Garrus-femShep

Chapter 28

Palaven

The word that Shepard had a lifemate spread like wildfire through the ship. Very few were actually surprised. There was something about her than just didn't make it seem so impossible. Joker, however, was not pleased that he lost the betting pool. The closest date on when they'd get together without going over belonged to Captain Kirrahe. Joker grudgingly asked EDI to forward the winnings from his account to Kirrahe's.

On the next mission out Tali and Garrus were taken. When the shuttle landed she turned to Garrus for the good luck kiss. Then hurried down the incline. They were sent to destroy mechs protecting boxes of supplies. A dropship unloaded three YMIRs. She told them they were each to take on one. They had to save as many cargo boxes as possible.

Tali deployed her drone towards her perspective target to draw its attention away from destroying the precious cargo. Garrus fired an over load charge and Shepard launched Grim and fired her own overload charge. The YMIRs turned to face their aggressors and the fight began in earnest.

All in all they had been able to save 17 of the 20 crates. Not perfect, but acceptable losses. The next few missions rolled by and the couple displayed to the rest of the crew the timing and unusual efficiency they had when working together.

Shepard dropped the datapad on her desk and stretched. It was past time to bite the bullet and contact her mother. She had always been closer to her father than her mother…Perhaps, because of their shared interests and similar personalities. Her mother tended to be…aloof at times. Maybe she should just message her. Damn, that's the coward's way out. Well, when it came to her mother she was a bit of a coward. She had to return a recent message she'd received from her anyway. She sat down at the desk and began to compose her message.

From: Mom

So I have to find out my child is alive third-hand from the Alliance brass? Where the hell have you been?

I figure whatever you're doing is classified, likely part of your Spectre Operations. Just stay safe out there, and keep doing your mom proud. And sneak something through a secure channel next time.

Love,
Your mother, Captain Hannah

Reply:

From: Arianna

Mother,

I apologize at my delay in contacting you. I'm assuming either Hackett or David informed you of my miraculous return. I will explain everything I can to you when we meet up again in person. It is not something I care to discuss over an unsecure channel. But I am alive and well. I am currently the captain of the Normandy SR2, if you need to comm me. It is not an Alliance vessel; you will need to go through alternative channels.

There is another purpose to this message. I wanted to inform you that I am getting married and am formally inviting you to attend. My fiancé is a turian by the name of Garrus Vakarian. We served together aboard the Normandy SR1. The ceremony will be held on Palaven. We are en route to the Citadel, if you can arrange to dock there soon; you may join us aboard the Normandy. If not, I we will be arriving at Palaven within the next two weeks, if you preferred to go directly there. I understand if your schedule is too busy to allow for any such delays.

I hope you are safe and well aboard your ship, the SSV Orizaba.

Message me when you can so that I know if I need to add you to the guest list.

Love,

Your daughter, Staff Commander Arianna Shepard

Shepard received a return message within a very sort length of time. Her mother was anything if not efficient.

Reply:

From: Mom

My daughter is getting married? To a turian? I know you are intelligent, Arianna, so I trust that you know what you are doing.

My schedule does not allow me time to dock at the Citadel before you leave for Palaven. I will rearrange my current itinerary to allow for a brief layover on Palaven. Make sure that man of yours is ready to meet me.

I will see you soon.

Love,

Your mother, Captain Hannah

They were making a brief stop at the Citadel for gas and supplies. The Citadel was one of the better stops for multi-species needs. Illium was the best, but there were things they needed to do at the Citadel.

Shepard put on an emerald green dress. The main strap was a twisted band of emerald and gold that looped around her neck in halter style. The neckline plunged past her navel in the front and to her hips in the back. From breasts to hip the gown was lined and molded to her, her breasts pushed together by four thin bands of gold that ran the width of the plunge right below her breasts. An emerald danced in her navel. The skirt was angled. It came to just below her hips on one side and then angled down to the floor on the other. She wore her gold magbelt low across her hips with her carnifex snapped to her back and gold pumps adorned her feet. She topped it off with gold and emerald dangling earrings and a gold necklace with an emerald pendulum that swung low, kissing the tops of her breasts.

Garrus' jaw hit the floor as soon as he entered their cabin. He made a bee-line for his wife. They wrapped their arms around each other and held each other tightly. A fresh turian bond mark, along with a multitude of pale faded ones, could be clearly seen on her shoulder if close enough. Those were her only scars that had never healed completely.

But, those scars didn't need to be seen to be known. Scent glands located at the gum line between a turian's teeth are activated during the marking, or claiming, of a mate. A dense, specialized fluid is secreted that flows into, and past, the epidermal layers through the punctures, saturating them and permeating the cells beneath. When those cells reproduce, the fluid proteins are reproduces as well, thus maintaining a constant scent that is slowly flushed out the pores. This permanent scent marker is why such strict laws are enforced on Palaven regarding mate marking.

Humans, volus, quarians and asari do not have the olfactory spectrum needed to discern the marking scent or even the scent of pheromones, but the other species did.

Between Garrus' frequent markings and daily pheromones, she was more than sure she was ripe with his scent. She, unfortunately, could not properly mark him, since she lacked the specialized scent glands, but didn't doubt her constant release of pheromones around him made up, for the most part, for her lack. She couldn't smell the pheromones she released, but the look on his face and his instant need to make love to her when he did all but screamed, Arianna you're scenting!

The crew was free for a few hours of micro-shore leave. Shepard had made arrangements to meet up with David to tell him about Garrus and see if he could make it to the wedding either in person or via holo.

Her godfather embraced her warmly and shook Garrus' hand. He led them to his table and got them each a drink. He thanked her for the intel she'd been sending back. Nothing incriminating on Cerberus yet, but she was still faithfully sending reports about her missions to the Alliance and the Council just as she'd always done. He had asked Garrus about his face. Garrus shot a look at Shepard and when she nodded he explained to David that he'd kissed a rocket and then told him how Shepard had kept him alive afterwards. David smiled at his godchild and patted her hand. He'd always known she'd never lost her abilities; he'd gone along with her ruse because he had been against how the military had treated her by abusing her gifts.

"I always enjoy your visits, child. But I suspect you are here for another reason."

"Yes, I am. I wanted you to know that Garrus and I are together now. We are lifemates."

David was stunned. Finding a lifemate was very rare; in fact most humans weren't aware they even existed. But if anyone could buck the impossibility odds it would be Shepard. He smiled at her. "I knew it! Well, not the lifemate part, but I knew you would end up together."

"How could you know anything of the sort?"

David sighed, "Because I could see how much you and Garrus were in love. If you were going to marry someone, I thought it would be him."

"And why did you think Garrus and I were in love?" she asked, sending her husband a sultry wink. She felt his grip on her hand tighten. The heated look he sent her let her know she must have been scenting. It's not like it was something she could control.

David glanced at Garrus, but the turian only had eyes for Arianna. "Because of the way he looked when he thought you'd died. Because of how you looked at each other when you stepped out of Sovereign's debris. I don't know, child. I could feel it. It surrounded the two of you like this impenetrable field." David cleared his throat; the sexual tension was growing thick in the room. "It still does."

"You were right in what you saw …in what you felt. Garrus and I were so busy reading wrong signals that we didn't find each other until right before we lost the first Normandy. Everyone else knew all along what we were too blind to see." She gave her husband's hand a squeeze.

"Yeah, I know. I lost a killing in the betting pool," Anderson said with a smile.

"Eh tu, Brute?" she asked, shaking her head and giving him a big smile.

David sat stunned for a moment and Garrus chuckled. When he gathered his wits about him he looked in turn from Garrus then back to Shepard. He was happy for the couple. He always had been.

"And that brings us to why we are here today. Garrus and I are going to get married on Palaven. We would like you to be there in person or holo to give me away."

Anderson smiled. "I'll be there. I think Udina would love to rule the roost for a few days in my absence. When did you want to do this?"

"I had hoped to leave here and head directly to Palaven," she admitted.

Anderson looked down for a moment and then slapped his hand on the table with a smile. "Well then, let's get a move on it. Do you want me to fly out with you or would it be more expedient for me to take the Hawk?"

"No...no. Come with us. It will give me more time to spend with you." At his nod a megaton smile lit up her face, she jumped up and threw her arms around David. "Thank you, dad!"

The men gasped in unison, their hearts slammed painfully in their collective chests…and they were all damned thankful they were sitting down. His little girl needed to turn that smile on Udina and Council; …they'd be putty in her hands.

"Okay, then," Anderson cleared his throat. "I'll have a word with Udina and the Council. Garrus, were you going with her? Did you want to stay? Or did you have something else to do?"

"I've got something else I need to take care of before we head out." He shook David's hand, kissed his wife and told her he'd catch up to her later.

Shepard gave her godfather another hug before leaving. There was something she too needed to do before meeting up with Garrus again. She needed to get him a ring. She had a piece of ribbon she'd pulled off one of her garments to get his measurement while he was sleeping.

One of the local jewelers helped her find a metal that was a good match for thulium, the soft, silvery metallic element present in trace amounts in both the carapace and pebbling of a turian's skin. She had in engraved with Best Friend Lifemate, with an infinity symbol between the words on both sides. She placed the box in her pocket. She just needed to figure out who she was going to ask to be the ring bearer.

She commed Garrus, who was still busy, and told him she'd meet up with him back on the Normandy.

"EDI do we still have my old bed?" When Garrus had moved into the cabin she had her bed replaced with a larger one. They tended to be rather…energetic and the larger size came in handy.

"Yes, Shepard. I thought there might be a chance that we would still need it."

"Good call. Have it set up in the Port Cargo. We will be having Councilor Anderson joining us. Have a desk and terminal set up in there as well. Also, can you try to get word to Wrex on Tuchanka and Liara on Illium and let them know about the wedding? I'd love for them to come if they can."

"Right away, Shepard," EDI replied.

"Shepard, can you come see me?" Miranda commed.

When she walked into the XO's room she was surprised to see Miranda in the middle of packing.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes. I heard about Councilor Anderson's impending arrival and thought to give him my room for the duration of his stay," Miranda told her.

Shepard was stunned. "Wow. I was going to offer him our room. I put a bed down in Port Cargo and figured we'd bunk there for the time being," Shepard admitted.

Miranda looked horrified. "You are the captain of this vessel. You shouldn't give your cabin up to anyone. No. Absolutely not. He's taking my cabin. I'll be fine down in Port Cargo for the time being. Besides, it is familiar turf for him. This was the location of his cabin on the old Normandy."

She thanked Miranda for her kindness and left her to her packing. Miranda could not have surprised her more. It seems there was more to the woman than the arrogance let on. EDI informed her that Captain Anderson was in the airlock.

She greeted David with a warm hug and proceeded to give him a tour of the new Normandy. By the way he talked about the ship; she knew he was impressed with what he was seeing.

David was humbled that Miranda was willing to give up her room for him, but he told her he would be fine down in Port Cargo. She waved him off, she already had her stuff down there, all she had left to do was to switch out terminals. David said he would help her, so she left the two of them discussing the Normandy and, wouldn't you know,…herself.

Shepard thought of the impending marriage. She was excited…a little frightened… and majorly turned on. She ran straight to the forward batteries and into her husband's arms. She grabbed his carapace, pulled up and wrapped her legs around his waist. His mouth came down hard against hers, their tongues waged a fierce battle until she sighed and gave in to him. His talons moved her hips against him.

"You know you did tell me you would be here any time I needed you…and I need you NOW…." She groaned as he thrust against her. "Don't you think you're a little overdressed?" she asked breathlessly.

He wasn't sure what got his wife so worked up, but he was more than eager to take full advantage…and of course, he had promised her….

He was beyond thankful that he'd had Mordin remove the surveillance devices. He pulled the dress from his wife's body, shut down the holo screens and put her down on the console. She jumped as her ass touched the cold panel. He chuckled, hooked her legs over his carapace and danced his tongue across her heated flesh until she screamed and came for him. He removed his pants, picked her up and sat down on the small sofa they'd installed for moments just like this.

He slowly lowered her onto his throbbing staff. He purred in pleasure as her heat stretched around him.

"I love it when you purr like that, husband. It vibrates all through me. And when you're deep inside of me…" She shivered as he purred again.

It wasn't really something he could control. In fact it was a relatively new sensation for him as well. It had never happened before her. But he was surely going to do his damndest to figure out how he did it, because he wanted to do a lot more purring for his wife.

When their heartbeats slowed, the aftershocks subsided, and his shaft released her, she disconnected them; they remained sitting, him deep within her, content to just hold each other... When he slipped from her sheath back into his own they held each other a few moments longer and then she got up, stretched seductively and retrieved her clothing. She tossed him his pants. When they were dressed she wrapped her arms around him, gave him a scorching kiss that curled his toes, which was a hard feat to accomplish for a turian…then sashayed towards the door.

The smile fell from his face as he watched her fall to the ground. He knelt over her. She was breathing, but didn't respond to him. He picked her up gently and carried her to the med-bay.

Chakwas looked up in surprise when they entered the med-bay. Shepard was pale and dangled lifelessly in his arms. "What happened?"

Garrus laid her down on the exam table. He was uncomfortable in what he was about to say. He knew he had to be honest with the doc, but it was a trifling embarrassing. He explained how they'd just shared a moment together. She seemed fine, started to leave the forward batteries and collapsed.

Shepard groaned and her eyes fluttered open. She noticed where they were and tried to sit up. A wave of dizziness took her back down.

The doctor flipped on her omni-tool, scanned and frowned. "Commander?" she questioned looking pointedly at Garrus.

"You might as well say what you're going to in front of him…I doubt I could get him to leave right now anyway."

"Not even for a minute," he told her in no uncertain terms.

Chakwas moved the scan machine's arm so that it could scan her without her having to move, she punched in what she was looking for and a holo of Shepard's body appeared. The doctor hit a few more keys and blew up her ass.

"Well, that's flattering. Thanks doc."

"Oh hush…it wasn't your ass I was looking at. Do you see that small area?" Chakwas asked.

"Yes, but…no. It's not possible," Shepard said in shock. Garrus looked from the holo to his wife, but she remained quiet.

"I know. You're looking at something that shouldn't be there. I need to run some blood work."

"I don't understand, she heals from everything. Is it some kind of cancer?" Garrus asked.

"I'd say more along the lines of a parasite..." Chakwas said with a smile.

"Ok, I'm obviously missing something here, doc…because I wouldn't think a parasite would be a smiling matter…especially not one that size." He glanced again at his wife, but again she remained silent, just staring at the holo and whatever it was she saw there.

"The matter should take care of itself within the next 10 months," the doctor assured him.

"Why does she have to live with a parasite for the next ten months? Can't you do something about it?" he asked. "Will the parasite hurt her?"

"I don't know, Garrus. That's why I want to run blood work. I want to make sure it doesn't hurt her."

"Why run blood work, can't you just remove it? Will it hurt her to be removed?" Garrus asked, unable to hid his agitation.

"I don't think it's the kind of parasite you want me to remove. You're wife is pregnant, Garrus." Chakwas focused her attention on Shepard. "Have you been with anyone other than Garrus?"

She turned shocked eyes on the doctor. "I haven't been with anybody but Garrus for years, doc." Garrus laid a shaky hand on her shoulder.

"Okay…we need to verify the baby is indeed levo. With Garrus now being levo, it should be, but we need to absolutely certain about this. We are treading in unknown waters here."

"Why did she pass out?" Garrus asked in concern.

"She needs to eat and rest more while she is pregnant."

Shepard sighed…she already ate like a varren…and rest was not something she was too good at. She nodded her understanding and sat up on an exam table and held out her wrists. "Bleed me dry, doc. But, my blood results do not go beyond you and Mordin. Period. Do not record the results in your terminal, because I cannot know if Cerberus has a tie in. And only speak of the results in Mordin's lab, as he's already disposed of spyware."

"EDI scrub anything you hear in regards to my blood work if you can't keep it out of Cerberus hands. I will never again be one of their experiments. Understood?"

"Understood, Shepard…and congratulations."

"Thank you, EDI."

Her husband stood behind her, rubbing her shoulder while the doctor took several vials of blood.

"How soon will we know results?" he asked.

"Momentarily," Shepard responded to the question.

Chakwas asked her to lie back on the table and swabbed Shepard's lower belly. She put a dab of anesthetic gel on her and inserted a long, thin needle. Using the hologram she gently touched it to the tiny mass. She withdrew the needle and placed a drop from the syringe on the scanner nodule of one of the smaller machines on a back table. When a light flashed she said, "We should know in a moment if the embryo is dextro or levo."

A holo screen popped up, words, numbers, and letters began filling up the screen. "I'll be damned," the doctor said. "It is a levo," she said shaking her head.

"Congratulations, you two. I will discuss this with Mordin, we will need to keep a close eye on the development of the embryo. Go…eat your dinner. I will talk with you later tonight." The doctor started humming as she gathered up her reports and walked out of the med-bay.

Shepard spun around on the table and hopped down. She wrapped her arms around her husband and they just stood there holding each other while they absorbed everything they were just told. The impossible had happened…not that that was an uncommon occurrence with Shepard…but the depth of emotion left them stunned and exhilarated…and scared out of their wits. They were in the middle of a war with the Collectors…and soon another war with the Reapers…they all needed to be at their best and she was pregnant.

Garrus pulled her chin up to look her in the eye. "If the…baby endangers your life at all, I do not want you to keep it," he said quietly. "I would love our child more than anything, but not at the risk of your health," he stated matter of fact. He lowered his head, placed a tender kiss on her lips and then rested his forehead on hers.

"We'll be fine, Garrus. I'll make sure of it. I know my way around the lab, nothing will happen to this baby."

"Vela, leave the lab work to Mordin, that is his job. We do not have time for you to split your focus. But, tell me - how is it even possible? I might be levo now, but we are not the same species."

"I believe we will discover the blame for this can be pinned on my cells that you were infected with. They are tenacious bastards. In layman's terms, they have assimilated your cells, which made our chemistry compatible, because they are my cells. They cannot alter your actual DNA, but they have altered just about every other part of you. And unless we intend to roll babies out like krogan, I'm going to have look into to birth control after the baby's born, especially with your need to breed when I ovulate."

Garrus' unbound mandible flared wide. "I don't need you to ovulate to want to breed with you, wife."

"That's apparent; as we are pretty much glued together at the hip on a daily basis…and I wouldn't have it any other way."

His mandible jerked up. "I'm okay with that."

She smirked. "You would be, big guy." Her fingers caressed the sides of his neck, toying with the pebbles they encountered, she felt him shiver in response.

"But, you are right. I will not be able to avoid you when you're in heat like I did in the past. From the moment that I claimed you as my mate, I lost the ability to walk away. The need to breed is too ingrained…to volatile. And now that we are bound lifemates…" He shook his head. The lifemate bond intensified everything, sometimes to a frightening degree.

"To coin your phrase, lover…I'm okay with that." She pulled him down for a heated kiss.

"EDI…go ahead and spread the news. Please also forward the news to Urdnot Wrex and Liara." She'd rather everyone learned at once the same story, rather than spreading like a chain of wildfire gossip.

By the time they left med-bay they had smiles on their faces that nothing could wipe off. They all but floated into the mess hall.

David gave her a big hug and congratulated her. She teased him about being a grandfather now, but he loved every minute of it. He had never had children of his own. Arianna was the child of his heart, if not his loins.

Her husband sat her down across from Kasumi and went to get their food. He returned with a platter stacked high. Booze flowed freely, though Shepard and Garrus limited themselves to a single glass. They would be talking to the doctors again soon and wanted a clear head.

As the evening progressed, they moved the party into the rec room, some of the group split off to play cards, the rest gathered at the sofas to watch vids and talk amongst themselves. Eventually, Shepard received a comm. It was time to face the doctors. They bade their goodnights and took the elevator up to Mordin's lab.

Mordin and Chakwas had their heads together when the couple walked in. They looked up and Mordin hurried to their sides, shaking hands with each. "Shepard, Garrus. Congratulations. Baby doing fine now. Surprisingly. But fetal development could be…problematic." He looked over at Chakwas and she nodded. "We've run the simulations. Researched. News is not good. With no prior cross species births…birth defects are…a major concern. Human womb weaker than turian womb. Not designed to hold turian offspring. Could prove fatal."

Shepard looked questioningly at Chakwas, who shook her head.

"Mordin, I'll survive," she told him.

Mordin shook his head. "Not possible Shepard. Ran Simulations," Mordin said slashing his hand through the air.

"Let me put it this way. I. can't. die. Or I can't stay dead."

"Now, wait a minute. I don't care if you think you'll survive this, Ari. I told you I didn't want you to risk yourself. I can live without the baby – I can't live without you. I mean that both figuratively and literally."

She touched her husband's cheekplates softly, caressing them. "The baby and I will be fine, lover. Please trust me in this. I can't die. A uterine puncture would not kill me, it would just be…uncomfortable for awhile." She refused to tell him that there was a chance her uterus could be shredded. And while that too would eventually heal, the baby would have to be artificially incubated for the rest of the term or until it healed. She sent a hard look to the other doctors and gave a subtle shake of the head. He didn't need to know everything right this minute.

Mordin's eyes opened wide and he looked at Chakwas who nodded. He flipped on his omni-tool and scanned her. "How is that possible? Death a natural part of life cycle."

Garrus put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Shepard explained to Mordin about her youthful experiment and how the resulting viral infection affected both her and Garrus.

"Impressed, Shepard. Child scientific prodigy?"

Chakwas laughed. "The Commander's prodigy is not limited to the lab; she is an engineer of unparalleled renown. She picks up languages like we pick up our coffee cups, she - "

"Doctors! We were discussing the baby and my blood."

"Right. Would like to run tests on your blood."

She could see the excited gleam in Mordin's eyes, but she knew she had to nip it in the bud. "I'm sorry, Mordin. That just isn't possible." She explained to him that she and her father were unable to come up with a killswitch for the virus, but had been able to ensure the cells died if they left her body.

"Would like to look over notes, test theories."

She again shook her head. "My father burned everything; no evidence was left behind except for me and my hamster, Geordi."

"Most unfortunate. If virus can't be studied, notes destroyed – how will you extrapolate a cure?"

"Shepard has an eidetic memory, Mordin. Everything she needs to know is in her head," Chakwas explained to him.

Mordin bobbed his head. "Impressive. Let me know if you need my assistance, Shepard."

"At one time I wanted nothing more than a cure, but now it seems I must survive, there is too much at stake. But when the time comes, there's no one else I'd rather work with."

"If my cells have already been altered, why does your blood revitalize me?"

"That is easy, big guy. The cells within your body are refreshed… nourished, you could say, every time you drink from me."

"You drink her blood?" Mordin asked horrified. "Oh...lifemate bond. Yes. Understood."

Mordin's looked at Chakwas who nodded. He flipped on his omni-tool and scanned her. "That doesn't explain anomaly."

"What anomaly?" she asked concerned.

Garrus put a reassuring hand on her shoulders.

"You are not human," Mordin stated.

"Excuse me?"

"Humans have 22 pairs of autosomes, one pair of sex chromosomes. You have 23 pairs of autosomes. Not human."

"That's crazy, Mordin. I was born from two human parents. Besides, that would have been picked up on before now. Could the extra set of chromosomes be artificial or given to me by Cerberus when they resurrected me?"

"No, Shepard. Parents not human. Doesn't work like that. Born with chromosomes. Perhaps dormant until triggered or never tested for chromosomal differences," Mordin told her.

"What would have triggered it? My death? Doesn't make sense…I've died many times," she said in confusion.

"Unsure of trigger. Not human. Sorry, Shepard."

None of this made any sense. She looked like her parents. Her parents were human…weren't they? Would they keep it from her if they weren't? Maybe they didn't know? This was all too much to contemplate. He had to be wrong. "Mordin…I look exactly human. I bleed human. If I'm not human, then what the hell am I?" she asked in agitation.

"Vela, maybe that is part of the reason your blood affects me the way it does." Garrus told her gently.

"Be careful with this information. I do not want any records or information getting back to Cerberus."

"Understood, Shepard. Part of STG once. Know what to look for." Mordin nodded at her. He crossed his arms and paced.

"Mordin," Chakwas said.

"Sorry. Distracted. Embryo."

"Remove it." Garrus said. "I will not have Shepard put in danger. Please don't risk everything for it," he implored her. He knew her. Knew how she thought. Knew she would fight to keep his baby. He had to make her understand it just didn't matter to him. It would break his heart, yes. But it wasn't worth watching Shepard go through pain or worse.

"That is an option. But there is another. Risky, but doable. Can encase embryo in membrane tissue. Must come in every other day. Bubble membrane is thick, nonporous, so amniotic fluid cannot pass through it. Flush bubble. Amniotic fluid transfusion needed to survive. Will be painful, but will provide extra layer of protection. Mordin explained.

"Do it," she said.

Garrus pulled her around to face him and lifted her chin up. "Don't risk this, vela. I love you. You don't need to put yourself through this."

She gave him a hard look and shook her head. Garrus nodded and sighed.

"I will support whatever choice you make, Ari." Garrus said in defeat.

"I want it done now."

"There are two ways we can do this, Commander. One is more risky the other a lot more painful." Chakwas told her. "We can inject a local into your cervix, dilate it and go into your womb that way or we can insert a large needle through your abdomen."

"Give me the needle…I know opening my cervix could lead to miscarriage."

"Okay," Chakwas said. "We'll do the procedure in the med-bay. We'll take samples of your amniotic fluid and more blood and Mordin can run more tests. "If you are sure you want to do this now, let's be on our way."

Mordin grabbed a few extra supplies and followed them out the door. They rode the elevator down in silence. Her husband held her close. In the med-bay she stripped down to her panties and bra and lay down on the table. The husband moved to her side, brushed a kiss on her lips and held her hand.

Chakwas unwrapped a massive syringe tool. Eight inches long and wide as hell. Well, not really, but it sure looked like a stake and she could feel herself tense. She appreciated Garrus' attempt to sooth her, but when you're about to be staked, not much can quell the need to run like the hounds of hell were licking at your heels.

Mordin flipped on the scanner and pulled up a holo. He zoomed in until the embryo until it was about the size of a fist.

Garrus' mandibles fell and his mouth gaped open. He'd never seen anything like that before. He stared intently at his baby…a baby he never thought possible. He felt a deep love for it bloom inside of him. He hoped she would be able to carry his baby to term, that nothing would happen. But if it did, despite his love, there was no choice to be made. Shepard's safety came first.

Chakwas rubbed her belly with something cold and astringent smelling and then applied a numbing agent. After a couple of minutes she inserted small syringes full of a local anesthetic around the area the larger needle would enter her.

She spread her hand against Shepard's belly and place the monstrous needle against her. "Are you ready? Try not to move."

Damn this was going to suck hard. Shepard nodded, "Bring it on." Though inwardly she cringed…it was a bravado she did not feel. Shepard metabolized the local too fast, it did no good. When the needle slid in a hoarse scream ripped from her throat. A dot of blood welled up and rolled down the side of her belly as the needle sunk through her skin. The pain was over whelming. She clung tightly to her husband's hand, sweat beading on her forehead and running down the side of her face.

Garrus bent low over her and turned her face to look at him. "If I could bear this pain for you I would, vela." He gently brushed her sweaty, dark auburn hair back from her face. "Remember the night before Ilos?" When she nodded, he continued. "You were rather drunk and came to see me in that tiny black lace scrap. You need to wear that again," he said, clearing his throat. "When you were lying against me the scrap shifted and I could see your tight, puckered nipple through the lace. I had never seen a nipple before. It entranced me as much as it made me ache to touch it. I remember saying 'so beautiful' and you agreed, thinking I was talking about the stars." He glanced over at the doctors, who were doing a good job of ignoring him. "Stars were the last thing on my mind. All I could think about was your breast…your nipple. What it would feel like. When you passed out I carried you back to your bed, when I laid you down, the lace parted, exposing your breast to me. It was so white…so full. I had to touch you. I couldn't stop myself. It was so soft, so resilient. Your nipple hardened as I ran my thumb over it. You groaned and thrust your breast into my hand. I nearly lost it. I wanted you so bad…too much…I covered you up and ran from your room like my pants were on fire…at least it felt like they were. Can you forgive me?"

Once the needle pierced her uterus, they watched on the holo as it approached the tiny mass of cells. The tip of the needle opened tiny prong arms, which stretched the opening in the membrane bubble. The membrane was released when it enclosed the embryonic cell mass. The needle hurt worse as it was being pulled out than it had going in. She gasped and cried out in pain.

She clutched her husband's hand tightly. "Nothing to forgive, lover." There was little she could do to quell the shake in her voice. "I just wish I'd have known how you felt back then." She glanced over at the doctors and pulled him down. "I'd have made love to you right there in the Starboard Observation Lounge..."

His wife began to scent. His nose quivered and his body responded. Spirits! "Ari, stop that."

Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "Despite my IQ, big guy, that is not exactly something I can do anything about." She couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped.

Garrus shot her a frown and then clamped his hand over his mandibles to stop them from clacking. Whenever he wanted her too badly or tried to forcibly control his need, they started clacking against his faceplates, sounding an 'I know what you want to do' alarm that no one could miss.

"You and your baby are a picture of health, Commander," Chakwas said, drawing their attention.

You could see the thin outline of the membrane around the embryo, before the holo was cut off.

Mordin turned to them. "Glad all is well, Shepard. Must return to lab. Lots of work to do."

Garrus helped her off the table. He dropped to his knees and ran his tongue along the path of blood to the needle's entry point and kissed it. He then laid his cheek against her belly, fluttered his mandibles softly against her and wrapping his arms around her. "I love you, wife."

She caressed his head fringe. "I love you."

They stood there a moment in peace before he backed away and allowed her to get dressed. They went straight to their cabin. While Shepard hopped on her terminals, Garrus moved to his and commed his parents.

"Dad. I need you to get mom and Solana. I need to speak with you all." He grimaced as his dad turned his head and bellowed for his mom and sister. In the next moment the screen was filled with his family's faces.

"Garrus! We did not expect to hear from you until you arrived." His mom gave a worried look. "I…is something wrong? Are you not coming?"

Garrus chuckled. "Things are more right than I ever could have expected and we are on our way to you. Did you receive the guest list?"

"Yes. Everything should be ready by the time you get here."

"If everything is okay, why did you comm?" his father asked as taciturn as ever.

"Maybe I just missed the sound of your voices."

His father sighed in exasperation. And his mother waved her hand in his face.

"It's good to hear from you even if you just commed to say hello," his mother assured him.

"Well, it's more than just hello. I wanted to be the first to tell you that you were going to be grandparents." He looked at everyone's shocked faces. The silence worried him. This was not exactly how he expected things to go. Then his mom and sister squealed. They jumped up, wrapped their arms around each other and hopped up and down in some sort of strange female dance. Okay…well, that was better anyway…more along the lines he was hoping for.

"Do you know for sure it's yours?" his father asked coldly.

His mother and sister turned on him, reading him the riot act. He was glad they did, because he was furious enough to rip the stick out of his father's ass and kill him with it.

"Dad…you are crossing a line. I don't care if Shepard gives birth to a krogan. Okay, if that happened I'd care…she'd have some explaining to do…but the point is any child of Shepard's… is a child of mine. We are a family. End of story. But Shepard is my LIFEMATE and she IS carrying MY baby. Have I made myself clear?" he asked his father in barely contained rage.

Shepard came up behind Garrus and wrapped her arms around him. "We may not be conventional, Mr. Vakarian, but fates have made us a family…and I think we make a very good family. Your son is a remarkable man, Mrs. Vakarian, and I can't imagine my life without him. Solana…good to see you too. Can't wait to meet you all." Shepard walked away to give him more of an illusion of privacy. She could hear his sister squealing again.

"I hadn't realized how stunning Shepard was. Spirits, brother…did the fates bless you! I can't wait to meet her!" Solana said eagerly.

"Solana's right son…you were blessed. I can't wait to meet my daughter … And I can't wait for that grandbaby to be born. You keep them safe, Garrus! Don't let anything happen to that precious family of yours!"

"Of course I will keep them safe, mother."

"I'm a big girl you guys…I can take care of myself," she piped in.

"I love you…I'll see you in a few days," he said and then disconnected.

He got up from his desk and caught Shepard yawning. He took her hand and led her towards the bed. Clothes were peeled off and discarded, leaving a trail behind them; they climbed into their bed, Garrus rested a hand against her belly, content to just hold her.

"Just so I make myself clear, being held at night is sweet and endearing…but I expect some loving come morning," she warned them.

Come morning he gave her just what she needed…what they both needed. When they finally rolled out of bed she put on a purple workout push up bra and a pair of skin tight sweat-wicking shorts, padded a bit at the hip bone and they hopped the elevator to the mess. They had a leisurely breakfast and talked with their friends for a bit while their food settled.

She and Garrus took the elevator down to the rec room. They helped each other with their stretches. Balancing atop the balance beam, she twisted, turned and flipped along the narrow beam. She flipped off the end of it, walked over to the bench, dabbed her face with a towel, took a swig of water, smiled at Kasumi, who loved to watch the men workout, and moved on to the uneven bars. Her time with these bars would come to an end before very much longer.

Garrus had begun sparring with Jacob. Kasumi wanted to watch them, but her eyes kept returning to Shep. It was not often she met someone that might even be more agile than she was. When Shep flipped off the bars she headed over to Kasumi, wiped her brow, took another swig, and pulled her over to the equipment rack. She tossed her some guards and put her own on. Then she held up her hand and beckoned her. She stepped out on the mats to meet her.

Like she'd done with Garrus earlier, she held her hands and helped Kasumi stretch. They began basic rounds, since they'd never sparred together before; she let her guard down several times on purpose to give her chances to take her down. She needed to learn Kasumi's style. In combat Kasumi generally just went dark and put a dagger in someone's back, so Shepard knew little of her actual hand to hand capabilities. Shepard was impressed with Kasumi's agility, balance and ability to think fast.

She and Kasumi went a few more rounds and then they joined the men in rounds. Kasumi was surprised how much faster and harder she struck the men, she hadn't realized Shep had been holding back. Watching her and Jacob square off was a sight to see. Both were fast …both were agile though Jacob had a longer reach. Their sparring was almost a sensual dance. Garrus was no match for her speed and agility, but she had to watch out for his strength, longer arms and legs. After a few rounds she aimed a scissor kick at his head, he spun her legs, she twisted her body, flung her legs out, pushed against his carapace and they tumbled to the mats, Garrus flat on his back with his head between her legs, as she landed on her knees. His face all but touching the heat of her due to his fringe. Garrus' hands trailed up the back of her legs to her ass and he squeezed it.

Jacob cleared his throat and Shepard sat back on Garrus' chest... They all laughed nervously.

"See, Kasumi? Even a woman can take down the great Garrus Vakarian," she said with a triumphant smile.

"Where did you learn that move, wife?" Garrus asked in a strangled voice. He wanted nothing more than to taste his woman, her scent was a breath away and tantalizing him.

"I didn't…I improvised," she admitted breathlessly.

Jacob reached out a hand and helped her up. "Quit torturing the poor man…you already took him down, no need to rub his nose in it." Jacob stopped. His mouth dropped. "Sorry, that came out sounding horrible."

"You and I have a very different idea of horrible," Garrus whispered to Jacob as he rose from the mat.

Jacob's mouth dropped open again.

Kasumi burst out laughing and pretty soon they were all laughing.

Shepard was doing a bit of beam work while the men returned to sparring. When they finished Garrus gave her a hand down from the beam and they all made their way to the sofa, plopping down in exhaustion for a bit of small talk. Shepard noticed the sexual tension between Jacob and Kasumi and wished the couple well. This was the first time she and Garrus hadn't torn out of the rec room in a sexual frenzy…albeit it came close once.

After lunch they went to the firing range. In actuality it was just a long, narrow room they'd found on the ship that served no apparent function. It had been used for storage. With EDI's and Legion's help they were able rearrange the storage areas they already had to make room for the additional crates. She and Legion then set up all the equipment needed to turn the room into a holographic firing range. Shepard even splurged on the latest artificial guns that shot out holographic ammunition. They had the weight and feel of real guns, but the dynamic cinemagraphic display that enhanced the entire experience. Though real guns could be used with practice clips and had been up until today. Today the shipment of AG arrived and they were all eager to try out the new guns and harnesses, which allowed return fire and the ability to use biotics against the holoenemies. She had purchased 6 of each type of weapon: 3 Carnifex, 3 Phalanx, 3 Eviscerator, 3 Claymore, 3 Locust, 3 Tempest, 3 Mattock, 3 Vindicator, 3 Widow, 3 Incisor and even a heavy weapon, the grenade launcher. She also purchased a longbow just for grins and giggles.

With the room being narrow, no more than six people could use it at any one time. She chose the people she knew would be the most eager to try it out. She, Garrus, Samara, Zaeed, Jacob and Miranda when David turned her down. Ear plugs were required because she programmed in full auditory, tactile, and visual displays. She and Garrus chose holo bottles for target practice, much to the surprise of everyone else. They linked their units so they could compete directly and chose Palaven as a backdrop. Zaeed and Miranda chose mercs and Jacob chose standard bullseye targets. Zaeed and Miranda put on the prerequisite sensors, because they chose to have the holo-mercs return fire. They linked their units to have a broader playing field and worked together as a team. Samara chose the longbow to try something new. She programmed in Varren for a target. She became very proficient with the longbow very fast, and she switched the Varren out for geth hoppers to raise the difficulty and then added a second arrow. Firing two arrows that actually hit targets at the same time was difficult to all but the best, and she was determined to master the technique. Shepard quickly fell in love with this room. The virtual display was better than reality. The room became such a big hit with everyone that they had to pre-schedule times in advance to use it.

The week it took to get to Palaven was an enjoyable break. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Joker. It was also nice to be able to spend time with David. Overall David was enjoying his stay, spending time with Miranda and Jacob, of all people, as well as Samara and Zaeed.

