Greetings All. My apologies for taking so long on this chapter. I hope you're all still enjoying this and many thanks to all those who have faved, are following, or have submitted reviews and/or comments. You're super heroes in my book.

Countdown

Shepard

The day of the party dawned clear. Well when the alarm went off in Shepard's cabin – space was as clear as it ever was – except when going through an asteroid belt or planetary ring.

After a quick shower, she put up her hair and put on her duty uniform and headed for the mess. Still unsure as to what she was going to come as for the Halloween party.

The mess was semi-crowded when she walked in. Kalba, Walea, Acia, and the kids were over in one corner having breakfast. For once, the Terrible Two were actually behaving themselves – that is – no clinging to ankles/feet, reenacting the Krogan rebellions, or pelting each other with pumpkin guts. Shepard was sure that wouldn't last long.

As she got in line for coffee, Chakwas and Ash came out of the med bay carrying small stacks of fabric. It took Shepard a second to recognize the costumes she'd helped with the other night.

The kids were absolutely ecstatic and instantly clamored to put their costumes on – breakfast completely forgotten. Chakwas indulgently showed them into the med bay where she closed the shutters. Kalba, Acia, and Walea trailed along behind them, and Jess was fairly sure the women were mentally shaking their heads about all this human strangeness.

In a few moments, the med bay doors opened and, of course, Trukle and Nezzie came scampering out. Capes flapping behind them.

Trukle struck a dramatic pose, or so he thought, in the middle of the mess, to the vast amusement of everyone present. Declaring in a squeaky growl. "I Super Krogan." A sudden bout of coughing hit the mess as everyone tried not to laugh out loud. Shepard was pleased to note that even Ash was grinning.

Nezzie wasn't quite sure what pose to strike so he just settled for pretending to be flying. Then the two Super Pests headed for the cargo bay – almost running Vakarian down as he came into the mess.

There was a moment of confusion as the Turian took in the two caped menaces that'd come to a halt at the sight of him.

"I Super Krogan!" Trukle repeated proudly.

"I see." Vakarian responded gravely looking down at the two youngsters. Shepard had noticed that he treated the two little ones with a certain adult gravity. Which they seemed to respond to. She shuddered to think of someone trying to talk baby talk to them. Trukle, she knew from when she'd been in the cargo bay, already had an appalling vocabulary of swear words. Learned, no doubt, from listening to Wrex and sometimes Vakarian when MAKO repairs weren't going his way.

"If you're going to the cargo bay." He knelt slightly so he was more on their level. "The heater and the blanket are there; but don't turn on the heater until I get down there. And don't touch anything. Am I understood?"

"We understand, Officer." That was Nezzie. The voice of reason of the pair, also the one Shepard was sure Vakarian had been directing his instructions to.

Without another word the two took off for the cargo bay. Shepard chuckled to herself. The rest of the kids had come out of the med bay and were proudly showing off their costumes to the crew.

The costumes might be crude and not fit too well; but every one of those kids was beaming in delight.

There were two princesses – Amanda and Seena, Sean had come as an N7 – made from an old duty shirt that Shepard had donated herself. The other Asari was in some kind of robe – referring to herself as an Addat Yakka – whatever the hell that was. Halsen had picked some ancient female Turian warrior (of course) augmented with crude armor made from packing materials. (Ash's contribution.) And, of course, the Terrible Two and their capes.

Shepard leaned against a wall, sipping her coffee and chuckling quietly at the chaos. After a moment, Vakarian joined her, also learning against a wall, drinking his Khaal. She couldn't figure out how, despite his size and his angles, he managed to look so stylish and suave leaning next to her.

"So what do you think, Vakarian?" She asked pointing to an impromptu lesson in Princess etiquette that Chakwas was giving the girls. Ash had headed for the cargo bay and her station, promising to try to come up with some sort of crowns for the two girls.

He was quiet for a moment watching the kids. That was one thing she was coming to like about the Turian, he usually tried to give a question due consideration before he answered.

"I still don't understand this Halloween; but given all that they've suffered – it's good medicine for these kids." He replied.

