Raina watched Jess leave. She just watched. Her insides were screaming to stop the asari but she just stood there like a statue as Jess' sky car flew off. It was only when it was out of sight that the shaking began then the crying then the sobbing.

She woke up curled on the floor, she had fallen asleep. Now she is late. After taking a shower and eating something in her sky car Raina lands still feeling completely rushed and not ready for the day, exactly how she hates to start the morning.

There is a slight chill in the air and the pavement is still wet from an overnight rain. Raina parks and grabs her bag then starts to head to her building. She feels a rush of pain; physical pain that makes her stop in her tracks to catch her breath. The feeling came out of nowhere. She drops her bag and takes deep breaths to hopefully move past it, whatever it is.

She hears something in the bushes.

Raina stands and looks. She doesn't see anything but the feeling is overwhelming that she is actually wincing. She walks toward the bushes that surround the building. She stops when she hears it again. She can hear her heartbeat in her ears. Though scared she continues forward. "Hello?"

She hears the moan again.

Raina gasps when she sees over the brush a beaten and battered asari. "Goddess!" She steps over the lower bushes and takes the asari's hand. "Can you hear me?" She brings up her omni-tool. "Hang on I am calling emergency services."

"No!" A hand shoots out and grabs her wrist. "You can't…can't call them." The asari starts to cough.

Raina looks at the asari and recognition hits her like a ton of bricks, "Linda?" It's the asari that Raina met only once. "I have to call them Linda, just hang on don't try to move."

"No, please no. She works there."

Raina stops dialing and looks at Linda. "Who? Who did this to you?"

"Help me please."

Raina looks around the parking lot. No one is in sight. "Can you walk?" She helps Linda stand.

"I…I think so."

Raina helps the asari into the building and into her office. She is amazed that they did not pass anyone in the hallway. Her partner Malin thankfully is off planet on vacation. Raina helps Linda sit on her office couch. "I'll be right back." Raina rushes to her private bathroom to grab her first aid kit. She also grabs a bottle of water then returns to Linda who is curled on her side on the couch.

Raina brings up her omni-tool.

"No, you said you wouldn't call them!" Linda is panicking.

"No no, I'm not. I have a simple medical scan to check your vitals okay."

Linda looks at her. Raina can tell she is trying to decide whether or not to believe the psychiatrist. "You can trust me Linda."

Linda nods and lays her head back down.

Raina brings up her omni-tool and runs a scan. Outside of cuts and bruises on her face and bruising to her ribs there is nothing life threatening.

"Well?"

"You will be fine." Raina puts her omni away. "Who did this Linda?"

She is quiet.

Raina presses her, "Is this about the friends you mentioned when I last saw you? Where someone got hurt?"

Linda looks at her then away quickly.

"You made something for them didn't you Linda? You made something that ended up hurting someone and you don't want to make it anymore."

The astonished look from Linda tells Raina she is correct. Her gift has to come in handy sometimes right?

"Let me guess. You told them you are done making whatever you make for them and they did this to you. They are the kind of people that don't take no for an answer."

Linda lifts her head, "How…how do you know that?"

"What did you make for them Linda?"

The asari shakes her head.

Raina touches her shoulder, "Is it some kind of explosive?"

Linda visibly shivers. She slowly sits up, "Who…who told you?"

Riana gives her small smile, "You did Linda, just now."

"I …I don't want to do it anymore I won't do it."

"Who are they Linda? We are talking about the four people who are injuring store owners right?"

Linda starts to cry.

Raina sits next to her on the couch and wraps her arm around her shoulders. As Linda cries Raina's mind races on what she needs to do next.


"Mom?" Little A has her hand on her mother's back. Liara is sitting in a chair with her head on Mia's bed, her hand in Mia's hand.

"Hmm?"

"Mom?"

Liara sits up and looks at Little A. She looks at Mia who is still sleeping. She stands up and stretches a little. "Are you alright?"

Little A takes her hand and leads her out of the room and into the kitchen. "Mom I have been called in to the hospital."

"Oh, okay."

"Can you stay with Mia today? I don't know how long they need me. The explosion yesterday really overloaded them."

"Of course. I will probably bring her home with me so I can check on your father."

"Okay but you know what that means right?"

Liara furrows her brow, "What?"

"Stay here." Little A enters the room Mia is sleeping in then comes out with something in her hand.

"Aethyta?" Liara is a little concerned.

