A Consort's Insight

Shepard had come to like these reunions his old crew held every year. It wasn't often he was able to reflect on his military days and smile, but somehow this group of nut jobs and misfits made it possible. It had been two years since his first mission for the council after the Reaper war, and already the memory of that trip seemed like forever ago.

Shepard smiled as he listened to the conversation his friends were having, with all of them seated in a circle around the table before him. Tali was beside him of course, and his newly-turned ten year old daughter was playing with the other kids around the playground area. They had the whole group this year, including Laura, Tarran, Mordin and Grelin. Mordin had grown up to look like a replica of his father, the red flame on his newly emerging skull plate looking slightly out of place without the three deep gouges that adorned Wrex's own plate. Grelin, on the other hand, had a blackish green to his, and it had come to light he was in fact a biotic. Wrex had already told a few stories about the boy using his biotics to dominate the other children, with the exception of his older brother, who was learning from Grunt on how to engage biotics without any of your own. Shepard turned from watching the kids to pay attention to what was being said.

" …So I told the Captain, Look, I didn't mean to blow up the generator, and it's hardly my fault that pirate shot it out of my hand and into the turbines. But did he believe me? No! He actually had the gall to tell me I did it on purpose!" Garrus' plates twitched into his usual sarcastic smile, and when Wrex finally stopped his bellowing laughter his response was equally joking.

"You know Vakarian, if you'd just told him the truth and said you threw it in the turbines to free up your hands and save the stewardess, he might have believed you." The whole group laughed at that, but Garrus just shrugged off the krogan and took a long drink from his favorite turian brandy.

Grunt decided to take advantage of the brief lull in conversation from Garrus' story and leaned over the table towards Shepard.

"So battle-master, I don't suppose you have any more missions coming up?" Grunt sounded almost worried, like he was dreading to hear that his battle-master did not in fact have anything upcoming. Wrex noticed it too, and spoke up first.

"What's the matter Grunt? Knocking sense into Urdnot recruits not fun enough for ya?"

"Fun? Most of those fools wouldn't last two seconds fighting with me, let alone Shepard." Grunt turned from Wrex to regard him again with a fiery intensity.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've killed something other than Varren? Two months. Two!"

"HA! Only two? I haven't even been allowed to fight anyone since Bekara came along, not for lack of trying mind you, but because she kills them first."

Wrex's calm statement that his wife killed his enemies before he could, made the non-krogan members glance at each other. Shepard had seen that look many times from this bunch; and whereas most people would be frightened or disgusted by such aggression, all here just accepted it as something krogan did sometimes and let it go.

"Well I'm sorry Grunt, but the council hasn't called me for anything recently. Rest assured, I'll call you for the next one." Grunt just huffed his disappointment and leaned back in his chair, making it creak alarmingly.

They were in the same bar they always went to for these reunions, The Nova. The bartender had gotten over the shock of having such prestigious people visit his establishment every year, and now knew them all on a first name basis, along with each of their favorite drinks. Shepard twirled his glass of white merlot appreciatively, and decided to give the man a slightly larger tip than usual.

This is some damn good stuff here, and I doubt he has it on hand for his regular customers.

"…Only so many hours one can sit in front of a monitor, so it's mostly a hobby now." Liara's voice stirred him from his thoughts as Kasumi was apparently interrogating her on her shadow broker duties.

"Hobby? Don't you have hundreds of people doing things all at the same time? How can you reduce it to a 'hobby' and still be efficient?" Liara smiled at Kasumi's inexhaustible exuberance and answered with a shake of her head.

"Not quite Kasumi. For one, I have severely reduced the amount of operatives working at any one time, as I don't let the organization participate in aiding the black market anymore, my operations are more research than anything. Why, last week alone we had three of the top xenobiologist's in the galaxy join in our effort to cure Kepral's syndrome on the drell. I'm told they don't yet have any solid leads on how to proceed outside of a lung and blood transfusion, but given more time and effort-"

Shepard was distracted by a tug on his arm from Tali, who was looking at the play area. He frowned and turned around in his chair to look as well and instantly shut his eyes. There were no kids there.

