…... You Should try Spending Time with her Parents.

(Disclaimer: I own nothing in the ME universe. I sure wish I did thou)

(A/N: So yeah, this chapter took a long time for me to figure out I kept wanting to end it but could not find a good spot so you all get one of the longest things I have ever typed. hope you all enjoy this as much as I have typing it. Oh and a big thanks gose out to my beta for figuring out what I was trying to say, and for making this a story and not an after action report.)

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Hannah Wolff was woken up by the light turbulence of the transport as it entered atmo, the gentle shaking not even touching her nerves, but when she opened her eyes, what she saw brought a smile to her face.

"Darien... Darien! Wake up! You need to see this!" she said in a harsh whisper.

Darien was out cold. He found it weird that the only place he could sleep well was in space, or on a space faring vessel. To him, solid ground didn't 'move' right and he always missed the dull thrum of drive cores whenever he and his wife took shore leave, hence why they rarely took any.

His dreams were interrupted by the insistent calling of his wife, one of three things that actually could wake him up and it sounded urgent. As his conciseness slowly reasserted itself, he became aware of three things. One; There was light coming through the window. Two; The fact that his wife was awake was an indicator that they had broken atmo and three; His wife was whispering for some reason.

Before he could ask why she was whispering however, she placed a hand over his mouth, effectively silencing him from making any noise other then grunts and pointed ecclesiastically at the seats across from them. When he looked, his eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat, causing him to elicit a rather unmanly squeak out from under Hannah's hand.

There, in front of him, was Kitrina, laying across the bench seat with her head resting on Shepard's left thigh. If that wasn't enough, the young man had taken his jacket off and placed it over Kitrina to keep her warm while she slept, as well as placed his left hand on her shoulder, almost like he was comforting her and both had subtle smiles across their lips.

Darien was amazed. He had to wonder how close those two had really gotten during boot camp. Upon closer examination, Darien thought that Shepard looked far more relaxed, as was evident by the slumped shoulders and the content look as he slept, then he had looked back on Mars. Could they be a source of comfort for each other? No way. They haven't known each other long enough. After seeing all this, he could understand his wife's behavior. All well. It's time to wake them up any way. He thought as he reached across the compartment to shake Shepard and Kitrina awake, but as he reached forward, his wrist was caught in the iron grasp of Shepard who was looking at him through half open eyes. After a couple of tense seconds, Shepard's grip loosened then all together released his arm. What the Hell was that?

****(")( " )(")****

Hew was having the best dreams of his life. There was no violence, blood, or darkness, just a peaceful nothing. Pure contentment. It was actually restful, but that was all dashed when his finely honed 'danger scene' placed him on high alert. Not knowing what was going to happen and still running on instinct, he lashed out at the unknown threat. As he quickly awoke, he realized that he had Kitrina's father's wrist in a secure grip. As reality dawned on him, he quickly released his wrist and moved his other hand back to Kitrina's shoulder where it felt the happiest. Wait... When did I move my arm?

Kitrina was very comfortable, but the pillow under her head was a little too firm then what she would have preferred. She could care less at the moment though. She felt safe, warm and protected and to her, that's all that mattered. This was brought to an abrupt end as she suddenly felt a tightness across her chest and a scene of panic seized her, but as quickly as it had arrived, it passed. However, it was enough to wake her from her sleep. What she was greeted by, was her father looking at Hew with what could only be confusion and a little bit of fear mixed under the rising anger.

"Um... Did I miss something guys?" she asked with a quick rub to her eye.

Both men responded at the same time, "No."

If that didn't raise flags, nothing would. A quick glance at her mother provided little else to answer her question with, which was a surprise, as her mother was usually much more expressive then just sitting, staring in wonder at to what just happened. That probably said more then enough if she had actually thought about it, but thanks to the situation, the rest of the transport ride was spent in silence.

Once the transport had arrived at its assigned hub, personal items were retrieved and placed into a land based vehicle that was already waiting for them near where they had landed. After the group had climbed in, Darien took the controls, angling the craft away from the city proper and towards the countryside, away from the noisy hustle and bustle that Hew knew all too well. He had never seen so much green. The trees, the grass, it all forced him to have his face glued to the window.

"This is amazing! All this open land... It's so green and alive. I've never seen so much open space before." Hew breathed, his breath leaving a thick fog on the glass.

Kitrina couldn't help but lightly chuckle, seeing Hew acting like a small child. All his years and experiences seemed to melt away to the child he had never been, allowing it to come to light. It was refreshing to see that even someone with Hew's background could still have some level of naivety about some things, even simple things like seeing the color green sprawled out over long distances.

"What's so funny?" Hew asked as he saw Kitrina's reflection, seeing that she was lightly snickering to herself.

"What? Oh... nothing. Just a stray thought is all." she giggled with a sweet smile on her lips.

"Oh." was all Hew said with a light shrug. "Anyways, do you know where we're going?" he asked after a brief pause.

"Actually, no. I used to come here with my parents, but we would usually rent a hotel room or an apartment while we were here. Those are all back in the city though. The only thing out this far are houses and farms and stuff." Kitrina lightly shrugged.

"Maybe they bought a house or some thing." Hew returned the shrug.

In the front seat of the transport, both Darien and Hannah shared a quick glance. This went unnoticed by the two in the back seat.

Kitrina started to chuckle again, "Ha... That would be funny. The only reason they would do that is if they were planning on retiring. I doubt that though, especially since daddy always said he wouldn't retire until he made Admiral. Mom is the same way. I think she wants to make Captain though before she retires." she said through her light laughter.

After several hours in the transport, they eventually turned down a long gravel drive that lead to a property, bordered by an old wooden fence. The house was a modest two story with a lot of windows and skylights to allow as much of the outside light in as possible. It peacefully sat atop a small hill, giving anyone inside a spectacular view of the countryside with all the trees and colors that phased into each other like those of a painting. He couldn't help but admit that the house was beautiful, as well as very expensive. He could tell that due to the fact that it was built out of wood... real wood.

Once Mr. Wolff had brought the transport to a halt, Hew busied himself by off loading the cargo area to give Kitrina and her family some time alone to admire the house.

Kitrina was a bit confused. Her family didn't know anyone with a house on Terra Nova so she was wondering how her parents were able to acquire such a breathtaking home.

"Ok... I have to ask. Where did this place come from? None of your friends have a house here. I know that much. How did you get it?" Kitrina asked, still puzzled as to why they were here.

The elder Wolff's shared a glance before Hannah answered, "Well... that's part of the surprise honey. The house... well... it's ours." she mildly winced as she awaiting her daughter's reaction.

Kitrina was speechless. She couldn't speak even she had wanted to because her breath was caught hard in her throat and her brain was reeling with more thoughts then she could fathom. Her parents had just bought a house.

"I thought... But which one? Huh?" Kitrina stuttered, her eyes bouncing from the house, to her parents and back again.

Hannah couldn't help but chuckle, but was finally able to answer her daughter's half asked questions after she had taken a few, long breathes to help steady herself, "Calm down Kit. Neither one of us are retiring just yet. Your father heard about some property on Terra Nova and after some research, talked me into it. We both decided that the deal was too good to pass ups so we bought the property for when we do retire," she explained with a smile. "Plus, it's nice to have a place to call home that doesn't change every eighteen months. We've even got to design the house. Your father had some creative ideas on what he wanted. Wait till you see the inside." Hannah was just about bouncing with excitement.

Kitrina could not believe what she was hearing. A house... no... a home. This was all far too much for her to take and she was quickly giving way to her emotion when her thoughts were interrupted.

"Um... Where is all this going? I don't want to leave it all out here in the rain." Hew asked kindly and as militarily as possible.

Rain? What rain? Kitrina thought just as a crack of thunder rolled across the plains. She couldn't help but look at him and the smile on his face was one of good humor with a little bit of smugness. Looks good on him. She thought as she realized her father was guiding Hew into the house.

If Hew thought the outside was impressive, it was easily outdone by the inside. He was mostly impressed by how open it was; the furniture was placed so the person sitting would be able to enjoy the view out of the panoramic windows, as well as enjoy whatever was going on inside. The furniture was geared more towards comfort then style, all soft leathers and overstuffed so that whomever was sitting in them would sink into a big, puffy cloud. They have great taste and this is only the living room. He before he was interrupted by a deep cough.

"If you'll follow me... This way please." Captain Wolff said politely.

"Yes Sir." Hew said with little emotion.

Captain Wolff guided Hew down a hallway on the first floor to a guest room at the end of the hall, "Hope you like it. We really weren't expecting any guests so we'll have to get you some clean linens. I'm pretty sure you know how to make a bed right?"

At first, Hew was surprised by the Captain, but a quick glance revealed a small smile on the Officer's face.

"Yes Sir. I think I can manage, but the gear I'm caring belongs to Kitrina." he kindly nodded and shrugged his shoulder that held the large duffel.

Captain Wolff regarded Shepard for a moment before leading him up the stairs to the second level of the house. Upon reaching the second story, Hew was surprised at how open the floor plane was. There seemed to be several doors leading to different rooms and he watched as Captain Wolff went to a closed door not far from the stairs. Before Hew could enter the room however, there was a blur of blue, auburn and tan that shot by, entered the room and quickly closed the door, leaving both Hew and Captain Wolff staring at the dark wood of the door. In nearly the same split second, the door opened, bags were retrieved from Hew's shoulder and then closed again with a hard slam.

Hew just blinked a couple times, "Um... What just happened?"

Captain Wolff was just as dazed and decided, his answer was best delivered in a shrug.

****(")( " )(")****

Kitrina was shocked by the fact that her parents had bought a house, but Her attention was quickly brought back to the present when her mother was going on about how they had set up her room.

"What do you mean 'set my room up'?" Kitrina asked with a pair of air quotes.

"Oh, you know... Put up all your posters and drawings and such. We also put up all your school holos. You look so cute in your braces." Hannah beamed with a smile that only a mother could.

Kitrina just looked at her mother, "Mom, you can be so weird sometimes. Where did Hew and dad go by the way?" she asked once she realized that they weren't there.

"Oh uh, I think he and Shepard went inside with some of the luggage. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Let's just grab our stuff and get settled in." she said as she headed for the transport.

Upon getting to the back of the transport with her mother, Kitrina noticed that the only gear left was Hews, "Uh...mom? How long ago did dad and Hew go inside?" her stomach started to churn into a tight knot.

"I don't know... maybe three or five minutes ago. Why?" unfortunately, that last part was asked to the back of her daughter's head because she had disappeared into the house.

Kitrina was moving to fast to notice anything about the house as she ran through the front door, bounded up the stairs and barreled into the room that her father and Hew were standing in front of. Using everything she learned in boot, she quickly shot through the door and slammed it closed before they could go inside and see anything. Upon taking a breath, she looked around the room for the first time and she couldn't believe what she saw. The room was painted cherry pink with a princess look that she had grown out of when she was five. A four posted, canopy bead, in pink and white dominated the room and its pink canopy draped elegantly along its real wood bed posts. The bed had matching dressers and night stands, all made of real wood and stained a dark mahogany that went unnoticed by the ridiculous pink of the walls. Dear God! I can't believe my parents did this! I can't let Hew see this! After the initial shock had lessened, she quickly opened the door, grabbed her bags that Hew was holding and slammed the door in his face.

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"Well, that was weird. Does she do that often sir?" Hew asked with one eyebrow arced.

Captain Wolff couldn't help but smirk at his daughter's behavior, as it reminded him of when she was younger and those were days that he missed. However, the smirk disappeared when he remembered that she only did this when she had something to hide or was embarrassed.

"Yeah, she did, but only when she was younger." he eventually said, still staring at the door.

Before Hew could respond, a muffled voice from behind the door fluttered up to meet his ears.

"Could someone get mom up here for me please?"

Captain Wolff couldn't hide the confusion from his voice, "Is everything ok Kit? Is there a problem?" he asked, leaning forward slightly towards the door so he could hear better.

"No problems dad. Just realizing mom still thinks I'm a little girl." the muffled voice said.

Comprehension dawned on the Captain as he remembered the conversation he and his wife had had when setting up the rooms. Their daughter's room in particular and all he could do was sigh and hang his head.