"Big bad ass Turian soldier is an armor covered marshmallow." She teased. She was fairly sure he didn't know what a marshmallow was but had intuited what she meant from her voice tone; and she got an extremely sour look in return.

Garrus

Contrary to what most of the crew thought, he had encountered a lot of human phrases and idioms while working for C-Sec. So he recognized the marshmallow phrase, and glared at Shepard. She just snickered back.

About then Alenko came into the mess. Spying Shepard he came over to them. Of course he would, Garrus had finally realized the other night that the Lieutenant was very enamored of the Commander. Given Alliance rules on fraternization, though he didn't understand them, he hadn't been expecting it. Then again humans could be rather loose about following some rules.

"Vakarian." He nodded to the Turian then turned to Shepard. "I came up with a great idea for some costumes, Commander. We can come as farmers – since you're from an agri colony."

Garrus about choked on his Khaal. Being C-Sec, after he met Shepard that very first time he done some checking into her background, just because. Yes, it was somewhat common knowledge that she was from an agricultural colony; but it had taken some extensive digging on his part and a little hacking by a friend to find out that it was Mindoir. Shepard had been the sole survivor of a savage Batarian attack.

Obviously she didn't much mention it, which meant she probably didn't want to think about it. Understandable since, from what he'd managed to find out, all her family and friends had perished in the attack.

At Alenko's suggestion, Shepard's good mood evaporated, as she retreated behind her Commander persona.

"I don't think so, Lieutenant." She returned, politely but with a faint cold edge. Amazingly the biotic didn't seem to catch her shift in attitude. Given the pheromones Garrus was picking up, the Lieutenant must be too caught up in his desires to notice.

"What about a couple of planet scouts then?" Only slightly daunted, Alenko went on, obviously not realizing that he'd upset her.

Just then Garrus's omni-tool signaled. To his puzzlement it was from somewhere on the Normandy.

"Vakarian." He answered, drawing the attention of the other two.

"You better get down here, Vakarian. The Terrible Two are trying to scale the MAKO." Came Ash's voice.

"Crap." He exclaimed. "On my way, thanks." He threw his cup at the dirty dish tray and headed for the cargo bay. By the time he hit the elevator, Shepard was right behind him.

"Commander?" He held the door open for her as she slipped in.

"I want to make sure they're okay." She answered rather curtly. He realized then that she'd wanted to get away from Alenko. He simply nodded, not sure what or if he should say anything to her. He wasn't sure how she'd react to the fact that he'd done a background check on her.

By the time they got to the cargo bay, the Terrible Two had managed to get on top of the MAKO. Ash was trying to convince them to come down; but Trukle was having none of it and Nezzie was loyally staying with his friend.

Ash gave a sigh of relief as Vakarian hurried over, Shepard on his heels.

"Good, maybe they'll listen to you." She sounded exasperated as she walked back to her station.

"Trukle, Nezzie." Garrus stood at the foot of the MAKO and yelled. Two small heads popped up and peered down at him.

"Officer." That was Nezzie, looking guilty.

"I thought I told you not to touch anything?" Garrus sounded stern but kept his anger in check.

"Not touch – climb." That was Trukle, already learning how to split hairs. Garrus thought he heard a rumbling chuckle from Wrex's direction. Would have been nice if he'd bothered to corral the Krogan infant, Garrus thought sourly.

"Climbing is touching." Garrus shot back.

"No say so." Trukle returned obstinately, further splitting that hair. Garrus heard the whisper of a chuckle from Shepard and he spared a moment to glare at her.

Deciding that arguing with the two, or more correctly Trukle wasn't going to achieve anything, Garrus knew he'd have to climb the MAKO. The armored vehicle had built in hand holds to facilitate getting up its side without the bulk of a ladder.

Taking off his gauntlets and laying them out of the way, he started up the side of the MAKO.

His head had barely cleared the top of the MAKO when with a warbling cry, Trukle charged him.

"Pirate!"

"NO!" That was Nezzie, equally startled.

Surprised, Garrus took a glancing blow to the left side of his head as Trukle head butted him. His visor was knocked clean off and spiraled down to the floor to land with a clatter.