Releasing an explosive sigh, he slowly got up from his chair and turned to face the group, who stared at him in confusion. He hooked a hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the play area, indicating they look for themselves.

"Looks like they got adventurous." He commented as he began searching the room more thoroughly.

"Can someone explain to me how we all missed two pre-teen krogan males sneaking by?" Garrus' joke was ignored as the other parents in the group became more concerned; the kids were definitely not in the bar anymore.

"Are you sure about this Ria? I mean, I've heard my dad tell some pretty… scary stories about stuff that happens on the citadel." Tarran's question mirrored her own thoughts on the matter, but She didn't want to look weak in front of all her friends.

"Of course I'm sure. Besides, it's not like we're going to the wards or anything. This is the presidium, not Chora's den." Tarran shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck much like his father did when nervous, but followed along behind her when she started walking again. Mordin and Grelin were both ahead of her and Tarran, and having a ball from the sound of things. The two of them would start laughing or elbowing each other roughly and pointing every so often. Laura was being quieter than usual as she trailed behind them, her eyes wide as they walked past the large statues all over the presidium lake. The long white arching walkways looked almost perfect amidst the beauty of the man-made environment, and Ria too was having a hard time not gaping. Before long, the Wrex brothers dropped back to talk with them while they walked.

"So what now? I guess it's pretty and everything, but I'm already getting bored." Mordin's voice was already approaching the baritone volume of the krogan, but it still had a touch of puberty in it, making it a rather comedic sound. Of course, nobody was dumb enough to laugh.

"Maybe we should check out the gun store in the wards?" Grelin asked with a hint of excitement. He didn't quite have Mordin's voice problem, and thus still sounded lighter in tone.

"Oh no, you couldn't pay me to go down there after all the stories my dad has told me." Laura piped up from Ria's side, apparently finally done with her sight seeing.

"I'm with Laura, no way I'm goin' down there." Tarran shook his head decisively, putting an end to that particular avenue or adventure.

"Wussy." Grelin mumbled. His brother, however, looked down at the floor and narrowed his eyes in thought.

"What are you thinking Mordin?" Ria's question made the krogan's eyes flit upward to meet hers briefly, and she couldn't shake the feeling of being looked at like she were a meal. That predator-like gaze finally looked away from her and towards the other end of the presidium from where they stood.

"Maybe we could see the Consort." Four sets of eyebrows went up at Mordin's suggestion, and almost instantly all of them broke out into laughter.

"What? See the Consort? Are you crazy?"

"I don't even know what the Consort does much less how much it would cost to see her."

"I heard she has a waiting list that takes months!"

Ria quickly got control of her laughter at the absurd idea when she saw Mordin's face becoming more of a scowl by the second.

"Well, I don't know guys, it couldn't hurt to look right?" Her half-hearted attempt to make Mordin feel better went way further than she could have expected.

"Eh, I guess. Beats sitting in that stupid play area in the bar." Grelin shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess that sounds fun." Laura added.

"Why not? I'm already going to die when my dad catches me." Tarran nodded and stepped forward.

"Alright then, let's go." Ria led the way down the presidium, leading an excited and chattering group behind her. Most the conversation was wild speculation on what it was the Consort actually did. Admittedly, Ria had no idea what it was the Asari did. She had read nothing but good things about the woman on the extranet, excepting some scandal or another from years ago, and her dad had even said she was a nice lady once.

Approaching the entrance, they were stopped in the small hallway leading to the Consort's office by an Asari of a lovely shade of light blue, wearing a revealing and skintight outfit. The woman held up a hand for them to stop and knelt down to their level to speak with them. She had a small smile, but her eyes practically dripped with concern.

"Well hello there kids! Are you lost?"

"No ma'am, we want to see the Consort." The asari blinked in confusion for a moment, then smiled sweetly before answering.

