-o-O-o-

Chapter 2

The bacon sizzled in the pan, sending a familiar smell of his childhood home Kaidan's way. He could admit he needed the comfort it brought. Checking the time told him there was at least an hour before Rorie was likely to call them to say goodnight, and he sighed in disappointment. It had only been a day but he felt her absence keenly whenever they were at home.

"The burning bacon tells me you're somewhere else."

Terra's voice was full of soft understanding, and her hands smoothed their way down his arms, then forward until they had firmly anchored the rest of her against his back. He felt her tiptoe slightly to press her lips to that sensitive place over the implant at his nape, sending a ripple of pleasure down his spine, before she rested her head at his shoulder.

Her soothing, loving touch worked to banish the pining. Quickly removing the bacon from the heat, Kaidan lifted his arm in order to draw his wife to his side, sharing a tender kiss. Even such a brief moment of intimacy was enough to stir up his whole body with want; such was the power of Terra Shepard.

Lips parting, they looked down at the offended piece of meat.

"Take-out?" Terra said, dryly.

"Hh! Yeah, uh, I think it might be a wise choice."

She turned to fully face him. "How about I head over to Fraticelli's?"

"The Italian who excels at Chinese food? Sounds good to me, but considering it was my fault dinner failed, I should go."

"Actually, you're going to be busy. This just came in from Arcturus." She reached behind her to grab the datapad she'd discarded in order to hug him, and it occurred to Kaidan how easy they both slipped from husband and wife to focused soldiers.

They were experts now in juggling the two sides of their lives in a way that eluded so many others. Not that balancing their duty to the galaxy and to their children was simple, but they had a wealth of friends willing to help, as well as his parents and Terra's father, and Rorie was testament to the fact they were doing alright.

Kaidan settled against the counter beside Terra as he took the datapad.

"There's trouble at some of our remoter colonies from currently unidentified mercs," Terra briefed him. "Intel from the various colonists states they're all reasonably small groups – all human - and they all seem to include capable biotics. The colonies security personnel each outnumber them ten times over but haven't been able to bring any of them down. They're holding out for now, but they'll need assistance soon."

"And this is galaxy-wide? Sounds like an orchestrated attack, but it's a poor attempt to grab resources with so few men. They'd have been more successful had they combined their numbers and hit one colony at a time. Could there be something more to it?"

"Maybe. Without knowing who we're dealing with it's impossible to know how well manned they are beyond what we're seeing here, but if these mercs are hoping we'll respond in force and divert ships away from other key sites so they can hit them too, they're mistaken."

"So the Brass want small strike teams sent in."

Terra nodded. "There's ten sites in all. With your eight squads, that'll leave two. You and I can take one now that we have Normandy back in action, and I expect they'll choose James and his team for the other. They just want you to assess the environments and select which ones you think your squads would be better suited for, which means you've got some missions to assign, General. We leave in the morning." She followed it with a swift kiss he wasn't quite fast enough to reciprocate. Then she was breezing out of the apartment, throwing one last sexy look over her shoulder.

Disposing of the ruined bacon, Kaidan vowed he was going to enjoy distracting himself with his wife tonight…. In the meantime, he'd have to settle for the datapad.

-o-O-o-

Despite being at home, a place she always found relaxing, Dalatrass Narra stood tensely on her balcony overlooking Sur'Kesh's sprawling, lush city. The daylight was fading, sending a fiery light onto the buildings in the horizon. But where it would normally have been beautiful, this time she perceived it as fire encroaching and it made her shiver, as though it was a portent.

She was waiting.

Over the last day's cycle, five remote salarian facilities, six ships, nine research camps, and even two of their smaller colonies, had sent maydays before dropping out of contact completely. The implication of so many attacks on salarian interests was truly troubling, and in response she'd sent STG teams to investigate each and every one.

Until she had some answers, she couldn't rest.

-o-O-o-

Shepard walked through her favourite part of the market ward. The stalls and small restaurants here sold exclusively human foods, and the smell was wonderful, bringing back so many memories of things her mother would procure for her as a child. It was only a recent discovery. The size of the Citadel meant that much of it she'd yet to investigate, but her prolonged down-time had given her the opportunity to delve deeper into the Citadel's offerings to find this hidden treasure.

The reason for her delay in returning to active duty, asides from her extensive knee injury and awaiting the third Normandy's construction, was their new arrival.

Warm feelings surged forth at the thought of her son; she'd left him fed and settled, knowing he'd sleep until morning now. A tiny version of his father, Nate was destined to break hearts, though she'd given him her chocolate-brown hair and eye colour. Visually, he was the exact opposite to his big sister, Rorie, and Shepard was already seeing the difference in their personalities. Where Rorie was into something for a few seconds before she flitted energetically onto the next item of temporary interest, Nate would happily sit and investigate what was in front him for considerable amounts of time, as though he wasn't content until he'd worked out everything about it and what it could do. He didn't have any biotic ability, either. In fact, the only thing Nate seemed to have in common with his sister was that he was utterly adorable.

Terra missed Rorie desperately. Being home without her always felt strange, and everywhere she went now echoed a recollection of Rorie being there too. As a hungry human biotic, her daughter had adored sampling the delights on offer here.