"Ok... I'll get your mother. Hold on."

Hew was getting more and more confused by the minute. He had no idea what the Hell was going on, but before he could even ask, the Captain clasped him on the shoulder and guided him back downstairs so the Captain could get his wife. Several seconds passed until Hew heard laughing, as the Lieutenant headed up the stairs to deal with her daughter still held up in her room. Still confused, Hew and the Captain helped each other to bring in the rest of the luggage and get linens for the bed in the guest room.

"Lunch will be ready in about three hours. Go ahead and get into something a little more comfortable." Mr. Wolff said with a curt nod.

Hew simply nodded as he took the linens and went to make his bed. Jesus... A real bed... and linens. They're soft too. Even though the linen was plain, it was well made, clean and he was sure it wasn't cheap either, like many of the linens he had stolen from cheap motels and places he could break into. After the bed was made, he started to unpack what little he actually had. He hung his military uniforms to realize that the only non-military clothing he had were the civvies that he had reported to boot camp in. He quickly changed to find that those very clothes all fit infinitely better, the pants were a little tighter, but the shirt and jacket actually fit right across his broad shoulders. Looking in a mirror in the attached bathroom, he quickly shaved and finally took a look at what he looked like now.

Gone were the bags under his eyes, the naught look to his face, his slouch was no longer apparent as he held himself upright with his shoulders rolled back. The man in the mirror was an entirely different person then the one he remembered and to tell you the truth, he couldn't be more happy. This is truly the first day of the rest of my life isn't it. The smile that spread across his face was the first one in a long time that was one of actual happiness and joy, instead of a forced one that he had grown far too accustomed to. This, he liked far better.

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Kitrina was pissed. She couldn't believe what her mother had done. The pink, the posters from years ago, the princess motif that made the place look like a makeshift castle that she had no desire to let Hew see. It all made her cringe. She was still seething when she heard a light knock on the door.

"Kit... Honey... It's mommy. Your father said you needed to talk to me?" the disembodied voice of Kitrina's mother said through the door.

Kitrina quickly opened the door and pulled her mother in by the arm before she could even react. Ugh... She still calls herself mommy, "Can you please tell me what was going through your head when you put my room together?" Kitrina all but hissed at her mother.

Hannah was a bit taken back by her daughter's reaction, "What do you mean? I thought you liked pink." she said, taking a quick glance around the room before looking back at her daughter.

Kitrina could only pinch the bridge of her nose and sigh, "Yes mother, I liked pink... when I was five! What's with all the princess stuff? I never liked princess stuff! Where did all this come from?" she growled in a harsh whisper.

"What do you mean? You've always been our little princess and there was that one Halloween where you dressed up as one." Hannah said, her smile fading as Kitrina's anger began to seem more real.

"That's because dad was King Arthur and you were Guinevere. We only did that whole group dress up thing till I was five." Kitrina said, trying hard not to just break down and cry.

"So... you don't like your room? I worked so hard on it." Hannah said, her smile completely gone as her eyes started to glaze over with a glassy sheen.

Kitrina immediately began to feel bad once she noticed the building tears in her mother's eyes, "I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but no. The room is for me when I was five. I'm a grown woman now mom." she said in a far sweeter voice.

The tears started to crawl free of Hannah's eyes, "Oh Kit... I'm so sorry. It's just we never had this for you when you were growing up. I just wanted to give you something we couldn't give you before." her voice crackled and her breath hiccuped in her throat as she spoke.

Kitrina wrapped her arms around her mother in a comforting embrace as she began to cry, "Mom... I'm sorry, but I've grown up. I'm a big girl now."

Hannah couldn't help but softly weep as she blatantly realized that her little girl had grown up and there was nothing she could do about it, "I'm ok Kit. It's just, we've missed so much of your life and we wanted to make it up to you, but it's nice having you like this. You are so grown up and sure of yourself now. You made the right choice... going to boot camp. It did you a world of good." she sniffled and whipped her eyes.

Kitrina felt the tears track down her cheeks as she held her mother in a tight hug, "I'll always be your little girl mom, but you have to let me grow up sometime." she lightly smiled, hoping it would reassure her mother.

"I know Kit. I know. It's just you never had a proper childhood. You had no roots and I'm sorry for that." Hannah said as she pulled away from her daughter's embrace.

"Don't worry mom. The life I had prepared me for the future. If not for that life, I wouldn't have met Hew and found someone who accepts me and my Biotics." Kitrina said, her light smile still resting across her lips

Hanna finally returned her daughter's smile, "What? He knows? He's not bothered by them?" her brows lightly furrowed.

Kitrina then realized what she had said, but was happy that her mother focused on the latter part of her statement, "Y-Yes. He even made sure I had enough to eat during training. There were some issues with the platoon, but Hew fixed the problems and then kept me safe."

"The sounds nice... wait... he kept you safe? Why would he need to do that?" Hannah asked, puzzled.

"Oh um... well... he... uh... He made sure the other squad members, who had problems with Biotics, kept a wide birth." Kitrina stuttered, trying to find the right words that wouldn't suggest anything else to her mother.

"Oh... That makes sense. Your father and I need to apologize for that by the way." Hannah lightly cringed.

This caused confusion on Kitrina's part, "What? Why would you and dad need to apologize?"

Hannah visibly stiffened as her nerves rose, "Um... you see... Both your father and I had Ellison as an instructor in OCS, so when we heard he was training recruits on M.C.R.D. Mars, we had to make sure you got him as a Drill Instructor. He's the best and we wanted you to have the best. It was either that, or send you to BAaT training, but we've heard rumors and decided it was a bit unsafe. That's why we hired a former Asari Commando, and friend, to train you while you were growing up. All we wanted was for you to be safe." she explained, ringing her fingers together and unable to look her daughter in the eyes.

"Mom, you and dad don't have to worry. There were only two issues and I met Hew before they were an issue so everything turned out fine." Kitrina reassured.

Hannah was about to respond when she realized something, "You keep mentioning the fact that you met Hew there and you keep using his first name. Just how close have the two of you gotten?" she asked, noticing the deep wince that crossed Kitrina's face.

Before Kitrina even had to answer, her father poked his head in and announced that lunch would be in two and a half hours and everyone should get ready. She noticed that her father was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a button up shirt which meant only one thing.

"Are we having barbeque?" Kitrina asked, her nervous mood instantly perking up with the thought.

Darien smiled, "Yep. Steaks and burgers."

"How are you going to do that in the rain?" Kitrina asked, glancing out the window to see that the weather had quickly changed and threatened to do as such.

Darien's smile grew even wider, "The barbeque pit is under the overhang so it's out of the rain. When you both get ready, meet me and Shepard out on the back porch. You know, he's real helpful. He actually got the grill going. I think we should keep him around. What do you think Hannah?" he grinned, rather enjoying the quickly growing and beaming smile that was crossing his daughter's face.

Kitrina looked at her mother with said huge smile still diligently holding its post before she looked back to her father, "We'll get ready dad. See you in a few." she managed to say without jumping up and down, as that would defeat the purpose of defending that she was all grown up.

Darien nodded once and left the women to there own devices, manly Kitrina glancing at her mother who was leaving with a smile on her face. Oh that can't be good. Kitrina thought as the door closed behind Hannah, leaving her alone to get changed.

Once the door was secured, Kitrina walked over to her closet and opened it with some fear, as to what was inside if the room was anything to go by, but much to her surprise, it had all her clothes from before she shipped off to boot. It was mostly jeans with a splattering of shirts and blouses that range in colors from red, to a deep purple and varied in style so she at least one thing for every occasion.

Sighing with relief that her closet had remained normal, she grabbed a pair of stonewashed hip hugger jeans, a white button up shirt and a pair of broken in low tops in black. Once back in her comfort clothes, she pulled on a light jacket to combat the gentle wind that had kicked up outside and took one last look in the mirror which she couldn't help but study. Though always in shape, she never had definition, but now she did. She noticed musculature that was always subtle, but that was now much more pronounced. Her abdomen was the biggest change, as it now had soft lines that could be seen when the light hit it just right. I...have a six pack... and you can see it, well, not a pronounced one, but you can kinda see it. She was tempted to change into a shirt which would display her new found form, but thought better of it since her father was downstairs.

After logging away the slight changes to her arms, as well as her legs, she headed outside to the patio where the rest of her family and best friend resided. However, what she saw was something that she never thought she would see. Her father was working a large grill that must have been six to seven feet wide, her mother was in a pair of white slacks with a matching blouse and a pair of sandals and Hew was helping her father by not only getting him the required cooking utensil, but getting him more burgers and steaks and was keeping the area clear of clutter. He fits in so well. She thought with a soft smile.

Hew was at a loss. He was helping Kitrina's father cook lunch and it felt right. He didn't know why, but it just felt right. He had never been in a family dynamic before and being in Kitrina's was turning out to be an experience that he thought he would never have. What surprised him the most was that he wanted it. He felt the security that the three radiated and just by looking at them, he could tell that her father and her mother would do anything to keep Kitrina safe. The odd thing was however, was that he felt he would do the same thing. Is this what having a friend is like? Is this what I've been missing all my life? He thought as he took a quick look out at the landscape.

"Last steak coming up Shepard. I need a plate." Mr. Wolff said without even looking up from the grill.

"Right away Sir." Hew said as he reached for a plate and handed it over.

While the Captain finished up on the grill, Hew busied himself with a quick cleanup of the cooking space. This did not go unnoticed by Kitrina's father. As Hew finished up on the grill, he caught sight of Kitrina out of the corner of his eye and it damn near made him drop the plate he was holding. To say she was a sight would be an understatement. Sure, he lived with her for five months, but military clothing and utility uniforms were not as form fitting as what she was wearing now and the light jacket did nothing to hide her form. Has she always looked like that? How the Hell have I not noticed that? He thought has he forced himself to breath.

As everyone took their seats, Hew helped Kitrina's father serve lunch to the girls, completely astonished at the sheer size of the meal that consisted of steak, burgers, hotdogs, baked potatoes and all the fixings. He had never seen so much food in one place before and there was no one to stop him from consuming it.

"It seams someone wanted to play with his new grill. This is a lot of food honey." Hannah grinned as she stared at her husband, trying not to giggle.

"Well, you do know what the best part of barbequing is dear... The leftovers," he returned the grin. "Plus, I did wanna play with my new grill." Darien chuckled.

Hannah could only shake her head at her husband's antics, as the man had cooked enough food for a whole family of Biotics and they only had to feed one and her friend who looked as if he could pack away just as much.

Hew fell back into old habits and watched the family from the outside. He observed the interaction between Kitrina's parents, which was something he had never experienced before. It was weird, to say the least. Kitrina's mother seemed to criticize her husband, but in his response, he admitted and agreed with her and nothing was actually done. It was the little things like that that confused him. As he mulled it over, he turned his attention to Kitrina, who was sitting right next to him and he noticed that she had loaded her plate like she should.

"It's about time you ate right." Hew said with a soft grin.

Kitrina immediately turned her attention the source of the voice beside her, "Huh...what?" she asked, not sure if she heard him right since she was more paying attention to her parents.

"I said I'm glade you're finally eating right." Hew repeated, still with the soft grin.

Kitrina's brows lightly furrowed as she looked from Hew, to her plate when what he said actually clicked in her brain, "I'm home and with family so yeah, I can eat normally. Well... normally for me at least." she smiled.

Hew could only chuckle as he took a smaller steak off the serving tray and placed it on his plate. However, before he could go for a potato, he was blocked.

"I don't think so Mr. Shepard." Darien said flatly and with a dead stare at Hew.

Confused, Hew just stared at Kitrina's father, but before he could respond, Mr. Wolff took the small steak off of Hew's plate and replaced it with one of the larger ones that made his eyes widen just a bit.

"Now that's a steak. The little ones we save to make sandwiches with, or whatever Hannah wants to put them in." Darien shrugged and sent his wife a quick glance.

"Thank you Sir. I appreciate it." Hew nodded, still trying to somewhat relax since he was well out of his comfort zone.