"Oh I'm sorry kids, but the Consort is a very busy woman, and we can't allow anyone under 21 years old inside." Her look was one of genuine sadness at having to deny them, and Ria got the sense this woman was a very loving individual.

"Aww. Well there goes that idea." Grelin huffed from behind her.

"I understand, thank you." Ria bobbed her head in thanks before herding the others out with her the way they'd come. Once they gotten far enough away, the brainstorming began.

"There's got to be a way in…" Mordin voice was slightly muffled as he rubbed his chin and paced near the railing to the lake.

"What? You're still thinking of going in?" Laura asked incredulously while Tarran shook his head.

"Mordin, is it really worth it to break into her office and probably be arrested or something?" Ria tried to reason with the mildly irritated krogan kid, but her words only annoyed him further.

"I am the son of Urdnot Wrex, I will let nothing stand in my way, especially not some squishy and useless Asari receptionist." Everyone but Grelin seemed slightly put off by the spot of racism shown by the eldest krogan. Tarran and Laura exchanged uneasy glances, but as she opened her mouth to object, she saw something from the corner of her eye. A vent, low on the wall near the Consort's offices, and possibly even big enough for…

Ria smiled wickedly as the idea formed in her head, and she began walking towards the grate while the others looked first at each other, then at her in confusion. Kneeling beside the grate, she pulled out a few tools from her suit pockets, trying to look as casual as possible as people talked around her. There were only a handful of people, but if anyone reported her… She worked quickly, unscrewing the gate and setting it aside before tossing her drone, Tikkun, inside. Her omni-tool flashed to life in a surge of orange, before showing her what her drone was seeing inside the ventilation tunnel.

Growing more and more nervous as time went on, she steered the drone through the tunnel quickly, seeing nothing but dust as she wound her way through the maze. It felt like forever before she eventually found the room she was looking for, but she hissed in frustration at what she saw. The drone looked down through an overhead grate, looking into the Consort's room itself, but the view was severely hampered by something too close and dark to make out. All she did see was a sliver of the room, nothing but a corner of the room with a plant of some kind she didn't know of. Huffing again in frustration she made her best speed with her drone back through the tunnels.

"Ria! What are you doing? Hurry up, we can't distract these guys forever!" Ria practically jumped out of her suit in fright from Tarran's voice, as she had thought, just briefly, that her father had found them.

Wait, he said they were distracting someone?

Twisting around from the grate, she saw her friends spread out among the groups of people nearby, apparently making conversation and pointing out things across the lakes, making everyone look away from Ria while she worked.

"Good thinking," She placed the grate back in its spot, but hesitated to screw it back in all the way yet. She left the screws out and pocketed them for now, standing up and pulling Tarran along behind her. The others saw her and excused themselves from the groups, making their way to her. Once everyone was gathered around her again, she went through their obstacle.

"Ok, Tikkun showed me that the vent view is blocked by something inside the room, but it looked like it was really close to the grate itself. Mordin, how dedicated are you to seeing what the Consort does?" The krogan narrowed his eyes at her question, but not in anger, rather in determination.

"Very." His voice was deep this time, not a hint of a squeak.

"Then the only way I see this as possible is if we remove the grate to the Consort's office from the inside of the vent, then somehow move whatever it is blocking the view. We will need a distraction out here though, or maybe in the lobby. Something that makes the Consort and her attendants leave the room while we are moving the grate." She looked around for a second, trying to think of what could possibly be distracting enough to keep people looking the other way… She came up empty.

"Mordin and I could have a little fight out here, give these idiots a show?" Grelin smirked at his brother, who raised a brow back at him.

"That would mean you two would need to stay out here."

"Oh yeah."

Ignoring the younger krogans comment, Ria tried to think harder on the problem, but realized they were quickly running out of time. The others looked at her expectantly, and she had to wonder when it was she'd been put in charge. The feeling was a little… exhilarating. To know that others would do as you said, and trusted it to be the right thing to do.