Every other day she hit the med-lab with her husband to have the membrane flushed and refilled and to have the babiy monitored. Special attention was being paid to the development of the baby due to the drastic physiological differences between the parents. They assumed some corrective in-utero procedures may be needed. She had told Mordin she wanted it primarily turian genetically and would work with him to develop a satisfactory gene therapy that would be given to the baby as needed during gestation to ensure as many of the human genetic traits as possible remained dormant. That was the best they could do without it having been bio-engineered from the start. This work could be done during the membrane flushes.

The scans showed she was 7 weeks along. Arms, legs, eyes and head could be easily seen on the embryo.

Her OT chimed and she flipped it on, Jokers face filled the holo screen. The Orizaba has just pulled out of FTL and commed us. Captain Shepard has requested permission to board."

"By all means, give it to her."

"Right away, Commander. I kind of thought you'd say that."

Shepard glanced down at her red work out gear and sighed. She had intended to meet her mother in her Spectre dress blues…but when it came to her mother, it seemed nothing ever worked out quite how she planned it.

Garrus had moved to her side when she got the comm. She looked up at him. "Ready to get his over with big guy?" She heard a harsh swallow, but he appeared outwardly calm and collected. She wondered if she would be so together when she met his parents.

"I'm always ready," Garrus said smugly.

Shepard glanced down at the bulge barely concealed by his workout tunic and turned desire filled eyes on her husband. "I can see you are, lover," her voice sultry and soft.

Garrus groaned and began to fidget uncomfortably. "Not helping, vela. My body is already in the habit of being sated after we spar. Something I was very much looking forward to. And withdrawal is not…pleasant, so stop looking at me like that and for spirit's sake stop scenting and maybe, just maybe, I can get through meeting your mom without thoroughly embarrassing myself."

She put one hand on the side of her husband's sensitive neck and then caressed her way to the back of his neck, her fingers tracing the fine skin between his plates. Her other hand slid up under the hem of his tunic to seek out something much harder. His pants were both tight and thin, allowing her to easily feel every inch of him. His hips bucked into her palm as she stroked him. She tried to bite back the moan, but it slipped out anyway. His chest rumbled and his mandibles began to clack. His heated eyes bored into her for just a moment before he picked her up and carried her out the door.

Their foreplay became more aggressive in the elevator ride to their cabin. She tore her mouth away from his briefly. "EDI have Kelly give my mother a tour of the ship, prolong it. Make sure she doesn't come up to the cabin, I'll be down to greet her shortly."

"Right away, Shepard."

Their clothing all but melted off their heated bodies. She held onto his carapace and pulled herself up until she could wrap her legs around his muscled, trim waist. He carried her to the bed and she clung to him as he crawled to the middle of the bed. His talons slid through her soft curls and he sighed in relief when he felt how wet and ready she was for him. He gasped as he slowly slid into her tight, hot sheath. He gritted his teeth; she was so tight he cried out with pleasure as he felt her quiver and stretch around him. When he was fully embedded he gave her a moment to adjust. He felt her merge them into one, feelings and sensations blending.

Her inner muscles clung to him, not wanting to let him go. "I love you, husband," she said as she moved against him. Her sheath stretched anew and clung tightly to his every movement, intensifying the pleasure they shared. His tongue traced the shell of her ear; his hot breath tickled her as he nuzzled her lobe. She shivered and clutched him tighter.

"Oh spirits," he groaned, she was so damned tight. He loved how her breasts felt sliding against his carapace with each thrust. He felt the caress of her tongue followed by the nip of her teeth against the bond mark she'd given him, his hips bucked in response and he ground against her. His talons fell to her hips to hold her tightly as he rocked into her harder and faster. His tongue found the thundering vein in her neck, tracing its path. He felt her nails bite into his carapace and her legs grip him tighter. Her body tensed and he gritted his teeth against the need to come. "Come for me, vela." He lowered his head to nip the bond mark between his mouthplates. She shivered and her muscles gripped him tighter. He looked down into her face and watched her shatter with the force of her orgasm. He spiraled over the edge, crying out as he emptied himself into her womb, his shaft locking them tight. He fell against her and bit into her shoulder, renewing their bond. Her answering bite rocked his soul.

They clung to each other, riding out the aftershocks. He turned over on his back to relieve the pressure from his prongs. He knew they didn't have the time to keep going, no matter how much he wished otherwise. After a quick shower she pulled on her Spectre dress blues. Garrus put on a dark blue and grey suit. "Looking good there, big guy." She pulled him in for a brief hug, kissed his exposed mandible and removed his visor, setting it down on the night table by the bed. "You won't need that. If there is a battle ahead, it will be with wits not firearms." She looped her arm through his and led him out to face the guillotine, er…her mother.

"EDI where is my mother?"

"She is currently in the mess with Admiral Anderson."

"Thank you."

When the elevator door opened, they rounded the corner and she was finally able to look upon her mother. A woman she had not seen in years. She had barely changed at all, except for a small silver strip at her temple, which stood out like a beacon against her dark brown hair. She also noticed David's hand warmly covering her mother's and wondered if there might be something more going on between the pair.

Hannah Shepard glanced up when a movement caught her eye. Her daughter stood at the other end of the table; a carbon copy of her father, with dark auburn hair and bright emerald green eyes with light blue flecking. The only thing her daughter had similar to her was her high, stubborn chin and small ears. But, damn she was beautiful and Hannah could not imagine ever being more proud of her daughter. She knew she didn't tell her enough, but going through her daughter's death had shattered her, changed her and she was never again going to let her daughter forget how much she was loved. She barely spared a glance at the turian standing next to her daughter. She jumped up from the table, ran to her daughter and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Shepard's mouth fell open in shock. Pod person! Pod person! This woman could not be her mother. She stood stiffly for a moment and then put her arms around her mother.

Hannah pulled back and gave her daughter a light shake. "Don't you ever die on me like that again! Do you see this?" she asked holding up the silver lock of hair. "You did this to me. I have at least 95 more years to live. I'm too damn young to go grey!"

Shepard just blinked. "Uh – sorry for marring your youthful beauty?" Her mom snorted then laughed. She pinned a narrowed gaze on her mother. "Okay, where's my mom?"

She booped the tip of her daughter's nose. "Don't be a goose." Then she paused for a moment, looking at her daughter's shocked expression. "I'm sorry, Arianna, for not being the mother I could have been…should have been. For treating you more like a subordinate than a daughter. When you died…I pretended that it did not affect me, but something inside of me broke. When I discovered you were alive I finally started to breathe again. I allowed myself to grieve and then I allowed myself to heal. And if ever I forgot how much you meant to me, I have remembered now. I will not forget again. I love you, Arianna. She kissed her daughter's lips and pulled her in for another close hug.

"I love you too, mom." Shepard hugged her mother and fought to hold back the tears. She would not break down here in front of everyone. When her mom let her go, she turned and held her hand out to Garrus.

He moved to her side and slipped his left arm around her waist. He knew his wife had to be an emotional wreck right now and he wanted to comfort her and show his support.

"Mom, I want you to meet my husband, Garrus Vakarian. Garrus, this is my mother, Hannah Shepard. She watched as they shook hands – she had to give her mom kudos for not flinching, she knew by experience just how firm Garrus' handshake was.

Garrus gave a slight bow of respect. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Captain Shepard."

"Likewise, Garrus. Please…you are my son not my crew, call me Hannah." She smiled when he nodded. Hannah looked over her new son; she wasn't really sure what her daughter saw in him. She knew well from experience that he wasn't physically her type. But she only knew what she'd read about him in his dossier, there was nothing in about who he was as a person. While that was impressive, there had to be more to it. She'd learned a lot about Arianna and Garrus and why they were with Cerberus by talking with David. It took a lot to cajole it out of him, but in the end he hadn't thought Arianna would mind. It was off-putting to realize just how little she knew about her daughter's personal life. She was glad Arianna had David to confide in. She had to make damn sure her daughter knew she was going to be there for her too. She folded her arms over her chest. "If would have been nice if you had greeted me when I arrived. I would have loved for you to have shown me your ship."

Shepard glanced at Garrus and smiled when she saw him rub the back of his neck. Priceless, he was embarrassed. She looked at her mom and bit the inside of her cheek, determined not to laugh. She took a calming breath and focused on keeping a straight face. "Mom, your arrival was rather…sudden. Had I more notice, we would have been there to greet you. As it was, I was having hot, spicy sex with my husband. The man has an amazing tongue, he really knows how to - "

"Ari!" Garrus yelped and put a hand over her mouth.

The looks an all three of their faces was just too much for her and the laughter bubbled out. She knew she must have been scenting, because Garrus' grip at her waist tightened substantially. But just thinking about making love to him…that amazing tongue, what was a girl to do? When he began to purr lightly, she knew she had to tone it down.

All three throats cleared simultaneously and she bit her cheek again…hard. She knew she was close to an uncontrollable laughing fit and having him distract her right now with a steamy kiss would probably end with him carting her off to the cabin for another spicy romp and that wasn't the first impression she wanted her mom to have of him.

They joined the older two at the table. It was good to just sit down as a family and talk. She hadn't realized just how much she missed it. She put her hand on her husband's thigh, under the table, and squeezed it. The squeeze was more for her benefit than his, because her hand really wanted to be naughty. It wanted slide slowly up his thigh to stroke the hardness she knew she'd find there. But were she to do that, she knew his mandibles would start clacking and it didn't take a genius to figure out that would not be something he'd want to happen in front of her parents. So, she had to reign in her inner devil and that just sucked. "Why is your ship pulling out?"

"I'm sending it back to the Citadel to resupply and give the crew some shore leave while I'm on Palaven. I was hoping it would be acceptable to ride back with you."

"Of course, mom. It will be good to spend time with you. I'll move some of our things into Life Support and you can take our room."

"No," David said quickly. "I'll move into Life Support and she can have my room, the XO's cabin. It's large and the bed is very comfortable."

"Enough, you two. I'll be more than fine in Life Support. I've already seen it. Just give me a cot and a terminal and I'll be right at home. And I won't hear another word about it," she cautioned sternly.

"Okay," Shepard said raising her hands in submission. "I know better than to argue with that voice."

"EDI - "

"Already on it, Shepard."

"Thank you, EDI. Mom, David – lets grab some food and head to the cabin, we need to talk and all surveillance has been removed from our room."

Back at the cabin Shepard poured them all drinks. She and Garrus sat on one sofa, David and her mother on the another. After they'd eaten a good bit Shepard leaned forward. "You're going to be a grandmother." Her mother just sat for a moment and then she smiled.

'Are you adopting a human baby or a turian, or some other race?"

"While I'm sure we'd adopt a child if they needed it, we don't have to. I'm pregnant."

Hannah frowned. "In vitro?"

"No," Shepard smiled. "Natural."

Hannah's mouth dropped open and she swung her gaze to Garrus. "And you were okay with that?"

Garrus chuckled. "More than okay, the baby's mine."

Hannah shook her head and then looked at David, who also shook his head. "How is that even possible?"

Shepard then explained to them about her experiment, what she and her father had done to try to contain it, how Garrus had become infected with the virus and what the infection had done to him. She waited calmly for them to assimilate everything she'd just told them.

"I can't believe your father never told me. You were my daughter; I had the right to know!" Hannah was not just mad, she was furious. David put a consoling hand over hers.

"He probably did it to protect you, to give you plausible deniability," David told her somberly.

"She's my daughter, David. That was huge. I should have been told." Tears slipped from her eyes and David gathered her in his arms.

Shepard hung her head and Garrus pulled her back against him. "Dad thought it best you not know," she said hoarsely. "He feared you were a little too Alliance, that you might tell someone, even if only to try to seek help for me. The Alliance can never know what I've just told you two. I would become a lab rat to them. They would try to use me to create super soldiers and nothing good will ever come of that." She clung to her husband tighter. Frightened by what she'd just admitted to higher ranking Alliance officers.

"She is entrusting you both with her life. What she has just told you must go to the grave with you. No one must ever find out. Only five people including you know her secret. And I will tell you right now that I would kill anyone, without a blink, if they hurt my wife. Just so we're perfectly clear on that." Garrus shot them each a hard look to emphasize that he was including them.

"Garrus - "

"I mean it, Ari. I won't budge on this, don't even ask me to."

"You don't have to worry about us, son. I would lay down my life for Arianna and I know her mother would too, without a second thought."

"Without a first thought," Hannah corrected before a frown marred her face. "I had to admit I was concerned when I discovered you were aboard a Cerberus ship. David explained things to me…in the lab. He said that was the only other place besides your cabin that was definitely surveillance free. I'm glad you're not with Cerberus, but I can't help but worry about this spy business."

"I am relieved you chose the lab instead of the cabin…that would have been rather…awkward."

"You don't say. I want to have a bigger part in your life, but there are some things a mother doesn't need to know." She paused. "Turians, eh? Now you've got me curious. I might just have to…"

"Hannah!" David cut in, none too pleased with her.

"You won't be sorry, Hannah."

"Garrus!" David admonished. "You're not helping."

"What did you expect me to say, David. I'm turian," he said smugly.

"Mom, there's something else I need to talk to you about." She glanced at David and then back to her mother. "I had some bloodwork done because of the pregnancy. It revealed a rather strange…anomaly. I have 23 autosomes." Her mother just looked at her blankly. "I'm supposed to have 22." Her mother and David looked at each other and shrugged.

"I don't know what you are trying to tell me," Hannah admitted.

"What I'm to tell you is that I'm not human. Never have been. Is there something you need to tell me?" Her eyes bored into her mother, wishing she could read her mind.

David's mouth fell open. Hannah just blinked. "That can't be true. It's not possible. I – oh, god. No. It was just a dream. It wasn't real."

Shepard sighed. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. "What wasn't real?"

"Your dad and I had been trying to have a baby for a long time. One night I had a strange dream. A woman came to me, said she was dying and asked me birth her baby and be its mother. Of course, I agreed. I wanted a baby so much. She laid her hand on my lower belly, I remember feeling the heat of her touch, seeing the tears fall down her cheeks and then she disappeared as quickly as she had arrived. But, it was a dream, Arianna. Only a dream!" Hannah let out a sob and David pulled her against him.

"And did you discover you were pregnant after that?" She felt her husband's comforting grip on her thigh.

"Y – yes. Just a dream…only a dream. Wasn't it? It had to be! You look just like your father and you have my chin…my ears! I carried you…I gave birth to you. You are my daughter, not hers! It was just a dream."

Shepard knew she had been born early. Her mother had delivered her 3 months early. The doctors had decided not to try to stop the delivery because scans showed she was fully developed. Once they realized how smart she was it became an ongoing joke between her parents. As advanced in life as she had been in the womb. Even so, it just wasn't possible to become pregnant from a dream. She took her mom's cold hand into hers. "It's okay, mom. Maybe there was a mistake in the lab; something must have skewed the test. It's not possible to get pregnant from a dream." Nor was it possible for a full term baby to be delivered at six months…at least not a human baby.

She didn't doubt Mordin's results. He was too professional and too knowledgeable to make that kind of mistake, but her mother didn't need to know that. The facts just weren't lining up. The dream pregnancy correlated to her early birth if the woman had been three to four months along. But that just wasn't feasible. She looked like her parents too much to have different biological parents. None of this made sense.

Hannah sat up straighter. "There. See? I'm sure that's what happened. Because anything else is unthinkable."

Shepard smiled at her mom and patted her hand, before releasing it. "I only asked because I wanted to find out if you might have adopted me. I've seen pictures of you pregnant, but when I received the results of the test, I had to wonder if you might have miscarried and adopted me to replace what you lost. I did not mean to hurt you, but now that I'm pregnant, I wanted to know as much genetically about myself as possible, since it would affect my baby."

"I understand your fears, Arianna. All new mothers have them. And if I had received those results when I was pregnant with you, I'd have asked my parents what the hell was going on too." Hannah gave a shaky laugh. "Labs…always screwing things up. Maybe next time you can run the tests."

"Maybe I will. Oh, not to change this most fascinating topic, but I have someone who would tear me a new one if I didn't let him see you." She touched her wrist and release Grim.

"About time, Ari. Hannah! It's good to see you again. It's been years."

"Good to see you too, Grim. You don't look a day older…now that I think about it, neither does Arianna."

"Yeah, that's a side effect from the virus."

"That's a side effect most people would kill for."

"Or die trying to get," Garrus said cryptically.

"It's good to know she has both you and Garrus around to protect her."

"She does…when she lets us." Grim snarked.

"Arianna…"

Shepard sighed. Her mother was using that voice again. "I can protect myself you know. I've got my OTs amped to the point that they are highly illegal in Council space…I've got my toys and I can shoot the wings off a bee…though I would never do that."

"No one is infallible…not even you, vela. We already discussed…"

"I know we did, big guy. I was just trying to make a point. Garrus and I have already discussed this topic. Since I'm no longer flying Alliance colors I've agreed to allow more than two squad members for missions that don't require stealth."

"You mean you had a fight. I know how stubborn you can be, Arianna. It is good to know you can be just as stubborn, Garrus. She can be very driven; she needs somebody who can balance her out."

"We balance each other, Hanah. I've learned so much from her. I'm a far better man than I used to be. She grounds me and I check her. It works for us."

"I can see why she loves you. I'm glad you found each other."

EDI had informed her that both Wrex and Liara were heading to Palaven. She had to admit she was a bit concerned about Wrex. She had to hope he would behave himself. That he was part of the hero team that took down Seran, went a long way in his favor, but she was pretty sure she'd need to use her Spectre status to keep him out of too much trouble. Hopefully, it would not make things worse between her and Garrus' father.

Hannah stood up. "There are a few things I need to do before we hit Palaven. So if you'll excuse me." She hugged both her kids. "Are you coming, David? Or did you wish to stay?"

"I'm right behind you, Hannah. There are a few things I need to do too."

Shepard shook her head and smiled as the couple left.

Garrus took his wife's hand. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing that makes any sense," she admitted.

"Do you think Mordin's test was bad?"

"No. He wouldn't make that kind of mistake. He's as anal about his work as I am."

"So you think this dream woman was your biological mother?"

"I don't know what to think, Garrus. None of this makes sense. What irks me the most is there's no way for me to find out. I can't research a dream. I guess it doesn't really matter who my biological parents are. My parent are my parents and nothing will change that. She picked up the empty tray. "I'm taking this down to the mess. Are you coming, Garrus? Or did you wish to stay?"

Garrus chuckled. "I'm right behind you, vela."

"You can go play, Grim - just stay out of trouble."

"I always do, Ari. Catch you later." He zipped around them and out of sight.

They ran into Kasumi and Jacob at the mess, who were eating a late lunch. The couple was sitting close and whispering to each other. Whatever he told her must have been amusing because Kasumi giggled. Actually, giggled.

"ETA to Palaven 67 standard minutes. Sure you're up for this, Commander? I can turn her around if you have cold feet," Joker said over the ship-wide comm.

"Thanks Joker…I feel the love."

"Hey…Just doing my job. Not every day you get to join into a family whose patriarch is sworn to hate all Spectres. Wouldn't want to be in your shoes. Just saying, Commander."

"We'll see who has the last laugh, Joker. You'll be disembarking with us if I have to haul you out kicking and screaming by your beard. You'll be there to see every bit of the fun."

"I can't leave my baby; I'm all she's got."

"Your baby has EDI, who will take the best of care of her," Shepard pointed out.

"Of course I will. You have nothing to worry about, Jeff," EDI assured him.

"You're no fun, Commander," Joker said solemnly.

"Hey! She's a lot of fun." Kasumi said in her defense.

Garrus smiled at Kasumi. "That she is. Any more fun and she'd kill me."

"I heard that!" Joker snickered.

"I need to get ready," Shepard said and made her goodbyes... Garrus was quick to catch up with her. By the time she'd made it to the cabin she was fraught with nerves. She began pacing, nearly jumping out of her skin in panic. She was not usually one to give into panic…but this was big. Real big.

Garrus looked at her questioningly. "I've never seen you like this."

"Probably pregnancy hormones…" She paced some more in agitation.

Garrus smiled. "I think you need to blow off some steam." He pulled off his clothes and began to stalk his wife.

Garrus worked his way down her body nipping and flicking his tongue. Her ragged breath and soft cries drove him on. He put a pillow under her hips and took a tight grip on her thighs. He was not going to let her get away… and he knew she would try. He felt her connect them and knew he was in for an uphill climb.

His tongue slid through her damp folds and attacked her hidden nub. He flicked it mercilessly, and then dove into her to attack her other pleasure center. She keened as she came close to release and he stopped. When her body relaxed Garrus began to work her up again. When her body coiled tight he stopped.

Her eyes popped open. "This is payback, isn't it Garrus?"

Garrus chuckled. The rumble started soft and began intensify. "Yes, perhaps. But it is a payback that is biting me in the ass as well since you have kept us connected. Every time I get you close to coming so am I. But, I think you need this, vela. Perhaps in the end you will thank me. I just have to be able to last through my own torture."

The vibrations of his purr traveled through her and she shivered. He worked her close and stopped so many times she was fit to scream, her body shaking uncontrollably. Garrus was shaking just as hard, if not harder. His mandibles were clacking fast and furious. Being unable to take any more he pulled her to him and entered her from behind. Garrus worked her swollen nub as he licked and nibbled her neck and shoulders. He was so swollen, so heavy he gasped and growled with slightest movement against him…and he was moving her hard and fast. He relished in her cries of pleasure and knew this was going to be a time neither of them would ever forget. He felt her body stiffen and he nearly cried out with relief. Waiting for her to come first had become painful.

She screamed as the most powerful orgasm she'd ever had arched through her body. Her internal muscles grabbed him as tight as any fist could. His bellows joined her screams as he exploded within her. His shaft locked tight, but he continued to erupt as wave after wave of the orgasm swept over him. His head fell to her shoulder and he bit into her. She cradled his head, encouraging him to take more. She felt him shiver against her.

They tumbled bonelessly onto the bed when they were released. She was too relaxed, too tired to even remotely care what Garrus' father would think of her. Damn his hide…that was the best orgasm she'd ever had. "You were right, Garrus. That was needed more than I knew. That was the most insane orgasm I've ever had…and if I was any more relaxed I'd be in a puddle "Thank you for making this perfect."

He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. "I love you, vela. If we ever manage to top that…I think it'd kill me," Garrus said weakly.

Oh, my love, you could melt a girl's heart with your romantic pillow talk.

When they rolled out of bed this time, she was calm, cool and collected again. She hit the bidet to refresh herself and they stepped into the shower for a quick wash down. Sex didn't even enter their minds…as they soaped each other up. Well, that wasn't exactly true…sex entered their minds, they were just too sated to act on it…and perhaps a lack of time played a small part in that decision. A quick dry later and she was storming through her closet.

She poured herself into blue leather pants and snapped up the matching blue with white trim leather vest. It had a plunging neckline and was cut up to reveal her sapphire bejeweled navel. She wore silver and sapphire dangle earrings and a simple silver chain looped through itself with a sapphire dangling like a pendulum over her cleavage. She slung a matching mag-belt low on her hips. She twisted back and forth in front of the mirror trying to see if anything could be improved.

"You look ravishing," Garrus said pulling her into his arms. "I'm glad you chose to wear our clan colors. It will mean a lot to the family." Garrus was wearing a blue dress suit with silver trim under his armor.

Shepard stepped into her own metallic blue-purple armor. She snapped on her viper, mattock, and phalanx.

"Standing by for docking protocol. Shuttles are ready and awaiting our arrival," Joker alerted them.

"As soon as we are docked, I expect you suited up and at the airlock."

"Yes, Commander."

Shepard could all but see the faces Joker was making at her right now.

"Shepard, Wrex and Liara have arrived and are awaiting docking as well," EDI informed her.

"Thank you EDI."

She turned to Garrus. "Are you ready for this?"

He put a hand to either side of her face. "I want to apologize now for my father. If he's disrespectful to you I will drop him on his ass and we will never return."

"You don't have to do that Garrus. Your dad does not have to like me. I'm a big girl," she assured him.

"You are my lifemate. My wife. The love of my life. He doesn't have to like you. But does need to be civil and respectful. Anything else is unforgivable," Garrus said, pulling her in for a kiss.

"You worry too much, Garrus. It will all work out," she said, giving him a hug.

"It had better." He paused a moment. "Try to keep in mind; I'm far from the only one that will knock him on his ass if he behaves badly."

"Who else would bother?"

"Ohhh…your mother, David, Kasumi, Wrex, Liara, Tali, Ken, Jacob, and probably just about any of the others. I even think Legion would. If an AI could fall in love…well, I'm not all too sure that it isn't in love with you. In any event you are bringing a veritable army of friends and family that love you. My father better be on his best behavior or he won't know what hit him."

They made their way down to the airlock. She looked around at her friends. "Those of you without full helmets take your happy asses to the armory and trade them out for full helmets. The radiation here is too strong for anything less." She watched half her friends backtrack towards the armory. "The rest of you start moving out. We will surely need to go through a security checkpoint before we can board the shuttles. I'm a Spectre, you're with me. Remind them of that if they balk at your side arms. I've already left instructions for your clearance, there shouldn't be a problem. Legion you have special clearance." She repeated her instructions for the rest of her friends as they returned from the armory.

She smiled at her mother and David when she saw that they elected to stay behind. They froze and just stared at her. She walked up to them, slipped one arm through her mother's and her other arm through Garrus' and they walked into the airlock.

A trio of turians stepped up to greet her as she stepped out of the airlock. They introduced themselves and offered their hands as per human custom. This shocked and intrigued her. If this had been an old earth movie, she was sure they would have rolled out the red carpet. They told her that she was a VIP, a dignitary and ambassador for the human race, a Spectre for the Council; she was to be awarded top preferential treatment. Including a ride on the palatial shuttle to the Vakarian manor house. Perhaps it was just a way to keep an eye on her, but she appreciated the gesture anyway.

She heard Wrex's booming voice and looked over to see him and Liara heading their way. Several turians following in his wake trying to get him to stop and submit to scanning. It was hilarious but also dangerous. She apologized and moved out to confront Wrex.

"Shepard! My good friend! I thought you were dead. Seems even the void can't hold you!" He pumped her hand enthusiastically, nearly ripping her arm from its socket.

Garrus stepped up to draw Wrex's attention from his abused wife. "Wrex! Good to see you again."

"Garrus! You scamp…you finally did it. We wondered when you'd get your quad together and-"

"Wrex, I'd like you to meet my mother. Wrex, this is Captain Hannah Shepard, mom this is a very dear friend, Urdnot Wrex.

Wrex shook her hand and eyeballed her. "So these are the loins that birthed the mighty Shepard. She is a master warrior. I wouldn't want her for an enemy." He barked out a deep laugh. And turned to Garrus. "You did good, pup! Though, I think Shepard's too much woman for you to handle alone."

"Hey, now wait a minute!" Garrus complained.

"Just like old times, eh Wrex?" Shepard cut in. He was always giving Garrus a hard time, trying to push his buttons.

Wrex barked out another laugh. "Don't you know it. Now point out the turians I can eat. Or don't. That could be more fun."

Shepard shook her head. "Not a one Wrex. I told them you'd be on your best behavior…"

"Why'd you go and say a thing like that?" Wrex grumbled.

"That's the only reason they allowed me to invite you. While you are here you are a dignitary and ambassador of your people. As such you will be given the respect of that rank. And they are holding me personally responsible for you."

"Can't believe I'm standing on the homeworld of one of the most hated enemies of my people and I can't kill anyone. You sure know how to kick a man in the quad, Shepard," Wrex growled.

Shepard gave him a dazzling smile. "Thank you, Wrex," she said pulling him in for a hug. "I've missed you like mad," she admitted giving his jutting lower lip a kiss. He swung her around like old times and congratulated them on their new family.

She walked up to Liara and gave her a big hug and peck on the lips. She promised they would get together as soon as possible. Shepard asked Liara and Samara who wanted to be the ambassador for the asari during their stay. Since neither wanted the title the role fell to Samara, as a matriarch and justicar she was already a representative of her people.

Tali was the ambassador for the quarians, Mordin the ambassador for the salarians and Legion was the ambassador for the geth.

Shepard took Garrus' arm and followed the turians into the shuttle. Her mother, David, Mordin, Wrex, Legion, Samara and Tali followed.

The shuttle was massive and beautiful but very utilitarian. It rode like a dream. Joker was missing out. As they left the hangar bay Garrus began pointing out buildings and locations to them. The buildings had a metallic sheen that sparkled in the late afternoon sun. It looked like a city of silver...or mirrors. It was breathtaking. She could make out the fortification walls that surrounded the port city and the soldiers that looked like ants patrolling them. Garrus pointed out the waterways that wound their way through the cities. She could see little people like water bugs wading through the steaming water. It must have felt like a hot bath. The higher elevations had cooler rivers, but the radiation would prevent outsiders from enjoying it. Their shuttle followed one of the waterways into another city. Garrus was excitedly pointing out museums, a zoo, his favorite restaurants and various other places he'd like to take them to if they found the time.

The Vakarian manor house sat on a slight rise overlooking much of the city below. It wasn't huge, but after living so long in the confines of a spaceship it looked massive. He explained how the house had been in his family for generations, always passing down to the eldest son. He didn't have to tell her that it would have been his home.

"I'm sorry, Garrus. It seems I've complicated your life far more than I knew," she said sadly.

Garrus turned to her in surprise. "What? Why the hell would you say such a thing? You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, wife."

"The house…it was to have gone to you. I wouldn't survive well here and our children might not be able to survive it at all. If you stay with me you would lose that. I'm sorry."

"If I stay…Spirits, vela! I would never walk away from you. And I'm not sorry in the slightest. I don't want to be here. If I'd wanted to be here I'd have stayed in the turian military. But I chose to leave as soon as I could. I told you, I'm not a very good turian. Palaven is where I grew up. I will always have memories of it. But it is not my home. My home is with you and where ever we end up. I have uncles and cousins who would gladly take the house. Don't ever think I had to give anything up to be with you. There is nothing I want but you." Garrus sucked in his breath at her smile and then pulled her in for a searing kiss.

The other turians grunted and turned away. Public displays of affection were just not done. And what they were doing with their mouths? Could nobody leave Palaven and come back sane?

Their shuttle may have been the last to take off, but as dignitaries they were the first to land. "This is it," she told them. "Helmets on. Check your seals." She and Garrus were the first off the shuttle. His parents, sister, staff and guards were waiting for them.

Despite the excitement in his mom's and sister's eyes, introductions were made, handshakes and nods given. Everything cool and regimental. When the last of the dignitaries were greeted, his family bade them to follow and returned to their home. Mrs. Vakarian moved in an odd, stiff gate, her husband's arm around her. The staff and guards would greet the rest of the guests and show them to their quarters.

Once inside, Solana showed the rest of the dignitaries to their quarters, his parents led David to Garrus' room. Garrus pointed out his terminal and other items David could use during his stay. Mrs Vakarian told him a member of the staff would come get him shortly for dinner. Her mom was led to Solana's room. She then led her son to the master bedroom and bid them to enter.

Shepard sent a shocked look to Garrus who squeezed her hand reassuringly and nodded. She thanked his parents. Mrs. Vakarian nodded and told them she or Solana would come and get them when dinner was ready.

When the door closed behind his parents Shepard said, "I hadn't expected this to be a turian custom as well. I feel kind of guilty stealing their bedroom," she admitted. "Hope your father doesn't add that to his list of reasons to hate me."

"I imagine he will be surprised to learn humans share some turian customs. Of course, I never thought I'd be sleeping in my parents' room. You are a high ranking official. You will be treated as such…provided my father minds himself. You will probably also be treated to the best seat at the table and the choicest cuts of meat."

"Well, considering those things usually go to your father, that makes everything so much better. Where can I put my armor?" she asked looking around the pristine and sparce room. He walked over to a wall and slapped a button. A closet door slid open, it was empty. "Oh stars…I stole their closet too?"

Garrus chuckled. "No, this one is always left empty…never know when an important guest will stop by."

They both removed their armor. She opened up her arms and he walked into them. After a moment she asked, "It looked like your mom and sister wanted to talk to me…but they didn't."

"Yeah…since it's so close to dinner, protocol demands that they get to know you afterwards. Look, I'll be right back…I want to have a brief word with my parents." He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and headed for the door.

"Garrus…"

"Yes?"

"I know turians are more…"

"They have a stick up their ass?"

"Well…I wasn't going to say that…but do you want me to stop showing you affection unless we are alone? I don't want to make you embarrassed or your parents uncomfortable."

Garrus' mouth fell open and his mandibles dropped. Quick strides took him back to his wife. He tilted her chin up and peered down into her eyes. "Do not ever stop showing me affection…I don't care who is watching. If they don't want to see it, they don't have to look. But I am damn sure going to kiss you whenever the hell I want to. I am in love. You're my lifemate. If they don't like it they can go to hell."

She gave him a loud smack on the lips, spun him around and gave him a smack on the ass…"Get out of here you goof…see you soon."

When he was gone she began to worry again.

The chime of a comm interrupted her thoughts. 'It is I, Solana, can I come in?"

"Of course you can," Shepard said.

Solana came forward with her hand out and an eager smile. Shepard smiled back. This was one Vakarian she would have no problem liking. Solana stopped, hand out and just stared.

Shepard stepped forward and shook Solana's outstretched hand. The moment she made contact she froze. A strange feeling washed through her. An odd pull. This girl was special in some way…She needed to know why. "Solana, I feel a connection with you. I think we are going to be great friends. You are going to be a large part of my future. I can feel it. I just don't know how yet."

Solana was enthralled. This powerful warrior woman…this legend wanted to be friends with her. Said they were connected. It was beyond anything she could have imagined happening. She'd come because she had to meet her. She couldn't wait until after dinner. The way she talked, the way she moved…it was so vivid…so sensual…so addictive. Yes, that was the word. Shepard was addictive.

"Pardon my manners." She turned to the young man beside her. "This is Rojik, he's the son of one of my father's friends. " She gave the turian a fond look. "He was eager to meet you too."

Shepard shook the nervous young man's hand. It was awkwardly endearing to see him fidgeting and flustered. He reminded her a lot of Garrus when they first met. They made a sweet couple. She got a warm vibe from them; in fact, the two of them together reminded her a lot of her and Garrus. She placed a hand against each of their cheek plates and closed her eyes. She felt a gentle peace and love. Best friends and more. She focused on their auras. Are they meant for each other? Their auras flashed lightly. She smiled. She couldn't wait to come back and visit them on Palaven. Their auras turned black. She frowned. That meant death. Do they need to leave Palaven? Their auras flashed. Well, crap on toast. "You are perfect for each other." The turians clasped hands as the power thrummed through them. She opened her eyes, dropped her hands and backed away.

The turians looked at each other, then at Shepard. "What just happened?" Solana asked.

Shepard looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Solana's mouth dropped open and slammed shut. "We felt...we felt...a strange hum flow into us."

Shepard saw Rojik's nod. Shepard chewed on her lower lip in confusion. "I'm sorry...I don't know. Was it...bad?"

Solana flushed. She was very glad her plating covered it. "No...not at all. It was very...nice. You told us we were perfect for each other."

Shepard cocked her head. "I don't know why I said that, but it must be so. Sometimes...I feel things. I need you to do something for me. I need you to kiss."

The turians looked at each other and then at her. "What is kiss?" Rojik asked curiously.

Garrus walked through the door in time to hear Rojik. His unbandaged mandible flared in a lopsided smile. He wrapped his arms around Arianna. "Something I'm very glad my wife introduced me to."

Right. She had forgotten turians don't kiss and this pair was young enough that they had probably never left Palaven. "A kiss," she corrected. "I'll show you what I mean." She spun around in her husband's arms and looked up at him. "Don't move, let me lead." She whispered to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and turned them sideways so the couple could see them clearly. She ran her tongue along his upper mouthplate. She dipped it into his mouth, touched the tip of his tongue and withdrew. She slipped her tongue in again, flicking it against his, encouraging him to meet her half way. Their tongues met in a sensual dance until Garrus could take it no more. He took control and kissed her breathless. When they remembered themselves, they flushed and backed away. Garrus grabbed her hips and positioned her in front of him for modesty's sake.

Rojik was moving awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. Perhaps their kiss had been a bit hotter than intended. She could not keep the smile from her face. Rojik froze in mid-shuffle. She walked up to the couple. She noticed their far hands were still clasped. She took their free hands and placed them together. She sandwiched their hands between hers. "Kiss. Please trust me in this. You will not regret it."

She backed off as she saw the couple move closer to each other. Solana took the lead and mirrored every move she had seen Shepard make. Garrus took her hand and pulled her into his embrace. His hand went to her face and he tilted it up to claim her lips. When he pulled back, he noticed her somber look. "What is the matter, vela?"

"I saw something in their auras. Their auras told me they were meant for each other, but they also told me they would both die if they stayed on Palaven. They need to leave with us."

Garrus frowned and then started laughing his ass off. "Spirits this is so damned funny! Dad's going to shit and try to kill us all." Then he started laughing even harder. "You realize he had a husband all picked out for you already…the son of a friend of his…Umm, not that son. He hadn't told you yet. He thought you might try to run if you knew. Now you're going to marry the son of a different friend… and leave Palaven anyway…it's positively rich…I can't wait to see his face."

"Perhaps we should wait to tell your dad…maybe until after the wedding," Shepard suggested.

Garrus laughed harder. "I don't think that's an option anymore. They won't be able to hide their feelings or the heat," he said pointing to the pair in question, who were in the middle of a very deep, very thorough kiss.

"I'm guessing we will be having two weddings now." She paused a moment. Happy that the couple had found each other. "You know I can't really be blamed for this. They would probably have found out eventually. The pull is undeniable…well, except to you Garrus…I seem to recall you did a damn good job denying it."