"Ok... Shepard... Neither of us are in uniform so please, call me Mr. Wolff." he said, softening his expression to help Hew try and relax.

"Yes Si... er... Mr. Wolff." Hew quietly blew out his nervous breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Well, with that out of the way, let's eat," Mr. Wolff said, clapping and rubbing his hands together as he sat down next to his wife. "By the way Mr. Shepard, thank you for your help with lunch." he added.

"No problem Mr. Wolff. It was the least I could. After all, you're letting me intrude on your family vacation time." Hew's light gulp went unnoticed by everyone else.

"Don't think of it like that young man. Kit invited you. You don't need to feel like you owe us anything Hew. Isn't that right Darien?" Hannah said sweetly and as reassuringly as possible as she glanced at Darien.

"of course Hannah. He's our guest." Darien nodded.

Hew was still trying to comprehend the family dynamic that was going on around him as they fell into a content silence while they began to eat their meal. How does this insanity make a family? Hewthought until his inner ramblings were interrupted by a soft touch on his hand. He looked down to see Kitrina's hand resting on his and when he glanced up, he saw the smile on her face and it instantly helped to ease his mind and body so that he could finally begin to digest everything that was happening all at once.

The rest of lunch was filled with quite conversation and humorous family stories which Hew figured were for his benefit more then theirs. He noticed that subtle blushes that painted Kitrina's cheeks and the uniform laughter that emanated from Mr. and Mrs. Wolff was infectious. When lunch was finished, he helped with the clean up and did the dishes which was a welcomed surprise by the elder Wolff's.

"Hey Hew? You wanna go check out the property?" Kitrina asked once everything was done.

Hew glanced around the kitchen to insure that his services were no longer required, "I think I would enjoy that. Thank you Kitrina," he smiled before he turned to look at Mr. Wolff. "Mr. Wolff, thank you for lunch and thank you for the stories Mrs. Wolff." he added.

"Your more then welcome young man and you can call me Hannah when not in uniform. Mrs. Wolff just makes me feel old." she lightly laughed.

Hew nodded, "What time do you want us back by?" he asked, noticing that Kitrina was getting antsy to go exploring.

"Dinner will be at six so five thirty at the latest." Hannah smiled sweetly.

"Understood. Thank you again for your hospitality." Hew said with yet another nod.

As Hew and Kitrina left, Darien and Hannah couldn't help but notice as Hew draped his arm over Kitrina's shoulders as they walked down the path, away from the house.

"Isn't that cute hun?" Hannah beamed as she watch the kids head out on their walk.

Darien watched as only a father could, "I'm happy she found someone, but I'm not sure if he's the right one."

Once the kids had vanished from sight, Darien went to his study. The study itself wasn't all that much to talk about, but its walls of classic, paper books, datapads and its simple, real wood desk with a computer terminal built into it was enough for Darien's purposes. He sat down in the large, comfortable office chair, powered his terminal and got an old friend on the phone.

"Captain Scott... Alliance Intelligence. What can I do for you?" A man on the other end of the vid call said politely and officially without even looking up from his desk to see who had call.

"Hey Will. I can't believe you still think the Alliance has intelligence." Darien snickered as he leaded back in his chair and looked at the holoscreen.

The Alliance Captain looked up as recognition and surprise adorned his face, "Holy shit... Darien Wolff. What the Hell have you been up to?" Captain Scott grinned as he immediately halted his work and looked at his screen.

"Not a whole lot. I see they finally got you to fly a desk. How you liking your new job in AI?" Darien asked while he rested his ankle on his knee.

"Hey, no one shoots at me at my desk, but you didn't call to ask if I liked working here. What's up?" Captain Scott quickly got down to business.

Darien laughed, "You know me to well Will. I need to cash in one of my favors. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Depends on the favor really." Captain Scott shrugged.

"I need you to do a background check for me on a one, Shepard, Hewbert Arthur. Can you do it?" Darien asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his desk and clasped his hands together.

"I'll run the name and see if anything comes up, but I gotta ask...why this person?"

"I think my daughter has a crush on him." Darien deadpanned.

Will looked at his old friend and realized that he wasn't kidding, "Little Kitrina? You can't be serious. She's what...nine? Ten at the most?" Captain Scott arced an eyebrow.

"She turned seventeen eight months ago and enlisted in the Alliance Marines Will. She met Shepard in boot camp and apparently hit it off. If you can add any and all info connected to that name, I would really appreciate it." Darien said, running his hand down his face.

"Jesus Christ... Alright Darien, no problem. Oh, by the way, this wont cost you a favor. Kitrina is my goddaughter after all." Captain Scott smiled.

"Thanks Will. Like I said... I really appreciate it." Darien tried not to laugh out loud.

"No problem. How's Hannah dealing with all this?"

"Hell... You know her Will. She thinks it's cute." Darien groaned.

Will couldn't stop laughing, "That sounds like her alright. She did introduce me to my wife after all."

"Ugh...Don't remind me. She's in full matchmaker mode right now. I really don't want my seventeen year old daughter getting married." Darien growled, hanging his head.

"Ok ok... geez. Don't bite my head off. Anyways, take care old friend. I should have that to you by tomorrow, in a couple of days max." Captain Scott said as his hand moved to prepare to end the call.

"Thanks Will. Take care yourself."

As Darien finished his call, he looked up to see Hannah standing in the door and he couldn't help but wonder how long she had been standing there.

"Who was that? Not many people know we're here and even less know the number." Hannah said blandly as she leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms.

"Just an old friend that wanted to talk. My adjutant passed his call to me." Darien said with a deep intake of breath.

"Is everything ok? Do we need to head back?" Hannah asked, still not showing much emotion.

"No. There's no problem Hannah. Just wanted to catch up. Everything is fine," he exhaled heavily. "So... What do you wanna do while the kids are away?" he asked, very much wanting to change the subject.

Hannah looked at her husband with a crooked eyebrow, "Oh... I can think of several things that can kill five and a half hours." she started to grin.

"Is that right? Well... I have an idea and it involves breaking in that new king sized bed of ours." Darien's devious smirk said exactly what he was thinking.

Hannah started to giggled, "You horny old man. You'll have to catch me first."

That last part of Hannah's reply was reduced to just an echo from down the hallway as Darien chased his wife up the stairs and both disappeared into the master bedroom.

****(")( " )(")****

As Hew and Kitrina walked around the property, he couldn't help but feel at peace. This is so weird. There's no gunshots, no sirens, or cries of pain... There's nothing. It's so quiet here. He thought witha quick glance over to Kitrina to see a smile and a look of pure contentment. Is this what she wants? Can I even give this to her? I barely know how to act around her parents. He thought until he ripped from his musing by a soft voice..

"So... How do you like it here?" Kitrina asked, still with a smile as they slowly walked.

Hew stayed silent for a brief moment as he gathered his thoughts, "It's peaceful. I'm really enjoying my time here... a lot. It took me some time to get used to, but I'm getting there and... it's relaxing."

"That's good to hear. I was hoping you were... Look! A Pond!" her train of thought shifted so fast, that Hew had a bit of difficulty keeping up.

Kitrina's sudden outburst about the pond caused Hew to look up to see that there was, in fact, a large pond in front of them. He took a moment and looked around, seeing that it was enclosed by some trees and thick foliage and a short pier jutted out a tiny bit to give someone a nice little platform to jump with. That's when an idea crossed his mind.

"Wanna go for a swim?" Hew blurted out, not really realizing that he had said it out loud instead of thinking it.

The question was so unexpected, that Kitrina just stared at him, "Um... What?" she stuttered.

"Do you wanna go swimming?" he repeated, a small smile growing across his lips as he looked at her.

Realizing that she heard him right, she quietly gulped, "We have no towels and it's gonna start raining any minute." she harshly whispered and cringed.

"It's warm out, and it's a summer rain." Hew's smiled grew little more.

"We have no suits." Kitrina countered, lightly nibbling on her bottom lip.

Hew shrugged, "I've never had one before. We can go naked." he laughed as Kitrina's skin started to flush.

Naked? Is he serious? Her face was burning hot, "W-What?... Naked? Um... I don't think that's a good idea." her heart started to smash into her sternum.

"Ok, in our underwear then." Why is she blushing so hard? It's just a couple of friends going swimming isn't it? He thought as his brows began to barely ruffle.

"People will see us." she answered, desperate to any excuse that would deter him.

"What people? We're in the middle of your parents property. It's completely secluded and surrounded by trees. The only ones who even know we're here are your parents. I think they have better things to do then spy on us." Hew countered, firmly holding his ground that they needed to go swimming.

Seeing as she had no more excuses, Kitrina sighed in defeat, "Ok, but just for a bit. Understand?" she blew out a nervous breath.

"Deal. I've never gone swimming water where I didn't need protective gear. This is gonna be fun." Hew was actually excited.

Oh? He doesn't just wanna see me naked? He actually just wants to swimming. That's not so bad I guess. She thought as a wave of relief washed through her that was quickly followed by a flash of disappointment that she thought was weird. Why do I feel let down that he doesn't wanna see me with as little clothes as possible?

As they made their way down the pier, Kitrina began to get a bit excited. The last time she had gone swimming just for fun, the last time was when she was ten and her family was on vacation.

"Hew, how goo..." her voice trailed off, taking her question with it as she looked up to see that Hew had already gotten out of his jacket, kicked his shoes off and was in the process of removing his shirt. At first, she saw the musculature of his lower back, but then the scars came into view and all she could manage to say was an airy gasp.

Kitrina was shocked at the pattern of scar tissue on Hew's back, but they didn't prepare her for what she saw when he turned around at her gasp. The scars on his back were matched and mirrored on his chest, her eyes trailing up his abdomen to his chest where her eyes only got wider.

"My God. What happened?" was all she could muster through her shock.

Hew stayed silent for a moment as he took in a deep breath, "They're... 'mementos,' for lack of a better word... From my past." he said, having issues holding her gaze.

"Oh Hew... I'm sorry, so sorry." Kitrina forced her mouth closed as he looked up into Hew's blue eyes that instantly looked away from her.

Hew's brows furrowed as she apologized for something she had nothing to do with, "Why are you sorry? You had nothing to do with these. You don't need to be sorry for anything." he said lowly, ignoring the spike of self conciseness in his gut.

Kitrina was quite for a moment as she took a deep breath, "I know, but... it's just... I don't know. I mean, your my friend and all and you never talk about your past. I'm just sorry for bringing it up." she stared down at her hand as she started having a hard time looking at him, feeling a bit bad for even bringing it up.

Hew slowly shook his head, "Kitrina... listen to me," he reached forward to catch her chin in his hand and turn her head so he could look into her eyes, "I consider you my friend too. Hell, my best friend even, but you need to understand something. I have a past that I'm not proud of. Its a past that I keep secret and for good reason. I don't talk about it because it's not an important part of my life anymore. I gained a second chance when I went to boot camp and I'm not going to let the mistakes of my past affect my future. It's a future that, I hope, has you in it... Both you and your family." Hew didn't let her answer as he slipped his pants off and jumped into the water.

What Hew just said, froze Kitrina in place as she struggled to wrap her head around the statement she thought she would never hear. What did he just say? She thought as a splash broke her from her thoughts. When she looked to where the sound had come from, she saw Hew swimming in the pond with another smile on his face. Quickly realizing she was still very much overdressed to go swimming, she quickly slipped off her clothes until she stood only in her underwear and was completely unaware of the effect she was having on the man in the water.

After a couple of seconds spent trying to get used to the water, Hew turned back to the pier, however, what he saw made his breath catch hard in his throat. Kitrina was striping to join him in the water, but the biggest surprise was the fact that her swimming attire was not Alliance issue undies like his, her attire was defiantly accenting her curves. He was surprised at the effect that she was having on him and he was extremely happy that the water was a bit on the chilly side. When she looked up and saw him staring, he immediately saw the blush rise to her face as she quickly dove into the water to join him.

