Karik Meentra hated his job.

The sun hung high in the sky, casting it's light on the cityscape in the heart of Palaven's capitol city, Cipritine. It was a warm day even for Palaven standards and the humidity caused scales to itch under his plates. Not for the first time, he felt overly exposed without the familiar weight of armor, the suit a poor substitute for protection. The apartment buildings here, like many buildings built during Cipritine's Golden Age, were the uniform metallic grey. The building he was facing stretched up for miles, no doubt making for a spectacular view at the top that Karik would have been tempted to appreciate better had he not been here on business.

He stepped out of his skycar easily, despite the prosthetic leg clanking and whirring ever so slightly as it stamped cement. A souvenir from his final tour of duty and a constant reminder from a lifetime long past. The prosthetic was old and he hardly even took note of it anymore. He breathed in the hot morning air and took a moment to grab the data pad in passenger seat.

Karik would be the first to admit he was not a spectacular soldier, thus he tried not to complain much about his current occupation as a worker for the Hierarchy's Military Care Unit. Old squad mates would joke that they wouldn't trade spots with him for all the credits in the galaxy. A boring errand boy that checked up on families and the elderly? No thanks, they would say. But they were bred for firefights and Karik took solace in the quiet and consistent comfort of paperwork. So he tried not to complain.

Karik maneuvered through the crowds that bustled between him an the apartment building with well practiced ease.

No, the reason for his ire had more to do with the current state of the Hierarchy rather than his specific role within. The entire government was mobilizing for nothing, in his opinion. Turians were always in some type of conflict. On some mission of justice. This police action against the 'primitives', as the news stations were calling them, that were discovered near Relay 314 was no different than any other decade in Hierarchy history. The only thing worth note about the conflict was the fact that this new race of primitives were a spacefaring species. No doubt the whole fiasco would become an intergalactic affair before all was said and done.

Yet Karik knew the reasoning behind the Primarch's military declaration of open hostility. He knew it as well as any other turian. Fighting insurrectionists, terrorists, and pirates was not a true trial by fire. No songs would not be sung for destruction of a slaving vessel or the protection of a merchant convoy. Turians were soldiers and soldiers needed a war. They couldn't resist the challenge.

He understood it, but Karik wished that didn't leave so many bratty children parentless.

He nodded at the landlord, displaying his identification. That was all it took to get her to unlock the elevators. He stepped in and rode it up to the one of the top floors.

It wasn't a horrible system, he reflected. Most kids from soldiering family's had relatives out of the service that could take care of them. Even if their was no immediate relatives, there was usually somebody slightly related that would claim custody. It was easy to find someone responsible with blood tests and clan markings. Spirits, most families still tended to live close to turians of the same clans and look after their own, despite the Hierarchy having disbanded the use of clans after the unification wars. You could never really stamp out bonds like that no matter how hard you tried and turians knew better than to underestimate the strength of packs. Karik himself came from a large family, and his white clan tattoos usually got him a few friendly nods from others with similar markings even if he didn't know them personally.

But not all children were so fortunate. Some were born to families with very few relatives and relations. The Vakarians were one such family.

Karik had seen their files or rather the lack of files. Both parents had inked out service records which either meant they were in Blackwatch or the 26th Armiger Legion. It was impossible to say which and it wasn't his job to pry. Only to check up on their two kids currently living alone and make sure they hadn't burned the building down yet. He glanced down at the data pad in his hands and frowned. Karik also had to make sure one of the brats was doing his schoolwork for the academy. Perfect.

This would be a short visit, he decided. The kids were both too young to be on their own, despite what the laws might state. Karik just needed to find reason to send them both down to Military Care HQ with the rest of the brats that didn't have anyone to care for them and the parents could just pick them up whenever they finished their service. He'd be on with the rest of his day in no time.


"Done."

I stood straight up from where I was kneeling beside the glass case, hiding my surprise behind a carefully stoic expression. That's one thing I'll admit to loving about my new body; facial expression could be limited to a bare minimal. Most turians would dominate in poker. I turned to find Garrus' wide eyes staring expectantly up at me, plate clutched in his talons and offered up to me as evidence to his deeds.

Leaning casually back against the gun case, I raised a brow plate, "You forgot the vegetables there, boss."

Bringing the plate back down to his level, Garrus glared at the bits of green still on his plate. As if he could scare them away.