Little A opens a small black case. "This is the medicine you need to give her Mom." Little A sits at the kitchen table, Liara follows suit. Little A looks at her mother.

Liara takes a deep breath as her eyes look at the syringe then at her daughter. "Okay."

"Mia is doing really well but she may need up to three injections to get through the day, but no more than that."

"All right."

"This is Diazepam. It helps with her physical symptoms. Don't give her more than three milligrams per injection. Try two first, and then give her three if she needs it. She needs to slowly taper off of this. You will need to watch her Mom."

"I can do that."

Little A continues, "Make sure she eats. She won't want to but she needs nutrition. She may have tremors; check her hands they shake okay?"

Liara reaches over and takes Little A's hand in her own. "Okay. Don't worry Aethyta. I can take care of her."

Little A lets out a breath.

"I know you worry for her. I will be okay with her today, trust me."

"Sorry," Little A smiles, "Of course you know how to take care of her." She laughs a little. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize. She is very lucky to have you for a sister." Liara stands and pulls Aethyta into a hug. "I love you honey and I am so very proud of you."

Little A sighs, "I wish I didn't have to go in."

"We will be fine. Mia will come home with me. I can send you updates during the day if you wish." Liara can see that that is exactly what Aethyta wants. "Consider it done."

"I know it's weird."

"It's not weird."

"Okay. Well," Little A looks around, "I need to go. I will call you when I am done."

"Okay."

"Thanks Mom, love you." She hugs her quickly then leaves.

"Mom?"

Liara turns to see Mia standing in the hallway. "Was that Aethyta?"

"Yes, she was called into work. You are stuck with me today. I hope that is all right with you." Liara approaches her daughter. "Are you hungry? How about some breakfast?"

"Yeah okay."


"Are you going to be late tonight?" Miranda asks Arelia. They are finishing up breakfast. Rose has already left for her classes.

"Probably. I need to ensure each store has proper coverage."

"Well you're not going to be on main street are you? I mean it's not safe."

"Miri, I have to be."

"No you don't Arelia. You can monitor from the safety of your office, I mean that is one of the benefits of being in charge."

Arelia takes Miranda's hand, "I know you are worried, but I do not work that way and you know that."

Miranda lets out a breath, "I know."

"I will be fine. The store that burned is being analyzed so soon we will know what type of explosive was used and what to look for."

Miranda squeezes her hand, "Just be careful."

Arelia cups her cheek with her hand, "I will be I promise."

Miranda steps in and kisses Arelia hard at first then softly. She finishes the kiss with biting her lower lip.

"Wow."

"Do you have to leave now Arelia?" Miranda's hand caresses up the asari's side.

"Oh I see what you are doing." Arelia leans her forehead against Miranda's shoulder.

"Yeah what's that?" Miranda moves her hand to Arelia's breast. Her lips find the asari's once more.

A soft moan escapes from Arelia's lips. "Miri."

Miranda moves her hand under Arelia's shirt, "Hmm?"

"I…I have to go." Arelia tilts her head back.

Miranda's teeth nibble on the asari's neck. She pulls her closer. "You drive me crazy Arelia."

Arelia is breathless. She pushes Miranda's shoulder, "Miri….oh..hmm…" finally the asari steps back. "I…wow I need to go." Arelia touches her lips with her fingers. She still feels Miranda's lips on her.

Miranda takes in a breath and lets it out. "Okay okay."

"You do not play fair."

"Damn right."

They share a smile.

"Be careful."

"Always." Arelia leaves.

Miranda brings up her omni-tool. She dials.

"Yeah?"

Miranda ignores her daughter's tone, something she is extremely tired of doing. "Hi Shayna. I was hoping you were free for lunch today."

She hears her daughter sigh, "Why?"

"I would like to have lunch with my daughter that's why." Miranda tries not to sound defensive.

"What's the point Dad? All you are going to do is tell me how to live my life and I don't want to have that conversation again."

"Then let's not have it."

"What?"

"Let's talk about what you want. I know it's hard to believe but I can be reasonable."

Silence on the other end tells Miranda her daughter does not believe her.

"Please Shayna. Can we try to have a conversation without arguing?"

Silence.

"Shayna?"

"Yeah okay. My shift starts after lunch so let's just meet at the store at Noon and we can walk somewhere."

"Great. I will see you at Noon."


"Hi there."

"Hi Elly, how are you feeling this morning?" Liara and Mia enter the house.

