Jane's voice was stern when she spoke. "Who the hell was that, Liara?"

Liara buried her face in her hands. "Not someone we should have spoken with. Goddess, Feron made a mistake sending him here."

"Who is he?" Jane repeated.

"Operative Morat, he's been an agent of the Broker for over two decades. Long before I assumed the mantle."

"And why shouldn't we have spoken with him?"

"More reasons than I care to get into. But the fact that he knows my name is not good."

"I'm gonna kill Feron." Shepard said.

"He never should have mentioned your name." Liara said as Shepard helped her down the street. "We should move."

Shepard nodded and called a cab. As the skycar landed in front of them Jane saw an opportunity to bring about one of the reasons she had for returning to Vancouver. "We do have some time to kill before the party."

"What did you have in mind, love?"

"I'd like to pay some old friends a visit."

Liara smiled. "Of course." she said as Shepard helped her inside the cab.

Jane entered their destination and the auto-pilot took over. Jane glanced at her lover's belly. "How are you feeling today? Is she giving you any trouble?"

The asari leaned her head on her lover's shoulder. "No more than usual. I'm alright. Perhaps a little hungry. I'm more worried about you."

"Don't be. I'll be alright."

"I know that having a child is a little different to an asari than a human but that doesn't mean I don't understand your apprehension."

Jane kissed the top of the asari's crests. "Liara, you have enough to worry about without having to add me on top of it all."

"You're my bondmate. Of course I'm going to worry."

Jane pointed out the window to a pizza place and attempted to change the subject. "James used to get me Pizza from that place when they had me staying at Alliance command. I forgot where did the Alliance send him?"

"Shepard..." Liara said knowing what her wife was doing.

Shepard sighed. "Have you thought of any names yet?"

"A few. How about you?"

"I have one." Shepard said softly.

"Lets hear it."

"Ashley."

Liara thought about it. "After Chief Williams I take it."

Jane nodded. "I think it's a pretty name. And I owe it to Williams to never forget her sacrifice."

"I like it too."

Jack took a single step and almost instantly lost her balance sending her crashing into Miranda. Lawson caught her lover with a chuckle as Jack predictably swore. "That was a little better, Jack."

The convict reached down and ripped the high heels off her feet. "Screw this!" she said as she threw the shoes across the bedroom.

"You're gonna give up? I suppose you won't be getting rewarded after all."

The biotic groaned and picked the heels back off the ground. "You're lucky I'm horny, cheerleader."

Miranda laughed. "You're always horny, Jack."

"Only when I'm around you, babe." Jack finished putting the heels back on her feet and attempted to walk for what felt like the hundredth try.

"Just take smaller steps and don't slouch."

"I don't slouch!"

Miranda smirked. "Of course not." Jack straightened her back and took small steps towards her lover and was shocked when she realized she was doing it without falling on her face for once. "Perfect, Jack."

Jack crossed her arms. "Happy?"

"Very." Miranda took a moment to admire her girlfriend in silence and Jack fidgeted awkwardly in her dress. She never would have believed it without seeing it herself but Jack looked great in a dress. And the awkward way she carried herself in it was rather adorable to the former Cerberus operative.

Jack nervously twirled a biotcly charged finger. "You just gonna stare at me, Princess?"

"You're just so beautiful, Jack."

Jack flashed a half smile. Nobody but Miranda ever called her beautiful. Some days Jack still felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing living the life she did now. If the convict who first stepped aboard the Normandy could see her now she had no doubt she would have kicked her own ass. But Jack knew what she had with Miranda was real. This is who she is now. For as strong and unstoppable that convict was Jack never missed how lonely those years made her.

"You know I was hoping for a little more than a compliment as my reward. I am wearing fucking heels for you."

Miranda rose to her feet and unbuttoned her blouse allowing Jack to open it up the rest of the way. "Happy now?"

Jack took hold of Miranda's ample breasts and smiled. "Fuck yeah."