Trukle was an infant and didn't have any adult plates and Turian skulls were hard, so the little Krogan literally bounced off his head, rocking him, and rolled over the edge.

"Trukle!" Nezzie lunged for his friend but missed.

Stunned still Garrus managed to reach out with his free hand and snag Trukle's cape before he could fall to the floor.

Fortunately Chakwas and company had attached the capes with straps that criss crossed the chest, wrapped around the waist and tied in front. So Trukle ended up dangling from his grip like a pudgy piñata.

"Shepard." He hissed, his left eye already swelling, barely holding himself up with his left hand.

Shepard lunged to get under the dangling youngster.

"In position." She yelled and he let go.

Shepard

She grunted as the rather solid, surprisingly heavy youngster dropped into her arms.

As she went to put Trukle down, Vakarian tried to climb back down; but lost his grip on the MAKO and fell. He pushed off as best he could to avoid hitting her and the youngster, instead smashing into a nearby crate.

A six-foot plus Turian in armor was an efficient wrecking ball and the crate shattered under him.

"Vakarian?" Shepard turned from Trukle to the downed Turian, and started pulling the remnants of the crate off of him.

He'd landed awkwardly on his back and side and was laying very still, eyes closed. Then he let out a flanging groan and his eyes cracked open.

"Hey Big Guy, you okay?" She asked as she kept pulling pieces of crate off of him and out of his armor.

He blinked once or twice and let his breath slowly hiss out past his teeth. "Can I get back to you on that?" He said weakly, struggling to lift his right arm, flexing his hand.

Shepard realized that he was about to start shifting.

"Don't move, Vakarian." She told him.

"I…." He started to protest.

"That's an order." She used her Commander voice.

She knew nothing about Turian physiology besides the basics but decided to err on the side of caution until Chakwas could check him out.

Ash had come over. "What can I do, ma'am?"

"Make sure he doesn't move." She told the Gunnery Sergeant as she activated her omni-tool. Ash looked at the Turian warily. Vakarian seemed content to lie still for the moment.

"Chakwas?"

"Commander?"

"I need you in the cargo bay. Vakarian fell off of the MAKO and I don't want him to move till you clear him." She explained.

"Is he conscious?" Chakwas was instantly professional.

"Unfortunately." Vakarian groaned in the background.

"I'll be right down. Don't let him move." With that Chakwas signed off.

"Roger." She turned to the Turian who was looking aggrieved. "You heard the doctor, stay still."

"You try to stay still with a piece of crate jammed into your neck." He shot back, uncharacteristically acerbic.

She gave him a quick once over and saw the piece he was talking about. It was stuck in his cowl, jabbing painfully into his neck. No wonder he was snappish, she thought as she carefully worked it free. When she threw it to the side she heard a faint hum of relief.

Just then behind them she heard a scratching sound, then a thunk and she turned to see what it was. Nezzie had skittered down the ladder and was stalking up to Trukle. When he got there, he smacked him hard in back of the head.

"Bad Trukle!" Nezzie's piping voice was surprisingly angry. "You hurt the Officer."

"I defend." Trukle retorted trying to puff himself up but still shifting away from Nezzie.

"It's his MAKO." Nezzie exclaimed, waving his arms for emphasis.

"He pirate." Trukle protested waving his stumpy little arms in return.

"He's a friend." Nezzie shot back.

"You better get in there, Commander." Garrus spoke up. "Or the Krogan rebellions are about to break out – again."

Shepard got to her feet and stepped in between the two boys.

"That's enough!" She snapped. "Superheroes don't fight with each other."

Trukle looked mulish and Nezzie looked embarrassed.

"They also don't attack their friends." She went on, staring hard at Trukle. The little Krogan had the grace to look ever so slightly abashed at that. At least she thought that was the look on his face.

Just then the cargo bay doors opened and Chakwas came in followed by Walea and Kalba.

Chakwas immediately came over and knelt by Vakarian.

"I'm okay doc, honestly." But he was wheezing as he said it.

