxx" as breaks since formatting really sucks)

A few days later Liara stormed into their apartment without knocking.

"Shepard, Garrus! You must hear it!" she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"What exactly?" asked the Commander, who just left the bathroom and was drying her hair with a towel.

"They've just found out what happened to the relays!"

Since the war Sol Relay was closed to traffic, as it was damaged after being hit by the Crucible's pulse. Repairing it was top priority as most of Galaxy's forces were stranded in the Sol System, and resources were fast depleting. Indeed, it was good news that the scientists have figured out what happened to their basic means of communication.

"That's great." Garrus smiled from the table, where he was meticulously cleaning his rifle. "Are there any estimations on how long will the repairs take?"

"They are not repairing it", answered Liara, but the glee hasn't disappeared from her eyes.

"What do you mean: they're not repairing it?" asked Shepard with surprise. It seemed impossible that the government wasn't going to make any attempts to help the stranded soldiers get back to their homes. If this situation held much longer, all people staying in the Sol System would be facing a serious threat of starvation. Even with quarian lifeships and their supplies of dextroamino food, there simply weren't enough resources for all of those people.

"They aren't, because the relays are not broken", stated Liara matter-of-factly. "They are just miscalibrated."

Garrus made a sound that fell somewhere in between chuckling and choking. Shepard smirked.

"Now you just need to tell me that they need Garrus to calibrate it again and you'll have made my day", she said, not even trying to hide her amusement.

The asari giggled loudly.

"No, Shepard. That's not what I had in mind... However, I must admit that the idea is hilarious."

"Not at all." Garrus tried to look offended. "But I'm afraid that after my calibrations the mass relay would be deadlier than ever before."

The Commander smiled widely and looked at the turian with pure amusement.

"I'm pretty sure of it, Garrus", she answered honestly and turned her attention to Liara. "So, if the relays are miscalibrated, that means…?"

"It means that the relay network looks completely different than before. And the Council wants to send a recon team to map it again."

"Why won't the engineers just…" Shepard couldn't stop a chuckle. "Calibrate them again?"

"As far as I know, it's beyond our capabilities" answered the asari. "This process seems to be more complicated than anyone might have suspected and needs cooperation on both sides of the relay – and now that's out of question. We can't reach people who stayed on their homeworlds."

"I'd say that it beats staying in this shithole", said the human woman looking at her partner. "I guess it's time to take Zaeed's advice."

"If you say so…" The turian wasn't genuinely opposed to volunteering for this task, but he was still sour about Massani. As good as his advice might have been, he still didn't like the way it was delivered. Shepard frowned slightly as if she guessed what he was thinking about, but reached for her hairbrush with new enthusiasm.

"I believe it's time for me to pay a visit to Hackett."

xxxxx

As soon as it was confirmed that the entire Council was in the Citadel during the Reaper Invasion and therefore couldn't have survived, a new Council was elected. Those new councilors were unsure of their newly gained position and terrified by the amount of destruction that could have been avoided if only the old Council had listened to non-council races. That meant that they more often than not sought guidance from heads of racial governments – and it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it didn't also mean that they were highly indecisive. In the past few months it proved to be much more effective to apply directly to Hackett than to the Councilors, as his word was usually considered to be even more important than the Council's – since everyone was stuck in human's solar system. That's why Shepard found herself in a weird position of applying for Spectre mission to the head of human government.

"How you did even learn about this assignment, Shepard?" asked the grey-headed Admiral, watching the Spectre intensely. "It's classified knowledge that we're doing anything like that."

"I believe that I have all the necessary clearances, sir", answered the woman, however from the stark tone of her superior she could already tell that she wouldn't like the outcome of this meeting. "And it seems that this is a mission for a Spectre. I'm a Spectre, I've got a good crew and I command the best ship in the fleet. I guess it's right thing to do."

"You're right, Shepard", started Hackett cautiously. "It's a job for a Spectre. And I think that we should send the Normandy…"

The Commander couldn't believe her ears. It seemed that Hackett was actually going to tell the Council that she should go.

"But Staff Commander Alenko already has volunteered and was approved by the Council", finished the Admiral. "He's taking the Normandy. His departure is scheduled three days from now."

Shepard felt slowly building rage as she heard this news.

"Really? You're giving my ship to Alenko without even informing me that there's a job to be done?" she asked with her brow furrowed in anger. Hackett sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His uniform hat was lying on the desk between them.

"It's an Alliance vessel, Commander", he answered, his voice tired. "Not your personal ship. And you're technically on leave. I personally believe that you should make use of your hard earned rest."

"The Alliance vessel went down on Alchera almost four years ago", snapped Shepard, barely containing her rage. Right now she really wanted to break the worn out desk on the Admiral's head. "This is the ship I took from Cerberus… as part of my payment", she concluded. It didn't make much sense, especially that after her brief episode with Cerberus she surrendered the frigate to the Alliance command – but she really didn't care.

"And now it's Alliance property, Shepard." Hackett hasn't been moved by her outburst. "Go home, relax and rest a little. As I've heard your wounds haven't fully healed yet."

Shepard knew well enough when she was dismissed so she stood up and proceeded to leave. She needed to vent her anger and decided that she had to set something like a firing range near her apartment. Obviously, she didn't have many other options.

Hackett's voice stopped her in the door.

"And no commandeering of Alliance ships this time, Shepard. You don't have the Reapers to save you from being court-martialed anymore."

