Joker, relieved so suddenly from active combat alert by the good offices of Kalros, Mother of all Thresher Maws, found the Normandy a nice stable orbit and went down to meet Shepard's shuttle. Whatever he'd told himself to get through it, the situation on Tuchanka had been too hot for any kind of comfort. He was used to watching Rhi fight. Elysium had been just another day at the office. Dodging the legs of a reaper was something else. The sheer scale of the thing had driven home how fragile they all were — and she'd been right there under it.

Rhi stepped out of the shuttle, helmet under one arm, and raised her brows in surprise at seeing him in the hangar.

Joker snapped off an almostprofessional salute.

She started to smile, then changed it into a more decorous nod. "Report, Lieutenant," she said. "Walk with me."

The rest of the team started towards the locker room behind the armory. Rhi headed for the elevator and her quarters, Joker falling into step beside her. Halfway there Vega passed them, grinning broadly.

"Hell of a fight, Lo — "

Rhi arched one perfect brow at him, and Vega stopped himself short, ducked his head, and beat it to the locker room. Joker looked after him curiously, but Joker was more interested in getting to the privacy of the elevator. Another two meters and they were in, waiting while the doors slid closed.

He waited to kiss her until the thin line of light from the hangar had entirely disappeared.

He was careful: their lips were the only place they touched. Her armor was filthy, and nothing would give away their game quite like a streak of Tuchankan dirt all down his front. She smelled of that dust: a hot, mineral smell. Some of it had blown onto her face when she'd taken her helmet off, a redder smudge on her brown skin, running in sweat-tracks down her forehead.

He didn't think the smears at the corners of her eyes had been caused by sweat.

Rhi's lips lingered a moment on his, and she sighed as they backed apart. "What happened down there… that was…" she sighed again and ran a hand through her shorn hair, ineffectually trying to get it out of her way and only managing to further smear the dirt on her face. "Intense."

"Understatement." He had to resist the urge to hold her. Hugging armor wasn't comfortable, but it could still be comforting. "You want to talk?"

She nodded. "Is it past first watch mess?"

She must be more tired than she's letting on. Usually she had a pretty good idea of ship's time. "Yeah, by hours. It should be pretty empty there now."

"Make me dinner?"

He winked at her. The elevator door slid open on the crew deck, and he left to do just that.

Twenty minutes later she joined him, clean and in uniform, having taken longer than usual over her shower.

Joker took one look at her and grinned ear-to-ear. He tried to tamp it down before she noticed, but she caught him.

"What is it, Joker?"

"Oh, nuthin.'" He turned back to the counter, still unable to hide his glee.

"Joker."

"Nothing!"

"What. Is. It?" she growled.

He snuck a look over his shoulder. Her tired face was totally at odds with, well...

"Really, babe?" He stopped trying to hide the grin. "Pigtailsare fucking adorable."

She kicked a chair over into the mess and slumped down into it, muttering something that could've been "I hate you."

He smiled unconcernedly and went back to work. "You love me. I'm making you dinner."

"Anyway, they're not pigtails, there're three." She turned so he could see the third little tail sticking jauntily out from the back of her head.

He dutifully looked. "And it's stilladorable. Which is totally the look you usually go for. Really fits the military mood. Dignity of a Spectre. Impresses the VIPs."

"Why the fuck are they called pigtails, anyway? Pigs don't have two tails!" Rhi wrinkled her nose in consternation. "Not that I've ever seen a pig in person. But I'm pretty sure the only earth animals that have double tails are the ones that drink the water around the shipyards."

Joker shrugged. "You're the dirtkicker. All our meat was grown in vats, like civilized people."

"Civilized people don't grow in vats," she pointed out. "Gruntgrew in a vat."

He stuck his tongue out her and she returned a kid-like grin. Combined with the pigtails, it was almost painfully cute. And 'cute' was so not the word one usually used for Rhi.

Highly trained competent adults here, off to save the world.

Joker turned back to their dinner and Rhi went back to complaining about her hair.

""It's too damn short to do anything reasonable with it," she grumbled. "At least this way it's out of my eyes. I thought I was going to be squashed flat down there because of my fucking hair."

That got his full attention. "What happened?"

"A bit got out from under the helmet padding, and I couldn't reach in to shove it back. Mostly stayed outta my eyes, but the shadow in my peripheral was distracting."