It's also more than a little frightening. She told herself. If I screw up too badly, it means I take the brunt of the punishment. But then, she already knew what she'd tell her father when he finally found them, had even rehearsed it. She would take the blame for this excursion, and try her best to exonerate the others. So what if Mordin had been the one to first suggest it? all that mattered was that they had done it, and that she would make sure they didn't get in too much trouble for it. She felt it was the right thing to do anyway, since she was leading them.

"I don't see anything for it, we'll just have to go in and hope no one sees us trying to move that grate. I just hope the screws aren't rusted."

"What about getting in the vent? People will get suspicious seeing us crawl in there." Tarran looked around at the groups of people as he spoke, but tried to keep his voice from carrying as well. She had to think about that one, but maybe… She brought up her omni-tool, tapping quickly until she found what she wanted. Her hacking skills weren't quite as good as her mothers yet, but Ria was pretty sure she would be soon. She walked over to the railing of the walkway, leaning on it as she accessed the water flow systems for the lake. She singled out the jet streams that caused the fountains from the system, isolating it so her hack wouldn't possibly affect anything else, and then began to penetrate the firewalls.

It took a few minutes of concentration before she bobbed on her heels with a look of success as one of the fountains began shooting far more strongly than the rest. It reminded her briefly of a sprinkler, or maybe an old Earth fire-hydrant that had been snapped off at the top, allowing the water to spurt forcefully into the air. Sure enough, the crowds began to notice the geyser out on the lake, and she took advantage of it. She waved the others on towards the grate while the people of the presidium whispered and pointed. Before long, she and her group were crawling through the vents with no one the wiser.

Shepard frowned at the C-Sec officer sitting in the desk before him, as it was becoming increasingly apparent he was not taking this situation seriously. He had told them to wait while his men looked for the kids, but then went right back to other calls, acting as if he weren't even there. Shepard considered himself many things, but patient was not one of them. Tali was usually the one to lay a hand on his arm and attempt to calm him, but she was having problems standing here doing nothing as well.

"I'm going out there. there is no way I am just going to sit here while my child is lost on the citadel!" Tali began to leave the office, with everyone else quick to follow when the C-Sec officer jumped out of his chair. He must have realized he had a phone in his hand still and said, "I'll have to call you back." Before hanging up the phone.

"You can't go out there asking everyone about your kids, I realize it may be a new experience for you, but believe me, I deal with this everyday. It's much quicker if you all remain here while my men find them." Garrus was the first to speak, though he snorted in amusement first.

"Oh really? You have it under control do you?" The C-Sec man was becoming increasingly frustrated and only slightly mistrustful of Garrus' tone, and the human eyed Garrus more warily.

"Yes sir, I know what I'm doing." The officer's terminal chose that exact moment to start flashing red, making Garrus smirk as the man swiveled in surprise and leaped back into his chair.

"What the hell? Why would they hack the fountain circulation?" The officer tapped hurriedly at the console, but it continued to flash red at him until a sour faced turian sergeant burst through the door leading further into C-Sec.

"Tony? What's going on up there?" Garrus was kind enough to answer for the man at the desk.

"What's happening, sergeant, is that your man in grossly incompetent." The sergeant rounded on Garrus, but his angry retort was stopped short, recognition dawning in his eyes.

"…Garrus Vakarian? By the spirits! I- look, I gotta handle this, can you wait just one-"

"Sir! Censors in the ventilation system leading to the Consort's offices are showing life forms moving through them. Weight scanner puts them at three kids and two adults moving to the Consort's chambers."

"Two adults? Well that wouldn't be ours then." Kaidan mumbled a little in disappointment, but Wrex narrowed his eyes.

"Two adults, in weight only? That'd make up for my boys." The sergeant looked between them curiously, but was on his earphone calling men to stop whoever was attempting to gain entrance to the Consort.