"Not fair, Shepard. You were my Commander. I spent too many years in the turian military," Garrus reminded her.

"I was captain of the ship, Garrus. But you were not an Alliance soldier. I was never your Commander," she pointed out.

"Damn. Wish I'd have thought of that sooner."

"Garrus!" Shepard interrupted. "I think we need to break the party up before they give us a show they will be embarrassed about later." Shepard nodded towards the young couple. Rojik's tunic was unsnapped and Solana was busy exploring his carapace while they kissed.

"Garrus, please collect Rojik. I will deal with Solana."

Garrus grabbed Rojik's arm and dragged him from the room. His eyes didn't leave Solana until the door closed.

"I need to go to her, Garrus."

"I know, Rojik. I know exactly what you're feeling and what you're going through. If we were anywhere else, I... But, my father is your host. He must be told before you bond. Anything else is rude."

Shepard commed Garrus. "Garrus, do you think it would be too rude to speak to your parents now? I'm not so sure waiting until after dinner is a good idea. Not sure they are going to make it through dinner."

"Spirits. You're right. I'll find out where they are and then I'll come get you."

A few minutes later, he strode through the door, Rojik held tight in his grip. "Let's get this done." His unbandaged mandible flared. He couldn't wait to see his father's reaction.

Shepard walked up to Garrus and tore his bandage off. His talons went to his cheek. "I've been meaning to do that for some time. Your face isn't going to fall apart or slide off. You're healed, Garrus. You have been for awhile. You heal fast now. The scars too will fade in time…unless you let me take them away." He glared at her and she held up her hands.

"Take your sister, I'll hang onto Rojik."

Garrus towed his sister; Shepard laced her arm through Rojik's and took up the rear.

"I'm so happy for you, Rojik," she said flashing him big smile.

Rojik swallowed hard. Not even having a lifemate spared him from the effects of Shepard's smile. But it made a weird kind of sense since even Garrus wasn't spared.

He shook his head. He was a little nervous about the meeting to come…but nothing was going to keep him from his lifemate. He had to be near her…had to protect her…the need to claim her was clawing at him…he was hard, aching and his ability to think straight long gone.

Solana tugged at her arm. What right did her brother have to keep her away from her lifemate? He had his. He knew what she was going through. Did he really have to drag her in front of mom and dad like some naughty child?

When they reached the sitting room, Shepard closed her eyes and forced her sight. She needed to get a read on the situation. His dad's aura was blue with strokes of orange and red. Practical, calm, but aggressive. His mom was…she stopped cold...dying. Her head was completely black and the black was bleeding down into her lavender aura. She quickly released the sight. Garrus pulled up in front of his dad and drew his sister protectively behind his back, while still keeping a firm hold on her. She stepped protectively in front of Rojik.

"What the hell is all of this about, son?" his father demanded. "You know protocol and this is not it."

"This is too important for protocol, dad."

"Nothing is too important for protocol. And why is your sister behind your back?" he asked coldly.

"I'm protecting her from you."

"That's ridiculous," his father said losing patience.

"Rip the band-aid," Garrus said under his breath.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, get it over with quick rather than drawing it out. I know you had future plans for Solana, but you need to cancel them. Solana has found her lifemate."

The silence that greeted him was deafening.

"Just because you have found your lifemate, doesn't mean your sister has."

"It is because I have found my lifemate that she has found hers. At least, found him this soon."

"Who is he?" his mother asked. She caught sight of Rojik and then began fanning herself. "Oh dear. Not again."

"I suggest you get someone here to marry her and Rojik right away if you want anything official. I don't think a damn thing will keep them from bonding tonight…we will be lucky to get through dinner without a scene," Shepard warned. "When they are wed, they will return with us. They cannot stay here. If they do they will die."

Garrus' father stood up. "I think you have gone far enough-" His mouth dropped open when he saw Rojik being held back by Shepard. "You've got to be kidding me. Rojik, Solana? This can't be happening. First Garrus, now you. What the hell is wrong with this family? You!" he said pointing at Shepard. "You have brought this all down upon us. You have ruined this family!"

Rojik's brain snapped back into his head. "Do not talk to her that way, sir." Rojik pulled Shepard behind him and stood tall facing off with his new father to be. Garrus and Solana also moved in front of Shepard.

"I think we've heard enough from you, father," Solana said.

"You will apologize to my wife, dad."

"She-"

"Now." Rojik said coldly.

Shepard moved them all aside and made her way up to her new father. "You obviously don't think much of me, but that is why I came. I intend to change that. No one has control over who the fates have chosen for them; nothing is more precious or more treasured than a lifemate." She gave him a big smile, took his hand and stripped the glove from it. She placed his talons over her bare belly and rested her hand upon his. She sent soothing and calming thoughts to him through her touch. "But this is pretty damned close. This is our future. Your grandchild is resting below your palm. Things may not have worked out the way you'd hoped for your son or for your daughter, but isn't this child worth getting to know? Can you not accept this baby into your heart and love it as only a grandparent could?"

Shepard needed him to feel the baby as she did. She needed him to be invested, connected. She pushed out and merged their auras. After the slight disorientation she felt his anger and bitterness, but she also felt his sadness, his loss of control, his love for his family…a love he rarely allowed himself to show.

"Touch me. Touch my skin," she told everyone in the room. Rojik was the closest to Garrus' mom, so he helped her up and led her over to Shepard. He placed her talons next to her husband's. When she felt their hands she forced the merge of all of their auras. The massive amounts of emotion nearly took her to the ground. She locked her knees until she could pull them into some semblance of order; she made another push and merged with her baby. It didn't have feelings yet, but it had presence. A strong presence. She lay everything bare for everyone. The love and desire she and Garrus shared, the overwhelming need of two newly discovered lifemates, the quiet fortitude of a woman forced into her husband's shadow, the love of a father who couldn't show it, the presence and life-force of a precious new soul awakening to the feelings surrounding it. Finally, she shared herself, she let go of the love and strength and conviction that she held for everything. She raised her head and closed her eyes. Her arms held low and away from her. Then, her head fell forward and she collapse slowly, all but floating to the floor.

Rojik and Solana came to their senses faster, the heat in their blood burning out the emotional daze. Rojik reached out and pulled Shepard into his arms as she fell. He cradled her to him, tears falling down his faceplates. She had shared something more intimate, more powerful, more sensual, then anything he'd ever experienced. Solana came to his side and brushed the hair back from Shepard's face. She brought her forehead to Shepard's in love. Shepard eyes flickered open. She wrapped her arms around them, holding these two amazing people close to her heart. She sent soothing thoughts and love to them through her touch. With their minds momentarily cleared… their hearts pure, they loved her back.

Rojik raised Shepard to her feet and released her. He and Solana watched her walk into her husband's arms. They put their arms around each other and just held each other quietly. Solana noticed her parents were doing the same. The emotions had just been too intense to not hold someone you care about.

After a few minutes Mr. Vakarian stood up, he flipped on his omni-tool, talked privately for a moment, then disconnected. He walked over to the young couple. He held his hand out to Rojik, who shook it reverently. The young turian had shown backbone in standing up to him in Shepard's defense. He knew he would protect his daughter…a lifemate… even more aggressively. "You will be married after dinner. I will have a special contract license brought to the manor. After that, the evening is yours. Welcome to the family, son."

Vakarian turned to face his son and the rest of his new family. He caught Shepard's blinding smile and it nearly took him to his knees. He wondered briefly if anyone could survive this woman. He wasn't sure just what he felt as he made his way over to the pair. She had given him so much…shown him so much that he was humbled and in awe. Normally, neither of those would sit very well with him. But he wasn't feeling very normal right now. His step and heart were lighter than they'd ever been and he wondered if she hadn't changed him on some fundamental level.

He stopped in front of the human and peered down at her. Both men stood taller, ready to defend her. He looked them both in the eyes and shook his head. Then he looked back down at the small human. "I was wrong about you. I was wrong about a lot of things." Vakarian ignored his son's shocked expression. "I think you are just what my son needs. He is a good man with great potential and I think you are the key to his mastering it. I look forward to hearing about what you accomplish together." He placed his talons on her belly. "I look forward to seeing my grandchild." A look of wonder filled his craggy features. "I felt the baby. I felt its strength. It was…hmmm…amazing." He dropped his hand and cleared his throat.

He returned to his wife's side and helped her up. "Let's adjourn to the dining hall." Apparently, dinner had been delayed so long because there were four dinners served. The lower ranks, soldiers and staff ate first, followed by her friends and then the ambassadors ate…finally it was their turn…the family. Her mother and David were brought in to eat with the family.

There was a literal feast of human and turian delicacies. Being the curious sort and a bottomless pit, Shepard ate some of each. The turians were at first concerned when they noticed her eating their food. Garrus assured them turian food would not affect her and they sat in awe as they watched her eat and eat. They couldn't quite fathom where she put it all. They knew pregnant women ate more in general…, but it was still a sight to see. They watched their son and Shepard feed each other… in public no less. They were also surprised to see him eating human food. They shook their heads in concern, fearing that he would end up sick before the night was through.

Shepard was rather impressed with the turian cuisine and knew she'd have to pick up supplies and add more items to their shipboard menus. Even if it didn't agree with Garrus anymore, she would still enjoy it and there was Rojik and Solana to think about. She also made a note to pick up some quarian food for Tali so she didn't have to triple filter everything she ate. And while she was at it she'd grab some asari and salarian food. This mission was dangerous and the least she could do was give them a few amazing meals. The cook won't know what hit him.

When dinner was finished they adjourned to a sitting room with the other ambassadors. Cards, vids, booze and conversations flowed. She smiled at Wrex and kissed his jutting lip in thanks for his good behavior. The turians were stunned both that she would do that and that he would allow it. But they came to understand with Shepard anything can and should be expected. And they were surprisingly more okay with it than they thought they would be. Garrus and his father were showing David and her mother a turian game similar in nature to earth billiards. This gave Shepard the opportunity to sit down next to Mrs. Vakarian. "Mrs. Vakarian, will you trust me? I'd like to help you."

Julsie patted her hand. "Call me Julsie or better yet call me mom. You're my daughter. Of course I trust you …though I'm not sure how you could help me."

Shepard gave her a soft smile. "Will you trust me enough to let me hold you? I know most turians don't show a whole lot of affection in public, but I can ease your headache if you let me hold you."

"We females tend to be a bit more expressive than the men," Julsie said patting her hand. "I wasn't aware you could tell I have a headache. I thought I was doing well hiding it."

"You are. I…um…see things a little better than most people. I doubt anyone else is aware," Shepard assured her. "Please let me do this for you…mom."

The older woman smiled and nodded, Shepard lifted her arm and the older woman lay against her. Shepard wrapped her arm around her shoulders and placed a hand on her head. She placed her other hand next to the first and cradled the woman to her bosom. She pushed out and merged their auras. She pictured what she wanted to happen. Ugly, black death spots began to crawl up her aura, they made their way up her arms and disappeared out of sight. She knew exactly where they were going. She sent relaxing thoughts through her touch.

Julsie felt the soothing heat of the hands upon her head. The human, her daughter, was soft and comfortable to lie against. She was so happy that her son found this wonderful, loving, giving woman. Originally, she had been appalled about the human. But she knew…as her husband had said…that Shepard was just what her son needed. She liked the woman on sight. Felt drawn to her. When she had brought them all together and laid everything bare, she opened her heart to the young woman. Shepard had walked into their lives and done more for their family than anyone had ever done. Sure, she was going to lose her daughter to a lifemate, but she had gained so much more.

Rojik mandibles spread wide and pointed out the pair to Garrus. His mandibles dropped when he saw the dawning look of horror on Garrus' face. David and Hannah looked over at Garrus and wondered why he was so upset.

Shepard felt the eyes of her husband upon her. She glanced up and saw Garrus heading their way. She smiled put her finger to her wrist and put up shield barrier bubble around them. Garrus stopped cold, his hands against the bubble. "This is new." Then he shook his head, the bubble didn't matter right now. "Don't do this, vela. Think of the baby," he pleaded.

She gave him another soft smile. "I am thinking of the baby, husband." She poured stronger relaxing thoughts into her new mother, who essentially fell asleep against her side. She did not want her aware of the growing tension.

Everyone joined them at the bubble curious as to what was going on.

"Garrus why are our wives embraced on the divan?" Torlin asked and touched a talon to the white shimmering barrier. "And why is there a barrier up?"

Garrus saw the questioning look that everyone directed at him. "She's at it again. My mother…she is sick. She has Corpalis Syndrome…it's a degenerative neurological disease. There is no cure for it." Garrus' eyes returned to his wife. "Vela, why?"

"I cannot leave her to suffer. And I cannot leave him alone." She looked down at her new mother and scanned her aura. Lavender laced with white. She watched the last of the black leech into her aura and travel up her arms.

"What is happening, Garrus?" His father and her mother asked simultaneously.

"Shepard is healing mom," he admitted in defeat.

"That's not possible. There is no cure," his father stated resolutely.

"She's not curing her. She's absorbing the illness from mom's body and giving it to herself. Shepard has Corpalis Syndrome now," Garrus said in a strangled voice.

Hannah ran to the bubble next to Garrus, her hands clutching at it. She couldn't lose her daughter again...not again. She'd only just found her. "Arianna…" Tears fell unchecked down her cheeks. She felt David's arms slip around her waist.

"I know what I'm doing, mom."

Shepard laid the older woman back on the sofa and stood, her legs wobbly. She took a shaky step and fell to her knees. She smiled at her husband and used the table and sofa to leverage herself back onto her feet. She shuffled painfully over to the edge of the bubble and stood before her husband and mother. She placed her hands against theirs, only the bubble separating them. "Alert Chakwas and Mordin."

Tears fell from her husband's eyes. He didn't care who saw them. "You didn't have to do this, vela. You shouldn't have risked yourself…the baby."

"I didn't risk the baby. It is fine," she tried to assure him.

"What happens to it when you die?" he asked her.

"Nothing. The doctors won't let it go that far. It is strong. I feel it. It agreed with my choice," she said as her body wavered. She poured energy into the illness. She needed to advance it, to burn it out. Her body lurched. "Do not watch me husband…mom - This is not a memory you need to have."

Garrus shook his head. "You should have thought of that before you …you- Vela, I love you." He said trying to grip her hand through the bubble.

She stumbled and fell to the ground. She heard her mother shriek as her hands slid down the bubble. Garrus and her mother slid down with her to keep contact.

"You ever do this again and I'm going to take the stick out of my ass and beat you with it," Garrus said as fresh tears trailed down his plates.

She chuckled weakly, "Promises…promises..."

Her body spasmed and convulsed. She fell away from the bubble and hit her head against the table as her body heaved and bucked.

Garrus beat and clawed at the bubble as his heart broke to watch her suffer, he knew she was going to die; Corpalis Syndrome was a death sentence. All he could do was hope that the doctors and her virus would bring her back to him.

Hanah' fists beat against the barrier, she watched in horror as her daughter's body arched and twisted upon itself. Harsh sobs wracked her. She loved her daughter so much and she...she..

"She should be fine." Garrus said in a choked voice. He had to believe that. "It's just hard to see."

"How can anybody be fine after this?" she cried past the tight lump in her throat.

"She's Shepard…she has to be," Garrus said quietly.

Solana wrapped her arms around Rojik and held him as his hands gripped the barrier.

Shepard's body arched up, bowed tight and relaxed. The barrier bubble winked out.

Garrus shot to her side, moved her away from the table and started depressing her chest. Tears coursed down his cheekplates, landed upon hers and rolled towards the floor. "Hannah, breathe into her now! Tilt her head back, pinch her nose with your fingers and blow air into her mouth."

Hannah dropped to her side and breathed into her daughter's mouth while Garrus continued the compressions. Within a few standard minutes Chakwas and Mordin burst through the door. Mordin scanned the baby as Chackwas depressed a huge syringe straight into Shepard's heart. Chakwas lined up the laser points on her chest. "Clear!" Everyone backed away.

Julsie was groggily waking up and her husband went to her side.

Shepard gasped and choked. Chakwas gave her a sad look and squeezed her shoulder. She was, however, relieved. She hadn't wanted to shock Shepard's heart; she had been worried about the baby.

Hannah pulled her little girl into her arms and rocked her. She looked up at David and saw the tears he didn't bother to hide.

"Baby is fine. Strong signs. Death not good, Shepard. Stop dying. Stressful to body," Mordin admonished her.

Mordin and Chakwas moved their attention to Julsie. They gave her every scan they could think of and a few that didn't cross their minds…as necessary, that is. They told Torlin they needed to do some blood work, but as far as the scans showed Julsie was free of disease. Torlin Vakarian thanked them and assured them he would get her to their doctor for the blood work.

The doctors looked at each other and shook their heads. "This event must never be known. Not by anyone. Tell your doctors that you are taking her to another clinic for experimental treatment. As time goes on you can tell whomever you like that she is responding well and in remission. Until then, continue to support her when she walks in public. The price Shepard would pay for her love and generosity is too high," Chakwas informed him.

"Of course," Torlin said, nodding his understanding. He held his wife and looked over in concern at the woman who gave so much to his family…to him. He owed her a great debt he could never repay.

Mordin held up a syringe seeking permission to withdraw some samples. Julsie nodded her consent. He smiled and bobbed his head in time to the patter songs playing in his head. When he had the samples he needed, he thanked them and left, deep in conversation with Chakwas. They didn't have the Normandy's labs, but they never went anywhere without their kits…and they did have EDI.

"What happened, Torlin?" Julsie asked. "Last thing I remember is Shepard was taking my headache away."

Torlin smiled down at his wife…his now healthy wife. "Shepard did take your headache away, Jewels. She took your disease away too. She is fine now, but she died for us, Jewels… I can never repay the debt I owe her."

Julsie's eyes opened wide and her mandibles dropped. "How is that possible, Torlin? She doesn't look dead. And diseases don't just disappear…you can't just take one away like it's a suitcase."

Torlin shrugged. "It's Shepard. She's a Spectre, she can break any rule she wants."

"So she saved me?" Julsie asked in awe.

"That's what she does," Garrus said in exasperation.

Garrus wrapped his arms around his wife and his new mother, as they tried to come to grips with watching her die.

When they had themselves under control again, Garrus rose and helped them both up.

Rojik put his arm around his lifemate and they all converged on the older, seated couple to check on Julsie.

Julsie jumped up and pulled Shepard into a tight hug. She placed her forehead against Shepard's and squeezed her hands. "I can never thank you for what you've done for me. What you went through for me. I never would have let you…you know that, right?"

"I know…That's why I didn't tell you what I was doing," she said with a smile. Julsie sucked in her breath and nodded.

When his wife stepped aside, Torlin looked down at Shepard, held out his hand and then sighed. He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he wrapped his arms around her awkwardly and gave her a hug. "I will never forget what you have done for this family…for me. I owe you a debt I can never repay."

"No, dad, you don't. There are no debts within family," she reminded him and hugged him back.

Torlin's mandibles flared wide. He clamped them tight when he noticed his son watching. He cleared his throat, released the human and stood back stiffly.

Garrus and Solana looked at each other in surprise and smiled.

David pulled his goddaughter in for a hug. He never wanted to go through seeing her die again. Three times he thought she'd died and that was more than any father should have to bear. He looked over at Garrus, who looked ragged and beaten down. It was far more than any lifemate should have to bear.

A comm notified them that a government official had arrived. He walked briskly into the room, he handed the special license to Torlin, who looked over it and nodded.

The official sat at a table with the couple before him. He asked the couple if they wanted to say anything. They didn't have any vows, so they just said a few words from the heart to each other. He asked them what name they wanted to go by officially. After a brief discussion they settled on Kandros-Vakarian.

Shepard was surprised that Rojik decided to take Solana's name too. But since it was his lifemate's name, it just felt right to her. She just hadn't realized turian men were so open to taking their wife's name. Very few human men were willing to do that.

Garrus couldn't help but wonder what his wife would do with her name once she was wed to him. Whatever she chose, he would support her.

The couple had their iris' scanned, signed the license and were wed. The kids suffered through two rounds of toasts. Rojik gave one last look at Shepard. 'Thank you,' he mouthed and they ditched the party…the heat had other plans for them this night.

They spent another hour with the two sets of parents and then Garrus showed her to the other sitting rooms so that they could spend some time with their friends and crewmates. Shepard made her rounds, careful to leave no one out, not even Legion.

She had surprised him one day aboard the ship by bringing him more pieces of some of her older N7 armor so that he could better repair himself. She had asked him if he wanted her to order him some male N7 armor, but he refused. He seemed to only want armor that had been hers. He was able to manipulate a back plate to patch up the hole. She wasn't sure how he did it; he kept the old scraps of armor intact, added the new piece and somehow it all fit together and looked like it could have belonged on him. He was a marvel of ingenuity.

She liked him a lot. And no matter how many times she was corrected about him being an it, she continued to call it a him. That is how she saw him. He was one of her team, an equal…a friend, just as Grim was. And she adored him. She lavished the same affection on him that she did on anyone else, touching or kissing his face flaps. He was like an adorable floppy eared puppy cocking its head. Too cute to resist.

Legion had adjusted to her eccentricities fast. Her husband even joked that it flapped its plates as often as possible just to get more of her attention lavished on it. Her husband could be so silly at times.

By the time she'd made it through all of her friends, she was exhausted. She excused herself, told her husband to stay and enjoy himself, and made her way back to the master bedroom. Her husband followed her out. "I'm a big girl…I can make this walk all by myself, you know."

"You are mistaken, wife, if you think I wish to remain out there without you. I was only out there so long to be with you…If I had my way we'd have been alone in here much sooner," he told her softly. "I watched you die tonight, vela. I just need to be near you."

He peeled off her blue leather suit, stepped out of his own clothing and joined her on the bed. She pushed out and merged them. He lay next to her, his hand trailed down her body. His touch sent a wave of goosebumps following in the wake of his talons.

"I think you like this," he said softly.

"Perhaps just a little."

That he liked it too was a given. He took a breast in hand and the other in mouth she cried out as two very different sensations hit her at the same time. Garrus' thicker, warm tongue and firm, pliable mouth and his rough thumb pad and talons.

She ran her hand down his body and slid her fingers over the evidence of his arousal. His hips bucked into her palm as she increased the pressure and tempo of her movements.

As his tongue continued to lavish her breasts with attention, he slid his talons down her flat belly through her tight curls to her core. Garrus rubbed her hidden nub with his thumb and dipped a talon into her, moving against the spot that drove her mad.

He worked his tongue and mouth slowly down her body until his tongue replaced his talons. She screamed and bucked as he moved within her and against her. When her body started to stiffen he gently took her nub between his flexible mouthplates. She held tight to his head as the orgasm tore through her. She fell back against the pillows. "You are really going to kill me if you keep doing that to me."

"No, wife. I am going to love you. You do the killing all on your own."

"Ouch." Then, a wicked smile played on her mouth. "Your turn husband."

When aftershocks ended and heatbeats settled, he curled up around her and placed his talons on her belly. She had given him a connection to their baby he had never thought to have. She kept them merged long enough to allow baby and daddy to feel each other again and then she released it. He couldn't wait until she was far enough along to feel the baby move.

"Do you know what you are going to do with your name tomorrow after we are wed?" Garrus asked quietly.

"Is there something you prefer?" she asked curiously. She really hadn't thought about it. To the military she would always be Shepard.

"I will stand behind any choice you make, vela."

"Perhaps I should follow in the steps of my children. Shepard-Vakarian. What do you think?" She asked unsure what his response was going to be.

He smiled into the darkness. Relieved she would have his name, no matter how old fashioned the concept was.

"Or maybe we could both just ditch Vakarian and you could change your name to Shepard. Garrus Shepard…damn, that sounds horrible. Let's do that."

"Why you little-" he said as he poked at her. She giggled. He poked again; she giggled and tried to move away.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm ticklish"

"What is ticklish?"

"If you touch certain places on my body in a certain way it will make me laugh."

"hmmm…," he said "I need to find out more about this ticklish." He began searching out ticklish spots.

When he wouldn't stop she started tickling back. He'll rue the day he started this…because now she knew his weakness…she knew his tickle spots. Who knew such a dangerous man could be taken down by a mere tickle…he sure hadn't known. The look on his face when he discovered he too was ticklish was priceless.

Come morning, Garrus woke her with kisses and a very thorough loving. Breakfast was going to be a bit later due to protocol of 4 meals, so Garrus showed her the closet where a blue dress and her blue workout clothes were hung. He had sent someone back to the ship to gather up some more clothing for them last night and she was excited about not having to wear the same outfit as yesterday.

When they were in their workout suits, Garrus took them to a sparring room. It was massive. A few soldiers were already sparring, but for the most part it was empty. Some dummies of various sizes around the outsides of the room, but it mostly consisted of mats and padded walls.

Garrus tossed her micro-foam guards and they began their stretching together. The turians had never seen pair stretching, so snickered at what they considered must be odd, human behavior. Then another turian and Garrus faced off. While they were sparring she began a series of flips and back-bends…a gymnastics set that got her blood flowing.

A pair of sparring turians stopped their match. They couldn't decide who to watch, Shepard's bizarre actions or the Garrus match. Both were equally interesting to them.

Shepard looked over at the pair of turians and waved them over.

They looked at each other and walked over to her.

"Let's dance boys."

They gave her a cold look. "Turians don't dance."

"Oh, I don't know about that," she said looking at her husband. "I think it is more accurate to say they've never tried. But, that isn't want I meant anyway. I'll take on either or both of you."

They looked at each other and laughed. "The little human wants to spar."

"She's a dignitary, we might hurt her."

"Boys, I'm beginning to think you're afraid of me."

They laughed harder. "No, just afraid of reprisals if you are injured, little human."

"You would actually need to touch me to injure me and I don't think you're capable of it."

The smiles left their faces. They nodded to each other. One stepped away.

She shook her head. "Both of you."

She stood, knees slightly bent as they began to circle her, sizing her up. She tuned out everything but their every movement. She saw them gather themselves and knew they were both going to charge her at the same time. She waited…timing crucial. Three…two…wait for it…one…She jumped up, kicked out her legs, doing a mid-air spit and slamming them both under the chin and sending them stumbling backwards, one of them hit the mats jarringly. She'd gotten their attention.

The match then became more difficult. She'd never sparred with two at one time before, so she had to rely on her wits and flexibility. Above all, she had to keep moving so as not to make herself a target. She used their legspurs and fringes against them. More than once she'd grabbed hold of their head fringes to spin them to the mats. It was dirty on her part, but with two against her, she had to use what she could. More times than they could count they ended up doing a bit of damage to each other because by the time their moves followed through, she just wasn't there anymore. She was relying solely on her gymnastics and flexibility, turning it into a style of fighting…her own improvising. She didn't have the reach needed to fight turian style. Not against turians.

Eventually, they nodded to her in respect and quit the mats. She turned to her husband and threw down the gauntlet. Garrus shook his head. "You just had a tough match; you're too tired to take me on."

"I'm never too tired to take you on," she said seductively.

Garrus' mouth opened then closed. He felt himself grow hard. "You're going down."

"Only on you, darling."

Garrus' chest began to rumble lightly. He looked around and noticed a few turians giving him knowing looks. He shot her a vindictive glare. "You will pay for that."

"Promises…promises."

Word had spread about her taking on the two turian soldiers. More turians came by to watch her spar. She flowed around Garrus like a ribbon. The turians were surprised that he didn't seem to be holding back, despite sparring with his wife. That showed her great respect. They would each manage to send the other flying, but a twist of the body and they never hit the mats. With the last move, Garrus' body followed through and for a moment he had his back to her…that was all she needed. She launched herself at him, put her hands on his carapace and lifted herself. He spun around and they toppled to the mats, his face buried between her clenched thighs. He lightly nipped her and blew hot breath on her. Her thighs fell open. He took a deep breath to calm himself, which was the last thing he should have done. The smell of her desire…her pheromones tore through him. He rolled them over so that he was on top. He was shaking as he crawled up her body and pinned her arms. He ground against her, the need for her too intense. He lowered his head, intent on capturing her mouth.

With him in a position they understood, the turians hooted and cheered. They began to laugh even harder when Rojik came through the door and heaved Garrus off of her. Rojik knew Garrus had lost himself in her. He had lost himself in his lifemate too often last night to not be able to read the signs. Garrus took deep breaths, now that he was away from his wife his head cleared. He nodded to Rojik and watched as the young man took his place on the mats against his wife.

Garrus still needed an outlet… he was too worked up. He caught the eye of one soldier and nodded. The soldier stepped on the mats. Garrus tossed him foam guards and they faced off.

With the two matches going at the same time, the viewers couldn't decide who to watch. Garrus was the patriarch's son…the guard was the Captain of the guard. Most of them hadn't got to watch Garrus spar in a long time. …and they had all seen what Shepard could do, she was amazing to watch.

By the time they quit the mats, Garrus and Shepard had earned their respect.

"I would give anything for a shower right now," Shepard said wistfully as they entered the master bedroom.

"I'm sorry, vela. The radiation in the water…wait. I remember we have a guest shower…it's filtered. Grab your things." Garrus led the way to the guest shower. As luck would have it the small room was unoccupied. Garrus locked the door as his wife stripped and stepped under the cascading water. He was quick to join her.

Refreshed and sated they made their way to the dining hall. She greeted Rojik and Solana with a hug. When Rojik embraced her he whispered, "Thank you, Shepard. You have given me a priceless gift." He lowered his forehead to hers. She could feel his hardness, but knew it wasn't for her.

"I know exactly what you're going through," she said smiling up at him. He stood for a moment stunned and then shook his head.

"Yes, you do," he said with a flush, rubbing the back of his neck.

She squeezed him tight. "I'm glad you found each other."

Rojik shook Garrus' hand and returned to his lifemate.

The youths were glowing and their eyes kept finding their way back to each other. She smiled at her husband. Things were no different with them. That the younger pair were 22 and 25 didn't matter. A lifemate was a lifemate and it was hard to keep your hands and eyes off of them.

She approached her new mom and dad. She pulled them each in for a hug too and placed a kiss on their mandibles. Torlin hugged her back awkwardly. He pulled back a bit and lowered his forehead to hers, then cleared his throat and moved stiffly away.

Garrus and Solana just stared at each other stunned. That their father would allow the embrace, was shocking, that he would return it and accept the kiss was unbelievable. That he gave her affection given only to a mate or small child was inconceivable.

Shepard gave them a blinding smile and returned to her husband.

Garrus grinned at the smile-shocked couple and pulled his wife into his arms. "I think Rojik might just be a little bit in love with you," he said quietly. Garrus was waiting for her to deny it like she always did when he mentioned someone's feelings.

Shepard pulled back to look into his eyes. She opened her mouth then closed it. She paused for a moment and then nodded. "I'm not blind, Garrus. I see everything. I choose to ignore things that could lead to discomfort or embarrassment. I know he's a bit…infatuated, but i also know whatever he feels for me is nothing compared to what he feels for his lifemate. You won't ever have to worry about him hurting Solana.

"You see far more than I realized," he told her.

"Far more than anyone realized. I know Wrex loves me as family, Liara's in love with me, Tali's in love with me, Kaidan is love with me, Samara's in love with me – but will fight it with everything in her, Jacob's infatuated…but thankfully, Kasumi is pulling him in another direction now, Legion is infatuated, Kelly's in love with me, Bailey's infatuated, Joker loves me as family, Solana's infatuated…there is nothing I don't see. I don't feel. I just choose to pretend not to know. I feel it is in everybody's best interest."

Garrus' mouth dropped open. He hadn't even been aware of some of those people's feelings. "If you know so much, why couldn't you tell how much I loved you?"

"Because I loved you. My heart was on the line. I was so afraid of being hurt that I couldn't or wouldn't see what was right in front of me," she said and pulled him down for a kiss.

He pulled her in tight and deepened the kiss. He didn't care that his parents and her parents were watching, he wouldn't care a room full of turians were watching. He wanted nothing more than to kiss his wife.

She pulled back. "I'm glad you finally decided to step up to the plate, Vakarian. I wonder how long it would have taken us if you hadn't."

They sat down at the table and continued their quiet conversation as breakfast was served.

"You kind of caught me off guard with what you were -er…doing. But I knew in my heart that things were going to change that night. I couldn't fight it any longer. I avoided you as long as I could, but it was tearing at me. I needed you fiercely and I was going to tell you that night. I was going to do whatever it took to convince you to love me back," Garrus admitted.

"It wouldn't have taken any convincing at all."

They looked up when they saw the Vakarians sit down at the table across from Rojik and Solana. "We have a gift for you," Torlin said. "Had you been able to stay on Palaven I'd have had a house built for you on our land, but we thought this would serve you better," he said as he handed Solana the e-pad.

She flipped it on and her mandibles spread wide. She ran around the table and hugged both her parents. Her father stood stiffly, but allowed it. She turned to her husband. "I've been honorably discharged. Released from military service. I don't have to finish my last three years!" She ran back around the table. Rojik stood up and took her into his arms, brought his mouth to hers and gave her a scorching kiss.

Torlin and Julsie, embarrassed by the enthusiastic kiss, wandered away to converse with other guests.

Shepard hadn't even realized the problem. Though, now she could see it clearly. Each turian had to give at least ten years of military service. That was a very thoughtful gift, indeed.

Garrus led her back to the master bedroom. "I think it's time we got ready for our wedding, vela. I'm going to check in with my parents, I'll be right back."

After Rojik and Solana were married she had sought her out to ask her if she would be her ring bearer. Solana was ecstatic and eagerly agreed.

When the door closed behind him, she commed Solana about the ring. She assured her she had it and that she remembered everything she had asked her to do. There was more she didn't tell her, but she would find out soon enough.

She stripped off her leisure clothes, took the blue dress out of the closet, and shimmied into it. It had no straps, her bond mark displayed proudly on her shoulder. The bustier pushed her breasts up and out. The bustier had a series of diamond cut outs going down the front and back, expanding with size the lower they went. The smallest one began in the center of her breasts, showing a peek-a-boo of where they met in the middle. The largest one encompassed her sapphire imbued navel and dipped down to her pubic line. The dress' metallic glow shimmered when she moved. The skirt clung to her hips like a second skin down to mid-thigh where it flared loose and flowing down to her toes and training out behind her.

Garrus walked into the door and took his first look at her in the dress and his mouth fell open. "With you around I have to make sure all of my shirts hang low or I would be forever embarrassed. Spirits, vela…You look good enough to eat." Garrus noticed his wife turned nearly scarlet. "What's the matter?"

She burst out laughing. "In human culture "eat" can be a crude way to describe…the, er…amazing things your tongue can do to my…um…lower wards."

Garrus looked at her confusion for a moment before his eyes opened wide and he smiled. "If that is the case, then I can't wait for this evening to come to an end so that I can eat my wife."

She blushed harder and laughed with embarrassment. "Stars…I should never have told you that, Garrus…I doubt you will ever let me live it down."

"Not a chance," he said as he ushered her out the door. He led her to a very large parlor. All of her friends and family were already seated inside to the left of the isle. Turians lined the seat on the right side of the isle. David, Rojik and Solana were outside in the hall with them. They nearly swallowed their tongues when they saw the dress she had on. Tali and Liara stood at the front on the left side, Wrex and Legion stood at the front on the right side. She was surprised. It looked like a real, old-fashioned human wedding.

Garrus smiled at her. "I talked with Miranda, told her I wanted to give you an earth wedding. She helped with all of this." Rojik placed a bouquet in her hands and touched his forehead to hers and then slipped through the door to find is seat. Garrus gave her a brief kiss and rushed down the aisle to stand at the front. It was all so sweet…so perfect.

Bag pipe music started blaring from the comm. She looked up as Miranda shot out of her chair and ran over to Ken. He turned red, nodded and put in the correct melody. She burst out laughing. A Scottish dirge at her wedding. Thanks Ken. Won't forget that.

David held out his arm and led her slowly down the aisle. Solana followed, pillow in hand. When they reached Garrus, David hugged her tight, hugged Garrus, and then placed her hand into Garrus'. He bowed and made his way back to his seat.

The turian presiding did his best with the unfamiliar words. They spoke the traditional vows, minus the obey…neither one was good with that concept and then spoke a few words from the heart. When it came time for the rings, Solana stepped up with the rings displayed on the pillow. When the rings were taken, she returned to her seat next to Rojik.

Both of their eyes opened in shock. Neither knew the other had gotten a ring. She slipped the ring, which was not quite circular - it was designed to fit a turian's talon, on his far left finger and pledged herself to him. He slipped his ring over the third finger of her left hand and pledged himself to her.

You may now kiss the bride. He pulled her into his arms and gave her a steamy kiss no one would forget. They turned around for their wedding picture. When it was taken, a platform was brought in behind her and Garrus, she had two chairs arranged in the front. She and Garrus took the chairs. Solana and Rojik stood behind them and both sets of parents stood on the platform behind them. Garrus put his arm around her shoulder and rested his other hand on her thigh. She sandwiched his hand between hers. A final shot was taken of the whole family.

A dextro cake was brought in and the couple cut off a slice for each other. Shepard gave a wicked smile and after Garrus took a bite of it, she smashed it all over his mouth and laughed. His eyes shot open and narrowed. He took her slice of cake and smashed it against her lips. A big dallop of frosting dropped into her cleavage and she yelped. He dipped his tongue down between her breasts and scooped it up.

Everyone on the wife's side hooted and clapped. There were a few chuckles and grins from the turian side, but that was as far as it went.

As they were scanned and signed the license, Garrus shocked her again. He had signed the name Garrus Shepard-Vakarian.

The staff came in and moved the chairs to the sides of the room and dancing music was put on. The turians found their seats. Garrus and Shepard moved out on the dance floor to have the first dance, as was custom.