Miranda leaned in and kissed her lover. Jack wrapped one of her inked arms around Lawson and snaked the other down to her pants and unbuttoned them. She didn't waste time slipping two fingers into Miranda's panties and the raven haired woman's breath hitched as Jack worked her fingers inside her. The convict took hold of Miranda's pants and slid them down to her knees followed by her panties before she buried her face between her legs and started eating Lawson out.

Miranda ran her fingers through Jack's brown hair. The convict had let her hair fully grow out for the first time in a long time and Miranda loved the way her brown locks curled slightly and covered the formally bare sides of her head. It was just one of the many things that had changed about the woman since the war ended. Sometimes Lawson thought about the days when Jack couldn't stand to be in the same room as her and laughed.

Lawson moaned as Jack flicked her tongue over her clit and Miranda cried out her lover's name. Then they heard a knock on their bedroom door.

"We need to leave soon. So...stop having sex." Kaidan said from the other side of the door.

Both Miranda and Jack groaned. The convict got off her knees and wiped the moisture off her lips with the back of her hand as she made her way to the bedroom door. Lawson stripped off the rest of her clothes and retrieved her dress from the closet. Jack stepped outside and Kaidan smiled at her. "Look at you, Jack. Wearing a dress and heels. What did Miranda have to do to get you in to all that?"

"You just interrupted it. We need to have a conversation about privacy, Alenko."

Kaidan checked his omni-tool. "I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as privacy with you. But you look great."

"Thanks." Jack said before taking a look at Kaidan's suit. "You're not looking too bad yourself I guess."

Alenko ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah? You think Alice will like the suit?"

Jack shrugged. "How the hell should I know?"

A few moments later Miranda stepped out now wearing her backless blue dress. "How do I look?" she asked her lover.

"Awesome. But you'd still look sexy wearing a trash bag, cheerleader."

Miranda smirked and pecked Jack on the lips. "Thank you."

Kaidan crossed his arms. "We need to talk before we leave."

"We do?" Jack asked.

"You know I love you both..."

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming." Miranda said.

"But, as I already told you Alice doesn't really believe that you two are gay. Especially you Miranda."

Miranda crossed her arms. "Why don't people ever believe that i'm a bloody lesbian?"

"So you want us to gay it up for her? I can do that." Jack said while laying a playful hand on Miranda's impressive ass.

"And Jack, if you could watch your language."

Jack and Miranda both laughed. "Yeah that's not gonna fucking happen."

"I had to try. One more thing, there's a few things I don't want you guys to bring up."

Miranda placed one hand on her hip. "Such as?"

"Shepard, the Normandy, Anything about my involvement in the Reaper war."

"Why?"

"Alice doesn't know about it."

"And you don't want her to know?"

Kaidan nodded. "I've been with girls who knew who I was because of all that. It never ended well. And it's nice to be dating a girl who doesn't just like me because I know Commander Shepard."

"She's gonna find out all that shit eventually. Why not just tell her?" Jack said.

"She won't find out."

The convict rolled her eyes. "Whatever. "

Kaidan moved for the front door. "We're gonna meet Alice at the restaurant." the man opened the door and his eyes widened.

"Surprise!" Jane Shepard shouted and wrapped her strong arms around Kaidan. Liara T'Soni stood beside her with a smile on her face.

"Shepard?" They all said at once.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything." Liara said.

Jack wrapped Jane in a hug when Shepard separated from Kaidan. "Damn good to see you, Commander."

Jane grunted as Jack held her a little too tightly. "You too Jack." she chuckled as Jack released her. "Are you wearing high heels and a dress?"

Jack blushed. "Yeah yeah, Shut up."

"You look cute." Shepard giggled. Miranda offered her hand but Shepard pulled her in and hugged her as well. "And it's great to see you, Miranda."

Lawson smiled. "You're certainly not an unwelcome sight, Shepard."Miranda turned and shook Liara's hand. "Good to see you as well Doctor T'Soni."