"Come on, I bet you anything that's them." Wrex said in a hushed voice. Well, hushed for him meant that everyone not right by him only heard a deep rumble instead of words, but Shepard eyed him askance.

"What makes you so sure? Maybe it's those kids Bailey told us about that time. You know, the ones that live in ducts?" But Wrex was shaking his head.

"Na, duct rats don't go to the presidium. Too many rich people with their noses in the air would demand that they live somewhere else. Think about it Shepard, if you were ten or so years old, and stuck on the Presidium, what would seem like the most interesting place to go?" Shepard had to hand it to his old friend; he was way smarter than he looked.

"Alright, come on. Maybe we can beat C-Sec there."

"By the blood of the ancestors, when was the last time you washed your hump Grelin?" Mordin's voice carried up from behind Ria, and she made shushing motions with her hands as she crawled through the vent. She had the lead, with Tarran right behind her and Laura right behind him, then the Krogan brothers bringing up the rear. It had been a tight squeeze for the far larger krogan, but wriggling with their shoulders and pushing along with their hands let them slide along, albeit slower than everyone else. Ria already felt a bit claustrophobic as it was, she couldn't imagine being as cramped as those two.

It was slow going for the hundred feet or so of ventilation shaft they had to go, and the noise they made had to be audible from outside. She hoped desperately that no one thought it too peculiar and kept moving. Once they reached the grate looking down into the Consort's chambers, she immediately saw the problem. The object her drone had been to unfocused to make out, was a leaf of a plant, much like a palm tree from Earth, and was literally so close as to brush the grate if the air blew wrong. She motioned for everyone behind her to stop, and got out her tools to attempt working on the screws holding the grate in place. As she began the monotonous work, she tried catching glimpses of the room around the plant, but it really was in the most inconvenient spot possible. She tried listening, but all she heard was silence from the room beyond.

When the grate screws were almost all out, she felt one of the Wrex brothers shift slightly down the tunnel behind her, and as he did the entire vent groaned. Ria's eyes went wide, her hands frozen on the tool she was using as she slowly looked back. Grelin had moved his leg a little so it was less cramped, and he was meeting the gazes of the rest of the group.

"…What?" Instantly after he spoke they heard a sharp snap, and the entire vent began to fall. The sinking feeling one got from falling in a dream didn't quite compare to this. Yelling as she slammed to the floor and spilled out into the room, she found herself quickly quieted as she took in the implications of what had just happened, and made sure all her limbs still worked. The room was dead quiet for at least thirty seconds as she stared up at the ceiling through her mask in shock.

"My my…" A voice behind her made Ria open her eyes a little wider, and she carefully turned her head to see an asari woman staring at them. The woman didn't appear angry, or even surprised really, though she did hold a handkerchief to her mouth and nose as the dust rose from their fall. A few of her friends moved and groaned a little from nearby, but Ria just felt resigned.

Dad is going to kill me.

"I must say, I've had many people try many odd ways to see me, but this takes the proverbial cake." The Consort stood from her chair, at least, Ria assumed it was the Consort, and began walking toward them.

"I should think C-Sec will be on their way soon, but I can see you kids wanted something pretty badly to sneak in here like this. What exactly is it that you want?" Mordin stood first, dusting himself off and turning his gaze to the woman.

"You are the Consort?" He asked gruffly, the occasional squeaking gone from his voice.

"I am." She answered just as tersely, matching his gaze with one that looked far too old for one still so beautiful.

"You are what everyone speaks of when they leave here? I expected more." The Consort's mouth twitched slightly upwards in the corners, but she answered simply.

"Think as you will, child."

Ria finally overcame the despair she felt at this tremendous failure and sat up, hands in her lap and face towards the floor dejectedly. Tarran was the next up, along with Grelin, while Laura nursed a sore wrist from the landing and sat against the wall closest to the fallen vent.

"This has got to be the stupidest thing we've ever-" Tarran's thoughts were never finished as C-Sec dashed in the door, weapons out. Upon seeing five kids sprawled along the floor and a calm Consort standing nearby, the men lowered their weapons.