Can't have that. "What did you do the first time you grew it out? You were in boot camp, weren't you? You must've figured out something."

She shook her head. "Boarding school, so it wasn't so bad. And I had help - a girl there did it up in braids really tight to my head. Cornrows, y'know? But I never learned how on my own." She shook her head thoughtfully. "Monifa. Hell. I don't know why she put up with me, let alone helped me out. Never thought to look her up after I enlisted. Wonder where… damn."

Joker knew that train of thought went all too well. The answer to 'I wonder where they are now?' was all too likely to be 'crushed under the rubble of a city.' Of the other options 'fleeing for their lives' or 'fighting the war' were the goodones. What reapers did with living people they caught… that was something no one talked about, much. Better to keep that fear vague and impersonal.

"I was thinkin' stir fry," he said. Food was a much safer subject — possibly the safest subject, since Rhi would be happy with pretty much anything he offered in that area. She was willing to eat so much crap that he'd been surprised she was able to recognize anything better, but when he'd finally had a chance to take her out to dinner it had turned out she definitely did appreciate the real deal.

Even if she had eaten a full meal bar before she went so as not to break his bank account.

While Joker chopped vegetables Rhi took the knives he wasn't using and sharpened them. The rasp of stone on steel was comforting, at this point. She didn't like to be idle while he was working, and she was a disaster at anything culinary. Normandy's got the sharpest galley knives in the Alliance, I'd bet. He appreciated it, too, at least until they ran out of real meat and veg and had to rely on the pre-diced freeze-dried excuse for food.

"What was going on with Vega, when you got out of the shuttle?" Joker asked.

Rhi rested the knife on her knee and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Whatcha mean?"

"He started to say something and you gave him a Look. Like, a capital L Look."

"Oh, that." She rolled her eyes. "Few days ago he came up with some truly idiotic nickname for me. I told him he was welcome to continue using it as long as I could call him Mr. Chucklebutt. The lieutenant is… attempting to correct his behavior."

"That's a novelcommand technique."

Internally Joker was trying to decide whether it would be worth it to call Vega that, just to see his reaction. The potential ramifications probably weren't worth it. It was easier before you gave a shit what people on the ship thought of you, butyou justhad to go and complicate everything by falling for the Commander.

He glanced at Rhi sidelong. She was leaning against the bulkhead, eyes closed, knife discarded nearby, very clearly enjoying the scent of cooking garlic.

She was beautiful.

"Vega… requires some novel techniques," Rhi said after a long while. She opened her eyes long enough to reassure herself they were alone, then closed them again while she mused. "Chip on his shoulder's a whole bloody brick. And he was more deferential when he was supposed to be my guard than heis as a subordinate. Guy's all tangled up in something — old mission that went bad, mostly. And it can't help that he's finally realizing I coulda gotten away from him whenever I wanted. Bit of a blow to the ego."

"And yet you were a good little prisoner, instead."

She shrugged. "I could've gotten past Vega. The sniper in the next building over and the rest of the guards around CentCom, en masse? Thatwould've been something else."

The matter-of-fact way she said it made him shiver. They had a sniper on her? He'd never been to Vancouver CentCom himself, but it showed up in the occasional training vid or PR piece, so it was all too easy to imagine the floors red with blood. Alliance personnel, comrades… or Rhi's.

Did she actually consider fighting her way out?He scowled at the frying pan. Of course she did.Pulling off shit like that was her job. It would've been like showing him an 'impossible' flight scenario. Even if he'd neverflyit, he'd still be working it out in his head.

Five years ago the idea of someone with a plan for killing their way out of Alliance military headquarters would've freaked him the hell out. Funny what dating a super-soldier could get you used to.

The super-soldier in question was looking wistfully at the food and talking about James Vega.

"He tried to get me to spar with him a few days ago, did you know? Told him no."

Joker blinked. Beating the shit out of people was her second favorite form of stress relief. "Why?"

She scowled at the peppers, which had never done anything to deserve it. "I would've enjoyed beating him too much. He was looking for a real fight, not a sparring match, and I was ready for one. Instead I had him watch while I punched another dent in that shuttle he wrecked. Just so he's clear how things stand." Her momentarily somber mein lifted. "Later I got a worried note from Chakwas about how Lieutenant Vega's knuckles were pounded bloody, and did I have any idea why?" She snorted. "Seems he's a bit competitive. No surprise."