Kitrina was thankful that the chill of the water cooled her hot skin of the heated blush. She could still see the look on Hew's face, as it was one of awe and the thought that it was directed towards her had most definitely crossed her mind. Even in the lower light and shadows covering the lake, she could clearly see his crystal blue eyes and they were following her as she swam. She remembered all the other boys who looked at her as she grew up, but none have ever looked at her the way Hew was, as if it was some privilege that he was able to see something that no one else could. Much to her surprise, was that she was actually liking it. The way it felt when she realized that he was watching took her a few seconds to come to terms that it wasn't embarrassment that colored her face, but excitement that he was interested in what she had.

When Kitrina finally returned to the surface, she found Hew waiting patiently and when they made eye contact, she couldn't help but smile at the look on his face. It was one that she was sure, hadn't been seen by anyone in a long, long time, even if it was only there for a moment. It was a look that she would hold dear for as long as she could, because it made her feel like she was the only one that mattered.

Hew couldn't believe the feelings that he just experienced were ones he thought long dead. Of course he thought Kitrina was attractive, that was easy to see, but he had been with a few attractive women. However, he never felt the rush of emotion with them. Why does she make me feel this way? What makes her so special? He couldn't take his eyes off of her, no matter how hard he tried. He watched as she dove into the water, as she effortlessly glided through it and when she finally broke the surface, he still couldn't turn away. What makes her different then all the rest? Judging by the smile on her face, he guessed that she saw the emotions that he was dealing with and after a moment of silence he was finally able to utter a few words.

"So... Know any swimming games?" Hew said as he wiped some lingering drops from his face.

The laugh that rang pure and true across the water made Hew shiver. After what just happened, the mundane nature of the question was just too funny for Kitrina to help herself. Seeing the look on Hew face only added fuel to the fire, but after a few moments of her laughter, she was able to calm down enough so she could talk and make sense.

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help it. That just kinda came out of left field." Kitrina giggled.

Hew arced his eyebrow again, "Um... How so?"

Kitrina wiped her eyes, "Well, we're here, in an intensely romantic situation that was made popular in romance vids and instead of saying some cheesy line, you ask a mundane question like that." she smiled.

"Oh. Did I do something wrong?" Hew asked, actually starting to wonder if he had done something wrong.

"No, not at all. If anything, you said just the right thing. The tension was a bit thick. Thank you for breaking it." Kitrina smiled.

Hew's soft smile returned, "Glade I could help, but that brings me back to the original question. Know any swimming games?"

Kitrina's smile grew as she nodded her head, "Of course I do Hew. This is one I played when I was younger. It's called Marco Polo."

With that, the rest of the afternoon was spent with either Hew chasing Kitrina around the pond or vise versa, and to tell you the truth neither could be happier.

****(")( " )(")****

Darien and Hannah were setting up the table when the the sound of laughter rang through the house, the higher chiming soprano of their daughter being the first they identified before they distinguished the deeper bass of Shepard. Darien was happy that his daughter had found a friend, as he had never heard her sound so elated, but he was also concerned that it was because of a man that he feared was a mystery. That will change as soon as Will gets that info to me, but Jesus... it's good to hear Kit laugh like that.

"Hey you two. Dinner's almost ready!"

****(")( " )(")****

Kitrina still couldn't believe what they had just done. She just spent the last four and a half hours swimming and sunbathing with Hew in her underwear. My God! I can't believe I just did that! If daddy ever found out, Hew would be so dead, but I have to admit that it was worth it. I haven't laughed that much in years. Kitrina thought with a smile as she looked over her shoulder at Hew, seeing him come up the trail that lead to the house. He had taken his jacket off so she could wear it to fight the chill of the cooling night, pulling the leather tighter around herself to catch a strong whiff of the leather, but the scent wasn't alone, there was something more, something very masculine. Is that him, or the jacket? I hope that's him. I really like it. She thought as they neared the house.

Hew went forward to open the door for Kitrina, proceeding to chase her as she entered the home and causing her to laugh with that chiming song he was finding he couldn't get enough of. The sound they produced drew the attention of her father, as she had heard him call from the dinning room.

"Hew, we need to hurry. Dinner's almost ready." Kitrina laughed, trying to lower her voice so that it didn't sound questionable to her parents.

Hew's laughter died down, "I heard. Did you need to change or are you good?"

"I'm fine. We dried off before we got dressed so they shouldn't know." Kitrina whispered as she headed for the kitchen.

Hew shook his head with a smile across his lips. The last six hours were some of the best he could remember and the funny thing was, was that it had little to due with the swimming in their underwear. It was spending time with Kitrina, just having her around made him happy. He was still amazed that she had stuck around after the practical exams and it was something that made him ecstatic every time he thought about it. Sure, she was a bit skinny and unsure of herself, but now look at her. She's confident, stronger. Just look at her! No! I'm not going there. She's my friend. I'm not going to fuck this up... but she's interested. she's said she was... Dammit! I'm not going do that to her! Maybe when the time is right, but no sooner. Hew thought briefly until he violently shook his head to clear it.

When his mind cleared, he found himself in the dining room, standing before a fully set table that was covered in food with Kitrina's mother carrying in a steaming bowl of mashed potatoes.

"Mrs. Wolff..." Hew tried to say, before Hannah halted him.

"I said to call me Hannah, Hew." she laughed as she set the bowl down onto the table.

"I'm Sorry," he quickly nodded. "Did you cook this all? I would have helped if you said anything." Hew said as he took stock of the sheer amount food in front of him.

After he had asked, the sound of giggling, first from beside him, then from the kitchen itself only served to confuse home some more. He looked first to Kitrina, then to her father who was walking out of the kitchen with a couple of take out containers and an amused grin on his face.

"Unfortunately, culinary skills are lacking in the Wolff women, but Hannah is a master of mashed potatoes and some very good dips." Mr. Wolff laughed as he sent his wife a loving glance.

At her husband's gab that was meant in good humor, Hannah sent him a quick and dirty look before looking back at Hew, "Your such a flatter Hew, but I'm sorry to say that I'm not that good of a cook. All I made was the potatoes and the salad." she admitted.

Undeterred from his wife's dirty glare, Mr. Wolff continued, "You should have seen the first time Kit tried to cook something. I think it was cupcakes or something for her class but..."

"Dad!" Kitrina barked, hoping to stop the looming embarrassment.

Mr. Wolff just looked at his daughter with a look that said he was trying not to laugh... too hard, "I'm sorry Kit. I promised not to tell that story didn't I." the laugh was hanging dangerously in his throat.

Completely confused by the interplay going on in front of him, Hew just watched like he was a fly on the wall. On the surface, it seemed pretty odd that a family, a group of people that loved each other, would pick on each other so much with no one getting upset at the other. The more I watch this stuff, the more confused I get. I hope Kitrina can explain this one to me at some point.

After their round of playful and loving banter, they sat down to dinner which turned out to be uneventful. Most of it was spent with Kitrina telling her parents that the house and the property was amazing, which Hew wasted no time in agreeing with and how excited she was that they actually owned land. Hew helped clear the table and wash the dishes once they had finished their meal with Kitrina's mother spending the whole time trying to get any information from him about his feelings for Kitrina. Most of her questions were easily answered or avoided, but that was only until she asked how they met.

Hew studied Mrs. Wolff from the corner of his eye for a few moments, quickly fighting a battle of whether or not to tell and eventually decided to tell her everything. By the time he was finished, Hannah was speechless and just staring at him with a slightly parted mouth.

"Kitrina taught you how to read? I hate to sound rude, but how is it that you didn't know how to read?" Hannah asked with a cringe and as sweetly as possible.

Hew weighed the choice and eventually thought it better to just tell her, "Where I grew up, being able to read was a lower priority then learning to survive." he admitted.

"And where, pray tell, was that? I can't believe that there is that big of a problem on the colonies that children have to make that kind of choice."

"You're right. The colonies don't have that problem, but I'm from Earth." Hew said, looking away from Hannah and towards his hands.

The look on Hannah's face was a cross between pure shock and amazement and would have been funny had it not been directed at Hew.

The feeling of being unwanted started to spike in Hew's chest the longer he was under Hannah's stunned gaze, "I understand if you want me to leave. I'll go pack my gear and get out of you home. Thank you for letting me have this glimpse into what a family is like."

As Hew turned to leave, he felt a hand fall on his shoulder, causing him to look back and see Hannah still keeping her gaze on him, but her eyes were kind.

"You don't have to do that. Your Kit's friend and that is all that matters. You make her happy and that's enough for me." Hannah smiled with a gentle pat to Hew's shoulder.

Hew had no idea how to respond, opting to just look back at the mother of his best friend, but in doing so, he lost the chance to say anything as she turned and left left. I either did a good thing, or a real bad thing. I Guess I'll find out tomorrow. Hew thought as he finished up and headed up to get ready for bed, where he fell into a restful sleep that was filled with dreams of the best day of his life..

****(")( " )(")****

Hannah awoke the next morning to the smell of bacon and pancakes. She smiled as she got out of bed, taking in deep breaths of the lovely aroma as she got dressed, but when she put on her robe, she saw her sleeping husband. Her smile quickly turned to a look of worry as she wondered who was cooking, praying it wasn't her daughter, but not knowing who else it could be, she hurried to follow the scents. However, when she entered the kitchen, her expression turned to one of shock, as standing by the stove was Hew, wearing Alliance issue sweat pants and a gray undershirt.

"You can cook?"

****(")( " )(")****

Hew was actually having fun. After his morning run and a quick shower to wash his body free of sweat, he went down the hall to the kitchen to get something to eat. When he opened the refrigerator, he noticed that there was enough food for a full breakfast, giving him the idea that it would be a nice way to say thank you to Kitrina's family for their hospitality. So thus, he set out to make breakfast.

First, he started with the basics; eggs, bacon, pancakes and even omelets with various ingredients. He was in the middle of getting the pancakes started when a surprised voice sounded from behind him.

"You can cook?"

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Kitrina's mother leaning against the door frame leading from the dining room, to the kitchen, "Yep... a little. It's nothing elaborate, but who can mess up eggs? And before you ask... Yes, there is coffee."

The look that spread over her face caused Hew to smile as he watched her go over to the island, poor herself a cup, take a sip and role her eyes in ecstasy.

"This is really good. Where did you find the grounds?" Hannah asked, taking a seat on a bar stool and drawing in a long, deep breath of the coffee.

"In the cupboard. I'm sorry, I don't know how to use the auto brewer so I did it the long way." Hew lightly shrugged as he skillfully flipped a pancake.

"Pardon? You mean to tell me, that you hand brewed this coffee?" Hannah asked, her eyes widening as she glanced down at her steaming cup of brew.

Hew looked up from the browning pancakes in the skillet, "Yeah... I had to use a couple more pots, but it turned out ok... I hope." he lightly winced.

"No, it's wonderful. I haven't had fresh brew in a long time. It tastes so much better then the stuff the auto brewer makes," she took another sip. "How long have you been up by the way?" she added, not wanting them to fall into silence.

Placing the finished pancakes in the oven to keep them warm, he poured more batter into the skillet that immediately began to bubble as it cooked, "Since around Oh four thirty or so to get a run in. I'm still not used to all this down time, what with my life on Earth and boot camp." Hew said as he checked the browning side of the flapjack.

Hannah lightly laughed, "I guess so. How are you adjusting to it?" she asked kindly.

Hew half shrugged, "It's hard, I'll admit, but I'm finding it worth the effort. In the last six months, I've met better people then I have in the last nineteen years, but the hardest thing I've come across is how you, Mr. Wolff and Kitrina all interact. Every time I think I just about understand this whole 'family' thing, you guys go and change it up on me," he laughed. "Besides that, I'm having a great time."

Hannah nodded her head, "Ah... The 'family' thing. It is a bit hard to figure out from the outside, don't worry, you'll figure it out eventually. It makes life exciting." she smiled with another sip of her coffee.

"I'll have to take your word on that, but anyways, did you want something specific for breakfast?" Hew asked, finding that he was rather enjoying the conversation.

"No, the basics will be fine... wait... are those omelets?" Hannah's eyes widened once she laid her eyes on the egg concoctions.

"Yes..." Hew answered, drawing out the word just a bit as he grinned.

"Gosh, I would love you if you could make me one with bacon, sausage, red and green peppers, onion and cheese. Is that asking to much?" Hannah cringed.