She knew it was going to be a long, exhausting night. There were a lot of people here and she intended to have at least half a dance with each one. Her next dance went to David and then she pulled Torlin onto the floor. He was stiff at first and nearly refused her out of hand…but a wide smile on her part made him crumble. He began to relax and enjoy himself. Of course, he would never tell anyone that. She pulled Julsie onto the floor next. Juslie was quick to learn the moves, so she taught her a few she could do with her husband. She whispered that she knew he would cave if she pushed him enough to dance with her. She moved onto Rojik, who awkwardly moved them around the dance floor. Once he got the hang of it he relaxed against her and began to enjoy himself. Then his eyes sought out his lifemate and he smiled at her. He gave Shepard a few more turns, tilted her head up, dropped his head to hers, thanked her, bowed, made his way to his lifemate and spun her onto the dance floor.

Shepard let them have the dance. She grabbed Wrex, who awkwardly moved and griped the whole time. Of course, it didn't stop him from holding her close…always trying to get a rise out of Garrus.

She then broke in and stole Solana from Rojik.

"I know he's in love with you, Shepard…or at the very least infatuated. And I don't blame him…or you. You're an extraordinary woman…easy to love. It would not be easy being your lifemate. Too many people love you. Not sure how my brother does it."

"I'm sure there's just as many who would like nothing better than to see me dead," she said with a laugh.

"No doubt. Thank you, sister. Thank you for bringing us together. And thank you for teaching me how to kiss," she said with a laugh. She tilted Shepard's head up and laid her forehead against her.

Shepard showed her a few sensual moves to use on Rojik later. They hugged and Shepard searched out a new partner. She grabbed up Ken and spun him onto the dance floor. "Ken, I'm about to bitch slap you. You are about as blind and slow as a slug," she admonished.

"Commander Shepard -" he began in shock.

"Ken…life is too short to play games. You talk and joke about women and their bodies in front of a woman who is madly in love with you. Your eyes are wide shut to the best thing you have in your life. So, get your head out of your ass before it is too late."

Kens eyes opened wide…his mouth opened and closed like a fish. His eyes darted to Gabby, who was looking in their direction. "She likes me?" he asked in wonder.

"One bitch slap coming up." Shepard raised her hand.

Ken held his arms up in surrender. "Life is too short…I'm thinkin' I need to woo a lady…thank you for settin' me straight, Commander," he said and headed off in Gabriella's direction.

It was a long, tiring evening, but she'd gotten to every last turian and friend. Dancing with her mom was probably the most awkward. Legion, however, managed to surprise her. He had apparently researched the moves to an old earth dance and she laughed as he twirled her around the floor. He was surprisingly graceful. When he dipped her at the end, she reached up and kissed his headlight.

There had been no official dinner, just trays of every food imaginable laid out on tables along the edges of the room. Shepard discovered just how spicy Salarian food could be. Her throat nearly closed up in protest…but she'd eat it again for grins and giggles. It was actually good…when she wasn't choking.

She made her way to a chair, took off her shoes and propped her feet up on a second chair. Her husband was quickly at her side. Garrus sat down, put her feet in his lap and began to rub them, awkwardly…but sweetly. She closed her eyes and moaned in ecstasy. Her feet were so damn sore from the shoes and the dancing. She could swear she was going to end up in a puddle on the floor.

"I think it's time to call it an evening, wife. You're done in."

"I can't," Shepard said frantically.

"Spirits, vela…you look like you're ready to drop. Why the hell not?"

"My feet. I can't walk…they hurt too much," she admitted sheepishly.

Garrus picked her up in his arms; they bade their goodbyes and carried her to the master bed room. He gently peeled the dress from her body. He then removed the tiny scrap that covered her tight curls. She was so close…smelled so good…he darted in and ran his tongue through her folds and flicked her nub. She moaned and her hips bucked. "I told you I was going to eat you, wife."

He removed his clothing, crawled into bed with her and showed her just how much he loved her. They fell asleep with his talons on her belly. Tomorrow after breakfast they would be heading back to the Normandy, at least the crew was. He was going to take her to a few sights before they returned. Shepard needed a visit to the med-bay and they had still had a hell of a lot of work to do…play time was just about over.

Garrus woke her up come morning and they had a final love scene on Palaven. When breakfast was over she made her tearful goodbyes to Liara and Wrex…she apologized for the tears…the baby was making her emotional.

David and Hannah shook hands with Torlin and Julsie, promising to keep in touch.

When Solana was done with her goodbyes to her parents, Shepard moved in and hugged and kissed them both. "I love you both and will miss you. I promise I will keep in touch…if you want me to."

"Of course we do," Julsie assured her.

She smiled at them both and stepped away so Garrus could make his goodbyes. He hugged his mother and held out his hand to his father. His father shook it and pulled him in for an awkward back-slap kind of hug. "You did good, son. I think you will have your hands full with that one….Have to wonder if she's not too much for you to handle. But you were right, I do like her."

"Bite your tongue, dad. And I know full well you love her just like everyone else does."

Torlin grunted, pulled away and put his arm around his wife. Everyone but the three turians slipped their helmets on and headed out to the small shuttle that awaited them. The palatial shuttle had already left with the rest of the dignitaries.

Garrus instructed the pilot to head to the Stroilik Museum. They were able to remove their armor because the next stop had hangars to land in for tourists. They looked out the window amazed at the glittering city below. According to Garrus all cities had fortified walls still in use.

They pulled into the hangar and proceeded through a security check-point. When her Spectre status was verified her group was allowed to retain any weapons they had on them. As they wandered through the gallery, Garrus and Solana pointed out paintings, sculptures and artifacts that had special meaning to the turian culture. Paintings and sculptures tended to have broad, bold strokes. It was different than the types of art she was used to seeing. It was stunning in a sleek and simple way.

When they were back in the shuttle, Shepard asked Solana what she wanted to do now that she was out of the military. She said she thought she'd join the C-Sec academy with Rojik. As lifemates they'd be teamed together. Lifemates may not be common, but everyone knew not to separate them. Getting them to allow them both into the academy would be tricky part. She would pull any strings necessary to see that it happened.

Next stop was the Cravitus Zoo. They stepped back into their armor and headed out into the mid-day sun. Shepard was stunned by the strangeness of the animals within. They all had metallic shells or plates, sometimes in the oddest areas. Some were almost cute, others walked out of a nightmare. One such monstrosity was a huge, bear-sized beast with a long pointed snout, with two rows of sharp, pointy teeth.

She felt an odd pull towards it. She jumped, the disks slid out of her boots and she rose over the protective barrier and moved in towards the beast. It snarled at her, baring a mouth full of teeth. It charged at her and swung its massive paw. She didn't move. It stared at her with cold, beady eyes and snapped its teeth. It began to stalk her. She flipped on her OT, her fingers flew across the holopad and then she held out her hand and encased it in reverse barrier bubble, which was usable to keep something in rather than out. She hadn't wanted to do that, but she needed to get close enough to try to merge with it. She could feel its pain, but couldn't tell where the pain was coming from. When she stood next to the massive beast she pushed out and merged their auras. Alien feelings washed through her. Unorganized, hectic. She sent relaxing, soothing thoughts to the beast, closed her eyes and forced the sight. The creature had a brownish tan aura with reddish tints. But she could see the problem. Something was lodged in its…no his neck area. Her OT flashed and she ran a hand across the middle of the barrier bubble, creating a small opening so that she could feel the creature's neck. No good. The damage was on the inside not the outside. She opened the bubble at the top of the creatures head and touched his facial plates. She sent more relaxing, soothing energy to him through the aural meld. She slowly worked the bubble lower over his head, rubbing him and soothing him as she went.

She reprogrammed her OT and threw up a barrier bubble around them in case the zoo keepers made it in before she was through. When his whole head was free she stroked the hard muzzle. He opened his mouth and grunted. She sent more calming energy, removed her glove and slowly put her hand into the huge mouth. By the time her hand reached the back of his throat her whole arm, up past the shoulder, was submerged between the needle sharp teeth. Her hand felt the obstruction. She pulled the obstruction gently out and then pictured the torn, infected wound being healed. A dark mass moved up her arm and disappeared from sight. When her throat grew painfully sore she slowly withdrew her arm. Ew. Her arm was all slimy. Thank god for the armor. A broken, sharp bone lay in her hand. She threw it to the ground and put her glove back on.

The creature rubbed his head against her. She expanded the barrier bubble forcing the zoo keepers back through the door they'd entered from. She threw up a barrier field in front of the door and shut down the large bubble, if they charged back in someone would get hurt.

When she released the creature from the barrier bubble. He rocked himself against her and she tumbled to the ground. He lay down next to her, put a massive paw on her belly and rubbed his snout into her. She laughed, moved his paw and pulled herself up by hanging onto one of his plates. He rolled over on the ground; she straddled him and rubbed vigorously at his exposed, tough skin. When she got off him, he rose and shook himself. She walked over to his uneaten food, with him at her heals, and picked up a huge slice of something she didn't want to identify. She held it out to him and he gently took it out of her fingers. It was time to go. He gobbled another piece of meat and charged after her. As she approached the protective barrier he rocked into her again, but she managed to keep her balance this time.

He grunted and gave off two higher pitched mewls at her. She couldn't resist that. She turned around, walked up to the beast and pulled his head down. She wrapped her arms around as much of his neck as she could and touched her helmet to his hard nose. Then she returned to the barrier and rose over it. The beast charged at the barrier and rose on his hind legs, placing his paws as close to the barrier as he dared. Through past experience he knew better than to touch it. She reached her hand out nodded and waved to the beast as she rose over the barrier. He swung his massive head up and down and waved his paw.

When her feet touched the ground her husband was all over her. The beast let out a savage roar and charged the barrier. He stumbled back as bolts of harsh energy struck him. He stood, shook himself, bounced back and forth on his front legs and readied for another charge. She asked her husband to back off for the time being. She raised her hand and waved. He waved back and mewled.

When they were out of the beast's sight Garrus began shaking her, clutching her to him and yelling at her. Rojik, Solana and David joined in. Her mother just looked at her.

"I wasn't in any danger."

Their eyes opened wide in shock, well at least the three sets of eyes she could see. "Not in any-" Garrus sputtered. "You had your arm in its mouth up to your neck. If it bit down-"

"I had my armor on and I shielded myself…but it wasn't necessary. He wanted my help. He asked for it. He had a broken bone lodged deep in his throat. It was infected. I had to help." She absently rubbed her irritated throat. At least it was starting to feel better now.

Since Garrus was so busy griping, Rojik pulled her into his arms. "You scared the hell out of all of us, Shepard." He placed his forehead against hers and released her. He looked at Garrus. "I don't know how you do it. I swear she'd put me in the grave if she were my lifemate." He turned a worried look to Solana. "Tell me you won't ever do anything like that."

"Not ever," she assured him, her mandibles spreading when he sighed in relief.

That is when they looked up and noticed the crowd of people watching them and pointing at them. The crowd made its way steadily closer like it was approaching a wild animal.

"Crap," Garrus said. He grabbed her hand and took off at a run. Garrus in the lead, they darted in and around various displays. The crowd followed. They took a sharp left as soon as they lost the crowd and he led them down into a tunnel. They opened the door at the bottom and slipped inside. The lights came on by the time the door closed behind them. Besides them, the room was empty.

She looked around in awe. She tried to break free from the hand that held her, but he wouldn't let go, so she pulled him along with her. They were under a massive aquarium. This enclosure was more designed for tourists, because turians weren't fans of being under tons of water. She looked through the clear permiglass walls at an alien underwater nightmare world. Where the creatures within made sharks and crocodiles look like cuddly kittens.

Garrus and Solana shivered. "The things I go through for you, wife," he said in a strained voice.

She pulled Garrus into her arms. "I'll make it up to you later," she said seductively as she pulled him down and placed her helmeted head against his.

He crushed her to him tightly. "See that you do."

Rojik groaned, Solana chuckled and her parents just rolled their eyes. Garrus pushed her at Solana as he made his way over to a storage closet. He hacked it and started sorting through its contents. Solana held her firmly. Guess they didn't much trust her left to her own devises. But she was uncertain what trouble she could get into in the underground room.

Garrus returned with three long, hooded coats. He tossed them to the older pair and Shepard. David helped her and her mother on with their coats and then drew on his own. Garrus shook his head. Shepard was far from helpless and probably resented the hell out of being coddled like a child. He cocked his head curiously when he noted the soft smile David received. I'll be damned. So that's how the game was being played. He hadn't even known the rules. He'd have to research that later. He wanted those soft smiles all to himself.

The coats had zoo emblems on them and the cowls could be pulled up far enough to shield their heads. With luck they could make it back to the shuttle without the crowd noticing them.

As they left the underground chamber her husband didn't hold her hand, that would look to strange, but everyone did walk very close to her. They passed a few more enclosures as they made their way back to the shuttle. One held monkey like creatures that shrieked and chattered as they walked by. Another enclosure held massive pterodactyl type birds with plated carapaces, sharp teeth and huge leathery wings. The final enclosure they passed was a petting zoo for children. Various harmless plated animals stood within while children squealed and giggled over them. Apparently, zoos were zoos no matter where you went.

As they neared the exit a small child ran up to them. He thought she was a zoo official. The child was shaking and crying. She squatted down and the child looked into her helmeted face. His eyes grew wide. She held her finger up to her face in the universal shushing sign. She picked up the child and balanced him on her hip.

"What's the matter sweetie?"

"I lost my mommy and daddy."

She pushed out and merged her aura to his and sent calming soothing energy to him. His eyes opened wide and he placed a sticky hand against her helmet. She took off her glove and he grabbed her strange, odd fingers, marveling at their how strange and alien they were. "My name is Commander Shepard and I will help you find your parents." She moved her hand to the side of his neck and connected herself to him via touch and aura. She felt a slight pull and began to follow where it led. It was like a childhood game of hot and cold. Eventually the pull was strong enough that she could follow it directly. She saw a turian couple frantically waving their arms about talking to another turian with the zoo's emblem on his shirt. Shepard put her glove back on and waved Garrus in the couple's direction. He sighed, pulled the couple away from the official and pointed in their direction.

The couple made a beeline for their child. She tried to put the child down, but he wouldn't let go of her. She saw the shock register on the couple's faces when they saw who held their child. She tried to hand the child over to his mother, but he held on tight. He grabbed her helmet and lowered her head to touch his. She gave him a tight hug and then he turned and held his hands out for his mother.

Shepard introduced herself and shook their hands. Garrus spoke quietly to them to calm them down. They handed her a datapad, she nodded and gave them her autograph. They left the couple talking excitedly amongst themselves. They needed to take their leave before the couple drew too much attention to them.

When they climbed aboard the shuttle, Garrus helped her remove her coat and armor and she fell bonelessly onto the seat. Garrus directed the driver to their final destination. Erataka's …one of his favorite restaurants. It catered to tourists as well, so had levo food on the menu.

They pulled into a tourist hangar so that armor wouldn't be needed. He signed his new full name on the waiting list. Shepard received a ping on her omni tool, she opened the screen and a turian greeted her, asking her to bring her group forward. The manager's mandibles flared wide and he bowed his head at her, telling her how pleased they were to have her grace their humble establishment. They were escorted to the second floor VIP section. David held out her chair to seat her and then did the same for Hannah, Garrus grumbled, another thing he had to remember. They all sat down and poured over the menu.

With their orders placed, they talked quietly until Shepard was pinged again. She raised the screen and Bailey's face popped up. He'd just heard about her string pulling and wanted to relay the information personally that both of the kids were accepted and enrolled into the academy. They would begin training as soon as they returned. It was all a formality, he said. With the training they already had they would surely graduate within a couple of weeks. Shepard thanked him for letting her know and signed off. With sparkling eyes and a wide smile she gave the news to the younger adults. The lunch became a celebration.

When the food arrived they tore into their meals. Garrus and Arianna absently continued to feed each other as they talked. The other couples took that as a cue and began doing the same. Shepard noticed something more in the eyes of David and her mother. She wondered when their relationship had begun. Oh, she knew it wasn't when her father was still alive. Her mother and father were so deeply in love that it had been embarrassing at times.

As the meal came to an end, their plates were removed and the manager asked if they wouldn't mind a picture being taken to adorn their VIP wall. She and Garrus sat in chairs and the other two couples stood behind them, their hands on the shoulders of the seated pair. They were thanked profusely, asked her to sign it and refused payment for the meal… lunch was on the house.

They trailed down the stairs to the restaurant's lower level. The vid screen halted its program for a special news bulletin that showed someone's OT recordings of her deeds at the zoo. They looked at each other, grinned and fled the establishment before the connection to her could be made. They piled aboard the shuttle and made their way back to the port city and the Normandy.

In the Normandy's airlock she asked EDI to have a couple of crewmen standing by to collect their armor. When the decontamination protocol ended and the doors opened she handed their armor to the crewmen and asked the other two couples to join them in medbay.

Mordin and Chakwas were ready and waiting when they filed in. She stripped down to her bra and panties and climbed up on the table. Rojik tried his best not to show that he'd just swallowed his tongue. It was a shock to see so much of Shepard's soft, white skin. Solana a bit in awe herself smiled and hugged her star-struck lifemate. David cleared his throat, a bit uncomfortable until he felt Hannah's reassuring touch on his arm.

A holo popped up of Shepard's body and Mordin zoomed it in to display the baby on the screen. Everyone stared in awe at the baby; none had seen such remarkable detail before. It had been thirty years since Hannah was pregnant and scans had improved a lot. Mordin drew several vials of blood as Chakwas inserted massive needle into Shepard's abdomen. She cried out as she squeezed the life out of her husband's hands.

Everyone watched intently as the needle pierced the membrane and withdrew the amitotic fluid. She removed the needle and handed it off to Mordin. She inserted a new needle that she used to refill the membrane bubble. Shepard bit her lip trying not to scream when it pierced her skin. Chakwas left the needle in place, unscrewed the syringe and inserted a longer, hair thin needle that Mordin had prepared with the gene therapy he and Shepard had designed. She blew up the picture of the baby until only it could be seen in the screen. She maneuvered the large needle until it was near the baby. She pierced the baby's leg with the tiny needle and injected the contents. Shepard gasped as the needle was withdrawn.

Garrus watched a bead of blood travel from the wound and work its way down her belly. He had to tamp down on his need to run his tongue along its path. But he felt uncomfortable doing so in front of the others.

"Take it," Shepard encouraged.

Garrus looked at Shepard's white belly and the blood that marred it. He bent over Shepard and ran his tongue along her belly, careful to catch every last drop. When his tongue reached the needle hole, she held his head and told him to drink. He worried the small wound and more drops of blood coated his tongue. He could feel it rushing through his veins, revitalizing him. She released his head and he stood up, looking down on her with love. Her blood packed a hell of a punch.

The other couples didn't know what to make of what they just witnessed. Then Solana smiled and nudged Rojik with her elbow. She sent him a heated look. One that was not missed by the others.

When they'd learned the turian couple was going to be returning with them, Hannah elected to give up her room in Life Support so the young married couple could have privacy. The small cot had been exchanged for a slightly larger bed they'd purchased on Palaven. A temporary privacy wall was erected around the sofa in the XO's room. David had offered to take the sofa and gave the bed to Hannah. For once her mother hadn't argued, but she was pretty sure it was because her mother had no intention of sleeping in that bed alone.

When the holo was turned off, both couples made their excuses and left the med-bay. Rojik's mandibles flared, he grabbed his lifemate's hand and dashed out the door. When they reached the life support chamber, their eyes fell on the bed. It wasn't a large bed, but certainly had room enough for two. He pulled Solana into his arms and gave her a searing kiss. They tore off each other's clothes and gave in to the lifemate fire.

As Shepard dressed the doctors assured them that she and the baby were in optimal health. They thanked them and walked, arms around each other, to the elevator. In the elevator the kisses grew hot and the touches bold. They stumbled into the cabin, clothes trailing behind them.

The moment the door closed her husband stripped her bare and tossed her on the bed…her blood hot in his veins.

Shepard placed a large order of supplies that would be picked up at the Citadel when they arrived. Their larders would be stuffed with food for every species. She even added an order for Krogan since they were due to be picking one up soon.

The next few days were both exciting and sad…knowing that it would all be ending too soon. Solana and Rojik joined them on the mats and they began working in teams or practiced sparring with more than one opponent. They spent a lot of time teaching the younger pair new moves, who quickly learned just how sensual sparring could be. On more than one occasion they rushed from the rec room hand in hand. The older pair hot on their heels, though there was a time or two they just sealed the rec room after the younger couple's departure.

The firing range was a huge hit with the younger pair. A couple of time a day they made their way down there, kicking out whoever was using it. The kid's training came first. They wanted to make sure they were both proficient in all the various weapons C-Sec used. Garrus spent a lot of training and drilling the kids on C-Sec protocol. Being in the Academy sucked and he wanted to make sure they passed their testing right out of the gate.

Shepard met with Legion privately every few days. When Mordin joined the crew he began to come to the secret meetings as well. So much was riding on the geth and salarians. So far no one was the wiser and no one had found out about the meetings. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to keep it up, but was determined to for as long as she could. Until things were settled more, she didn't want anyone else finding out what was going on. That included her husband.

Joker alerted them that they were waiting for docking clearance at the Citadel. Shepard was nervous, sad, and excited. Her mind going in several directions at once. She'd spent a lot of comm time with a realtor, trying to pick out the perfect flat for the young couple. She'd paid for it in full, they'd only need to cover taxes and utilities, both of which she'd covered for the first year. Her VIP status allowed her to purchase a lower level flat. It had a large hot tub. She knew turians weren't a great fan of water, but she also knew how much Garrus enjoyed their baths…and well, this was a hot tub, who wouldn't enjoy that? She hoped like mad they'd like the flat. She had yet to tell her husband. Garrus didn't know just how wealthy she had been. Recent expenditures had taken a massive chunk out of her wealth and she was pretty sure there would not be much left by the time she was through. But, since money had a way of falling in her lap she doubted she would be in the poor house for long.

Her mother and David had been the first to leave the ship. She hugged them tight and gave them teary goodbyes. Garrus hugged them both and then pulled his wife into his arms to comfort her. He knew she'd gotten close to her mother over the last three weeks and he also knew it could be quite some time before they would be able to see her again. In truth, he'd grown close to the couple as well. David was an easy man to like; it had been easier than he thought to see him as a second father. And while he was sure he wouldn't have cared for the old Hannah, the new Hannah touched his heart. He was proud to have them as his parents.

When the airlock released, Bailey stood to greet them and let them know he would be escorting the couple to the Academy. She told Bailey she'd bring them right back. She took Rojik's and Solana's arms and led them to the elevator. A few floors up the elevator opened and she led them to one of four doors. She hugged the couple close, handed Rojik the key and motioned for him to open the door. They stepped in and looked around the fully furnished home.

"I wasn't sure what you would like. You can change out any of the furnishings that you want. I had them leave a list of the suppliers' names on the kitchen counter. Other than that, I hope you like your new home. It's paid for in full and the first year of taxes and utilities have been covered." She held her breath awaiting a response.

Their eyes grew wide as they looked around.

"This is all ours?" Solana asked in little more than a whisper.

"Shep…you didn't." He looked down at her in awe. When she nodded, he picked her up, crushed her to him and spun her around. He dropped a forehead to hers. He released her and treated his lifemate to a searing kiss.

The couple grabbed hands and tore off to explore their new home. Live plants and trees grew up the walls, soothing water trickled over rocks. Two rounded staircases led to an upper floor where the master bedroom and an exercise room were located. The closets in the master bedroom were filled with new clothing for both of them. Clothes for every occasion. There were two bathrooms, one in the master that had a massive hot tub and one down stairs that just had a shower. The kitchen had nearly every appliance imaginable and a connected dining room. Vid screens of various sizes adorned every room. There was an entertainment room with a bar and a billiards table with a library and office connected to it. There was a massive living room in the front. The long hall that led from the main door of their home to its inner sanctum was set up to be used as an electronic firing range like they had on the ship. Complete with a small closet that stored several artificial guns.

Garrus was floored. The kids were not aware of the massive amounts of money their new home cost, but he could hazard a pretty good estimate. The lower levels were immensely expensive and only purchasable to dignitaries, ambassadors and other top ranking officials.

"How?" Was all Garrus could say.

"Money just falls in my lap," she said with a shrug.

Garrus nodded, he'd seen money do just that on many, many occasions. He just hadn't realized how much of it she'd accrued.

"I would have bought us one too…but we rarely leave the ship." She paused a moment and wrapped her arms around him. "Someday I want us to have a home of our own."

When the young couple returned, excitement danced in their eyes.

"Spirits, Shep…you've thought of everything! The kitchen is even filled with levo and dextro foods. We can have the grandest parties!" Then she looked uncertain. "You don't mind if I call you Shep, do you? Or do you want me to call you sis? Arianna?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Any of those are fine with me."

"Sis…I like that. Sis it is," she said her mandibles spreading wide.

"I've left any artwork desired up to you. There is money in an account for you, just comm the designer listed on the counter and he will set you up."

"Tour's over. Let's get your two asses down to Bailey before he thinks I kidnapped you."

Solana ran and grabbed the second key card from the counter and pocketed it. "Promise me if you are ever on the Citadel that you will stay with us. We won't take no as an answer."

"You got it, Solana."

When they got back down to Bailey's desk, they made their tearful goodbyes and she watched them walk away with a heavy heart. She already missed them terribly. Her husband hugged her close until she was able to rein in her pregnancy intensified emotions.

Hand in hand they walked back to the Normandy…each deep in their own thoughts.

Chapter 29

Zaeed: The Price of Revenge

She had just come back from rounds with her squad. She had told Garrus things would be different and she was going to do things very differently this mission, because she'd had an uneasy feeling she just couldn't shake. She was not going to ignore it. She knew what she had to do.

"ETA to Zorya 17 minutes."

"Thank you, Joker."

"EDI notify Garrus, Miranda, Zaeed, Tali and Legion to gear up and meet me at the shuttle in 15." She said as she walked into her empty cabin. She didn't often take Miranda. Having both the CO and XO off the ship at the same time didn't sit well with her. But something told her to bring her and she listened. Garrus was usually at the forward batteries after their daily morning routine. Though he'd usually seek her out and they'd make a mad dash back to the cabin, peals of laughter often followed in their wake. He hadn't sought her out today and she was a little miffed.

She slid into an undersuit and was pulling on her armor when he made his way into their cabin.

"You are full of surprises, vela…Glad to hear I'll be joining the party." Garrus said as he helped her put on the rest of her armor and then turned her for a kiss.

"I nearly left you behind," she grumped.

"I do believe I feel a chill in the air," Garrus said as he was putting on his armor.

She gave him a hard look.

"I'll have to do something about that later," Garrus said, flapping his mandibles slowly at his wife.

A shiver went down her spine as her blood heated. Damn the man. He knew what that did to her. That was one of her non-tactile weaknesses…The butterfly wings. And worse, his sense of smell was better than hers. He could smell her desire. She couldn't hide it from him. She cleared her throat and turned away to snap on her guns.

He smiled triumphantly and snapped his own guns into place. He was uncomfortably hard as stone, because a drawback of smelling her desire was his immediate need to take advantage of it. But he did find that it was the fastest way out of the doghouse. So, it was well worth the discomfort.

They met up with the others at the shuttle. As the pilot took them in they went back over the mission. They needed to save the refinery and free the workers. Shepard got an uneasy feeling. Something wasn't right. Zaeed was keeping something from her and it didn't sit well.

When the shuttle dropped them off they looked around. Zorya, what they could see of it, was a lush, rich jungle planet. The scenery was broken by a tall, smoking refinery building in the background.

"I'm picking up blue suns transmissions. Stay tight and look out for ambushes." Zaeed informed them.

She kissed her husband for luck, his aura was almost always the brightest; whenever she asked him about it he'd just give her a secretive smile and tell her he didn't know what she was talking about. They began to track a path that led through the jungle.

"Squad Bravo…a shuttle landed near your location. Check it out." The message was broadcasted over Zaeed's omni-tool. She was thankful he was linked in to their communications. She had Legion hack into it too, she was going to be placing enough of a demand on her OTs as it was. She released Grim.

They could make out something obstructing the path in the distance. "Here we go…keep close." Zaeed told them. As they approached they could make out dead bodies. Zaeed looked down disgusted. "Shot in the back and left to rot. That's definitely Vido's style. Let's push ahead."

As they continued pushing down the twisted path, monkey like creatures, which Legion informed them were pyjaks, darted around them…and finally gave a face to one of Wrex's favorite expletives. She'd seen them before, but no one had ever told her what they were and she hadn't cared enough to look into it.

"Command to Bravo…take the position. Likely these people are not runaways."

The rocky, tree laden path continued to twist as they advanced.

"Report to Base…armed intruders coming at the southern checkpoint!"

As they rounded the corner bullets started flying at them. She ordered them to fan out and stick to cover. She noted Garrus remained at her side. Men and their need to protect helpless women. He should know by now that she was not so helpless…

Rockets began joining the bullets. She focused on those. She took one out on a catwalk over head. She jumped, the disks slipped out of her boots, she slammed into a merc, sent him flying and ducked behind cover. Garrus overloaded a shielded merc. He darted behind her cover gave her a fast kiss and leapt up, blowing a hole through the head of an advancing merc. Between the six of them, Grim and the two drones, the mercs went down fast. She wove her way through the catwalk girders and picked up a medigel from a med-kit.

"Reinforcements incoming…we got your backs." Thank god for their generous notices. They kept wary and made their way to take cover behind a truck. Mech dogs. Great. She sent an overload chain charge at the dog and blew its twitching handler to hell.

The enemy was entrenched behind cover. She raised her hand and sent an amped sonic blast that tossed several mercs into the air and ducked down as a rocket nearly took her shields. The two drones continued to harass hiding mercs, forcing them out of cover. Grim kept to his grisly work of blinding and maiming anyone unfortunate enough to catch his notice.

"Protocol four deploy for back-up fire!"

Legion's massive gun blew the head and shoulders off a merc launching rockets. His body flew in different directions. That was incredible. She wasn't a fan of single shot guns…but the raw power…damn.

"They're getting torn to shreds out there!"

You bet, sunshine. They were concentrating on the mercs, taking them down in waves. A merc dog had managed to flank them and gave her a solid zap. Shit. She shook it off, flung up her hand and tossed it into a huge boulder with a sonic blast. Garrus put a bullet into it. "Are you okay?"

"Reports coming in of a death drone. Keep your eyes peeled and take that fucker out!"

She bit her cheek when she heard Garrus choke over a laugh. Death drone? Well, she did name him Grim for a reason. "Of course…damn things are hard to keep track of…they're so low to the bloody ground." Another rocket launched at them from a catwalk and Legion took him down.

"All squads fall back!"

When no more mercs fired at them they met up at the path's end. Shepard began to extend the bridge.

"This is Commander Santiago. If any of you retreat while the intruders are still alive, I will kill you myself. Now get the hell back out there!"

Zaeed glanced over at her, held his hand up and nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something to her, so she halted the bridge's advancement.

"Vido, it sounds like he hasn't changed."

"I get the feeling you have a past with this Vido?"

"I knew he was a sadistic bastard when we started the blue suns. The suns only got meaner after he staged his coup twenty years ago. So, yeah. We have a past."

"I was unaware you started the blue suns."

"Because it's not common knowledge. Vido wiped me out of the records. He ran the books. I led the men. Worked real well for awhile. Then Vido decides to start hiring batarians. Cheaper labor, he said. Goddamn terrorists, I said."

"How'd he force you out?"

"He turned my men against me!" He stepped towards her and pointed a finger at her, his voice rising. "He paid six of my men to restrain me!"

"Back off, Zaeed," Garrus said, cocking his gun.

A chill went down Zaeed's spine. He held his hands up and backed away. "Vido blew a hole in my head." He pointed at the scarred side of his face and damaged eye. "He left me to die. For twenty years I've seen that bastard, every time I closed my eyes. Every time I sighted down on a target. Every time I heard a gunshot."

"You survived a gunshot to the head?"

"Yeah. And you survived your ship getting disintegrated. A stubborn enough person can survive just about anything. Rage is a hell of an anesthetic."

She nodded to him. She still didn't like him, but she understood him better. That didn't, however, stop the niggle at the back of her mind. She knew he was still hiding something. "We better get moving." She continued the bridge's extension.

"They're at the southern access. All squads mass at the gatehouse! Now!"

"They know we're here. Bring it on you son of a bitch!" Zaeed shouted.

They worked their way along the turns of the catwalk.

"Squads Delta, Charlie. Mass at the gatehouse!"

As they moved off the catwalk she nabbed some Palladium and continued to the gatehouse door. When it opened they were greeted by Vido himself. "Zaeed Massani, you finally managed to track me down."

"Vido," Zaeed said as he reached back for his gun.

"Don't be stupid, Zaeed. I have a whole company of bloodthirsty bastards behind me, ready to kill or be killed on my command. Actually, take your shot. Give my men a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are. Again."

Zaeed ran across the floor, firing at the men up on the catwalk. A bullet hit a pipe, sending vapor into the air. "What was that? Gone nearsighted, old friend?"

Zaeed turned to face him. "Burn, you son of a bitch!" He fired again at the pipe, causing an explosion.

"Cover!" Shepard yelled as she ducked behind the closest cover she could find.

Vido leaned over the railing. "You just signed your death warrant, Massani!" Then he turned and left, leaving his men to cover his ass.

Zaeed began beating the butt of his gun against a pipe valve.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shepard demanded.

The refinery began to shake, explosions rocked the plant.

"Opening the gate."

Damn the ass-weasel! She was pissed and itching to put a boot up his ass. She charged up to him. "We don't sacrifice lives for the sake of the mission. There's always a better way."

"Like what, wandering through the jungle for hours looking for another way in? You want to waste time out here go ahead. I'm going to kill Vido."

She raised her hand, fired a light sonic blast that threw him against the wall. "You're endangering lives…and the mission…for your own selfish revenge!"

"You really want to do this Shepard?" Zaeed said aggressively.

"Watch your tongue before I remove it," Garrus cocked his gun.

"I ought to drop your ass off the cliff…but thanks to you we have a burning refinery to save."

"Let these people burn, Vido dies…whatever the cost!" Zaeed said, waving a hand at her in disgust.

Shepard let off another light sonic blast of energy and tossed him against the wall again.

"Will you stop doing that!" Zaeed said bitterly as he picked himself up off the ground. He made careful note that Garrus still had his gun trained on him with the deadliest look he'd ever seen.

"You must realize by now that it is unhealthy to talk to my wife like that." Garrus warned him. "Consider yourself lucky she tossed you on your ass, because I was just about to put another hole in it."

Zaeed gave a slight nod. Not that he agreed, but that he understood the situation he was in.

They moved out into the refinery. Three mercs opened fire on them. She fired an amped sonic blast that propelled them over the railing to the floor below. Chunks of the catwalk exploded beneath their feet as they made their way across. She picked up some more Palladium. As the door in front of them opened a man darted out on the platform above.

"Help! We're trapped in here! We can't get to the gas valves to shut them off!" The man looked around frantically, wringing his hands in agitation. "The whole place is going to blow!"

"No time. Vido's probably half way to the shuttle docks by now."

"You're willing to watch these people die?"

"Damn right I am. We stop to help these people and Vido gets away. If he gets away, I'm blaming you."

"Vido was never the mission. The mission you gave me…the mission I agreed to was saving the refinery and the people. Nothing more. This is not your call, Zaeed." She grabbed him by the front of his armor and pulled him in. "We're saving these people."

Zaeed looked from her to Garrus, and rubbed at the sore spot she'd given him. "I knew this was a mistake. If we're going to this, we better get to it."

As soon as he capitulated she nodded. She didn't want Vido to get away either, but what she had needed was for Zaeed to acknowledge her right of command. Now that he had submitted she turned to Miranda. "Miranda I want you and Tali to go after Vido with Zaeed. Garrus, Legion and I will help free the trapped workers."

Miranda gave her an incredulous look.

She walked over to her and put a hand on her arm. "I don't want Vido getting away either. This is why I took so many with me this time. I knew there was a reason. This is it. You are second in command, a leader. I need you to keep rein over him. I was not willing to alter the mission until he gave in to my command."

Miranda gave her a nod. "Absolutely, Commander. My pleasure."

"Come on, Zaeed. Let's go get your man. Just so you know…you will follow my lead. I am in command of this team," Miranda said in all her arrogant glory.

She watched them go for a minute and then jumped the railing to the walkway below and headed down into the refinery. The walkway continued to explode under their feet. She felt a section give way beneath her feet, but before she could activate her boots, Garrus had pulled her safely to him. She gave him a sultry wink before moving out. She hacked through a door and they were in. Now to find the gas valves.

She followed the stairs up. Overheated pipes exploded all around them. When she opened the next door a wave of flame shot out, singeing them. Damn that was hot. She darted in as soon as it cleared enough for them to pass. She spotted a console and redirected the gas flow. They made their way up the stairs as fast as the explosions let them. She located a second console, rerouted the flow and continued up the stairs. Her lootdar went off and she scavenged some credits someone had stashed in a pipe. Odd place to hide money. She shook her head and continued the trek up.

"The extinguishing system is upstairs!" One of the workers yelled out to her. "The doors won't open until the fire's out!" Another screamed out, "We're going to die!" "No," assured another. "They'll save us, I know it!"

She rerouted the gas on a third console and hit the stairs again. Nothing like a good ass workout. At the top of the stairs she looped around a fallen beam and passed through into a small room. The first console had some research she uploaded, the second console set off the sprinkler system that began to put the fires out immediately.

They exited out the back door of the room and across a cat walk. Down below she could see the cheering workers dashing out of the room on their way to safety. She smiled at Garrus. Now to try to make their way out to the second team.