Shepard limps over and hugs her daughter lightly. "Hi sport. How are you?"

"Mom told me what happened, are you okay? You're limping."

"I'm fine, just sore."

Liara touches her bondmate's arm, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Shepard kisses her. "I took a pill so it's helping a little. You okay?"

"Fine."

Shepard looks at Mia, "So sport, want something to eat?"

Mia smiles a little. "I just ate."

Shepard and Liara exchange a look.

Mia laughs a little. "I cleaned my plate Dad. Mom made breakfast."

"Okay okay good. Well, how about a walk?"

"Elly," Liara touches Shepard's arm again.

"No it's okay Dad."

"Hey, I need to walk around and loosen up this hip. You are welcome to join me or not."

Mia looks between her parents. "Okay sure."

"You two go ahead, I think I will lie down," says Liara. Liara takes Shepard's arm and pulls her a little.

"I'll be right there Mia," says Shepard. She follows Liara into their bedroom. "What's going on?"

Liara shows Shepard the little black case. "This is Mia's medicine. Aethyta told me the dosage. You need to look for signs. Aethyta says her hands tremble. So if she is hurting, cramping that kind of thing you need to give her an injection. I already prepared the syringe."

"Yeah okay, I can do that."

"Are you sure?" Liara sighs, "I can wait."

Shepard smiles at her bondmate. "I do know how to give an injection Liara. Retired Captain here remember?"

"Of course," she shakes her head, "my apologies."

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

"Not really no. Mia …" her voice trails off.

"What?"

"She doesn't sleep well Elly. Not at all."

Shepard studies her blue beauty, "Nightmares?"

Liara nods.

"She talk about them?"

"Not really. Last night she said she sees Elina in her dreams."

"Elina?"

"She said you told her to look away when you pulled the trigger."

"And she didn't look away, Jesus."

Liara touches her shoulder, "This is not your fault Elly, please don't go there."

Shepard doesn't say anything.

"Elly?"

"No, I know Liara, I know. I mean….I had to kill her."

"Of course you did. Elina is not all that haunts her. She says she continues to see images of Shadow and Dava."

Shepard sighs. "What do we do? How do we fix it?"

"We wait. We be patient."

"Oh because I am good at that." Shepard is sarcastic.

"I know." Liara kisses her cheek, "But we have to wait for Mia to come to us. I think Little A treating her has been really good for her. I don't think she has a very good support system at home. I think she isolates herself."

"Probably."

"Elly stop that."

"She is so like me Liara. She needs her own blue beauty."

Liara hugs her. "She needs to love herself first." She steps out of the hug. "Are you sure you are okay to take a walk?"

"Yeah I will be careful. I need to loosen this thing up. Have a good nap."

Shepard walks into the family room. "You all set?"

"You sure you are up for it?" says Mia.

"Well I will be slow it that is okay with you."

Mia opens the patio door. They take the path that leads from their backyard into the woods.

"So I heard about the explosion yesterday," says Mia.

"Yeah those damn hoodlums. I hope the police catch a break before more people get hurt."

"I'm sorry that the asari you saved died."

Shepard stops to catch her breath when pain shoots through her hip. She hisses between her teeth.

Mia grabs her arm to support her under her elbow. "You okay? Maybe we should go back."

"Go back? We just left the yard," Shepard tries to laugh. She puts her full weight on her right leg knowing Mia is there for support. "I need to keep going, can you help me?"

Mia swallows. "Yes."

They slowly continue their walk.

"Does your hip bother you a lot?"

"I have good days and bad days like everyone else."

Mia shakes her head.

"What?"

"I don't know how you can have a positive attitude after everything you have been through."

"Well I don't always. It's hard looking on the bright side, it's easy to complain."

Mia turns quiet.

Shepard leans on her daughter while they go down a small hill.

"I'm sorry Dad," says Mia.

"For what?"

"For everything. For not calling you. For shutting you out."

Shepard puts her arm around her daughter. "Thank you for saying that. I want to apologize to you too."

"For what?"

"For not being the best example when the road to life gets rocky."

"Dad, don't. This isn't your fault."

Shepard stops and waits until Mia looks at her. "Can you tell me why you shut us out? Why you stopped calling?"

Mia averts her eyes and shrugs her shoulders. "Things just got to be too much. I thought I could handle things and well…" Mia looks at her Dad, "Are you okay?"

"Can we sit." Shepard is sweating. Maybe taking a walk right now was not such a great idea; her hip is throbbing as if she never took her pain pill.