"Of course not. If you get the peppers, onions and the sausage, I'll whip that right up. The ones in the oven only have cheese and bacon in them. Do you want one of those to hold you over till yours is done?" Hew asked as he gathered the desired ingredients for the order.

"I'll wait for mine thank you," she smiled as she got up to get the peppers and onions from the fridge. "I might not be able to cook, but I can cut up the peppers and onions though."

The two fell into a comfortable silence as Hew cooked and Hannah explained what everyone liked on their omelets. Hew enjoyed the little bits of conversation, finding that it was a pretty good time and in the forty-five minutes it took for the rest of the family to wake up, he learned more about the family then what Kitrina had let slip in basic. He was starting to figure that 'family' thing out.

****(")( " )(")****

Darien was having a wonderful dream. He could smell bacon, pancakes and peppers, "Mmm... my favorite... omelets. You spoil me Hannah."

That's when Darien sat bolt up right in bed with a look of terror on his face. Who the Hell is cooking? We just got this place! I don't need a kitchen fire! Darien thought as he quickly got out of bed, grabbed his robe and ran out of the room. However, on his way down the hall, he damn near ran straight into his daughter.

****(")( " )(")****

Kitrina awoke to the smell of breakfast being cooked. I love my daddy. He always surprises us. Oh my... is that onions? He remembered my favorite. Getting out of bed and pulling on a light sweater, she headed out into the hallway and was nearly run over by her father.

"Wait... If your here, who's cooking?" Kitrina asked, the feeling of anxiety rising in her stomach.

"That's what I would like to know." Darien said, clearly very jittery as he started to rap his fingers against his hips.

Both quickly ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, desperately hoping that nothing was burning, but it sure didn't smell that way. When they arrived at the entrance to the kitchen, they both stood in shocked wonder. There, standing at the island was Hannah as she cut the peppers and onions, but the thing that surprised them even more, was the fact that Hew was at the stove cooking breakfast.

"You can cook?" the duel yelp range through the air.

The smile the spread across Hew's was priceless, "Yes, I can cook. Why is everyone so surprised?" he tried not to laugh.

Kitrina and her father slowly walked into the kitchen with looks of amazement covering their faces as they watched and smelled the array of irresistible treats that filled the kitchen. Mr. Wolff's nose caught the scent of coffee, drawing him over to the coffee pot where he poured himself a cup and continued to watch Hew at the stove. He took the time to look over the spread and he could only be impressed by the sheer amount of food being laid out by the young man he had been so unsure about.

"How long have you two been up?" Darien asked as he helped move the food to the table and took his seat.

"I've only been up for that last forty-five minutes, but Hew's been up since four thirty. He decided to cook us breakfast as a thank you." Hannah was quick to answer and with a beaming smile on her face.

Darien nodded his head, "Where did you learn to cook Shepard? This looks pretty good." he asked as he started to dish out servings.

Hew looked up from his plate as he placed a couple pancakes onto it, "Nowhere in particular. I just picked it up over time." he said as he dressed his pancakes and started on them.

The four fell into silence as they all dug in, nearly head first, having no time to talk since they were too busy stuffing their faces with the feast Hew had cooked up for them. When breakfast was finished, left overs were stored and dishes were cleaned with everyone helping out to get it done quicker.

Once everything was done, Kitrina had the idea to take Hew out to see the town. She found him sitting in the living room reading something on his data pad which turned out to be the reading program she had gotten him during basic. He's still trying to improve himself. She thought as she noticed he was still wearing the same civilian clothes as the day prior. That's my way in. I'm taking him shopping!

"So Hew... What'cha doing?" Kitrina asked with a playful and mischievous tone to her voice.

Hew looked up from his data pad, "Reading." he said flatly.

"I can see that smart ass." Kitrina lightly chuckled as she sat down next to him.

Hew's brows furrowed a bit as he gave Kitrina his full attention, "You've planned something didn't you." he deadpanned.

"Why yes I did. I wanna go to town." Kitrina smiled.

"Then go." Hew laughed.

Kitrina snorted, "Let me finish... I wanna go to town and your coming with me." she grinned.

Hew looked over to Kitrina's dad who was still trying to hide his laugh by covering his mouth with his hand, "Why do I have to go?" he arced an eyebrow.

"Well, for one thing... your wearing the same thing you did yesterday," she raised a hand to forestall his argument. "Two, I can't go without someone because my parents still treat me like I'm seven, not SEVENTEEN." she raised her voice as she directed it towards the man sitting across the room.

Mr. Wolff looked up from his datapad wearing a look of pure innocence, "What? Who me? Hannah, I think your daughter said something about you."

"Oh, so now she's my daughter? Like you had nothing to do with her being here." Hannah replied as she folded her arms.

This must have been another one of those 'family things' Hew was still mystified by, but he never got a chance to get an explanation as Kitrina grasped his hand and dragged him to the door.

"Um... Kitrina? Where are we going?" Hew asked as they walked through the door into the warming sun.

Kitrina just grinned as she looked over her shoulder, "The mall!" is was painfully obvious that she was excited.

The last thing Hew heard before the door closed was the barking laugh of Kitrina's father. Uh oh.

****(")( " )(")****

"What... The... Hell... Is... That?" Hew gaped, staring at the massive, hulking structure in front of him.

"That's the mall." Kitrina lightly laughed.

Hew looked back to the huge building at the constant stream of people going in and coming out. He had seen malls before, but nothing on this scale and never this close since the law enforcement on Earth kept the homeless out of the upper class areas and that's where the malls were.

"Come on. It'll be fun." Kitrina said as headed to join the stream of people.

How come I seriously doubt that. He thought as he followed Kitrina, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

Upon entering the mall, any preconceived notions he had had about the place were thrown out every window that was within reach. People were everywhere and caring bags, boxes and parcels of dozens of shapes and sizes. There were scores of different shops, just as many non-humans and the giant skylight in the towering ceiling let so much light in, that people had to keep their sunglasses on, even inside.

"What do they do with everything? Why do they buy so much?" Hew asked, not meaning to have his voice as loud as it was, but sure enough, Kitrina heard it and answered.

"Everyone does different things. Some shop for need, some for fun, some just for the Hell of it." Kitrina said with a low shrugged.

"What? Did I hear you right? People shop for fun?" both of Hew's brows arced high in surprise.

"Yeah. Why?" Kitrina said a little matter-of-factly.

"Why do they waste money when they could save it for something better... like food? Is this the world you're trying to show me? People who have no idea what a true problem really is and are content to live in an ignorant bliss as long as they have their mall and vid units? How is this better then my old life?" Hew said, his tone growing agitated and his words turned sharp.

Kitrina flinched as if she were struck by what Hew said. Is that how he really sees us? Is that how he sees me? She thought as she looked away from him and felt herself sinking down into her shoulders.

"How was your family able to teach you values in a society that produces shit like this?" Hew asked, pointing at an add for an upcoming movie that consisted of a severely under-dressed woman and with a heavily gene modded male lead holding her.

Kitrina looked at the poster and would have argued the point if the poster wasn't displaying that the movie was a sequel, "Ok, ok. I'll admit, people do some strange things, but not all of them are bad. Most are just trying to stay normal and survive," she waved her hands in a placating gesture to hold off Hew's retort. "Albeit with a large vid unit and too many cloths, but everyone is there own person. I can't even start to explain it all, but trust me Hew. There are more decent people out there then not. Please trust me." she sighed, feeling her eyes begin to sting which forced her to look away from him again.

Hew just sighed, "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but only you. Ok?" he said in a low voice.

Sighing in relief, her lips lightly smiled, "Deal. Let's go find you some new cloths."

The two headed out on their quest and spent an hour just walking around the mall with Kitrina showing Hew all of the different kinds and types of people that were there. There were the mallies; People that go to the mall just for the sake of going to the mall. The mall hunters; men and women that go to the mall to try and hook up with random people and the posers, which Kitrina had to hold Hew back when they passed a group of kids who were wearing cloths that would look right at home on the streets if it wasn't for the designer tags. However, that's not the thing that set Hew off. It was one of the 'thugs' that made a comment towards Kitrina that he didn't like.

After several minutes, they finally arrived at a large clothing store that, to Hew's relief, wasn't as populated as the rest of the mall.

"This place looks good. Let's see what they have ok?" Kitrina smiled as she lead him inside.

Looking at the displays in the store's windows, Hew reluctantly agreed to enter, but again, he had little choice in the matter since his hand was grasped by Kitrina and she was guiding him inside. It took an excessive amount of will on Hew's part not to punch the far too preppy clerk that instantly got on his nerves.

"How can I help you two today?" the clerk asked with a bit of fake swag in his steps.

Hew didn't get a chance to answer since Kitrina replied for them, "We're just browsing. If we need assistance, I'll be sure to call for your help." she said kindly and managed to not even look at the clerk which seemed to disappointed him.

"Well have fun miss." the clerk said with a nearly inaudible grown that Hew caught.

As the clerk walked away, Hew couldn't help but thank Kitrina for the save, "Thanks. I honestly had no idea what to say to that guy." he whispered.

"No problem. Come on... Let's go look for some new stuff for you." Kitrina smiled again and started towards the racks of male clothing.

After several hours of rummaging through rack after rack, Kitrina found Hew looking at jeans and button up shirts that she thought he would look good in, "Hey... Look what I found." she beamed as she pulled the articles from their place.

Hew looked up from the rack he was looking at and noticed that Kitrina was holding a pair of tan slacks and a collared polo shirt, "Um... Who's that for?" he arced another eyebrow.

The bark of laughter that came from Kitrina sent a subtle shiver down Hew's spine that made him stand up a bit straighter.

"You goofball. Go try them on." she said, her smile still there as she walked up to him.

He sighed as his eyebrow stay arced, "Why? Those aren't exactly my style." he lightly cringed as he touched the fabric.

Kitrina rolled her eyes, "Oh come on... It'll be fun. Humor me."

Hew heavily sighed as he allowed her to lead him towards the dressing rooms. "Here... You go in there, try on the cloths and then come out so I can see how you look. Alright?" she instructed.

Hew sighed again, "I get it. I get to be your dress up doll... It's just this once." he joked as he headed into the dressing room.

It took everything Kitrina had to not squeal with glee, "Thank you." she beamed.

As Hew entered the small room, he looked at the clothes again and lightly groaned. Is she serious? Oy... This isn't gonna go over well. After a few moments of looking at them, glancing at the door, thinking of Kitrina and inspecting the clothes, he finally reconsidered with a shrug. Why not.

Just on the other side of the dressing room door, Kitrina was so excited that she was having a hard time sitting still. As she looked around to find something to focus on, someone from her past came into view. Moving to hide behind a clothing rack, she was able to block his view of her, but at the same time, she lost sight of him which turned out not in her favor.

As she was trying to stay invisible, she failed to notice that the person she was trying to avoid had come around behind her.

"Well... well... well. If it isn't Kitrina Wolff. How ya doing freak?" the young man around her age said with folded arms and a judgmental stare.

****(") ( " ) (")****

Hew stepped out of the dressing room, still looking at himself in the mirror wearing the clothes that she had picked out for him, "Hey Kitrina... What you think?"

When he received no answer, he looked over his shoulder and noticed she wasn't where she said she'd be, "Kitty?" he called out again, hoping that she just didn't hear him the first time.

Looking around a second time, he finally caught sight of her standing over by the winter jackets. He started to walk over to her when he started to notice a few seemed stiff and her body language said that she was nervous, but he had no idea why. Why is she acting like it's the first week of boot again and who the Hell is that guy? He thought as he stood off from them, but close enough to hear.

****(") ( " ) (")****

Kitrina couldn't think, let alone talk. She felt like she was six again, looking at this person from her past and feeling like she was about to be judged.

Standing in front of her, was Peter, her first crush. The first she let close and the first one she told her secret to, but he was also the first to use it against her and the one who crushed her heart when he laughed at her and called her a freak.

"So... Did they let you out of your cage for good behavior, or did you earn it on your knees?" Peter sneered with crossed arms and eyes that wondered over her new, far more muscular figure.