At the bottom of the stairs they entered another room. Noticing a break in the catwalk railing she jumped, the disks slid out of her boots, she hooked an arm around her husband and Legion and lowered them all to the floor below. They could have just jumped down onto the stacked crates, but she had needed to test her ability to carry multiple subjects. She noticed a firestorm on the ground next to the pipe crushed body of a merc. Not a big fan of that weapon, so she skirted around it and headed through a doorway on the side. Two suns mercs opened fire on them. Literally. One held another firestorm. "Stay back , Grim!" She pulled off her Arc Projector and hit them with a massive jolt. Easy-Peasy. Another several thousand credits jumped into her pocket and she picked up some more ammo for her Arc Projector. Nice.

They headed through a far door and into a pipe filled room. Lots of cover…but, by the looks of it, lots of things that would explode as well.

"The first person who brings me Massani's head gets something special in their paycheck," Vido said over Legion's connection. Apparently, the men had not gotten to him yet.

Vido chuckled. "You brought Shepard with you and still you don't have a chance. I took your blue suns, I took your life. Now I will take it again."

He don't know me very well, do he? We'll see who had the last laugh, Vido. You're about to be caught in a pincer.

"Vido, stop hiding behind these men and come fight me!" Zaeed yelled out.

"Say your goddamned prayers, Massani!"

She shook her head. Men and their posturing theatrics...

Mercs poured in from two sides of the room. Shooting both bullets and fire. She briefly exchanged her Arc for her Mattock and shot down a massive, flammable container over the tops of some merc heads. She took her Arc back in hand and shot massive jolts into anything that moved. A huge YMIR began to unfold and she sent several jolts into it. It was down before it could ever rise. She loved firing the Arc at mercs shooting fire. They blew up so sweetly. This was absolutely her favorite heavy weapon. She rarely ever packed anything else. She switched to her Mattock and took down the second flammable container, taking out the last set of mercs she could find on her scanner.

With the scanner clear, she headed through the two doors the mercs had come out of. Her lootdar located 12,000 more credits. Nice. With as much as she'd been spending lately, her coffers were lighter than she liked.

Shepard heard a massive explosion. She flipped on her omni-tool. "Team two! Are you okay?"

"Fine, Commander. Vido's down. Zaeed went a little…overboard."

They continued to the rear door. Team two was coming in.

Garrus picked her up, whirled her around and planted a big one on her.

"Ah, ain't that sweet. Get a room you two," Zaeed grumbled.

"My thoughts exactly," Garrus said. "Let's get out of here."

When she was back on the Normandy she hit up the terminal in her room. One particular email caught her interest. Shepard beamed a smile at her husband. "I just received a message from Solana. They should be graduating next week. Fastest two to ever make it through the academy. I'm so proud of them." She might have had to pull some strings…but they had to do the work.

"Why do they always write you?" Garrus grumped after he'd picked his wits up off the floor.

"I'm sweet and lovable."

"More like the eye of the hurricane."

"Doghouse, Garrus."

Garrus pulled her into his arms hummed, purred and gently fluttered his mandibles against her cheek. He had no intention of staying there long, if he had anything to say about it.

Chapter 30

The Grey Box

Shepard left the cargo hangar with a huge chip on her shoulders. The double edge sword had a nasty bite. An Alliance colony on Watson had come under attack by batarian radicals. They had launched their own moon based defense missiles at the colony. By the time they had reached Franklin, the moon outpost, and defeated the batarians within, only one viable kill switch had remained executable. She saved the residential district but the space port and its workers were destroyed.

Garrus and Samara had been with her. She wasn't sure why Samara's aura had been brighter than usual. They hadn't gotten to Morinth yet, but it was nice to have her friend along for a change. They were doing their best to cheer her up, but not being able to save everyone was always a sore spot with her, no matter how irrational that was.

Normally, at times like this she would get drunk off her ass, until she didn't care anymore. Now that she was pregnant that was no longer an option and it rankled a bit. Garrus, sweetheart that he was, offered to get drunk enough for the both of them…but that didn't go over too well with her. He was back in the doghouse. Wanting to get back in her good graces, he did what any good dog will do. He licked her. And she forgave him. Then she forgot about everything else and melted into a puddle that her husband was eager to swim in. Thank god there was more than one way to ease your sorrows.

They chose to stay in the rest of the evening. They lay around naked, watching vids, pigging out, and making love until exhaustion overtook them.

With the morning routine completed and an enjoyable shower later, they made their way down to the firing range. They linked their units to broaden the playing field and she programmed batarian mercs with a volcanic moon background. She had as much fun shooting them as tossing them in the lava with sonic blasts and watching them sizzle and pop. It was very gratifying.

When they left the firing range they went their own ways as duty called. She made her rounds, talking with her crew and squad mates. She was pleased to see Ken and Gabby were a solid couple. They'd been virtually inseparable since the dance. Speaking of dancing, she was having Samara teach her a seductive asari number. She didn't quite have the hang of it yet, and they spent a lot of time laughing at her blunders. It was nice to see Samara cut loose. She was reserved by nature and Shepard loved the challenge of pulling her out of it. Seeing her eyes light up was worth the effort. Learning the dance had actually been more for Samara's benefit than her own.

On the way to her cabin, Joker informed her that ETA to Bekenstein was in 21 minutes.

When she arrived she pulled on her newly tailored black leather mini-dress with an attached platinum choker and a pair of small black pumps. She'd had the dress altered to allow for her belly ring to be displayed. She chose a black onyx rose.

Garrus walked into the cabin. "I heard Joker's ETA; he looked her over slowly from head to toe. "You look good enough to eat."

Shepard blushed. "You are just never going to let me live that down."

"Not for a minute. …and as much as it pains me…there is no time for that." The smell of her desire and pheromones hit him like a sledgehammer. He took another deep breath and began to rumble. "Spirits, you smell good, vela." Garrus tugged her to him for a steamy kiss and then pulled back. "Any chance I can go too?"

"Not even remotely. I'm not about to bring archangel into a pit of vipers with me. Besides, we are too well known together, I don't want anyone to put our faces together and figure out who I really am."

Garrus dropped his head a moment and then looked at her. "I don't like it, but I understand."

Garrus grabbed her armor, she grabbed her guns and they hopped the elevator down to the cargo hangar.

Garrus looked up at the huge Saren statue and shuddered. He would kill the man again if he could. They stored her armor and weapons next to Kasumi's and closed the base of the statue.

A courier ship arrived on schedule and hooked up with the Normandy to take possession of the statue. The Normandy could not risk detection, so stayed well away from Bekenstein. When the statue was on its way to the planet below, Shepard gave Garrus another brief hug and kiss and boarded the shuttle behind Kasumi.

The pilot dropped them off at the space port and they rented a sky car in Gunn's name to take them to Hock's estate. Kasumi went back over the last minute details. She reminded Shepard to make sure she introduced herself as Allison Gunn. Kasumi had given Shepard's alias quite the reputation and even a few mentions in Badass Weekly. She was head of a talented band of mercs out in the Terminus Systems.

"Hock is throwing a party for his closest friends. A few dozen of the worst liars, cheaters and mass murderers you will ever want to meet. All bringing gifts as tribute for the man himself. Hence our statue of Saren. You can keep your pistol. They won't hassle you over a sidearm."

"Once inside, we'll make our way to Hock's vault door, somewhere in the back of the ballroom. Then we case security. Our statue should be there, so you can arm up when the time comes. Then we just waltz into the vault and take back Keiji's greybox. And I'll finally get the chance to say goodbye."

"I'm glad we are able to do this for you. Hock has no right to whatever's in that greybox."

"It contains priceless, personal memories. It's all that remains of who he was." Kasumi said solemnly, hanging her head for a brief moment. "But the secret he discovered is dangerous. I wouldn't bring you here if it wasn't. It holds everything, from all the plans and codes he stole to our private time together…wrapped up in those memories is the secret he discovered. Keiji never told me what it was, but the information got him killed."

"Okay, let's go see what trouble we can get into."

"Sounds like a plan, Shep…This is our stop," Kasumi said as she settled the car down in front of Hock's estate.

She looked around; it was a huge, massive estate. She saw their statue being unloaded from one of the courier's ground trucks.

Kasumi put her arm out. "After you, Ms. Gunn."

"A moment. You are my good luck giver today, Kasumi. Will you grant me a kiss?"

"Pucker up...Shep." Kasumi fish lipped her mouth in an exaggerated kissing pose.

Shepard leaned in and placed a soft kiss against her puckered lips. "Ok...Lena Hyena...I have to admit, you are the only person who has ever given me the fish lips."

"Lena Hyena?" A very puzzled expression settled over Kasumi's face.

"Sorry, old earth vid reference. That's a vid we're going to have to watch."

Kasumi just rolled her eyes. When they headed to the door a security guard stopped them. "Just a moment ma'am, there seems to be an issue with the statue."

Donovan Hock came down the steps towards them. He turned to his security guard. "Is there a problem here?"

"No, Mr. Hock, just doing a scan." The guard replied as he continued to scan the statue.

"I don't believe we've met. Donovan Hock," Hock said, turning to his guests.

"We've heard a lot about you. Name's Allison Gunn."

"And I've heard a lot about you. You've been very busy lately…if the extranet is to be believed. You look a little….soft for our line of work. But then looks can be deceiving…and deception is part of the game, is it not?" he said with a slight bow.

Why, yes it is, Mr. Hock and it is you being deceived now. Shepard mused.

"Sir…the scanners aren't picking anything up," the guard interrupted.

Hock stared intently at the statue for a moment. "Hmmm." He paused. "I don't think our guests would come all the way from Illium just to cause trouble. Do you?"

The guard shrugged and Hock shook his head. "You may pass through, Ms. Gunn, with my apologies. But I will ask your companion to remain outside. You understand, I hope."

"You're the host."

Hock nodded, "Enjoy the party," he said as he dismissed them and returned to other guests.

Kasumi waved them over. "Well, that didn't go as planned."

"Any idea why he would send you away?"

"No. We've never seen each other in person. And no one knows what I look like."

"I can stay connected via OT and you can walk me through everything if need be."

"No need for that," Kasumi said with a grin. We'll go on with the plan. You'll just have to do all the talking. I'll stay out of sight. We'll keep our comms open in case something goes wrong," she said as she synced up all of their omni-tools. Kasumi activated her cloak and faded into the scenery.

"I so wish I could go dark with you…it's much more fun sneaking around," she said as they walked into Hock's home.

"You are probably the strongest person alive…do you really need to disappear too?"

"But think of all I could do!"

"You mean all the trouble you could get into?" Kasumi asked.

"I don't get into trouble….much….Well, I don't go looking for it."

"It just has a way of finding you, Shep. We need to find the door and case the security."

They made their way slowly through the rooms. Her omni-tool recording all the faces and conversation bits they overheard as they moved past.

"Shep," Kasumi whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Making a recording to send back to the Alliance and Council. Damn." She tapped her wrist and then brought it to her mouth. "Grim, come out camouflaged and record everything." She released him to go about his business. "There, I'm letting Grim do the recording, safer that way. But rest assured, I'm not going to go archangel and take down all these people myself; I don't have time for that right now….but earworms in the right ears can move mountains," She whispered to Kasumi.

She completed the tour of the left side of the room and walked out onto the wrap-around balcony. On a balcony seat, Shepard picked up a datapad with a security communication log.

"Chief Roe, huh? She sounds like a hard ass. If we can sneak into security, I can probably use this information."

She followed the balcony around and entered back into the house through the opposite door. She noticed a stairwell leading to a lower level and took it.

"This is it!" Kasumi said with excitement. "Very nice. There's more here than I expected," Kasumi admitted as they entered the chamber that led to the vault.

Shepard looked up into Saren's face, remembering what it felt like to be dangled over the waterfall. She shivered at the memory.

Kasumi moved around the room, looking over the security details. "Password protected voice lock, kinetic barrier, DNA scanner…looks like an EX-700 series. Impressive. Everything a vault needs to be impenetrable."

"Do you need my help with the penetration?" Shepard wrinkled her brow, that sounded all kinds of wrong.

"Please, Shep…have a little faith. Remember who you're talking to. We'll need to get a voice sample, find the password, find the power supply to the barrier and collect his DNA – child's play. His private rooms should net us plenty. Keiji could get through a system like this in his sleep….and I'm better."

As she left the room, she found the barrier's power cables. She set her omni-tool to scan for electronic fields so she could follow the underground cables. She made her way through the right side of the room, and then she turned to follow the cables around the ball room to the location source and let Kasumi disabled the power.

She had passed a locked room on her way to the power source, so they returned. Kasumi hacked the door. Shepard fired an overload chain at the two security guards. She skirted around them, lifted a crap load of credits from Hock's safe, and found the password they would need for the vault. "The password is Peruggia."

"Nice." Kasumi said with a smile. "That's the man that stole the Mona Lisa."

Kasumi created a link through the security feeds that would route and incoming calls for Chief Roe to her omni-tool, she had a feeling they would be needing it.

Before they left Kasumi knifed both men in the back and they fell silently to the ground.

Once out of the security quarters she made her way to Hock.

Ms. Gunn…I hope you are enjoying the party. I hope that scene at the door hasn't soured your evening," Hock said as he shook her hand.

"There's always someone gunning for people like us." She was nothing like Hock. But she was squarely at the top of a lot of people's shit lists.

"Hah, yes. That's true. I'm glad you understand."

"I'm surprised your security isn't tighter. It's a ballsy move, opening your front door like this," Shepard said looking around.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Hopefully, it sends the message that I don't fear anyone stupid enough to step up to me." Hock began a grandiose speech on how the deeds they all did kept the galaxy running. His delusions were astounding and she had an earworm with his name on it.

She returned to the right side of the room where she had noted a guard standing watch over a door. He had told her these were Hock's private chambers and she was not allowed to enter. When she explained that Chief Roe had given her permission, he commed the Chief to verify. Kasumi, the pseudo-Chief, blasted him a new one and he apologized and allowed them entry into Hock's private quarters.

She followed the stairs down to an unlocked door. Wow. His rooms were as opulent and grandiose as he was. Between the two of them they were able to gather enough usable DNA. Just for grins and giggles…and the credits didn't hurt either…she hacked into Hock's personal safe and cleaned it out. Done and done.

They left his quarters and returned to the vault room. While she armored up, Kasumi used what they had gathered to crack the security. Once inside the vault she whispered into her OT. She wanted to make sure Grim recorded the artwork, because she knew there were several pieces he was not supposed to have. She hated bugs in general, but she was fond of the destruction a nice, fat earworm could cause.

"Wow. This is the Kasa Locust. The gun that killed two presidents. And it has an exact copy. I'm sure Hock won't mind if we borrow these."

Shepard snapped it to her hip. She didn't use SMGs anymore, but it was too nice a find to pass up.

"Oh my god. There it is," Kasumi said, when she found Keiji's grey box. She flipped on her omni-tool and began uploading its contents."

"Don't bother miss Goto, it's code locked." Spoke Hock's massive hologrammed face. "I had a feeling that was you at the door. I knew if it was really you, you'd get through anyway."

"You know me…I don't like to disappoint."

"I need what's in your greybox, Kasumi. You know I'm willing to kill you for it. I'll admit your skills are impressive. You got into my vault like I'd left it open, but you're still going to die screaming, like your friend did."

Shepard put her hand over her mouth and yawned. She took the pistol from her side and blew the nearest treasure to bits.

"Noooo!" Hock screamed.

"Have I got your attention?" Shepard asked.

"Hah! That shut him up, Shep."

Kassumi's omni-tool beeped, upload complete.

"Kill them!" Hock shouted.

She had to admit they really tried. One tricky bitch engineer was a pain in the ass to take down. She was thankful Grim was quick to jump in the fray. He materialized in front of the engineer and sprayed acid in her eyes. A blind engineer isn't much good, but her drone was still irritating as hell. She put a bullet between the engineer's sightless eyes. The fight was a tediously slow cat and mouse game. She certainly preferred having more than one team mate. But she was losing patience fast. She jumped, the disks slid out of her boots and she darted around the room, Her OTs humming as she shot Incendiary blasts followed by Cryo blasts at anything that moved, shattered merc pieces littered the floor.

"Checking blueprints." Kasumi said when the last one fell. "There's a landing pad to the east. Let's get out of here."

Shepard notified the Normandy the coordinates to send a shuttle.

When they entered into the next room they were fired on immediately. Shepard darted behind some containers next to a large tank. She fired off amped overload charges, because twitching bodies made for easy targets. Since there were so many enemies she switched to her Arc gun. It left her out in the open longer, but took down several at one time. A huge YMIR entered into the fray. She slammed it with an amped incendiary blast and then zapped it with her Arc.

"They've left the vault. Seal them in!" Hock ordered.

"Damn it! We have to find another way!"

"This way!" Shepard yelled as she turned to the right and headed up the stairs to an unlocked door. At the top of the stairs she hacked a datapad for some credits and entered through the door. They rounded the corner and ducked behind some barrels.

Mercs popped up from the bed of a truck and fired until their guns were emptied. They ducked out of sight to reload and new mercs jumped up to take their place. Nice teamwork on their part…but won't change the outcome one bit. When her scanner showed clear, she rounded the barrels and took in the room. She saw a missile loaded tank and a wicked smile spread across her face.

"What are you going, Shep?"

"Making us a way out."

She grabbed some credits from a locker, some platinum just lying around and jumped up to the tank, armed the missile and fired it. It slammed into the wall, detonated with a massive force that shook the building.

"That kicks ass, Shep. Garrus will be sorry he missed out on it."

"He might have missed out on it, but he can watch it!" Grim said spinning around in glee.

"What the hell are you people doing down there?" Hock demanded.

Her lootdar led her to some credits stuffed in one of the deactivated mechs in a side room…people sure do hide things in the strangest places. Then she stepped through the massive hole in the wall.

"Kill Allison Gunn, bring the girl to me." Hock ordered.

She darted down behind some crates next to the wall and fired a few Arc charges into the oncoming horde. When the YMIR and mercs were down they proceeded forward slowly and carefully.

"Don't fight me, Kasumi. You know what happened to your boy-toy when he fought back," Hock taunted her.

A truck pulled up ahead filled with more mercs. She fired an amped overlaod chain, slammed them with a sonic blast and sent the mercs flying. Kasumi would dart in camouflaged, knife a merc in the back and disappear again. The hard part was to avoid shooting or firing tech blasts when she disappeared. It made fighting a wee bit of a pain. That's why she didn't go dark often; she didn't like to hinder her squadmates.

When their scanners were clear, she made a U-turn around the wall on their left, grabbed some medigel from a med-kit, some research off a dead merc at the top of the steps, and slipped through the door.

"Keep them busy, I'll take care of this myself," Hock informed his band of not so merry mercs.

The large room they had entered was for cargo sorting and loading. Mercs lined the floor and the platforms. Biotics, bullets and rockets were flying. She took cover behind some nearby barrels. With the first wave cleared out, they proceeded further into the cargo bay and dodged behind some crates when more mercs poured out from a side entry. A rocket took down her shields, she jumped, activated her boots and slammed into the rocket-man, shot him point blank before he hit the ground. Before she could get back into cover a shot to the abdomen bounced off her shields and a fury she'd never felt before ripped through her. She grabbed her bats, amped their charge, flicked her wrist, the incendiary whip coiled around the asari's neck and then she flicked the cryo whip, when it coiled around her neck too, she jerked her arms apart. The asari's neck shattered and her head flew a great distance before it hit the ground and exploded. A cold smile spread over her face.

She stood there shocked, horrified by what she'd done….horrified that she had felt pleasure in the act. Kasumi appeared at her side and pulled her down behind cover. "What you did….that was amazing, Shep."

"No, it wasn't, it was…horrifying. But it's more than the deed, Kasumi. I felt pleasure watching her die….and that is a line I never wanted to cross."

"We have all crossed that line, Shep. Right or wrong, it is a natural feeling when you are defending someone you love. You were defending your baby. I felt the same taking down anyone who went after Keiji. Garrus probably feels it all the time," she said with a chuckle. "Right now we need to focus on clearing out these mercs. So, how about we give them some hell?"

She gave her a nod and jumped back into the fray. She shot one unfortunate merc in both legs. She jumped, activated her boots, flew over to him and merged their auras. "Forgive me," she said somberly as she drained him. His body arched and twisted, a scream of nightmares echoed through the bay, blood pouring from every orifice. "Thank you. Sleep well," she told him as he hit the ground.

Mercs stared at her in horror and every weapon came to bear on her. She held out both arms, her OTs glowing bright as she sent amped overload charges at both groups of mercs. As they twitched helplessly, she amped her OTs until they glowed like beacons and fired a sonic blast that struck the mercs so hard that their bodies shattered against anything they slammed into. She scanned the room and could find no more enemy signatures.

"Ok, great…did you really need me at all for this mission, Shep?"

Shepard nodded. "Of course, I did. I never could have gotten into that vault without you. Let's move out."

Kasumi rolled her eyes. While the words mollified her, she knew in her heart Shepard could do anything she put her mind to.

They exited through the back hangar door, and entered a small control room that led to the landing deck. As they stepped out into the setting sunlight, they waited a brief moment for their eyes to adjust. A gunship flew overhead.

"Incoming! Get down!" Shepard ordered. They grabbed cover behind some conveniently stacked crates.

"You could have done this the easy way, Goto. Allow me to show you the hard way," Hock said as he rained more bullets at them.

Mercs began pouring in from the right. She fired a sonic blast at them sending them flying off the edge of the landing deck. A couple were lucky enough to have dodged the blast.

"Going dark." Kasumi said.

Damn. Now she had to wait to see what she was going to do. Kasumi struck the man in the left in the back and Shepard turned and blew the head off of the man on the right.

When the gunship lowered, more mercs poured in from the end of the deck in front of them. She pulled out her sniper and was able to nail a couple from a distance and then switched to her Mattock. One got too close, she fired a sonic blast…sent him flying and darted behind a truck.

Pleasantly polite mechs started marching towards them. That was great because they made easy targets, since they weren't concerned with taking cover, but it could also bite you in the ass if you weren't careful, because like the terminator, they just didn't stop coming.

When they finally got a moment to breathe, the gunship rose from the left along with another group of mercs on the ground.

"Gunship's back and with full shields."

"Not a problem. Distract the mercs, Grim! She lobbed a combat drone and tossed a turret out to help cover her ass.

More mercs and mechs stepped up to the plate…or onto the deck to be more precise. She amped her OTs and fired overload chains in two directions. She encased herself in a white, glowing barrier field, took a running leap and landed on some piping. "Going dark!" She faded to nothing, climbed up to the higher pipes and launched herself at the ship; the ship was just out of reach. The disks slipped out of her boots and she propelled herself at the gunship, landing on top of the front window as she came back into view.

Kasumi blinked. "Hey, Shep…I wanted to do that!"

"Spirits, No!" Garrus was receiving live feed from Grim. Grim was to obey him so long as it didn't countermand her orders. She'd never ordered Grim not to send him footage, so here he sat watching his wife take a flying leap directly at a hot gunship. He couldn't believe she would risk their family like that. His eyes were glued to the datapad. He watched her take down the shields, then the ship bucked and he watched his wife slide off the edge of it. His heart slammed painfully in his chest. She'd manage to grab hold of something allowing her to dangle precariously off the side of the gunship, which continued to try to shake her off. His eyes began to sting. He needed to blink, but he was afraid to take his eyes off the screen for even a second.

She shorted the kinetic-barrier shield capacitors; she tumbled down the side of the ship and grabbed hold of a crease in its armor plating. She hung on tight when the ship jerked and swung her body upwards, landing on the slanted hull of the rig. She activated her magboots and unsnapped her Viper. She had to give him credit; he tried everything he could think of to shake her off his ship. She poured modified, illegal armor piercing rounds into the tail fins, shearing them off. Then, for good measure, she put a couple into the eezo core. Time to go before she was blown to hell. She saluted Hock and flipped off the gunship. The disks slid out of her boots and she shot towards the hangar bay.

Kasumi glanced up at the gunship and Shepard when the mercs were down. She watched her fire bullets into the core. Damn…she wouldn't have thought to do that. But, then again, she was rather fond of staying alive. She hoped Garrus never learned about what Shep had done, he'd shit.

Garrus gripped the pad tighter as his anger all but exploded out of him, datapad shattered and the feed was lost. "Crap!" He jumped up and flipped on the large screen. When his wife came back into view, nearly life-sized, he realized how much worse the large screen made what he was seeing appear. He could see the expression on her face…on Hock's face. His finger twitched. He wanted to put a bullet between Hock's smug eyes so bad he could taste it. Ari was taking too damn many down the shields was one thing, but there had been no need for her to take her gun to the gunship, she could have done that, safe enough, from the ground.

"Very impressive, Miss Gunn….and even if you take down this gunship, I've got more. You can't win this, Kasumi." Hock taunted her while firing machine rounds at Gunn. "You should have died in the vault…now you will die in pieces."

She twisted in the air doing her best to avoid the bullet spray. She still felt too many bouncing off her barrier field; she poured more energy into it to strengthen the barrier as she dodged another bullet spray. The gunship was sputtering. She came to a stop and used her disks to spin her around. There was a moment of eerie silence and she found her gaze going to the cockpit. Her eyes locked onto Hock's. She blew him a kiss and waved. The airship, along with Donovan Hock, exploded into tiny fragments. "OH Shit!" She pivoted in the air, transferred all her remaining power into her disks and tried to make a fast get away. The concussive shockwave from the eezo core detonation blasted into her, her body contorted, her mouth opened in a scream as she was hurtled towards the ground.

Garrus began to shake. Fear gripped him in a vice and he fell to his knees, unable to blink, unable to look away. If this was it for them, he wanted to spend his every last moment with her. He wanted his wife to be the last thing he saw before they died.

She spun her body in an attempt to correct her trajectory and rode the powerful wave rather than trying to fight it. As she neared the ground she swung her legs down, using the disks to slow her descent. The disks slid back into her boots and she landed in a graceful squatting splits on the on the floor of the hangar rolled with the force of the concussion as it sideswiped her and unfolded into a stand.

"Show off!" Kasumi yelled. Vastly impressed, but horrified knowing how close her friend had come to death. "Next time you want to kiss the grim reaper, do me a favor and don't do it in front of me. You scared the hell out of me, Shep. You're lucky Garrus wasn't here to see that stunt."

"Believe me, I know," Shepard said quietly.

Garrus fell forward onto his hands, head hung low and wheezed in a harsh breath. He hadn't realized he'd been holding it. His head jerked back up when he heard more gunfire.

Grim darted to her side. "Ari, we need to talk…"

"Later, Grim…" she said, pointing at another wave of mechs and mercs that were coming at them from the right.

"Not again. Where the hell are they coming from?" Kasumi asked as she unsnapped her gun.

"Grim – give them hell!" She couldn't figure out why they would bother to keep fighting. They'd already lost.

"My pleasure, Ari." He camouflaged and reappeared in front of the mechs, spraying acid at their optical sensors.

She pulled her bats and amped them as they coiled at her feet. With quick flicks of her wrists they whistled as they sliced through the air, ripping the guns away from those she could reach. She fell back in a fighting stance and waited for their advancement.

The mercs looked at the scattered pieces of the downed gunship that littered the water and the hangar bay, the shattered mechs and bloodied corpses strewn about like a macabre masterpiece, they looked at the crackling whips that had already stripped the guns out of several hands and the stony, determined expression of the woman that wielded them. They looked at the drone that had already blinded their mechs. They looked at each other, dropped their guns, held their hands up and backed up slowly until they retreated completely from the hangar bay dock. Apparently, dead bosses don't pay well enough to die for. Who knew?

Garrus stood on shaky legs. Now that she was safe, raw, biting anger coursed through him, building in waves until it reached a crescendo. He was fit to explode and he knew it. He quickly changed into his workout gear and took the elevator down to the rec room. He ordered everyone out and told EDI to seal the door. He knew he had to work out some of his demons before confronting his wife.

They ignored the floundering, confused mechs and talked about everything that happened while they waited for extraction.

With the gunship down, the shuttle was able to come in for a pick up. On the way back to the Normandy, they pulled up the information from Keiji's greybox. His hologram and an assortment of pictures popped up. He'd left her a final message on his greybox. Knowing she wouldn't be seeing it unless he was dead. He explained how he'd made her a target and that he wanted her to destroy this information, because it was the only way he could protect her and the Alliance. Kasumi ran to his holo and hugged it. Unable to bear the thought of destroying the only thing left that she had of him.

Shepard walked over to her friend. "Kasumi, I know this is hard. I can empathize… Keeping this will not only put the Alliance in danger, but also your ability to move on. If you keep him so sharp and close that he cannot fade even a little…as a memory should, then your eyes will be closed to any future love. For you would have built him up so big, that no one could ever compare. He wanted you to do this for him. Ultimately, I will leave the decision up to you…but it was his last request and I think you should honor his wishes…" she paused briefly. "If it's easier, I will do it for you."

"I know…you're right," Kasumi said backing away…a tremor in her voice. "Just get it over with….please."

Shepard returned to the console and erased the files. Kasumi bowed her head in grief. The stars winked at them through the shuttle's virtual windows.

When the shuttle docked in the Normandy's belly, Shepard stepped out slowly. She was depleted and thoroughly exhausted. She had relied too heavily on her tech and needed to eat and rest, to give her body time to recharge. She looked around the hangar bay, but her husband was nowhere in sight. He was one person she could always count on to be there with open arms when she stepped off the shuttle.

Joker stepped out of the shuttle behind Kasumi. He watched Kasumi walk away, head down, lost in her own thoughts. Shepard came to a stop and just stood there. He could see the weariness and exhaustion in her posture, the dejection on her face when she realized her husband wasn't there. Joker wanted nothing more than to give Garrus a swift kick in the ass….if he could have done so without shattering a leg, that is. He had to know how much his presence meant to Shepard. He saw her head drop down and the deep, shuddering breath she took. She flipped on her OT and told Jacob to go to Kasumi, that she needed him even if she didn't know it. Even in the midst of her own hell her first thoughts were of everyone else and that was why they loved her, followed her, why they would willingly lay down their lives for her. He wanted to say something to her, to help her, but he was just no good at uplifting, sentimental shit. He sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Go eat, get some rest, Commander. You look like shit and you're moving worse that I do."

"You're right," she said quietly and slowly shambled to the elevator.

When she disappeared from sight, Joker flipped on his OT. "Garrus, I don't know what the hell you think you are doing, but your wife can barely put one foot in front of the other. She needed you and you weren't there."

"It's not your business, Joker, stay out of it." Garrus said coldly.

"You made it my business when I had to watch her crumble. Her body is wracked with exhaustion and pain. She had to deeply hurt a friend to keep the Alliance safe…she is about as low as I've ever seen her and when she discovered you weren't there she - " his voice cracked with emotion. Shit. Shit. Shit. He hated this. "If I could kick your ass from one end of the ship to the other, I would. That woman gives everything she is to everyone without a thought and you are the one person she relies on to give her the strength and support she needs to keep going. The fact that I even have to tell you that really pisses me off. I don't know what your malfunction is, but you need to get your head out of your ass, step up and be a man. Joker out!" Joker took a deep breath trying to calm himself. Damn stubborn, insensitive turian. He glanced around, but only noticed two people in the bay…and they were making a point to look anywhere but his direction. He needed to get back to the bridge before he did something stupid that ended up with him in the medbay.

Garrus had, at first, been furious at Joker's interference. Now, he was just stunned. He'd never heard Joker that angry before. Joker was a man that relied on sarcasm and wielded it well. But, he'd been right. For the first time since he'd claimed Ari as his mate he'd let her down…he hadn't had her back. Despite his anger, he should have been there for her. That it was Joker that called him out on it, just made it hit home all the harder. He popped up the holoscreen of his OT and located his wife. She was leaving the armory and heading towards the mess. He turned it off, removed his micro-foam pads and hurried to the elevator.

He rounded the corner as she was picking up a tray. He came up behind her, spun her around, removed the tray from her hands and enfolded her in his arms. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, vela. It won't happen again." When her arms slipped around him he could feel her utter lack of strength and when she began to tremble he put down the tray and picked her up, cradling her in his arms.

"You have a life, Garrus. I can't expect you to always be there," she said quietly.

"You are the most important thing in my life, vela. You always have been." He lowered his forehead to hers. When he felt the gentle pressure of her hand at the back of his neck he brought his mouth to hers, letting her decide the intensity of the kiss. He didn't want her to think he was pushing her when he knew how tired she was.

He carried her to the cabin, sat her down on the sofa and drew her bath. He programmed the temperature and added her favorite vanilla spice. When it started to foam he returned to her and helped her out of her undersuit. He picked her back up and settled her gently in the tub.

"I'm not completely helpless, lover."

"I know that. I could tell you I'm just making up for an oversight, but the real truth is I like to hold you, so let me."

"I might piss and moan about being treated like a helpless babe, but my guilty secret is I like it when you carry me. It makes me feel safe, cherished and protected." She made a sour face. "I don't particularly like that it makes me feel like that, but it always has."

"When you tell me your guilty little secrets it makes my heart go all aflutter. And that's my guilty little secret. Turian hearts don't flutter." He chuckled. "Or if they did, they'd rather die than admit it."

She sank down into the hot water and moaned. Garrus wanted nothing more than to join her. The hardened tips of her breasts poked up out of the water, beckoning him. He itched to touch them, to wrap his tongue around them. He cleared his throat and stood up. I'll be right back with a platter of food from the mess."

She pulled up her long, dark auburn hair and coiled it into a bun, then stabbed through it with two six-inch long hair spikes to hold it in place. She didn't have the strength to deal with washing it right now. The steaming water soaked into her weary muscles, easing the pain.

She heard the door slide open and what sounded like a tray of food being set on the table. When he entered the bathroom he handed her a nutri-bac bar and gave her a dose of medigel. She grimaced and all but swallowed the bites of nutri-bac bar whole just so she didn't have to taste it. Though, she was far from full strength, she did feel better.

Garrus had every intention of discussing her little stunt, but he would wait until she was up to it. He removed his clothing and stepped in behind her. He pulled her back up against his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

She relaxed back against him with a sigh. She could feel his hardness against her lower back and rubbed against it. Then her eyes shot open. There was another hardness she didn't feel. She sat up and spun around, her hand going to the smoothed center of his chest plates, where his blade used to me. "Garrus," she said softly. "What have you done?"

He looked down at the small, white hand running the length of his chestplates. "I…umm…hmmm. I was tired of hurting you, vela. I saw the angry, red welts it left behind whenever we made love or when I held you. I know I've even drawn blood a few times when things have gotten a little, er…out of control. It's bothered me for a long time; I just didn't know there was anything I could do about it. And before you say anything, I did a lot of research. A lot. We are not born with it, as we mature the chestplates grow, pushing against each other until they grow outward with the pressure. If it once served a purpose for my people, it no longer does. I suppose if I were to fight naked it could have been used as another weapon, but naked is not exactly a preferred fighting tactic," he said with a sardonic lift of his mandibles.

"Garrus! I - "

He placed a talon over her lips to silence them. "It was no different than trimming my talons. It bled a bit, because I had Chakwas remove it in its entirety, rather than filing it down slowly. But with your cells and the medigel, it healed incredibly fast."

"Have you weakened your protection?" Concern laced every word.

"No," he said giving it a couple of solid thumps. "I am still well protected, but it won't hurt you anymore and I have the added benefit of feeling your touch so much better…and that I like very much." His chest rumbled and his mandibles fluttered.

"But, won't that affect your clothing and armor?"

"Yes, they are being refitted as we speak."

"What will the other turians think? I can't imagine self mutilation will go over to well."

He gave her a hard look and shook his head. "Spirits, vela. Why would you think that I'd even give a damn about what they think? The only thing I care about is what you think." He crushed her to him and gave her a heated kiss. "Well?" he asked thickly. "What do you think?"

She rubbed her breasts against his chestplates. She hated to admit it, but he was right. "It does feel better…I love being able to get closer to you. But you should be aware that the cellS may consider it damage and seek to repair it."

"They haven't yet, and if they do I will just keep it filed down like I do my talons. Will you stop worrying so much?" He nuzzled her neck, fluttered his mandibles gently against her and then ran his tongue slowly along the pulsing vein. She straddled his hips and he felt himself begin to breech her. "Ari – aaaahh," he groaned as he sank into her tight, hot sheath. "I didn't join you to make love to you; even I'm not that insensitive. I joined you to hold you. You're too tired. You need to eat and sleep." But, Spirits, she felt so damned good.

"I am tired…so why don't I just drape myself over you like a blanket and you do all the work?" She squeezed her kegels to let him know how serious she was.

He gasped when he felt her muscles grip him tightly. "I'm surprisingly okay with that." His talons slid down her back and settled on her hips. The churning water slapped against the lip of the tub with each powerful thrust. Her soft moans feathered his ear canal, sending chills down his back. He growled in pleasure when he felt stinging nip of her teeth on his neck, followed by the caress of her tongue. When he felt her body stiffen, her muscles tighten, he drove into her more aggressively, each thrust harder and faster than the previous one. She arched back and cried out with the force of her release. He ran his tongue along the underside of her breast, trailed it upwards to flick the tight bud, and then wrapped his tongue around it, and gave it a squeeze, before following her over the edge with a harsh growl.

He scraped his teeth gently along the top of her shoulder before biting down and taking in her blood. His mandibles fluttered against her when he felt her answering bite. When the aftershocks ended and his shaft released her, he remained buried inside of her, holding her, until his shaft slipped from her sheath back into his own. He let the water out, hit the quick dry and laid her on their bed. He retrieved the tray of food, placed it between them and joined her on the bed. They fed each other until she fell asleep. He removed the tray, pulled her up against him and threw his leg over her thighs. Her soft snores lulled him into sleep.