Arriving at the modest eatery, Shepard slipped inside and joined the line of expectant diners-on-the-go.

"Ah! Shepard! Back for more, eh? That's what I like to see. You know, you're becoming one of my best customers! And you're definitely my favourite! Come!" Antonio Fraticelli beckoned her from where he stood behind the counter, and Shepard sent apologetic looks to those in the queue, though most just looked back at her agog.

"Evening, Tony," she smiled as she reached him. Fraticelli's owner and chef was easily twenty years older than her father, with stark white hair that needed a good cut and comb, and an equally dishevelled beard that had convinced Rorie he was Santa, apparently selling noodles in his spare time.

"No little angel today? I've been working on my ho-ho-ho just for her!" he laughed, big and loud. "And no bambino, either?"

"Rorie started another term at Grissom, and Nate's down for the night."

"Ah." He sighed wistfully. "The sound of young children…. Those are the things I miss the most."

Terra didn't say anything. She already knew he was alone – his own children and grandchildren all lost to the Reapers. It's why he moved here from Earth after the devastation and incredible loss: too many reminders.

"The usual, for two?" Tony checked.

"Please."

"Coming right up."

Glancing behind her, Shepard winced at the gathering and growing crowd outside the restaurant. During the day, people passed her with nothing more than an interested look, but the evenings meant those same people unwinding with a drink or two, and it emboldened them to ask all those many burning questions they had. She should have thought to grab a cap. It was amazing how a piece of headgear could extend her a little anonymity.

A couple of onlookers were inching forward.

"Here you go." Tony passed her the order and peered behind her. "You're a great advertisement, by the way. I should probably pay you a commission, eh!?" His booming laughter always encouraged her own.

"Just keep making delicious noodles, Tony."

"Now that I can do," he smiled. "And how about I also give you an escape route, eh?"

"Tony, you're a godsend."

That made the elder man very happy as he lifted the counter so she could nip through. "Head straight through the kitchen and there's an exit at the back. Enjoy dinner!"

Kissing his cheek, Shepard made her way through and out into the back alleyway, deciding to follow it a little further along before she attempted to make her way back to the main walkway.

The restaurant door opened behind her and she looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Tony or one of his kitchen staff, but whoever it was must have changed their minds because no one exited. Carrying on, she threaded her way past the sacks of rubbish awaiting disposal but with each step she got a growing feeling she wasn't alone.

Her muscles tensed automatically as her body listened to her instinct to fight at the prospect of a threat. Spinning, her hand on the gun she always carried at her hip, she saw the figure just a few feet from her, her jaw dropping along with the take-out that landed at her feet.

It couldn't be….

"Mom?" Shepard whispered. Her mother looked just like she did on the vids: immaculately presented in her dress uniform and completely unblemished in the way Alliance-sanctioned vids liked to portray their poster-soldiers.

She missed her mother terribly, but this…? Shepard was frozen to the spot as her mother smiled gently back at her while moving closer. A hand reached out and when it touched her cheek – a warm, solid touch – a sob escaped to accompany Shepard's falling tears.

"My beautiful baby girl."

Launching herself forward to wrap her arms around her mother, Shepard's head screamed it wasn't possible. Hannah Shepard had died when she sent her ship ploughing into a Reaper in order to give them more time to dock the Crucible. Her father had witnessed it. Nevertheless, she held on, ignoring the fact that her mother wasn't holding her back. It felt like hugging someone for the first time, it had been so long. "How can you be here?"

"I'm not, Terra."

Shepard stiffened, fear replacing the stunned, confused joy - its chill crawling over her. She let go and her mother stepped back with a strange smile. Then the edges of her went blurry, the surroundings seeming to engulf her until she was gone.

Shepard started trembling, her breathing ragged. It had seemed so real. It had felt so real. Shaking hands rose to cradle her head. What did this mean?

o-O-o

Kaidan was getting worried as he paced up and down. Nate was screaming into his chest and nothing he did was making any difference.

That his son had woken once he'd been laid down for the night was unusual, and Kaidan had never heard him cry like this before. He was about to call Chakwas when it occurred to him that Terra had been gone for a while….

The mutated thorian spores created in Rorie, which had later been placed within Terra to help combat the Leviathans, had also been transferred to Nate during his conception. They already knew those spores had given Terra and Rorie a mental connection to each other, and as Nate had them too, Kaidan wondered if he was sensing something wrong with his mother.

Just as Kaidan was about to try to call Terra, Nate stopped, with only the occasional hiccup from his previous upset.

Still, Kaidan was unsettled now. Noting Nate was now falling back to sleep on his shoulder, Kaidan placed his son back in the cot and hurried out to the hall to call Terra. It was answered instantly.

"Hey. Sorry for the delay. I went and dropped our dinner and had to go back. I'm on my way."

There was a breathlessness to her voice that gave the impression she was rushing, but Kaidan thought her light tone sounded forced.

"Terra, is everything all right?" The pause, however brief, spoke volumes.

"I'm fine. Really. I just- I…. I'll explain when I get home."

Finishing the call, Kaidan went to perch himself on the edge of the lounge couch to wait, wondering what could have possibly happened to perturb his fearless wife.

-o-O-o-