"Ha! Oh, babe. You're hardon macho guys who've got something to prove."

She smiled. "Good thing I have you."

"And good thing we have two shuttles. Had, I suppose. We didn't needthat piece you dented by any chance, did we?"

She gave him a you-wound-me look. "I checked with Cortez 's been working on the repairs, did you know? Says she'll fly okay, but she won't be pretty." She cocked her head to the side. "What do you think of Cortez?"

Joker shrugged. "He's okay, for an ex fighter jock."

"For an ex fighter jock?"

Joker grimaced. He hatedthose guys. Putting on airs and talking about flying the real risks, acting like their skill was higher because they flew a smaller bird. And he couldn't show them differently, because after fighting for his certs every step of the way that was the only piloting job he was still medically disqualified from. It made sense. Fighters frequently ran without inertial dampeners, saving power for maneuvering and weaponry. They didn't have any cushion. His chances of getting injured and losing control were just too damn high. But knowing it was reasonable didn't make it easier when the hot shots got talking.

He shrugged, trying to let it slide away. "Y'know, hyper machismo types." He smirked. "They're even worse than marines."

"Thanks," she said dryly.

He grinned, unrepentant, and held up a full plate. "Food's up!"

Only when Rhi'd inhaled the first half of her meal did he ask about the elcor in the room.

"How are you doing? About Mordin?" The last time she'd lost someone on a mission, the death had been her call. An impossible choice, made in the midst of battle. She'd born it stoically, he thought, but they'd just been pilot and CO then. He didn't know what it had been like behind the mask.

He still missed Ash sometimes. She'd been a damn good soldier, but mostly he missed the way she'd call shit like she saw it. Ashley Williams could and would stick her foot in her mouth up to the ankle — then take it right back out, own up, apologize, and move on. He'd liked her.

Rhi took time over her bite, thinking.

"I can't believe he's dead. I mean, any of us coulda bitten it in the figh, but we'd made it through. The reaper was gone. I thought we'd done it. And then…" She shook her head angrily. "Seems like there must've been another way. But if anyone knew how to spread a genetic modification around Tuchanka, it was Mordin."

"It was… fitting, I suppose," Joker offered. "That he died fixing the disease he helped make. Or improve, or whatever. At least this way you know it was his choice. He died undoing what he'd done." He hadn't usually stuck around to hear the salarian wax philosophical, but he knew he had it in him. "He sought out Eve. He thought this was important."

"I know. And I kinda hate that — when it turns out like some vid drama. Life isn't like that! And then it is, occasionally, and it irritates me." Rhi thumped a fist on the table for emphasis. "Not that I'd be happy if it happened some other way, but fuckthe idea of death being 'fitting'!"

Jeff hadn't expected that reaction. There was a hell of a lot more there than Mordin's death. He looked at her, letting his silence be the question, waiting until she explained. When nothing was forthcoming he cupped his hand around her fist, still closed on the table, and rubbed a thumb over her hand.

"When I first… came back," the words came out a little faster than usual, but he was proud of her for being able to say it at all, "I read a bunch of different adventure novels — fantasy, mostly, stuff as far removed from real life as i could get, y'know? Most of 'em were from Kasumi. And there were a couple that included someone magically coming back from the dead, saving the world, and then inevitably and poeticallydying again at the end." She looked sheepish. "Hit a bit close to home."

No shit. His hand tightened on hers. If Kasumi'd been around he'd have asked her what the hell she'd been thinking. "How'd you deal with it?"

Rhi shrugged. "Switched to mysteries. Idon't intend to have some stupid 'fitting' ending." She smiled up at him, like sun breaking through storm clouds. "I intend to have a long time to creakily rattle off stories like Zaeed while you make me delicious dinners."

That blind-sided him. Like a broadside of happy, in the middle of shit. A warm glow filled his chest. Rhi had nevertalked like that before. Oh, she'd made it clear she wasn't interested in returning to the dead, even at her lowest, but talking about them, together, in some distant future? They'd never come close. They'd been living day-to-day and even hour-by-hour for so long living in the present was normal. Probably even healthy. And Rhi'd flat-out admitted she'd never actually managed anything like long-term before, sohe hadn't expected her to think that way.