She couldn't believe he was saying these things to her. Why is he saying that? As Kitrina was about to respond, a familiar voice sounded from behind her.

"Kitty? There you are... What's up?" Hew asked as he looked from Kitrina, to the strange man standing in front of her in a posture that he didn't like. He's posturing... He's trying to seem bigger then he really is. He thought with a sidelong glance to Kitrina which revealed just the opposite. She's scared and confused.

Turing his full attention to the stranger, Hew decided to take whatever heat this young man was giving to Kitrina, "Hey, Hew Shepard. You are?" he asked as politely as possible.

The young man known as Peter looked from 'The Freak,' back to the much larger man who seemed to be with her. Could he not know that the bitch is keeping a secret from him? I should warn him. It's the least I could do. After all, a Freak doesn't deserve to be happy. He thought as he straightened his shoulders.

"Hello. The name's Peter... Peter Udina." Peter nodded in Hew's direction.

"Nice to meet you Peter. Do you know Kitrina?" Hew asked, sidestepping closer to Kitrina just a bit to reassure her that he was there.

An evil smirk began to spread across Peter's face, "Oh... I know her. I know all about her. Has she told you her dirty little secret yet?" he sneered, shifting his eyes to Kitrina which caused him to miss Hew's shift in body language.

Hew, deciding to play along and see what would happen, placed his arm across Kitrina's shoulders which allowed him to feel her relax just a bit, "Oh? What secret might that be?" he shifted his gaze to Kitrina, curious as to the contents of this secret, but in reality, he was judging her reaction to his presence.

"Well that figures. Trying to act all normal, but let me tell you, she's a freak. She's one of those Biotic freaks. She's a mutant. She's something that shouldn't be allowed to co-mingle with us normal and decent people." Peter spat, pointing a lazy finger in Kitrina's direction.

Hew wasn't sure if he had heard that right, "What did you say?" his brows began to pull downwards.

Peter sighed, "You heard me. She's... A... FREAK. She should be locked up, but no, the Alliance thinks their good for something. Well I guess a weapon is a good use of them. Hell, maybe they'll get them all killed off. It would do the Galaxy a favor if they all just die..." Peter was silenced when he was no longer capable of running air over his vocal cords.

Hew's fist shot out in a blur so fast, that Kitrina never got the chance to even react from his sudden movements. One moment, his right arm was hanging at his side and the next, it was around Peter's throat.

Hew was pissed. He was beyond pissed and into the irate category, as everything was tinged with red, "I'm sorry... I think I missed that last part. How would the Galaxy be better? Hmm?" he said in a low, trembling voice, that if you weren't paying attention, it could pass as a low growl of an angry animal.

All Peter could do however, was gasp as he struggled for breath, clawing at this Hew's hand to find that he couldn't break the grip. Unfortunately for Peter, the last thing he heard was a question asked by the mall security.

"What's going on here?" a large, rotund, mall security man asked with an annoyed stare at the small group.

Hew looked over at the sound of the question, quickly realizing that it was just a mall cop. These places need their own cops? That's just sad.

"Nothing of importance Officer. This young man and myself were just finishing up. Unfortunately, he seems to have fainted and this was the only way I could keep him from falling. In hindsight, it does seem to be a pretty bad way, but you have to admit, it is effective." Hew finished as he released Peter, letting him slump to the floor.

"Uh huh... right. Young lady, care to shed some light on this issue?" the security officer asked, still with the same annoyed look on his face.

Kitrina was still at a loss as to how this whole thing had gotten so out of hand, but in some small part of herself, she couldn't help but feel happy that Hew would do that for her. She couldn't believe that Hew was even able to keep his arm around her while suspending unconscious deadweight off the floor, but she didn't have much time to think about since the security officer's question drew her attention back into reality.

"Um... What?" she stuttered.

"Could you explain what happened here?" the officer repeated.

Kitrina drew in a long breath to help steady her nerves, "It's like he said. Peter fainted. I know him from grade school and he was prone to passing out then too. Maybe it was the excitement." she lightly shrugged.

The security officer looked from the young man, to the young woman and found that he had nothing to hold them on since they were the only ones present and their stories matched. I need a real job, "Alright. You can go, but don't let me find you involved in any trouble again." the officer warned.

"Thank you sir. I'll keep him out of trouble." Kitrina quickly responded as she blew out the breath she realized she had been holding.

As the security officer left, Hew glanced at Kitrina, "Are you alright Kitty?" he asked in a voice that was just above a whisper.

"Um... Yeah. I'm fine, but... what did you call me?" Kitrina asked, looking up at Hew with brows that were barely ruffled.

"Oh uh... Kitty. Is that alright?" Hew said, having a sudden feeling that that wasn't the brightest thing to do.

"Why Kitty?"

"Well... um... your parents call you Kit. I didn't wanna call you that since it's your parent's term of endearment. I just wanted to give you one that... could be... mine... I guess. Is that alright?" he asked, the feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

Kitrina eye's widened ever so slightly. He wants to give me a nickname? A term of endearment? that's so sweet! "It's perfectly fine. Of course, that means I'll just have to find a good nickname for you then." that smile that Hew was finding he rather enjoyed spread across her face once more.

Hew chuckled, "Good luck with that. Can I change out of these cloths now? Please?" he nearly begged.

Kitrina had laugh at that. After looking at what he was actually wearing, she realized the the clothes she picked, were most definitely not his style. Though the clothes were nice, they really didn't fit his frame like she hoped they would. He just wasn't built for the way the clothes were cut.

"Alright. You can change." she said as she patted Hew's arm and worked on getting her laughter under control, but that proved difficult since the look of relief that Hew gave almost made her lose her composure for a second time.

They finished up their stop in the clothing store with Hew selecting several pairs of relaxed fit jeans and about a dozen button up shirts of both solid and pattered styles. He picked up a few packs of boxer briefs before they left and the color Kitrina turned when he asked her opinion almost made it worth the trip altogether.

After paying and having everything sent to the Wolff's cabin, they left the department store with Hew wearing a fresh set of his new clothes and the old leather jacket that Kitrina thought he looked fantastic in.

"You really go for comfort over fashion don't you." Kitrina silent chuckled as she looked him over to admire his new look.

Hew looked down at what he was wearing before he looked at Kitrina with a soft smile on his face, "Yeah. If I'm going to buy something, you bet your ass it's gonna be comfortable. I'm not walking around in a monkey suit just to satisfy other people."

Kitrina just shook her head, "Anyways... Where do you wanna go next?" she asked, hoping he would say something along the lines of somewhere in the mall.

"Um... This is a bit embarrassing, but do you know where I could get an Omni-Tool?" he rubbed the back of his neck.

Kitrina's smile grew to it's full size at the mention, "Of course I do. Come on... this way. I hope they haven't move it." she said as she grabbed Hew by the hand and took off.

After several sets of going up escalators, down elevators, across bridges and over pedestrian ways, they finally stood in front of an electronics store. It was a little off the beaten path and not that crowded, but the look that came over Kitrina's face when she looked at it, told Hew that she most likely had been there before.

"Uh... Kitty... Are you sure this is the place?" Hew asked, cocking another eyebrow as he studied the store's facade.

I'm liking this nickname more and more, "Yep... Just trust me Hew." she winked and lead him inside.

When they entered the shop, a small ding sounded from somewhere towards the back of the shop. The shop itself was different then what Hew expected. The racks of massed produced electronics were gone, being taken up by subtle display cases that housed some of the most finely crafted devices Hew had ever seen. There were Biotic Amps and Omni-Tools of all types and ranging in price. All looked hand crafted and all were very expensive.

"Kitty... I think this place is a bit out of my price range." Hew cringed as he looked at a beautifully crafted Biotic amp that he had to refrain from touching.

"Don't worry Hew. Everything is gonna be just fine."

Hew remained quite as Kitrina guided him to the counter, tapping a button that rested on top that caused a different chime to sound from the back of the shop and out of sight. As the chime faded the clerk came into view and that in itself, sent Hew into shock.

Holy shit! Is that an Asari? What the Hell is she doing here? Is 'she' even the right pronoun to address her as? It... aw Hell with it. My fucking head hurts. He thought as the Asari approached the counter, but before he could say anything, the clerk seemed to recognize Kitrina.

"Kitrina Wolff? Is that you? It has been years! My... You have grown into quite the beautiful young woman," she beamed as she noticed the young man standing beside her. "Oh? Who is your friend Kitrina?"

"Ok... My manners seemed to have slipped. Matron Arira Ze'than, this is Hew Shepard. He's my friend, a true friend. Hew this is Matron Arira. She was my Biotic's teacher. My parents found her and asked her to help me when my Biotics started to manifest." Kitrina said, motioning with her hand to each person as she said their names.

Hew studied the Matron for the briefest of moments, "Kitrina speaks highly of you. If she holds you in such high regard, than I will as well. I trust her judgment." Hew then reached forward to shake her hand in greeting.

He was caught a bit off guard when the Asari matron grasped his hand in both of hers and pulsed her Biotics. He glanced at Kitrina for any cue, but when he received none, he returned his attention to the Asari who held his hand.

"A most impressive friend you've found Kitrina. He does not seem frightened of Biotics. That is rare in your people to whom the gift is rare," the Asari turned her attention back to Hew. "Now young man, how can I help you?"

Hew rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand before replying, "Um... I'm looking for an Omni-Tool, but your selection is very impressive. I'm afraid I can't afford what you're offering. I'm sorry to have taken time from your day, but I am glade that Kitrina was able to meet a friendly face."

Arira cocked a painted eyebrow at the young man's statement, "A 'friendly face'? Would you like to explain Kitrina?"

Kitrina looked at her feet, unable to look the matron in the eyes, "I bumped into Peter."

"Ah, I see. Well, I am glade you had young Hew here with you. Let us see if I can help your friend shall we?" Arira smiled.

Kitrina looked up at Arira and smiled, " Yes, I would like that."

"In that case, please follow me."

Seeing as she was still holding his hand, Hew figured he had little choice in the matter. Arira guided both of them into the back of the shop, which housed an even larger collection of Biotic Amps and Omni-Tools. Arira proceeded to sit at a workbench that looked as if it had been used continuously for years and look through an assortment of Omni-Tools that weren't nearly as elaborate as the ones out front, but all bore the marks of being hand crafted and well made. Finding what she was looking for, Arira moved Hew closer to the workbench and took some measurements of his wrist and forearm with an old fashioned measuring tape.

"Is there a particular color you'd prefer?" Arira asked after only a few short minutes.

"I like blue, sliver, black and gray if that helps. Why?" Hew just shrugged.

"Well, if you must know. I find the bright orange coloration a bit eye searing. Do you not?" Arira drawled without looking up from what she was doing.

"To tell you the truth, I've never owned an Omni-Tool before." Hew admitted, trying not to pay too much mind to the heat of his cheeks.

"Oh? This is exciting then, is it not? Your first Omni-Tool. We should celebrate. Do you not agree Kitrina? How about lunch? I will pay. It is the least I could do. After all, it is not every day that I meet a friend of yours Kitrina." Arira beamed.

See as they had no way to refuse, both Hew and Kitrina agreed. After several moments of fine tuning and calibrations, Arira seemed to be content that both the Omni-Tool and its housing were in working order. She stood up, brushed some nonexistent dust from her dress and handed the device to Hew.

Hew accepted the gadget from the matron, but he didn't get to hold it long since Kitrina took it from him and showed him out to put it on his wrist.

"Well? Are you not going to turn it on?" Arira asked after several moments of Hew just staring at the device.

Hew didn't look up from his wrist, "Um... How?" there's that random heat in his cheeks again.

Kitrina just laughed. For everything that Hew knew, there was still so much that he didn't and when they found one, it was always something that Kitrina took for granted.

Arira was a bit taken aback, as it was rare to find someone that didn't know how to use such simple technology, well, simple for her, "Here... Let me show you."

After several minutes of instruction from both Arira and Kitrina, Hew was using his new Omni-Tool like a pro.

"I'm very grateful that you've spent all this time with me and letting me to learn on this, but I have to say again that I can't afford something of this quality Matron Arira." Hew said as kindly as possible.