Snorting, I turned back to inspect the glass case, or more specifically the combination code barring me from entry. "Yeah, they aren't too tasty, huh? Ya still got to eat 'em."

"No, they're weird, Ty."

As far as I knew, there were few universal constants; kids hating vegetables happened to be one of them. "Tough, boss. They're good for you."

Garrus plopped himself down on the floor next to me as I worked. The pout that tugged at his mandibles might have swayed a weaker man, but he'd have to try harder than that to get out of this. We descended into companionable silence as my three fingers typed at the hologram. After a short while, his voice broke the hush, "Its quiet."

"Don't try and change the subject," I muttered, concentrating more on guessing the combination than answering him. I had already gone through all of our namedays and mom and dad's joining date. What other series of numbers were there?

"I miss when it was loud."

"We'll play some music later or something," I grunted.

Garrus climbed up onto my back. I ignored his sharp talons digging into my sides while he and peered over my shoulder, "What are you even doing? That's mom and dad's." His subharmonics echoed, You shouldn't touch it, Tyrus.

I knew kids shouldn't be handling dangerous firearms and mom and dad locked up the guns for a reason. They weren't toys. But I needed to start sometime and technically, I am an adult. Sitting here while the Reapers inched ever closer is not something a responsible adult should do.

What? I hated feeling helpless. It left a sick feeling in my stomach. Like I was about to take a test without ever studying or being forced to give a speech without notecards. It paid to be prepared, in my opinion. But yes, he was probably right in his judgement. Was I going to admit that? Of course not. "And you should eat your food, bro." As an afterthought, I trilled a reassurance from my sub-vocals. I'll be careful.

Subharmonics were a strange thing, just another part of turian communication that I had yet to fully grasp. For most turians it was instinctual, but I had to consciously use the vocal chords that would express meaning that only turians could understand. It was like trying to teach yourself to use a sense that never existed before. I preferred the straightforward voice communication, but it would be considered rude to not respond with subharmonics in some cases.

"I wanna spar." Garrus leapt off my back. "Teach me what you learn from Academy."

I snorted, scratching behind my growing crest of horns "What do we say?"

He crossed his arms, "Please?"

"Damn right. And maybe after you finish your lunch."

"Why?"

"Cause I said so." Finally huffing in frustration, failing for the hundredth time in guessing the code, I turned to the plate resting on the ground. Picking up on of the green bean like plants, I examined it. They were called kaylocs and they did taste terrible, but they were good for a growing turian. Tossing it into my maw and shredding it with my sharp incisors, I grinned down at Garrus, fighting back a gag from the bitter taste of the food. The texture reminded me of a spinach leaf. "See? Delicious."

"Liar," Garrus proclaimed, grabbing a kayloc for himself and eating it. "They taste stupid. I bet you're just scared to lose"

"As if." I grabbed another kayloc before casting one last dejected look at the rifles glinting behind the glass, resolving to try again later tonight. "And I wouldn't lie about such amazing cuisine."

Garrus picked up the last piece of food in response, "That's not a word. Stop making up words and fight me."

"Cuisine? Yeah, it is." I then bent down and retrieved the now empty plate. "And look, you've already finished them off. Not that bad, huh?"

He nodded, "Guess not."

The warm sunlight shone through the windows of the house, bathing the rooms in a light glow. After cleaning the plate in the kitchen, I made my way into the living area where the light from the windows warmed the furniture and tiles beneath my talons. Collapsing onto the couch, I decided on taking a short nap after my failure with the display case. The best thing about being a kid again was taking naps and not feeling guilty about it afterwards.

Unfortunately, Garrus had other plans.

"Ty," he began tentatively.

I responded by pretending to snore.

"Hey, Tyrus."

"Tyrus…Ty," His subharmonics expressing his exasperation, as he climbed onto the couch.

"Ty, you can't go to sleep it's not nap time." He pounded on the sofa cushions, moving to crawl over me. "Ty, wake up."

"Hmph," I finally grunted, rolling over onto my back and subsequently throwing him off. He made a short yelp sound as he tumbled to the floor. Cracking an eye open to fix the kid with a mock glare, I finally answered, "What?"

Garrus narrowed his gaze from where he landed on the floor, "You said we could fight after I finished my vegetables."

"I said maybe," I grunted rolling back over, hiding the twitching of my mandibles.