He ducked his head, hiding the extent of his joy under his hat. Not that he wanted to hide from her, but… it was a habit. Self consciousness was a hard beast to wear down.

Finally he said, "I hope when you tell the stories you add gratuitous explosions. Even more than you actually manage daily, I mean."

"No one'll believe me," she said, smiling.

He chuckled. "No one will believe you if you tell the truth. Might as well have fun with it."

She reached across the table and placed her free hand on his. The playfulness was surface; she'd recognized what she'd said as well as he had. When she met his eyes her smile went all the way to her soul.

"I'm sorry I said I hate you," she said gently.

"What? When?" He was taken aback, and then he remembered her grumble when he teased her about her hair. "You were joking!"

"I was. But I still wish I hadn't said it." She squeezed his hand lightly. "Where we are now… I'd hate to have something like that hanging there, when anything could happen."

"I don't intend to die either," he said fiercely.

"And we'll do our best not to, and our best is damn good," she agreed. "But it doesn't mean I want regrets if the universe fucks us over. It's a bastard, sometimes."

Joker freed his hand long enough to wave a middle finger in the general direction of the universe.

Rhi wasn't distracted. "I got to say goodbye to Mordin, after a fashion. There are already so many people who'll never get that chance. So many we probably won't even know are gone, unless the dust settles and things come out our way." She squeezed his hand again. "On Tuchanka… Joker, there was so much hope for the future. It could be amazing, despite all the destruction. But there was death, too."

She shook her head. "We're never going to hear his singing from the science lab again."

That touched something. Mordin had inarguably been a genius. He was also frequently irritating, had once woken Joker up at 0200 to ask about his liver function, and was prone to broadcast his internal monologue on open comm channels — but damn, there was something awesome about a super-genius who'd sing at the top of his lungs on a mostly-military ship.He had an impressive amount of fuck it, in all the right ways.

"We should do something. Mark it." It shouldbe done, but who, how… That kind of thing really wasn't his strong point.

"Yeah." She nodded agreement. "I'll do a little ceremony tomorrow morning, officially, but most of this crew didn't know him. Maybe something quieter afterwards? You, me, Garrus, Chakwas… I think Wrex'll be up finalizing some things with the Primarch. I think he and Eve would like to join us."

Joker snorted. "Didn't Wrex want to kill him, most of the time?"

"Yeah. And now he owes him the world. I think Wrex'll appreciate learning more about him. And if he doesn't, he damn well should." She smiled sadly. "But I think he will."

The next morning Shepard held an official service of sorts in the mess hall; formal words for a hero who wasn't precisely one of their own, but had been one of Normandy's. The gathered crew were somber. Mordin Solus hadn't been one of them, but he had been there, and now he was gone.

When the crew was dismissed to their duties Joker remained behind with Garrus and Chakwas. Wrex and Eve joined them. They'd watched the small ceremony from across the room, where they wouldn't disturb the crew.

"I know we're all on duty, officially," Chakwas said once they were gathered together, "But one toast won't hurt, I think…?" She held a bottle in her hand, but she waited for Rhi's nod before she poured and passed the glasses around the small circle.

Rhi hesitated before accepting hers, but raised her glass in the first toast. "To a brilliant doctor," she said, "may he live long in our memories."

"Memorableis not something Mordin had a problem with," Joker said dryly after they'd all drank. "Galaxy's big, but I don't think there're a lot a lot of singing shooting scientist salarians in it."

"He was definitely a character," Chakwas agreed.

"He once woke me up at 0300 to ask whether humans could feel anything with their fingernails."

"And he used to distribute interspecies sexual health pamphlets to the crew," Rhi said. She chuckled. "I think he just liked our reactions, mostly."

"Definitely," Garrus corrected, grinning. "That is, I thought he was serious when he gave me the one on human/turian… relations. When he came by with the pamphlet for krogan… well."

Eve turned her head to look at the turian. "You find that so unbelievable?"

Garrus spread his arms in a pacifying gesture. "The only krogan on our ship was Grunt!"

"Oh." The shamaness paused. "I begin to understand."

Joker wasn't sure, but he thought maybe Eve smiled under her veils.

"He sang to me, you know," Eve said. "On Surr'Kesh. Very fast songs, very un-krogan, but… I liked them. It was… kind. It was the only thing I saw of a world outside of medical research for a very long time."