Come morning he watched her as she slept, taking in the innocent beauty of the soft, relaxed lines of her face until her eyes fluttered open. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much. Thank you." She started to roll over and make a fast get away. He had that you're in trouble look on his face. But Garrus' arm shot out, his hand settled like a gentle vice around her arm.

"Good, because we need to talk about that stunt you pulled yesterday. What in the spirits' damned hell were you thinking?" He gave her a light shake, his eyes bored into hers, and his mandibles jerked up and down quickly in agitation. "What you did was reckless and irresponsible!"

"It was not. I never rush blindly into anything. I knew exactly what I was going to do and had worked out all the contingent, foreseeable variables. The only thing that surprised me was the drive core was not regulation…I should have had a lot more time to get away. And even that was a non-issue with all the upgrades my suit has."

"You can't continue taking all the risks yourself. Think of our baby! Kasumi was perfectly capable of taking down that gunship's shield and she isn't pregnant!"

"I don't know…the way she and Jacob have been acting, she could be pregnant."

"Shepard!" he said giving her another light shake for good measure. She could be so damned exasperating at times.

Oops, he never called her Shepard anymore…perhaps now was not the best time for jokes. "You're right; Kasumi could have taken down the ship's shields – no doubt about it."

Garrus was shocked that she'd agreed with him so quickly. His eyes narrowed. "So, you agree that the risk you took was irresponsible…that Kasumi could have easily done the job."

"Yes and no. As I said, she could have done the job, but she would never have survived the trip back to the hangar bay dock. As soon as I made a jump for the ship, it backed away from the dock. No one could have made a jump like that. And the monsters gliding just below the surface of the water would have devoured her whole before I could have extracted her. There was no choice in the matter. The gunship's shields were auto-replenishing. We would never have been able to take it down, the shuttle could not fight it and the Normandy could not be seen here. Let me reiterate: I. Had. No. Choice. Zilch, zero, nada - "

He should have known the choice she made had been well thought out, he had just been too worried and scared shitless to see beyond the surface. His flexible mouthplates found her soft lips. His tongue slid into her mouth to silence her. He rolled her onto her back, slipped between her thighs and drove into her wet heat. Her moans were sweet music. His chest rumbled from the pleasure and he gave a soft growl when he felt her legs lock around his waist. He cried out when she merged them and made love to her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him, because she was.

Chapter 31

Jack

Kasumi was heartbroken over the loss of Keiji's files. It was like losing him all over again. She assured Shepard that she knew it had to be done and that she wasn't blaming her at all, but Shepard felt the weight of that decision anyway. She'd been spending more time with Kasumi, but she knew nothing she did could make up for the loss Kasumi was going through. Keiji might not have been Kasumi's lifemate, but it didn't make the love any less real. The loss was still hard to endure. But at least that chapter was finally closed and she could begin to heal, especially with Jacob there to put the pieces back together.

They were heading to Osun, in the Hourglass Nebula to pick up a convict Cerburus had already paid for. Little was known about the convict, except for the name Jack…Jack was reported to be a very powerful biotic. She was worried Jack was going to harder to handle than Zaeed, who she really didn't like on the best of days. He was a hard man….though he'd been easier to stomach since the death of Vido. But an actual, dangerous convict? She'd spent her career putting down criminals, not holding them to her bosom.

Shepard stared out the port lounge window at the stars streaming by like beams of light.

"Quit worrying so much. You don't have to always worry about everything. You know you can always toss Jack's ass in a stasis pod if he proves to be too big of a pain," Kasumi said with a chuckle.

Shepard spun around to face Kasumi, leaning her back against the cool permiglass. "Garrus told me something similar. He said I could toss him out the airlock. I think I like your solution better. Of course, I've not met him yet…my opinion could change."

Kasumi cocked her head and shook it. "Yes….cause I can really picture you doing that, Shep."

Shepard looked up for a moment, recalling the head she'd ripped off the asari merc. "I've come to realize…under the right circumstances, I'm capable of just about anything."

"Aren't we all, Shep…aren't we all."

"Want to watch a vid? I've been wanting to watch an old earth flick called, Star Wars."

Kasumi's eyes widened. "Don't you get enough of that in everyday life? Why would you ever want to watch a vid about it?"

"Because it's somebody else's life…somebody else's trials and tribulations. Not mine. Plus, it's always a hoot to see what people thought space would be like way back then."

"I suppose it's too much to hope that it's immersion?"

"Not a chance. Old style flat screen…but at least it's easier to watch…with immersion I'm trying to look all around me at the same time and I know I'm missing so much."

"But you can't experience a flat screen. Ok, fine…but if I don't like it, we're doing something I want to do next."

"You got it."

"ETA to Purgatory 22 minutes, Commander."

Shepard sighed… "Thank you, Joker." She gave Kasumi an apologetic look. "Guess it'll wait…catch you later, Kasumi."

"EDI, have Legion wait for us at the airlock in 20."

"Affirmative, Shepard."

She made a quick round of all of her squadmates. It took a bit more time to check their auras in this manner, but she felt guilty taking them away from whatever they were doing, when Garrus nearly always shined the brightest.

As she walked into the cabin Garrus was already there waiting for her. Yep…he was the brightest. "How is it you always have such a bright aura? It's really not fair to the other squad mates."

"I really don't give a damn, vela." Garrus said in no uncertain terms as he was pulling on his armor.

"Brr…Garrus…that was cold."

"It wasn't meant to be. Look, I love you and I know I can defend you better than anyone else. Besides, the others probably prefer you taking me than dealing with me when you leave me behind."

"Touché." Shepard pulled out her armor. "EDI, tell Zaeed we move out in 10." Then, she stood up straight, eyes flew open and made a mad dash to the bathroom. She lifted the seat and fell to her knees in front of the toilet.

Garrus ran after her and dropped to her side, awkwardly pulling the hair back from her face as she heaved out what was left of her breakfast. He flushed the toilet for her.

Shepard continued to lay draped over the commode, trying to gather her strength.

"What happened? Are you sick, vela?" Garris asked in agitated worry.

"No, it's the pregnancy. Women often get sick in the first trimester."

"Then I'm surprised you haven't been sick before now."

"I have been," Shepard's voice echoed in the bowl. She sat up and Garrus gave her a hand. "You were always so busy; you just weren't around to see it."

"I should have been here. I'm sorry, vela. You shouldn't have had to go through it alone."

"I preferred it that way…it's gross," she said as she grabbed her toothbrush and began to scrub away the foul taste. She doused her mouth with antiseptic mouth spray, her eyes watering at the harsh, minty flavor.

When she moved from the sink Garrus pulled her into his arms and looked down into her eyes. "I'm going to be here more for you, vela. This is our ride. I want to be a part of all of it…the good and the bad. Though, I can't wait for the end of this trimester." His mouth found hers for a gentle kiss before he released her.

"You know…just for that…don't be surprised if I come running to you next time I feel the need to empty my belly." Shepard shot him a stern look and then burst out laughing when she saw his mandibles drop with his horrified expression. Priceless. She gave him a quick kiss and then started snapping on her armor.

"Just so you are aware, that rarely happens anymore. With any luck it won't happen again."

"Why don't you sit this one out, Shepard," Garrus was more than a little concerned.

Shepard spun around and leveled a cold stare at him. "You did not just say that to me."

Garrus winced. He really needed to talk someone…maybe Samara….about the dos and don'ts concerning pregnant women. "Shepard, your tech gets its energy from you. You just purged yourself of food. Your strength is not what it should be. I know getting Jack is a simple pick up mission, but I also know things rarely go as planned. You're pregnant. I love you and I'm worried."

"Be that as it may…I think, by now, that I am more than aware of what I can handle. I'll bring along a couple of nasty nutri-bac bars and if I have to I'll drain someone. I'm not coming at this blind. Nor will I be unprepared." She advanced on him and poked him on the chest. "You of all people should know me by now." Poke. "And do not ever think…" Poke. "…that because I'm pregnant…" Poke. "… I am incapable of doing something. I know my body. I can feel my body. I can feel the baby. I know my limits." Poke. Poke. "Do not think you know them for me."

Garrus blanched…he didn't recall her ever being so mad at him before. Not even when he knocked her on her ass when her shields went down. He pulled her stiff body into his arms. He brought the finger that had been poking him up to his firm, flexible mouth plates for a kiss. He was pretty sure she probably bruised it by poking his carapace. Then he touched the tip of his tongue to it, since his tongue was a lot softer than his mouth plates. He saw some of the hardness leave her eyes. "Vela, I'm a new husband, a new father. I'm not sure of all the rules. I know how capable you are. But the need in me to protect you…protect the baby is not something I can just shut off. You are my world and I already watched you die twice. So, maybe I do hold you tighter than you like, but I do so out of love. I love you beyond all reason." He said flapping his mandibles at her slowly. When her eyes softened further he ran his tongue over his bond mark and nipped it.

His purr sent a ripple of desire through her and she gasped. She ran her fingers up his sensitive neck skin and he shivered. She stood on tiptoe, yanked back on his head fringe and bit into his exposed neck. She licked the tiny drops of blood.

When he felt her bite he lost it. His purr intensified to a growl and he picked her up crushing her against him. His mouth, his tongue battled hers with aggressive sweeps and plunges. One hand locked around her waist to hold her off the ground, the other sought her heat through her undersuit. He rubbed and caressed the flesh that was hidden from him, her hips bucked against his hand as she moaned into his mouth. He needed more. Now.

"Shepard, I can sense the rise in temperature of both your erogenous zones. You may wish to keep in mind that we are arriving at Purgatory momentarily," EDI announced.

They groaned. Garrus shook his head, sighed, and released his wife. He backed off quickly and turned away, trying not to take very deep breaths. "Get your armor on wife, now…please," he said in a passion strangled voice.

Shepard took deep breaths to slow her wildly beating heart. She noticed Garrus was shaking as badly as she was and it wouldn't even need a spark to fan the flames burning through them. "EDI, scrub the air," she said as she fastened on the rest of her armor.

"Right away, Shepard."

With her scent contained inside her suit, the air scrubbing was able to work its magic and he was able to take deep breaths to calm himself and gave a sigh of relief.

"Damn you. It's frustrating that I can never stay mad at you. Not to mention, now I'm horny as hell…so let's get this over with, because my tongue wants to explore every inch of you," she said with a wicked smile before dashing out the door.

Garrus groaned when he felt his shaft harden painfully. The little minx.

The four of them waited patiently…more precisely, Legion waited patiently and the others fidgeted in the airlock, the sexual tension thick around them, while the Normandy docked with the Purgatory prison station.

Blue Suns. Just great, thought Shepard as she approached the guard waiting for them. Bet Zaeed Is loving this.

"Welcome aboard the Purgatory, Shepard. Your package is being prepped and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high security vessel, you need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed."

"That's just not going to happen. As a Spectre I don't have to relinquish my weapons to anyone. Ever," Shepard said, giving him a hard glare.

An older, bare-faced turian approached. "Everyone stand down. Commander, I'm warden Kuril and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize this is just standard procedure."

"Let me reiterate. You don't have the authority to take my weapons. I will not be relinquishing them. Have I made my intentions clear?"

Kuril gave her a long, hard look. One she refused to back down from. "Let them proceed. Our facility is more than secure enough to handle four armed guests. We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you'll follow me to out-processing for the pickup, Commander.'

"Let's go."

As they entered into the Warden Kuril pointed out different defenses and areas of the prison. "Cell block two," he said, and spun around briefly so he can look at them while he was talking, "As you can see…we keep tight control over the population." He continued to lead them and talk about his prison.

Through the windows they could see massive arms maneuvering prisoner chamber cells.

"Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlock as an example. The ship is made up of thirty cell blocks, identical to this one. We house thousands of criminals. We can put the whole place in lock-down on a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here."

"What can you tell me about Jack?" Shepard asked.

Kuril turned around surprised that she knew nothing of Jack. "Jack is the meanest handful of violence I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy and very powerful. You'll see soon enough."

"How'd you end up running this ship?"

"I was in law enforcement on Palaven and got sick of seeing criminal escape out into the galaxy to carry on with their crimes. Bounty hunters aren't dependable."

"You're not hiring the right ones!" Zaeed said brusquely, offended by Kuril's words.

Kuril ignored the outburst. " Eventually, I hit upon this idea. Keep the criminals in space and the galaxy is a safer place."

"So you are doing this because you think it's necessary?"

"Every day I see the worst sapient life had to offer. Governments are soft, unwilling to make the hard choices. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe."

"Maintaining a population this size in space can't be cheap."

"We can cut corners that governments can't. And each prisoner brings in a fee from his homeworld. These individuals are violent and their home planets pay well to keep them here."

"What happens if the homeworld doesn't want to pay?"

"We explain that we can't maintain the prisoner without their help. So, we'll be forced to release him back on his homeworld at an unspecified place and time.

"That's sounds a bit like extortion," Zaeed grumbled.

"An extortion racket, Kuril?" Garrus asked, shaking his head in disgust.

'You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't question my motives. These are despicable people and I'm keeping them locked up."

"Let's finish this."

"Organics resist attempts at incarceration," Legion stated.

"Have there been escape attempts?" Garrus asked as Kuril began to lead the way again.

"We're in space. They have nowhere to go…and they know it. But still, we exercise extreme caution."

Shepard came to a stop when she noticed two prisoners becoming aggressive on the cell block below. A barrier generator opened up and shot out two streams of energy that encased both prisoners in bubbles, forcing their separation.

"We have many ways to control the population," Kuril informed her.

"Impressive," Garrus acknowledged.

She nodded and resumed following Kuril. Her husband and Legion fell into step beside her. Zaeed at her back. She was beginning to feel an odd niggle. Niggles were never any good. She didn't like having them. She reached out and squeezed his hand. "I have a niggle," she said quietly. He stood up straighter and nodded. They were all on high alert now.

"I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus have cleared. Out-processing is straight down this hallway," Kuril said to Shepard as he stopped and pointed them in the direction they would need to take. "Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the super-max wing. He gave her calculated look and turned, walking in the opposite direction. "I'll catch up with you later…Shepard."

Garrus watched him walk away until the door closed behind him. They continued down the hall, because there was really no place else to go…but she could feel her niggle growing. Damned niggle. What she really wanted to do was get back to their cabin so she could feel something else growing…but that bloody niggle may just put her plans on hold longer…and that thought really pissed her off.

Garrus looked at her in concern. He could feel the distress coming off his wife in waves. Garrus reached out and pulled her to a stop. "What's the matter, vela?"

A turian guard that they had passed turned from the window he'd been gazing through to stare at the couple in shock. That a human was a turian's vela was nearly unheard of. What was even weirder was that the human was pretty, as far as humans go…but the turian had scars covering half his face. The turian shot him a cold look and he turned back to the window. Something about the look made him made him realize he wanted nothing to do with that pair.

Shepard pulled him in closer. "My niggle is growing. And damn it all…that's not what I want to feel growing right now," she said, giving him a hot look. "I'm getting the feeling that niggle is going to delay my plans and I'm pissed. Kuril's aura was dark and mottled…that usually means deception. Keep your eyes and ears open. Expect anything."

Now he was hard, horny and on edge. If anything screamed I'm itching for a fight…that did.

As the hallway turned to the right they could hear screams from a prisoner. She peered into the room and saw a guard repeated beating a man.

"No one walks away from torture unscathed. Not the prisoner and not the torturer. I've never found torture worth it in my books," Zaeed said in disgust.

Shepard cocked her eyebrow and gave Zaeed a thoughtful glance. When she'd met him he was beating the hell out of an unarmed batarian that could not defend himself, yet he was disparaging the treatment of this prisoner. She just couldn't figure him out.

"The subject will invent fiction it believes the interrogator desires. Data acquired will be invalid," Legion stated.

"Legion is correct. The prisoner would tell them anything they wanted to hear to get them to stop," Garrus said in agreement.

Shepard couldn't agree more with them. This was barbaric. She turned to the turian guard watching from the outside of the cell and with a few chosen words, she was able to convince him to call off the beating.

The prisoner in the next cell over proved to be very enlightening. They learned that the warden often sold cons to whichever buyer could pay the most. Essentially, the warden was a slaver. Good to know.

They proceeded through a door at the end of the hall, passed a hallway leading to the right and continued to a door that had the word Outprocessing near it. Good. We needed to wrap this up before the niggle sunk its teeth in deep.

As they entered a helpful worker told them outprocessing was through the door on the far side of the room. The further she moved towards the door the larger the niggle got. "My spidey sense is tingling."

Garrus looked at her in confusion….

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sorry, Garrus. I'm an old earth movie nut. It means I can feel something big is about to happen. And by that I mean something bad."

Garrus shot a look at Legion then Zaeed, he gave them both a nod and they pulled their guns. She hit the door pad to open it.

"My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer." Kuril's voice poured over a loud speaker. "Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed."

"And there it is… the shoe… Do you really think I'm going to do that? Me? A Spectre? Someone didn't do their homework," she said with a chuckle. "You are delusional, my friend. This is not going to play out like you'd hoped. You really shouldn't have delayed my plans and pissed me off. This isn't going to end well…for you." She released Grim and lobbed turret in the direction of the door.

"Activate systems!"

Armed guards and mech dogs began pouring into the room. They darted behind desks for cover. The turret belched fire and bullets at the incoming guards. She fired off an overload chain and two guards twitched and danced in its electrifying embrace. Since she was at the back of the room, she chose her Viper. Leaving the men inside the room to the men, while she concentrated on those appearing in the hallway beyond. When no more could be seen, she took point and moved cautiously through the door into the hall.

"Reinforce outprocessing…Shepard is loose!" Kuril demanded.

She could hear men talking from the S-Max hallway on her left. She darted to the far side of the hall entrance, peered around the corner and sent a sonic blast down the hallway to distract the guards advancing on them. She heard their screams and knew Grim was up ahead giving them hell. When they passed the last of the downed guards, Garrus put a bullet in his head as he walked by him. Guess he had only been mostly dead. Better a bullet in his head than one in my back. "Thank you, Sweetie."

As she opened the far door a technician aimed a gun on her and began radioing for assistance. "Shepard is—-"

She wrapped him in a reverse barrier bubble and skirted around him. "No longer your concern." She heard a gunshot, but didn't look to see who took the immobile man out. She moved to the console and looked out the window to the cryo hold below.

"Overriding the security interface will open all cells in this block," Legion informed them.

"Vela, I'm all for taking out criminals…but this might be more than we bargained for," Garrus warned…not for the first time wondering if this was all a mistake.

"It's the only way," Zaeed pointed out.

"Be ready…Things are about to get much more… interesting. Be ready." At least it will distract the guards and give them something more to shoot at than us.

"Really? Not sure we have the time…but where you're concerned….I'm always ready," Garrus said suggestively.

"Not that interesting, my love," She said as she overrode the security controls.

Zaeed groaned. "Get a room already."

"I wish we could, Zaeed. However, these particular rooms a bit more permanent than I had in mind."

Alarms started going off and three YMIRs began to activate as massive mechanical arm locked onto Jack's cryo chamber, the locks gave away with a hiss, and it rose from its storage slot. A bald, boldly tattooed woman came into view clothed only in pants and a belt covering her nipples. Interesting.

"Jack's not quite what I was expecting." Garrus said with a wince. If those tattoos were this awful at a distance, he wasn't so eager to see them up close.

"Jack is smaller than her reputation suggests." Legion said with a flap of his brow plates.

"Goddamn," Zaeed whistled. "Would you look at that."

Jack was coming out of cryo a lot faster than Shepard expected. Her fingers twitched, she gasped and then her eyes shot open. She began to struggle, her hands breaking free from the cuffs that restrained her. She tore at the collar around her neck until it broke open. She fell forward, her hand going to her head as she shook it. Her eyes popped open when she noticed the advancing YMIRs. She yelled and launched herself out of the chamber, drew her arm back and shot a massive wave of energy at the YMIRs. Explosions could be seen, but Jack had disappeared from view.

"Situation chaotic. Decisive action required," Legion warned.

"We have to get down there, vela."

Damn…should have already been down there...instead of getting distracted watching it all play out. They moved through the door and followed the hall to the room Jack had been stored in. She scanned some salvage from one of the downed YMIRs and followed Jack's path of destruction. A mechanical voice stated warnings over a loudspeaker about the sectors that were opening and the destruction that was occurring. They could hear gunfire.

"They're attacking Jack!" Garrus yelled.

"Violent conflict in progress. Recommend rapid advance," Legion concurred.

She began to wonder if she'd made a grievance mistake in releasing the convict.

"All guards! Restore order! Lethal force authorized! But don't kill Jack! Techs! Lockdown! Lockdown!" Kuril ordered.

The halls finally emptied into a large room. Fires, broken girders, and blood everywhere. A massive, mechanical arm crashed to the floor in front of them.

"One girl did all this?" Zaeed asked incredulously.

"A high level of damage for a single organic," Legion said with another flap of his head plates.

"The girl is powerful, but she lacks subtly." Garrus said as he looked around at all the destruction.

They darted for a bridge spanning a depression between two sides of the room. It was an excellent sniper vantage point. The steel enforced railing provided safe cover. She nodded to her team. "Take a knee, gentlemen."

"All prisoners return to your cell blocks immediately or I'll open every airlock on this ship!" Kuril warned.

Legion and Zaeed watched as Garrus pulled his sniper and followed suit. They began a game of pop goes the weasel. Anything armed got popped. She turned her attention to the slowly advancing YMIR. She fired an amped overload charge at it. She ducked, barely missing a rocket that shot past her head. She spotted one entrenched guard taking potshots at them and shot a sonic blast at him that threw him into the YMIR; the YMIR turned its guns on the attacker, until he was nothing but a pile of steaming meat. She drew her Arc when it was close enough and blasted the thing. She sent two more Arc charges. hacked into the YMIR and exchanged it for her Viper. The men joined in to take it down.

"It's going to blow!" Garrus yelled.

He shielded her as it blew. Debris rained down on her kinetic barrier bubble. No matter how capable she was, he was never going to stop trying to protect her. She loved him heart and soul.

"Goddamn beautiful sight!" Zaeed placed his hand on the barrier. "Thanks for the cover, Shepard." He glanced over at her and groaned. Not again. "Will you two stop making goo-goo eyes at each other, you're making me ill."

The blaring alarm was hurting the hell out of her ears.

"Shepard, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route," EDI warned her.

"Warning! Power plant damage has led to overload. Core system failure is imminent." The ship's VI warned.

They crossed the bridge to the other side and proceeded further into the large room. Shepard looked down at one of the mangled guards. "Looks like this guard got swarmed by prisoners using improvised weapons. He never had a chance."

"The guards are heavily outnumbered without the force multiplier of automated security systems," Legion stated.

She nodded her agreement. She couldn't have said it better herself.

"It just shows you the kind of people these prisoners are. I don't agree with everything they do here, but it's in the galaxy's best interest. This guard kept maniacs away from innocent people." Garrus said solemnly.

"I think they should all be put down, prisoners and mercs alike. If these people are so vicious that normal prisons are not enough then the galaxy is better off without them. The warden and guards are no better, extortion, slavery, and violence. This needs to end." She said.

"That's a little more harsh than I expected from you, though I wholeheartedly agree, vela." Garrus said with a nod of satisfaction.

She hunkered down over another downed guard, hacked a datapad her lootdar had directed her to and left out the door at the far end of the room.

"Lock down at Blocks 4, 7, & 8."

She stole some more Arc ammo she found in a chest, grabbed some medigel, and followed the hall around to an exit door. As they entered the next room they could hear gunfire. She ran through a massive puddle of blood and ducked behind a crate. Guards were firing from the ground and from a raised walkway on the other side of the room. Her OTs hummed, an amped incinerate blast followed by a cryo caught one unlucky guard on the walkway above and shattered him.

Grim zipped around the room in a now you see me now you don't game, firing, electrical arcs, incineration and cryo blasts, as well as acid in the eyes of anyone unhelmeted. Legion's drone harassed anyone entrenched, giving them targets to shoot at.

"They hull has been breached in sectors 12, 14, and 30. No survivors," the mechanical voice informed them.

They moved together down the lower middle floor. As they approached the underside of a walkway bridge two guards began firing at them. She fired out an overload chain. The two guards twitched helplessly in its grip. Her team took them out before they could recover.

Protective cover shields popped up from the floor under the bridge. Better late than never, I suppose. A guard jumped up and began shooting at them from a cover further down the floor. She twisted her body and aimed a sonic blast that threw him in the direction of the advancing YMIR. A thunk and answering spray of bullets assured her… her ploy had been successful. While the men were busy with the guards, she darted around the other side of the bridge; she pulled her Arc, shot three charges at the YMIR, amped her OTs, sent blast after blast, heating and freezing the YMIR, and then swapped for her Viper. She aimed at the head of the YMIR. She got off two shots and had to dodge a missile. When the spray of bullets ended she ducked low and ran behind a massive crate. She peered around the side and got off a couple of more shots before hacking into the unit. Unfortunately, the hack didn't last long. The YMIR only took down two guards before refocusing on her.

Garrus noticed when she took off. He'd kept one eye on her and one on the guards. When he realized what she was doing, he sent an overload charge at the YMIR to distract it. It allowed his wife to get in a couple of more head shots. When the YMIR returned its attention to his wife, he aimed his Incisor and shot so many rounds into its head that it disintegrated. The YMIR blew up taking three hapless guards with it. His mandibles spread wide when he heard her say, "Thanks, honey."

"Find Jack…Full alert! Find Jack!" Kuril demanded.

She ran back around the bridge and joined the men in the middle of center depression. She sent a sonic shockwave at them, throwing them out into the open. She and Legion mowed them down while Garrus and Zaeed kept the guards on the far back upper ramp distracted.

She glanced at the guards on the ramp. "Going dark!" She faded, jumped, the disks slid out of her boots and she launched herself towards the ramp. She circled in behind the two guards and dropped down silently behind them. She reappeared when her OTs glowed; twin blades emerged from her OTs, slicing through the necks of both guards at the same time, before retracting back into their housing. She pivoted to the right and scanned the rest of the floor. Not signatures of any kind.

Garrus came up behind her and hugged her. She spun around and gave him a quick kiss. "Now, let's go find Jack."

She headed through the door. Grabbed some medigel, more ammo, and hacked a safe.

"All guards, to Cell Block one!" Kuril ordered.

The hall wrapped around a wall and they entered into another large room. Stacks of crates, dead prisoner bodies, and shield generators everywhere. They took cover behind some crates.

"You're valuable, Shepard. I could have sold you and lived like a king! But you're too much trouble!" Kuril said moving his hands out wide to the side. "At least I can recapture Jack," he said, firing from the hip in her direction.

"That's just not going to happen, Kuril. You're a two-bit slave trader and that's going to come to an end."

"I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to. This is for the good of the galaxy!" Kuril shouted and opened the shield generators, protecting himself behind a barrier.

"In the right hands, I'd have to agree with you. But not in your hands," she said as she darted up the far ramp. She grabbed her bats, amped them and shattered the guards that tried to flank her. She pulled her Viper and took down the nearby shield generator. She spun around, ducked behind the railing, took a knee and shot out the second shield generator in the middle. Two simultaneous concussive blasts hit the mercs that had been protecting the middle generator. She fired a chain overload at the downed men to give her men time to take them out. She stood, took aim at the far shield generator and blasted it to hell.

Kuril's barrier shield dropped. Bingo. He didn't move from his fortified position, but that was a good thing. With his sentinel armor he was going to be harder to bring down than his lackeys. When several guards gathered along the far wall she pulled out her Arc and tasered them. While they were doing the Arc dance she dodged to the next cover and ducked behind it. She sent her last Arc bolt into Kuril. She snapped it to her back and pulled off her Mattock. Grim and the drone moved in to harass Kuril, who managed to take them both out, but not before Grim took his shields down. Kuril ducked behind cover while his tech armor recharged. She took the opportunity to dart to a closer cover shield and ducked behind it. A concussive shot toppled a guard to the ground. When he got back to his feet she hit him with a sonic blast that sent him careening towards Garrus, who filled him full of holes.

"I love it when you give me gifts, vela."

Kuric scoffed. "A human is your vela?"

"That human is Commander Shepard and she's not just my vela, she's my wife and my lifemate."

In a state of shock he stood to face his guests, oblivious to the fact that his tech armor was still down. He took in the scene around him and quickly realized his men were all down. He gaze raked over each one of them and saw the truth of his death in their eyes. But he couldn't stop his mouth. "That's impossible."

"I do not know the meaning of impossible," Shepard said as she passed between her husband and Zaeed. "But what I do know is that your time here is finished." She smiled as she amped her bats, flicking them to release their coils.

Kuril stood there stunned. Garrus blew off his head.

She sighed and snapped her bats to her magbelt. She turned around to face her husband, folding her arms across her chest. "I was going to do that."

"I know, but I couldn't risk him hurting you."

"Let's find Jack. EDI do you know where Jack is?"

"There is someone near the docking port. That may be Jack."

When they entered the docking port Shepard noticed a guard at Jack's back had taken a bead on her. She palmed a bat, flicked it and fired an amped overload at the guard. The gun flew by Jack's head, landed in Shepard's hand, she shot the twitching guard, spun it and snapped it to her back.

Jack saw the gun fly to the woman and looked back at the dead man. Her mouth dropped open then snapped closed. It had all happened in the blink of an eye. "What the hell are you?"

"I'm a woman Jack, just like you."

"You are nothing like me. What the frak do you want?"

Zaeed shot a look at Garrus. He remembered all too well how the turian reacted to any slight to his wife.

Her husband bristled. She put a hand on him and sent waves of calm. "I just saved your ass."

"He was dead already. He just didn't know it."

"My name is Shepard. I'm here to get you off this ship. I want you as part of my team." Stars. Did she really just say that?

"I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus," Jack said coldly.

"Look at who I'm with. Do I look Cerberus? Do they? I'm using Cerberus to take down the Collectors. Then I will take down Cerberus. I'm offering to be your friend. You don't want to be my enemy."

Zaeed was surprised by her confession. In the right hands that information could be worth a lot of credits, but after her help with Vito…it was just not something he could bring himself to do – at least not as things stood right now. "Listen to Shepard, it'll save your life," Zaeed stated matter of fact.

"He's right, her enemies have a way of dying…by her hand…or mine," Garrus said simply.

"There is a high statistical probability of death by technological overload. A beheading is also likely," Legion stated.

Jack looked out at the Normandy and then back at the woman. She shook her head. "You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?"

Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "This ship is going down in flames. I've got the only way out. I'm offering to take you with me. And you're arguing."

Jack's eyes narrowed. She knew she didn't have a choice, but she was never one to go down without a fight. "Look, if you want me to come with you, make it worth my while. I bet your ship has lots of Cerberus databases. You want me on your team? I want to look at those files. See what Cerberus has got on me."

"I'll give you full access. Just let me know what you find."

Jack looked at the woman for a moment. She oddly felt a bit more at peace in her presence and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. One thing she did know was the woman was powerful. She wasn't convinced the woman could be trusted, but going down with the ship did not feel like a healthy alternative. Jack sent her a hard look. "You better be straight up with me."

"My wife has given you her word."

Jack raised her eyebrows. "Your wife?" She was married to a turian? Definitely not a Cerberus kind of thing. Hell, it's not even normal.

"I'll explain it to you once we are off this hunk of junk," Shepard said with a smile.

Jack stood frozen for a minute. Damn! Megaton kilowatt. Who the hell is that woman? Or what? Jack was pretty sure she was going to be in for the ride of her life. She just wondered if she would make it out alive. "So why the hell are we standing here?"

She looked at her team. "Move out."

Jack took one final look out the window at the Cerberus frigate. Back in the belly of the beast. But this time she was no sniveling little girl. If they tried to back her in a corner…she'd take them all down. She hoped it didn't come to that. She wasn't sure if she could take out Shepard. But she would make her regret the betrayal.

Once aboard the Normandy, their first stop was the debriefing room. Miranda held her head up and strutted back and forth before turning to face Jack. Shoulders back, hands behind her back at military rest. "Welcome to the Normandy, Jack. I'm Miranda, Shepard's second in command. On this ship we follow orders."

What an arrogant little prissy bitch. "Tell the Cerberus cheerleader to back off, Shepard. I'm here because of our deal."

"Miranda will let you into the system. Let me know what you find."

"Hear that precious? We're going to be friends. You, me and every embarrassing little secret," Jack said smugly. "I'll be reading down in the hold or somewhere near the bottom. I don't like a lot of through traffic. Keep your people off me. Better that way," she warned as she headed out the door.

Shepard looked between Jack's disappearing figure and Miranda who was shaking her head. This was going to be interesting indeed.

She hit the tech lab to check on the research she'd scanned and then asked EDI where Jack was.

"She's down in the engineering sub-decks, Shepard."

"Thank you, EDI."

She dropped her armor off at the armory for a detailing. And hit the mess for some nutri-paste to take the edge off her hunger. She was going to have to eat more soon. Nutri-paste was better than nutri-bac bars, but she sure wouldn't want to live on either of them. Now to check on our newest guest. As she descended the stairs to the sub-deck, she looked around at the sparse and cramped area. No one should have to live down here. She spotted Jack sitting on a make shift cot. "Hi, Jack. Have you learned much about yourself?"

"I'm still finding out about me. Thanks for letting me look at these files."

"What have you found so far?" She noticed Jack's uncomfortable look around the room. "Don't worry; we've already cleared this portion of the ship of surveillance devices."

"Your friends at Cerberus are into some nasty things. I'm going to find something I can use. I just know it."

"What if the answers aren't what you expect?"

"I'm not looking for answers. I'm looking for names, dates, places."

"What do you intend to do when you find what you're looking for?"

"I go hunting. Anyone who has screwed with me pays. Their associates pay. Their friends pay. The galaxy is going to be a lot emptier when I'm done."

"What's your history with Cerberus?"

"They raised me in a research facility. I escaped when I was a kid," Jack said as she walked away from Shepard. "Been on the run ever since. And they've been chasing me ever since. But soon, I'm going to chase them," she said matter of fact and turned to face Shepard as if daring her to say something.

"You think about this a lot," Shepard said crossing her arms.

"I go to sleep with this. I wake up with it. Everyone I've killed I pretend it's the ones that did this to me." She admitted as she returned to her cot.

"I'll let you get back to your files. Any dirt on Cerberus you find let me know." This woman was seriously cracked. But Shepard could feel the pain beneath the edge…and that she could work with.

"Yup."

Chapter 32

The Gift of Greatness

Shepard stopped by the CIC and plotted a course for Aeia, in the Alpha Draconis System. They were going to check out the Hugo Gernsback distress call for Jacob.

"EDI let Chakwas and Mordin know I'm heading to the med-bay and let Garrus know he can meet me there if he's not busy."

"Of course, Shepard."

"Thank you, EDI."

Shepard was already stripped and on the table when Mordin and her husband walked in. He went immediately to her side and gave her a kiss. Rather her husband did…not Mordin. That would have been awkward.

Chakwas pulled the scanner arm around and positioned it as Mordin programmed it. A holo of her body appeared and Mordin zoomed in on the baby. Oh stars…it is growing so fast.

"We are going to take measurements first, because its physical development is a concern. We'll finish with the lab work," Chakwas informed them.

Chakwas moved the scanner to a more precise location and Mordin zoomed in further until all you could see was the baby. Skin was transparent. Faint plating could be seen on the baby's face; it appeared to have full cheeks, but upon closer inspection, whenever the baby breathed the cheek skin fluttered, more akin to a flap rather than something solid, though it was hard to see clearly past the mandibles. Nose appeared turian in build. No ears could be seen. Faint plating could be seen on the chest, back, neck and at shoulders. It had four fingers and a thumb. It waved its hands and made fists, fingers appeared to be in working order. Everyone was surprised to see it suckle its fingers and the small flaps of skin that sprung from behind the mouthplates to allow for the suction. That was a very human thing to do. It was primarily head and belly at this point, so it was hard to see just how the belly and hips were going to turn out. What can be seen of the legs thus far looked turian, however the baby had four toes, with a small toe bud placed a little higher on the foot. The gene therapy was not doing as much as Shepard had hoped it would. She was more than a little concerned if the baby would be able to walk and run properly. The holo zoomed in and they watched the highlighted areas change as different parts of the baby were measured. Special attention was paid to the developing organs. Its heart beat fast and correct.

When the scanner screen popped up displaying data, the doctors zoomed out on the baby so the parents could see all of it and they excused themselves for a moment to analyze the data.

Shepard's hand felt crushed. He was so enthralled seeing their baby he was squeezing the life out her hand in excitement. But, she couldn't blame him, his was probably just as sore as hers…she was surely doing plenty of squeezing right back. It was incredible to see such precise detail. The baby was kicking and doing summersaults in its amniotic sac.

"Can you feel it move?" Garrus asked, not taking his eyes from the holo.

"No, not yet. Though I imagine it won't be much longer."

They chatted happily between each other pointing out things they saw or movements the babies made. Neither had a dry eye….it was just too emotional.

The doctors finally returned. "The baby is doing fine. And, Commander…I don't suppose I need to tell you it's time to give up the uneven bars until the baby is born?"

"I had them folded up and affixed to the wall a couple of days ago. It was sad to do it, but it feels like I have a hard softball in my gut and it was becoming uncomfortable."

Chakwas smiled and nodded. "You do have a hard softball in your gut, and it's getting bigger by the day. You can continue to use your balance beam, unless it too becomes uncomfortable. And you can continue to spar, though keep the hits to the arms and legs from here on in. You will also need to buy a larger chest plate for your armor or go with an armored leather or other more pliable material."

"Yeah, I noticed that the last time I suited up. Thought maybe I'd been eating too much. I have some ideas in mind. I wanted to upgrade anyway. I hate hard, thick plated armor…It doesn't allow freedom of movement."