The asari smiled back at her. "Always a pleasure to see the woman who brought Shepard back to me. How have you been Miranda?"

Miranda roped her arm around Jack. "Perfect actually."

Shepard grinned. "So I take it you two are still together."

Alenko chuckled. "I can vouch for that that personally."

"What brings you to Vancouver, Shepard?" Miranda asked.

"Just...visiting."

Miranda eyed Liara's belly. "I see."

"So when's the baby due?" Kaidan asked.

Liara rubbed her stomach. "Very soon."

"Just what the galaxy needs, another Shepard." Miranda said. "Congratulations by the way."

"Thank you." Liara said.

Jack playfully punched Jane's shoulder. "Why the hell haven't you visited?"

Shepard laughed as she rubbed her shoulder. "I've been a little busy, Jack."

Miranda crossed her arms. "Retirement been treating you well I hope. Or do you already miss the Reapers?"

"It's not as dull as you'd think." Shepard said and kissed her wife on the cheek.

"Agreed." Liara hummed.

"And it looks like you three have been living pretty comfortably here. It's still really weird that you guys live together." Jane said.

Jack shrugged. "Alenko would fall apart without us."

Kaidan chuckled. "I like having them around. Although I could do without walking in on them having sex nearly every week."

"Learn to fucking knock." Jack said. "And don't act like you don't enjoy the show, eyebrows."

Miranda groaned. "Can we please not discuss our sex life."

"No please go on." Liara giggled.

"Damn!" Kaidan cried while he looked at his omni-tool.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"We're gonna be late for dinner."

"Dinner?" Shepard smiled. "Hope there's room for two more."

The restaurant was nice. A little too nice for Jane's taste. It was a place by the name of "Captain Jake's" that was settled picturesquely by the bay and the walls were decorated tastefully with Alliance memorabilia.

"So who are we waiting for?" Shepard asked. Jane now realized she was severely underdressed in her old Alliance uniform when compared to Miranda, Jack and Kaidan but at least Liara's dress wasn't too fancy so Shepard didn't look entirely out of place. Kaidan had left the four of them alone at the table as he went to retrieve his date outside.

Jack rolled her eyes. "Alice."

"Who's Alice?" Liara asked.

Miranda roped her arm around Jack in preparation for her arrival. "Kaidan's new girlfriend. Forgive us if we get a little too affectionate tonight. We're under orders from Kaidan."

"Oh?"

"Apparently Alice doesn't buy that the cheerleader and I are gay so she's got her panties in a bunch about Alenko living with us. I said we should show her the vid and get it over with."

Shepard leaned in. "What vid?"

"Jack!" Miranda cried with a blush spreading on her face. "There's no vid."

"I'm talking about the one we made w-" Jack's words were cut off when Miranda cupped her hands over Jack's mouth.

Jane narrowed her eyes. "So what do we know about this Alice woman?" Liara asked.

"She's a bitch." Jack said with her voice muffled behind Miranda's hand.

Miranda released her. "Take that with a grain of salt, Jack hates everyone Kaidan dates."

"That's because they're all so lame." Jack turned to Shepard. "One of them wanted to paint my goddamn nails."

"Carrie." Miranda groaned, "She was horrible."

Jack shrugged. "I don't really think he was dating her for her personality, more likely for her big..." Miranda shot her a disapproving look. "hands..." Jack finished.

"Do you disapprove of Alice as well, Miranda?" Liara asked.

"I've hardly said ten words to the woman. She seems nice I suppose. And Kaidan likes her."

Jack waved a waiter over. "I hope i'm not drinking alone tonight. No way we're getting through this shit without alcohol."

Shepard looked to Liara. "I don't know, Jack."

Liara shook her head. "You don't need to abstain on account of me, love."

Jane grinned. "Then i'll take a dry martini." Shepard said to the impressively dressed and youthful waiter.