Garrus shook my shoulder, "Quit being stupid. Let's do something."

"Napping is something."

He snorted, shaking me harder. "Something fun."

"Sleeping is fun." Kid just wouldn't quit. His persistence would be respectable if it weren't so annoying. Or directed at me.

"No, it's not," he complained, pulling at my mandible. "Why are you so boring?"

Smacking his hand away, I shifted into a sitting position and gave him a serious look, "I figure one of us has to be."

Garrus glared at me, or at least he tried to glare. It would have been more effective if he wasn't half my size. "That doesn't make any sense."

I lifted myself off from the couch and flicked him on the forehead. Partly to chide him, but mostly because it was fun to get a rise out of him. "You'll understand when you're older."

He continued glaring and holding his forehead while I strode towards the front door. I stopped just short and crossed my arms, fixing Garrus with an expectant look.

He was silent for a moment before looking up at me with hope filled eyes, "Roof?"

Have you ever had a turian toddler look up at you with big round, innocent eyes? It was hard to say no to a face like that. Puppy dog's ain't got nothing on turian toddlers.

I nodded an affirmative and only just had enough time to push the door open as he barreled out of the house. It was then that I allowed myself the smile.

Taking one last moment to lock up, my eyes fixated on the gun case. My smile faded. A subtle reminder, a responsibility and a promise. I wondered if it was healthy to be so fascinated with weapons that were made to kill and maim. Probably not, but normal was overrated anyway.

I walked out and locked the door behind me.

Ever since Garrus and I were old enough to really fight, we've been heading to the rooftop of the building. Unlike our apartment, there's plenty of space and room for us to climb and fight without having to worry about breaking anything in the house. Plus we'd never get int trouble with our parents. Even after mom and dad left we've been going to the roof. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if they were ever aware of our extracurricular activity. Mom probably had an idea, but I don't think dad ever found out. Mom was always very observant.

Turians were amazingly agile and quick, it didn't take either of us long to decide that sparring was our new favorite activity. Sure, it was a bit clumsy, uncoordinated, and I usually won, but Garrus liked learning about the combat moves they taught us at the Academy and I was all too eager to teach. The kid was good too. I couldn't help the small twinge of pride at the kid's progress. He really would be a great fighter some day.

We made our way up the stairwell, partly because it was good exercise but mostly because the elevators were slow as shit. Our apartment was already pretty close to the top of the apartment building so at least we didn't have to worry about tiring ourselves out just climbing the stairs.

"C'mon, Tyrus!" Garrus called out to me from a landing. He bounced on the balls of his feet, talons clicking against the metal stairs. How did so much energy exist in one kid? That didn't seem possible.

"What's the hurry, Gar?" I questioned with a smirk, stepping onto the same landing as him, "The roof isn't going anywhere."

"Yeah," he turned his head with a pout already twitching at his mandibles. "But you're slow."

"Am not."

"Are too," he smirked at me. "Bet its cause you're getting so old. It's okay Ty, it happens to the best of us."

Letting out a short snort in response, I swung an arm over his shoulder. "Don't be such a pest," I groused. He shrugged out from under my arm and gave me grin that made my own look like a mere shadow. He then proceeded to race me up to the roof.

The sun blazed like an unholy light in the sky. It cast it's piercing beams across Cipritine's skyline, shining off the skyscrapers and bathing the world in it's warm glow. I gazed over Palaven's capitol for a a brief second. The city pulsed with energy and life, like a living creature. Skycars zoomed past the building and holographic billboards hung suspended in the air. The city stretched on but at the very edge, beyond sight, there was a wall that separated the city form the wild jungles.

Garrus and I stood facing each other on the roof top. He crouched, ready to pounce, but he knew better now then to try and attack first. Smirking, I beckoned him forward, daring him to make the first move.


AN: Shorter chapter, mostly because it's been awhile and I need to ease myself back into the story writing process.

I'll be honest, this was gonna be a one shot type of deal. Just something I'd write down to get out of my head. But then all you guys started reviewing and PM and the idea just wouldn't go away.

So I kept writing and thinking.

What do you guys say? Wanna find out where this ride takes us?

Eh, I'm just rambling here. Thanks for all those that encouraged me to keep this going. Your opinions and criticisms will always be appreciated.

Till next time

-Reckless