"Are you alright ma'am?" the lead officer walked up to the Consort, but she brushed him off, looking thoughtfully at the group of kids laid out before her.

"Actually, I should like a minute alone with the kids." Ria's group all whipped around to look at the woman, terror etched on their faces except for Mordin and Grelin; those two just shrugged.

"Sha'ira please, it's just standard procedure, I'm afraid I cant let-"

"I'm sure you could help me just this once?" She looked at man beside her, but he looked hesitatingly at his comrades, all of whom shrugged.

"I suppose a minute couldn't hurt." The man closed the door behind his men, leaving the room painfully quiet.

"Now, might I ask your names?" The Consort kneeled down next to Ria, as she had rolled the closest to the woman.

"Ria'Shepard Nar Rannoch, and I'm the one who put them up to this ma'am." Ria felt despair so heavy it felt like a lead weight on her soul dragging her down, but the woman tipped her chin up with a finger, making Ria look at her.

"It is a brave thing you do, taking responsibility for your friends." It felt like the woman saw right through her eyes and into her very soul, ferreting out her intentions in a moment.

"It was also reckless to sneak in here, but I admit, I am pleasantly surprised at the name. Tell me Ria, does your father know where you are, or if you're all right? No, I suppose he wouldn't." She finished before Ria could even open her mouth.

"Regardless, I would like all of you to go outside and wait with C-Sec please." Ria began to stand and do as she was told, but the Consort put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from rising.

"Not you, I'd like to talk alone for a moment." The others hesitated at the door, but finally moved through. The C-Sec officer poked his head in briefly to see if all was well, then ducked back out when he saw the Consort wave him off again.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen." Ria began crying a little bit in shame, but the woman just smiled at her.

"I won't deny you are in trouble Ria, but I do not ask you to stay so I could punish you." Ria looked through blurry eyes, but saw the woman's smile was soul touchingly sweet.

"Then why keep me here?" Ria sniffled out softly, but instead of answering right away, the asari pursed her lips in thought for a moment.

"I wanted to talk to you Ria, because long ago I gave your father a gift. A gift he might not have understood at the time, but was kind enough to accept anyway. His work against the Reapers repaid anything I might have done for him a thousand-fold, and I have never quite been able to thank him for it." The Consort looked Ria over briefly, but smiled even deeper and took one of Ria's hands in both of her own.

"Ria, I would like to give to you a gift of words." The asari closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep calming breath, and began.

"I see you, Ria'Shepard Nar Rannoch, I see a woman who will grow to be brave, and have a determination so fierce it will hurtle any obstacle. Your father would lead through strength of character, but you will walk another path. Your will and determination will draw others to you like moths to a flame, and it is this very strength that will forge new alliances, new allies, and inspire loyalty. But have a care, child of fame, that you do not allow yourself to chase the shadow of your parents legacy, or it will forever consume you."

Ria sat stunned, unable to look away from the smiling woman. It was difficult to comprehend what the Consort had actually said, and had to run it through her mind a few times before it sank in.

Strength and determination? Inspire loyalty? She obviously confused me with someone else, but then again, child of fame? That could mean me…

Ria's mind raced as the asari finally stood up and left her side, moving to the door to motion the C-Sec officer back into the room. But rather than a man in uniform, her father burst through the door, a very cross expression replacing his usual smirk.

"Shepard! It's so good to see you again!" The Consort stepped out of his way quickly while she talked, as it became obvious he had his attention only on Ria. Ria felt the need to become very small, invisible would be even better, but she settled for tucking herself into a ball with her arms around her legs and her head down.

"What were you thinking?" Her mother's voice came from further behind her dad but was rapidly drawing closer, while her father still stood over her frowning.

"You left us without even so much as a note! You could've have been dead for all we knew!" Her mother's words cut at Ria, and she sunk even further into herself. She hadn't felt quite this miserable before in her entire life.