"He was singing when he died," Rhi said, quietly. "He left the channel open; I heard him on the radio." She closed her eyes for a moment, then raised them to Chakwas. "You used to sing together, didn't you, doctor? Seems like there should be music, for remembering Mordin. I don't suppose you could do anything…?"

Chakwas hand clenched on her glass. Her brow creased in thought. She nodded.

Chakwas set her glass down and rolled her shoulders back, taking a few breaths in preparation. Her voice fell into a perfect hush.

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound — "

A lower voice, mellow and honey-warm, joined in the next line. Rhi, her eyes half-lidded, face turned towards Chakwas, sang with a voice that was rich and sweet.

" — That saved a wretch like me — "

Singing was the only thing he'd ever seen her shy about. He'd never been able to coax it out of her.

Joker closed his eyes to focus on the sound. His mouth moved soundlessly with the words.

When they started the second verse there was a new sound underlying the two women's voices. It was a low, even thrum that buzzed the deck plating under Joker's feet. It slid in so seamlessly he almost didn't notice it, gently emphasizing each phrase. He opened his eyes.

Eve stood, head tilted back, somehow making that marvelous low noise.

Wrex tilted back his head and joined her. His… voice? was rougher. Rumbly, where Eve's was smooth. The hide at his neck fluttered with the sound, and the vibrations shook down through his chest.

Joker caught Garrus's eye, and they shared a look that crossed the species boundary. This song — unpracticed and alien, the deep voices of the krogan, Chakwas's clear voice floating above Rhi's rich one, simple and slow and sorrowful — was the most beautiful thing they'd ever heard.

"Did you know him, when you were on the ship before?" Samantha asked. Ness was headed back down to work with Liara, after attending the brief service for Mordin. Sam walked with her, though her duties were in the other direction.

Ness shook her head. "No. I think we were introduced — it was kind of a blur — but we never talked."

"I hate not knowing how to feel. I didn't knowhim, but he was a person, and now he's gone." Sam sighed. "I wish I felt more."

Ness pulled Sam into the shelter of a ladderway, out of the path of bustling engineers. "Don't," she said gently. "You couldn't do it. Especially not in a war."

Samantha hung her head. "You're right — but it's so easy to be disconnected out here. I see all these messages, Ness. Death tolls I can't even imagine, reports from cities that have been crushed, ships lost — and I can't put faces to any of them. It's terrifying and tragic and huge and I can't make it feel real! But Dr. Solus — he was here. I know what he looks — looked — like. I should grieve."

Her face fell. "But I can't. I don't feel anything for him."

Ness looked at Sam, wanting so desperately to feel something for a man she'd hardly known. There was so much heartthere, so much caring that she was likely to be torn in two.

She didn't mean to kiss her.

She didn't mean to kiss her, and she said as much, right after she stopped, which was almost as soon as she'd started. Samantha was looking at her big-eyed, expression unreadable. Her mouth had been so soft

Ness shrank, letting her hair fall forward to hide her face. "I'm sorry."

Sam's hand settled gently on her arm. "Why didn't you mean to?" she asked. Her frustration of a moment before was gone. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"Of course not! But it's… hardly an appropriate time. And I should've asked." Ness looked at her feet. "And kind of a lot is wrong with me."

"Really? Idon't think so."

Ness dared a peek through her sheltering hair. Sam was smiling. Her words could have sounded teasing, but she meant it, and Ness could tell she meant it, and that just demonstrated how this was wrong, wrong, wrong, because Samantha was a smart, talented woman with everything going for her and she had no idea just how much of a mess Ness was.

Then why did you kiss her, idiot?

"Look, it's just…" Ness closed her eyes. "I have so much baggage I need extra space on shuttle flights. My last girlfriend dumped me and I thought it was out of the blue but now I see a lot of the reasons why. I mean, I thought I was doing really well at being normal until I was kidnapped and strapped to a bomb, and then I was doing really well in therapy before it was interrupted by a galactic war. I've got no business even being on this ship, and the only reason I'm here and not starving in a basement somewhere is because I have this weird relationship with Rhi. Which is a whole other screwed up thing, really."

She looked up, begging Samantha to understand. "No one should have to deal with me until I've sorted my crap out. It wouldn't be fair to you." You deserve so much better.