"Aye, aye, sir", she growled, slamming the door shut.

xxxxx

Snow crunched loudly under her feet as she trudged furiously through the crowded street. Some of the people she passed by surely recognized her; a young asari looked as if she wanted to talk to her – maybe ask for an autograph – but after one look at the Commander's face she changed her mind. But even now not everyone was that cautious. On the middle of the street stood a greenplated krogan, shifting impatiently on his legs – probably waiting for someone. He didn't even notice the enraged Commander until she bumped into him, hitting him with her shoulder.

"Hey!" he growled, turning to her. "Watch where you're going!"

"Watch where you're standing", she snapped, angry enough not to care that she was basically taunting a krogan.

The intimidating figure towered over her by at two heads, not to even mention his bulky stature. She wasn't an expert in estimating aliens' age but she guessed from the appearance of his skin that he was relatively young. And he looked as angry as she felt. Probably the only thing that stopped him from attacking her then and there were very strict rules that Wrex laid for his people for the duration of their stay on Earth.

"I'm standing where I want to stand", grunted the alien, pushing her back forcefully. She barely managed to stay on her feet. Despite all reason she pushed back.

"And I'm walking where I want to walk", she sneered at him. She didn't have to wait for the reaction; the giant alien lowered his head and charged at her. She leaped away just a blink of an eye before he hit her with all his body mass and threw him back with the biotic field. An activated amp tickled her lightly on the back of the skull. The familiar feeling made her even more eager to fight. The krogan stood up almost instantly and attacked her – trying to knock her over again. His tactic was crude and simple – but effective. Before she managed to load the next biotic blast, she was lying on her back, air gone from her lungs. The huge fist hit her under the left eye – if not for her hardened skin weave, she would surely have her cheekbone broken – and at the same second she unloaded all the energy she had accumulated straight into his face, sending him high in the air. Shepard jumped on her feet, pulling out her Carnifex and was already pulling the trigger…

"Shepard", she heard a familiar, low grumble. "Since when are you shooting at children?

"Wrex." She lowered her pistol, looking at the old krogan with aversion. "He started it. Last time I checked, your people were rather fond of fighting."

"It doesn't mean that you have to butcher this youngling in the middle of the street, Shepard. Can you tell me what the hell happened here?"

The Commander just shrugged.

"I didn't like his face. What are you doing here?"

"I am not killing any annoying humans just because you look like pyjacks", answered the krogan grimly. "Where's Garrus?"

"What? Is he my babysitter now?" snapped Shepard, sheathing her weapon. The adrenaline started to wear down, and her ribs were hurting as hell. It didn't improve her mood.

"He gave that impression." The krogan leader smirked. "I have no idea how turian-human relationships look like – apart of the fact that you always took him along when you were going to kill someone."

The young krogan approached them with hostility written all over his face. Sight of Urdnot Wrex obviously tempered his rage a bit but not enough to let it go.

"Clan leader", he started defiantly. "I have unfinished business with this pyjack…"

"'This pyjack' has quads thrice as big as you have, Trez", interrupted Wrex. "And if I wasn't here, you'd be dead, so shut up and take those damned supplies to the camp. And tell Grunt that he has to wait for me a bit longer." He turned to the human woman, forcing her to move in the opposite direction. "Let's go, Shepard, before I'll have to kill you."

She reluctantly agreed to go with him – she wasn't happy about this interruption but she knew that her mood was a poor excuse for picking a fight with an old friend. Especially that when a fight with Wrex would surely be fatal.

When they walked towards her flat, she had to admit to herself that brawling with a krogan wasn't probably her best idea ever. Her face started to swell in reminiscence of the youngling's hit, sensitive skin – leftover from a terrible burn – stung like hell, her shoulder and hip ached as if she broke them again.

"You know, Shepard, next time you feel like letting loose, just visit me", said Wrex suddenly after ten long minutes of silence. They were almost approaching her home. "There's a lot of ryncol at the krogan camp and a few warriors who would be more than happy to have a friendly fight with you – and actually stand a chance." He guffawed, grinning at her. "Including me."

She forced herself to give him a thin-lipped smile and nod. The krogan gave her a friendly pat on the back – which caused her to wince in pain. The krogan's idea of caress wasn't best suited for a human recovering from near-fatal injuries. Wrex, uncommonly, noticed her grimace.

"Uh, I forgot that you're now as squishy as any human", he said in the way of apology. Shepard shook her head.

"No problem, Wrex", she said, entering the building.

xxxxx

"Spirits, Sally! What happened? You look as if you brawled with a krogan!" exclaimed Garrus rising from the couch.

"Actually, she did", said Wrex who followed the Commander into the flat. Garrus looked at him with disdain.

"Have you lost your mind, Wrex?" He asked furiously, but his anger was soon replaced with a surprise as the krogans' leader chuckled.

"Not with me. She had beaten the hell out of the kid I took with me to the city."

Turian let out a long sigh, giving his partner a resigned look. The woman rolled her eyes and moved to the couch. Garrus went to the cabinet, took two medi-gel packs and tossed them to her. The commander ignored her medicine, cuddling with the blanket.

"Sorry about the kiddo, Wrex", she said eventually. "I had a really bad day and he looked big enough… Not to mention that I literally bumped into him, because he was counting flagstones."

"He'll be alright, Shepard", the krogan waved her apology off. "But it must have been something big, if you're so pissed off."

Garrus was typing something on his omnitool, when she answered.

"Yep. Hackett turned down my request for a mission. He's sending Alenko instead."

Her partner looked over his message, genuinely shocked.

"That asshole? Well, I guess we'll have to take the Normandy and go on our own." He widened his mandibles, smiling at Shepard. She knew that he was only half joking – and that made her feel even worse.

"Well, we can't. He's taking her. Council's orders."