Ria held back her tears as best she could, waiting for her mother to continue her barrage, but when it didn't come, she looked up cautiously. Her father had taken her mother's arm and shook his head slightly, and for a moment, Ria thought she would explode at him to, but she finally let out a sigh as if deflating her anger. Her father nodded and whispered something to her, making her walk back towards the door, but Ria couldn't make it out. He turned to his daughter then, face grim.

"Ria, by the look of things, I'm guessing you already know how much trouble you're in, so I'll skip over that for now." Ria blinked in confusion, but nodded as he continued.

"Right now, I'm just glad you're alright. But before we go anywhere I want to tell you a secret." Ria could feel her eyes growing larger, and she tried desperately to blink her hot tears away as she nodded cautiously.

"You can't tell anyone though, not even your mom, ok? Good." He paused for a second, looking back over his shoulder to see if Tali was within earshot, but once he was satisfied that she wasn't he leaned in close to her.

"Ria, I am both incredibly angry and incredibly proud right now, that my little girl has managed to not only hack into the citadels firewalls successfully, but to also infiltrate the Consort's offices! I must have the most talented little girl in history." Ria blushed furiously at her father's praise, but couldn't stop herself from mumbling, "They helped." and gesturing with her chin towards the door and her friends.

"That they did, and if I know my girl, it was you who led them, wasn't it?" Ria nodded slowly, her previous elation at her father's words dying quickly. He simply nodded to himself, then looked back at Tali for a moment before he spoke again.

"Alright, I have to be mad at you again, and though your landing could have been better, never forget how proud I am of you." He gave her a wink before standing up and working up an angry expression, and then he pointed to the door.

"…And I don't want to hear another word out of you until we get to the shuttle, you understand? Now move it!" Ria bobbed her head and scrambled to her feet, obeying with a small smile behind her visor. As she jumped to do as she was told, she had one last thought before she left the room.

All this trouble, and i still don't know what the Consort actually does.

Shepard stood with Tali and watched as their daughter filled out an incident report with the C-Sec officer from before. The man had insisted they leave, but once Shepard flashed his spectre status, his eyes had bulged and he had quickly become much more cooperative. The other children had already received their scolding, and their parents were mostly gone already since it was obvious the Reunion was over. He'd said goodbye to everyone already, but had had to remain outside the Consort's chambers waiting for C-Sec to pick up the pace.

He felt Tali stir on his arm, and he looked over to see the clear signs of worry in his wife.

Twitching nervous fingers, tapping foot, inability to keep her hands at her sides… yep, she's still worried.

"You alright beautiful?" His question made her jump a little, but she didn't look at him.

"I don't know John, were we too hard on her? Not hard enough? I'm not entirely sure how to handle something like this." Tali did look at him then, and the slant of her eyelids behind her mask told him she was raising one eyebrow at him.

"What did you tell her back in there?"

"I just let her know how upset we were is all."

"Yes, but what did you say?" Tali insisted.

"Suffice to say that it was a father and daughter talk, and thus highly confidential." Tali's continued raised eyebrow and addition of fists on her hips spoke volumes of her opinion on that, but she did stop pressing him.

"Commander Shepard? Your daughter is a fascinating child." He and Tali turned toward the voice coming from the Consort's room behind them to find the Consort herself standing before them.

"Sha'ira, a pleasure to see you again." He noticed Tali relaxed her stance a bit, but he knew he'd catch hell for it once they got home.

"Indeed Shepard. But before you leave I wished to tell you that in honor of your services during the Reaper war and throughout your career, I would welcome you and your wife to my business anytime, free of charge." Shepard couldn't help but raise his brows in surprise, he knew how much it cost to come to this place. He opened his mouth to thank her but she was already moving on towards Ria, kneeling beside her as the officer finally finished the report.

"Ria, remember what I said, it will give you strength in the years to come." And with that, the Consort walked back into her chambers and didn't leave again until they had left.