"Yeah here." There is a stump nearby the path that Mia helps her to. She helps her father sit. Then she sits cross legged in front of her.

Shepard lets out a long breath, "Thanks." She rubs her hip. "You know I thought being vulnerable was a weakness Mia. I thought that for the longest time. But when I see someone who is vulnerable I think to myself wow they are really strong." She laughs a little. "Silly right? Internally I shame myself for being vulnerable yet when I see it in someone else I admire them for it."

Mia nods. "How did you figure that out?"

"Therapy."

Mia looks away.

"Look. I know therapy is not for everyone and I never thought it was for me. I mean I thought okay hey Doc, fix me. I want to feel better right now so do your magic. Right?" She smiles at Mia who also smiles. She knows her daughter is relates. "But that is not how it works. Therapy is hard work and you have to be patient. And we both know how patient I am," Shepard rolls her eyes.

"I tried, once." Mia makes eye contact, "Therapy. I tried it."

"Let me guess, you didn't feel better or you didn't like your therapist?"

"Something like that."

"Did you try again?"

Mia looks away.

"Only you can decide what is right for you Mia, no one else can do that. Do you have a friend you can talk to?"

"Donna, sometimes."

"That's your roommate right who happens to be a Doctor?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. Mia look at me." Shepard continues when Mia looks at her. "I understand isolating yourself when you are hurting, but it isn't just hurtful to you it's hurtful to those that you shut out."

"I know."

"It's hard I know, it is very hard to ask for help, but there is strength in that. You are not alone even if you feel alone Mia. We love you and want to support you in any way we can. And if that means talking through things, or just listening or visiting you once in a while then so be it. Your mother and I and your sisters, want you in our lives."

"Even Raina?" Mia rolls her eyes.

"Hey," Shepard leans forward and opens her hand until her daughter takes it. "You and I both know that Raina has her own issues. She is dealing with things the best way she knows how, just like you are dealing with things the best way you know. How you handle a conversation with your sister is between you and her. But know this, she loves you, she loves you very much."

"I think I hurt her the most. I didn't mean to."

"Raina is incredibly sensitive so she feels things more deeply; we all know that, but sometimes forget. I know I forget."

Mia nods.

"Your mother tells me that you are having nightmares about Elina."

Mia looks away.

"Mia?"

"I didn't look away like you told me."

"I'm sorry you saw her die honey. I still see it in my nightmares from time to time."

Mia's head snaps up, "You do?"

"Sure I do. I still dream about every life I have taken, justified or not, I still took a life."

They sit in silence for a few minutes.

"I just get confused," Mia finally says.

"About what honey?"

"Life, love. Like I don't deserve them."

Shepard feels a twinge in her heart. "That is why you need to talk about it Mia. You need to learn to love yourself. You deserve good things, hell great things Mia. You do not need to punish yourself for things that have happened in the past. No good can come from that."

"I guess."

"Listen to me."

Mia looks at her father.

"I blamed myself for years. Punished myself for years about the things I have done. Like maybe if I was faster on firing the weapon that killed the reapers more people would have survived. "

"But Dad you can't do that. Without you none of us would be here."

"And you can't do it either Mia. If it's not right for me to do it, why is it right for you to do it?" Shepard waits to let that sink in. "You are a beautiful person Mia. You have a lot to offer. Sure you have hit a rough patch, who doesn't. Sure you have issues, who doesn't? All I am saying is try not to shut out those that love you. It is not healthy to do that Mia. You need to talk about what is bothering you. I know your first instinct is to look within, to find fault within because that is what I do too. I still do it but I learned techniques in therapy to help me stop doing that. Some days they work and other days not so much, but I know I feel better overall and I am better equipped to fight my internal battles. And I want that for you. I want you to know, to feel it and know, and I mean completely believe that you deserve good things. No one can convince you of that except you." Shepard cups her daughter's cheek. "It's a long hard road Mia, one with roadblocks and sink holes. But you are strong, God you are so strong. You just need to be reminded of that. If you can beat Red Sand you can do anything."

Mia has tears in her eyes when she looks up at her father.

Shepard stands putting most of her weight on her left leg. "Come here." She opens her arms and hugs her daughter. She holds her wishing all of Mia's pain could just dissipate. She hopes her talk helps her because she knows what it's like to feel like you don't deserve good things and it is not a good place to be, not one bit.