Chakwas chuckled and started laying out the needles. "Are you ready to get the lab work done so you can get out of here?"

"Bring it on, doc."

Her husband tried to distract her with childhood stories with his family. How he'd nearly drowned one time when he fell into one of the rivers…then the humiliation he faced when he found it was no more than sixteen inches deep.

When the doctors had flushed and refilled the membrane with amniotic fluid and given the baby its gene therapy mixture, they took their collected samples and headed to Mordin's lab, leaving the pair alone.

Garrus ran his tongue along the blood trail left by the needle, removing all traces of it. He flicked his tongue in her navel, then further down, running it along her low panty line, nipping a hip between his mouth plates. She moaned and her pheromones perfumed the air.

"We should get back to the cabin," Garrus' voice squeaked. He cleared his throat. "Maybe even at a run."

He stepped back so she could get dressed. Her pheromones were wreaking havoc on his senses, his chest began to rumble and his mandibles began to vibrate against his cheekplates. She held out her hand, he took it and they lit out of med-bay like it was on fire….or perhaps they were. They shot to the elevator, Garrus embraced her head with his hands and turned her towards him for a kiss as the door was closing. He molded her to him, his hands grasping her ass, rocking her against him, enjoying the feel of the soft flesh beneath his talons. As the doors opened on their floor, a trail of clothing began dropping to the hallway behind them.

As they lay in each other's arms, sated for the moment and savoring the aftershocks, he laid a hand against her hardening belly. She kept them merged long enough for the baby and daddy to feel each other before releasing the connection.

Garrus was on cloud nine…it was a soft and fluffy place to be. When he fell in love with Shepard years ago, he never imagined they would have children and he had been okay with that. She was all he ever needed. This baby was a precious, miraculous gift.

That evening Shepard sent the holo pictures of the babies to her mother, David, the Vakarians and to Solana and Rojik. She congratulated them on their graduation and sent them their love and best wishes.

Her hands were flying over the holo-keyboard when Garrus entered their cabin. He nuzzled the top of her head, enjoying the feel of her soft hair slipping through his mandibles and looked over her shoulder at the massive amounts of information being displayed on the screen. "What are you working on?"

"I found a light armor and I'm rewriting its programming. I've got a lot more work to do on it…modifications I need to implement." Her voice trailed off.

"If I know my wife, they will be highly illegal modifications," he said with pride.

"I would never…" She tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out. "This suit will put my old armor to shame." What she didn't tell him about was the new light armor she was modifying for him. She knew he favored heavy armor, but with the mods she was installing, he wouldn't need it. She just had to convince him to try it out once she finished it.

"That's saying something, because your old armor was a masterpiece of illegal ingenuity. It's hard to imagine something more impressive than what you already built." He looked down at the medkit that was normally stored in their bathroom closet. He tapped the medkit with his toe. "What's that for? Are you feeling okay?"

"It's not for me…it's for you."

His eyeplates rose. "Me? I don't need a medkit."

"You will," she said with a smile.

He took a step back, folded his arms over his chest and eyed her uncertainly. "And why would I need a medkit?" Then he shot her a hot look. "Do you intend to rough me up in bed?"

"You wish!" she said with a chuckle.

"You know it!" he said seductively as he reached out for her.

She shook her head. "Go grab that chair, big guy and take a seat." She laughed at the forlorn expression on his face. "All in good time, my love." She quirked her lips when that seemed to placate him to some degree.

While he was getting the chair, she rearranged the tools that she would need. He sat down beside her; she stripped off the soft glove and placed his arm on the table. She flipped on her OT and scanned his arm, memorizing the location of his OT implant and its interface port. When she noticed his questioning look she squeezed his hand. "I'm just going to recalibrate your OT."

"It's working fine, Ari. I think I would know if it needed recalibrating…after all, it is what I do best." His mandibles spread as he mocked himself.

"We all know you're the king of calibrations, honey. But not even the great Garrus Shepard-Vakarian can do this. Trust me…I'm going to make your day."

"I'd much rather you make my night." He leaned in closer, waggling his browplates.

She grabbed his mandibles and pulled him in for a kiss. "Oh, I intend to, husband. Now sit still a moment and let me finish what I need to do so we can move on to the steamy sex part." She couldn't help but smile when she heard the soft purr he was emitting. But, damn, if he didn't instantly hold still for her.

She swabbed the import site and then applied a local anesthetic gel. After a couple of minutes she flipped on his OT, inserted a needle probe into the interface port, and downloaded the modifications she'd designed for him. She watched the code fly across the screen. She stopped it every now and again, typing in an adjustment as needed.

Garrus couldn't make heads or tails of the code Arianna was working with, but he hadn't expected to. Everything his wife did was highly encrypted. "I don't suppose I have to ask what would happen if anyone other than you or I attempted to hack my OT?"

"It would self-destruct…just a mild explosion, maybe 10 feet of destruction." When she saw his mandibles drop, keeping a straight face became impossible. She gave a throaty laugh and brought her hand to his cheekplate. "I love you, honey. If someone tried to tamper with your OT all the upgrade codes would simply wipe themselves. Your OT would be functional as it was before my mod upgrades. Though, until you memorize the code I used for the upgrades, I'd leave future calibrations to me. The code is…tricky and sensitive to tampering." She flipped off his OT and withdrew the needle, laying it aside. She picked up his hand and flicked her tongue over the tiny drop of blue blood.

"All done. There is one more thing I need to do to it, but Grim and I are still working out the program. I'll install it when it's completed." She gave his talons a squeeze. "Well, check out your new toy, hot shot. Just don't fire off any charges." She put away the instruments she used and hopped up. "On second thought, come on." She pulled him up and headed for the door. It is probably a good idea for you to become familiar with it before you have to use it in battle."

"Wait," he said pulling her to a stop. "What about the steamy sex part?"

She could swear he was pouting. "I promise you I'll make it worth the wait."

"You had better," he groused.

They hopped the elevator down to the firing range. "Put your OT through its paces. I'll be right back. I'm going to grab some vittles, I'm hungry again." She smiled, gave him a small wave and returned to the elevator.

Garrus watched his wife leave and then turned his focus to his OT. He was curious what she'd done to it. He flipped it open.

- I love you… we'll bang, okay?

The message had displayed quick and disappeared. His mouth dropped open. He knew he did not just see what he thought he saw. He flipped his OT off and then on again.

- I love you…Fuck me hard, big guy

Oh, Spirits! She didn't. He flipped it off and on again. Over and over again.

- I love you…I bet mine is bigger than yours is

- I love you…Show me yours and I'll show you mine

- I love you…I want to feel you deep inside me

- I love you…I going to lick every inch of you

- I love you…let's come together

- I love you…I'm so wet right now

- I love you…Your tongue drives me wild

- I love you…I'm going to ride you hard

- I love you…Hot, wet and horny as hell

- I love you…I promise I'll swallow

Garrus just stood there a moment. He was hard, aching and in dire need of his wife. The little minx. He shook his head. There seemed to be no end to her little messages and he didn't want her to come back down here and catch him mooning over her raunchy words of love.

He ran through the menu screen and immediately saw several of the new programs she'd installed. Incinerate, cryo, kinetic barrier, amp, cloak…cloak? He touched the button and watched as his OT disappeared, followed slowly by the rest of him. He assumed, in tandem with his armor, he'd disappear as quickly as his wife. But, Spirits, this was incredible.

He chose a booth and ran batarian mercs aboard a ship. When he fired off an overload charge, his body reappeared. The strength of his overload charge had increased dramatically. It wasn't as strong as his wife's, but then his OT wasn't being fueled by the electrical impulses of his body either. He began testing the other upgrades. He discovered firsthand how incredibly fun it was to watch batarians explode from high heat and cold blasts. Why had he never thought to acquire these upgrades? Probably because he'd always preferred the comforting weight and press of a gun between his hands. If he had to admit it, a part of him always considered incinerate and cryo blasts to be less than manly, but he'd come to learn that aiming the blast was far more difficult than he'd imagined. At least aiming them at the target he wanted hit. If the aim isn't precise enough the blast would angle off and hit another target, which could be a costly mistake if it were a life or death situation with target zero. With this new found knowledge, his respect rose for those that had mastered the blast.

She slipped through the door and placed the tray of food on the table. She sat down in a chair when she realized her husband hadn't heard her enter. She watched him practice; he was getting very good at shot placement. She was impressed and getting more turned on by the minute watching the play of his muscles as he darted back and forth, throwing out blasts of death. She stepped up behind him, wrapped her arms loosely around him, feathering her fingers along his belly.

"Not right now, maybe later." Garrus froze the moment those words fell from his mouth. He knew how much Arianna hated it when he talked to her that way. He knew she thought it to be callous and rude.

"Not right now, maybe later…" she repeated slowly. She dropped her arms and backed away.

He heard the dangerously soft edge to her voice. "Oh, crap," he said quietly. Why hadn't he said, 'give me just a moment and I'm all yours.' or even, "I'm almost finished with this round, I'll join you in a minute." Why? Spirits, he could be dense at times. He removed the sensor harness and spun around, but she was already heading towards the door. He began to hum, trying to sooth her as he closed the distance between them. She turned, her OT glowed and a kinetic barrier popped up in front of him. He slammed into and stumbled backwards. A few quick presses on his OT and a hand wave later, the barrier winked out. He watched her eye tick and wondered if she regretted giving him those upgrades now. He had to think fast, he had no intention of staying in the doghouse. He flapped his mandibles slowly, hummed softly, and imagined his wife naked beneath him. He knew she couldn't smell his desire or his pheromones, but he knew the pheromones still affected her. He knew his scenting had reached her when her eyes and stance began to soften. As his lifemate, she was as helpless against his pheromones as he was against hers.

She backed slowly away until came up against the wall. He placed his hands on the wall, caging her in with his body. He stood there a moment, trying to capture her gaze, giving his pheromones time to work their magic. When she sighed and looked him in the eye, relief flooded through him. "I'm sorry, Arianna. I was so absorbed in what I was doing that I didn't hear you come in. I didn't even realize you were there, I just knew there was a distraction. I – you know how I can get…" He lowered his cheek to hers, vibrating his mandibles against her soft skin. "I'm sorry," he breathed into her ear. He felt her shiver and his body reacted immediately to the pheromones she began to produce. He opened his mouth and breathed in, forcing her pheromones across his sensitive tongue and between his teeth. His chest began to rumble in response. The marking glands at the base of his teeth began to swell. That usually only happened when his scent on her fell below a certain level, but that wasn't the case this time. He could taste the pungent secretions as the glands began to leak. The need to mark her consumed him. Nothing else existed. He scraped his teeth down her neck and across her shoulder. He crushed her to him to prevent her escape and bit deep into her shoulder. He ground his teeth and gums against her in quick bursts, milking the ducts of the glands, trying to relieve the painful pressure. But the glands continued to swell.

It was pissing her off that she couldn't stay mad at him. That he could turn her anger to desire so easily. She felt the painful sting of his bite. She knew he was marking her again; there was no mistaking the scent. At first the vibrations against her felt good, but eventually her shoulder began to throb. She could feel his breath harsh against her battered flesh. She heard his whimpers and growls of frustration and realized something was wrong. For once her brain failed her. She didn't know what to do to help him and her shoulder was burning from the amounts of secretion he was pumping into her. The only thing she could think to do was distract him. She traced the hard bulge through his pants before lowering them enough to free him. He sprang into her hand and groans accompanied the whimpers and growls as she caressed him.

She wiggled her panties down her hips until gravity took over and they fell to her feet. She rolled up her dress, took hold of his carapace and pulled herself up, wrapping her legs around his trim waist. She lowered herself down onto his straining shaft.

His talons raked down her back and gripped her hips as he thrust into her. He pounded into her in sheer desperation. She clung to him whispering words of love, trying her best to ignore the pain from her ravaged shoulder. She did not merge them. She didn't want him to feel the agony she was in. Despite the pain, her body responded to his as it always had.

Zaeed stepped into the firing range and froze. He saw Garrus rutting into the Commander forcefully. He saw the tears and pain that contorted Shepard's features. Normally, he stayed out of the affairs of others, but this was…this was so wrong. He was not going to let this continue. With his mind set, he advanced on the pair, determined to teach the turian a lesson he would not soon forget. But before he could reach them he caught Shepard's eye and the slight shake of her head. He gave her a hard look and then saw her eyes go unfocused, her face tensing for a brief moment before she cried out with the force of her climax. He shook his head and beat a hasty retreat. Perhaps he would visit Samara, see how amenable she was to his charms. He would make sure the Commander was okay later and nothing would stop him from giving the goddamned turian a piece of his mind.

Garrus gasped when he felt her muscles grip him tightly. His talons dug in and he growled harshly against her shoulder as he emptied himself into her spasming sheath. As he continued to grind his teeth into her shoulder, the glands finally stopped swelling and the ducts were able to milk out the last of the secretions. He whimpered in relief as tears slid down his faceplates. He withdrew his teeth and ran his tongue gently over the ragged flesh, cleaning off the blood caused by his attack. The wounds began to knit closed, but her shoulder remained swollen and enflamed. He carried her over to a chair and sat down, so they could ride out the tie more comfortably.

He grasped her head between his talons and lifted her face to his. He saw her red, swollen eyes. He'd hurt her more than he realized. He brought his cheek to hers, fluttering his mandibles and humming out his distress. "I'm so sorry, vela. I never meant to hurt you like that. I don't know what happened. The glands wouldn't stop swelling. I - " She pulled away and his heart twisted in pain until her teeth sank into his shoulder. His chest rumbled and his hum became lighter. He growled out in pleasure as she suckled the small wound.

She trailed her tongue slowly up the artery of his neck. Her tongue wasn't as sensitive as his and his skin was too thick for her to feel much, but she knew it had significance as often as he did it to her. She brought her mouth to his ear canal. "There is no need to apologize for that, husband. I am well and truly marked. I think every known species will be able to smell who I belong to now." She gave a light laugh. "And I'm okay with that." But she was damn sure going to hit Mordin's lab later. Come hell or high water she was going to find a way to condense her pheromones, perhaps even a pheromone-hormone mixture into a thick oil or paste that she could use on her husband whenever she reaffirmed their bond. He'd gone unmarked long enough.

When his shaft slipped back into its sheath he stood them both up and nuzzled the top of her head.

"I love you, Garrus."

"That is not something my OT will ever allow me to forget, but I will never tire of hearing those words from your beautiful mouth." He slid his thumb across her soft lips. "I love you, Arianna." He peered around the room and sighed. "I think we need to get out of here, we were damned lucky no one walked in on us."

She flushed. "Someone did walk in on us. Zaeed."

"Crap!" Anyone on the ship would have been preferable to Zaeed.

"That about sums it up. Oh – and about those messages, I can remove the code for them…" she said as she rubbed her thumb over his OT implant.

He closed his hand around hers and removed it from his wrist. He didn't want her anywhere near his OT with talk like that. "Don't even think about it. You gave them to me…they're mine. No take backs allowed. Am I clear?"

"As crystal, Mr. Shepard-Vakarian, sir." She retrieved the tray of food. "Are you going to stay and practice a while longer or will you join me in the cabin to help me pig out on all of this?" She raised the tray of food to draw his attention to it.

"I'm going to close down the booth; I'll be up right behind you." He watched her leave, hung up the sensor harness and shut off the booth. He walked swiftly towards the door and froze. He saw something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, his gaze sweeping the floor until he spotted his wife's black panties. His mandibles spread in a smile. He couldn't wait to tease her about forgetting them. He picked up the lacey scrap of material and before he could think better of it, he brought it to his nose and breathed in her scent. "Spirits…" He slipped it into his pocket and all but ran to the elevator.

She was seated at her computer and hard at work when he walked into the cabin. "You sure don't waste any time, do you?"

"Sorry, there are a few last minutes adjustments I wanted to make before giving it a rest tonight. We'll eat in a just a moment."

Garrus sighed and sat down on the sofa.

A flashing light caught her attention. She turned her head just enough to see her husband's OT flashing on and off. She could feel the heat creeping up into her cheeks and sighed. She did give him the damned messages, but did he have to look at them in front of her? She returned her focus to the task at hand. Her concentration slipped every time she heard his gasp, groan or chuckle. She pulled up a secondary program and began to type, then returned to her original task to finish off the last commands.

He flipped his OT on again.

- I love you…Please drag me away from this damned computer, I'm starving.

He glanced up at his wife's back and his mandibles spread. He stood up, stretched, and sauntered over to her hunched form. He rested his hands on her shoulders and nuzzled the top of her head. He pulled her back against him, trailed his hand down her arm and took her hand in his. "Come on, vela. Your hushban's getting lonely."

She lowered her head to the table and her shoulders began to shake. He gave her hand a tug and pulled her up against him. She laughed even harder, her eyes shining with love as they locked onto his. "You are never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Of course not. I would never willingly give up good ammunition. And ammunition from you is always the best…But I do wish I could get you drunk again." He pulled up one mandible into a suggestive leer.

"I bet. You just like me stroking your ego."

"Touché. But, I like you stroking more than just my ego," he said suggestively.

"You have a one-track mind, Vakarian."

"That is your fault, wife."

"How is that my fault?"

"For two reasons. The first is that you've thrown my mind into the gutter ever since we first met. I was so taken by you that my mind twisted almost everything you said or did into something sexual. You were driving me crazy. You still do."

"Garrus…your mind didn't do any twisting. I wanted you and just about everything I said or did was intended to be taken sexually. A stretch, a touch, words with double meanings…Getting you into my bed was one of the hardest missions I'd ever taken on. So, yes, I completely own Reason number one. That was most certainly my fault. Reason number two?"

"I think I will save that for later."

She gave his mandible a tug. "You are such a tease."

She followed him to the sofa and curled up next to him. He placed the tray of food on their laps and wrapped his arm around her, tucking her in at his side. They fed each other quietly; content just to have this peaceful, comfortable moment.

He fished her panties out of his pocket and began to spin them around his finger. "You left something behind at the firing range."

Shepard looked at the rotating panties and flushed. "And just like that the magic was gone…" She made a grab for them and he jerked his hand away, still spinning them around his finger. She scrambled on top of his lap, upending the empty tray to the floor. Every time she got close to reaching the maddeningly rotating panties, he whipped them further out of reach. "Really, Garrus?"

Her breasts in front of his face was more than he could bear. He slipped his tongue down between her breasts and curled it along the underswell, before sweeping up her breast and coiling around the tight peak. He hooked a talon on the fabric of her dress and pulled it aside, baring her breast to his hungry gaze. He rubbed his cheek against the hard bud and fluttered his mandibles between her breasts. His chest rumbled, his need growing as she bounced against him trying to reach her panties. She pushed off his thighs, nearly crushing his newly emerged testicles. She shouted triumphantly when she snagged her panties from his finger and jumped off him.

She began to dance a victory jig, rubbing his face in her win. She glanced down and saw her breast bouncing free of her dress. She looked at her husband who was giving her a lopsided grin. "I suppose the only reason that I won was because you were distracted?" He remained silent, but his smile broadened. Damn the man.

She tossed her panties down the laundry shoot and shot her husband a hot look and a sultry smile. "Lover-boy….Oh lover-boy…" she said crooking a finger at him. "Come here, lover-boy…Take me to bed or lose me forever..."

Garrus raised both his browplates and flapped his mandibles slowly. "We can't have that, now can we?" He was at her side in a blink and began peeling off her clothes.

As soon as they were both naked, she gave him a sharp shove and backed away, falling into a fighting stance. The heat of his gaze bore into her.

"Vela…" his voice thick and heavy with need. "Haven't I abused you enough for one day?" With the shake of her head he sighed. "We can't do this anymore…the baby."

"The baby's fine, big guy – the doctor said we can still spar." She darted in, ducked his arm, ran her tongue up his shaft and rolled out of reach, flowing up into another stance.

The rumble in his chest grew louder. "That was playing dirty."

"Whatever it takes, husband." She could see his mandibles trembling…she hadn't pushed him far enough yet. She captured her breasts in her hands, caressed them and rolled her nipples between her fingers. She didn't really feel anything, only a lifemate could cause a physical response. The lifemate bond was absolute…but she could fake it with the best if she had to. A small moan escaped her lips as she continued to squeeze and caress her breasts. She imagined her husband's touch, the feel of his tongue against her and she could tell by the way his body tensed that she was scenting. She lifted one breast up and flicked the tip of her tongue over the hardened peak, followed by another moan.

"Vela…"

She'd never heard is voice drop so low. But then, she'd never really had to push him before. One hand slid lowly down her belly and through her dark, auburn curls. She spread her legs and dipped her fingers lower. She kept her ears alert for the slightest movement and flung her head back, a ragged cry escaped her lips. His mandibles began to clack fast and furious. Hook, line and sinker, babe…I got you. He was almost upon her before she realized it. She ducked, spun low, pulled her kick, but it was enough to make him stumble. She ran her hand up his thigh, rolled out of reach and into another stance. Her heart raced in excitement. His pupils were dilated, his breath coming in whistles over his teeth as he tasted her pheromones. The rumbles and clacking grew louder.

She could not hide how much she wanted him. He could feel it, smell it, taste it and the need to mate with her was consuming him. The longer she kept him at bay, the fiercer the need became. He did not strike out at her, though the blows she landed and the stolen caresses stoked the flames into an inferno. He kept pace with her, dodging blows and darting in to grab her, but she was always just out of reach. He rushed forward, spun, ducked low and reached out for a leg, she moved quickly, his talons slid along her thigh and grazed her wet heat before she was out of reach again. He brought his hand to his nose and breathed in her scent. He ran his tongue over the top of his talon. A low growl of need tore out of him and his shaft grew heavier.

He was closing in fast. She darted up the stairs and then came to a stop. Damn it! She'd backed herself into a corner. So much for being a genius. Neither the bathroom nor the elevator were viable options. She spun around to face him and calculated what it would take to get by him. She jumped atop the railing. She knew she didn't have time to turn around and leap down onto the sofa, so she decided to let gravity work in her favor. As her body started to fall she felt his talons grip her wrist in a vice grip. She rose one foot from the railing to push him back, knowing that if he didn't release her she'd end up falling on top him, which could prove to be fun. But his other hand captured her ankle. She felt his hot breath a moment before his mandibles fluttered against the very heart of her. She trembled at the onslaught of his tongue. He lowered her foot back onto the railing, released her hand, trailed his hands up the backs of her legs and gripped her hips tightly. Her moans were throaty, deep and very real. She merged their auras. The heat of his desire would have brought her to her knees if he wasn't holding her up.

The pleasure he was giving her rolled over him like a tidal wave. It was too much; he was too far gone. He yanked her forward and slammed her against her wall, his hand protecting her head as he drove deep into her tight, wet sheath. Her legs locked around his waist, imprisoning him between them. Soft growls blended with heady moans. His tongue played over her nipples, flicking them before wrapping around them. His head was jerked back, a crest spike tight in her grasp. He felt the sting of her bite on the side of his neck. He cried out when her tongue caressed the wound and again with the suction of her mouth against his sensitive skin. When she released him, he went straight for her neck. His tongue slid slowly over her pulsing artery. Another growl escaped him at the feel of her racing blood. His teeth clamped onto her throat, his tongue continued to stroke slowly along the artery. His jaws held her firmly, his talons bit into her hips as he drove into harder, faster… relentless.

God, she loved it when he lost control. The sting of his teeth, his hot breath fanning her neck in harsh pants, his tongue …dear god, what his tongue could do to her. And damn the man could fuck like a god when he lost it. She loved it when he made love to her tenderly, cherishing her…but when he became aggressive, there was something so primal…like a fire burning out of control - and to just give into it, to let it consume her…it took her to places she'd never imagined…freed a part of her she didn't even know existed. He was so thick, so long, and so damn deep. "Oh god… Garrus…"

He felt her muscles tighten around him as she stiffened in his arms. Oh, Spirits! He gripped her hips tighter, slamming her down as he thrust up into her. He vaguely heard her yell out his name when she climaxed, but it sounded like it came from a great distance. It was hard to hear past the rush of blood through his ears that mirrored the rush against his tongue. His jaws clamped tighter as an orgasm ripped through him. He thrust and thrust until his shaft locked them tight. He growled against her throat as he continued to spill himself deep inside of her. When he was finally spent, he released her throat, scraped his teeth along her shoulder, bit deep into his bondmark and took in the blood that fueled him. When her teeth pierced him, his rumble of contentment grew stronger. He lowered his mouth to hers and gave her a slow, gentle kiss. "I love you, Arianna Vakarian," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

She ran her fingers along his faceplates and gave him a soft smile. "And I love you, Garrus Shepard." She pulled him down and brought her forehead to his.

He carried her to the bed. She clung to him tightly while he used his arms and legs to maneuver them to the middle of the bed. He rolled them onto their sides, his mandibles spread in a smile when one of his prongs began to stimulate her. They were going to ride this ride straight into dreamland.

The days following the entrance into the Alpha Draconis System were nearly perfect. They were bordering the Rosetta Nebula. A couple of more days would see them to Aeia. She was continuing her beam workouts and her sparring. She had to fight to keep her husband from being too easy on her. The lighter he sparred, the heavier she did. She needed to stay in top form. If he was going to be too prissy to spar with her, she was sure going to take him down and hard. He finally picked up his stones when she threatened to find new sparring partners. He knew no amount of hard glares or threats would keep others from sparring with her, because most of the crew feared her far more than him.

She'd also been able to get through the first five Star Wars movies with Kasumi and few others. The movies were pretty good, funny too. It was neat to look back on what humans imagined aliens would look like. Five down seven to go. Jedi were an interesting concept. A life built on saving those in need and protecting the galaxy from the evil that threatened it. Kind of rang a bit of a bell. And damn if that Qui-Gon wasn't hot!

Stars, if she didn't want one of those lightsabers. Such a weapon could never exist, since the laser created by the crystal would go on forever rather than come to an end two or three feet from the hilt. But if such weapon could exist she'd be all over it. She was going to figure out how to make one, add it to her little toy collection.

She had commed Legion and had him meet her at his quarters. He liked to spend his time down in engineering or giving Garrus pointers at the forward batteries. Garrus ignored Legion for the most part. He had a lot of respect for Legion, but he still didn't like anyone telling him how to do his job.

She had some more calculations concerning her projects that she wanted to go over with him. With the information she had given him he was able to extrapolate more precise methods of management, which would lessen the amount of time needed for the completion of her projects.

She had thanked him with a hug and a kiss to his faceplate. She wasn't sure when he had started returning her hugs, it was certainly an un-geth like thing to do, but this time he did not release her right away.

"Shepard Commander, I-" He stopped mid-sentence and froze.

The use of 'I' had been startling. Apparently to him as well. She wondered if he might be becoming a little more self aware.

He looked down at her for a long moment as if he were deep in contemplation or computing something and then released her. "We want to thank you for trusting this unit and allowing us to be a part of your mission."

She frowned at his words. Talk about one step forward and two steps back. She put a hand to his faceplate and rubbed it. "Legion, you are more than some unit to me. I trust you completely. You are my friend. To me you are a man…a he…not an it. You are an I not a we….that is how I see you." She put a finger to his flashlight as if to shush him. "I know you will see that as illogical, and I don't care if it is. To me you are an individual. You are unique…you are special….and I love you." She pulled his head down and kissed his flashlight. "Thank you for helping to save me, for finding me again and for joining me. You have honored me and you will always have a place in my heart."

Legion flapped his plates a few times. "Acknowledged," he said softer than usual. Legion watched Shepard depart his quarters. It continued to flap its various faceplates. The programs within the platform were a bit unstable at the moment. They were trying to process Shepard Commander's words. And what those words made it feel. It was the feel part that was working its processors overtime. It felt more and more the longer it was away from the consensus…or more precisely the longer it was with Shepard Commander. It could not understand why it had used Shepard Commander's armor to repair itself. There had been a lot of armor in better condition that it could have used. But it had wanted only hers. And it felt good that Shepard Commander saw this platform as a person, an equal, a friend…that she loved it and was honored by its presence. It felt…it felt…it felt. It did not know how to process all that it felt. But it did know it would do anything for Shepard Commander.

"ETA 19 minutes out of Aeia, Commander."

"Thank you, Joker."

"EDI have Jacob and Mordin meet me at the shuttle in 15."

"Right away, Shepard."

Her husband greeted her in the hallway in front of their cabin when she stopped off the elevator.

She had agreed some time ago to have more people on her squads. She had little choice in capitulating after the gunship incident; she knew he would follow her down regardless of her orders. They both were glaringly aware that he was not a very good turian and protecting his lifemate…his wife and child were more important to him than chain of command. She was more okay with that then she initially thought she would be. They were the perfect team and leaving him behind had always left her feeling as though something were left undone or missing, a void no one had been able to fill. She was becoming less by-the-books herself as time went on. She couldn't help but wonder how that was going to affect her when she returned to the Alliance.

"Let's go see what the Gernsback has to tell us. As Jacob said, we may find nothing but dusty bones down there, but if there are survivors a doctor will be needed. We are not expecting resistance. But then, my missions never seem to turn out quite as I expect them to."

"Maybe not, but you can never tell that by looking at you. You are always prepared for anything that happens and that gives the team confidence that there is nothing they can't handle."

She looked at him thoughtfully as they entered their cabin. "I wasn't prepared to be spaced." She saw the pain etched in his face and she wished she'd kept her mouth shut.

He pulled her to a stop. "I think you were, Ari. You handled it like you do everything, thinking of everyone else before yourself. You had only seconds to spare, yet you had a speech all worked out. You were prepared for your death. But I, and the rest of the team, was not prepared for your death." He took a painful breath. "I received your message," he said quietly. "I can't tell you how many times I replayed it during those two years. That message and Geordi were the only things that kept me going." He looked over at the hamster. He missed having that little rat in his pocket.

She placed a hand on his cheekplate and turned his head so she could see his eyes. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought it up. I didn't mean to make you relive the memories."

"I always relive those memories, Arianna. They are always at the front of my mind. When I sleep, if I'm not dreaming of making love to you – I'm dreaming of losing you." He shuddered. "That's why I hold on to you so tight at night…Because I'm afraid that when I wake up you won't be there." Her fingers stroked gently over his browplates. He took her hand, brought her palm to his mouth and nuzzled it. "You can't soothe away that fear, vela. It will never release its hold on me. But it does drive me. I will never let anything happen to you again." His cleared his throat when his voice cracked. "Now go get suited up, we're running late."

She was struggling to fasten her armor. "I need a little help here," she said swiping her hand through her hair in frustration.

"What is it, vela?"

"I'm too fat for my armor…I need help fastening it," she said with a blush.

Garrus gave his armor a final adjustment and frowned as he moved to his wife's side. He placed a hand on her front and back and then pushed it together. She fastened it while he held it in place. "You are not fat, wife. That is our child and I love every inch of that belly." He rubbed the hard plate protecting their child before taking a step back.

She winced. "This is uncomfortable as hell," she groused, and rubbed her armor encased belly.

"Now you know how I feel."

"Do we need to get you larger armor as well?" she asked concerned.

"I've been thinking about it." He sighed. "I'm hard half the time I'm around you, vela…and this armor isn't built for it."

"Only half the time?" she asked seductively, trailing her fingers down his sensitive neck. "I'm going to have to work on that."

Garrus groaned and ran a hand down his face. "You are a merciless tease, vela."

"Tease? I think not. Tease implies I don't follow through…and I think we both know just how well I follow through." She gave her lips a slow, exaggerated lick. She caught the gleam in his eyes, stuck her tongue out, laughed and beat feet for the door.

Garrus caught up with her in the elevator. He pulled her in for a hard, heated kiss and then looked down at his wife's dazed eyes and swollen lips. She was so beautiful. He lowered his mouth plates to her soft lips and ran his tongue along them before darting into the heat of her mouth and deepening the kiss.

When he pulled away she was so sexually frustrated she could scream. "I deserved that," she said, her voice thick with desire. "Come on; let's go check out the Gernsback."

"My armor is as tight and uncomfortable as yours," Garrus said with a wince and a hitch in his step.

When they made it to the shuttle Mordin and Jacob cleared their throats. They could feel the sexual tension in the air. Jacob ran a hand along the back of his neck and hopped into the shuttle before his own unexplainable arousal could be seen. He told them again what little he knew about the Gernsback. It was privately owned and funded, that's why there weren't great records on where it had gone. All he knew is that it had been sent to survey a planet for possible human colonization. It disappeared 10 years ago and had never been heard from until now. His father had been first mate.

When they stepped out of the shuttle into the bright midday sun, they took in the rocky mountains and lush jungle vegetation around them. It was a beautiful planet. The massive wreck could be seen. It lay on shoreline, but was partially submerged in the water. She forced the sight and looked over everyone's aura. She shrugged, released the sight and kissed her husband for luck.

"I have run a scan of the ship. I detect no life signs, but there may be useful technology or information still inside," EDI informed her.

They followed a rock strewn dirt path down towards the Gernsback.

"There it is. And mostly intact. They could have survived impact…but it's been years," Jacob said. "Looks like it was stripped after the crash. They'd have tried to get a beacon up as soon as possible."

Stacks of crates and machinery parts were strewn about. She discovered a terminal that still worked. She accessed it to discover it was an officer's log. Or at least a partial log entry.

"…along with this anymore. We've done horrible things to the crew. The condition they're in, they don't understand what we're doing to them. Distract them for two seconds and they forget what you did before the bruises show. It's got to stop. I'm talking to the others as soon as—"

"Well, that was ominous. Let's see what we can find inside." There was very little left inside the portion of the ship that they could access. The flooring was canted up and covered with a pale green, spongy, moss type growth. She accessed a terminal on the left. This portion of the ship must have remained above tide level to be able to access the terminal at all. It was another partial log entry.

"…always said no. She even threatened a report if I didn't stop sending messages. But now she's so innocent. They all are. And that look she gives when she smiles….It's sure easier now. What's the harm? We're stuck here any—"

Shepard cringed. This was sounding real bad. At least if you were a woman.

"What's the matter, vela?"

She looked up into his blue eyes that mirrored his love and concern. "I'm just disgusted by what I'm hearing. Something happened to these women. Made them lose who they were and the men…they took advantage of it. I can't imagine being at the mercy of a lot of men like…that."

"I would never allow that to happen to you. Ever. We can't stop whatever was done here in the past, but if anyone is still alive we will end it now," Garrus assured her.

"Wonder if women were drugged. Made compliant. Not good. A tragedy if theory correct."

Shepard located another terminal on the far right. She was afraid of what she was going to hear, but knew she had to know it all.

"…crash you can't expect the luxury of due process, but this isn't a military ship. Just bumping the command line up a notch doesn't work. Captain Fairchild knew this crew. His replacement doesn't command the same level of respect. I'm hoping the man has it in him, but I doubt—"

The final terminal she was on the right not to far from where they entered. It was a medical terminal.

"What…what was her name? Sarah? S-Suzanne? My god, I can't remember…I can't remember her face! We need to get out…so I can remember, can think straight. They have to hurry," the doctor said in solemn desperation.

They left the dank hold and the warmth of the sun bathed them once again. He lootdar went off and she salvaged some credits she found buried amongst a bunch of spare parts.

"Repeat: Toxicology alert: Danger of rapid neural decay. Local flora chemically incompatible with human physiology." A VI voice had been alerted to their presence. "Override: Beacon resumed. Pause time, eight years 237 days, seven hours," the VI informed them.

She made her way over to the VI interface. "From the look of it, this beacon's been here awhile. Why would they wait so many years to signal?"

"There was a pause in beacon protocol, eight years, 237 days, seven hours. Pause is recorded as: RECORD DELETED by Acting Captain Ronald Taylor," the VI explained.

Jacob looked at her and shook his head. "That's not right. My father was first officer."

"Who is in command of this ship? Where are the survivors?" she asked the VI.

"Captain Harris Fairchild reported killed following the unscheduled suborbital descent. First Officer Ronald Taylor promoted in field to acting captain."

"But where is he now?" Jacob asked.

"The location of the remaining crew of the Hugo Gernsback is unknown. This beacon has been unattended for several maintenance cycles."

"I assume unsafe deceleration refers to the crash? Give me the details."

"Following an unspecified impact and sublight drive failure, the Hugo Gernsback made an unscheduled descent at 465% of theoretical recommended suborbital velocity. The Hugo Gernsback then decelerated at 782% of theoretical recommended approach velocity, sustaining significant damage to investment and crew."

"When did the beacon become functional?"

"The emergency beacon became functional after 358 days, 12 hours, following the unscheduled suborbital descent of the Hugo Gernsback. Activation was triggered remotely after eight years, 237 days, seven hours, on the authority of acting captain Ronald Taylor. Pause in beacon protocol is recorded as RECORD DELETED."

"You said local food impairs brain function? What are the effects?"

"Impairment of mental function due to chemical imbalance begins within seven days of ingesting local flora, regardless of decontamination or preparation. Impact on higher cognitive abilities and long-term memory is cumulative, but significant within a standard month. It is not known if neural decay is permanent. Data collection was not complete."

"We need to find these people. Let's go."

Jacob turned to her. "My father had a working beacon but didn't signal for nine years. Maybe…that neural decay affected him."

"It must have after so long," Garrus replied.

"Shouldn't eat local flora. Probably had no choice. Inevitable after that long," Mordin said shaking his head.

There were more stacked boxes to the right, so they moved off in that directions. When she'd reached the first set of stacked crates a woman jumped out at her.

"You came from the sky? The leader said someone would come! He delayed for so long, but he still has power! Some have lost faith. The hunters! They will have seen your star. They will not let you help him."

She placed her hand gently on the woman's shoulder. "Who are you? What was your rank on the Gernsback?"