"You let me be the judge of that." Chakwas chided him as she ran a scan. After a moment of studying the results.

"How is he, doc?" Shepard left the two boys to their mothers who were quietly questioning them. Chakwas had stood up.

"His neck and spine are okay, though he's going to be bruised particularly where his armor caught him. He got the wind knocked out of him; and if he were human he'd have one heck of a black eye but since he's Turian his eye socket and the surrounding tissues are going to be very sore and very swollen." She looked down at Vakarian. "However did that happen?" She indicated his face.

Garrus was quiet for a moment. "I ran into something?" He offered

"More like something ran into him." Came Kalba's disgusted voice as she dragged Trukle over by his cape. "Apologize to the Officer."

Trukle crossed his stubby little arms and just glared at her.

Behind them, Wrex who'd wandered over to see what was going on, chuckled. With that, Kalba turned on him.

"What kind of Battlemaster are you? Allowing him to attack." She snapped.

"Vakarian is just a Turian." Wrex exclaimed, slightly taken aback by her attack.

"He's a friend – doesn't matter what species he is." Kalba exclaimed.

"Turians and the twice damned Salarians let the genophage loose on us…"Wrex began angrily.

"Were you part of the Krogan rebellions?" Kalba demanded startling him.

"No."

"Then I seriously doubt the Officer had anything to do with the genophage." Kalba shot back confronting him. "The Krogan are dying because we'd rather rail about past injustices than pull ourselves out of the radioactive rubble of Tuchanka."

"Can you get up Officer?" Chakwas voice pulled Shepard's attention back to the others. Vakarian had rolled onto his side and gingerly got up on his hands and knees. After a few hisses of pain, he slowly got to his feet; but he was visibly wavering. Without being asked Shepard got on his good side and got his arm over her shoulder.

"Commander, you shouldn't…I'm okay…" He started to protest then almost collapsed as one of his knees tried to buckle.

"Riiight." She managed to keep him upright.

Chakwas got on his other side then, cautiously getting her arm around his torso. "No, you're not okay, Officer. You need a couple of pain pills and to rest for an hour or so."

"But the MAKO, Doctor…" He began.

"The MAKO is going nowhere; but if you don't rest now – I'll put you on mandatory bed rest for a day." Chakwas told him as she started to turn him towards the door.

This close to him, Shepard could feel the irritated tone of his sub harmonics, though he said nothing.

"Officer, sir." Came a shy piping voice. They turned. Nezzie was standing nearby, hesitantly holding out Garrus's visor.

Garrus reached out his left hand to take it. Carefully hiding his pain, if the little twitches Shepard could feel were any indication.

"Thank you." He said gravely.

"I'm sorry." Nezzie went on looking horribly ashamed.

"Not your fault." Garrus told him, and then wavered slightly.

"Come on, time to get you to the med bay." Chakwas headed them towards the door.

Shepard thought Vakarian was walking pretty well on his own until they got out into the hallway and the door closed behind them, then he stumbled as his knee tried to buckle again.

Chakwas and Shepard managed to keep him upright.

"I'm sorry Commander, Doctor." He apologized, trying to regain his balance.

"Just relax and let us take your weight." Chakwas told him.

"No problem." That was Shepard. Then to distract him. "You were pretty tolerant of the kids."

Garrus sighed, turning it to a hiss as he twisted something.

"Let us say I was once in their position."

"Oh? Do tell?" While she knew something of Vakarian's background, it was mostly general stuff that had happened as an adult. Anything to do with his childhood was unknown and highly interesting to her.

"When I was about their age, a friend and I had set up a sniper's nest in a tree in the back yard." He said.

"Trust you to have a sniper's nest." Shepard teased.

"It was a very good position." Garrus defended himself.

"So what happened?" That was Chakwas, maneuvering them so she could get at the elevator controls.

"My father came out to call us in to eat."

"Oh?"

"We decided he was the advance Scout for a pirate band." Garrus finally told them.

"OH!"

"What is it you humans say – It did not end well." He admitted.

Both Chakwas and Shepard burst out laughing as Vakarian looked highly embarrassed. His mandibles clicking.