"Fuck that! A Martini? Come on Shepard."

Shepard chuckled. "Okay. I'll have whatever you're having Jack."

Jack grinned before turning to the waiter herself. "Whiskey."

Miranda spoke up. "Are you sure drinking is wise considering Alice's prior issues."

Jack narrowed her eyes. "When is drinking not wise?"

"Alice has issues with alcohol?" Liara asked.

"Apparently she used to."

"Doesn't mean me and Shepard can't drink." Jack said.

Miranda massaged her temples. "Jack, we really should try and make a better impression than last time."

"Come on, Cheerleader. What could go wrong?"

The view of space from the cockpit of his tiny transport ship always relaxed him. And in Victor Reed's line of work relaxation was hard to come by. So he made a point to appreciate these quiet moments in between jobs when they came. Work had been slow ever since those damned Reapers but this new political climate that was brewing was swiftly finding him work. And good paying work at that. Reed didn't care one way or the other for this new council that was being set up but he knew well enough that times of great political change often saw a rise in demand for a man of his particular skills. In the old days it was usually some shady billionaire out in the Terminus, eager to preserve his wealth by making a competitor disappear who called him in. Or a group like Tera Firma had him visit some poor turian diplomat who got a little too vocal in his views on humanity. But this was the first time in all his years he was working a job on his home planet.

It had been a long time since he'd been on Earth and while his memories of growing up on the human world weren't the fondest he wasn't about about to complain. Certainly not with the amount of credits this client was promising. In fact Victor could almost retire on the reward for this job alone. He brought his ship into final decent when his comm rang.

Victor answered it with a smile. "Hello sweetheart." he said in his smooth voice. A trait which he'd spent years perfecting when he realized his natural southern accent scored him nothing but laughs outside of Earth.

Jill Woodcomb giggled on the other end of the line. "Hello, Victor. Are you at the coordinates the client sent?" she asked. He had known Jill most of his life and they been inseparable ever since they first met. They had even joined Cerberus together, but they had left the organization behind well before the group went belly up and he and Jill had gone into business for themselves shortly after deserting the Illusive Man.

"Almost, babe. Looks like I'm touching down in Vancouver. Did the Client send over the target's file yet?" Victor ran his fingers through his tangled black hair before rubbing his stubbled chin.

Jill sent over the details. "Yep. And you're gonna love this one."

"Hit me with it."

"Target's name is Admiral Steven Hackett."

Victor chuckled. "No shit? As in hero of the Alliance Admiral Hackett?"

"The very same."

"Why's our client want him gone?" Victor asked.

"Hell if I know. But with the amount of credits this guy is offering I wouldn't care if it was my own mother we were killing."

"Any intel you can give me? Or am I going in blind."

Jill cleared her throat. "Apparently Hackett's only gonna be in Vancouver for a couple of hours at some big Alliance shindig that's being held at the Vancouver convention center. Along with pretty much every important member of the navy. So that's gonna be our only opportunity."

"Well you know I love a challenge."

Jill chuckled. "Just like Irune."

Victor returned her laugh. "Not our proudest moment. You gonna be joining me for this one, doll?"

"Only if you ask nicely."

"Oh you know I'll make it worth your while."

Jill smiled on her end. "I'll be there soon. The event is in a few days. I suggest you scope out the convention center in that time. Pick out good vantage points and all that jazz."

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything."

"I'll see you soon, sweetie." Jill said.

"Love you." Victor said before hanging up.

Notes- Phew, okay so writing big group scenes is easily the hardest thing i've ever done in a story so bare with me while I try and find rhythm for it. I guess I should have mentioned that my previously announced story Miranda and Jack's First Double Date has been folded in to this story and is what we will be seeing next chapter. I decided that having Liara and Shepard there for the awkwardness would be even more fun. I hope you enjoyed this story and the introduction of my two new OCs. Tell me what you thought of them and the chapter in the reviews. And HAPPY NEW YEAR!