Samantha stepped closer, her voice sweet and quiet. "You've dealt with all of that, and yet you're down there helping the brilliant asari with three degrees translate ancient alien writings as if it was nothing… and you expect me not to be impressed?"

Ness bit her lip, overcome by guilt. "Oh. And when I start talking like that I make everything all about me. Like I just did."

"You're allowed to have somethings be about you, you know." Samantha's brown eyes were so warm they almost melted Ness's panic. Almost. "Working on your issues is good, but if you had to have everything sorted before you started a relationship, no one would ever manage!"

Sam tucked a lock of blue hair behind Ness's ear, brushing away her barriers. She was smiling. Laughing, even. "I thought I'd have to make the first move — you surprised me! And I do like surprises."

Sam winked. She actuallywinked. Winks and dimples. I was never going to be able to resist her. It was foolish to try.

Ness gulped. "If you — if you actually want to try this," and please say yes, "You need to know what you're getting into."

"Your bed, hopefully," Sam said. The twinkle in her brown eyes was wicked.

Ness giggled. "I've been sleeping on Rhi's sofa."

"Oh. That… might be more awkward." Sam giggled, too. "I certainly wouldn't want to be court martialled for violating the sanctity of the Commander's quarters." She made a theatrically thoughtful face, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow. "This may take planning. And since good strategies take time to develop, you can briefme like you think you ought. To make it properly military, on a military ship."

"When you put it like that, I feel like I should have a slide presentation. I don't know how to start."

Sam raised her other hand, holding Ness by both shoulders now, squaring her up as if preparing her to meet the enemy. "Start at lunch mess today, in the lounge," she said firmly. "I need to get to work right now. Start with your weird relationship with the Commander. Since she's here, that seems relevant. Start with a hot mug of tea, because tea always helps."

Samantha leaned forward and kissed her, gently, leaving warmth on Ness's lips and a glow in her heart. "Start with that. I think that's enough to be going on with, don't you?"

"I'm sorry for the loss of your former comrade, Commander," Victus said. "And thankful, both for his sacrifice and for your assistance."

Primarch Victus stood in the entryway of Shepard's office, posture military-precise and wording likewise.

Rhi nodded acknowledgement, leaning back in her chair to look up at the turian. She had perhaps five minutes up here during her whole day. The Primarch, who she usually saw a conference table or striding around the war room, had sought her out here for a reason—and it wasn't just for social niceties. Spit it out.

Victus was uncomfortable, too, though if she hadn't spent so much time with Garrus she wouldn't have picked up on it.

"You should know that I have the greatest respect for you and your abilities," Victus continued. "I have been impressed by your work thus far, and have the highest regard for—"

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "What d'you want?"

The small nervous moments of Victus' mandibles stopped, and he fixed her with a steely stare.

Better.

"I need help."

Much better. "With what?"

"With a personnel retrieval mission. We… have a team on Tuchanka. They ran into reaper minion resistance."

Rhi's internal cool vanished, but externally she held it together, stopping herself from leaping to her feet with an effort of will. The way he'd said that screamed 'black ops.' What the fuck is he playing at?Could Victus be trying to do the Dalatrass's dirty work, after everything they'd done?

She schooled her expression neutral and her tone dry. "You sent a special ops squad to Tuchanka at the same time you were trying to seal a treaty? That looks good."

Victus winced. "It's for the best, Spectre. Their mission is important."

"And their mission is?" Keeping her calm demeanor was getting more difficult. I can't fight on no information. Not anymore.

"Classified."

"Then un. classify. it."

"It's a delicate—"

"Doesn't the top-ranking turian have the authority to divulge information if he so chooses?" Victus took a step backward as Rhi rose from her chair. "That treaty is less than twelve hours old. There is a hellof a lot on the line here, Victus. I'm not going to risk my ass unless I know what for. If it's not important enough to risk explaining it to me, then I'm afraid I have better things to do."

The primarch stared at her for a long while, then he said, "There is a bomb on Tuchanka, planted many decades ago by my government in case of… desperate need. It is capable of leveling a city."

He looked up at met her eyes.

"We think Cerberus has it."


author's note: That was much longer in coming than I'd anticipated. Many apologies, but I don't see myself managing a nice tight schedule anytime soon - the choices are 'late' and 'never' at the moment. On the bright side, I'm installing drywall next weekend! WHOO! LIFE OF EXCITEMENT!