"Nonsense... It's a gift. My former student sees value in you and so do I. Think of this not as a gift, but as a token of appreciation from a teacher who values her student's choice of friends." Arira smile as she lightly placed her hand on Hew's shoulder.

Hew was dumb struck. No one besides Kitrina has ever shown any from of interest for his well being before.

"Uh... Thank you... Matron Arira. I'll cherish this. Really... Thank you." Hew said, looking from his new Omni-Tool, to Kitrina and eventually to Arira.

The three left the shop and found a diner the catered to many different cultures, both human and non-human. Hew was amazed at how Kitrina and the Matron interacted, as it was the first time seeing the shared student/teacher relationship between them, but they seemed to have developed a genuine friendship. They always looked each other in the eyes, leaned somewhat closer to each other as they talked and both wore smiles that just wouldn't quit on their faces the entire time they ate.

As the two left, Arira had to wonder what those two would do together, for when she greeted him, she felt the same thing she felt when she greeted Kitrina all those years ago. They will do great things.

After Kitrina and Hew said their goodbyes, they went on their way and before long, they found themselves outside and walking around a small man-made lake. Hew had been messing around with is Omni-Tool nearly the entire time, mostly scrolling through the pre-installed programs, but exploring it none the less. There were a lot of things that it could do, ranging from playing games to other things that were a bit out of his league at the moment so he selected one simply titled 'Life-Line.'

After a few seconds, a display popped up showing a local map and on it were two blue dots. One was dead center and the other was slightly overlapping it. He tapped the one in the center which brought up a set of GPS coordinates and he figured that tapping the other would do the same, which it didn't. First, a list of data started to scroll down the secondary window that popped up and the second, was that Kitrina's Omni-Tool lit up. What the hell?

Kitrina was enjoying the time with Hew when her thoughts were interpreted by her Omni-Tool suddenly lighting up and sending a light buzz against her skin. Looking at the display, she noticed a strange program running that she didn't recognize. Life-Line? What's this do? She thought as she remembered when Matron Arira had given her the Omni-Tool all those years ago as a graduation gift. She also remembered when she tried the program, but it did nothing. Now, looking at the display, she saw two blips. One was dead center and the other was slightly overlapped. Upon taping the slightly off center blip, Kitrina was rewarded with a secondary window that displayed scrolling data in real time, but when Hew made a noise of surprise, she turned to look at him.

"Hey Kitty... Do that again." Hew said, staring at the display.

"Do what again?" Kitrina shrugged.

"Whatever you just did. Just do it again." he urged with a smile.

Looking at Hew with a strange look on her face, she taped the slightly off center blip again.

"Huh..." was all Hew said.

Confused, Kitrina opened her mouth to say something, but her own Omni-Tool cut her off when it pinged again and caused her to look at it.

"It seems our Omni-Tools are linked. I'm guessing it's so we can find each other anywhere. I wonder what the range is." Hew thought out loud.

A program called 'Life-Line' that links our Omni-Tools together. I wonder what Matron Arira is up to? She thought, failing to notice that Hew had come along beside her and she continued to fail until he draped his arm across her shoulders to pull her close.

"You know, I think I could get used to this. It's so peaceful and you have friends here," Hew started to say until his attention was caught by a shiny glimmer. "Hey look! A lake! Wanna go for a swim?"

Kitrina again laughed at the way Hew's attention span shifted from long, to short in the blink of an eye and the way he deadpanned the question was so similar as to when he first said it, that she had to struggle to keep from laughing harder. I think I've laughed more in the last couple of days then I have in my whole life. She smiled.

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they walked around the lake, deciding not to go swimming since it wasn't nearly as private as the one at home until they eventually found themselves sitting on a secluded bench, watching the sun drop down on the horizon. Unbeknownst to them however, they were slowly leaning in towards each other against their free will and before long, Kitrina had snuggled in close for warmth and Hew was pulling Kitrina in tighter for reasons he would never really understand or realize.

"This was a perfect day." Kitrina whispered, turning her head to look up at Hew, realizing then at just how close they were.

Hew was in awe of what was happening around him. In all the chaos of trying to learn new things, he and Kitrina were able to find a place of solitude. As Hew reflected about the day, he couldn't help but realize that the main contributing factor, was huddled in close under his right arm. His musings were interrupted by a whisper from said factor, causing him to turned his head and notice just how close they now were. He looked into Kitrina's deep green eyes and felt himself drawn forward and unable to stop it.

Kitrina could see the thoughts flowing behind Hew's vivid blue eyes and she had to admit that they seemed to be getting even more so the longer she looked at , any more thought was lost as she felt herself lean forward to come into contact with something ruff, but warm, yielding and inviting.

Hew felt a wave of relief wash through him as their lips touched with a soft graze that could barely register as a kiss, but he pulled back to see how she would react.

Kitrina was dizzy, happy, light headed and excited, all the same time. He just kissed me... He really did it... I think. I better not be dreaming. She thought as she tried not to hyperventilate from her excitement, but before she could talk, Hew brought her closer and she felt his lips on hers once more.

As the first was a chaste and simple kiss, the second was anything but. She tried to deepen the kiss, slowly trailing her tongue against his lips in long, unbroken strokes and she was soon rewarded as Hew's own tongue met hers. His tongue felt soft against hers, but it had a certain roughness that was not at all unpleasant to experience. The feeling was new to her, but it was invigorating as her body flushed, first hot, then cold to raise a soft layer of gooseflesh along the exposed skin of her arms. Her hand slowly drifted up Hew's arm until it came to rest on the side of his neck, his skin there mimicking the same texture of his tongue, as it was soft until her fingers grazed over the fine roughness of the days growth at the top of his neck.

Seeing that Kitrina was not offended by the first kiss, Hew thought to push his luck. After all, she had started it all those weeks ago on Titan. At first, he was worried because nothing happened, but when he felt Kitrina's gentle brush of her tongue, he returned it in kind. He knew she was new to all this, so he allowed her to lead the intimate moment and set the pace, finding that he had started to smile when he felt her wrap her arms around him and hold him tight, one hand on the small of his back and her other on his neck, as if she was worried he might leave. So, to reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere, he wrapped his arms around her.

After what felt like an eternity, the embrace was broken as Hew drew back with a smile creeping along his face, "Now... Now it's perfect. I'm sorry for the wait, but I wanted it to mean something and now it does." he whispered, swallowing his delighted sigh as he brushed the back of his hand over her flushed cheeks.

Kitrina lightly giggled, "It was well worth it Hew... Well worth it indeed." she returned the smile.

Hew's own low chuckle joined hers as he lightly bit his bottom lip, "I... I really hate to break the mood, but I think we should be getting back to the house before your folks come looking for us." he was perfectly content stay exactly where he was, but knew that they had to get back.

Kitrina nodded, "Yeah... We should. That's a bummer. I wish we could stay here forever. I had a real good time with you." she smiled, finding that she was being swallowed up by his eyes.

"Me too Kitty... Me too."

****(")( " )(")****

Darien was sitting in his office doing some paperwork and it was the last thing he was wanting to do. I'm thousands of light years way and they still need me to sign req forms. Some things never change. He groaned as a beep rang from his terminal.

He turned to the terminal to see that there was one message waiting for him, causing to wonder who would be sending him a message when they knew that he was on shore leave, but he immediately remembered his earlier conversation when he opened it and read its contents.

From: Captain Scott, William Alliance Intelligence

To: Captain Wolff, Darien SSV Montana

Subject: That info you requested.

Attachment: (Shepard, Hewbert Arthur: Background )

I don't know what this kid did, but his record is sealed up tight. I had to call in some favors just to get it. He was given 'the choice', but there is a notation on his file that I didn't recognize. 99 Omega. I've never seen this on a Jarhead's file before so I looked it up. It means he can't go back to Earth unless it's a Military operation or a state of emergency. This kid is damn near exiled Darien. With all my favors, that's all I could get. His file reads like a Black Ops specialist, as in heavily censored but this kid has no military training whatsoever. I hope you can make heads or tails of it. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help old friend.

Darien's brows pinched together. Hmm... Interesting. When he was about to open the file attached to his message, he heard a noise from the door, causing him to look up and see his wife standing, leaning against the door's frame with her arms crossed.

"Honey... Why do you have that 'I ate a bad sandwich' look on your face?" she asked, keeping a straight face.

Darien sat up straight, "Well... I just got a message from Will and..." he never got to finish.

"YOU DID A BACKGROUND CHECK ON HEW?" Hannah boomed, uncrossing her arms and letting them hang angrily at her sides.

"Hannah listen... I was..." again, he was cut off.

"I don't want to hear it Darien! Kitrina trusts him! I trust him! That should be enough, but no, you had to bring in your friends to poke around this young man's life!" Hannah hissed through nearly clenched teeth.

"I was only looking out for..." Darien was getting really tired of not being able to finish his sentences.

"Kitrina? That's bullshit and you know it! You were looking out for yourself, or is that star more important then your own daughter's happiness?" Hannah barked, holding her hand up to stall her husband's retort.

"Now just wait a damn minute Hannah. You know I love her and that 'star' as you put it, didn't even cross my mind. I just want Kit to be safe." he said sternly, standing from his chair and placing both hands on his desk.

"If that's all, then you'll delete that message and ASK Hew himself when he gets back, but be warned... If you read that file, then your on the couch until she finds someone that makes her happy like Hew does. Someone she trusts exactly like him." Hannah sneered and recrossed her arms.

"Wait...WHAT? All this over someone we don't even know? How is it that you have so much faith in this kid?" Darien was awestruck.

"It's very simple Darien. HE. MAKES. KITRINA. HAPPY. How many friends does our daughter have huh? How many people does she have in her life that support her like he does? Tell me you heard how they met. Hell, GySgt. Ellison sent us reports of what happened during Basic training. Hew did all that with no thought, but to keep her safe and a total disregard for his own. That's why I trust him. He's good for her." Hannah said in a much calmer tone of voice.

"How could you be so sure?" Darien challenged.

"It's simple Darien. I get the same feeling from him as I got from you the day we met."

Darien rolled his eyes and sat back down. Fuck, "Hannah... I trust your gut instincts, but this is to big. I mean... it's our daughter we're talking about. Our only daughter. I can't risk it and I'm not willing to."

"That instinct, as you call it, has served me well in my career. It has served me well in my life with both you and Kitrina. Let me make this call Darien. I'm asking you to trust me." Hannah said with an exhale of breath.

Darien was put on the spot by none other then his own wife. On one hand, he had access, ok some access, to the past of Hew Shepard, but on the other, he did trust his wife and her gut feelings, "Aw damn. I'll do this your way Hannah. I'll ask him when he gets back." he relented.

"That's all I can ask Darien. Thank you." Hannah said before she turned and left, with a soft smile growing on her face. The balls in your court now.

****(")( " )(")****

When Hew and Kitrina finally returned to the cabin, they were confronted by Hannah.

"Hew, Darien would like to talk to you for a minute. He's up in his office. Kitrina, could you come help me get something ready for dinner?" she asked kindly.

Hew gave Kitrina a quick glance of reassurance before heading off towards the stairs. As he rounded the corner of the hallway, he heard Hannah's reassuring words to her daughter before he walked past the stairs, heading down the hall a bit until he reached Darien's office where he knocked and waited.

After a few moments, Hew heard his cue to opened the door and entered the office where he stood front and center of Mr. Wolff's desk, much like he did during Basic training.

"Have a seat young man." Darien motioned with his head to the chair in front of his desk as he finished up something he was working on.

Hew shifted to his left and sat in the provided chair, slowly blowing out the nervous breath in hopes that it would distract him from the nervous twist in his stomach.

"Do you know why I wanted to talk to you?" Darien wasted no time in asking.

"No Mr. Wolff." Hew shook his head.

"Well... I know nothing about you except what I have from a bias source, namely Kitrina, so I had a friend do some checking," Darien placed an OSD on the desk between himself and Hew. "He sent me this. I was going to read it, but a cooler head said I should ask you to tell me about your past. I want you to tell me about yourself." he said coolly.

Hew was knocked off balance, which was rare. How much should I tell him? He thought, his eyes drifting from Mr. Wolff's, to the OSD and back again before clearing is throat to begin.