She looked afraid for a moment…then confused. She rubbed her head. "I….can't think. The leaders think for us and we serve….so we can go home. But some want to fight him. They were cast out."

"Vela." Garrus nodded his head to the right.

Shepard saw a man duck behind a cover.

"He exiled them, so they hunt his machines and those that help him. They don't believe that rescue will come," the woman told her.

As more men joined him, the first that had approached pulled out a gun and Shepard gave the woman a gentle push to the ground Her OT glowed briefly when it threw a barrier bubble over her. "Stay down."

"Hunters…they won't stop until the leader is dead," she said looking up at Shepard.

"Kill them! Agents of the liar! He will not escape!"

"We're not here to help him control you. We are here to rescue the survivors." She tried to reason with the man.

"Lies! Kill them all!" the hunter yelled.

A bullet between the eyes ended his tirade. She glanced over at her husband and frowned. He shook his head. Shoot first and ask questions later was his motif regarding her safety. With the ring leader down she at least hoped the others would listen to reason. But they did not. There were only a handful of men and they went down quickly. She wished they'd believed her. It was a tragic waste of life. She released the woman from the protective barrier and told her to get someplace safe.

"Worse than neural decay. Suspect mental instability."

"Huh. They were insane!" Garrus agreed.

"My father wouldn't let this go on. Something is very wrong," Jacob said in dismay.

She found another hidden stash of credits. She would make sure any credits she found here were distributed evenly among the survivors. She didn't trust the cleanup crews to do it. They skirted the crates and debris and followed the trail around the bend. She looked out over the cliff to the ocean below and the mountains in the distance. It was too bad this world wasn't inhabitable without terraforming….but still an option if no other sentient beings are found.

They passed a mech lying to the side of the path.

"Stripped for parts, vela. The tech they had with them is wearing out. Those hunters must be laying on the pressure," Garrus pointed out.

At the top of the path people could be seen.

"Is that the settlement? They'd better be friendlier than the beach group. I need answers," Jacob said in frustration. None of this made sense to him. His father might have been gone a lot. But he knew his father was not the type of man to let this happen willingly.

Mordin scanned a couple of the women they saw. "Clearly docile. Same uniform remnants as those who attacked, however."

"If the toxins reduced their intelligence, their survival instincts would have devolved to covering their basic needs: food, shelter, protection of their territory and women." Shepard said, bouncing her hypothesis off Mordin.

"That is one possible theory. Previous female said hunters were exiled. Behavioral or gender-driven?"

"She said the exiled ones came back as hunters," Garrus corrected.

"I'm aware of that. However, if the males were exiled for some other reason besides their protective aggression, then there are far darker connotations at play here."

"It doesn't matter right now. One of these people must know what my father has to do with this!"

"Jacob, everything matters. The deterministic nature of a dynamical system does not, inherently, make it predictable. For instance, an arbitrarily small perturbation of the current trajectory can lead to significantly different future causatums. Damn me. Sorry. What I'm trying to say is that everything is connected, everything ripples, everything matters. Even a mighty warrior can be felled by a tiny stone."

"Chaos Theory, Shepard. Impressed. Live by it myself." Mordin bobbed his head in agreement.

Jacob rolled his eyes and then looked at Garrus. "I don't know how you live with that."

"She makes it worth my while."

She shot her husband a reproachful glare. The look he returned was heated and full of promise. Damn the man.

A couple of women approached. One held up her hand to stop them. "You have his face! He promised to call the sky, but he sends nothing."

"He forced us to eat…to decay. You are cursed with his face!" the other woman said bitterly.

"Not the best reaction to the family resemblance, Jacob," Shepard said with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"Whatever is happening here ends now," Garrus said with finality.

Shepard approached another woman. "I can't talk to you. I…don't want punishing."

Punishing? This is was looking worse by the minute. They looked up at some monstrous, hideous, statue-like…thing.

"What the hell? Somebody had to push them to make that. That's borderline…worship?" Jacob asked in disgust.

They approached another woman. "He keeps us. Protects us. And we please him like he demands."

Shepard hung her head for a moment. This was all so sick and twisted.

Garrus lifted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "We will put a stop to this abuse. It ends now. It ends with us," he said, fluttering his mandibles slowly.

Well, that certainly distracted her. "Damn, Garrus. You know I can't resist when you do that." She ran her hand around to the back of his head and pulled him in for a hard kiss before releasing him. She stood up straight. "That man will be lucky if I don't cut off his balls and sell them to a krogan."

She had just picked up another pile of credits when armed mechs barfed up their polite manners and attacked. A few mechs wouldn't have been a problem for any one of them…but with four of them it was a joke.

"Not familiar with a protocol that condones crew suppression via lethal force," Mordin said palming his gun.

"Not exactly a long-term discipline solution," Garrus responded sarcastically.

"It's apparent he doesn't care if they hate him," Jacob replied, rubbing his head in confusion. This was not like his dad. "I need to find out why he is doing this."

A woman stopped them before the entered a narrow path between two outcroppings of stone. "You… have his face…but you fight his…machines. I hope that means you will stop this." She held up a datapad and handed it to Jacob. "This…I forget how to…read, but this…was the start. What he promised and what they did to us. We need the sky. Take us back to the sky."

Jacob turned it on and began accessing the data.

"Jacob?"

"It's a crew logbook. Some of them thought the beacon repair was taking too long. They were afraid they'd run out of supplies and lose their minds to the decay. My father restricted the ship's food for himself and the other officers so that they wouldn't be affected. Everybody else had to eat the toxic food and hope for treatment later. The rest is a casualty list. A few mutinied over the decision. My father and the other officers turned the mechs on them. The beacon was fixed within a year, so the plan must have worked. Why no signal?"

"I don't know, Jacob. It sounds worrisome. Your father wasn't command material. He couldn't control them without violence."

Jacob looked back at the pad and continued reading the data. "It didn't stop there. More incidents… harsh punishments. It's like they are cattle. Or toys. Within a year, all the male members are flagged as exiled or dead. They separated out the women. Assigned them to officers like pets. After the beacon was fixed, the officers appear in the casualties, too...within the same week. After! My father took control and didn't stop it."

Shepard crossed her arms over her chest. "Does it say why he separated the men from the women? Or is it as bad as it seems?"

"No, it turns to gibberish. Maybe the men got violent early on, but from the state of this place, I'd say the hunter thing is recent. What he allowed to happen here, Shepard…I don't see any justification."

"There is no justification for this abuse of power," Garrus said cryptically. "He only activated the beacon now because the men have come for him."

"He let this happen, and now it's biting him in the ass," Jacob said bitterly. "I need to find this…man."

Several large crates blocked their path. Shepard put her arm around her husband and Mordin. I'll be right back for you Jacob."

Garrus turned her to face him and shook his head. "Save your strength…you don't know what's up ahead."

"You know blowing up things is just what everyone expects from me," she said with a frown.

Garrus spread his mandibles wide "Then let's not disappoint the masses."

Shepard sighed. "Do you want the honors, Garrus?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

"It's all yours," she said pointing to the downed mech near the crates.

Everyone else stepped back a good distance while he rigged the mech to explode and then joined them. Her husband shielded her as she put up a kinetic barrier bubble around them all. Debris bounced of the bubble and she gave them a bright smile. They all just stared at her. She looked around, but didn't notice anything that would have captured their attention. "Did I sprout another head or something?"

"Or something," Jacob said. The men cleared their throats and laughed.

"What-" she began…

"This is Captain Ronald Taylor. Thank god you're here! My crew went insane. I only just got free."

"Goddamnit!" Jacob said in disgust. "It's really him. Just got free? He's covering his ass."

As they continued up the path they noticed something on the side of the trail. Up close they could make out the dead bodies.

"Old dead left posed. Possibly a warning? Recent corpses left where they fell," Mordin said shaking his head.

At the top of the trail they could see more large crates and a fire raged to the side.

"Hostiles up ahead!" Garrus warned.

They pulled their guns. Shepard jumped, the disks slid from her boots and she flew to the first large crate, and ducked behind it. Jacob pulled three of the mechs towards them. Damn but she hated when he did that. Jacob liked to fight up close, that's why he carried a shotgun. But, her? Not so much. She really needed someone to teach him some more moves. While the men were focusing on blowing the flying mechs, that had flown right over her head, to bits, she grabbed her bats, amped incinerate and cryo, jumped up, flicked her wrists, coiling one around its neck, the other around its body and pulled. The mech's head flew in one direction, its body another. Now that was fun.

"Careful, I automated my defenses after the crew turned violent. They kept attacking. I had no choice," Ronald warned them.

"He had plenty of choices. A little late to blame his victims," Jacob said in disgust.

She darted over to a large generator and ducked behind a convenient cover as mechs started coming at her from the left. She released Grim and told him to go have some fun. Garrus made his way to her side and ducked behind the cover with her. He gave her a quick kiss, jumped up and overloaded an oncoming mech.

Mordin and Jacob spread out. Garrus saw his wife rip another mech in two with her whips. "That had to hurt!"

They cleaned out that wave and Shepard darted around her cover to another one facing the trail up ahead. A new wave of mechs were coming at them from that direction. But they seemed uncoordinated…one even walked right off the side of the cliff. Grim shot around the bend and back into view. Way to go little guy. "Have at 'em if you want them.." She hopped up, followed her lootdar and let her team mop of the remaining, blinded mechs.

She collected the credits and scanned some data, hoping it might prove useful later. She turned to head back to her team and walked into Garrus. He wrapped one arm around her and lifted her chin up with his other hand. He dropped a kiss on her lips.

"I had to keep them busy, distracted, but it's getting dangerous. Thank god you've come!" Ronald Taylor told them over a loud speaker.

Jacob was fuming. How could this man…this monster be related to him. "He had his fun, and now he wants out. Son of a bitch."

The path further up was even more beautiful. The rocky shoreline, the mountains, the ocean, the palm trees…This planet was a paradise…if something could be done with it. The path finally came to the entrance of a compound. A couple of mechs attacked…yawn…

"It took years to train my guards. I'm afraid you'll have to fight them to rescue me," Ronald broadcasted.

"Throwing people away. This…thing…is not my father," Jacob sneered in revulsion.

Her lootdar directed her to some more credits stashed in a piece of discarded machinery. She picked up additional Arc ammo and slipped through the compound's front gate. She darted to a large metal wall and peeked around it. Primarily men.

When the bullets started flying she allowed herself to attack. Her OTs flashed as she sent wave after wave of incinerate followed by cryo on anything that moved. There was one pesky guy hiding between a tree and a bridge that managed to avoid everything she'd sent at him. She was about to go in after him when she heard a YMIR approaching. She grabbed her Viper, ducked out and shot three bullets at its head. She darted back behind the metal wall. A rocket detonated against the wall and it barely registered the impact. "Going dark!" She jumped, her boots slid out of her boots and she flew in around the large YMIR and ripped out its power cell. It folded itself into a squat and deactivated. She scanned the compound. Only the one hidden man left. She headed further in. The man jumped out of hiding when he saw her and took aim. Grim circled the man, fired a cryo bolt at him. Her OT flashed then dimmed. The man toppled to the ground, a small neat hole in his head.

Garrus caught up to his wife, ran his talons through her hair and pulled her in for a heated kiss. "I wasn't going to take a chance, vela," he whispered into her ear. He felt her shiver in response. He ran his tongue along the shell of her ear and nipped her lobe between his mouth plates.

"Garrus…" she moaned.

"Enough with the toys…I need to look my father in the eye and hear him try to justify this," Jacob said in outrage.

Garrus sighed and released his wife. He looked down into her flushed face, her desire filled eyes and kiss swollen lips. He had to have more. He traced his tongue along her lips; she captured it and sucked it into her mouth. He groaned and gave into it.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "My father first, Shepard…orgy later."

Shepard sighed, ended the kiss and stepped back. "Let's do this then." She nabbed some credits from a data pad and entered the living quarters of the compound. She snapped the gun to her back and approached the lone man.

Ronald turned to them when he heard them come near. "You're here! I knew a real squad would blow through just fine. Sorry if the mechs scuffed your pads."

Shepard walked to the railing and looked out over the inlet.

"I'll get you something nice when we get back to Alliance space. I've got to have some back-pay coming," he told her.

"Won't be necessary," she said crisply.

"What about your crew, Acting Captain?" Jacob said bitterly as he looked at his father.

Ronald turned to him. "Total loss. The toxic food turned them wild. They propped me up here in some kind of ritual behavior. Waiting for a chance to signal has been hell."

"Is that how you're going to play this?" Jacob asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"You let all your people talk back like that…uh…who are you, exactly?"

"I'm a Spectre. You're running a very questionable setup here, Captain. Explain."

"Of course. It was chaos after the crash, and the crew never really accepted me as captain. They rebelled and trapped us here. Once they started to eat the toxic food, I couldn't control them, and I couldn't get to the beacon."

"Just stop. We know what you did to your crew. Why let this go on for ten years?" The derision thick in his voice.

"Who the hell are you?" Ronald asked in exasperation.

Jacob walked up to his father. "Taylor. Lieutenant Jacob Taylor."

Ronald was shocked. "Jacob? My Jacob?"

"Not who you expected to see, Captain?" Shepard asked drolly.

Ronald turned his head to look at her. "I was hoping not to have to explain this to him. Or anyone, really." He turned back to his son. "You have to understand. This isn't me. The realities of command, they change you. I wasn't ready for that."

"I'm not biting, Captain. At some point, you chose to do this to your crew. You!" Shepard said, barely able to contain her ire. Selling this man's testicles to a krogan was looking more and more appealing.

"When was that moment?" Jacob asked his father. "I want to know that there was an actual reason."

"Vela.." Garrus nodded in the direction of a man who had just walked in.

Ronald turned away from his son and took Shepard's place at the railing. He couldn't bear to look at his son while telling his story. "There was resistance to the plan. Mutiny. We had to take a hard line to keep order. And things settled down. As the decay set in, we made sure the crew were comfortable. Some even seemed happier. Ignorance is bliss, right? And they were grateful for guidance, like an instinct. Pure authority was…easy. At first. Months in, the effect lowered inhibitions. They got territorial. Rank, protocol—they couldn't understand anymore. We had to establish dominance. After a while the perks seemed…normal."

Two more men had joined the first. Shepard was keeping an eye on them.

"That's it? You created a harem and played king? Ten years in a juvenile fantasy?"

"I can't point to where it all went wrong. But when the beacon was ready, revealing what happened didn't seem like a good idea."

"What happened to the other officers?" Shepard asked.

"Anders found his conscience a little late to step back. He had an….accident. Things got…tense. End of the day, I was the one with the mechs. I got a little basic setting examples, but I was kind to my people once things settled down. Seemed like I'd earned some peace."

"You fought over people like they were toys. Things!" Jacob interrupted.

"You had to know this would end one day, the food from the ship couldn't last forever," Shepard pointed out.

"Dining for one can really stretch things out. Besides, I can think of a lot worse retirement plans than stripping down and joining the droolers. That was before the hunters, of course. Dumb or not, I'd feel it if they got their hands on me now. They want blood. I'd prefer to keep it," Ronald replied.

"It's all about you. Everything." Jacob could barely contain his anger and loathing of the man who sired him.

Shepard thought about soothing Jacob with a touch, but in the end she knew he had a right to his emotions. What was done here was unforgivable. "You didn't care enough about your family to want to leave?"

"I gave him a good start. He was a smart kid and was better off not knowing me. We figured that out a long time before I took jobs in deep space. And, after things escalated here, it seemed best to just disappear off the galactic map."

"Until you needed someone to save your pathetic ass!" Jacob said shaking his head.

"He treated these people no better than animals, vela. There's only so many times you can kick a thing before it fights back." Garrus wanted nothing more than to put a bullet between the man's eyes…but that would be too easy. He deserved so much more. This man had no remorse.

"We will help these people. We'll drop off a ration of food and have EDI send an anonymous tip to the Alliance. They will be here soon and get everyone out of here."

Jacob pulled his gun on his father. "He's not worth the fuel to haul him out, or the air he's breathing. He's damned lucky I don't even think he's worth pulling the trigger." He lowered his gun. "I don't know who you are. Because you're not any father I remember. The man who did this doesn't know right from wrong."

"I can pull the trigger if you like…It even crossed my mind to cut off his testicles and sell them to the krogan…but I have a better alternative. Suppose we go arrange pickup for the rest of the survivors while the acting captain deals with the hole we punched through his mechs."

Garrus chuckled. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, vela."

Shepard shot him a droll look. "You weasel out of that easily enough, Vakarian."

"Now wait. I'm supposed to get rescued. The crazy ones, you don't know what they'll do to me."

"Untrue. Intentions easy to predict. Just don't care," Mordin said matter of fact.

Jacob looked at Shepard. "My father was a different man, Shepard. A good man. Wish I'd found him." He turned his back on his father and walked away.

"Jacob?" His father cried out.

Jacob turned to face his sire. "You were a better man dead. As far as I'm concerned, you still are." He turned his back on him again. This time he did not look back.

"Jacob!" Ronald yelled in panic. He turned his head in time to see a fist with his name written on it.

When they stepped out of the compound, Shepard commed EDI. "EDI, arrange to have a store of food and some fresh water sent planetside. When it's arrived, I want you to send Anderson and Hackett a comm and let them know about the Gernsback survivors; they need an immediate pickup. Make sure they know of the toxic food and to send medical backup."

"Right away, Shepard."

While they were waiting on the food to be delivered, Shepard had her crew gather up some of the local food and fauna for research. She also had Chakwas and a medical team come down to help Mordin take care of the survivors. She had EDI create a Gernsback fund account and transferred the credits she had found, plus a hefty donation from her own account. She instructed EDI to have the account turned over to Anderson with the instructions to have it split between the survivors and to make sure he checks into any back pay they are owed.

When they got word that the Alliance would be here within a day she began having her teams pull out. She assured the survivors that ships would be here soon to pick them up. She also told them about the account she had set up so they would not have to worry about their immediate future.

They never went back to check on Ronald. When the men eventually joined the survivors, no questions were asked.

"Commander Shepard, we cannot thank you enough for all that you have done for us. We will not forget your kindness."

Shepard smiled through round after round of hugs and was finally able to make her goodbyes and returned to the Normandy.

"Alliance ships are inbound, Commander. We should probably disappear."

Shepard couldn't agree more. "Don't even give them the taillights."

"Roger that," Joker replied with a chuckle.

When she walked into the debriefing room, she noticed that Jacob was in a comm with TIM. They discovered that it had been Miranda and not TIM that had leaked the Gernsback information. Miranda said she'd passed along the information to keep an old promise she had made to Jacob.

"Are you okay, Jacob?"

"My father's been dead a long time, Shepard. His body just has some catching up to do. But I want to thank you for seeing to this matter and helping me to finally get some closure."

"I'm just glad I could help, Jacob."

Shepard returned to her cabin, she had programming she still needed to do. Knowing his wife would be busy for awhile, Garrus headed for the forward batteries and the calibrations that awaited him there.

No time like the present, Zaeed thought as he marched into the forward batteries. His eyes scanned the room until they settled on his target. "I need to say something to you, Vakarian, and you're going to listen."

Garrus sighed. He had expected to hear from Zaeed sooner or later. He snapped the panel back on the canon's interface and turned to face the grizzled merc. "If you're here because of what you thought you saw, then you can leave. What happens between my wife and I is not your concern," Garrus said coldly.

"It's my goddamn concern if I see it. I've done a lot of things in my life that I'm not proud of, Vakarian. But I've never hurt a woman – at least not one that wasn't trying to kill me. What I saw, what you did to her, is unacceptable and inexcusable! I won't let it continue!" he said, his voice rising in anger. "I don't care if it is normal for turians to abuse their wives, but I won't goddamn stand for it! If I ever hear of you abusing the Commander again, I will kick the shit out of your goddamn bony ass, until you learn how to treat a woman with respect!" he seethed, shoving his finger in the turian's face.

Garrus stood up straighter. "I respect that woman more than you will ever know! There is nothing I wouldn't do for her! No turian would ever abuse their wife, let alone their lifemate! They would be branded and imprisoned for doing so. While I respect that you are trying to protect her…that is my job!"

"Then do your goddamn job!" Zaeed seethed, his face mottled with rage. "Because, if you can't - you can be goddamn sure I will! You may protect her from her enemies, but it is apparent someone needs to protect her from you!"

"You don't know what you saw, Zaeed! It was not what it looked like - "

"Wasn't it? I saw the tears and pain on her face! I saw you rutting into like a wild animal! I know what I saw and I won't let you treat her like that!" he said, stabbing a finger into the turian's hard carapace.

Garrus knocked his hand away. "Back off, Zaeed! I was marking my wife, not raping her! Turians mark their mate with a bite. It is not a choice; we don't choose to do it, our bodies force us to. You are not turian, you do not know what we go through. So, don't you dare judge me just because you can't understand!" Garrus rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Look, Zaeed…I love my wife, I would rather die than hurt her. Talk to her, if it will help. Hell, she'll probably be able to explain turian courtship better than I can."

Zaeed shot a hard look at the turian and nodded, before turning away. When the door slid open, he looked back at the turian. "I've got my eye on you…treat her right." Goddamned turians, he mumbled to himself as the door closed behind him.

"Always," Garrus said softly as he watched the merc leave.

Chapter 33

Tali's Interlude

The next few days the squad spent a lot of time training…guns, sparring and improving biotics. She didn't know exactly what they were going to be facing, but she wanted everyone to be as strong as possible.

She had the biotics gather for daily training. Each was responsible for teaching the others the biotic powers they excelled at. Thus, she hoped that each individual would be made stronger by broadening what each was capable of. Not to mention, she was desperate to have someone teach Jacob how to throw or slam a body, rather than yank it into their faces… or worse if they end up being flanked by someone pulled towards them. He was starting to develop some proficiency with throwing, and he could throw pretty hard… but he wasn't so great at aiming the throw. Samara was skilled with Reave, so she worked on teaching the other biotics how to use that power. Jack picked it up rather quickly. Her Reave ability was light still, but there… and Shepard wondered if they would eventually regret that. Jacob was having no luck whatsoever and she thought that perhaps it may just be too aggressive for his nature. That was unfortunate, because Reave could set off his pull wave and detonate beautifully. Perhaps time was all he needed.

Jacob was ready to scream and had dreams of throttling his commander and Samara until the first explosion rocked the simulator. He threw his arm up and yelled at his victory. He picked Shepard up and spun her around. His lips found hers in a kiss. Her mouth was firmly sealed against him and he stilled when he realized what he had done. "Sorry, Shepard...I got a little carried away. It won't happen again."

"I understand the excitement of learning something new, Jacob. I'm so proud of you. You did great!"

He held his hand up and she high-fived him.

She had Jack work with the others on their shockwaves. She wanted to build up Jack's confidence by showing trust in her ability. She was actually impressed with Jack. She had half expected her to go ape if someone didn't catch on to manipulating shockwaves quick enough, but she was surprisingly more patient than expected. She also had them work on endurance and speed as well as defenses such as self raising and lowering, barriers and stasis bubbles. Their proficiency as a well rounded biotic unit was growing exponentially.

Overall, the biotic's program was going rather well. There were a few flare-ups between Jack and Miranda, but Shepard and Samara had agreed that the two should not be allowed to actually spar against each other. If they split into pairs Samara usually bit the bullet and took on Jack. Jack appeared to have some level of respect for the justicar.

During one of her rounds she caught Tali pacing. She seemed a bit agitated and worked up.

"What's the matter, Tali?"

"I don't know, Shepard. I just feel like I want to crawl out of my skin and scream."

When her friend began to fidget and pace again, Shepard grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Tali sighed. No, there were definitely things she could not tell her friend. "I know that, Shepard. It's just…there's Ken & Gabby, you & Garrus, Jacob & Kasumi, Zaeed & Samara - at least in Zaeed's mind, even Miranda & Jack – as crazy as that sounds. And then there's…"

"You."

"Yes…me. I'm just, I don't know…frustrated because I want you.." Tali froze in horror.

"It's okay, Tali…I understand what you're trying to say."

"You do?" she squeaked.

"Sure, you're um…lonely. I get it. I'm sorry if I've not been there enough for you, Tali. It seems I have failed you."

Tali shook her head and placed her hand upon Shepard's cheek. "No! Shepard, you've always been there for me. You haven't failed me. This is my problem to work through, not yours. I know you want to help, but there are just some things…some things I need to do on my own."

Shepard pulled her friend in for a hug. Tali clung tightly to her for a moment before backing away. "I'm always here if you need me, Tali." Shepard turned to leave and then paused. "Tali?…comm Reegar. I think he will want to talk to you. Just give him a small push; that's all it will take. He likes you." Shepard said, giving her a knowing wink.

Tali blushed, thankful that her suit hid what those words did to her. She loved Shepard, maybe because she'd saved her so long ago...or maybe just because of everything she was. But she also knew nothing would ever come of those feelings. The feelings she felt for Reegar at least had a chance of maybe developing into something beautiful…if Shepard was right. And Shepard was never wrong about things like this. "Thank you, maybe I'll do that," Tali said as Shepard disappeared through the door.

Tali hopped the elevator down to the bottom floor and made a mad dash to her clean room. When she had told Shepard she would be joining her soon on Freedom's Progress, Shepard had cleared out a small cargo area and installed decontamination and sterilization equipment so Tali would have a clean room so that she would be able to remove her suit and be comfortable. It was just one of the many thoughtful gestures that made Tali love Shepard so much. It was lonely in her room, but she had a freedom she rarely got to experience outside of the flotilla's clean rooms. Like the airlock on the Normandy, there was a small decontamination area that opened up into her quarters. Her friends could enter only if they were suited up.

The doors to her quarters opened up when the decontamination program finished. When the door swished closed behind her she popped the release on her mask and gave a sigh of relief. Getting in and out of her suit was a pain…but a very welcome one. Since she had joined Shepard's crew with only the suit on her back, Shepard had seen to it that she had a small closet filled with clothes and even an extra suit. She was stunned when Shepard had included quarian food on the menu. Real quarian food. Not having to eat the standard filtered turian nutri-paste meant so much to her. Tali had never met a more thoughtful, generous or loving person in her life.

She slipped into comfortable clothing and sighed. She commed Reegar and left a message. There was a small chime and she looked curiously at the door leading to the decontamination chamber. Nobody ever came without comming first. When the door slid open no one was there. Odd. She moved to check out the entry chamber. A small box was sitting in the middle of the chamber. She picked it up, sat down on her cot and opened it. She looked curiously at the strange item nestled in silky material. It looked something like a knife and was both hard and soft to the touch. She pushed the button and it vibrated in her hand. She laid it down on her cot and it started moving with the force of the vibrations. She hit the button again and shut it off. What was she supposed to do with that? She looked back at the box and noticed a small slip of paper. She opened it up and read the instructions and looked at the diagram. Oh my. Tali picked it up and pushed the button. Vibrations flew down her arm. Oh my. She laughed so hard she started crying. Leave it to Shepard. She now had a b.o.b. of her own.

Well, why the hell not? She settled back to see what all the hoopla was about. She removed her pants and lay back on the bed in nothing but her shirt. She nearly jumped off the bed at the first touch and dialed down the intensity. Ooh my. Her OT beeped just as an orgasm stole her breath away. She moved the vibrator out of sight range and sat up, flipping it on. A suited Reegar popped up on her screen.

Reegar sucked in his breath. He'd never seen Tali without her suit on. She was stunning. Her face was lightly flushed and her eyes were full of desire. He felt himself harden and tried to come to grips with what she made him feel. She was an admiral's daughter. He had no business feeling anything for her. She was way out of his league…out of his reach. "What can I help you with, ma'am?" His voice rough with an emotion he didn't want to think about.

"I told you to call me Tali, Reegar."

"Yes, ma'am….I'll work on that."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes….Tali," he said softly.

"That's more like it….Kal," she said, loving the sound of her name rolling off his lips. Tali swallowed the lump in her throat. She chewed on her lower lip as she considered what she wanted to tell him.

"Can I do something for you, m-Tali?" Reegar watched her chew her lip and wondered what her lips would feel like…taste like. Now that he knew what she looked like it was going to be even harder to get her out of his mind. He'd been thinking a lot about her since their time on Haestrom. He had a lot of respect for her; she'd proven herself very capable. But he also had other feelings he didn't have a right to have.

"Yes, Kal…you can. At least I hope you can." She licked her lips nervously. Here goes nothing. I hope like hell you're right Shepard. She didn't relish embarrassing them both for nothing. But she was also not one to let life just pass her by when she could charge it head on. "Do you think you could ever see me as a woman Kal…and not just an admiral's daughter?"

Reegar was stunned. Of all the things she could have said, he would never have expected that. Was it possible she felt something for him too? How should he answer? He knew his place….or at least thought he did. Should he gamble on what she might have meant by that question? What if he just embarrassed them both? What if he was taking what she said wrong?

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Kal," she said, taking his silence as rejection. "I hadn't meant to. If all you want is friendship, I'm okay with that. But you can never know unless you ask, right? So, please…forgive a woman for her foolishness. I'm glad to see you are doing well. It's been good to hear your voice, Kal. I'll let you go. Stay safe." She disconnected them. She sighed and rubbed her face. No harm done. I guess Shepard can't be right about all things.

She took b.o.b. to her small sink, cleaned it and nestled it back into the silken box. She placed the box in her bedside table. She and b.o.b. were going to become best of friends. Though thanking Shepard might prove a bit awkward. She took a moment to use the toilet, a thankful reprieve from having to use those particular suit functions. Her OT beeped. She flipped it on and found a handsome man looking at her.

"You disconnected too fast…Tali. But it gave me a chance to get to my quarters. I wanted you to be able to see the man behind the mask."

Kal! Hot damn he was more gorgeous than she could have imagined. "Wow. You're more beautiful than I could have imagined." Her hand flew to her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that. She wasn't sure who was blushing more…him or her. "Damn it. I'm sorry, Kal. I hadn't meant to say that out loud."

Kal felt the heat spread up his face. He was embarrassed at the compliment…though, it pleased him that she found him attractive. "Yes, well…thank you. But you are the beautiful one…not I," he said flushing darker. "I did not think you were being foolish." He looked down, rubbed his hand over his cheeks, and then looked back at her. "You've been on my mind a lot since Haestrom. Too much. I felt things for you I had no right to feel. I never dared to hope you might…care about me," he admitted. "But time is too short and uncertain. If you feel anything towards me, I would like to…"

Tali smiled. "I do have feelings for you, Kal," she interrupted him. "If you are willing, I would like to explore our feelings and see where it takes us."

"Damn straight I'm willing," Kal said with a smile. He turned around, dug through a cabinet and popped a canister into the port of his suit. He removed it and then inserted a second.

"Are you okay, Kal?" She was unable to keep the concern from her voice.

"Um…yes." He flushed. "Nerve-stim pro and immunoboost pro," he admitted shyly. He probably should have waited to start them, but he had been too excited.

"I've already started them myself…" she noticed his questioning glance and gave him a warm smile. "A girl can be hopeful."

"Just so you know…I intend to kiss you when we meet up again. You have tormented me in my dreams for too long," Kal said matter of fact. He hoped he didn't scare her off, but he knew his feelings were written all over his face.

Tali gasped at the heated look he gave her. To see the naked longing on his face and to know that he dreamed about her buckled her knees and she sank heavily onto her bed. "You had better Kal, because if you don't …I will kiss you….and I cannot promise to stop at a kiss."

Kal groaned. He could swear all the blood in his body had flooded into his groin. Damn suit wasn't made for all that she was making him feel. "As much as I may want more than a kiss, I will not make love to you until you can love me back. I will not cheapen what we have between us with anything less."

Tali's heart flipped and soared. The attraction that she'd felt for him during their trip to Haestrom, the feelings that developed the weeks they were there, the heartache she'd felt thinking he'd been killed. The elation at seeing him alive. The growing feelings and dreams she'd had since leaving him behind… Those beautiful words had sealed his fate….because she realized she did love him. "I do love you, Kal…I just hadn't realized how much until now," she admitted with a quiet certainty. She might love Shepard and to some degree Garrus…but they could never have given her what she needed. If Kal wanted it, her heart was his for the taking. "My heart belongs to you…if you want it. But if you take it, then you better cherish it, because it can break easily," she warned him.

Kal felt his knees begin to quake and he sat down before they gave out on him. "I could never hurt you, Tali. I love you. The thought of you hurting would tear me apart. You've had my heart since Haestrom…you just didn't know it. Your captain saved us both that day. I owe her a lot."

"So do I. And I'm so very glad that she is never wrong about this kind of thing. Kal…do you have an undersuit on?"

"What do you mean? And yes, why?" he asked in confusion.

"Then take your suit off. I'd like to think you were as comfortable as I am. And what I mean is this…Us. She encouraged me to comm you….she knew I had feelings for you…she told me you liked me too. So, I decided to take the chance that she might be right…that you might feel for me what I felt for you. I'm so very glad I took her advice."

"Your captain sees a lot. And I owe her far more than I thought. You have a clean room onboard the Normandy?" he asked as he detached himself from the suit and pulled it off. Keelah, that was better. He was no longer crushed in that damned cup.

"Yes, Shepard has provided me with everything I could possibly want. A clean room, clothes, a new suit, even quarian food. I don't have to eat paste! Plus, she helped us find each other. She is so much more than the capable soldier she is portrayed as. There is no one alive with a bigger heart or more generous soul. She would do anything for anyone regardless what it cost her. If her lifemate had hair, he'd be pulling it out on a daily basis," she said with a laugh.

"You love her, don't you?" he asked quietly.

Tali was still for a moment. "Of course I do. She is my best friend. She is family to me. I will always love her."

Kal was pretty sure that Shepard meant more to her than she let on, but he would leave it at that. She had given him her heart and he had no intention of returning it. "Wait…she has a lifemate?"

"Yeah. Garrus Vakarian. He is the turian you met on Haestrom. Garrus served with us aboard the original Normandy. I always knew they'd end up together. They were just so blind to how the other felt. Joker, our pilot even set up a betting pool on when they'd get together. I lost," she said laughing sadly at the memory. "I had thought about setting them each straight. Everyone could see how they felt about each other, but in the end…I didn't. She helped us find each other. If I could go back, I would change things. I would give her the gift she gave me…open eyes. That is why I was so direct with you. Life is uncertain and time too fleeting to waste a single minute of it." She propped up her pillow and leaned back against the wall, resting her arm with the open OT screen across her belly so she could talk to him more comfortably.

"Damn. I'm still in shock over the lifemate thing. I've never known anyone who has met their lifemate. I honestly didn't even believe in them. The idea seems so…impossible."

"It's Shepard, Kal…anything is possible."

"Yes, I suppose you are right." He reached out and put his hand near her face in front of the screen. He smiled when she put her hand on his. He wished he could feel her.

"I wish I could touch you," she whispered.

Kal watched her nipples harden beneath her thin shirt. "Tali…you might want to…your shirt…it's um-"

"Bothering you? Okay. I'll take care of it."

The screen bounced around a moment and when things came back into focus Kal swallowed his tongue. Tali had removed her shirt and her breasts were thrusting towards him, her nipples puckered and tight. He felt himself swell. Damn. He was so hard he was afraid he was going to lose it. "Are you trying to kill me?" he asked, his voice strained and hoarse.

"No, but I was getting hot thinking about you touching me…about touching you. Will you take your shirt off for me? If I can't touch you at least I can have more fulfilling dreams." The screen bounced around and then settled. Tali marveled at the play of his muscles as he laid the shirt next to him on his bed. She ran her hand down the small screen, wishing she could feel him beneath her fingers. She was aching to feel him against her. Her muscles clenched. She was so close…If she could lose herself just looking at him and talking to him…what was it going to be like when he actually touched her? "Say something, Kal…anything. I'm so close to coming…just say something," she implored him breathlessly.

Kal's eyes opened wide. His shaft jerked in response and grew heavy. Damn. His woman had claws and he couldn't wait to feel them. "I want to run my tongue across your lips and taste your kisses. To feel your fingers caress my skin and hear your moans when my tongue flicks over your tight nipple before I draw it deep into my mouth…oh damn, Tali…I'm going to lose it if I don't stop."

"Kal, if you stop talking I'm going to have to touch myself. I'm too close to stop it and I want you to make me come."

Her flushed skin, unfocused eyes and panting breaths spoke how close she truly was. He would give anything to be there right now. "Tali, I'm so hard for you right now I can't even think straight. I want to run my hands over your body, hold tight to your hips and rub myself against your heat until you beg me to come inside you. Would you beg me, Tali?"

"Yes, Kal…yes...come inside me."

"I would push into you slowly, feeling your heat stretch around me, hugging me tightly within you." He watched as her climax took her …her head fell back, her body stiffened and she cried out with the force of it. Oh damn…His balls tightened and he cried out with his own release. He was surprised that he wasn't embarrassed by his loss of control. Maybe it was her own ease or his feelings for her, but he felt no shame over his response to her. He used his shirt to clean up and tossed it on a pile of clothes he needed to wash.

When he returned his attention to the screen he met her eyes. She looked like she had been well loved. "I love you, Tali," he said earnestly, hoping she knew how much he meant it. How much she meant to him. He melted at her shy smile. That she could be so feisty and yet still be shy was adorable.

"I love you too, Kal."

They spent the rest of the night talking about everything, from childhood to the missions they'd been on that weren't classified. When she finally fell asleep in mid-sentence, Kal continued to watch her for a few minutes. She looked so beautiful…so innocent when she slept. He heard her whisper his name and his heart swelled with love. "Sweet dreams, my love." He sighed and broke the connection so her OT wouldn't stay on all night.

He owed Shepard so much. Both for his life on Heastrom and for the woman that he loved. He never would have pursued Tali, duty and status would have kept him from doing so… regardless of his feelings for her. And he would have missed out on the best thing that had ever happened to him.