"Well... To start off, I was born on Earth and wound up in an orphanage that was ran by the The Tenth Street Reds. It was used as a recruiting station for the gang. They weeded out what they considered weak by letting them get adopted, but the strong were kept and rolled into the gang when they were old enough and by old enough, I mean five to six years old because they were better at panhandling. When they hit the teens, the male kids were taken and trained as thugs for lack of a better word and the females... well... you can guess. I, unfortunately had a gift. I was bigger then most. I picked up on how to hurt people quickly. After several years and a list of felonies that I won't go into right now, I was able to climb the ranks and achieve the position of a trusted Lieutenant. I developed a reputation as someone who could get stuff done. I was used as the boogymen of the streets. The gang leaders called me Virgil and it took me forever to figure out why. I was the problem solver for the Reds. Eventually, events conspired and I was caught, put on trial and given the choice of jail time or service. Seeing as I had no desire to spend time in prison, I chose service since I was always good at following orders and it gave me a chance at a new life." Hew said, opting to let his eyes bounce around the office instead of looking a Mr. Wolff.

Darien sat there quietly, absorbing what he said with his hands clasped in his lap. Nothing in what Hew said explained why he was listed as a 99 Omega however.

"Thank you for telling me all that, but I have two questions. How and why did you get listed as a 99 Omega?" Darien blatantly asked.

Hew was confused,"Uh... A what?"

"A 99 Omega."

"I have no idea what that means Mr. Wolff." Hew said, still feeling extremely nervous.

Darien watched Hew for a few seconds to let him squirm a bit, "It pretty much means you pissed off someone high enough to damn near exile you from Earth. I'd love an explanation."

Hew rubbed the back of his neck. Dear God, "Um... I'd really rather not Mr. Wolff. It was something that needed to be done, but I really don't want to talk about it." he hoped, prayed even that that would be enough to dissuade the man sitting in front of him.

Darien leaned forward a bit and rested his elbows on his desk, still with clasped hands, "Hew... You're important to my daughter, so I need to know if this will place her in any danger. If it will, I can't let you be around her. It's for her safety." he quietly explained, keeping his eyes on Hew's, even though his weren't looking back.

Hew weighed what Mr. Wolff said, despite very much not wanting to talk about the incident, but he didn't want to lose Kitrina and especially not after what happened this evening. After several seconds, he finally steeled himself, "This can't leave this room sir. Please swear that to me this this won't leave this room."

"Excuse me?" Darien asked, his brows furrowing slightly as he weighed Hew's request.

"If you want to know, you have to give me your word that it wont be spoken of again." Hew urged, finding some courage to stand on and hold his ground.

Darien was a bit taken aback. The man before him was demanding he swear to keep what he was going to say secret. That's never happened before and especially not from someone who was extremely close with his daughter. Keeping a secret wasn't the problem however, it was the fact that a nineteen year old had one he needed to be kept.

"Alright... I swear." Darien said flatly.

Hew took a deep breath, "Thank you. This is only known by me, the judge and the Prime Minster of the Allied Earth Nations."

That little tidbit caused Darien to raise his eyebrow, "The Prime Minster? The Prime Minister?"

Hew nodded, "Yes... The Prime Minster. His daughter had a very bad habit of heading down to the slums of New York. She would dress to play the part too. You know... when rich, spoiled little girls want to feel all brave and stuff. Well... for years she stuck to the safer slums. The ones that were patrolled and monitored and such, but this time, she somehow slipped out to the real slums. Those are the ones where the police don't go without a Military escort and a damn good reason. Anyways, whenever rich people wonder into the slums, one of several things can happen. One; they get killed. Two; if recognized, they might get ransomed and three; This one only really only applies to females, is they usually get picked up and get 'taught a lesson,' before they're ransomed and when the child is born the, 'father' would raise a stink and agree to back off if the parents paid them off. The Prime Minster's daughter was no different." he slowly sighed.

"They kept the child? I hate to sound cruel, but why not abort?" Darien asked.

"That would require a lot of paperwork and if there was one thing the uptown citizens didn't want, was proof their daughter not only went slumming, but got raped in the process." Hew adopted a very over done British accent, "And that is just not done in polite society." Hew rolled his eyes.

"Did you... ever teach one of these lessons?" Darien asked, not sure if he even wanted to know the answer.

That caught Hew's full attention, "No... I walked in on it being taught. I never liked that aspect of the leadership. You have to understand, I was a thug. I've hurt people, sent people to the hospital, even killed people, all in self defense, well, mostly self defense, but I've never abused a woman. Not in any way. That just never set well with me, so when I saw what they were doing, I reacted without even thinking. When it was all over, there were four dead Reds, a scared young woman and I was covered in blood, so I did the only think I could think of. I grabbed the girl and ran. By the time I stopped, I was at a check point and had four armed police aiming their weapons at me. The rest I'm not to sure about because I got hit upside the head with something hard and fast, but when I came to, I was in a jail cell wearing a prison jump suit. At that point, I still had no idea who the girl was, but that was only until the Prime Minister graced me with his presence. He demanded to know why I had raped his daughter. Of course, he didn't believe me when I denied raping her so I was rushed into a closed courtroom with a judge, the Prime Minster, the girl and myself. I was almost thrown in jail until the girl told the judge that I had nothing to do with what happened to her and that I was the one who actually saved her. The judge took this into consideration and then gave me the choice. I'm guessing the Prime Minster wasn't happy about that. I guess that's how I got that 99 Omega thing." Hew finally finished as he hung his head.

Darien was shocked to say the least. If what this young man was saying was only half true, it was unbelievable and seeing as Hew had no reason to lie, he had to take the entire story at face value and true.

"That's... That's quite the tale. You're telling me, that you got arrested because you saved the Prime Minister's daughter and he thought you raped her even though she said other wise. Is that correct?" Darien summarized, still not sure if he wanted to believe the tale.

"Yeah... That's what I'm saying, but you can't tell anyone outside of this room. It's part of the deal. It's a gag order." Hew said, momentarily glancing into Darien's eyes.

"I understand Hew. Thank you for trusting me with this." Darien shallowly nodded as he leaned back into his chair.

"Just... don't let Kitrina find out. Please... she's the best thing that's ever happened to me." Hew said, only moments away from all out begging.

Darien could hear the pleading in Hew's voice, "You have my word. Kitrina will never know of this, but you have to promise me one thing."

This time, Hew kept his eyes locked with Mr. Wolff's, "Anything Sir."

"Promise me you'll never let her come to harm. Promise me that one thing." Darien's eyes narrowed into small slits.

"You have my word. I'll do everything within my power to keep her from harm." Hew said, his voice ringing with sincerity.

"That's all I can ask. Thank you... for both trusting me with this and for your promise."

Hew nodded once then stood and left the office, leaving Darien alone to look at the OSD still resting on his desk. He reached out and picked it up, inserted it into his Omni-Tool, looking at the load button for only a few moment before he pressed the trash can indicator and wiped the contents. I can't believe someone that young has been through something like that. With another glance towards the door, Darien stood up and headed downstairs to eat dinner with his family... His whole family.

****(")( " )(")****

The rest of their leave was filled with running in the mornings, sometimes joined by the elder Wolff's, followed by breakfast, which Hew insisted on cooking and afternoons filled with barbeques, picnics and swimming. Kitrina used the time to try out a number of different swimsuits, starting with modest one piece's before gradually moving into more revealing two pieces, all in an effort to get a rise out of Hew which was working pretty well. They had conversations together about relationships and such while they swam and sunbathed, just enjoying each others company. The evenings were filled with stories of Kitrina growing up and how they all dealt with being on ships most of her childhood, but as all good things, their leave drew to a close and on a Friday morning, Hew and Kitrina stood at the front door in their Service Alpha uniforms, waiting for the transport that would take them to the Spaceport where they would head to Arcturus Station for their 'N' classification training.

"You two be good and Kit, stay in touch ok?" Hannah smiled as she gave her daughter a hug.

"I will Mom." Kitrina smiled back.

Darien shook Hew's hand and in doing so, pulled him into a hug and whispered into his ear, "You keep her safe Hew. Keep you promise."

Hew nodded, "You have my word Mr. Wolff."

Darien released his hold on Hew, allowing him to pull away, "You can call me Darien, Hew. You're family now."

Hew began to smile, "Thank you. You have no idea what that means to me... Darien." his heart actually started to thump a little harder.

"Oh... I think I can guess. Stay in touch will you? Both of you and that's an order." Darien lightly laughed.

Both snapped to attention and rendered a salute to the elder Wolff's, "Yes Sir... Ma'am." both said simultaneously.

Darien and Hannah nodded, both with smiles since they were in civvies, just as the transport arrived, loaded and pulled away with Kitrina and Hew in it.

Hannah and Darien Wolff watched in silence as the transport flew away, both lightly smiling as the same thought cross through their heads.

"You think they'll make it?" Hannah asked once the transport was out of sight.

Darien smiled, "Oh... I don't think we'll have anything to worry about. They'll do fine."

The two elder Wolff's stood in the doorway for some time before Darien broke the silence, "Well... we still have a week left on our shore leave. What ever shall we do?" he played coy as he placed a finger on his chin.

Hannah's mouth started to curling into a wicked grin, "I think I can come up with something that can keep us entertained." she winked.

"Really? I wonder what that might be." again, Darien played coy as he placed his hands on his wife's hips and pulled her to him.

Hannah was quiet for a moment before she just came right out and said what was on her mind, "I think I want another child. I miss not having a little one around. We even have a home now."

This knocked Darien off center since it came from left field, "Um... I thought we were ok with Kit. What changed your mind?"

"We were always worried how she would fit into society, but we just saw that she'll be just fine. Plus, the odds of us having another Biotic child are slim. I don't work anywhere near an Eezo core." Hannah said, trying not to sound like she was begging.

Darien thought a moment about what his wife was saying, "Then the question of retirement again rears its ugly head. I can't take care of the child until it's off breast milk, or you finally consider formula."

Hannah lightly bit her lip, "I'll take all the leave I need, but will you actually retire to raise the child while I still serve?" she asked, looking up at her husband sweetly.

"If it makes you happy, I will. If it's truly what you want, I'll do anything within my ability to make it happen." Darien smiled, brushing his knuckles over Hannah's cheek until his fingers were lightly tangled in her hair.

Hannah couldn't believe what she was hearing, "You know, when you say and do things like this, it reminds me why I fell in love with you." she said, her eyes filled with mirth and her lips softly smiling up at him.

Darien pulled Hannah into an even tighter embrace, "So...When exactly did you want to have this little bundle of joy?" he asked, leaning in just a bit closer to her.

Looking up at her husband, Hannah could only smile, "Well, I was hoping we could start practicing today. Is that two soon?" she somewhat pouted.

"What... a seventeen year gap between children isn't good enough for you?" Darien teased.

"Not what I met silly, but seriously... Are you ok with having another baby?" Hannah asked, hoping she wasn't pushing Darien into anything.

"I feel like I should be asking you that. After all, you do the hard part. If you feel ready, I see no reason why not." Darien said lowly.

Hannah's heard started to hum as she pressed herself into him, "I love you so much Darien. You have no idea what that means to me."

Darien leaned in real close so he could whisper into Hannah's ear, "You a can always show me."

"Oh you dirty old man." Hannah growled in good humor, lightly tapping Darien's cheek and starting to walk back into the house.

When Darien turned to ask if she wanted to try tonight, he was interrupted by the blouse that landed on his head. Removing the blouse, his path lead him to find a bra lying on the stairs, causing him to arc and eyebrow as his wife's chosen breadcrumbs. At the top of the stairs, he found a pair of slacks and at the master bedroom door, he found a pair of panties that grew an expecting grin on his lips. Apparently, she wants to practice. I'm good with that. Darien grinned as he opened the door to see his wife under the covers and with a look in her eyes that left very little to interpret. Darien walked up to the bed and slowly crawled on, the only thing between him and his wife being the this comforter she wore to cover herself.

"That answers that question." was the last thing Darien was able to say before his mouth had better things to do... much better things to do indeed.